Where's The Beef?

I've been re-assessing the way I do grocery shopping and meal planning. Feeding a family of seven is not an easy task, especially when trying to be frugal and save as much money in that area of the "budget" as possible.

So after reading much and talking to a dear friend of mine about what they do to feed their large family...I decided to go "meatless" for one to two suppers each week, in an effort to lower our grocery bill AND reap the health benefits:)

My dear husband is a real meat and potato kinda guy and really enjoys a good slab of meat on his plate after a hard day at work. So it's a big adjustment for him. Here's an example of his not-so-subtle, yet kinda cute, hint that he's still getting used to the idea...

Last week I made Cheese Tortellini Bean Soup. It was good but I got the recipe from an email from Family Fun magazine and it was kid-friendly (which = mild flavor). So the conversation went something like this...

Me: "I don't know. It was pretty good but I think it's missing something."

Hubby: "Yep, the meat."

Me: "No, you know, it's just missing a little something."

Hubby: "Yep, it's missing the meat."

Bless his heart. He just eats what I fix, without too much complaining. But I know that this is a little hard for him to get used to, what with him being such a carnivore and all. All in all, I know he just appreciates the fact that there is a meal on the table for him. So I'll take a little joking about our new menu...for now:)

"He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." -Deuteronomy 8:3

My overseas pen pal...

Some days this blog is a little like that overseas pen pal, that you were assigned to write to in elementary school, that never wrote back. I don't expect comments on my posts, but I sure get a kick out of them when someone takes a moment to leave one:)
Apparently, my need for adult interaction with others has been reduced to looking forward to comments on a blog...I know, I need to get out more:)

Anyway, I said to my husband the other day that I get tired of "being a broken record" and it occured to me that my children probably won't understand that phrase, due to the fact that I don't believe they have ever even seen a record. When I say record, they think Olympics or might think I was refering to the Guiness Book of World Records...I'm sure they would believe it if I told them that I hold the world record for World's Wackiest Mom:)

I guess maybe I could relate to them by saying I'm tired of being a scratched CD or DVD, which they would totally understand because I don't know if we own a CD/DVD that is not currently scratched. That's what happens when you have five very independent children that love listening to music and watching "kid's shows". But actually, I'm quite certain that the downloading of pretty much all media will wipe out any form of that phrase whatsoever.

Which leads me to my fun, yet needy, attempt to get a few comments...
Can you think of any phrases that young children today wouldn't understand? If you're feeling spunky and up to the challenge of some brain work today, leave me a comment and let me know what you come up with!
Really, you can do it...
I'll be waiting to hear from you (wink).

Singin' Pwaise

My dear little Silas had a song stuck in his head this afternoon and he sang it maybe 20 times. Some days that would make me a little bonkers but today, I could have listened to him sing it 100 times. He's about to turn 3 in a few weeks and although I am looking forward to some more grown up things in his future (potty training would be the big one), I have to be honest and say that I'll probably be a little sad when his speech starts to improve beyond toddler talk.

He was absolutely adorable today singing, "Pwaise Him, Pwaise Him all you wittle chidren. God is Yuv. God is Yuv. Pwaise Him, Pwaise Him, all you wittle chidren. God is Yuv. God is Yuuuv!"

It warms my heart to hear him sing those words with all he's got.
Keep pwaisin' the Yord, Sweet Silas, keep pwaisin' the Yord!

God is love. -1 John 4:8

In need of some grace...

It was one of those mornings when I felt like I was days behind, before I even started.

So, of course, I needed a little music. I'm in love with a song right now... you know, like when you could listen to it multiple times every day and still want to hear it again. I've been in love with this song for months now and it doesn't seem to be wearing off. I've listened to it so much that my dear six-year-old asked (a few weeks ago) why we were listening to this song AGAIN. At which point I said, "Starting the day with this song HELPS Mommy." No explanation needed:)

The song is Hallelujah by Heather Williams and it really speaks to me.

My favorite part of the song is "I have fallen so far, flat on my face, I'm in need of Your grace today. I stumble and fall but in spite of it all Your love always stays the same."

Not only do the lyrics help me put things in perspective, so does the story behind it. Heather Williams wrote this song after the death of her child. If you'd like to see Heather tell the whole story, click here.

If God can give her the strength to get through that situation, he can surely give me the strength to get through the little bit of craziness in my morning. Yes, indeed. It's all about perspective.

Waking up to our chaos, already feeling behind...that was me this morning. Clearly, not a real crisis situation but still I needed a little musical encouragement. Well, quite frankly, EVERY morning. I try really hard but I'm human and I mess up. Sometimes I mess up as a mom. Sometimes I mess up as a wife. Sometimes I mess up as a friend, a daughter, a sister, and most of all, sometimes I mess up as a follower of Jesus Christ. I don't mean to but it happens. Unfortunately, I let the little stuff of my everyday chaos get to me sometimes. And when I do, I'm not the best example of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control (Galations 5:22). But the great thing is, that after I "get right with God" about whatever it was, I get a "do over" every morning. Hallelujah:)

May this song bless you, too, today.

And the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Against these things there is no Law. -Galations 5:22-23

Reckless

Sometimes I pick the kiddos up from school. Last week, I parked in a different spot than usual. It just so happens that there is an alley that is directly across the street that, if it kept going, would run right into the school building. Anyway, I parked there and waited until school let out because sometimes, due to no parking spaces, we just keep driving around in circles until the kids come outside. If they don't see me right away, sometimes they wonder if I'm late or forgot to pick them up. So I parked across the street so that the kids would see our vehicle easily.

Most times, Hope and Hank come out together. And Hope (being the motherly type) has decided it's her job to advise her brother on pretty much everything. This time, unfortunately, Hank came out alone and after a moment of scanning, saw that we were across the street. Now, mind you, what I'm about to describe all happened in a matter of seconds...

Hank waved to me to acknowledge that he saw me. As I was waving back he started walking in between the parked cars and looking both ways in order to cross the street. I realized what he was doing and started waving my hands in that "No! Stop!" kind of way but he wasn't looking at me, he was checking the street. So I honked my horn to try to get his attention, so he would see that I didn't want him to cross. That didn't work, so since I was still buckled up, I started rolling down the window, unbuckling and opening the door, all at the same time and yelling, "Hank! No! No! Stop!" A woman that was in one of the parked cars started getting out of her car to tell him the same thing, but by that time, it was too late and he darted across the extremely busy street to get to where I was. My heart stopped for the few seconds that it took for him to run across the road and when he climbed in, I really gave him a very loud, frantic and stern talking to about what had happened. In the middle of my ranting, he said to me, "I thought you said to go." I explained to him that I yelled, "NO!" Looking back it was a poor choice of words.

All this has got me thinking about communication and how important that it is to be extremely intentional about how I speak. I really struggle with this sometimes, especially when mothering my five children. In the moment that I just described, I wasn't really thinking about how my words could be misunderstood. I was driven by my emotions (fear, in that instance). In that particular moment, I didn't have time to think about what or how to best convey the message that I needed to communicate.

In most cases, though, time is not such a critical factor when communicating with my children. But unfortunately, all too often, my speech is driven by emotion. In the heat of a frustrated moment, I don't always take the time to stop to think about the tone of what I'm about to say. I'm very careful in choosing the words that I use when talking to my children but not always as careful with my tone of voice (or volume, for that matter.) Unfortunately, this is beginning to reflect itself in my children and how they deal with each other. So often, they are like little mirrors showing me things that I, myself, need to improve.

The Bible tells us a lot about how we should speak. Some of my favorite verses on this issue are:

James 1:19-20
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

Proverbs 12:10
Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 15:1
A gentle word turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Ouch! Those kinda sting a little. But I'm really working on it and, more importantly, praying about it. And I trust that, with God's help, the way I speak will become much less reckless.

I still Heart my boyfriend...

The year was 1989...

The hair was permed, the bangs were poofed, the jeans were "stonewashed", and Bon Jovi was playing "Livin' On A Prayer" on my boombox:)

It was a year that changed my life. I fell in love with a boy and I've been in love with him ever since. Hard to believe, I know, that I found my future husband when I was only 14 years old. But God had a seriously big plan for us, we just didn't know it at the time.

Like almost every other teenage girl on the planet, I dreamed about being married and having a family someday. In my heart I planned my way, but little did I know that the Lord was planning my each one of my steps, even way back in Jr. High. We've walked along side each other, my hubby and me, for a long time and I'm so glad God gave us the blessing of having so many fun (and funny) memories together.

I mean really, the Lord must have known that we would look totally cool together: the pink beach shirt with grey and white stripped Jams and a sleeveless turtleneck with two-toned cut off (but rolled up) jeans and white Reebok velcro high tops.
A match made only in heaven:)

I'm so grateful that God has grown us in ways that we could have never imagined back then. Ten years married and five children later, here we are, still loving life together.

Happy Valentine's Day, Babe! I'm still crazy about ya:)


Proverbs 16:9 (ESV)
The heart of man plans his way,
but the LORD establishes his steps.

Silly Shoe Stories

Okay, so the dear hubby was getting ready for work this morning and it's snowing (AGAIN), so he decided to wear his boots. I was in the kitchen at the time and I hear him say, "There's a fork in my boot."
Yes, there was actually a child-size piece of silverware inside his boot. We had a little chuckle as he finished doing up the laces and I take the fork from him and go back to the kitchen. Then I hear him say, "And in this one is a ping pong ball." Go figure.
Again we had a good chuckle and then my husband said, "Oh, Moses." which refers to one of our favorite family stories that always makes us laugh.

My mom was here watching some of the kiddos while I was out and Mattie was putting on her shoes. She was at it for a short time and then my mom heard her say, "Oh, Moses!" My mom thought she was just using it as an expression, like "Oh, brother" or "Oh, goodness." But mom had to laugh when Mattie stuck her hand inside her shoe and pulled out a small plastic Moses figurine, complete with staff in hand, and threw it down on the floor.

I guess the moral of my stories is: when putting shoes on at the Shoe household, always check inside first...you may find a prize inside:)


Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.
Psalm 126:2-3

If a part gets scary...

I've been thinking a lot about friends lately.

Recently, Mattie had her little friend, Winnie, over for a play date and they were determined to watch a movie. Winnie had a selection picked out but Mattie wasn't so sure because she said there is a scary part that she doesn't like. As these two fun-loving friends climbed up into the chair to sit "like two peas in a pod" side-by-side, Winnie (the sweet friend that she is) informed us both that, "If a part gets scary, I'll just cover her eyes." I immediately wrote that down cause it really struck a cord with me.

That's what friends do for each other sometimes. When a part of life is scary or hard or frustrating or even just plain mundane, a friend can often love you right back to a place where you know you can make it through.

And last night I was reading in Exodus and came upon the part (in Chapter 17:8-16) where Joshua was leading the Israelites in a battle with the Amalekites and, as long as Moses held his hands up in the air while holding the staff of God, the Israelites were winning.
When Moses grew tired, Aaron and Hur brought him a rock on which he could sit and held his hands up, so that his hands remainded steady until sunset and Joshua won the battle.

Did God say, "No, no, that's cheating. Moses must do this alone."? No, and I believe God created us to need friends for a reason. Sometimes we get tired. Tired of our circumstances. Tired of being stuck inside because of snow and ice. Tired of laundry. Tired of being tired. And at just the right time, in just the right way, a friend will bless us with words of encouragement, a laugh, or even a chance to cry on their shoulder. It's one of the best ways that God shows his faithfulness to us...through the love of a friend.

God created me to be a very social being. I really enjoy spending time with friends but during this season of my life, there is not always a lot of time for that. I struggle with that. But lately I've been blessed with lots of "friend time" and have enjoyed the opportunity to laugh and be silly and "chat it up" with some dear ones. And boy, it's done my heart good:)

I've been blessed in so many ways, by many different friends...coffee nights, an encouraging card or email, meals for those crazy days in which making supper seems almost impossible, helping out with the kiddos, and sometimes something as simple as an, "I know exactly what you mean. I struggle with that, too." I'm so grateful for the friends that God has placed in my life. Even though this season of life requires me to focus mainly on my family of seven, I pray that if life gets scary for a friend, that I can be the one to "cover her eyes."


Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
Ecclesiasties 4:9-10

Frozen pumpkins in ice:)

Well, lovely readers (whoever you might be:)...

I had grand plans of blogging like crazy tonight because three of the five lil Shoes were going to be enjoying the evening with various friends BUT we now have three, yes three, feverish little guys who are feeling very out of sorts tonight. The girls still got to attend their lovely soires (yes, I do believe the "e" is supposed to have a fancy accent thingy above it), but I had a very disappointed six year old that had to stay home and watch movies with Mom and Dad instead. I'm so proud of him though cause he handled it like a champ. He had a few quiet tears and a few moments of mad...but then he realized that being mad doesn't ever change a thing, so he found enough happiness in his heart to laugh at all the burping parts in the movie we watched and even told me before bed that even though he was really excited about having fun with his friends, he still has fun being home with his family. That little guy can be a challenge but he sure knows how to melt his mom's heart.

We try to live simply but the Shoe Seven does enjoy the benefits of electricity, such as heat and kitchen appliances, just to name a few. Anyway, we had a whopper of a storm here this week and the ice storm relocated us to my parents house for a few days because we had no electricity. We made it through the initial storm night when we lost power on Tuesday at 10:30pm but it didn't take long before the Shoe Seven was high-tailing it over to a warmer location. My parents didn't have power either but they had a generator that runs many of their household necessities, heat being one of the most important, in my opinion. Praise God for the blessing of a warm place to sleep. On nights like that, I am reminded to pray for families that are homeless (and for those who cannot afford to pay to heat when they do have homes).

So we spent one night with my parents and the next day, the electricity was back on at our place. Mid-morning I packed up all the kiddos and headed home, after my dear husband had already headed to work. We got home, unpacked the loads of things that we had lugged over with us for our overnight stay (or stays, we had no idea how many nights our electric would be out), started tidying up a bit, the kids were bouncing off the walls (as usual after having a few snow days off of school) and just as I'm about to put a few of the lil Shoes in the bathtub...

"What in the world, why is the water stopping...It was just running warm water!" I was puzzled. Bathtime postponed and a frenzied check of all faucets ensued. Nothing. Did I mention that when I was checking if the water was working anywhere, I flushed one of the toilets? "Okay, crisis mode...we only get one flush when the water is off...I used that toilet's ONE flush! Okay, note to self, we have another toilet...just don't let anyone else flush." Let's do the math. 7 people (5 of them being children) and one potty that has only one flush available...No, not going to be able to make this work on any level. And oops, one of the kiddos forgot my instructions and flushed the other potty.

NO. MORE. FLUSHES.

Well, we decided to pack up and relocate back to my parents until the water situation was figured out AND fixed, of course, because, well, as simple as we are, are not really outhouse type people:) Not to mention we don't have an outhouse and if we did, someone's tushy would have surely frozen to it:) Anyway, AGAIN I packed up everything but the kitchen sink (cause it wasn't working anyhow) and we travelled the treacherous roads back to where we had just been that same morning. We were able to return home later that evening cause my dear hubby figured out the problem. No plumber necessary:)

I'm totally not complaining about the previous situation, just relaying the events that have filled the last few days to give you an idea of how grateful we are to be here in our warm, comfy, water-working home, even with sick children. We are so grateful to have family so close by and thankful that we are welcome to "camp out" in situations like these. But Dorothy said it best, when she said, "There's no place like home." As simple and as in need of a bit of fixing up as it, it's still HOME. It's where the Seven Shoes do their thing best. And as for the pumpkins I mentioned a few posts back, well, they welcomed us home with a new glaze of shimmering solid ice covering them. Looks like they won't be goin' anywhere until Spring arrives... Home Sweet Home, frozen pumpkins and all:)

Is someone peeking in my window?

My dear friend, Lindsey, gave me a copy of this poem last Mother's Day and it made me (and the rest of the Shoes) laugh out loud. I have it hanging in my kitchen. And often times I read it to remind myself that I'm not the only one who lives in a constant state of kid chaos:) Thought I'd share it with you because today was one of those days when I felt like this Kathy Fictorie lady was peeking in my window when she wrote this funny little poem. Hope it brightens your day!


If You Give A Mom A Muffin
by Kathy Fictorie

If you give a Mom a muffin,
She’ll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
She’ll pour herself some.
Her three-year-old will spill the coffee.
She’ll wipe it up.

Wiping the floor, she’ll find dirty socks.
She’ll remember she has to do laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She’ll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan for dinner tonight.

She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She’ll look for her cookbook (“101 Things To Make With a Pound of Hamburger”).
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.
She will look for her checkbook.

The check book is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old.
She’ll smell something funny.
She’ll change the two year old’s diaper.
While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring.
Her four-year-old will answer and hang up.

She’ll remember that she wants to phone a friend to come for coffee on Friday.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
And chances are…
If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

Here Comes The Sun...

I know the last post was a doozy but His mercies are new every morning and so here we are...

I mentioned in a previous post about how I crave order. And I do. Really, I do. But unfortunately, my nature is not to be super orderly. I'm more of a random, scattered, "fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants" kinda girl. Let's face it. No one who is truly orderly would have frozen pumpkins on their front porch:) Praise the Lord that those pumpkins never got carved like they were supposed to or else we would have had some really distorted looking jack 'o lanterns stuck to our porch in all that lovely white snow.

Anyway, like I said, I CRAVE order. I didn't say I'm GOOD at order. No, I just walk on by those frozen pumpkins with a baby on one hip and a hand full of groceries or books (or whatever the children just HAD to take with us in the van) and I make a note to self, "It's the end of January. I probably ought to do something about those pumpkins." Then I go inside and do whatever it is that this mother of five has to do at that very moment... which would be peeling coats and hats and boots and gloves off of the children and then trying to make sure that none of those said items get left on the floor:) Pumpkins, what pumpkins?

Okay, so why do I post this? Well, I guess because life goes on. And also, I suppose, so you understand a little more about me. I have to say, I was feeling kinda blah for a few weeks. Hormones are a mysterious thing, don't you think? But God is good and the past two weeks I have been blessed with LOTS of fun, happy moments. Many of which involved wonderful friends that I don't often get to spend much time enjoying. Life can get so busy but when it comes to those hard times, you focus on all the things you hold most dear.

So yes, we had a bit of a valley to walk through to begin our new year but on the other side of it awaited something for which I am so grateful...joy and a renewed sense of God's faithfulness. "All I have needed His hand has provided..." Family, friends and fun. It was a little cloudy in my world for a few weeks, but Praise God cause "Here Comes The Sun" :)

New year, New life lessons

***Warning--This is not the cheery, "everything is hunky dory", New Year's resolution kind of post you probably expected. I wrote this on January 10th and have waivered back and forth about whether or not I wanted to actually post it. The cheerleader inside me said, "No, don't post it. Keep it super fun and totally encouraging! (Insert big cheesy smile HERE:)" It didn't seem to me to be the best way to start a new blogging year.
And although I really dig fun and encouraging, I would be a liar if I led you to believe that everything is always happy and perfect here in our little world. I felt led to go ahead and share the following post because I want everyone to realize that we are ALL human and we ALL go through hard things. And that God didn't promise that because I follow Him, that life would be easy. He just promised that He would be with me EVERY STEP OF THE WAY.

There have been some heavy things consuming my thoughts and prayers. All of them very emotional, life changing things. And not to make light of it, but the only one I can actually share about publicly is, although big to the Shoe Seven, in actuality small in comparison to other situations and struggles about which I am in frequent prayer.

Our family recently experienced the ups and downs of finding out that we were going to be adding another lil Shoe to our family... and then finding out that we are not. The rush of emotions that comes when that little test turns positive is such excitement and joy (and then, for me, just a tiny flash of absolute terror--I guess terror isn't the right word, maybe, more of a fear of failure would better describe my feeling:) Anyway, we thought we might have to change our cute family nickname to something a little less catchy, like "The Seven Shoes plus One". Catchy, no. Exciting, yes.
Even though most parents probably wouldn't have told their children about a new pregnancy so soon, my husband and I like to be pretty up front with our children and it was our big Christmas surprise for them on Christmas Eve. The kiddos were excited at the possibility of a new little brother or sister.

But instead this big surprise has turned into a very big, important life lesson, that can be applied to every season and sorrow that occurs in our family. One that allows us to demonstrate our faith to the children in a very real way.

My husband and I believe that the Bible is not just a "book of rules". We also see it as a "letter of love" from the Lord, that tells us about His character and about the promises that He has for all of His children. In times like these, we are sad and disappointed, but we fully trust that God is who He says He is.
He loves us.
He is sovereign.
He will give us joy and peace that transcends all understanding.
He is merciful and comforts us when we go to Him in a time of need.

Trusting in Him and the amazing love that He has for us gives us strength. What better way to explain to our children that God has a plan for each one of us and that even though we don't always understand His plan and how it plays out in our lives, we can rest in the knowledge that God is good, ALL the time, even when our circumstances are not.
I don't mean for it to sound like we would choose for sad things to happen, because we wouldn't. But there is no way to protect our children (or ourselves for that matter) from the sorrows of this world.

So I pray that we can be parents that live out Proverbs 3:5-6, which tells us to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will make your paths straight." and
Deuteronomy 6:5-9, which tells us to "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 on 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. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." I pray that we will use each new life lesson to teach our children God's Truth and share with them the amazing power of His love.


**Well, there you have it...the not so cheery, but (hopefully) in some way encouraging 1st blog post of the new year.
Don't worry...they won't all be like that one. My inner cheerleader would SO not be okay with a year full of serious!
Back to more of the fun, silly, Seven Shoes craziness next time:) But until then...

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

Taming the Toddler?

I SO crave order. Order in my life and order in my home. I am often fighting a losing battle. The children are passing around a fever and cough (AGAIN), not to mention I have a mischievous 14 month old and a lively 2 year old, both of which can create havoc in mere seconds. Just to give you an idea of what I'm up against here...

I look over one minute and he's on top of the table (apparently Mommy wasn't giving him grapes fast enough)...
I don't know if you can tell or not, but we have the dining room table pushed over against the wall to deter him from climbing up on at least one side of the table. Less area for him to work with...

And so much for showcasing the lovely table runner that we received as a gift last Christmas. You can't see how pretty it is because he's sitting on it. I guess we will have to save that for putting on the table only when we have guests.

Of course, I take him off the table, give him more grapes to snack on in a safer location and it's not long before I hear an unfamiliar noise coming from the laundry room...



and apparently Mommy needed a reminder to take the bag of recyclables out to the garage. This kid is into EVERYTHING!!!
I can't seem to keep up with him, which explains why our Christmas tree looks like this...


Notice how Zeke is demonstrating how he figured out how to pull a chair over to reach higher:) He's too smart for me.

And as for our 2 year old, he needs a little motivation to be a good "listen boy" (as he calls it), so we are using window clings as a fun way to encourage/reward good behavior...


My kiddos have always been big into stickers and so last year I bought a few Christmas/winter window clings and decided to use them as motivational tools throughout the season. They seem to really dig it, so I bought a few more this year but notice that we only have the pieces of the nativity up so far. Looks like we've got a little work to do...

Ephesians 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.


"Lord, please help me do that!"

Inexpensive gift idea: Hair accessory organizer

I mentioned in my "Beauty Tips" post, that I pray for my girls to know about True Beauty. Since Christmas will be here in just a few weeks, I thought I'd take a moment and share an inexpensive homemade gift idea that can help encourage the little girls in your life to remember that they are beautiful (with or WITHOUT fashionable accessories:)

I made this one for my girls last Christmas and spent about $10 or less on materials. (I did have a super good coupon to use at the craft store when I bought the materials though!)



Here's what you'll need...

-an inexpensive, unfinished wooden plaque (whatever size or shape you like...I was making mine for two, so I went BIG!)

-4 ribbons (1 cm wide) each measuring 15 inches in length

-5 ribbons (2 cm wide) each measuring 13 inches in length

-acrylic paint, paint brushes and an acrylic paint pen

-a glue gun

-embellishments of your choice, such as the wooden photo frames that I used, or you could use other wooden items (flowers, animals, etc.) or stencils or rub on decals...so many choices..get creative with it:)



General idea of putting it together:

1. Paint base color on plaque. Set aside to dry.

2. While paint dries, cut ribbon to desired lengths. Take two of the ribbons (the ones that will be placed at each end) and on each of those ribbons, make a loop (at whichever end will be at the bottom) big enough to wrap around two fingers and glue with glue gun. The loops are to hold headbands, just slide them through the loop.

3. Use glue gun to glue embellishments on plaque.

4. Paint the Scripture (Psalm 45:11) on the plaque and let dry. If you are making a smaller plaque, you could choose a different verse or even just use the child's name. **If you are nervous about doing it freehand-- I chose a font that I liked in a WP document and printed it out on my computer in the appropriate size. Then I laid the paper down on the plaque and used the pointy end of the paint brush to trace over the letters. This made indentations that I used as a guide to paint the words.

5. Glue ribbons to the bottom edge of plaque with glue gun. Voila!

You can keep it simple or fancy it up as much as you want! I've seen fancier ones on Etsy for anywhere from $30 to $50 dollars!!! I tried to keep mine pretty simple, more affordable, and hopefully, made it extra encouraging for my girls by adding an important message from God's Word:)

Anyone have any other easy, inexpensive gift ideas? It doesn't have to be crafty. Leave a comment and share some of your ideas.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
James 1:16-18

Avoiding "The Gimmies"-Part 3

I have been so blessed to hear from you about all the Thankfulness trees and turkeys that were growing in your homes! I pray that your families are also being blessed with the joy that a grateful heart can bring!


Another way that we try to avoid "The Gimmies" is we...

4. Celebrate Advent at home

I'll just get it out in the open right away...we don't do Santa with our children. I only reveal that fact to give you a little background on how we began celebrating Advent in our home. We do exchange gifts but we really felt God leading us to keep our main focus on the best gift of all, the birth of our Savior.

In an effort to find a Christ-centered tradition for our family, I researched the celebration of Advent. I was raised in a denomination that observes the season of Advent and remember the purple banners and decorations, the lighting of candles, and a special time of anticipation leading up to the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. When my husband and I starting having our children, our home church did not observe Advent. But I was very interested in the idea of celebrating Advent at home, so we got our own Advent wreath and began doing a specific reading each night when lighting candles on our wreath. We have used Getting Ready for Christmas: A Daily Advent Prayer & Activity Book for the Family by Yolanda Browne
and The Christmas Touch: Making Christlike Connections during the Holidays by David and Karen Mains (and others).

In my research of Advent, I discovered the tradition of the Jesse tree. If you want an excellent, detailed explanation of the Jesse Tree tradition, you can find one at this link. The name "Jesse Tree" comes from Isaiah 11:1: "A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots." (referring to the coming of Jesus Christ). The ornaments you place on the tree tell the Story of God throughout the Old Testament, and focuses on the faithfulness of God and the anticipation of the coming Messiah.

A simple way of explaining our Jesse Tree tradition is that each day we do a specific scripture reading and make an ornament based on a particular person or event in the Old Testament. This Jesse Tree link is where I found a wonderful detailed plan for daily scripture reading and ornament making for your tree. Here are some examples of ornaments that we have created for our tree. We like to use all types of materials, such as rocks and straw. The kiddos think it's super fun!






We choose to make our ornaments for several reasons:
1. the lil Shoes enjoy being crafty
2. it gives them something to do with their hands while their ears listen to the Scripture reading
3. and they really enjoy looking at the ornaments that they made over and over again, year after year, which gives us even more opportunity to talk about the meaning of each ornament, which helps the kiddos retain the information we have learned through Scripture.
Now again, it doesn't have to be crafty. Here's a link for Jesse Tree ornaments that you can download and print. The craft is not the focus of the Jesse Tree. The reason for the Jesse Tree is to keep a Christ-centered focus as you anticipate the celebration of Christmas.

Advent begins tomorrow, but don't think you can't celebrate because you're not prepared. It doesn't have to be fancy. All you need is a desire to keep Christ at the center of your Christmas preparations, the rest will fall into place.


A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots. Isaiah 11:1