Having parented

The last few weeks have been particularly hard, parenting wise. I love being a mama, but if you have little ones, you know what this means. Some weeks are good, some weeks are just hard. It doesn't take some big huge thing to throw you for a loop. It could be something small, but it still rocks your world...and just because it's small doesn't make it any less significant.

There's just so much that goes along with raising little ones, knowing you're responsible for how someone turns out is pressure-filled, to say the least. There's just so much at stake. Yes, they have their own personalities and can make their own choices, but we help shape and mold them. Parenting is such a blessing, but it can be difficult too. And becoming discouraged is so, so easy. I've been discouraged about 450 times this week alone. That is why I am so grateful for people, for prayer, for truth, but mostly for Jesus.

I read an article today called Don't Carpe Diem. If you are struggling with your little ones and need encouragement, read it. She talks about how everyone always tells you to enjoy every moment of parenting, because they go by so fast, but that way of thinking just doesn't work for her. It, in fact, makes her panicky and paranoid, and makes her feel that if she's not living in that constant state, then she's doing something wrong. Do you know why I love this article? It's raw, honest, and you know what? I think it's ok. I think it's ok that she doesn't love every single second of parenting. It makes me feel like something isn't wrong with me because a lot of times, I feel that way too. Parenting IS hard, but there are good moments too. She says it like this: 
"Last week, a woman approached me in the Target line and said the following: 'Sugar, I hope you are Enjoying this. I loved every single second of parenting my two girls. Every single moment. These days go by so fast.'
There was a famous writer who, when asked if he loved writing, replied, 'No. but I love having written.' What I wanted to say to this sweet woman was, 'Are you sure? Are you sure you don't mean you love having parented?"'


So true. While I don't always love parenting, I love having parented. And I love my kids. So, so much. 

Things I am most grateful for this past week:
My husband. He is having a hard time also, but I just love him. He can admit when he's struggling, and while he's struggling, he still encourages, supports and prays for me.

My accountability group and my sister, who have lifted us up so fervently in prayer and with encouraging words.

The promises and hope I have in Jesus. That I can trust Him. Without His help, I am certain I would not be able to do this.

If I have any words of wisdom, it's this. Hang in there. Keep at it. And you are not alone. :)

Household delights (no, this is not an oxymoron)

"Caring for a house has never been easier---and harder. Easier because we now have so many products and services at our disposal to help clean, organize, maintain, renovate, and repair a home. Yet understanding and using these products and services takes time that we don't often have."

Confession: I am a sucky housekeeper. Sure, I have tools that help me to be a better housekeeper. But, I still have to work at it. I am not a naturally "like-things-to-be-clean" person, and I have no idea how to organize, which is why I always have to seek outside resources for help. My biggest desire is to best take care of what has been entrusted to me, my husband, my kiddos, and my house. And I need lots of help, people. I'm always reading books on how to organize, how to cook, how to parent, how to best love my husband, how to teach my kids, because, let's face it. I really don't know that much. Whenever I think I do, God shows me every time that He is the only one who has all wisdom. I am grateful for this. So, while I haven't even come close to having it all figured out, I do like to gain as much knowledge and wisdom as I can. But, I have to be discerning about what I read. I don't read just any ole thing. With that being said, I got a few books from the library that I'm super excited about reading.

Do you struggle like I do? I really do think we can gain wisdom on these things, we just have to look for it. And we don't have to be burned out on it either. We can find joy in learning about and doing these every day things! Crazy, right?

The quote above is from one of the books I got from the library. This book:

And here's the other:

It's one thing to read a bunch of information, but another to put it into practice. What is the point of just reading to gain knowledge? In my opinion, it only works best if you use the information you were given and share it with others. My goal is to pick one thing from each book to try this next week. You might even see it on next week's Duties to Delights Challenge. 

Who wants to try something new with me?

Spinach leaves!

I used to hate spinach. Even now, I have to make myself eat cooked spinach. I don't hate it anymore, but its definitely not my favorite. So, when I discovered bagged spinach leaves, I was in love. We eat spinach salads (even Jude eats this!) and I put the raw leaves on my sandwiches and wraps. It's an easy, healthy way to add some nutrition to my diet, and the bags of spinach are very reasonably priced. You can even try the organic option if your budget allows. If you're looking for an easy way to add some nutrition to your diet, try raw spinach leaves. Yum!

With that being said, its menu time. Here it goes:

Wednesday

Rotel chicken (bumped from last week)

Thursday

Small group night, easy dinner for the kids

Friday

One pot mac (like homemade hamburger helper, with local beef)

Saturday

Chicken ceasar salad and homemade bread

Sunday

Leftovers or sandwiches

Monday

Baked fish and veggies

Tuesday
Turkey paninis

Wednesday

Group night, easy dinner (maybe homemade pizza)

Thursday

Pork stew

10 things to do with your boys

I read an article that someone wrote about things to teach your boys. It got me thinking. Since I am still learning what it means to raise little boys who will one day be men, I was inspired to write my own post of things I currently love doing with my boys. Things I know they love and think will have a lasting impression on them.

1. Read to them.
They love to hear your voice. Heck, try doing different voices. They will love that even more!

2. Encourage them
Boys need encouragement. Well, all kids do. But in having boys, I've noticed that they really crave my approval. The way Jude's face lights up when I've praised him on something is the best. We will always be their #1 cheerleader, and they will probably always want us to be.

3. Play superheros with them, build forts with them, play in the dirt with them
These are all things girls don't normally like doing, but my boys love it...and sometimes we just need to get out of our own worlds for a little bit and go into theirs.

4. Hug them
Little boys need hugs from their mamas. Sometimes if we're on the road to Memphis, or anywhere where we're in the car for a long period of time and the boys are crying, I'll reach back and just hold their hands...they instantly calm down.

5. Explore with them
Whether it be outside, or trying to figure out some kind of toy or game, the need for adventure is ingrained in our little men. You won't always be invited on their adventures, so take advantage of it while you have the chance.

6. Jump around with them (yes, even on...gasp...furniture)
Most people have a "no jump on the furniture" rule, but in our house, we really don't mind it. Sometimes we have to throw out the stuffy rules and just have fun. It works for us!

7. Cook with them
They love it and their wives will thank you someday! Yes, it is messy, and yes, it will take much longer than doing it by yourself, and sometimes you may end up with food all over you and the floor. Clean up is not that hard, and the memories you make will be worth it.

8. Wrestle
My boys love to dogpile on Mommy. Most of the time I get hurt because someone jumps on my head or something, but I will never regret these moments. They always involve laughing and I'm glad for the times where we are laughing so hard we can't breathe.

9. Look at them when you talk to them
This is very important to Jude, and also important to me. He always says, "Mom, look at me!" when he wants my attention. You really know that someone's listening if they're looking at you.

10. Chase them
My kids beg for this...when Mom is feeling up to it, I comply. Nothing gets squeals quite like running in circles, trying not to get captured.

My advice is this: Even if you don't do any of these specific things with your kids, pay attention to what your kids love and do those things with them. It doesn't matter if its fishing, or playing ball, or doing a science experiment. Every kid's interest's are different, and they will love that you take an interest in what they love. For every time you sacrifice your time, or sacrifice doing something you love, you build them up. They may even take those sweet and fun memories with them into adulthood.

Shelf life

I've been working on a post for several days, which is why my blog has been blank since last week. But I came across a site today that I thought was so helpful and wanted to pass it on. But first, I wanted to share a few things I learned from the site...

Did you know that you should always hold off on washing grapes until you’re ready to eat them?

According to the California Table Grape Commission, the reason is that the excess moisture created by washing speeds up the grapes' decay. To keep grapes at their freshest, store them unwashed in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. As noted here, fresh grapes usually keep well for up to a week in the fridge; you can also freeze grapes for future snacking or use in cooking. (I had no idea you could freeze grapes. How did I not know this??)

Quick tips:
Store tomatoes at room temperature
For maximum flavor and juiciness, keep them out of the refrigerator until they're full ripe. (This is really helpful, I always keep mine in the fridge)

Freeze whole lemons and limes
An easy way to ensure you've always got fresh lemon and lime juice on hand when you need it.

Don't store eggs and milk on the fridge door
For maximum freshness, move past the door and keep eggs and milk in the main compartment of the fridge.

Don't store potatoes near onions
They should only come together when you're ready to cook them. 

Here are a list of foods that are surprisingly freezable:
Opened wine
Eggs
Brown rice (uncooked)
Butter
Milk
Nuts
Fresh herbs
Tomato paste
Bread (I freeze my homemade bread frequently and freezing works well)
Maple syrup (100% pure)

All of this comes from a handy site called stilltasty.com: your ultimate shelf life guide. It has just about every food you can think of, how long it stays good in the fridge and in the freezer, and other good information too! Check it out!

Kid's play and menu delights

The holidays are finally over, which means we are officially back on track...with exercising, with housework, with life in general. Lazy time is over. I haven't done any purposeful teaching or reading or anything since early December, so I thought it was about time to get back on track with that. 

We pulled out a few puzzles and games and started at it. 

The game they're working on in this picture is this:

This game was a Christmas gift from Jude's good friend Jack, and he loves it. Its a really neat little deal. There are 16 different puzzles that are designed to make kids think by counting, sorting, categorizing, creating spatial relationships and color matching as they build more and more complex puzzles. I highly recommend it. If you want to get one, you can get it HERE. 

Aaaand, it's menu time, so I'm going to jump right into it:

Tonight
Leftovers

Thursday
Chicken fried rice

Friday
Homemade pizza

Saturday
Rotel chicken

Sunday
Leftovers

Monday
Fish sandwiches (cod) and steamed veggies

Tuesday
Pork chops, potatoes and spinach salad

Wednesday
Small group/easy dinner night

Just a few things

Today is not a typical Monday. Ross took a few extra days off work, so we've been hanging around in our pjs, curling up to watch movies, playing outside, sword fighting, pretending to shoot webs out of our wrists like Spiderman, doing lots of dog-piling and wrestling, and enjoying our time together before things go back to normal the day after tomorrow. I didn't leave the house once and I even got a hot, relaxing bath in. It was glorious.

On a totally unrelated, but helpful note, one of my favorite sites, The Frugal Girl posted something neat the other day. Her post was entitled A Simple Air Freshener, and it's something I never thought about before. I love scented candles, but apparently, the fumes they put off are really bad for you, and the good ones can be expensive. She suggests boiling a few things, like spices, (in this case, it was an orange peel, cinnamon sticks and whole cloves). What a great way to get your house smelling yummy without harmful fumes entering your lungs, or having to spend a ton on candles!

Or you could just bake some bread or some cookies. Both make your house smell equally delicious! :)

And here is my weekly photo challenge picture:

This is me playing outside today in my monkey pjs. They were the very first gift Ross ever gave me, which happened to be my birthday, not long after we started dating, 6 years ago. The exciting fact about these is that I haven't been able to wear them in years, but was able to put them back on about 4 months ago. Yippee!!!!

A few New Year's resolutions that I thought of for myself:

• Spend less money on crap
• Get involved in the MCP Project 12 (an online monthly photo challenge contest, to grow my photography skills
• Finally learn how to use my sewing machine
• Connect with and get to know my neighbors more

Happy second day of 2012!