Refereeing boys

In my opinion, being a referee is probably one of the most exhausting parts of being a parent. I love having boys, and I love that they are so close in age. Building and playing in forts, dog piling, playing in the dirt are all things this mama loves doing with her boys. What I don't love? The constant competition between them, the fighting over toys, hurting each other on purpose. No kidding, Ezra busts out in tears at least 40 times every day. They really do love each other and play together greatly, but they do the thing where they play and then they fight. And then more playing and more fighting. Play, fight, play, fight. It can get tiring trying to deal with that a billion times a day. I'm find myself thinking that I should just let them duke it out. They are boys after all. 

We are constantly trying to teach Jude how to be kind to his little brother, and to his friends. Anyone who thinks people are inherently good has not had little kids. Jude can be flat out mean. No one had to teach him this, but his mean side most definitely comes out, and more times than I'd like to admit. 

I've been praying for Jude and with him that God would help him to be more kind. It sometimes seems like we're getting nowhere. There are many days I get discouraged, so discouraged that I want to just give up all together. But then I came across this book today:

I have no idea who gave us this book or where it came from, but I've seen it around our house and have never taken the time to read it to Jude. I don't know why, honestly. We read tons of books from the library, but we don't read much of our own, for some reason. 

But I'm so glad I read this to him. This book is so cute! It's about the little boy (Seedling) and how he's mean to his kitty cat and the cat runs away to hide from him. But at the end, he learns how to be sweet to the kitty and they become snuggly friends. And at the very end of the book, it has a verse that I wrote on our white board that I will remind Jude of every time he is mean to his brother, or to anyone else. 

"Let your gentleness be evident to all." Philippians 4:5 

I am so encouraged by this answer to prayer, that the Lord gave me this to help in training and teaching both of them. Maybe this will help keep a little more sane too. What do you think? How about you mamas out there? How do you teach your children to be kind and gentle to others? 

Rantings on life and change

Life is tricky. It seems that as soon as you get to a comfortable place, things change again an in an instant and you're having to get used to a new routine, or a new way of life, or a new something-or-other. Unless you are a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants person, which I'm not, you like comfort. I guess its never good to be too comfortable. How can you grow if you're always in the same place, never moving forward?

This is on my mind because we are currently job hunting. I have no idea what God is going to do with this, but change is coming, I can feel it. Nervousness, excitement, dread, anxiety, sadness, joy, readiness, how can one person be feeling so many things at once? Change is good, but it can be hard. Especially when you have little ones. The Lord is preparing my heart for change though, He is helping me to view it as a delight and not a duty. Most people dread change. I don't want to dread the future! 

On a totally unrelated note, there is going to be no menu plan post this week. Obviously with Thanksgiving coming up, we're going to be with our family for most of the week. A few things got bumped from last week, so I won't even grocery shop until we get home. I am so looking forward to being with family and eating lots of yummy food, like this:

Turkey, gobble gobble!

Who doesn't like green bean casserole?

Hashbrown casserole might just be one of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes

And especially this...

yummmmm

What I am responsible for cooking this year:

Zucchini and squash casserole (I made this either last year or the year before, and my sister suggested I make it again; I'll post the recipe this week)

Corn with salt and lots of butta (Ross doesn't like casseroles, so I like to have some simple veggie options for him to eat)

I wish I could encourage you to eat healthier or less on Thanksgiving, but I would be a big ole hypocrite. This is my favorite time of year to eat and I will not hold back much...I will probably just run/exercise more. :) 

DtD Challenge #6 - PLAY!

Kids are fun. I forget how exciting new experiences are and how easily amused they are. It is a really sweet thing when their eyes light up and you can hear lots of giggling. You can see the wheels in their heads turning and there's pure curiosity and enjoyment there. It makes me wish sometimes I was back there, to an easier time. And then I realize how crappy the teenage years were and there's no amount of sentiment, or money for that matter, that would make me go back in time. I am surprised grateful I survived it. 

I have been attempting to think outside the box as far as activities to do with the kids during our learning time. I came across this website, called Play at Home Mom, which is really neat. If you need some good ideas of fun things to do, check it out. BUT, be aware, their website and some of their activities can be somewhat overwhelming. They have had time to develop a great art center at home for their kids, which I think is so great. On the other hand, we don't currently have the funds to grow our art supply cabinet quite yet, but we do have some things. But I love their ideas, especially this one! 

So, here bodes the question, did I get back on my homeschooling groove this week? The answer is yes and no. I decided that I was trying to do too much structured learning and not enough learning through playing and sensory activities. So, I have decided to do less of the subject type learning stuff and more of the hands-on experience type learning. Learning should be fun...not just something to be checked off the list and drudged through. We've been doing a lot of reading, crafting and even did some puzzles this week. And this idea below of playing with water beads from the Play At Home Mom website, and decided to try it out. 

I got these water beads at the Dollar Tree in the flower arranging/vase section. I dumped them in a big bowl with measuring cups to scoop and dump.

They were like, what are these weird feeling things?!!?!

They loved scooping, dumping and letting the beads fall through their fingers. 

Of course throwing them was really fun. (this is Jude's throw face)

Ezra enjoyed throwing them too. We also stomped on them and threw them again the house. I thought it would be a fun experiment to do different things to them and see what happened. Throwing them against the house and watching them explode into a billion pieces was Jude's favorite thing. 

I will add that if you do this with your children, watch them closely. You won't want them putting these in their mouths. 

We also did puzzles this week! (I never realized how hard it was to take photos in my kitchen. The lighting is horrible!)

Even though I always feel like I'm being lazy on this part of being a stay-at-home-mom, I'm going to try to do more crafty things, hopefully doing that contact paper tree activity this week, and we're starting our nature study group the Monday after Thanksgiving. I'm really excited about that! Hopefully this next week will be more productive in the learning/playing department.

I probably won't do a Challenge next week because it's Thanksgiving, so I may just share some ways I've incorporated healthier/more eco-friendly practices in our daily lives. Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Fun wives unite!

I saw this on pinterest today and I laughed out loud and teared up at the same time.

Ok, I might be a little weepy, I am likely to cry at the drop of a hat these days. These last few weeks have been hard on this girl. But, this made me a little emotional because I think its awesome. Beyond awesome. And I was convicted when I saw this. 

Wait, I know what you're thinking. This girl probably has no kids and has no idea what it's like to have kids at this time of day, to be with them all day long and then to PLAY with my husband when he gets in? Riiiiiiight. That'll never happen. 

I want to be the best wife to my husband that I can be, and that God wants me to be, but I have to admit, I've not been the most fun wife these days. I've been stressed, exhausted and emotionally spent. I don't think I actually realized that until I saw this pin on pinterest. And then I was reminded of a book that I love (that I will post on sometime) on marriage and on being a great help-meet to your husband. She talks about how men are attracted to smiles, to a merry heart. And she suggests greeting your husband when he comes home from work with a smile. Then I realized, I haven't been very purposeful in doing this. I can't remember the last time I smiled at Ross when he came in from work. I may not be able to nerf gun fight with him when he gets home every day, but I can have fun with him in other ways. And I can smile and him and tell him I'm glad he's home. 

Sometimes we get so consumed with our kids and their needs, we tend to forget about our husbands and their needs. I know I do. I need to remember that I'm a wife first, mommy second. When we pay attention to our marriages first, our parenting flows from that, and is better because of it. Let's die to ourselves, make an effort, and be fun, attentive, loving wives. 

Now who's with me?

Time-management

Confession time: I am horrible at time management. I am not even sure I should be writing a post on this. I can admit I've never been good at this, but especially since being a stay-at-home-mom. I love to be lazy, sit around and zone out. Thankfully, God is changing that part of me and after lots of prayer and relying on Jesus for His help every minute of every day, I think I am a little better at it. Not great, mind you, but better...and I thought I could share some things that have helped me. 

1. Get off the computer and/or tv. I used to spend so much time on the computer, it was hindering my ability to take care of my family properly. Don't get me wrong, I still spend some time surfing, blogging, facebooking, but not near as much as I used to.

2. Try to get as much done during nap times as possible. If your kids are too old for naps, it might be good to implement some kind of "quiet time" or play-alone time in their rooms in place of a nap time. This is when I get my blogging done, laundry, shower, mopping, dusting, most of whatever is on my list for that day. Thankfully both mine still nap, but I think Jude is getting ready to give it up. That makes me sad. 

3. Knock out easy tasks first thing in the morning. Making my bed, getting laundry started on laundry days, putting clean dishes away can all be done not long after you get up and start the day.

4. Fold laundry while watching a show - it will help you fold quicker. Or, I heard an even better suggestion today. Pray for your children and husband while you fold their clothes. Pray specifically for them, as they go about their day, where they will go and what they will do. I love this idea and think I'm going to start doing it! 

5. Make a chore list, gals. And while we're at it, let's not even call it a chore list. That sounds like a list of duties and not delights. Let's call it a delights list. I want to share with you my delights list, because I was lost before I made it-and put it on my refrigerator where I will see it every day. HERE is mine, and that's just an example. Make one that works for you and put it somewhere where you can see it every day. I have to look at this thing every morning to see what needs to be done. My personality type is so that I like to check things off when they are done, so I have a little box beside each chore to check it off when I'm done with a task (which is why I have make bed on my delights list. Because, let's face it; if it wasn't on the list, I wouldn't do it) And be specific in your delights list. If you just write "Kitchen" on a certain day, things like wiping down the cabinets and appliances may get overlooked. Also, don't worry if you don't get to a certain delight on the day its supposed to get done. If I don't get to something, like mopping my floors, I either fit it in on another day, or save it til the next week. Things can get overwhelming if you keep stacking until you have 40 billion things to do and you give up doing any of them because its just too much to do! This way, if you want to have someone over unannounced for dinner or coffee, then you won't have to worry about running around crazy trying to get the house presentable.

6. Make a flexible daily schedule. I've found that if things don't get written down, then they won't get done. So, I schedule a time for just about everything. Even if we don't get our stuff done in the allotted time, its always good to have a goal, to have something to go by. I am not a militant, organized person by any means. Notice I said flexible. If anything, I am probably too laid back. But, I'm more likely to remember to actually do things like "outside play time" or "music time" if they're written down. (I also schedule outings and such. Tuesdays are our library days, Fridays are our field trip or play time with friends days, etc). 

I'll stop here for now and save the others for another day. I need to make a disclosure here: I have not totally mastered this. My house is not spic 'n span, in fact, there are clothes sitting in the hamper waiting to be folded and put away right now. I don't want to seem like I have it all together and everything is perfect at my house. And don't even get me started on how kids can mess up a house in 5 seconds flat. I live this every day. But with God's help, I work hard at it, and running a household, whether you are a working mom or a stay-at-home-mom is work, ladies. It's not drudgery work, or at least it doesn't have to be. You can be purposeful about your household/daily delights and be a planner, I promise things will go a lot smoother and your husband and kids will appreciate you more because of it. 

I found this thoroughly inspiring today as I write this post:

Menu planning

It's that time again, time to menu plan. I know this is probably a real boring post to read, but it has definitely helped me in my grocery shopping and dinner making. I don't buy extra food we don't need and therefore end up wasting, and if I need to know what we're going to eat that night, I just look back on here. I'm forgetful, I'll admit it. I'm also able to look ahead if the thought strikes me and thaw meat out the night before, so I am better at planning. And, I've found there's something that makes looking for new recipes and cooking more enjoyable It really has made the whole cooking thing less of a duty and more a delight. 

Weird, I know. Cooking as a delight, not a duty? I'm working on it! ;)

Here we go:

Monday
BBQ Chicken sandwiches (cooking the chicken in the crockpot smothered in bbq sauce to ensure extra yumminess) and corn

Tuesday (shopping day)

potato & broccoli soup and bread

Wednesday

Small group

Thursday

Fried Fish sandwiches (Cod) and sauted veggies

Friday

Homemade Chicken & Spinach Calzones or quesadillas and salsa, haven't decided which, and spinach salad

Saturday

Local beef cheeseburgers and baked beans (IF I get the beef. If not, I will have to substitute something here, maybe pork chops or pork stew) 

Sunday

leftovers or roast beef wraps

I just realized we're eating quite a few sandwiches this week...oh well! Ross approved the list, so now we'll just have to see if the kids approve when they eat it!

DtD Challenge #5 - FOOD!

I am really glad I have this blog to help me stay accountable. Even if only three of you read this, its super helpful to keep me from being lazy (mostly) and do the things I say I need to. Don't get me wrong, I'm still more lazy than I'd like to be, but it does help change some old bad habits...like procrastination, negligence, not doing certain things because I simply don't feel like it. I hope I am not the only one!

So I said last week that I wanted to cook 2 new recipes this past week, PW's Caveman Pops and this new salmon pasta pesto sauce dish. I am happy to report that I actually DID cook them both, and something even better than that is that my kids loved both dishes! Even my picky husband liked both dishes (the pops were a big hit all around). This is a huge accomplishment, and really can only be a blessing from and an act of God. So glad when things turn out better than you planned. In life, this doesn't happen too often, so I am grateful when it does. I even got a few photos for ya.

Raw turkey legs. I had to get very intimate with these legs to get that rub in there. I normally try to touch raw meat as least as humanly possible, so I just had to close my eyes, say a prayer and put my big girl panties on. 

After baking. The middle got a teeny bit over done, I was worried about it. Ross said it did not take away from the taste and in fact was delish. Hope he wasn't just being nice for my benefit...but like I said, he's usually pretty honest about everything. He knows I can take it.

Next week: I've got to get back into the schooling groove. I've gotten some ideas from a few websites, and I want to read/teach a new concept of odd and even numbers, so I need to get some materials and things together to actually start doing it. Who's with me? 

Proverbs 31:27 "She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness." This is what I want to live by this week. :)