So if you’re looking for a great Christmas present for your kids (and you!) then turn to this Bible. You won’t be disappointed. You can buy it here
The Jesus Storybook Bible
Potty Talk Part 2
So before I tried to potty train my daughter, I didn’t understand why potty training was ALWAYS a hot topic of conversation among mother’s who are in the midst of it. Now I do. You might remember our last efforts to potty train our daughter. Well, after a week, she got the basics, but just didn’t seem ready and to be honest, neither were we. A friend of mine had successfully potty trained her son a few months ago with a method she recommended so she sent me the link to this blog post. I have to say that it has been successful. What we were completely lacking the first go around were incentives for staying dry. Since we started doing that, she seemed to really get it (she turned 2 on Aug 5). (more…)
Toddler Lessons: Faith
A friend of mine recently related a story to me that struck me as typical of my life. She was dropping her oldest off at school and had to run back to the car to get her checkbook to pay tuition. Her middle didn’t want to run back through the parking lot with her so she told him to stay by the yellow fire hydrant on the sidewalk that was less than 4 cars away from their van. (more…)
Freezing Food in Bulk
Ten pounds of raw chicken, ready for the oven
Cooked and cooling
Packaged and ready to freeze
You won’t find me blogging about food often as it’s one of my least favorite topics in the world. But, the reality is that I do have five (always) hungry boys to feed, and they require said food a minimum of three times a day. So, it’s something I have to think about whether I want to or not. I get the dinner time blues a lot when trying to come up with something to make quickly that can feed a small army, but here’s one thing I started doing that has helped a lot with the stress of dinner time.
Toddler Lessons: Old Spoon, New Spoon
This is my daughter at the tender age of 5 months holding on to her spoon for dear life - she was sleeping at the time
Recently, we purchased new spoons and forks for my daughter since she’s actually using them now. The other day, I fed her extra sticky oatmeal so she could feed herself and not end up with oatmeal all over her lap. About half way through, she said she was “all done” and handed me the bowl. To that, I said, “do you want your new spoon?” She quickly took her bowl back and happily fed herself the rest of the oatmeal with her new spoon. It truly is amazing how exciting a new spoon can be to a toddler. (more…)
Toddler Lessons: Saying “NO!”
We have heard a lot of “NO!” in our house as of late. It’s especially bitter when the stiff arm accompanies the exclamation. We’ve been teaching our little girl that it’s not okay to say “no” to Mommy and Daddy. (more…)
Balancing Life
I don’t have 5 kids, I know that, but life can still get busy and crazy and I can get worn down pretty quickly. I won’t go into the drama of our busy lives, but suffice it to say, we hope we’re not in this season of life for ever. (more…)
Toddler Lessons: I want to hold your hand
There is nothing sweeter than stubby little hand wrapped around an adult finger. I love it when my daughter reaches up for my hand. The other day, we were in the car and she started to make some frustrated sounds and reach towards the front of the car. Usually, this body language means that she wants something. However, every time I offered her something like her sippy cup, a snack or a book, she would say “no” and push it away. Being that I was driving, there wasn’t much else I could offer her. So I reached my hand behind me (in a slightly uncomfortable manner – sure wouldn’t want to drive 10 hours that way) and she grasped my finger. Then all was right with the world. (more…)
Toddler Lessons: Contentment
Around 16 months of age, our daughter decided that she no longer wanted baby food, but only food that came off mommy and daddy’s plate. I really didn’t have a problem with this, but a lot foods we ate she wasn’t able to chew because all her teeth hadn’t come it yet. To this day, if we put it on her plate and she won’t eat it, all I have to do is (more…)
Toddler Lessons: Comforting
I’m really bad at comforting. I’m not sure if it’s my left-brain personality or what, but when someone else is hurting, I know next to nothing about the proper way to handle it. Of course, with a child, it’s easy. You pick them up, rub their back, kiss their forehead, tell them it’s okay and then send them on their way. Adults don’t respond so well to this approach. Can you imagine? (more…)