Life in 2015

I had started to write "a day in the life" post about... a month ago??? It has been so long since I started it, that I can't remember exactly what happened that day. So I decided to just do a broad life post. How homeschooling is going and life in general.

I guess the biggest change that has happened since my last post is that we have moved in with my parents for a while. As I'm sure you could probably tell from previous posts, our credit isn't in the best shape. And my parents being the best in the world, offered for us to move in for no more than a year to help us get out of debt. I'll never forget their generosity as long as I live. Inviting a family of 5 (soon to be 6) to live with you is a BIG deal. But so far it has been going really well. :)

You may be wondering where we all fit :) Here you go!!

In one room :) And just when you thought that I couldn't get any crazier!!! But you know what?? It's really not that bad, and I actually mean that.
I think the family of five sleeping in one bedroom deserves an entire post to itself, so stay tuned!!


Other then that, the days have been starting out around 7:00-8:00 (if I'm lucky).
They have been filled with lots of this...

Load after load

  And this....

Mess after mess



And this....

Living in the bathroom

BUT they also have been filled with lots of this

My sweet daughter's smiles



And this....

Hours of these two playing together

 

 

And this....

 

Playing with Daddy

There really is never a dull moment around here. I can vaguely remember a time when I used to be bored. It was before kids entered the picture. lol. I would choose the crazy, loving, chaos over being bored any day.


Homeschool preschool has been going great!! I can't believe how much Bear is learning. I have really tried to focus on reading quality books with all three of them, and having a laid back fun approach to learning. Here are some things we've been doing.

                          

                                        

 

 We read "The Carrot Seed" and found all of the carrots that were mixed in with our foam letters. We were going to do it a second time, but Bear and Bunkin couldn't stop eating the carrots. lol

 

We read "We're going a Bear Hunt" and worked on our numbers in the teens by hiding a bear behind the cave numbers, then trying to guess which cave the bear was under. (Bear wanted his transformer in the picture :) )
We also took scissors outside, cut grass, and hid a counting bear in a tub of grass to find. We used our hands and then tongs to make it a little harder.


Lately we've been doing Christmas things. We're going to go cut down our tree this weekend, so this week is going to be all about Christmas trees.

 

We've been reading "The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree". My aunt had given this book to me and my sisters as a Christmas present when we were kids, and it's really a fantastic book. You should check it out.
I printed off a do-a-dot paper from pinterest, and wrote some upper case letters on the paper and matching lower case letters on the stickers. Bear then matched the upper and lower case letters, and he got every one of them right. :)
We also made a Christmas tree forest using play dough and a cookie cutter, then we "decorated" them with some pinto beans that we already had. Bear wanted to have 7 beans on a lot of them, so he would see how many he had on there already, and then quickly tell me how many he needed to still add. I was very proud of him. I think math will be a strong subject for him. :)


I'm loving having these precious days with my kids. They are hard and tiring, but so worth it. They all three get so excited when we sit down to have our reading time together. I can see they are already starting to form "relationships" with books. We'll take them to the library and they'll get so excited to see a book that we've already read together and beg to check it out again.
I'll be playing with them or doing "activities" (as we call preschool things a lot) and they'll come over and hug and kiss me or Bear will say "I love doing activities with you."
It warms my heart to no end.

Knowing me and the busy life I lead, I probably won't get to post again until after Christmas, so here's to wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and may God bless you all in the New Year. :)

On Purpose

Yesterday I went to a young man's funeral. He was only 22 when he passed away in a car accident. I have known and loved him and his family for a long time, and I was heartbroken for them.

The funeral home ended up being standing room only. It was such a testament to this young man and how much he was loved.

It really impacted me. Everyone talked about how much joy that he had and how he really truly loved people.

One thought has stayed in my mind. We should all live life like that.
Even if you live 100 years, life is still so short. We are reminded constantly how short life is, and yet we still don't always treat it as the beautiful gift from God that it is.

We squander our time. Life should be lived on purpose every single day.

I believe that this is one of the biggest lies that satan (his name DOESN'T deserve capitalization) feeds us. WE HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD.

We can reprioritize later.
Forget the hours that we spend on meaningless pursuits, we're busy and deserve them right?
Forget the hours we slave away at jobs just to get a little farther ahead then Joe down the street.
Forget the broken relationships that are screaming for reconciliation. That person doesn't really deserve it.
Forget getting your life right with God. He'll always be there later.

It's all a bunch of lies.

satan wants us to feel comfortable with the time that we have, so that we don't live on purpose every single day, when really that should be our biggest priority.

So the next time you go to get on Facebook, think about it.
The next time you feel pressured to keep up with the Jones', think about it.
The next time a person that you need to forgive crosses your mind, think about it.
The next time you're reminded of God, REALLY think about it.

If we really all lived on purpose, the world would be a different place.

The Mommy Zone

There is something that every mother develops little by little over time after she welcomes her second child home. Her own inner "zone" that she goes to when she feels like screaming and crying. Maybe I had it when it was just Bear.... it's honestly hard to recall only having one kid lol.

I can remember the first day that it was just me, Bear and Bunkin. I was TERRIFIED. I obviously knew how to take care of a baby, and a 20 month old.... but not at the same time!! My husband had wonderfully taken a few days off after Bunkin came home, and then my mom came and helped off and on for a few days after that, but eventually, I had to be all on my own.

It was lunch time. Bear was crying, Bunkin was crying, and I was crying! I ended up calling my mom to have her talk me through who to feed first, and how to get it done quickly because I felt like I was going to pass out!

Oh how I've grown since then.

I'll also never forget the first evening that we didn't have dinner delivered to us when Boo was born. (If you are pregnant, PLEASE line up some people to bring you food that first week the baby is home. You have enough going on to worry about dinner time. I'll gladly bring you something to eat!)

Anyways... time had gotten away from me (hmm I wonder how??) and suddenly everyone was HUNGRY including Miss Boo, which also meant everyone was howling their faces off.
I went into desperate mode and started to make the boys some fried eggs. My husband tried to calm everyone down, but they were having none of it.
I was so frantic that I forgot to put oil in the pan first, and when I went to check on the eggs, they were burning and smoking horribly.
So now, I have three screaming children, a smoky house, and a frazzled mom and dad. I threw the pan in the sink, slapped some peanut butter on some bread, threw some chips on a plate, and let the boys watch their favorite show while they ate their nutritious dinner. ;)
I wearily sat down with Miss Boo so that she could nurse. I look over at my husband, and we just loose it. We go into complete hysterical laughter. I think we were both thinking, "What in the world did we do??" ;)

But, the mommy zone is like any muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. When everyone is hungry at the same moment, I don't even bat an eye anymore. When I'm trying to use the bathroom and Bunkin sneaks in to turn on the sink to play in it, Bear is opening the door to see if Daddy is home yet, and I remember that I forgot to put the pack-in-play in front of the stairs (our makeshift gate) and Miss Boo is zooming up them, I usually just sigh.

Sometimes though... it gets tested. Like yesterday for example.

I had decided that we would eat our afternoon snack of grapes and milk outside today since it was so nice. The only thing I didn't account for was the bees that were hungry for grapes too.
Apparently, Bunkin is TERRIFIED of bees. I mean total freak out including screaming, shaking and crying uncontrollably. I literally had to shove all three of the kids inside and close the door because they were frozen in fear. I left the grapes outside, the bees could have them!!

I ushered the still crying boys into the living room and told them to sit down and calm down while I got them more grapes.
I went back to the kitchen to find that Miss Boo had pulled one of the bags of grapes off of the counter (two were sitting there),and they had spilled all over the floor where she was trying to eat them. MAJOR chocking hazard. I scooped her up and placed her in her high chair with some sliced grapes to munch on.
I get the boys their grapes and hope that they will calm down. It appeared they might until a fly landed on Bunkin's hand. Holy Moly, I have never seen a child so distraught. He of course thought it was a bee, and no matter how hard I tried to convince him, he refused to believe that it wouldn't hurt him. He kept on repeating, "Shoot him mommy. Get him." I of course would have, (killed it, not shoot it ;) ) but the fly was no where in sight.
He climbed on my lap and continued to scream and cry for what felt like forever. It didn't help that Bear kept on saying "I think I see the fly!!" He was legitimately concerned for his brother, but had no idea he was making it 10 times worse. Miss Boo has also become an empathetic crier. Anytime one of her brothers cries, she has to wail too.

That's when my phone went off. My sister was asking if we could watch her kids while her and her husband ate and grocery shopped alone. (We had owed her babysitting for MONTHS now, and every time she asked, it never worked out.)
A light bulb went off in my head, I could get Bunkin away from the fly, and me from the crying!!!!

I try to get things ready, but Bunkin wants me to carry him around everywhere because he is still so scared. I get the keys and Bear puts his shoes on, but then I notice that we are missing one of Bunkin's shoes. (It's ALWAYS one shoe) I go upstairs to search, and in the meantime misplace the keys I just had in my hands. The climbing all over me and screaming were a teeny bit distracting.

I decided that I'll take the kids to the van, and come back in and find them. I couldn't think with all the noise. I pick up Miss Boo and try to usher the boys outside, but Bunkin refuses to follow unless I carry him. He sits by the door screaming like a banshee until I come back to get him. He is not a light little fellow either. By this point, I'm sweating like crazy, my mommy zone was starting to scream a little too loudly, and I notice that I'm trying not to whimper lol.

I come back in and search for a good few minutes till they finally turn up. That's when I hear the high pitch screaming coming from the van. I run out there, and Bear informs me that he saw a bee on the window, and of course told Bunkin all about it.
By this point, I'm hoping to get out of the house before Child Services shows up. Our neighbors aren't too bad, but it was an awful amount of screaming lol.

I finally pull out of the driveway, and notice that I'm shaking all over, and gripping the steering wheel a little too tightly lol.

My mommy zone sure had a work out yesterday. Maybe it knows it needs to get stronger for when our newest addition arrives this March :)

(Oh and we returned home late last night with grapes still all over the floor ;) )

Living Defeated

I haven't posted in a while. I love writing about things that make people laugh. Honestly, I love laughing. It's very involuntary sometimes.... just ask my family. ;)

But the last few weeks have been really hard for me. It all started with a picture, one that I allowed to cause me pain.

It sent me down a spiral that wasn't pretty. Through everything that I've been through the last couple of years, I would get mad at God for a moment, and then turn everything back over to him. This time, I hate to admit, I got mad and stayed mad.

Even though I know who created me and that I am beautiful and wonderful in his eyes, I still struggle with feeling like trash and not enough for anyone.

Because I am crazy ;) and have 3 small kids and one on the way, I have a hard time finding time for devotions and prayer, and I started beating myself up for that too. I decided that my efforts were not good enough, so I wasn't going to do it at all.

I tried to withdraw from everyone, including my husband, but he was having none of it. He would pray for me, play encouraging songs for me, and just hold my hand and tell me that he was there for me. It meant more than he knows.

But, God, as always, broke through my anger. He whispered truth into my hurting heart.

The enemy would say... "Your obviously not good enough" He would say... "You are my peculiar treasure and I love you."

The enemy would say... "You are an awful friend, that's why you don't have very many" He would say... "You are a great friend. You've always wanted to help people. How could you understand them without ever feeling pain yourself?"

The enemy would say... "God has abandoned you." He would say... "I will never leave you nor forsake you. Don't mistake me for the actions of others and the hard circumstances of life."

In a nut shell, I had been living defeated. I don't want to anymore, and I don't have to anymore.

One of the songs my husband played for me is this the one I posted above. The first time I listened to it, I didn't like it because I didn't want to hear it. Now... it's my new favorite song.

Just know that if you are living defeated, you don't have to either. I hope you enjoy the song :)

The Bedroom and Boo

Have you ever shared a bedroom with a one year old??
If you're lucky, probably not. Well my husband and I are not so lucky....

When Bear was little, we lived in a one bedroom apartment. We moved into a three bedroom house when he was 10 months old and I danced with glee to put him into his own little room. From that night on, he has slept every night all night (unless sick... yeah don't hate me ;) )

Bunkin was born in the three bedroom house, and he graduated to his own room at the ripe age of 3 months. I wasn't messing around this time. Privacy is a LUXURY.

Poor Miss Boo has never had her own room, and who knows when she ever will. lol She's slept in our room since day one. It hasn't been bad at all really. She sleeps deeply and has even become immune to Daddy's alarm clock every weekday morning. ( I of course am immune as well, which is amazing until I need to set an alarm for myself to wake up... Oops....)

It has been good so far, that is until recently.

For some reason even though she sleeps through the entire night, EVERY night she will wake up within an hour of falling asleep in her crib. Normally all we have to do is give her her pacifier (or pacey as it's known in this house) and she'll fall right back to sleep.

She hadn't been asleep for long last night when my husband and I went to bed. The boys had been looking out the windows in our room a few days before. Not a big deal, except that there is a VERY bright street light that will shine right in my face unless the blinds are down.
I had suffered through a few nights of the imposing light and had decided that I had had enough. I very quietly walked to the window and listened as the string made a single click to pull the shades down.
The next thing I knew, Miss Boo started screaming.

 

I couldn't believe that the single click woke her up. I tried giving her her pacey and soothing her, but she was having none of it. So I held her for about fifteen minutes, and when I thought she was asleep I stood up to take her to her crib.
Her eyes POPPED open the second I took a step.
Beyond tired at this point I thought forget it, and laid her in her crib. It seemed like she was going to go back to sleep, so I set on the bed. And then.... her head popped up.

Quick as a cat, I flung the top part of my body back onto the bed, and tried to "play dead". After a few moments I squinted to see what she was doing. She had a very confused look on her face.

 

Finally, she gave up and laid back down. I was praising the Lord by that point. Having your feet on the floor and the top half of your body laying down is anything but comfortable.

I started to SLOWLY creep my way up the bed. But Miss Boo, with her ninja like senses, could instantly tell that her Momma was on the move.

 

We played this game of me creeping up the bed and her little head popping up for probably a good ten minutes before my head hit my pillow.

I look over to see my husband happily snoring away. The only thing that stopped me from shoving my pillow down his throat was knowing that Miss Boo would definitely hear that.

Prayers that my beautiful little girl sleeps ALL night tonight. :)

Raising Brothers

It's been a while... I wonder how many times I'm going to start a post like this lol
In a nutshell, life has happened.

Kids got hand, foot and mouth
I started a new business as a consultant with Usborne Books and More (I'm sooo excited!!)
Controversy exploded EVERYWHERE as they made a law to let gays marry
You know... the norm ;)

I've been to busy to be inspired to write anything. As I told my husband yesterday, it was a good day because I remembered to brush me teeth that morning, got all three kids down for a nap (and took one myself) and even got to take a shower!!!

One thing I think that most writers can agree with is that inspiration can strike at the strangest times. Mine happened as I sat resting on the couch after dinner. I convinced my husband to have the boys help him clean up dinner. Every mom dreams of their sons growing up and being gentlemen right?? Well, I do anyways. :)

Listening to the boys talk back and forth made me think of the truths of their relationship. I didn't have any brothers, and from watching my own sons, and other people I know, I think it's safe to say that all brothers have a love/hate relationship. lol

One of my favorite things to listen to, is them talking to each other while they're trying to fall asleep. It is just so sweet :) They really do love each other.

It's so cute watching them play nicely together as well.

On the other hand.... they like to torture each other.
Poor Bunkin is terrified of the water spraying out of the shower head. He calls it rain shower. Anytime it comes on when he's in the bathtub, you would think I was literally killing him. Bear knows this, and so sometimes during a nice peaceful bath he loves to whisper "rain shower". Bunkin goes into a screaming fit that closely resembles the baby from Disney's The Incredibles.

One of the few reasons I hate living in a townhouse is the constant fear that because of a bathtub episode, we'll be having Child Services knocking on our door.... lol

Bunkin gets revenge though. We have a step 2 toddler table that I bought for $5.00 at Goodwill recently.
Side note- Goodwill is honestly my favorite store... yeah I know. I'm weird. Around where we live there is a REALLY nice one, and I seriously get giddy when I walk into it. More on this in a later post.
Anyways, the table came with 2 chairs, a red one and a blue one. For some very odd reason, they red one is coveted. No joke. We're talking Smeagol from the Lord of the Rings here.

I try my very best to convince them that the blue one is just as awesome. I'll say, "Blue is one of Mommy's favorite colors." Technically this is true because I'm one of those people who can't really decide on a favorite color, and if I do, I change it within a year or two. That's normal.... right??

But try as I might, I cannot convince them that the blue chair is just as amazing as the red one. So anytime that Bunkin knows that it might be time to sit at the little table, he runs to the red chair and plops down on it. This of course results in me telling Bear that he will get a turn in the red chair next, and to calm down or he's going to time out!

I also never realized that boys actually enjoy wrestling each other. They're 4 and 2, and it's happening already. What is it that makes boys want to beat each other up.... for fun??? I'm not sure I'm ever going to understand that.

Awe brotherly love. There really is nothing else like it. I thank God that he gave both of my sons a brother. I pray almost everyday that they'll remain close as they grow older. My mom always told us that "Friends come and go, but you'll always have your siblings." I hope to instill that wise council in them as well, and help them to cherish the beautiful relationship they already have.

For Better Or Worse: Our Journey Surviving an Affair

I didn't think I'd be writing about this already.
I had planned on writing a post about the amazing vacation that me and my entire family just took.
I even started writing it.
But... it just didn't feel right.

I started feeling God pulling at my heart last week.
At first I was like... "Umm wait! You want me to write about this already?? Are you sure??"
But after talking about it with my husband and much prayer, we know that He's sure.
So here we go...

Almost 2 years ago, my marriage suffered an affair.
It's funny how you never think that something bad like that could happen to you. Sometimes I'm still in shock. But, it happened.

I could go on and on about how stressed out our marriage was right before it happened, but I'm not going to. That really wasn't the issue.
And even though I still struggle with this, the issue wasn't me either.
Depression, low self esteem, and past emotional baggage helped in my husband making the biggest mistake of his life.

I'm convinced that there is no word in the human language to explain the kind of pain that it caused me. I think the only thing that could touch the pain would be loosing a child. And even so, I'm sure it's a different kind of pain.

Immediately after it came out, I was swamped with enormous pressure and stress. Biblically, I was allowed to divorce him, but what was I going to do??
I kept on picturing our sons (ages 2 and 9 months at the time), and what their lives would be like in both scenarios. I felt so responsible for their futures, and I was terrified of screwing them up.
This went on for a few days. My family was amazing during this time. They told me that they'd support any decision that I made... But the bottom line was that I had to make it.

Then, one night as I was praying, this huge realization hit me like a ton of bricks.
The decision of if I should stay with my husband or not, was actually NOT MINE.
If I was the sold out follower of Jesus Christ that I claimed to be, then this life decision, like all the others, was his, and his alone.

Surprising as this may sound, I was so relieved!!! Finally, all of this pressure was taken off of me. All I had to do now was to search God with all my heart, and he would direct my paths.
And you know what?? He did!!
His message rang loud and clear in my heart and mind.
Love him with my love, Lindsey. Stay with him, and love him with all that you've got.

And so, I did.
Don't get me wrong. It's been anything but easy. Loving him has been easier than the forgiving part, but even that is going good! (I could go on and on about forgiveness, but I think I'll save it for another post ;) )

The bottom line is that 2 years later, I am more in love with my husband than I ever have been.
One of my favorite parts about the vacation that we just went on, was the car trips. We drove to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Including bathroom breaks and stops for food, it took a good 8 1/2 hours to get there. I loved every minute of it (expect for when I wanted to scream from the kids whining ;) )
I got to spend it talking, laughing, singing songs at the top of our lungs, playing road trip games, and holding hands with my best friend. My husband.

 My favorite picture of me on vacation. Who am I smiling and laughing at? You guessed it :)

 

My favorite picture of my husband on vacation. This is what he looks like when I think of him. :)

I couldn't imagen my life without him. We do everything together.
The other day, I asked Bear a series of questions about "Mommy" that have been floating around Facebook. One of them was, "What is Mommy good at?" His answer was, " Throwing the Frisbee and playing ball with Daddy outside. That's all you're good at."
I laughed at the end part, but inside I was thrilled!! I'm so glad that he's noticing that Mommy and Daddy enjoy spending time together, even if it's just being silly together outside.

I'm sure that there will be many more posts in the future of this blog concerning our experience with surviving an affair, but for now, I'm glad the truth is out there.

Last night, as we were holding each other and just about to drop off to sleep, I told my husband that my love for him is deeper and sweeter than it ever has been, and he whole heartedly agreed.

Thank you Jesus for directing my paths, and despite the pain, making them so sweet. :)

One of my favorite pictures of us ever. This was taken after the affair. The plaque says it all.

The Duggars and Redemption in General

I was shocked as I'm sure that you were to hear the news of Joshua Duggar come out. To learn that child molestation was in his past at the age of 14 was not something that I thought to be possible.

There are so many thoughts that come to my mind when I think about this whole ordeal. The first one may be surprising to you.

It makes me like the Duggar's more

I have loved watching 19 kids and counting ever since the show started. They are such a wonderful HUGE family that are very inspiring and encouraging to watch. They were even the first family that got me interested in the idea of homeschooling my children.
But.... I always had one complaint. They seemed TOO PERFECT. Their children were always well behaved, their house clean, and they're 100% debt free. They seemed to find the perfect balance with their time as they found time to write books, speak at conferences, take missions trips, learn musical instruments, develop a deep relationship with Jesus AND have a hit show.
Don't forget to mention the way all of their children so far have chose to have the perfect courtship including not even kissing until their wedding day.

I don't know about you, but watching a "perfect" family on TV can be encouraging, but it can also make you feel a little less about yourself. I know the thought has crossed my mind that I wished that I had done things this way or that way like the Duggar's, but I hadn't.
It's a great testimony in living out your life the right way, but sometimes people need to know that you're relatable. That as a Christian, you are in fact not perfect, but just a sinner that God saved.


It is his own personal testimony

Josh Duggar was ONLY 14 when he made his huge mistakes and has since repented of them. He is a man now with his on family and 15 long years has passed since the fact. I find it horribly wrong that people are putting him down for mistakes he has done in the past. I understand it coming from non Christians (now a days they'll use anything and everything against us) but not from Christians.

This is a redemption story, and in all reality a huge part of his own personal testimony. He sinned, (and according to his family and police reports) and then repented and got counseling and/or mentoring and has been a changed creature in Christ ever since.

Why in the world are Christians putting him down? Everyone has sinned, and to God all sin is the same. This is something that I believe Christians now a days really struggle with. They seem to completely forget that once people have repented of what they had done, and are working hard on changing, that their job is to stand by them and be encouraging. In all reality sometimes it seems to be the opposite. They throw stones at you while you're already down because they are disappointed in you or what not.

I do not think that this is what God wanted, not at all.

Joshua Duggar has already shown great integrity by stepping down in his position with Family Research Council. I personally have nothing but prayers and support for him and his family as they wait to see what God has for them next. Who knows, maybe God will be able to really use his past now to minister to others. Our God is amazing at turning bad situations into some good.


I hope another network picks up their show

I hate it that TLC has canceled 19 Kids and Counting. It makes no sense to me that something that happened 15 years ago is the cause for their show canceling. It was a very popular show and I know that many people are going to miss getting to share life with this precious family, me included.


Anyways, that's my thoughts on the whole ordeal. I really pray that us as Christians can really understand redemption the way that God does.
We tell ourselves that God has taken OUR sins and has cast them into the bottom of the deepest sea, never to be remembered ever again, but we are the first to remember EVERYONE else's sins. We need to pray for compassion and love for others.

 

Will you join with me and pray for these things?

Easy Home Learning

Bear's preschool homeschooling curriculum came last week!! We are doing Before 5 in a Row.

 

So far it has been awesome!! We started with "Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear"

I can't tell you how many times he has asked me to read it to him. We have read it WAY more than the suggested five times. It's no wonder. The books that come with the curriculum are simply beautiful. The story lines are great and the pictures captivating.

Some of the books you receive with the curriculum 

Here is one of the activities we did with Jesse Bear. It was a big hit!

Dressing Jesse Bear

(if you are interested in this activity, here is the link http://preschool2prek.blogspot.com/2011/08/before-five-in-row-jesse-bear-and.html)

One of the things that the Five In a Row mind set has taught me is just how simple learning at home can really be. Before, I was pretty overwhelmed with what to use, how to do it, and just the hugeness of the undertaking. But now, it has made me realize that learning at home can happen all of the time in a gentle, fun manner.

Our main reason for choosing to homeschool is that we want our children to learn to love learning. We want them to cultivate a learning spirit that they will always have with them, far after they graduate.
In order to do that, I need to make learning normal and done as often as breathing (okay not that often, but you get the idea!)

Here are some of the things that we've been doing lately.

 

Cheerios and Daniel Tiger 

 



 Making Veggie Tales out of potatoes and talking about potatoes

 

 

 

 

Reading the Bible out loud to them while they're playing

 

 

I've only just scratched the surface with homeschooling, but I can already tell that it is making me a better mother. It has changed my whole out look on what my days should look like with my children. It has changed what I consciously think about talking with them.

 

On car trips, I used to just turn on the radio. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE music. There is absolutely nothing wrong with good wholesome music, but I don't turn it on as much. Instead I ask them about what they are seeing around them. If they seem interested, I may take the time to talk to them about how God made everything, or answer any questions they have.... which at 4 and 2, they have A LOT!!

 

I wake up more excited to spend the day with them and to gently learn things with them. You may be thinking, "well isn't she miss perfect!!!", and NO I am the furthest thing from it. I was literally counting down the hours till bedtime tonight. It was one of those days.

 

 

 

I am telling you this because even if you don't choose to homeschool, I do believe that learning always begins in the home, and I want you to realize what a joy it can be. It can be done in a relaxed manner that you can incorporate in your everyday life. 

 

So that's my two cents for now. I think I hear my bed calling my name. :)

 





Laughter is Truly the Best Medicine

A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.

-Proverbs 17:22

 

One thing I am good at is laughing. My friends used to always get mad at me because I would ALWAYS laugh whenever they got hurt. Of course if they were really hurt I wouldn't have laughed.

 

                                        

This movie is soooo my humor

 

I get it honest though. All of the women in my family do it. I have to really bite my lip at times to keep from laughing when my children fall down or what not. The last thing I want to do is give them a complex!

Lately I have come up with an even better use for laughing. Extreme stress for me now normally results in laughter.... lots of it.

Tonight was one of "those" nights. My husband works for an elevator repair/maintenance/developing company. On occasion he has to work over and will miss dinner. I was expecting that this would be the case tonight and decided to fix waffles with some yogurt for dinner. On nights when I've had the kids all day to myself, I'm in need of an easy peasy dinner. 
The kids have been a little on the fussier side this week. Miss Boo is in the process of getting her first tooth (yay!!) and the other two just seem more tired than usual. I'm guessing they're growing... like always... ;)

While making the waffles, Miss Boo was loudly letting me know she was hungry in her pac-in-play, Bunkin was trying to wash the few dirty dishes that were in the sink and decided to start stabbing my new sponge with a knife, and Bear found the container of chips that I had not found the time to put away (imagine that) , on the table, and was happily munching away.
I hurriedly got the waffles done, slapped a waffle and yogurt on the plate for the boys, and tore up a piece for Miss Boo to start on. Things were going to finally be quiet right??? Wrong!!!

Never again will I consider waffles to be an "easy" dinner. Somehow in the craziness of things I had forgotten how Bear will completely and totally freak out if a part of his food tears or breaks before he wants it too. I have worked really hard on telling him that it still tastes exactly the same and that it's okay, but on nights when he's tired, there's no convincing him.
I eventually had to send him to time out because he was still screaming and crying hysterically after I tried to calm him down. While he was in time out (still screaming) Bunkin managed to fall off of his chair. This of course resulted in lot's of tears. While I was checking him over to make sure that he wasn't REALLY hurt, Miss Boo (whose waffle was gone) became very upset that Mommy wasn't shoveling food into her mouth every 5 seconds and screamed her little head off.

So one child in time out screaming and crying, one child crying his eyes out because he fell of his chair, and one impatient screaming baby all at the same time.

What did I do?? At first I started to cry. It had been a very long day and with no end in sight. But then.... I started to laugh, and laugh, and laugh.
Eventually things calmed down. I got Bear out of his foul mood by singing a silly kids song with funny voices and jazz hands, and the boys even helped me clean off the table when we were done.

This has been a trend in my life lately. I've been through huge amounts of stress in the last few years, and for the past year, I have taken to laughing about them.

Don't get me wrong, it's very involuntary. Most of the time I can't STOP laughing once I start. My husband of course teases me that I'm loosing my mind.... and maybe I am!

But I feel that in a way that it's something I've learned.

This saying is so true. I feel that through all of my trials, I've learned that all of it doesn't really matter. Life will go on. God will still be there. You can make it through ANYTHING with God on your side.

I feel I laugh as a stress relief, and because I know that in that moment, things are not as bad as they may seem. And they will get better.
God will make beauty out of ashes, if you allow him too.

We all know how good laughter is for you. In case you want a reminder here's a great link by the mayo clinic ---> http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress-relief/art-20044456?pg=1

Since I want you to experience some of the great benefits of laughter, I'll leave you with two funny things Bear has said this past week

1. My husband was going to drop me off at a store, and take the kids to another one, and when he told Bear that we were going to drop Mommy off at the store he said, "Are we going to go buy a new Mommy at the next store?? I like my Mommy!!"
2. It had been one of those long days and I was trying to get the dishwasher loaded when the boys came up and just HAD to have drinks right that second. I told them to hang on a minute, and when they continued to pester I made a low growl out of frustration. Bear said, "Use your words Mommy!"

Hope that made you laugh!! Till next time :)