Thursday, January 31, 2013
Road Rally
Our house was built in the 1940s and when we bought our house it came complete with a mint green painted cement floor. Awesome. We will eventually get around to finishing off our basement, but until then we decided to make the most of it. Enter what can be accomplished with some left over paint:
That's right, a fancy indoor road (the chair and table on the side is their cafe and what you can't see are the play tents we convinced the kids should be moved downstairs to make a "city". We're tricky). I know, the kids are blurry, but they are fast. We now have a place for them to ride on their power wheels, bikes, and all that fun stuff during the winter. Plus, our chihuahuas are no longer in danger. Win win.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
The Best Parenting Advice
So I was at Bible Study last night (Beth Moore's Deuteronomy study...and if you have never done a Beth Moore study, put that on your to do list right now!), anyway, she was talking about the best parenting advice that any parent could have. When she mentioned she was going to give this advice out during the session, I was very eager to hear what she had to say. I respect and admire Beth as not only a Bible teacher, but also as a wife and mother. She is not perfect, and certainly never claims to be, but she loves her family fiercely. Anyway, her advice was this...."Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength" (you can find the whole verse in Deut. 6:5). Her teaching from that was that the loving drives the living. In other words, how you love is how you live. That's it.
I spend a whole lot of time reading parenting books and magazines and blogs and have since the minute we found out we were pregnant the first time. I like to read from many, many different authors who have varying viewpoints so that I can educate myself and find out what works best for our family. I have to say, it was a relief when Beth gave that advice. And do you know why? It was because it took a whole load off of my shoulders. All I have to do is love God and I am being the best Mom I can be. Of course there are still many things I can do, but I can put my whole check list aside (no more than 30 minutes of TV a day, vitamins taken, fruit and veggies eaten, craft done, reading time, devotional time, etc.) and just focus on that. And it works. I can still strive to do other things and of course need to, but as long as I am loving God with everything I have, I am doing exactly what He asks us to do as parents.
I would love to get up before my kids and get dressed, have my quiet time, and be ready for the day. But, that rarely happens. I almost always just do my quiet time with God at night. This evening I decided to read from my Jesus Calling book while the kids were playing in the living room and I was holding a sleeping baby. The little devotional in there is only about a paragraph long and has 2-4 recommended Bible verses to go with it. Ella heard me reading from the Bible (I usually read the verses out loud in case they are listening!) and ran over to me and said "You are reading about God!". Brady then grabbed one of his little Bibles and climbed on the couch and asked me to read him Bible stories. Beth mentioned yesterday how we have such an amazing opportunity to make the Bible exciting for our kids. David is a great storyteller and he makes Bible stories so fun for the kids. While I am not a great storyteller, I could spend hours a day reading to my kids. I love it. So, when he asked me to read to him from his Bible, I of course obliged and we read many stories. And that was it. All they had to do was see me loving God and they wanted to do the same.
I had many bad moments today as a Mom. My back is killing me so I was a bit crabby, we slept in and I was rushed getting Kinsley to the doctor, I was not very patient as we cleaned the playroom, and so on. So I am by no means saying that I have it all together. I just wanted to share the advice that Beth gave and how it worked for me today without me having anything to do with it. God is so, so good and He will take even our smallest attempts at loving Him throughout the day and make something great out of it.
I spend a whole lot of time reading parenting books and magazines and blogs and have since the minute we found out we were pregnant the first time. I like to read from many, many different authors who have varying viewpoints so that I can educate myself and find out what works best for our family. I have to say, it was a relief when Beth gave that advice. And do you know why? It was because it took a whole load off of my shoulders. All I have to do is love God and I am being the best Mom I can be. Of course there are still many things I can do, but I can put my whole check list aside (no more than 30 minutes of TV a day, vitamins taken, fruit and veggies eaten, craft done, reading time, devotional time, etc.) and just focus on that. And it works. I can still strive to do other things and of course need to, but as long as I am loving God with everything I have, I am doing exactly what He asks us to do as parents.
I would love to get up before my kids and get dressed, have my quiet time, and be ready for the day. But, that rarely happens. I almost always just do my quiet time with God at night. This evening I decided to read from my Jesus Calling book while the kids were playing in the living room and I was holding a sleeping baby. The little devotional in there is only about a paragraph long and has 2-4 recommended Bible verses to go with it. Ella heard me reading from the Bible (I usually read the verses out loud in case they are listening!) and ran over to me and said "You are reading about God!". Brady then grabbed one of his little Bibles and climbed on the couch and asked me to read him Bible stories. Beth mentioned yesterday how we have such an amazing opportunity to make the Bible exciting for our kids. David is a great storyteller and he makes Bible stories so fun for the kids. While I am not a great storyteller, I could spend hours a day reading to my kids. I love it. So, when he asked me to read to him from his Bible, I of course obliged and we read many stories. And that was it. All they had to do was see me loving God and they wanted to do the same.
I had many bad moments today as a Mom. My back is killing me so I was a bit crabby, we slept in and I was rushed getting Kinsley to the doctor, I was not very patient as we cleaned the playroom, and so on. So I am by no means saying that I have it all together. I just wanted to share the advice that Beth gave and how it worked for me today without me having anything to do with it. God is so, so good and He will take even our smallest attempts at loving Him throughout the day and make something great out of it.
Monday, January 28, 2013
I'm Turning 30 (Aging Gracefully)...
Okay, so I am 16 days away from my big 3-0 birthday. When I look back on my 20s it is amazing to me what my life looked like when I turned 20 and what my life now looks like as I am turning 30. It seems like a whole lifetime ago. And it seems like just yesterday.
I am a goal setter. I like to achieve things and I always like to be moving forward and improving myself. I like to have a list where I can check things off and I like to consider myself a continuous work in progress. These things seem pretty opposite, but to me, they go hand in hand.
I am going to start using this blog as a place to “turn in my homework”. I have always done better with accountability, so this little place of mine will serve that purpose. My hope is that it will never appear as if I am saying “look at what I did!”, but will serve as a place where I can share some things that work for myself and my family and also a place where I can share what is not working. That is where you come in. I’d love to have your ideas and I also hope that I can encourage you along the way.
The idea that I have to check in here a few times a week will help me to make the most of each day because I will want to help you to do the same (wow, that sounds a little bit too much like an after school special). It will also help me to actually stay on top of editing and uploading my pictures. I am a firm believe that photos should still be printed out, labeled, and put in photo album, but I am behind on that...by 2 years (it looks like that is going on my project list). I also still do the old school baby books and am mainly on top of those. I do still need to buy one for Kinsley however
Okay, so here is my list of things I would like to accomplish during my 30th year (I have always consider my birthday more of a time to make New Year’s resolutions rather than actual New Year’s…procrastinator?):
1) Read the whole Bible this year. I have never read the Bible in a year and would like this to be a yearly tradition I start this year.
2) Lose my baby weight (and my married weight!). I had three babies in four years…two of those pregnancies requiring bed rest, so I gained more weight than I am happy with. I need to lose the weight so that I am my best self for my family.
3) Do one pinterest project a week. I know, this seems crazy, but not all of them will be super big.
4) Get out and explore what our city has to offer more.
5) Learn to cook better!
6) Write to my kids in their journals (we start a journal to each of them when we find out we are pregnant) once a week.
7) Get caught up on all of our photos.
8) Stick to our spending plan…pay off debt, start saving for things we have coming up, etc.
9) Declutter our home. Learn to live more simply.
10) Start an allowance system with the kids. Let them pick out groceries to donate at church (Brady asked that we do that with their tithe money).
What are your goals for the year? Any tips on how to achieve the goals I have listed for myself?
I am a goal setter. I like to achieve things and I always like to be moving forward and improving myself. I like to have a list where I can check things off and I like to consider myself a continuous work in progress. These things seem pretty opposite, but to me, they go hand in hand.
I am going to start using this blog as a place to “turn in my homework”. I have always done better with accountability, so this little place of mine will serve that purpose. My hope is that it will never appear as if I am saying “look at what I did!”, but will serve as a place where I can share some things that work for myself and my family and also a place where I can share what is not working. That is where you come in. I’d love to have your ideas and I also hope that I can encourage you along the way.
The idea that I have to check in here a few times a week will help me to make the most of each day because I will want to help you to do the same (wow, that sounds a little bit too much like an after school special). It will also help me to actually stay on top of editing and uploading my pictures. I am a firm believe that photos should still be printed out, labeled, and put in photo album, but I am behind on that...by 2 years (it looks like that is going on my project list). I also still do the old school baby books and am mainly on top of those. I do still need to buy one for Kinsley however
Okay, so here is my list of things I would like to accomplish during my 30th year (I have always consider my birthday more of a time to make New Year’s resolutions rather than actual New Year’s…procrastinator?):
1) Read the whole Bible this year. I have never read the Bible in a year and would like this to be a yearly tradition I start this year.
2) Lose my baby weight (and my married weight!). I had three babies in four years…two of those pregnancies requiring bed rest, so I gained more weight than I am happy with. I need to lose the weight so that I am my best self for my family.
3) Do one pinterest project a week. I know, this seems crazy, but not all of them will be super big.
4) Get out and explore what our city has to offer more.
5) Learn to cook better!
6) Write to my kids in their journals (we start a journal to each of them when we find out we are pregnant) once a week.
7) Get caught up on all of our photos.
8) Stick to our spending plan…pay off debt, start saving for things we have coming up, etc.
9) Declutter our home. Learn to live more simply.
10) Start an allowance system with the kids. Let them pick out groceries to donate at church (Brady asked that we do that with their tithe money).
What are your goals for the year? Any tips on how to achieve the goals I have listed for myself?
Something I found in the Draft Folder...
Lately, my eyes have been open a lot to the struggles other people face. I have spent a lot of my life assuming that I can read people like a book and that I must know everything about their life...whether it was perfect or a complete mess.
Since I spend most of my time around either small children and playdates or at the church, I have the opportunity to meet a whole lot of people, all in different situations and circumstances. To be painfully honest, I have spent 97% of my life wondering what they were thinking about me and my life. But recently, God has really opened my eyes to some things...
Way back in 2008 when I was a new mama who had her world rocked by a pretty traumatic birth and recovery, I had my first wake up call to "you never really know what someone has gone through or is going through right now". For the record, I realize that having the ability to carry children is a huge blessing and I do not take that for granted, but I also don't think I should have to hide what I went through. I would do it a million times over again, but it was tough. I remember people telling me how natural birth is the way to go and how c-sections are just plain evil and thinking, you clearly have no idea what happened in that room. If they would not have taken him by c-section, we both would have died. How am I a bad mother for that? (For the record, I would have loved a natural birth.) And then the breastfeeding comments. Oh the breastfeding comments. One time a stranger came up to me and asked me why I was giving my child formula when I could hire a wet nurse. WHAT???? My story, had she bothered to ask, was that I had a severe infection after delivery and I spent my first 3 weeks as a new mama bed ridden and not able to do any of the things I had dreamed about. And even though I was sicker than I had ever been, I still pumped every 3 hours to attempt to get even an ounce out (and it never happened).
The week I got better, I found out my Mom had breast cancer. Two weeks after that, we found out that my 3 year old niece had brain cancer. They both had surgeries shortly after that and THANK GOD they are okay. When I was in a daze and crying most of the time, I just remember thinking how the heck is the world still acting normal and going on like everything is okay????
And most recently, when we miscarried our third baby, I became even more aware of how you just never know what someone is going through. We lost our baby on a Wednesday and I chose to work that weekend. Some people knew what I was going through and others had no clue. I would have a lot of normal conversations with people and in the back of my head I just kept thinking "if you only knew, right now, at this moment I am losing my baby".
Okay, I realize that was all super depressing and it probably made me sound like I was having a pity party....which, if you know me at all, you know that is not how I roll. My Mom and niece are both in remission which is the most amazing thing, my son and daughter are both beautiful and healthy, and I will meet our third baby (Reese) in Heaven one day. It has just been so heavy on my heart that we really don't know what is going on in someone's life. So when you have to wait a little longer in line because someone can't get their act together, remember that you don't know what challenges they are facing. And when someone seems distance, pray for them. God knows what is going on. And for the love, please do not tell someone she is a bad mother for the way her child came into this world.
Since I spend most of my time around either small children and playdates or at the church, I have the opportunity to meet a whole lot of people, all in different situations and circumstances. To be painfully honest, I have spent 97% of my life wondering what they were thinking about me and my life. But recently, God has really opened my eyes to some things...
Way back in 2008 when I was a new mama who had her world rocked by a pretty traumatic birth and recovery, I had my first wake up call to "you never really know what someone has gone through or is going through right now". For the record, I realize that having the ability to carry children is a huge blessing and I do not take that for granted, but I also don't think I should have to hide what I went through. I would do it a million times over again, but it was tough. I remember people telling me how natural birth is the way to go and how c-sections are just plain evil and thinking, you clearly have no idea what happened in that room. If they would not have taken him by c-section, we both would have died. How am I a bad mother for that? (For the record, I would have loved a natural birth.) And then the breastfeeding comments. Oh the breastfeding comments. One time a stranger came up to me and asked me why I was giving my child formula when I could hire a wet nurse. WHAT???? My story, had she bothered to ask, was that I had a severe infection after delivery and I spent my first 3 weeks as a new mama bed ridden and not able to do any of the things I had dreamed about. And even though I was sicker than I had ever been, I still pumped every 3 hours to attempt to get even an ounce out (and it never happened).
The week I got better, I found out my Mom had breast cancer. Two weeks after that, we found out that my 3 year old niece had brain cancer. They both had surgeries shortly after that and THANK GOD they are okay. When I was in a daze and crying most of the time, I just remember thinking how the heck is the world still acting normal and going on like everything is okay????
And most recently, when we miscarried our third baby, I became even more aware of how you just never know what someone is going through. We lost our baby on a Wednesday and I chose to work that weekend. Some people knew what I was going through and others had no clue. I would have a lot of normal conversations with people and in the back of my head I just kept thinking "if you only knew, right now, at this moment I am losing my baby".
Okay, I realize that was all super depressing and it probably made me sound like I was having a pity party....which, if you know me at all, you know that is not how I roll. My Mom and niece are both in remission which is the most amazing thing, my son and daughter are both beautiful and healthy, and I will meet our third baby (Reese) in Heaven one day. It has just been so heavy on my heart that we really don't know what is going on in someone's life. So when you have to wait a little longer in line because someone can't get their act together, remember that you don't know what challenges they are facing. And when someone seems distance, pray for them. God knows what is going on. And for the love, please do not tell someone she is a bad mother for the way her child came into this world.
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