Archives For Raising Children

A Mother’s Day Blessing

May 12, 2012 — Leave a comment

With Mother’s Day tomorrow I think about my sweet little boy and the joy that he brings to our family. Mommy’s work is a constant… changing diapers, washing diapers (we use cloth), making meals, laundry, hugs when he needs it most, story time and the list could go on, but I wouldn’t change it for anything! Not every day is perfect, in fact some days it feels like nothing goes right and Eli woke up in a mood, but again it changes nothing. I love every minute of being a mommy. Right now at his young age he doesn’t realize what Mother’s Day is, and that is okay because I know that he loves me! So with all that said I want to give my little one a blessing for his future. I pray that in all my efforts, in every day mommy work I encourage and inspire him to be creative, be filled with passion, to seek God’s word daily and sprint towards God’s plans for his life.

With Mother’s Day approaching and everyone around us reflects on the work of moms what do you hope your children learn from your life? What blessing do you have for them?

I wish all the moms out there a Happy Mother’s Day!

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Perfection: The Art of Time Management

March 19, 2012 — Leave a comment

Time management. Enough said right? I have always been a person who manages their time and tasks right down to the tiniest detail, and then I became a mom and that particular quality has been challenged. I am sure you know what I am talking about right? Our jobs as mom are a 24 hour a day job, I literally can not have every moment of every day planned nor can I expect it to happen perfectly according to my agenda. Plus, I have to take a moment and look at the entire picture… yes I might need to dust, the folded laundry might need to be put away BUT my son also needs my attention as well when he is bringing me books to read or puzzles to put together. I have had to learn to “manage my time” so that those precious moments of reading books, finger painting and trips to the park don’t go missed. It can be easy to feel like we are not getting our jobs done as wife and mom when our attention is being pulled in nine million directions. But, that is not the case! Spend a little time putting laundry away and then dedicate all your attention to a fun book to read, save the dusting for another time. Not everything has to be done at once, take joy in the things accomplished in that day and not focus on the “failures” of what was not accomplished. Housework will always be there calling our names, how long will our children be little? Not long! Basically I think the biggest thing I have learned and would tell other moms experiencing this challenge is that “time management” as a mom is more about learning that not everything must be done right this second and that our children don’t stay little forever.

Photo Credit: Sean McGrath

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Raising Children: Being Intentional

March 13, 2012 — Leave a comment

“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

Last week a few of my friends and I went to a ladies night at church. It was such a great evening! One of the points that I loved and has stuck with me was intentional parenting. My husband and I have said many times that we want to raise strong Christian children and that’s what we try to do daily with our son. The thing about intentional parenting that really stood out to me was the daily aspect, the speaker talked about finding Jesus in the everyday moments and taking those opportunities to teach our children. We don’t have to wait until Sunday morning during their Bible lessons for our children to be taught about God’s word. No child is to young or to old to start. All it takes is a simple moment where we pray, read the Bible together or talk about the beautiful day God created to start the curiosity in our child to continue asking more questions about God. If we find a way to daily teach our children about God then it won’t be by chance that we raise a strong Christian child, it will be because we were intentional!

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Fun for Mom: Painting a Masterpiece

March 6, 2012 — 2 Comments

Every child loves to make beautiful artwork, and of course we all loved the satisfaction of hanging it on the refrigerator for all to see. I never gave much thought to finger paints before, but now as a mom I think about it. I want to make sure that the paints we use are safe and also affordable, that is why I have begun to make homemade nontoxic finger paints. It’s super easy, cheap and I don’t have to worry about any chemicals. There are many recipes online that come with a variety of ingredients but don’t feel intimidated because there are so many choices that you are bound to find a recipe that will work for you. Here is the one I use…

Ingredients:

Flour, water, food coloring (or fruit juices)

Recipe:

Start out with a small amount of flour (about 1/2 a cup or so) because you can alway add more later if you don’t make enough. Add enough water to make a paste then add warm water and stir until it reaches the consistency of paint. Add the food coloring and you are good to go! *you can replace food coloring with the juices from fresh/frozen fruit if you would like to make it even more natural

Only make enough for that day because it does not keep well, but it’s so easy to make that it takes no time at all to make a new batch. Hope you enjoy this easy and fun finger painting recipe, we already have made several masterpieces in our home

You can check out Green Oklahoma for more guest blogs I have written and you can also find other green craft ideas as well!

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Legacy: The Cookie Jar

February 29, 2012 — 2 Comments

I talk a lot about legacy and wanting to pass on traditions from my family to my son. One of the posts I wrote, Raising Children: Peanut Butter Cookie Tradition was about my gran-gone (what we called my grandma) and her amazing peanut butter cookies. I remember all the times at her house or even when she was visiting us, spending that time in the kitchen making lots of peanut butter cookies. Those memories bring a smile to my face. For the past few visits we have made to my husbands grandparents we have searched their antique shops for a cookie jar. Their town is a great place for awesome finds and we found such an awesome deal! We found an antique cookie jar for $5, that’s right $5! The moment I saw the price it was sold. When I brought it home and showed my mom she told me it was almost identical to the cookie jar my great grandma had! How amazing is that? I didn’t even realize that because I was so little when they passed, but after she told me I was thrilled. Now when I bake cookies my gran-gone and great grandma’s memories and traditions will live on in my kitchen with my children. I actually have cookie dough chilling in the refrigerator now and it will be the first time since buying our cookie jar that we will get to fill it with yummy cookies. I am so excited!

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