A New Baby In The Family

A baby puppy that is. This is Jazzy. Jazzy is my "Niece" puppy. We have been puppy sitting for my brother Jeremy and Jacinta. What fun it has been! I love puppy cuddles and my kids have loved it too!

One thing I have learned from having Jazzy is...don't get a puppy in the winter! Potty training will be much better in the summer ;)

Parenting Strategies

The thing with parenting is that its not easy. Especially when we are talking about discipline. I don't know about anyone else, but Nate and I get into the bad habit of getting caught in the parenting "rut." The rut of letting things slip by. The rut of telling the kids 5, 6 times to do something. The rut of sending the kids to their rooms for an amount of time. That rut! 

One of our frustrations is sibling rivalry. One day...it was at it's all time high. The kids were cleaning up the blanket fort they made in the basement and the boys kept picking on each other. I started my parenting "rut" by yelling down at them to knock it off or else! Or else what? I asked myself. The typical go to your room? But they have to pick up the basement!
Here's the thing....the more the pick on each other...the more I yell down at them...the more they don't listen to me...the more I get frustrated!

So...I picked myself out of my rut...and thought of a more creative way to motivate them to work together. I told them that I am only telling them one time to work together. Every time I hear them arguing or blaming or annoying each other, I will make a mark by their name on a sheet of paper. I did not tell them what the marks meant. Not only did this get their attention, it made me much more laid back knowing I didn't have to keep yelling at them.

Did they get through the whole cleaning up process with no marks? Um...no. But, I was enjoying just thinking about what these marks will mean. I finally ended up with books. Yep, each mark meant the number of books that they had to read...to each other! During their reading, they ended up laughing together.

I need to remember when I get lost in that parenting rut, to think outside the box! Sometimes a good laugh is all they need to refocus their attention on what is important.
This time...they were lucky with books....next time...those marks might mean cleaning the toilet!

True Women '12 Conference

One of the highlights of my fall was the True Women '12 conference with my sweet friends. Our husbands and family blessed us by caring for our children so us Mommas could get away for some spiritual refreshment! 

 Annie and Jenn

 Brooke and Ashley

 Jen and I

 Our living room in our suite

 The conference was in Indianapolis. Our hotel was right on the canal which had a walk way on either side. Our suite overlooked the canal. It was so nice to walk and enjoy some down time before the conference started.

 These are some pretty pics along the canal walk-way.

 Even had gondolas!

 Jen and Brooke

 Jen, Ashley and Brooke

 Jen, Annie and I 

 All of us Mommas

 My friends and I went to the conference as volunteers. It helped save some money and we also got to pick out our seats. Thousands of ladies attended this conference so picking our seats was a perk! Above is Nancy Leigh DeMoss and another gentleman who hosted the conference.

 This lady, Priscilla, was a wonderful speaker! First I had ever heard about her. She was funny, down to earth and as authentic as you get! I got to hear part of her session on how to study the Bible.

  

 It's kinda hard to see because of the lighting but this is the big auditorium. I took this picture from the top of a bleacher section to get the look of how packed it was!

 All the ladies had a chance to sign this big board. It is called the True Women Manifesto. The Manifesto is a personal and corporate declaration of belief, consecration, and prayerful intent - to the end that Christ may be exalted and the glory and redeeming love of God may be displayed throughout the whole world!

 Joni Erikson Tada

I really enjoyed hearing her speak.

 After our retreat was over, we met this lady who was staying at our hotel because she had a house fire. We had the privilege to pray with her and bring her some encouragement!

 Annie and I

 Brooke and Jenn

Brooke and her BFF - Coffee ;)

Some highlights/notes and quotes of what God taught me:

• Identify who or what I am seeking. This could change daily. If it is not centered on God...it's time to refocus.
• Remember, God sought me first!
• If I fill up with junk food, I will lose my appetite for the real feast.
• Make my lifetime a pursuit of seeking God.
• In my service to God, make sure I am still seeking Him.
• My life needs to point to God and His story.
• God can use still use me even though I have made mistakes.
• I am better in deep water with Jesus, than in shallow water without Him.
• When I walk away from my sin, I am walking closer to God.
• The start of revival is repentance. The start of repentance is walking away from my sin.
• It's the extra-ordinary moment of the Spirit of God that produces extraordinary results.
• Try praying through my city's phone book.
• The more I know God, the more clearly I hear Him.
• Pray for revival!

Micah's Soccer

 Micah was doing awesome in soccer this fall!

 He was having so much fun!

Jack'O'Lantern Game

Here is a fun game for fall parties:

Pin the Face on the Jack'O'Lantern

Needs: 1 Thick poster/foam/card board with a plain pumpkin colored on it and covered in clear tape

            Jack'o'lantern face pieces, nose, eyes, mouth, stem made with card stock and laminated

            Double-sided Tape

How to play: Put all face pieces in an orange pumpkin bucket. Let each student pull out a face piece. Take one student at a time. Blind-fold them, spin them three times and put double sided tape on the face piece and have them try to put the piece on the pumpkin poster board. After all the face pieces are taped up, get a picture of their silly Jack'O'Lantern!

This works well when you divide a class up for stations at a party. I had 5 students in each group which worked well with this game. This works best with a smaller group but if you have to add a few more kids, you could add more "features" of the pumpkin; example: ears, leaves, vine, etc.

School Valentine's Party

Here are some game ideas for a Valentine's Day party at your child's school.

Candy Heart Game:
Need: Dixie cups - enough for each student
          Plastic Spoons - enough for each student
          Big bowl of candy hearts

To Play: Give every student a dixie cup and write their name on it. Keep the cup at their seat. Divide the class into 2 teams. Line up on either side of the big bowl of candy hearts. On "go," one student at a time will fill their spoon with as many candy hearts as they can and carefully take it to their seat and dump them in their own dixie cup. That student then sits down. First team through the line wins! You can do this for 2 turns if you want the game to last longer. When game is done, everyone can eat their candy!

 Life-Size Board Game:
Need: List of questions  (download here) or make your own!
          Heart Papers  (download here) or make your own!
          Heavy duty tape
          1 Dice

Set Up: Print out heart papers on several different colors of card stock. The colors this game takes are pink, red, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Laminate them. Tape the laminated colored hearts in a connecting circle around the classroom, like a board game.

To Play: I made this game for my daughter first grade class and they had a blast with it! You are welcome to use my list of questions or make up your own! To start, I had all the students take of their shoes, (this helps preserve the game for future uses) find a heart near them, and stand on it. Roll a dice. Have the kids move as many spaces as was rolled. I would then ask a question and they would have to move according to the question. Here are some sample questions:

• Everyone on a pink heart, do 10 jumping jacks.
• Everyone on a red heart, give your teacher a high-five!
• Everyone on a yellow heart, move ahead to the next yellow heart
• UPSET THE COLORS (means everyone has run and find a new heart to stand on)

 Here is a picture of my kids playing it at home.

They had to do 5 push-ups!

This proved to be a fun game that can last however long you want it to. It is also nice because it involved everyone at the same time!

Couples Get Away

 Nate and I were so excited to plan our first couples getaway. Three other couples from our church and Nate & I, rented a cabin in Hocking Hills. It was SO NICE to get away with friends and relax! Out of us four couples we have 14 kids! Needless to say, we were enjoying the quiet!

 We went on a short, relaxed hike Friday night and had fun taking pictures of the beautiful scenery.

 Just us Girls!

 And...the Men.

 Mike and Jenny before going through the tunnel.

 Nate and I

 Josh and Jen

 One of the 5 waterfalls we saw

 On Saturday, we went for an 11 1/2 mile hike. On this hike, we packed our lunches in our backpacks and took off! It took all afternoon! We got to see some beautiful scenes like waterfalls, a couple caves, cliffs, fire tower, creeks and of course a lot of woods!

 Geoff practicing his balance beam! That's one thing that happens when you let the parents out without kids...we get to play!

 This was Cedar Falls. Last year Luke made a model of this for a school project on Ohio Landforms. These were my favorite falls. Very pretty!

 View from the top of the fire tower. Not everyone was up for climbing to the top but I made it up and it was worth it...you could see for miles!

 Mike and Geoff blazin' their own trail.

 Here is a glimpse at what the trails looked like. It was not just a flat, straight trail. We were hiking up cliffs, over big rocks, through tunnels and over tree stumps and roots. I'll tell ya...when we were done with this hike, we were ALL moaning and groaning! Girls called dibs on the hot tub when we got back to the cabin ;)

What a wonderful time with friends! This will probably become a tradition every couple years. Who knows, with a few years of hiking, maybe we will be up for climbing Mt Everest! Ok...maybe not...the hot tub sounds really good about now ;)