Kids being Kids

Here is a funny video of my kids just because. Will decided to make an invention and of course I had to capture his creativity. Then things went down hill from there. I love that my kids can be so carefree and silly. I love that Will loves to dance. So here are my kids in all their silliness and I loved every minute of it. Remember to pause the music on the bottom left of the blog;)

Wind in their Sails

I read bits here and there out of this book "The Power of a Positive Mom" by Karol Ladd. I tend to read it more while my husband is traveling as I find it harder to be as positive as I would like to be when the day to day activities seem to wear me down.

In reading from her book this week I came across the chapter providing advice on discovering your child'd potential. I am drawn to this topic as Abby has started school now and Will will start next week. As I begin to schedule activities and homework projects are introduced it does make me think about recognizing those areas where my kids really shine. I love in the book where it states "Our challenge is to learn how to be the wind in their sails without blowing them off the course God has set for their lives." I want to be an involved and supportive mom but I don't want to be a controlling mom. Giving thoughtful direction and choosing or controlling the direction are two different things. Of course the Bible provides insight into our parenting duties and specifically how to train them. I really like the author's translation of Proverbs 22:6 "train a child according to his bent."

So it looks like I have some homework as well this school season, according to this book there are four steps to studying your children in order to find their unique skill sets and direction. Step 1: See the potential, this sounds easy enough but I know if feels like some days I have only focased on what they didn't do or say. Step 2: Offer opportunities for Growth, here she empasizes trying a variety of activities for you kids but not rushing. In fact she lists several Olympic athletes who didn't focas on their specific sport until their teenage years!!! Step 3: Set realistic goals, she emphasizes that these be the children's goals and not your goals for them. Lastly Step 4: Support their Endeavors, whether they win or lose, just them knowing you support them no matter what is such an encouragement to them.
So I am excited to really study my kids a little more deeply and find out what makes them truly unique and how I can help them find their bent. Hope you enjoyed this new info as much as I did. Happy Discovering!!!

I have a first grader!!!

Abby started first grade yesterday, I can't believe how brave she was and that she is gone all day now. It is such a huge leap from 2.5 hours a day to 6.5 hours a day but she handled it like a champ.



Here she is with her good friends Regan and Elizabeth, we took a picture exactly like this last year, it is so cute to see how they have grown.

Abby was a little nervous leading up to the start of school because she was worried about being at school so long. Once we got to school though she found her friends and was literally pulled into the building by them, she was smiling the whole time.

I can't believe she is such a big girl. I always hear don't wish away those baby years because you will never get them back. Yet in the midst of having two small children I remember looking forward to the day when they would be able to go to pre-school so I could have a little break. I think you are so overwhelmed sometimes when your children are little that even though you know you shouldn't wish them to get older, sometimes you can't help it. Now as I ponder her going into first grade I tear up at the fact that she won't be little again. I look ahead and instead of wishing her more independent I want her to stay right where she is at. I am so thankful for this little girl and all the joy she brings to my life. I pray for wisdom to guide her to be a daughter of Christ and to always cherish the blessings each day with her brings. Thank you for this gift Lord.

What I'll miss about summer

Well the weather the past few days has definitely made me think about the end of summer. Also the fact that school starts tuesday really lets me know that fall is around the corner. Here our a few things I will miss about this past summer.

LAKE ERIE



CORN ON THE COB



THE POOL



MY HUBBY DOING SOME HEAVY DUTY YARD WORK



Even though I will miss summer and all it's fun I am definitely ready for my favorite season of fall. Looking forward to all it has to offer. Go Bucks!!!

Adversity and Prosperity

There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire,
which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which
kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.

-Washington Irving

I came across the above quote at this blog. The woman behind this blog has definitely seen her share of adversity but chooses to reveal the prosperity she finds as well. Please visit her blog if you get the chance.

This quote provided much encouragement and fear at the same time. While I know that God can do the impossible in impossible situations, the fear of having to go through adversity to light the flame with in is a little unsettling. As I pondered this quote I knew that there had to be some bible verses that provided the inspiration. Here are a few scriptures that I came across:

1 Peter 1:6-7 ...though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by the fire- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus is revealed.

Ecclesiastes 7:14 When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other.

Job 1:21 The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.

Lastly I found this quote by Anne Bradstreet: If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcomed.

So if you be in adversity or prosperity right now may we always know that God is in control of both and is with us in and through both. Isn't interesting that when things are going well we take the credit and when they are going poorly we can often blame God. Thank you Lord for the blessings in my life and promising to walk with me through it all.

Show us your life-vacation

I have been blessed to be going to Sanibel Island for the past 10 years, it has been wonderful. Sanibel is so family friendly and very relaxed.

Besides the beautiful beach and ocean, there is a pool that keeps the kids entertained.


Of course it is a great time for family as well, our kids have so many great memories and traditions that have been developed there.

Lastly it is a great vacation spot because we have grandparents with us who love to help and so graciously let us stay with them.
I look forward to many more vacations there as well. I also look forward to new vacation spots. In October my parents, brothers, sister-in-law, nephew and my little family are headed to Disney World, I know that will be a special vacation as well.

Get organized!!

I am trying to get things more organized around here. I am getting tired of looking for my son's transformers for the 100th time. I have been inspired by Real Simple magazine who has provided some great ideas and products. I am going through all the kids toys a bin at a time and tossing what they don't use(although I have to do this without the kids looking) and organizing by type of toy. This will be a long process but if I think about all the time we spend searching for toys I know I will come out way ahead in the long run. I wanted to share a website that I found called theorganizedparent.com. I specifically like the wally wall organizer(corky) and plan on ordering it. I saw this in Real Simple but found it cheaper at this website. It also has alot of great ideas for organizing in general. I also got the idea to get 5 magazine files and label them Monday-Friday and placed them in my laundry room. This will help with notes to school, homework and library books. I got my magazine files from Ikea, 2 for 2.99. I decided to use my laundry room as my organizing center because we go through it to get to the garage. Hopefully I can keep up my motivation. Clutter is something I have always struggled with. I wish I could go through the mail each day and then toss the junk and read through the catalogs that day. Oh well, it's a process and sometimes there are more important things(two cute ones at that) to spend my time on. Let me know if you have any great ideas about organizing.