Impress Them on Your Children

Sometimes I feel that being a mother automatically enters you and your child(ren) into a competition of sorts. It seems to never fail that at some point in conversations with other mothers it turns into: my son is sleeping through the night...at 3 weeks old; my daughter is potty trained...she's not even 2; my son can say and write his ABC's... he's 4 months! I know that a lot of it is just being a proud momma excited about the new milestones, but I feel like so much emphasis is placed on how early we can get our kids to do things such as learning their ABC's, numbers, reading and writing, etc. Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad thing, but for me, I decided it's not at the top of my list.

Our pastor has been doing a sermon series about family. Last Sunday, his sermon was based on Deuteronomy 6. Verses 4-9 says this: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give to you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates."

I want to impress God's word onto my children. I want them to learn the character of Christ. I want them to know Him personally and trust in His death and resurrection. This is what I want at the top of my list for my children.

I was challenged on Sunday. Am I really doing this. Is praying at meals/ before bed, watching a few episodes of Veggie Tales, and reading some Bible stories with my children enough? Maybe. But I really felt lead this week to be more intentional about teaching God's word to Stella and Sam. The teacher and creative side of me decided that I would start being intentional by picking a Bible story and memory verse to learn for one week and then do an activity (craft, song, etc.) that ties into the lesson. I found a lot of great ideas at www.dltk-kids.com!

This week we have been reading Genesis 1- the story of creation. The kids made rice crispy treats shaped like the earth. This was to help them with their memory verse: God said, "I made the earth." Isaiah 45:12.



Even more than being intentional about setting time aside in our day to read God's word, I need to make sure that I am modeling for my children what it looks like to be an ambassador of Christ. After all, things are caught. Not taught.

"Will Potty For..."

Toilet Paper?!?! Ever since Sam was about 6 months, I would sit him on the potty before bath time. For the past month or two, he has been grabbing the potty seat and placing it on the toilet. So tonight as I was filling up the bath tub, he was getting his potty seat ready. I put him on the toilet and turned off the bath water only to turn around to find him peeing...on the floor (I guess we'll need to work on the whole pointing it down thing)!

I was so excited, but even more excited that he could stop it mid-stream and ask for toilet paper. I gave him a piece of t.p. and told him to try again. And what do you know?! He turned it back on and asked for more toilet paper! This went on like this about 6 more times! With this sort of control, we might be a diaper free household soon! Stella would potty for chocolate malt balls and it seems that Sam is perfectly content going potty for toilet paper!

Fourth Of July

I think we are finally recovering after a very busy, activity filled, 4th of July weekend. We spent Sat. at my in-laws. My mother-in-law has agreed to teach me how to sew. I know just the very basics, but want to learn more. I am working on a secret project for my mom. Hope it turns out! While we there, Stella ended up with the stomach bug that Sam has had for the past week. Thankfully, her stomach bug only stuck around for 24 hours!

Sunday, we went to a friend's house to watch a parade. It was a small town parade, but I loved it! It was Stella and Sam's first parade experience! Stella and I sat on the curb to watch. OK, we sat by the curb mainly to catch the candy that was thrown! We got a good stash and Stella was happy to share with Sam and her daddy! They seemed to really enjoy the parade (and the popcorn and Popsicles). Stella kept her ears covered while the fire trucks, tractors and such passed. She is does not like loud sounds. After the parade, we ventured on to another friend's house for a cook-out. We stayed just long enough for dinner. Our kids were beginning to go on shut down mode which usually entails not listening and some defiant behaviors. We wanted to escape before there was a scene to be made.

Monday, Rich and our plumber friend started on the basement half bathroom. They worked all day and got it all framed in. The kids spent the day with cousins while I went grocery shopping and cleaned the house for a showing. Dinner time was spent with family for another cook-out. I don't think you can have too many of those!

I'll end today's post with a funny little story from last weekend.
Stella: "Mommy, what are we going to have for dinner?"
Me: "Burgers."
Stella (gasping with excitement): "Daddy! We're going to have boggers for dinner!" To which I proceeded to ask if she wanted hers on a bun!
Happy Friday, all!

Night and Day

Night and Day...my yesterday and today. We had a complete turn around today. Great listening, good manners, sharing, getting along, playing together/alone, and nap time! Thank you, Lord!

Night and Day...boys and girls. I enjoyed watching Stella be mommy to her dollies today. She took such good care of them: wrapping them in blankets, feeding them their bottles, pushing them in the swing. Sam, on the other hand, was completely engulfed with his cars: lining them up, pushing them under the swing, making sound affects. It was just another little glimpse of how different boys and girls are!

I asked Stella how many babies she had and she said 2. I asked her how many babies I had and she said 3. A little curious as to why she said 3, I asked her who they were. "Me, Sam and Daddy!"

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

So I am exaggerating. My day wasn't THAT bad. It was just one of those whiny, push all your buttons, I'm not listening, I don't like it, "NO, Mommy!" days! Have you ever had one of those?!

I put the kids to bed early. 7p.m. on. the. dot. Sun still blazing, but I didn't care. They were tired (Alright, I'm not going to lie. I was tired)! Do I feel guilty? Not about putting the kids down early, but for my lack of patience and bad attitude, absolutely!

Days like this make me so thankful for the grace and forgiveness I receive freely through Christ. I am grateful that He gives me second, third, fourth... seventy times seven chances because I definitely need them!

I went up stairs to check in on my munchkins and found my precious babies sleeping so peacefully. So soundly.




I wanted to wake them up, snuggle them and play with them. OK, just kidding. Sweet dreams little ones. I love you and I will see you in the morning.

"Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:21-23

Flapjack Fun!

I love the weekends! Weekends mean that Rich doesn't have to work and we get to hang out as a family. This morning I decided to surprise Hubby with one of his favorite breakfast foods- chocolate chip pancakes! The kids really like to help me in the kitchen, so help they did! They were busy helping me dump, mix, and of course, taste the ingredients! Mmm...the sweet smell woke Rich up and we all enjoyed a fantastic, flapjack, fun-filled, family breakfast!



What do you and your family enjoy doing together on the weekends?

Getting Along

It truly warms my heart when my kids are getting along and playing well together. The other morning I awoke to the pitter-patter of little feet running through the hall way. It was Stella. She was running to see her brother. She burst into his room (thankfully he was already awake) and began talking to him in her "motherly" voice. "Goodmorning, Sammy! Did you sleep good? Do you want some more milk? Ok. We will wait for mommy to get it. Do you want to read some stories?" From my room, I listened to her read "Goodnight Moon" and "Hugs are Special" and I listened to them giggle. They were getting along!

Today was another one of those days! We had a beautiful, cooler morning which allowed us to take a bike ride down to the park and play with our cousins. After naps, Stella and Sam splashed in the pool (or the "duck pond" as they are calling it), ran through the sprinkler, rode bikes, ate popsicles, and chased each other up and down the slide! What a great day!

Just Like Daddy

Everyone we know and meet says that Sam looks just like his daddy. I even had a lady ask me if he was mine! I assured her that yes, he indeed was mine. I remember the pain..ahem...I mean the joy of carrying the little rascal for 9 months.

My son not only looks like his daddy, but he tries so hard to emulate him. I first realized this the other day while Sam was brushing his teeth. He gave his teeth a little scrub with the brush, then leaned over the sink and made the cutest little spitting noise, "puh". Then he started coughing. I thought maybe he had gagged himself with the toothbrush, but when he did it again, I knew exactly why he was coughing! He was being just like daddy! It made me smile and reminded me just how much our kids really watch what we do!

I hope that as Sam grows up he will continue to take notice of his daddy and the great qualities he possesses: the love he has for our us; his love for the Lord; his willingness to provide for our family and how he does it with a joyous attitude; the spiritual leader he is; his wisdom; his playful nature. I do hope that Sam will grow up to be just like his daddy. I love them so!

Sweet Praises

It was bed time and bed time in our household comes with a routine which consists of baths, teeth brushing, family story time, followed by prayer time. This particular night Stella asked if she could sit behind the rocker and pray. I said yes and was taken back when she actually started praying. Her little hands were folded, her curly head bowed and her button eyes closed. She began, "Dear Jesus. Thank you for this day. Thank you for the beautiful weather. Thank you for mommy, sammy, me and daddy. Thank you that uncle R., M & S could come to our house today. Thank you that we could make cookies. In Jesus name, Amen!"

So innocent and so genuine were her words. A prayer, her first prayer, filled with sweet praises to our father above. My eyes filled with tears and my heart swelled with great desire for her (for all my children) to grow to know Him as her personal Lord and Savior.

Jesus said, "Let the children come to me and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14

Perfection

Perfection. That is what keeps me from trying new things and keeps me from enjoying a lot of things. It is something I struggle with almost daily. Trying to be perfect and trying to make everything perfect is exhausting!

I've always wanted to start a blog. In fact, I started one three years ago after the birth of my daughter and soon after, I quit. I tried again after the birth of my son, and after only writing a post or two, I quit again. "My words aren't good enough. My layout isn't right. My background isn't cute enough." Who cares, right? The perfectionist in me cared. But, alas, I have grown weary of being haunted by perfection and am ready to take baby steps to change. This blog will be a new challenge for me and a good one at that!

So, here I sit. Computer at hand, my blog title unaligned and a background I'm not crazy about. But I will write. I will share. I will leave stories and memories of my little ones and the footprints they leave on my heart. Ready? Here goes....our journey in words.