finding joy in small sweet moments amidst the chaos of life with little ones....

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Put It Where I See It

As the title shares I have been trying to put some very helpful verses lately where I will see them. I must admit I have never been one to put verses around... nope. I might put one in a book as a marker or on a card for a week or so, but never out in the open like this, but I have also never been in such a busy season of life where I feel like I just go all day and then crash at night. (Don't take that wrong I love my life and sooo love being a mother in this needy young kid season.) So, having some verses around really seem to help remind me of why I work so hard and how my attitude needs to be and where I go when I feel discouraged. I thought I would share them.

This one is by the sink. It reminds me to KEEP GOING!

This one is in the "cabinet of wonder and learning" (that is what we have decided to name our homeschooling cabinet) and reminds me how important it is to teach the kids with purpose and care.

This one is on the fridge because I go here all the time it seems. Yes, I can get angry, ho hum, I wish I was perfect and didn't ever loose it, but this scripture has been so great in helping me to take a step back when things don't go well. (Like the other day when I spotlessly cleaned the dining room and then went into the living room to nurse the baby. I kept hearing a bang bang bang. Eli with his foam sword. No big deal, I thought, he is just hitting the floor and making a fun noise. Thennnnn about 10 minutes later I walked in the freshly swept and mopped dining room to find about 100 cheerios smashed on the floor.) I really appreciated having read this verse for the past week again and again. God is good and gives us patience and wisdom when we need it and ask him for it!

This one is by our tooth brushes and I know I read it twice a day. It reminds me of my responsibility to share our faith with our children all the time.

I love this one. It is by the sink too. That is a place I am at ALL the time.

I love love this one. By the sink as well. The first verse reminds me to rejoice each morning! The second is so amazing and reminds me that I need to lift ALL my plans to the Lord because he weighs it all (my plans and my thoughts and hopes) and guides my path in the right direction.

This one is on the computer. Reminds me of my nearest neighbor. My family.

This one is on the pantry door. Reminds me to not be lazy. The pantry seems to be a great deterrent from doing something productive. :)

Oh my. When I put this one on my wallet I really decided that I must now have reach the nerd level of scripture memory. Yep, it is on my wallet. Reminds me of how much I need God in all my decisions! Who wants to buy something that is just going to be a mistake and useless? I know I have made more than a few of those kinds of purchases in my time. I also don't get out to shop much, so I really want what I buy to be exactly what I need. A quick prayer when I grab my wallet to ask that my merchandise be profitable can't hurt!

This is not a scripture verse just a picture and Mom THIS IS FOR YOU! Because you seem to remind me that I need to declutter my kitchen all the time. I am vowing to keep the counters free of clutter. So far (it has been about a week) I have managed to keep them this clean (this is big for me). A flat space seems to call clutter of all sorts so I am fighting back in the kitchen.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Random Happenings...

Marble run! Eli loves this marble maze set.

Otto can fit himself in a crate.

I think Eli took this, he likes to hold his gecko while he watches some morning cartoons.

Sweet Oak!

The boys are watching hexbug videos on you tube. I am pretty sure Eli has watched them all by now.

Eli took this.

and this.

I took the camera with on a walk to Sunergos the other day....

Eli asked me to take his picture by this tree.

and here in the leaves.

then I told Otto to join in, sorry it is upside down.

At Sunergos! Papa!!!!

Brian and I have started p90x again. The boys like to get up with us, but they don't like to workout. I guess many days I don't feel like working out either, but we decided we plain old just need to be disciplined and do it because we need it. It is a good thing. We get up together and just get it done! How do you like how Eli dressed himself... sword and all. He makes me laugh! The green bag has all his hexbugs in it. :)

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Homeschooling Today

Homeschooling has been a huge blessing to us. It gives me so much quality time with the boys each day. We are learning what works for us as we go. I pretty much block out from 10 to noon to only spend time teaching. This has worked well so far.

This was our day today:
Today we started out playing marble run for a while. Then we spent time reading about Jesus' sermon on the mount and talking about how we don't need to worry. Then we prayed. I usually ask them to share one thing they are thankful for and one thing they want God to help them with. Eli was thankful today for games and wanted help with not being scared. Otto was thankful for insects and wanted help with mama. I asked him what he meant by this, but he couldn't really answer me. I am thankful for the super sunny day out and I asked God to help us to have wisdom as a family in all we do! I might start writing down their prayer requests and thanks because they are usually so cute! Then we did insect flash cards. The boys love this. Whoever guesses the most cards right gets two chocolate coins (which he then shares with his bro). Then I worked on reading with just Eli. He is doing SO good with this. Then we played a game called money bags. It teaches coin values and counting money. Fun! Then as a treat I skipped handwriting and we drew cityscapes. That's kind of like handwriting, straight lines, right? Now we are off to grocery shop! I tell you the stay at home life is non-stop! Hopefully grocery shopping will be a learning experience as well. :) Oh yes, what do I do with Oak when we homeschool??? Today he slept the whole time we did school. That was nice. If he wakes up early I am usually at the table with the boys at that point so I put him in the high chair with some cheerios. That keeps him busy. He also loves to just watch them do their work.