Top 10 Signs You're a Potty Training Mama

The light at the far end of the tunnel has finally arrived my friends!!

After 4 kids, 9 years, 9 months and 6 days of continuous diaper changes (with one short 2 week break in between Olivia and Jacob), my daily diaper changing days are over forever!!!

Let me pause for a minute and allow you to fully appreciate the magnitude of that statement....

I know - it's enough to give you chills or cry tears of joy, right?

I had resolved to start potty training the day after we got home from our trip to Alberta during the Christmas break, and start I did! The potty train successfully left the station last Wednesday morning and then proceeded to completely derail over the course of the following incredibly frustrating two days, followed by a glimmer of hope right before bedtime. After that the engine seemed to make it up the hill and I believe we are now on the downward trail .... ok, I think that metaphor has seen it's day. Anyway, we have now had 3 incredibly successful days in a row with no accidents of any kind and he has been telling me himself almost all of the time. I know it's too early to say we're completely in the clear, but I'm only expecting occasional lapses and would confidently take him out in public at this point (in fact, Nathan did tonight!). With the start we had last week (worst ever!), I was not expecting to be nearly at this point today - so woohoo!!

With no further ado, here is your Top 10!

Top 10 Signs You're a Potty Training Mama
10. You strategically place containers filled with a solution of diluted dish detergent around the house to clean up any messes that "may" come your way.
9. You make your toddler sit on a towel on your bed to watch tv so he doesn't soil your blanket.
8. You clean up the mess said toddler made on your bedroom carpet when he disregarded said instructions, and officially declare all carpeted areas off limits.
7. You can't remember what ran more - the bath tub, the washing machine or yourself, sprinting while carrying a dripping toddler away from your body as you rush to the bathroom despite the obvious fact that you're just too late despite having just sat in said bathroom for at least 20 mins only 5 mins previously.
6. The chant "push that pee out, push that pee out" is so ingrained in your head you start chanting it to yourself.
5. You make your older children do their home reading in the bathroom while said toddler sits on the throne (hey, it's called multi-tasking!)
4. The phrase "don't pee on Mater" makes sense to you.
3. Your definition of what qualifies as TMI to post on Facebook just got significantly lowered.
2. You turn your older children into a cheerleading squad in hopes of inspiring future victories.
1. When success is finally achieved you celebrate by hooting and hollering as if you just won the lottery and giving him treats and a car (relax, it was only a pint size one) and then proceed to let said toddler phone anyone who might be interested in hearing him say "My pee in toilet!" as a way of introducing himself. You then proceed to throw out any remaining diapers and diaper bags, do a victory dance and decide to go buy yourself a nice purse!

Thankful

This Thanksgiving weekend I am thankful for....

- a wonderful husband, a servant leader, involved and dedicated father, my best friend, someone who can always make me laugh, my teammate, my soulmate, the love of my life
- 4 amazing children whose energy wears mine out, but whose characters are each unfolding, individually, into beautiful works of art - the responsibility the Potter has given us to help Him shape them is frightening, humbling and exhilarating
- a Saviour whose love overwhelms, whose patience never ends, whose strength never wearies, whose faithfulness reaches to the skies, whose forgiveness is ever merciful, whose justice is sure, whose mercy is indiscriminate, whose power is infinite, whose passion and love for each and every one of us despite His intimate knowledge of our deepest thoughts and feelings is unfathomable and yet gloriously true
- the health of my family
- having a heritage of faith in God
- our house, van, truck, Nathan's job, all the things we've been blessed with
- a wonderful church family to encourage us, uplift us, and hold us accountable

and much, much more!

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! 2 Corinthians 9:15

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

3 Things Every Parent Should Teach Their Kids - Blog Hop

The theme for this week's blog hop is "Three Things Every Parent Should Teach Their Kids".

Here are the "rules"...

You don't have to be a parent to participate. Everyone was a kid at some point, so you know important things they should be taught.

To keep from getting alot of the same obvious answers, try to be specific and let's bypass some of the obvious: be honest, love your parents, love God, be kind to others, accept Jesus as your Savior.

This is not a list of the MOST IMPORTANT, so do not feel like you must list the highest priority or the obvious, which will end up having the same thing repeated by everyone over and over. Try to be specific and creative. This your three items with a sentence or two explanation.

1 - Manners. Our society has completely embraced the idea of personal entitlement and totally validates self-absorption. Perhaps because of this - using good manners can make a big impact on how others view and treat you. Showing respect for others is a good way to gain their respect in return.

2 - Personal responsibility. Accepting personal responsibility for their actions is a huge lesson for kids to learn. Nobody can make you do anything. You are responsible for your choices. You are not responsible for other people's choices - but you are responsible for your reaction to them. I believe children that have a solid sense of personal responsibility will also have much higher self-esteem.

3 - Girls dressing modestly, boys treating girls respectfully. This is so totally a two-way street. Girls have the responsibility to dress modestly, recognizing how visual guys are. The guys have the responsibility to exercise self-control and to behave like gentlemen.



Special thanks to Purell Hand Sanitizer for sponsoring this blog hop.

Favourite Songs you Sing to Your Children

I decided to participate in Friday Faves today - it's "Favourite Songs you Sing to Your Children"

I made up a new verse to Jesus Loves Me for our girls back when Emma was a baby...

Jesus loves my little girl
Come what may He'll love her still
She'll ask Jesus in her heart
And they'll never be apart

Here's the boy version....

Jesus loves my little boy
He can fill his heart with joy
Walk beside him, this I pray
Guide him Jesus, every day

I actually just made that up right now but I'll have to start singing it to Jacob, I think it's pretty good. :)

Mom 2 Mom - Encouraging our children's relationship with Jesus

Welcome to the Mom 2 Mom Carnival - Encouraging our children's relationship with Jesus.

Don't forget that all participants are eligible to win a giveaway (more on that at the end of this post!), so get started on writing your own post ASAP!

First of all, I'd like to admit that I completely stole this idea from Missy at It's Almost Naptime. Over a month ago she did a post about this exact same topic and I personally think it's one of the best posts I've read on the topic and it really got me excited about sharing more ideas with each other and encouraging each other.

So - these are some of my thoughts on how we can encourage our children to have a better, deeper and personal relationship with Jesus.

Disclaimer - these are some of the ideas we've used in the past, use presently and might use in the future, but we obviously don't do them every day or perfectly - not at all. Just keeping it real.

1) First of all, we can't teach something we don't have. We obviously need to have a relationship with Jesus ourselves, but even that in itself is not enough. We have to make this relationship a priority in our lives. It needs to be authentic. Our children are not stupid. They see us at our worst and at our best. They know what is really important to us. At least, they know what we're showing them. So, if we're not showing them, we need to start. They need to see us spending time in the Word (or at the very minimum they have to know that we have this Quiet Time).

2) We also need to show them that not only is this relationship a priority, living out our faith and living to give glory to God is the most wonderful way to live. They need to see our joy! This is something we talked about in our last True Woman Tuesday lessons. If we don't find it joyful to be a follower of Christ, why would they want to?

3) This is just an extension of #1, but in order to direct our children to Jesus, in order to describe Him accurately to them, in order to live in a way that reflects Him - we need to know what we're talking about. And the only way to know that is to be in the Word and to connect with God in prayer.

I have absolutely failed at this for probably most of my life. This year I made a commitment to myself (and to God) to read through the entire Bible for, embarrassingly, the first time in my life. Since then I have been using the One Year Bible reading plan and discovered the somewhat sad fact that it really only takes me 10 - 15 minutes to read each day's reading. That's right. I have never consistently taken 10 - 15 minutes of my time to read through the Bible before. I admit that I have skipped days, but I always catch up! I am now over half way done. And this is a great start. But next year I want to go deeper. I will probably get the Life Journal which also has it's own One Year Bible reading plan but also provides space to journal about each day's reading - digging deeper into the Word, studying it instead of just reading it.

Don't let this discourage or overwhelm you. I know how hard it is to set aside time consistently when there just doesn't seem to be any extra time between diaper changes and sibling disputes, laundry and dishes, cooking and cleaning. But know that ANY time that you spend in the Word or in prayer is time well-invested.

4) We gotta walk the talk for our children to see. Fairly obvious point, but such an important one. We need to admit to them when we fail - their respect for us will not diminish by acknowledging our weaknesses. To the contrary, it will increase it!

5) Nathan reads the Bible with the girls and prays with them before bed every day. We have numerous Bibles that we use for this. Our church gives out bibles to every child who is dedicated by their parents, plus we have a few of our own, so we have quite the stash that we rotate through. From our church we have The Early Reader's Bible, The Beginner's Bible and the Young Reader's Bible (we got a 2nd copy of The Beginner's Bible when Jacob was dedicated). I picked up the Little Girl's Bible Storybook at a garage sale one year - it tells the Bible stories from the viewpoint of the women in the story, and has a bit of a devotional and discussion after each story as well. We also have a devotional for little kids that we got from Costco called God and Me. Nathan usually reads one day's devotional from God and Me, followed by one Bible story from one of the numerous Bibles we have available! (We basically take turns going through each one). My absolute favourite kids Bible storybook is the Jesus Storybook Bible and you can find my detailed review of it here. It is absolutely incredible how the author weaves the ultimate story of Jesus into every OT story.

6) I also want to teach our children how to study the Bible for themselves. Emma has started using the Children's Life Journal (see my full review here) and I think this is just an excellent way to help get kids started in Bible study. My parents gave the kids a Bible in the New International Reader Version for Christmas one year, and this is fabulous for this purpose. It's written in easier to understand English which makes it easier for them to understand what the verses are saying. As they get older I plan to order the How to Study Your Bible for Kids by Kay Arthur. Emma would be ready for that right about now, so I may do that soon.

7) Instilling the Word of God in the hearts of our children is invaluable! Obviously they get a lot of this in Sunday School and any kids club programs they're involved in, but really, you can't memorize too much scripture. I've always found it hard to find time for scripture memory, until I came up with this time saving tip. I work on their memory verse while I comb their hair! This is something I have to do every day, so I may as well make the most of it! Mondays through Wednesdays we work on their Kids Club verse (clubs is Wednesday evenings) and then Thursdays through Sundays we work on their SS verses.

Awhile back I purchased My ABC Verses: Hiding God's Word in Little Hearts by Susan Hunt. Each letter of the alphabet has a corresponding Bible verse, and each verse has a story to illustrate the meaning of the verse. It doesn't help a whole lot to memorize verses you don't understand, and this is an excellent way to do it! The girls really like this book, even though I haven't used it as much as I'd like to say I have. My plan is to read it to them during breakfast and then go over the verse with them once their done eating (you know - so the manners we taught them don't go out the window by talking with their mouths full!).

Another very cool idea for memorizing verses is one I just got from Missy. There are some amazing cd's out there called Seeds Family Worship that are simply awesome. And the best part is that the music is actually fun to listen to - even for adults! Don't believe it's possible? Well, then - check out the following tunes on YouTube... Do Not Be Anxious (Phil 4:6-7) and Cast Your Cares (Psalm 55:22) or Young (1 Timothy 4:12). Yep, loving it! I ordered 3 of the cd's (Seeds of Courage, Seeds of Faith and The Power of Encouragement), just got them this past week and so far am loving them!!

8) Shaping our children's worldview to reflect a biblical worldview instead of a cultural worldview is pretty crucial. There are several to go about this.

His Little Princess is a wonderful book for those with princesses of your own in your house. Since our girls love princesses, I thought this would be perfect. It's a series of letters written from God (the King) to His princesses (yes, our daughters!). Each letter has a Bible verse to go with it, and a prayer as well. Here is a sample letter...

My Chosen Daughter...
You are not a pretend princess, my child. You are a real princess, and I am your God, the King of all kings. I chose you before you were even born to be my princess. You are very important in my kingdom. I have chosen you to do something special that only you can do. I have amazing plans for you, both now and for when you grow up. Remember, a crown and a palace do not make you a true princess - it is your love for me and for others that will make you special. If you read my words every day in the Bible, I will teach you all you need to know about living like a daughter of the King.
Love,
Your King and Father in Heaven
"You didn't choose me, I chose you." John 15:16

And here's the prayer to go with it...
Dear God, thank you for choosing me to be your princess. I feel so special knowing I belong to You. Help me to remember to act like I am yours, because I need help. I'm glad you are my King who can make me shine for You! I pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Even though we are not Catholic, I bought another book (after reading Missy's post) by Susan Hunt called Big Truths for Little Kids which teaches children the basic truths of faith using catechism questions and stories to illustrate them. Basically, theology that kids can understand! I realized this was lacking when I found out our kids didn't know about the Trinity - they thought there was God and Jesus and had no clue about the Holy Spirit. We don't always think of all the things we need to explain to them, this is a perfect way to make sure we're not missing any big blanks that need filling in!

If (likely when!) they start to question their faith - a process every child needs to go through really to make their faith truly their own (and not just their parents), some more great books that I already have and will go through with them are a series by Lee Strobel - the Case for Christ for Kids, the Case for Faith for Kids, the Case for a Creator for Kids and Off My Case for Kids.

Another huge part of shaping their worldview is monitoring their entertainment choices. I have recently made some changes to our kids tv viewing habits. They are now only allowed to watch one show per day. The more of a cultural worldview you are exposed to, the more it affects (ie changes) the way you view things. I also cut out some of the shows that they watch - not necesarrily because they were bad, but because they deal with topics that are simply too old for them, or encourage a worldview that we don't agree with. Garbage in, garbage out as the saying goes. And really - if they're completely immersed in our culture's worldview (through tv, video games, magazines, etc), can we really expect them to form a worldview that's any different?

9) Teachable moments. Take advantage of them and if they don't come up - create them! Especially when it comes to sex education. And, yes, I have a few good books for you about this too! A Chicken's Guide to Talking Turkey with Your Kids About Sex by Dr. Kevin Leman is an excellent way to prepare yourself, pretty much from the birth of your kids, the healthy way to discuss sexuality. God's Design for Sex Series is really good too - it has 4 books for you to read with your kids at different ages. This is an area where parents have to really step up. If you don't teach them about sex, they're going to learn it in school - and they're likely going to learn it wrong, and they're for sure going to learn it in the wrong context.

10) Be plugged in. Know what's going on, know who your kids friends are, know what's happening in school, get to know their teachers, volunteer in school, be genuinely interested in their interests. Spend time with your kids! I really think quantity rules over quality. Truly. I mean when do you think quality time happens anyway? It happens when you're spending time with your kids. You can't force it, you can't plan it, you can't schedule it, you can't add it to a list. If you're not around, it's not going to happen. Quality time happens in the middle of quantity time.

11) Invest in your marriage. Nothing gives children more security than knowing their mom and dad love each other and will always be together. Make your marriage a priority, second only to God.

12) Talk about Jesus in everyday conversation, all the time.
Deuteronomy 6:4-7 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 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.

Whew! I think that's all I got for now. I can't wait to read what you guys come up with.

Oh yeah - the giveaway! Bet you thought I forgot after all that typing. :)

One amazing things about the Seeds Family Worship cd's is that they actually come with 2 cd's in each package - one to keep for yourself and one to give away to a friend. So, I am going to be giving away one of the cd's! Simply make a post (or comment or email) with your ideas of how to encourage your children's relationship with Christ before Monday morning and you are entered! Everyone is eligible to win - Canadian, American, Australian, whatever.

Oh, and here's the link to Missy's post that started this all! I'm taking the liberty of adding her post to the Mr. Linky below.

And, please - link up directly to your own Mom 2 Mom post so we can all be encouraged. Thanks!

Mom to Mom on Friday!

Friday is when I'm planning to host a Mom to Mom carnival. I'd like to hear how you encourage your children's relationship with Jesus.

Whether it's something you currently do, want to start doing, should be doing, an idea you heard, a book you read - you name it! It doesn't have to be a long sermon. Anything you can share with us would be great.

All participants (those without blogs can simply comment on my post, or email me) will be eligible to win a pretty awesome giveaway. If there are a lot of participants I will increase the number of giveaways - up to a maximum of 3.

I will be posting on Friday, but the opportunity to participate/win will be yours until Monday morning.

So, let's help each other out, give each other some ideas, simply encourage each other - as we strive to raise children to become men and women after God's own heart!

Mom to Mom - postponed

I'm still planning to do a Mom to Mom post on what we can do to encourage our children's relationship with God. I have postponed it to next week - partially because I've been too busy to get my post written up. Also - Pam (the lone responder to my initial post) is starting a screen free week this week, so she won't be able to participate till next week. AND, I'm hoping MckLinky creator Brent will have come up with a way to do my own blog hop by then. MckLinky is a new Mr.Linky type widget (only totally free and way better). Each week Brent hosts a Blog Hop where everyone who wishes to participate puts up a post on the same topic on the same day and everyone will have the MckLinky list show up on their blog, making it easy to hop from one blog to another. I emailed him asking if he could make a way for anybody to host their own blog hop, and he said he'd work on it. Hopefully it'll be done by then, but if not, we'll still do it.

Of course, feel free to type up your post already, and just save it as a draft till then.

Also - he had asked for ideas for future blog hops and I sent one in and it will be featured this Tuesday and my post will be close to the top of the list - cool eh?

I feel good - da na na na na na na!

Having recently felt convicted about doing a better job keeping my house in order consistently, I have to say that I had a very productive day today! Even though I slept in and only got up just before 9 o'clock!! Ahhh, summer holidays! I love me my beauty sleep.

So, what did I all accomplish today?

I obviously fed (and cleaned up after) all my MSC - Many Small Children (awesome acronym stolen from MckMama)

I exercised - as in dripping-with-sweat exercised.

I baked about 7 dozen oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (see recipe below) - 5 dozen of which are for this week's day camp at our church. I even let my kids help!

I got at least 1 and a 1/2 hrs of bookwork done while my MSC played outside or napped (Jacob).

I read my Bible reading plan for today (and only had to read today's as I was all caught up!)

I read devotions with the girls on the deck in the afternoon (more details on this to come next week!)

I played with the girls outside. Even though she finally learned how to pump, Olivia could still be pushed on the swing all day long I think.

I set up the sprinkler under the trampoline AND the slip n' slide for my MSC and their friends to play in.

I had 3 of my MSC's friends over for lunch - at the last minute!

I went for a walk with all my MSC, meeting my MIL to bring Nathan and his dad some cold drinks on this fairly hot day.

Made a delicious supper - bbq'd chicken breasts, whole wheat rice, potatoes (for Nathan and Emma - I do NOT eat potatoes), corn and garlic bread.

I made Sophia and Olivia banana splits (but did NOT have any myself - woohoo!) while Jacob was shopping with my wonderful husband, and Emma was at her first pyjama party(not sleepover!) with her friend. OK, I do admit to having at least 3 strawberries (we used strawberries instead of cherries) dipped in whipping cream. OK, ok, I also ate 3 (yes three!) of those delicious cookies fresh out of the oven - well, 2 right away, and then one later warmed up in the microwave. Just keeping it real. Cause I'm all about honesty. Even it when it works against me and my image. :)

I read Sophia & Olivia a Bible story and prayed with them before bedtime (while the other 2 were still gone - it's not like they were being grounded from Bible storytime or anything!).

And I blogged....twice today!

And then there was obviously the just normal, everyday stuff like changing diapers, sweeping floors (after every meal - due to our lovely dark hardwood floors - ok, our MSC have something to do with this as well), swiping bathrooms, washing feet, settling arguments - well, you know!

So - mission accomplished for today. And I feel grrrrrreat!

OK - here's the recipe as promised. This is the fake Neiman Marcus oatmeal chocolate chip cookies recipe. Neiman Marcus actually developed a chocolate chip cookie recipe in response to this hoax - but I'm actually using the hoax recipe itself cause it's really good!

2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
5 cups blended oatmeal (yup, put 5 cups of oatmeal in a blender and blend away!)
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
24oz chocolate chips
3 cups chopped nuts (optional)

The recipe also calls for 8oz Hershey bar grated - but I don't usually do this, normally because I don't stock that in my pantry! I have sometimes added some chocolate chips to the oatmeal while blending, but I didn't today. I needed to save some to make Mocha Banana Chocolate Chips Muffins (maybe tomorrow's project?) - I've got ripening bananas going on in a big way right now.

Beat together butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla. Add oatmeal, flour, bp, bs, salt and mix. Add chocolate chips and nuts (we don't do nuts). Love me my KitchenAid mixer!!

Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes. Makes about 7 dozen cookies using my medium Pampered Chef scoop.

Mom to Mom - coming up!

I've been thinking a lot lately of what we can do to encourage our children's relationship with the Lord.

I figure if we all pool our ideas together it could be a huge benefit to all of us!

So, I'd like to have a carnival on the topic - sometime next week. So, think of ways you already do encourage your children in this area, brainstorm some new ideas - and get ready to share!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everybody!

I don't normally make New Year's resolutions, but this one I've been wanting to do for a long time and I think if I make it public it will make me more accountable.

I want to read through the Bible in one year.

I have never actually done this. As a matter of fact, I cannot say with any certainty that I have ever read through the entire Bible. Rather embarrassing to admit actually. So, I am committing to doing this.

There are several different read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year programs out there and I have decided to do this one. I like it because you read something from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs every day! They also have a neat feature where you can enter your own start date - which means there's no reason to wait till 2010!

I have a few other goals as well - like finishing off that baby weight loss, getting more organized (Flylady is helping with that), being on the computer less and improving in my role as a mother to my wonderful four children and as a wife to my amazing husband.

I want to be more pro-active and less re-active in my parenting.

I want to be even more intentional about teaching them what a relationship with Jesus is all about.

I want to allow myself to be the fun parent sometimes too - I need to realize that playing with my kids counts as getting stuff done!

So, what are your New Year's resolutions?

Christmas Traditions

I'd like to start more traditions in our family - especially Christmas traditions. We already have a few - we always attend the Christmas Eve choir service at our church, for ex, but I'd like to have more. I recently found this blog that has 100 Christmas Tradition ideas! The trick will be finding ones I like that my other half doesn't find too dorky. I'm much more apt to be dorky than he is :) I also find the trouble with 100 ideas is that it's so many I don't even know where to start!

At our COFFEE Connections (morning out for ladies at our church) this morning one of the women talked about a tradition they did - each child got to pick a character (shepherd, wise man, etc) and they would start from varying places in the room, depending on how far they had to travel to see Baby Jesus. As their particular part of the story was read they would move towards the Christmas tree. When the time came for Baby Jesus to be born, they would take a special gift ornament off the tree. It was a small box wrapped in gold wrapping paper, signifying Heaven and tied with a blue ribbon to signify royalty. Inside the box Baby Jesus was also wrapped in red and white tissue paper. White signified Jesus' absolutely purity and sinlessness and the red stood for the blood He shed to pay for our sins. I thought this was a fun tradition!

What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?

Finally another post!

OK, I realize it's been a LONG time since I've posted. I have good reasons too, but no time to post them. In fact, I have no time to be posting period, but I will anyway - who needs sleep? It's highly over-rated.

I will make it quick though - mainly pictures. I finally took some of the girls routines to show you. This is still working remarkably well I'm happy to report. And it's so cute the way Olivia says routine. She LOVES having a routine.

Anyway, without further ado, here they are....

I can just hear her saying her routine.... "get dressed, put my clothes away, brush my teeth, make my bed, put my toys away" - she loves to tell people her routine.

Routines for Kids

Taking inspiration from Pam's blog and how she's such a mean mom, I mixed in a little Flylady and decided it was time to make up routines for our kids to follow. They were really excited about it. I let them pick out their colours and stuff. This is sort of what they look like - in real life there are also pink boxes around all of Emma's routine, etc. I used Blogger for Word to put my file on here so that's why it's a bit messed up. Sophia & Olivia's routines are in pictures because they can't read yet. I can't figure out how to get the pictures to work too, so I guess I'll have to take a picture of their and post it later. Here's Emma's Routine....

Emma's Routine

Monday Morning		Tuesday Morning		Wednesday Morning		Thursday Morning	Friday Morning	Saturday Morning	Sunday Morning
Get dressed and tidy closet		Get dressed and tidy closet		Get dressed and tidy closet		Get dressed and tidy closet	Get dressed and tidy closet	Get dressed and tidy closet	Get dressed and tidy closet
Make bed		Make bed		Make bed		Make bed	Make bed	Make bed	Make bed
Fill water bottle and pack lunch bag		Fill water bottle and pack lunch bag		Fill water bottle and pack lunch bag		Fill water bottle and pack lunch bag	Fill water bottle and pack lunch bag
Brush teeth		Brush teeth		Brush teeth		Brush teeth	Brush teeth	Brush teeth	Brush teeth
Swish toilet, wipe bathroom mirror		Swish toilet, wipe sink and countertop		Swish toilet, wipe bathroom mirror		Swish toilet, wipe sink and countertop	Swish toilet, wipe bathroom mirror	Swish toilet, wipe sink and countertop	Swish toilet, wipe bathroom mirror

Monday Afternoon	Tuesday Afternoon	Wednesday Afternoon	Thursday Afternoon	Friday Afternoon	Saturday Afternoon	Sunday Afternoon
Go through backpack with Mom	Go through backpack with Mom	Go through backpack with Mom	Go through backpack with Mom	Go through backpack with Mom	Sweep and mop floors in living area
Clean out and put away lunch bag	Clean out and put away lunch bag	Clean out and put away lunch bag	Clean out and put away lunch bag	Clean out and put away lunch bag	Storytime with Emma
Put away backpack and change clothes	Put away backpack and change clothes	Put away backpack and change clothes	Put away backpack and change clothes	Put away backpack and change clothes	Take turns cleaning ONE of these: dresser or closet or bed or floor
Snack!	Snack!	Snack!	Snack!	Snack!
Practice piano	Practice piano	Practice piano	Practice piano	Practice piano
Do homework	Do homework	Do homework	Do homework	Do homework

Monday Evening	Tuesday Evening	Wednesday Evening	Thursday Evening	Friday Evening	Saturday Evening	Sunday Evening
Clean up toys and trash in bedroom	Clean up toys and trash in bedroom	Clean up toys and trash in bedroom	Clean up toys and trash in bedroom	Clean up toys and trash in bedroom	Clean up toys and trash in bedroom	Clean up toys and trash in bedroom
Lay out clothes for tomorrow	Lay out clothes for tomorrow	Lay out clothes for tomorrow	Lay out clothes for tomorrow	Lay out clothes for tomorrow	Lay out clothes for tomorrow	Lay out clothes for tomorrow
Brush teeth	Shower, brush teeth	Brush teeth	Shower, brush teeth	Brush teeth	Shower, brush teeth	Brush teeth

A real post - the meaning of Christmas

OK, even though today is a total record breaking posting day for me, I haven't really posted anything other than pictures. So, here's a real post.

How do we teach our children the true meaning of Christmas? Truly teach it to them. I think we thoroughly confuse them.

We teach them that the meaning of Christmas is a celebration of Jesus' birth - our Lord and Saviour.

We teach them that He left heaven and exchanged the glories there for a human body here on earth - born in a stable, born to die for the sins of the world, for my sins, for their sins.

We teach them that Santa is not real, he's just pretend - like Cinderella.

We teach them that gifts are not the meaning of Christmas. That gifts are just a fun part of the celebration. That they need to appreciate the gift and the meaning behind it, even if it's not exactly what they wanted to get. That they shouldn't ask for "more". That they shouldn't just tear through the presents and lay them aside after a hurried "thank you" looking for the next one.

And then after we've talked the talk we completely fail to walk it - and they end up opening 100 presents each from us, their aunts & uncles, grandparents and great-grandparents.

What exactly are they supposed to think?

Every year I look at all the "stuff" our kids have gotten and wonder where on earth to put it all.

What is this "stuff" really teaching our kids? How are we supposed to teach them not to be materialistic in the midst of it all?

And yet, it's so fun watching them open their gifts! I love to buy them things and watch them open it. But at what expense? Will the price be higher than we should be willing to pay?

Or is it no big deal? Maybe I'm overreacting/overthinking/overanalizing, I don't know.

We definitely do things to combat the materialism. We always do the Samaritan's purse Christmas shoe boxes, and they each help pack a box for a girl their age. We sponsor a child, provide an extra Christmas gift, as well as an extra Family gift once/year. They love to write Jonathan letters and draw pictures for him. We talk about how little he has and how he can't afford to do the same things we do - like go to restaurants or hotel trips, and that he doesn't even always have enough to eat. We sponsor missionaries in India and pray for them and Jonathan every day.

Is the Christmas gift overload cancelling out all of that? Or is it not really that bad?

I'd like to come up with more traditions that focus on the true meaning of Christmas.

I have heard of a great idea recently - to buy 3 (or 4) gifts per child and that's it. One thing they need (like clothes), one thing they want (toy) and a book and/or a game.

I think that's a great idea - until I see x in the store and know how much the girls would like it and cave and buy yet another present. Maybe next year.

I'm not meaning for this to sound so depressing. I LOVE Christmas. I love decorating (our tree went up November 25 already), I love listening to Christmas music, I love the lights, I love the Christmas programs and I love watching our kids open their gifts. Everything (especially when it comes to gifts) in moderation is the key I think.

More in the A-Z

F is for Future
I am one of those people that would love a glimpse into the future. Only good glimpses though! I often wonder - what will the girls look like when they're older? Who will their husbands be?

And, most important - will they be sharing heaven with me for all eternity?

Of course, I realize that that is their own personal decision - and, yet, as their parents, we have the most influence over their belief systems that anyone can ever have - a huge and daunting responsibility! So, one thing we have determined to do is to be as open and honest and communicative as is humanly possible. Nothing is off limits in discussion. Our relationship with Jesus needs to be talked about in everyday life - not just on Sundays and not even just at evening Bible Story and prayers. They need to see that this Relationship is wholly applicable to each and every part of our lives.

On a lighter note - F is also for Fingers. A classy restaurant I worked in during my one year at university. I first started as a Hostess, then as a Busser and then as a Server. The tips sure beat Chicken Chef's! Though I have to say, the work was probably easier. :)

G is for Gravy
I love gravy!

That is the one down side to GF holidays (G is also for GF - our regular "holiday" destination with the kids). They don't have gravy for french fries in the States. In fact, I don't think any of them have heard of poutines. Gasp - the horror!

Gravy on perogies, gravy on rice, gravy on noodles, gravy, gravy, gravy!

H is for Hugs
I love hugs. I especially love hugs from my girls and my man. Can you ever hug too much? No, there's no such thing.

I is for Induction
So far I've had to be induced for every labour. With both Emma & Sophia my water broke and nothing happened so I was induced - both were born exactly on their due dates. With Olivia I had a leak the day before her due date (totally my same MO!), but StB is a pain and wouldn't induce me - until I was 10 days overdue and at the fetal assessment they discovered I had very little amniotic fluid left. Hmmmm, I wonder why?! So, they induced me then too. The pain about being induced is that they have to monitor you constantly - so showering and walking and all the other methods of pain coping aren't even options. So, I am REALLY hoping not to have to be induced with this one - but that's probably a long shot because apparently my body doesn't know how to go into labour on it's own. :)