Natural Remedies from A Naturally Minded Momma

From the 4 little Ferguson’s blog archives:  All opinions and advice given in this blog are STRICTLY the opinion of Mommy of 4, Tonya Ferguson. Obviously you need to do what you feel is best and safest for your child based on your intimate knowledge of their “normal” behavior.

  Before I start, let me just say, I had a snarky comment yesterday that got me to thinking.  I want you to know, I share these things with you, because its something that I am passionate about.  It’s part of the way we chose to live.  

  I am not saying its perfect for everyone, I am not saying its the ONLY way to do it, and I sure am not saying it’s a way to GUARANTEE your child’s health through cold and flu season.  This is my blog.  Can’t I share what I am passionate about without judgement or rude comments?

Ok, off my soap box and on to your previously scheduled post:

Don’t you just love cold and flu season? Ugh.

Poor sick snotty coughing babies need extra TLC, but where do your turn? Rush to your nearest dr. at the first sniffle?

Go scan the shelves at Wal-Mart for SOMETHING safe for younger children to take?

Or turn to some natural remedies?

I am into Natural Remedies, BIG TIME! Over the 9 years of being a naturally minded Mommy, I have come to acquire an arsenal of favorites for each and every bug that ails us.  I will go through those today and show you my favorite ways to fight or treat these childhood illnesses.

#1: The dreaded cough. You know the one that keeps everyone up allll night long. After they pulled cough syrups off the shelf, we mom’s had to find another method of treatment. Here are our favorites:

~Vicks Vaporub on the feet (Put on socks) and chest.

Here is an article about it, it really works!

VICKS VAPORUB…

When we had a lecture on Essential Oils, they told us how the foot soles can absorb oils. Their example: Put garlic on your feet and within 20 minutes you can ‘taste’ it. Some of us have used Vicks Vaporub for years for everything from chapped lips to sore toes and many body parts in between. But I’ve never heard of this. And don’t laugh, it works 100% of the time although the scientists at the Canada Research council (who discovered it) aren’t sure why. To stop night-time coughing in a child (or adult as we found out personally), put Vicks Vaporub generously on the bottom of the feet at bedtime, then cover with socks. Even persistent, heavy, deep coughing will stop in about 5 minutes and stay stopped for many, many hours of relief. Works 100% of the time and is more effective in children than even very strong prescription cough medicines. In addition it is extremely soothing and comforting and they will sleep soundly. I heard the head of the Canada Research Council describe these findings on the part of their scientists when they were investigating the effectiveness and usage of prescription cough medicines in children as compared to alternative therapies like acupressure. Just happened to tune in A.M.Radio and picked up this guy talking about why cough medicines in kids often do more harm than good due to the chemical makeup of these strong drugs so, I listened. It was a surprise finding and found to be more effective than prescribed medicines for children at bedtime, in addition to have a soothing and calming effect on sick children who then went on to sleep soundly. Polly tried it on herself when she had a very deep constant and persistent cough a few weeks ago and it worked 100%! She said that it felt like a warm blanket had enveloped her, coughing stopped in a few minutes and believe me, this was a deep, (incredibly annoying!) every few seconds uncontrollable cough, and she slept cough-free for hours every night that she used it.”

We choose to use Baby Vicks for our youngest children. Its my understanding that they can get too much menthol, so we are cautious. It works great too!

In addition to Vicks, we….

~Do a Humidifier in the coughing child’s room. Sunbeam Humidifier is our favorite filter-less brand so far!

~Prop the head of their bed or crib up with 2 books under the legs.  This promotes drainage and can help eliminate the tickly cough.

~ Give them Buckwheat Honey.

Buckwheat honey, is a robust, dark honey made from the nectar of blossoming buckwheat grain. It made the pediatrician “handbook” and was recommended to us by our doctor one winter for 9 month old Avery when she got whooping-cough from big brother, who caught it from a little boy at school, despite vaccines.
Worked like a charm and we have used it for any kind of cough since.  It is thicker than regular honey and quiets for hours naturally!!!!  

Here is a great article all about it.

# 2  For very Severe Coughs, like the year our kids passed our whooping-cough, there is a home remedy that dates back to my Great Grandmothers day.  It involves a white onion.

Take your WHITE onion with skin on and bake in a 350* oven for an hour or until soft.  Cut a wedge out of the onion and carefully peel off petals. Careful, it will be very hot.  When you can handle them, test them on your inner wrist.  You want them warm, not hot, but not cold.  It will lose effectiveness if it is cold.

Lay baby on an ace bandage or sock and work quickly to apply the still warm onion petals across babies chest.  Secure snugly with sock or ace bandage and pin, dress child for bed as usual.

You will not BELIEVE how well this works to quiet a serious cough.  Plus, the onion naturally boosts the immune system, win-win!  No, warm onions do not stink, they smell sweet.  Yes, you may use the onion again the next night. NOT the ones on baby’s chest, toss those. Just put remaining onion in Tupperware to store.  Each evening, reheat the onion in the oven again until it is all used up.

We LOVE this method and swear by it!  We went from up all night with a different coughing child, to total peaceful slumber. AMAZING!

~Hyland’s Cough Syrup
For ages 2 and up.

You can buy the Night Time one Here and Day Time Here.
You can also find this at Wal-Mart. Alternate this with Buckwheat honey for a cough free day!

Speaking of Hyland’s, they offer a variety of homeopathics, which we LOVE!

We have a homeopathic for just about anything that could come up and love them.  It makes me happy that when I got to my medicine cabinet, these safe, natural remedies line the shelf.

My favorites are Bronchial Cough, Cough Tablets , Sinus, Sore Throat and Calms Forte 4 Kids when the children have trouble sleeping. And Bumps-N-Bruises with Arnica for falling down or night terrors.  {some of these not pictured}

#3  Ear Infections  We have kicked 9 out of 10 ear infections with this box of goodness.

Hylands Homeopathic, Earache Tablets {click name to purchase this product}

If the infection is bacterial, 3 days of this will usually kick it.  If it’s a chronic infection, then this will not work.  Most infections are bacterial, unless of course your child struggles with this due to other circumstances.

I can tell by the 3rd dose of these Earache homeopathics, that it cuts the pain, because my happy smiling baby comes back. I finish out the box as directed, because I want to for sure kick the infection, but there is NO QUESTION when it starts to work!

We once went to a Well-baby check up, just as we finished day 3 of this homeopathic.  The dr. looked in her ears and said he could tell she was just getting over an ear infection by what he saw.  No intervention was necessary, no strong prescription, because it was clearing up “on its own”.  This was proof to me that it does work and works well!  A 3 day natural treatment rather than a 10 day SUPER strong antibiotic??? Sign me up!

If you DO need to fill the prescription and do these STRONG antibiotics for ear infections, I highly recommend you follow-up with a month or more of Bifidophilus.  Or stronger and better YET, Probiotic Eleven! Get a high quality brand like Nature Sunshine, and keep it in your fridge.  This will help rebuild the immune system, which will have been knocked by the antibiotic, it will replace healthy bacteria inside the intestines, which is crucial, it will help prevent secondary infections.  Plus, it’s just an over all great immune booster!!!!

  #4  Sore throat  We go straight for our bottle of Ultimate Echinacea.  (Again my favorite brand is Nature Sunshine) It naturally numbs the throat.  Just tip your head back and drip down both sides of throat, hold then swallow.  I do this at the first sign of a sore throat and can kick it by the next morning.  You won’t believe how it takes the sharp pain away from your sore throat!!!!

We also like ALJ Liquid  for allergies or drying up snot, Lobelia Essence, which is used on the OUTSIDE of a sore throat, or dripped into the ears to treat fullness or pain.  I also keep VS-C on hand for anything viral or a cold.

#5  Snotty nose; green or clear:  1/4 tsp SEA salt {not iodized}, in 1/2 cup warm as you can stand water, sniffed up the nose.

I have my big kids do “1-2-3 sniff” as I squeeze a little eye dropper, probably 5 times in each side.  For the babies, I just lay them down and carefully put a 2 or 3 droppers full in each nose hole. I do this at the first sniffle or first green booger and can kick it in no time!!!

Snotty kids get this about 3 times a day, sometimes more depending on the severity of the sniffling.

Day 1, I hear less sniffing, by day 2, it is no longer green, by day 3, it is almost always gone, or at very least, back to clear in color.

Salt is a natural pain-killer and will dry up the snot.  It will also help with sinus pressure and pain.  DO NOT USE IODIZED SALT, it will burn like when you jump in the pool without your nose plugged!  GET SEA SALT, it’s better for you anyways!

#6  The Runs:  We choose to treat this with the BRAT diet.  Bananas, Rice (brown is healthiest), Applesauce, Toast. (we do whole wheat)  The child with the runs gets this breakfast, lunch, snack and supper for a day or two, or until symptoms subside.  Also during this time, we eliminate all dairy, which really makes things worse in this particular case, as well as any and all sugars.  We do no soda, no juice, just water!

#7  Infection of any kind: we have our pill swallowers swallow a single Garlic Oil pill several times a day until they kick the infection.  I just have my kids open wide and stick out their tounges flat, I toss it down their throats and hand them a drink. Easy Smeasy and cheap too, only $5!
For babies, simply puncture the capsule and squeeze a teeny bit of oil on the arch of each foot. {save the remaining capsule for the next day or treatment} Cover with socks you never plan to use for anything but this purpose.  In no time you will smell the garlic on their breath and know its being absorbed and used in their little bodies.  Garlic is an AMAZING immune booster!

#8  Influenza:  No, we do not do flu shots for a VARIETY of reasons.  I do my research at www.mercola.com and it told me all I needed to know about this subject.  Last year, when everyone passed around Influenza, even the people that got the shot, we heard about this product from my BESTEST BEST Friend:

The Homeopathic: Oscillococcinum!

Oscillococcinum has been shown in clinical trials to help reduce the severity and shorten the duration of flu-like symptoms. Temporarily relieves flu-like symptoms such as feeling run down, headache, body aches, chills and fever. Click on name to purchase.

 It works rapidly, with 63 percent of patients showing “complete resolution” or “clear improvement” at 48 hours. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, the recovery rate within 48 hours of treatment was significantly greater in the group that received the active drug than in the placebo group.

Unlike other flu medicines, Oscillococcinum has no known side effects such as drowsiness, and has no known or reported drug interactions. Oscillococcinum can be purchased at pharmacies, natural food stores and supermarkets.

Oscillo works best when taken early, so it’s helpful to keep it on hand. Take Oscillo at the first signs of flu-like symptoms.

Worked like a CHARM!  I plan to always have this in my medicine cabinet.  Every mom I talked to last winter could not believe the difference in how their children acted after taking this homeopathic!

#9 Fever:  Mommy’s seem to fear fever, but you don’t have to, because it’s a GOOD THING! I means their little immune systems are working to fight the bug!  If a fever is under 102* we do not give Tylenol or Ibuprofen. (there are obviously exceptions to this, like if they seem to be restless or in extreme pain)

We chose this based on what our doctor explained to us about not hindering what the body is trying to do by suppressing the fever.  Of course if it gets over 102* or they seem to have trouble sleeping because of it, we will give a fever reducer, but it is a LAST resort, not something I hand out at every head bump, sleepless night, or low-grade fever.

If you are concerned your child is getting dehydrated remember this, the pores of your child’s skin will “drink” water too.  A cool damp cloth on the forehead, or soaking in a warm bath will usually produce a potty diaper in no time.

Another thing we like to do in their warm bath, is open up ginger pills or dump in some white vinegar, both will naturally start the detox process and the vinegar naturally cools a fever.  (Never put a fevered child into a cold bath, always do a regular warm one.)  Our baby or child leave the tub hydrated and with a fever 2 degrees less than they entered it, and usually within the hour, have a potty diaper, or use the restroom.

Obviously if their fever is dangerously high, you need to seek medical help, but for normal low-grade and regular fevers, this has worked wonders for our poor hot babies.

Again, your judgment of your own child’s need for medical treatment always rules. These are simply my opinion and favorites for our kids.

Tired of waiting in a waiting room with a shivering fevered kid????  Then this winter, try some of these natural remedies!  They really work!

Hugs, hot tea & Sickie Soup,

~ T

Sniffles & Coughs & Pukes, Oh My!

It’s that time of year again, the kids are passing around all kinds of yuck at school and bringing it home to your non-school kiddos.  Today I’d like to dig into the archives and share 7 Healthy Habits for Healthy Kids.

Tomorrow,  I’ll share some of our favorite natural remedies.  We haven’t been to the doctor since Paxton was a baby, and that was for his well baby check up.  When we get sick, I have an arsenal of natural favorites!

Healthy Habit #7:  Staying Hydrated!  Have Water out and available for your kids at all times.  We have each child’s glass of water on the table and within reach all day long.  We also allow them to have a water bottle in their rooms.  We do not offer juice except on special occasions, as it turns into sugar in the body.

Now, after school, they can have an Emergen-C if they choose.  It has 78 minerals, 24 vitamins and a TON of Vitamin C.  It tastes like juice and is fizzy at first.  They love it!  You can get this at Wal-Mart in the pharmacy section in a variety of flavors.

* A reader was kind enough to inform me that they DO have a childrens version of this with only 250 mg of Vitamin C. {the adult version has 1000 mg} Too much of  a good thing is still TOO MUCH, so do only 1/2 or 1/4 of a regular packet for your children in less water. Or, check for the children’s version!!!!!!  Thank you,  Katy! 🙂

#6 Humidifier: we have this going non stop.  Dry air makes for tickly throats and irritated nasal cavities.  It also can dehydrate little ones and make it hard to go to the bathroom.  This in itself can cause them to be more apt to get sick because they are not releasing toxins as they should by using the restroom.

I would highly recommend getting a nice humidifier with no filter.  No filter means no extra place for bacteria to grow, and no more cost to run it other than the water to fill it!

See that red pan on top of the fire-box? It is filled with water and a few drops of essential oils.

These oils should kill bacteria in the air and help promote good health in our home. Even with the humidifier going in the living room, this pan of water gets filled every day because of how fast the water evaporates.

This should give you an idea of how dry your home is when the heater runs!!  Remember, a dehydrated body is more susceptible to illness.

Thieves and Thyme from Young Living.

Thyme Oil is a medicinal herb with anti fungal and anti bacterial properties.

Natural antibiotic
Thyme oil could work as an antibiotic. It could be used for treating infections of the respiratory tract, intestines and urinary tract.

Cures coughs and colds
Coughs and colds could be healed with thyme oil. This natural antibiotic could kill bacteria associated with infections of the respiratory tract. Moreover, thyme oil could be used as an expectorant.

More here.

Thieves Oil is a blend of five essential oils that are scientifically documented to be highly anti-infectious, antiviral, antibacterial, and antiseptic. Thieves’ essential oil is a safe and natural way to care for your family’s health. With the concern over swine flu-H1N1 and other infectious disease, this potent oil blend is a powerful way to support your family’s health and wellness.  Research shows that Young Livings Thieves Oil effectively interrupts the life cycle of bacteria and also interferes with the ability of viruses to replicate. Studies also confirmed that most viruses and bacteria cannot live in the presence of many essential oils.

More info here.

#5 Bifidophilus and Probiotic: these pills are great for boosting the immune and helping fight infection by putting healthy bacteria back into the intestines.

  I was just reading in Parenting magazine, that recent studies suggest that taking a probiotic supplement can dramatically reduce the odds of kids getting a fever, cough or runny nose during cold and flu season. And if they DO get sick, kids taking the probiotics tend to get better two or three days faster!!!!

We keep these on hand and in the fridge at all times.  It’s great because you can open these capsules and put them directly in your child’s mouth, or we have put it on a spoonful of food before too. It tastes sweet and they don’t mind a bit!  We do a whole capsule for the big kids, half of a capsule for the little kids.  These can be used weekly like a multi-vitamin, or anytime they spike a fever or seem to be coming down with something, we start giving one of these for the next few days till it passes!

Antibiotics are being OVER-prescribed, and DO NOT work on viruses like colds and the flu bug.  Just keep your kids home and help their bodies fight the virus.   Antibiotics are for bacterial infections like strep and pneumonia.   If you end up having to do an antibiotic, due to another illness, here is what you do:

 Keep in mind, that Antibiotics kill both good AND bad in the body, which means your child’s immune is now down, making them susceptible to the next bug going around.    As soon as they are done with their antibiotic, get them on Probiotics for the next 3 weeks.  Take 1-3 capsules, depending on your child’s age, and divide them out during the day.  This will put healthy bacteria and antibodies back into the body to combat the antibiotic.

Healthy Habit #4: Getting plenty of Sleep!

We tell our kiddos that your fighters fight hardest when you are asleep.  We want those fighters to beat up those bad germs, so its important to get plenty of sleep.  We work hard to stick with afternoon rest/nap time, as well as shooting for their 7:30 bedtime each evening.

#3 Silver Shield Spray: This stuff is AMAAAZING!  I first understood the benefits of this on our annual trip to Florida.  I heard Silver Shield from Nature Sunshine could be sprayed in the mouth, on hands and up the nose and it would help prevent bacteria and germs from entering the body for 4-5 hours.  Every time we flew on the airplane and breathed in that nasty recycled air, SOMEONE got sick.  Every single time.  It is no fun to have a sick kid on vacation.  So I tried it, spraying all of us: nose, mouth, hands every 4 hours and guess what? For the first time we got to Florida 100% healthy. Praise the Lord!

Silver needs to live in a dark, cool place.  It’d be best if I could’ve bought a dark glass spray bottle for it. (on the To Buy list)

Silver Aqua sol technology, the basis of Nature Sunshine’s NEW Silver Shield TM, kills bacteria, viruses, mold, and other pathogens on contact! It usually takes 2-6 minutes for silver to destroy 99.9% of these pathogens. Tasteless, it is safe to take Nature’s Sunshine colloidal silver, Silver Shield TM, every day, either for prevention or to treat an infection of some sort.

• Preventative dose drink 1 teaspoon per day and allow its broad spectrum activity to kill bacteria, viruses, and yeast in your body.
• If you are getting sick or going to be exposed to illness, are traveling, or under stress take 1 teaspoon 2 times/day
• For serious illness take 3-4 teaspoons daily

• A first of daily defense, providing prevention before you need a cure!
• Helps wounds heal in half the time, with half the scar, half the cost, and ten times the benefit!
• Kills bacteria in the body but protects probiotics!
• Kills candida without harming the good flora!
• Changes the way we treat pneumonia, tuberculosis, staph and strep infections!
• Completely non-toxic and safe at recommended levels!

1) Fine mist spray bottle: use for mouth, skin or most any other body surface. The silver is most effective when it is in direct contact with the pathogen for 2-6 minutes. Most adults have had success using the following amounts:

• Mouth 4 pumps
• Throat (for gargling) 6 pumps, or swish 1 teaspoon of colloidal silver in mouth for 2-6 minutes before swallowing
• Voice Spray 1-4 pumps, 1-10 times per day
• Skin as needed to moisten (for acne, ulcers, wounds, burns, etc.)
• Replacement for antibacterial hand gel. Kills both bad and good bacteria. Spritz both hands and have protection for the next 4 hours.
• Diaper Rash —improvement seen in 3 hours when the silver is sprayed directly on the rash.
• Disinfect – spritz on door knobs, faucet handles, sink knobs, hotel rooms, airplane seats/trays, etc.
• Purse Bottoms are the second most germ-laden location! Spritz and wipe off the bottom regularly.

Healthy Habit #2: Limiting sugar intake.  This means, NO CANDY! My kids rarely get dessert, and if they do it’s an inch by inch teeny-tiny square, but for sure not in the form of Candy if I have any say in it! 

Too Much Sugar

Every 7 Tablespoons of sugar consumed has the potential to knock your bodies germ killing capabilities by up to 40%!!!!!!!!!!!!  Sugar sweetened foods can knock the immune system down for hours.

“That means after ingestion, the noticeable immune-suppressing effect of sugar starts to decrease the immunity function in as short as 30 minutes and its effects can last up to 5 hours.” Source.

So, every time our kids eat sugar within 30 minutes it knocks their immune for up to 5 hours????  Ummmmm, no thanks!!!!!!

And my #1 favorite Healthy Habit for Healthy Kids is……

HAND WASHING!

  I am super OCD about Hand Washing, but I think it’s the number one tool in a Mommy Tool belt for prevention!  For adults too!!!!!

As SOON as we walk in the door from church, the grocery store, a friend’s house or even just playing outside…..we ALL stop in the laundry room, hang up our coats, then line up at the sink to wash.

The kiddos must use warm water and make lots of bubbles on their hands, and they MUST sing Happy Birthday TWICE while washing so they know how long to scrub.   I like to avoid Anti-bacterial Soap whenever possible.  You don’t want to strip the skin of some of its natural healthy bacteria, necessary to live!

  We are actually doing way more harm than good by coating our lives with antibacterial sprays, lotions, soaps and gels. In doing this so much, we are creating superbugs that will adapt and become immune to our products…which in turn could make us all very, very sick. Also, all these antibacterial products end up in septic tanks and sewage treatment plants, where they kill off the good microbes needed to digest our waste. We need germs in order to survive as a species! So next time you reach for the antibacterial stuff at the store, think twice – and realize that regular old soap cleans just as well without doing anything harmful to our germs or our environment.

More here.

Hope this helps! Come back tomorrow for some favorite natural remedies!

~T

A Virtual Baby Shower for a Far Away Friend

   I am jumping right back into the world of blogging by participating in a Virtual Baby Shower for my friend Jenna, from Jenna’s Everything Blog.  She was one of the first blogs I started following waaay back in the day when I discovered the world of blogging.

Last year.

{Apparently, my small town is behind the trends by about 4 years!}

  She and I quickly became blogging buddies, and in honor of the upcoming birth of their first child, Alice {SQUEEEE! how cute is that name?!} I have jumped on the Virtual Baby Shower bandwagon to welcome her into Motherhood!

And how ridiculously CUTE is she?!  Her lil’ preggo tummy is literally the size of mine when I was about 2 months along! Jeepers!

  Anyhow, I have compiled 11 Lessons for her and hubs to study and complete before the birth of their sweet baby:

11 Lessons to Determine If You Are Ready for Parenthood

{Original source unknown}

Lesson 1
Preparing for a new kind of life….
1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your or your husbands salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the newspaper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2
Find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their…
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child’s breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3
A really good way to discover how the nights might feel…
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. Eat cold food with one hand for dinner.
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can’t get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Try to stay awake.  If you are a working mom, get ready for work and go to work.
(work hard and be productive)
Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4
Can you stand the mess children make? To find out…
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.
Time allowed for this – all morning.

Lesson 6
Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don’t think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don’t look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle Cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.
Pretty!

Lesson 7
Grocery Shopping
1. Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice).
2. If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat.
3.  Buy your week’s groceries without letting the goats out of your sight.
4. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.
Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8
Feeding your baby
1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.
You are now ready to feed a nine-month-old baby.

Lesson 9
Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street, Barney, and the Veggie Tales. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you’re thinking what is ‘Noggin’?)
Exactly the point.

Lesson 10
Make a recording of Fran “The Nanny” Drescher saying ‘mommy’ repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each ‘mommy’; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11
Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt-sleeve, or elbow while playing the ‘mommy’ tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

Dear Jenna,

  Congrats on your Impending Entrance into Motherhood!  It IS a wild ride, but soooo worth it!  🙂 Remember, a sense of humor is one of the most important things you’ll need when you become a parent!
(that and another Mommy to vent to)

Have I mentioned, I am here for you!?!??!!  🙂

Happy Baby Shower! 

 Thank you to Veronica of Veronica’s Cornucopia for putting this together!
~T

Below are the other bloggers participating in this Baby Shower!  

Go take a peek:

 

A Little Lunch (Eufaula, OK): Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice Scones

City Songbird (Greensboro, NC): Merry Christmas, Alice!

Eats Well With Others (New York, NY): Peanut Butter and Honey Ice Cream

Hunting for Bliss (Bozeman, MT): Garam Masala Deviled Eggs

Pinking Shears & Broccoli Spears (Newark, DE): Making Food Good For Your Baby

Sydney Shares (Eugene, OR): Baby BLTs

That’s Some Good Cookin’ (Salt Lake City, UT): Cheesecake Cookie Bars

The Pajama Chef (Bloomington, IN): Iced Tea with Ginger-Mint Simple Syrup

Two Dogs In The Kitchen (Sterling, MI): Spicy Asian Meatballs

Veronica’s Cornucopia (Wichita, KS): Raspberry Almond Fudge Cookies
Very Culinary (Sacramento, CA): Toasted Orzo and Chickpea Salad
Words on Wendhurst: A Gift For Jenna and Alice

 

 

So Long For Now……

  A portion of this post from the archives, the rest……

From my Heart.

  As couple after couple, call us, write us or email, pleading with us to help them put together the shattered pieces of their lives and marriage.  To merely be used as a vessel by the Lord, to pour clean water over them and help point them in the right direction, I once again realized we are in a battle…..

A CONSTANT battle to keep our eyes on Jesus.  With satan working overtime throwing things at us left, right, left, right, chucking things under our feet to make us stumble.  Shrieking with glee when he succeeds.

Because BUSY means Burdened Under Satan’s Yoke.

We MUST keep our eyes on Jesus.

We MUST not break our focus for a mere moment.

We MUST not let anything divide our families, our homes, our marriages.

  Our packed calendars rob us of family time, devotion time, prayer time, alone time….

Clear ‘em!!!!

Clear those calendars.

Make date night with your spouse a priority. Don’t just say it, make it happen.

Make family dinner a non-negotiable.

Nothing is more important than family.

No job more important then pointing your kids towards Jesus.

  We MUST not let Social Media rob us of conversations during home time….

Leave the cell phone on the charger in the laundry room when you walk in the door; the texts can wait, Facebook can wait.  We MUST not let TV and Computer, iPhones and ipads steal precious playtime moments…leave them off until nap/bedtime if you have young children. 

  Don’t answer the phone during dinner, if its important, they’ll leave you a message and you can call them afterwards. Show your kids with your actions, just how important dinner time is.  Spend that time VISITING about the day, not staring at the TV.  Our family loves to do “Good, Bad and Blessing” going around the table and each family member shares their good, bad and blessing from the day….try it! You may just love it.

  Help your kids make good choices about how many “extra” activities they can be a part of.  What happened to the days of letting kids be KIDS?
Just playing. Imagining. Exploring. Sending them out to play and ride bikes until porch lights came on and our moms called us home for dinner.

  Remember, for EVERY activity you chose to enroll your kids in, you are taking from the “Family Pie” of time together time.  There are only so many pieces to go around before you are left with crumbs.

   Sacrifices are made each and every time we say YES to something else.  We are raising a generation of busy kids, who in turn will become adults that need to be “busy” because they’ve never learned to just relax, stay home and be still.  

    And let’s not forget the love of our life, and the time we must spend with them.  Sit with your husband or wife for at minimum of THIRTY MINUTES of face to face time each evening.  Face to face, not staring at the tv together, looking at each other.  Surely your favorite show, or email inbox can wait?! 

Who is to be our number one human priority as directed by God’s word? 

Our spouse. 

Show them!  Use that face to face time to learn something about them that you didn’t know 24 hours ago.  Look them in the eyes and remember all the reasons you fell in love with them.  Do this and watch your marriage blossom and grow.  Set a stinkin’ timer if you have to. 

JUST DO IT.

  Wherever you are, be ALL there.  I am not preaching to you, I am preaching to ME! We all need to evaluate how our time is being spent!!!!!!!

Cause guess what satan says?

Every time you are not talking to your kids…..

I AM.

 Every time you are not working towards growing with your spouse,

I AM MAKING SURE YOU ARE BACKSLIDING.

When you are too busy?

I AM NOT.

I seek to destroy your marriage and family. I hate it and I hate you.  It would be my pleasure to use your lack of time together for harm, for evil, as a tool to ultimately destroy your lives.

When we don’t chose God every moment of every day, we automatically default to satan.

Think about that for a moment……pretty tough to swallow, isn’t it? 

  I don’t want to default to satan ever.   I seem to spend a lot of my time fighting off his attacks on my home and marriage, while balancing a really full calendar full of photography appointments, upcoming blogs I need to write, projects I said I’d be a part of, things I need to get accomplished around my home.  It all just feels like too much.  Like I have been doing a balancing act for too long, unsuccessfully.

Friends, I need a break. 

  Somewhere along the last year of fighting for my marriage and maintaining “regular life”, I have lost my focus.  I feel as if I have missed an entire year with my family while I was hurting, healing, seeking, sharing and forgiving.  The last year can not be viewed as a loss, it’s can’t…..

For it SAVED us. Praise His name!

  I am not sure what to say except, I need to cut back somewhere, and one of the places is the blog.  It takes my last piece of the “Family Pie” and I only have crumbs to offer the ones I love most. I am also cutting back in other areas, including how many photography appointments I take every week, as the editing process takes much time from family, too.

  As an overly busy summer draws to a close, I need time to be Mommy, playing on the floor in the living room or out jumping on the trampoline. I need time to be Wife, relaxing on the couch next to her husband, unwinding after a long day. I need time to do something for me, like curl up with a Christian novel during nap time, on a couch I haven’t sat on regularly in MONTHS. 

Mostly, I just need to BE STILL.

That’s what it really all boils down to, isn’t it?

Being still. 

Tylan came up to my desk the other day during nap time:

“Mommy’s are busy, aren’t they?”

Yes buddy, Mommy’s have a lot of jobs to do!

“You’re a mommy that takes pictures now too, aren’t you?”

Yup.

“You write your blog……”

I do!  {Now, I am wondering now, where he is going with this…….}

“Mommy?”

Yes, buddy.

“I miss when you were just my mom.”

Oh honey bear, I am so so very sorry.

  I am taking 3 weeks off of blogging to think, pray, evaluate how my time can be best spent, and mostly……

To be still. 

I will miss you, friends, but I’ll be back soon, check back with me around Labor Day. 
It’s time this Momma shows her family where her priorities are…….

  ~T

 

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The Birds & The Bees

It’s that time at our house.

You know, time for “The Birds & The Bees” talk. 

  A few days before Destiny turned 9, she asked if maybe it was time for us to have a talk. 

“A talk?” I asked

“Ya, you know, about sex and babies and stuff.  I am ready to know how it all works.”

  We talked a bit more, and she asked some good questions.  I told her intelligent questions would be met with intelligent answers.  So I talked to Dale and we planned a little time with Destiny after the kids went to bed to explain things to her.

Here are some of the highlights: 

We used correct and simple terms. 

We showed her diagrams of male and female genitalia.  We told her girls have 3 holes: one for pee, one for poop and the one in the middle is for babies.  That babies are made inside the same hole they come out of.

  We showed a video of sperm racing to find the egg.  She thought it was super cool that the egg only lets one in {sometimes 2}, before closing up and going on a journey!  We talked about how God picks which sperm meets which egg, and they determine whether you have brown hair or blonde, are good at piano, are a night owl…..all things already planned out when the two meet.  

 

  This video is incredible!  It shows the miracle of life from conception without going into too much detail. 

“That happened when God made me? Neat!”

We told her sex was a beautiful gift for married couples to enjoy.  We told her it was fun, and it was perfect because the man and women parts fit together like a puzzle.

She said, Ew a few times, and Cool a few times.    

We told her that was normal.  🙂

   We pray every night over our children that they’d save themselves for marriage, and that they would hang on to their purity for the treasure it is.  Even almost 4-year-old Avery can tell you she doesn’t want a “Swiss Cheese heart” full of holes. She wants to save her whole heart and all her kisses for her husband.    Tylan prays that he would be a Godly man, and he prays for his future wife, that she’d be a Proverbs 31 wife and that she’d save herself for him. PRECIOUS.  We pray for Tylan and Paxton to have a covenant with their eyes not to look upon anything impure, that they will save themselves for marriage, heart, body and mind.

Guys, they are LISTENING! They are parroting back prayers that have been spoken over them all their lives.  If you haven’t already started praying for this, it’s not too late!  The power of prayer is incredible!  And what a great teaching tool.

  My response to Destiny was calm. 

Purposeful.

  I encourage you to take a similar approach. When mom or dad, stutter, stammer, avoid the subject, or act disgusted, you are telling them sex is dirty.  It is embarressing.  That they did something wrong, by even asking.   

This could not be further than the truth. 

Do you want them to someday take that unhealthy view of sex into their own marriage bed? Because they really will.

Sex is a beautiful gift from God, intended for married couples to enjoy as they become one body, one spirit, one flesh.  I want our children to understand how beautiful, amazing, and special it is.  God designed it to be mind-blowing.  It was intended for more than reproduction, it was intended for…PLEASURE.

    In a Sex-at-9 society, if we aren’t talking to our kids about sex, the world is. It’s being sold on TV and in just about every movie out there.  It’s being whispered on the bus ride home, it’s being tried out at boy-girl parties. Yes, as early as age 9. THAT, my friends, is highly disturbing.

  You have a choice:

YOU teach them about sex.

Or

The WORLD will.

  “Seize the opportunity while your children are young to start having conversations that will forever shape their sexual character.”    Mary Flo Riley, author of Simple Truths. 

Making It Meaningful

  The sex talk is obviously happening at age 9 at our house, but at age 13, we will take things a step further.  We plan to take each child on a special birthday date, talk more about purity, eyes, thoughts, flesh; all of it. We will help them write out some boundaries, review some verses about sex and God’s design for it.

  We will present them with a purity ring, just as my parents gave me when I was 13, and encourage them to write a birthday love letter to their future spouse each and every birthday. The girls love to read through my box of love letters to Dale, to try on my purity ring, which will one day be Destiny’s.

  This ring is to remind them that purity is a beautiful gift, only given ONCE. 

  It’s never to late to start talking to your kids about saving themselves for marriage. Telling them about a little boy or little girl our there, RIGHT NOW, being prepared to one day meet them. To one day fall in love with them at the perfect moment in time, all ordained by the Great Author of LOVE Himself!

We Are Giving Our Kids An Incomplete Message!!!!

by Joy of Simply Bloom

  “The Bible speaks out so plainly against adultery and the misuse of sex, that it’s easy for a young Christian to misinterpret that to mean that sex as a whole is sinful.

In Christian circles we tend to spurt out the “sex is bad before marriage” anthem, without following it up with the “but sex after marriage will rock your socks off!” part.

So on their wedding day, a couple is expected to flip that switch to ‘sex is allowed…we now have a license’, and they spend the first few years of marriage floundering and silently struggling with what they’ve always been lead to believe: “God doesn’t want you to have sex…and He especially doesn’t want you to enjoy it!”. Resentment grows as they try and reconcile what they deeply desire in each other, and what they believe God expects of them.

“The marriage ceremony is simply insufficient to reorient one’s attitude from ‘Thou shalt not’ to ‘Thou shalt—regularly and with great passion!'” – Dr. James Dobson”

  Joy has a whole blog post written about this!  Go read it!!!!  Here are a few of my favorite points:

• Start early:
  • Be purposeful & prepared.
    • Vital: When they do ask “those” questions, make a point of smiling and responding with “I’m so glad you asked, sweetheart!”. Don’t allow your response or body language to communicate that this is a taboo topic to talk about.
    • Children are unabashedly curious about their bodies and the differences between boys and girls, if you don’t answer their questions – eagerly – they’ll find someone else who will.
    • Help them recognize that their sexuality is a beautiful part of who they are…for later in life.
    • If we wait until our kids are older, we’ve lost a tremendous part of the battle: teenagers are naturally inclined to doubt and wrestle with everything we say. Do you really want to initiate the conversation then?
• Define your message:
  • “This is what I want them to know/believe/value about sex”
  • Make the message your own – what is important and valued in your family – boil it down to a few overarching statements about sex.
  • Don’t make it sensual for little ones, just basic biology. The “dangers and pleasures” of the sex talk come later.
• Examine your own sexual baggage – we don’t want to pass off our pain and baggage to our kids. Set it aside {or better yet, work/pray through it} and present the most positive picture.
• Explain Reproduction:
  • Use everyday examples to teach them that “by God’s design…protected deep inside every living creature is the potential for new life”
• Explain Conception –Start painting the picture of sexual intimacy now…allowing them to first see only a hazy view of it…add detail and depth as they get older and more mature.
• Continuing the Conversation:
  • When billboards or ads depict intimate moments between a couple, teach them that sexuality is very private and “no one should ever watch”…helps them know how to handle unexpected pornography exposure {which can show up astonishingly early}.
  • Show them how important the decisions they make are. Their teenage years are so short in relation to the rest of their lives, and yet the decisions they make during that time have huge consequences.

  Remember, give simple TRUTH in real terms, never undermining the beautiful, smokin’ hot gift from God, sex really is.

  ~T

Are you struggling with a healthy image of sex in your own marriage?  Then read this blog about Re-discovering RED HOT Manogomy by Joy of Simply Bloom.  It’ll make your toes curl.

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Unveiled Wife

Operation Big Boy Bed!

  Remember that Dr. Seuss book?  About poor Ned whose bed is too small?

 

When he lays down his feet stick out the bottom!  POOR NED!

   Well, that is what was happening to poor Paxton, too! 

  Due to space issues, he and Avery both used a Mini Crib from birth on, rather than a full-sized one.  If you are tight on space you should check them out, we have been SO happy with it! Just Google “Mini Crib”.  We got a beautiful cherry, sleigh-style one that I LOVE!  (Make sure you order the coiled mattress to go with it, NOT the one that comes with it for free.)

Here are a few really old photos of the mini crib, one from Avery when she slept in our room for the first 9 months of her life, the second of Pax this winter.  Apparently, remembering to take a photo of the before Dale took it apart was beyond my thought process……

 

  So anyhow, poor Pax had started waking up during the night, being generally restless and would cry because his feet would sometimes stick out the bottom between the slats. 

  Do you recall just the other day, a post called “OH Pax! No-no!”?

  If you read that post, you will TOTALLY understand why I was really, really nervous about this transition from his cage, I mean crib, to a big boy bed!  I had visions of him wandering around destroying my house all night, or worse yet, letting himself outside to play!!! 

Here goes nothing……

  The first night I put him down, he immediately, like before I even left the hallway….came out.  Pointing “Uh? uh?” to his crib, which had been slid into the living room temporarily until we could take it apart.

“Yes, buddy. Crib is bye-bye. Come with me, let’s go back to your big boy bed.”

  He did, quite willingly I might add, and this is the sight that greeted me the next time I peeked in.

Awwww…..

Such a BIG boy!  He is sleeping MUCH better, and doesn’t come out until morning!!! YAY!   

Love my lil’ Tankers!

Tonya’s Tips for Transitioning to A Big Kid Bed:

1) Work on First Time Obedience ahead of time.  After all, it is your WORD and nothing else, that will keep them in that bed.  If they don’t listen to you during they day, why would that change at night?

2) Set clear guidelines for your expectations for this new bed.  Destiny went to a big girl bed at age 2, and we used to make her call to us to be allowed out of her bed.  “I’m AWAAAAAA-AKE!” she used to call sweetly after naps, or in the morning.  Obviously, we have loosened up some since our eldest was born, but we do still expect our children to stay in their new big kid bed until morning, when they are free to come out without asking permission.  If they disobey and come out at bedtime, we make sure we have clearly stated the consequences ahead of time and follow through if the rules are broken.

3) Stick to familiar bedtime routines.  This shouldn’t be more change than it has to be!  For example, don’t stop rocking right away, if your child is used to that before being laid down. Sing the same songs, go through the same motions, the end result just being that you lay them down in the big bed, rather than the crib.  We eventually change from rocking to kneeling beside their beds and rubbing their backs as we sing and pray, but that doesn’t need to happen right away.

4)  Do not use this time to take away a binky or blankie.  Paxton should give up his binky by 18 months according to the people who make those rules, but at our house, they are allowed until age 2, after which we snip off the tips.  I am thankful he has a few more months of getting used to his new bed, before we take that next step towards “Big Boy” with Binky removal. 

5)  “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”  If you have a full-sized crib, and your child fits fine, allow them to stay in their crib until after they turn 2! Why not? We just chose 18 months, because we knew he wouldn’t fit in that tiny crib until he turned 2.

{Sniff sniff}  My last baby is growing up TOO fast!

~T

OH Pax! No-no!

  Destiny and Tylan did NOT prepare us for Avery and Paxton. 

Guess the Lord likes to keep us as parents humble, doesn’t He? 

The first 2 were easy, laid back, didn’t get into trouble much, were very tender-hearted and then…….

We had Avery.

  Sunshine to thunder clouds and back, all in a matter of minutes. 

 

No middle ground. 

  I will never forget when she was 5 months old and threw her first fit, arching her back and practically sliding down my leg, limp as a spaghetti noodle.  I gasped and stared at Dale across the room, whose mouth had also dropped open.  We knew then, we were in for a WHOLE new ballgame!

    I wouldn’t have it any other way, my sweet, sassy little Peanut!

  Then there is Paxton, who takes Mischievous to a whole new level. 

He is the naughty to her theatrics.

  Did I tell you about the time I went out to photograph Banana Caramel Pinterest Pie and when I came back he had dragged over a kitchen chair and helped himself?

How about the morning where he dumped the entire bowl of Oatmeal on his head?

Or, when he dumped flour all over the place?  Escaped out the back door for the first time, or helped himself to the contents of the fridge?

   In the last 2 weeks it has been as follows: 

Threw his binky in the toilet.  (Yes, the toilet was being used, otherwise the lid is not allowed to be left open. Yuck.)

Threw Avery’s special prayer bunny in the toilet, again it was being used.  Ew.

Hit Avery in the head with Dale’s golf club.

Hit Avery in the head with a golf ball.

Hit Avery in the head with her high-heeled church shoes.

Hit Avery in the head with a utensil. 

Hit Avery in the head with a train.

Poor Avery needs a helmet!  Paxton will smack his own bottom afterwards, “No no”, he says. 

  If you know it’s a no-no, THEN QUIT, DUDE!  Your sisters health depends on it!

  This torment seems mostly directed at Avery, as you can tell!  He just frustrates Destiny when he trashes her room and Ty when he knocks down his lego towers.

  He stands at the island to “help” with supper, those little grabby hands dumping salt and noodles faster than I can stop him.

  I clean up water messes at least 5 times a day as he crawls up on to the table and dumps his siblings cups out, then plays in them.

{Sigh}  A mother’s job is never done it seems.  If it’s quiet and you can’t find Pax, don’t walk, RUN to find him. You will be sorry otherwise!

  Now, our latest issue is……….

Markers.

  I hide them, he somehow finds them.  I hide them again, higher.  He finds them again, using a kitchen chair to do his job.  Hopefully they are all so high he can’t reach them (I barely can) and this will stop.  OF COURSE, I didn’t think to take a photo of my “decorated” walls, doors, couch and carpet before I scrubbed them, but here is how he looked afterwards:

(When he first came to me, I was very concerned that he was bleeding. This quickly turned to exasperation, as I realized he had found yet another marker!) 

Oh my gracious sakes! Who drew marker all over the walls?

Ok, ok, you are right.  It was me.  {sigh}

  I decorated my sock, too!  See?

What do you mean that is a “No no”?

This is some of my BEST work!

You aren’t going to tell Daddy about this, right?!

You ARE????????

Sorry about the mess, Momma.

Even though I am naughty, you think I’m pretty cute, don’t cha!?”

Come on, you know you do……

I sure love you, Momma!  I will be a good boy now.

Sweet baby Tank, what would my life be without you and your siblings?  I love that each and every one of you are different and special in your own way!

  God is good and life with kids is great, so we’ll just smile and roll with it!  🙂

~T 

Just a Minute

  After talking about this in Sunday School twice, I just knew it was something important to share.  I think it’s something we all struggle with, if we are honest with ourselves……..

 How many times do we tell our children “Just a Minute,” but then never get to it? 

“Read me a book, Mommy!”  Just a minute.

“Can you hold me?”  Let me just transfer this load of laundry first.  (and make lunch and take a phone call and never get to it…..)

  What if our “Just A Minute” words (or our excuses) were replaced with the words:

“I don’t love you enough to stop what I am doing right now.” 

-Or-

“You are not more important than my _______.” 

                                     Fill in the blank: chores, facebook, cell phone, tv show.

  I know that is harsh and not at all the case, but have you ever seen those sagging shoulders and sad little faces as they turn and walk away? Don’t you think that despite what we are saying, that this may be what they are HEARING?!

  We can “just a minute” those kids right out the door, grown and gone before we know what happened.

  Do I always stop the second a child asks?  No.  Do I wish I could ?  Yes!!!!! 

  But, here is what I CAN do:

1)  Commit at least a half hour an hour a day to just sitting with them, holding them on my lap and reading them a book before nap.  Or rolling a ball back and forth between our legs.  Or laying on the floor together and coloring a picture. For us, morning time is best, or sometimes, between after school chores and supper prep.    Do I have a million things I COULD be doing during that time?! Of course. 

   Playing is hard for me, I am goal oriented and have a list of a million and one things I want to accomplish before the day is done.  But I will NOT go to bed feeling guilty anymore for lack of play time with my kids.  I am going to do better.  I want my kids to know they are loved, not just by my words, but by my actions as well!

2)  Stay off the computer when the kids are awake!!!! 

  This used to be my rule, but as I have started this blog, answering emails, writing new posts, and editing photos have become very time-consuming, I want to do better at balancing it all! 

My goal is to do as follows:

~Check morning email during TV time only. As soon as they are done, I am done.

  I have to come to my office to get on the computer, so it takes effort to come in here and check.  If you have email/facebook on your cell phone, set it down in another room when you are with your family, so that they have your FULL attention.  Mom’s FULL attention for 30 minutes is better than her half-hearted attention with wandering eyes looking at her cell phone, all day long.

~ Use nap time wisely, so that I can have time left in the evening to be with Destiny when she gets home from school, and time with Dale after the kids go to bed. 

Laundry, photo projects, editing, supper prep, whatever! The more I can get done during nap time, the better!!  Those are ‘free hours’ when no one needs me.

~Keep my priorities in order and ask myself:

“Does this activity promote the following?”  God first.  Family second.  THEN all the other things.

  ~In the evening, we try very hard to start bedtime EARLIER than we think we need to, so that we have time to read a Bible story, sing a few songs and pray together to close the day.  The kids LOVE that time and cry when we have to skip it due to a late night.

  After that, I blog and email and Dale watches a documentary or something on TV.  We have to be careful to shut those both down at a good time, so we still can have our devotions, prayer and talk time before we fall asleep.  This has been hard for us, since 10 pm sure comes quickly!

  Satan loves for us to be “too busy” to pray with each other, seek God together and converse and be friends with our spouse.  In fact, I think busyness is one of his sneakiest weapons!

  Don’t let social media and busyness rob you of the precious moments you have with your family.

   Your kids only spend so many years seeking YOUR attention, then you spend the rest of your life, trying to get theirs.

~T

Just For This Morning…..

 

author unknown

Just for this morning, I am going to smile when your whining at my feet, & laugh when I feel like crying.

Just for this morning, I will let you choose what you want to wear, and smile and say how perfect it is.

Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play.

Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.

Just for this afternoon, I will set down my cell phone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.

Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble. Even when you scream and fuss, I will keep my cool and deal with it in a calm manner.

Just for this afternoon, I won’t worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.

Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won’t stand over you trying to fix them.

Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.

Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.

Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.

Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV show and computer time.

Just for this evening when I run my fingers through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.

I will think about the mothers and fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mommy’s and daddy’s who are kneeling beside their children’s graves, rather than beside their beds, and the couples who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can’t handle it anymore.

 
And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer……

It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask Him for nothing, except for one more day.

Making Every Moment Count

This is post 2 for today, head back 1 post for some yummy Hummus Pizza! 

Do you know the BEST time to talk to your kids about life, the Bible, manners, their future spouses, hopes and dreams…you know, the heart to heart stuff?

  In the car.

  Yup, the car. 

It’s guaranteed time with your kids near-full attention! I mean really, where are they going to go? They are strapped in! You have a CAPTIVE audience!

Guess that means its time to put down your cell phone.

Guess that means no more starting a movie the second the van door slides closed.

Guess that means turning the radio off.

Talk to them about what they see outside their windows.  Pray for them on the trip to school.  Talk to them about their day when you pick them up. 

Just talk to them.  Then listen.

Betcha you won’t be sorry………

Kids say the coolest things.

~T

 

Please Ring Bell for Service

  The Toy Closet is one of the main hubs at our house. 

It gets 99% of our daily traffic, and when necessary, the privilege of getting toys out of the toy closet is removed.  Sorta like what happened here: “Closed Until Further Notice”.

    Losing their toys for a week was a really good lesson in what mommy means when she says “PICK UP!”

  Effective January 2012, when you walk to the closet you’ll see this:

Actually if you were a little person at my house, you’d see it more like this:

    The kids aren’t in trouble this time, we just decided to implement this new system after we worked so hard after Christmas, doing a Toy Closet Clean out. 

I gotta say, I am IN LOVE! 

  The kids think its super cool to ring the bell for service…..and I don’t trip over a bazillion toys all day long! 🙂

  Pax thinks its pretty cool too!  He gets a running start, heading towards the jingle bells with arm raised…..And WHACK!  He hits the bell for all he’s worth!

After he smacks it a couple of times, he decides enough is enough, and proceeds to let himself in. 

Anybody in there?

Lil’ Stinker!

  Here’s how it goes:  Bell rings, child seeks permission to get out a toy basket of their choice, mom says yes after checking to be sure the former basket was completely clean up first.  They enter the closet, put away one basket and choose another.  Repeat. And repeat.  AND REPEAT.  But it works like a CHARM!!!!!!

  Another thing I have been trying in the mornings, is rather than letting the kids go in the closet to pick their toys, I’ve been getting out just a few toys of the same “Theme”, like this:

It’s been a while since these vehicles were played with regularly, and guess what? They played with them ALL MORNING long! And it was just a few vehicles!!!!!!

  Another day, when Ty was in school, we played with the Doll House.

Or sometimes we get out Stamps, Paint, Play Dough, or play a game. 

   Sometimes I set up the Little People construction site, farm-house and doll house.  They love that! Especially now that Pax is older.  Last time we did this “Tankzilla” came to visit, and the kids weren’t too thrilled about it.

  This method of play reminds me of “Centers”, which we used to do when I worked at a preschool.  It makes for really good structured play and I feel like we are really utilizing all the toys we have at our disposal this way.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I love creative play too, and the kids do a lot of it, especially after school! 

  I don’t know how long this Ring Bell For Service method of Toy Control will work, but this Momma is one happy camper! 🙂

~T

Some pics of playtime from the archives:

The Singing & Dancing Show

Mr. Postman, delivering the mail.

https://4littlefergusons.wordpress.com/2011/04/19/mr-postman-floral-flashback-not-your-ordinary-fruit-pizza/

Mrs. Pennyfeather and her children.

https://4littlefergusons.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/meet-ms-pennyfeather/