Showing kindness... It's kind of like t-ball.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23

Kindness is a lesson we are constantly working on in our home. We remind the boys on a regular basis to show kindness (and gentleness!) to one another. We tell them about the importance of being kind... sharing toys, using our hands to hug... not to hit, letting someone else pick a game or a movie, picking up their toys or making up their bed without being asked, etc.

However, when we go out into the world; when we are away from home, I am usually so wrapped up in our errands and making sure everyone is doing what they should be doing, I forget to remind them of the importance of showing kindness to others... outside of our home. AND, I forget to make an effort to show kindness to others myself. There are SO many opportunities, everywhere we go. Showing kindness can have a huge impact on someone, even if its just making a point to smile at someone.

The bible tells us in Philippians 2:3-4, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others."

So today, we had a talk about that and it went something like this:

Me: Hey boys, I want to talk to you for a minute. (They came into the kitchen and I asked them to sit with me.) Do you know the reason why we go to t-ball practice?
Connor: So we can learn how to hit and throw the ball and run the bases.
Me: That's right. And why do we do that?
Connor: So we can get better.
Me: Right again! And why do we need to get better?
Connor: Hmmmmmmm.
Dylan: I don't know.
Me: So we can play our best at the game! Right?
Dylan: Right!
Connor: Oh, yeah. Right!
Me: OK, now, you know how we are always talking about showing kindness to each other and to me and to daddy? Well, that's kind of like practice. We need to do it here as much as we can so that we can get better. And when we go out of the house, to Wal-mart, or to school group, or to church, or anywhere else... that's like the game! We really need to show others what we've been practicing at home. I know sometimes we are really busy, but we still need to show kindness to others where ever we go. Jesus wants us to show kindness to others so they can experience His love through us. So, I thought we could make something to help us out!

I had typed up some acts of kindness and cut them into strips. Here are some examples:

Next I asked them to wrap each one around a crayon to curl them up:

Then we put all of the slips into a jar:

Me: Now whenever we go out, we can pick out 1 of these acts of kindness, and make a point to do whatever the paper says. And sometimes, when we have some free time, we may pull one and make a special trip to brighten someone's day.

The finished jar.



"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3:12-14

Always thinking.

I'm beginning to think I should have made Connor's middle name "manipulate-the-situation"!! He is always coming up with an excuse to try to get out of things he doesn't want to do... and they are usually well thought out and I can see how they would seem to be logical, legitimate excuses to him.  I do have to give him credit for this... he is almost always respectful and calm in his arguments. At 4.5 years old, I'm amazed at how well thought out his words are. BUT, I'm still trying to learn how to respond to these arguments.  I want to teach him to just obey and to not have an argument for everything. I think it's important for him to be able to follow instructions without argument and with a good attitude. But, I also want him to feel free to voice his concerns to me.  In some situations it is clear cut to me that its not open for discussion and he needs to obey immediately. In other situations, its a little more gray and I think maybe we could have a discussion about it and come to an agreeable resolution.  These are hard lessons we are both still learning. He keeps me on my toes, for sure!

So, I have a couple of examples from today:

1. Last weekend, Connor and Dylan had their first t-ball game of the season (they're on the same team - PRECIOUS!).  A lot of our family came to watch them and after the game was over my mom (Mee-maw) surprised them with $5 each. Today I told them we could go to Walmart and they could pick out a toy to spend their $ on and then we could go to the Burger King playground and play for a while. When we arrived at Walmart I told them I wanted to go in through the seasonal entrance so I could look at flowers first. They were really enjoying it at first looking at all of the flowers and choosing their favorites. After a few minutes, Connor said, "Achoo, Achoo." (not sneezing... literally saying the word achoo) He continued, "Man, I must be allergic to these flowers. I guess we better go ahead to the toy section." I had to look at his face to see if he was smiling and just making a joke or if he seriously thought I just fell off the turnip truck and would just say, "oh, ok... let's get away from these flowers then!" No smile. He looked as serious as a heart attack. Well, of course, I had to call him on it... then he started laughing! He and Dylan both patiently waited for me to finish looking, then we went to the toy section. :)

2. So, off to BK we went. After they ate their lunch, we headed out to the playground. They played for a while, but then Connor said he was tired and wanted to sit for a while. (He really just wanted to play with his new toy.) I said, "OK, then get Dylan and let's go home.  If you're tired you should take a nap." He said, "Oh, well, I'm not THAT tired, just a little tired." So I said, "OK, then go play more. We are at a playground and its really nice outside. You should go play." So he did. After a while Sam was getting fussy so I told them it was time to go home for naps. Again, Connor said he wasn't tired enough for a nap. The whole time we were loading up to head home, he kept trying to negotiate... "What if I just lay down and look around my room?" and "OK, I'll take a nap, but only for 20 minutes." I said, "Connor, we're not negotiating. We're going home and taking a nap. Period." So, he was quiet for a while, but I know he was still thinking of how he could get out of this nap. When we were almost home, he said, "Hmmm. I am all sweaty. I better not lay down on my bed because my sheets will get all wet from my hair. I guess I'll just have to deal without a nap today." lol. I just smiled and said, "Well, you can sleep in my bed." He is now in my bed... taking a nap. :)

Oh, Connor - you are an amazing, sweet, and funny boy! You are constantly making me smile and laugh. You have a huge heart and a gentle spirit. And... you are ALWAYS THINKING! I love you! -Mom

"I yam what I yam" - Popeye

While reading an article today, I was reminded of this quote from Popeye.  I could relate to the article so much... it was about being a scatterbrain! I find myself being more and more scattered lately. I have always been pretty forgetful. My parents used to tell me to be thankful for my neck because I would forget my head if it wasn't attached. And now, I am pretty sure Chris wants to tell me the same thing many times a day... but, because he values a peaceful home, he wisely refrains. :)

That is why I have a notebook (see blog Putting Order in the Chaos...). That is why I LOVE lists. That is why I LOVE a good calendar/planner. Otherwise, I would never keep things straight... and sometimes even then, things get by me. I was talking to a friend the other day and she said, "If I didn't write things down, they would never get done." Well, sometimes even if I have it written down it doesn't get done. Like, I may misplace or overlook the note!

When we leave the house, I think that is when I feel the most scattered. We almost always start to leave on time, but by the time we actually pull out of the driveway, we're running 30 minutes late! That's because I have to move the entire house when we go anywhere. Toys, changes of clothes, snacks, drinks, plenty of diapers, wipes, baby food, spoon, baby blankets, nursing cover, purse, keys, phone, sometimes packed lunches, printed directions, my coffee, etc., etc., etc. And then whatever we need for the particular place we're going. So, ofcourse I'm GOING TO FORGET something, or 5 things. I'll remember them one at a time and make 5 trips back up to the house to get each one. And at some point during all of this, Sam is going to need a diaper change or quite possibly a whole new outfit. And, ofcourse, I will remember something I forgot after we are a few miles down the road and have to turn back around. The kids are starting to get pretty used to turning around and going back home for something. They don't even comment on it anymore.

I am constanty looking for ways to bring more organization and structure into my life. Things just go so much more smoothly when there is structure to the day.  I see others who seem to keep things together so effortlessly, but it is definitely something I have to work on everyday.  All. The. Time.

Maybe one day, I will have it all together... but I doubt it... because "I yam what I yam."

7 months old!

Oh my! I can't believe 7 months have already zoomed by! I am trying very hard to cherish every moment of Sam's first year... those moments just keep going by too fast.  I also remember trying to cherish every moment of Connor and Dylan's baby-hood... and with time, unfortunately, a lot of those memories fade. I want to keep a written record of these times so I can look back 10... 15... 30 years from now and just remember all of these precious moments. And I want to be able to share it with them as they get older, so I'm going to start journaling to each of my babies.

So Sam... this one is for you, baby.

I guess the biggest news at this time is you just got your first tooth!! Its in the front on your bottom left... and it is SO cute! You haven't been very fussy with it, in fact you've been more smiley than ever! (maybe showing it off!) You do chew on EVERYTHING, but you've been doing that for months. :) When you were about 4 months old I kept saying, "I definitely think he's teething." And, "He's going to be getting a tooth any day now!" because you just gnawed on anything that came close to your mouth.  Your Dad said, "If you keep saying that, eventually you'll be right." haha - your Dad - such a funny guy. :)

You don't really like baby food. You want what we are eating. Even before you ever tried your first taste of "table" food, you were trying to get to it and turning your nose up to a jar of squash... or whatever. You do LOVE baby yogurt, so you have that every morning for breakfast. For lunch I try (usually unsuccessfully) to give you 1 fruit and 1 vegetable. For dinner you usually eat vegetables off of my plate that I "mush" up for you. You are still nursing quite a bit... about every 3-4 hours (some days more often than that).

You are a very good sleeper! You always have been... and I'm SO very thankful for that! At just 3 weeks old, you were sleeping 5-6 hours straight at night.  Now, you usually go to sleep around 7:30-8:00, you wake up around 5:30 to nurse, and then go back to sleep until around 7:30-8:00. You want to be in your crib to sleep. You will go to sleep in your carseat if we are going somewhere, but you usually wake up as soon as we get to where we're going. And, you won't go to sleep in my arms anymore. You fuss until I lay you down in your crib. As soon as I do, you roll over and close your eyes. You ALWAYS sleep on your belly. I always lay you down on your back, but you immediately roll over. You've been doing that since you were 3-4 months old.

Sleeping in yout carseat with your favorite toy. It's a rubber dino that you love to chew on. I was surprised you fell asleep... I had just set you in here for a minute while we were at CC with Connor.

You love your brothers. They can both make you cackle... it's so funny! They love watching out for you and helping to take care of you. Connor actually did his school presentation on you this past week. Dylan likes to get you clean diapers. They both love playing with you.

You have become a very mild-tempered baby. You used to scream your head off every time I bathed you, or changed your clothes, or changed your diaper.  Maybe it was just being cold that you didn't like... but whatever it was, you definitely didn't like it. Now, you just let me do whatever. People keep telling me you are spoiled to me.  Although I don't really like that term, its kind of true. You are definitely mama's baby. You want me to hold you all the time or atleast be sitting right beside me. You don't like to be in your swing, jumper, exersaucer, or any other contraption. Others can hold you as long as you don't see me. As soon as I'm in your sight, you start fussing and flapping your arms and stop as soon as I get you. I can't say that I mind! :) I love making you laugh and you have the biggest grin.  Sometimes it can be a little hard to get things done around the house, but I just keep remembering this poem...

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking...

...The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

I love you so much sweet baby, Sam!

The beauty of a Saturday with no plans

I love Saturdays. Chris is home and we get to spend time as a family.  I especially love Saturdays when we don't have any plans for the day. We can do whatever, whenever... it's a beautiful thing.  Today was one of those days. It ended up being such a good day!

We started out with a pancake breakfast... Connor and Dylan's favorite! (and mine if I'm being honest)  After breakfast and clean-up, we had some fun with paint.  We made the boys' hand-prints and foot-prints, Connor and Dylan's were quick and easy. I love hearing their laughter as I paint the bottom of their feet. They are both SOOO ticklish! Sam's footprint was easy. But, it took Chris and I both for his hand-print. If you've ever tried to get a baby's hand-print, you know what I mean... unless you wanted a fist-print. That would be much easier!

After that we played with toys for a while and Sam laid down for a nap.  It was one of those really nice, long naps.  Precious boy!!

While Sam was napping, Chris was going out to work on his truck so I took Connor and Dylan out, too. What a BEAUTIFUL morning. It was comfortable out without a jacket.  I put play clothes on them. I gathered a bowl, some spoons, and a couple of pans... and showed them how to make mud pies! They had never made mud pies before and it was REALLY hard to talk them into getting dirty. I guess that's my fault because I know I don't let them go out and get dirty enough! That's going to change now after seeing how hesitant they were to get dirt/mud on them. We are going to be making mud pies on a regular basis... and other dirty stuff!

 Only using spoons at first.

 Finally getting their hands in the mud.

 Their hands are in... but that is where they draw the line! Their clothes stayed mud free. We'll work on that next time! :)

Proud of their pies.

 They wanted trees to "grow" out of them so we broke off limbs from a tree and "planted" them.

When they were finished with their pies they wanted to jump on the trampoline. It's one of their favorite outdoor activities. And I love it, too. They burn LOTS of energy. Sometimes I get in on the jumping fun, too!

Wrestle mania!

Next, we saw Daddy going out to the building so they wanted to go, too. They played in Daddy's ongoing (and going, and going, and going, sigh) project. Connor says it's HIS blue Firebird!

Next, they decided they wanted to play with their "outside" toys. So, they...

Played basketball:

Rode their bikes:

And I have no idea what this game is:

So after all that... it was only noon! So we came upstairs and got Sam. He woke up happy and half naked! How did he do that??

I got lunch ready so we could all eat together. Well, all of us except Dylan. Soon after we came inside, we couldn't find him. I called him a few times and he didn't come. Finally, I checked his room...

I guess all the outdoor fun wore him out! :)

After lunch, while Dylan was napping, Connor wanted to watch a little TV, so I asked him to keep an eye on Sam for me while I did a few things. The next time I passed by, this is what I found:

I love how Connor put his arm around him!

Next, was Sam's bath time.  He has just started taking a bath without crying... and the trick is to let Connor or Dylan or both take a bath with him.  I guess it makes him feel safer to have someone else in there, too.  Connor happily took a bath with Sam and was such a big helper!

But, after I took Sam out, Connor had more manly things to tend to:

And Sam played on my bed for a little while:

Dylan woke up from his nap... after 3 hours!! And Sam went down for another nap. I guess it was a sleepy day! :)

The day ended with an impromptu dinner (from Papa John's no less) and fellowship with dear friends. They brought their 2 boys (both around Connor and Dylan's ages) and they had a great time playing together.

A Saturday with no plans... LOVE IT!

Putting order in the chaos (or some more appropriate Greek word)

I can remember in many sermons pastors trying to describe a certain passage of scripture and saying that there isn't a word in the English language that can truly portray what the author was saying. That the Greek doesn't accurately translate into English. Well, that's a little how I feel when I'm trying to describe raising 3 children all under the age of 5. I can use the word busy or chaotic or crazy... but surely there is a Greek word that paints a better picture!

Don't get me wrong... I LOVE it! I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world. It's just that sometimes, I feel a little... well... overwhelmed.  I love for there to be order and organization. I used to be pretty OCD about it and, even still, on some days I can feel the OCD creeping up. But, I have found there is no better therapy for that than loving my children and loving to see the joy on their faces as they are making memories.  Memory making for young children can be VERY messy!

Still, I do need to feel some sense of order and organization. Otherwise, I have found that I don't get much accomplished. After all, raising children is just one of my jobs and I need to get other things done, too. I am easily distracted and it helps me tremendously to have a plan or list or something. So... I made a notebook. I mean, what a simple thing and it makes me oh so happy! In case I ever wonder later in my life how I managed everything when all the boys were very little... I thought I would chronicle the notebook - because its a huge help!

Here is the notebook:

In it, I have:

A calendar where I keep track of birthdays, holidays, special events, etc. I don't use this as my daily calendar. We have one up on the wall in the kitchen where I detail what everyone has going on a certain day. That way I know my hubby will take a peak at it every now and then. But, this one is just nice for a snapshot view:

Daily schedules... I have one for each day detailing our usual activities we need to get done for the day. This isn't something we never veer from. Things come up all the time (like fun play dates or even just a need for us to get out of the house) and I have to maintain flexibility, but this is just a good guide for our day. Like I said, I'm easily distracted so it helps me if there's something to keep me on track.

For each day of the week I usually have some sort of theme for that day.  For us, Monday is kitchen day. I like to make several meals that day and refrigerate them for later in the week.  It doesn't always work out that I get to do it, but I love it when I do! It makes dinner prep for the rest of the week a breeze! Tuesday is the day we go to our school group (24 weeks out of the year) and we also run errands that day. Wednesday used to be laundry day, but since I've started hanging clothes to dry, I do a load a day now. So, Wednesday is now for cleaning the bedrooms and bathrooms. Thursday is "office" day. I use this day for meal planning, couponing, finance planning, lesson planning, or whatever else needs to be done in the office.  Friday is another cleaning day. I vacuum, dust downstairs, and sweep/mop downstairs. Saturdays change every week depending on what we have going on. If there isn't anything planned, we do a special project. Sunday is our day of worship and rest.

Also, our daily schedules sometimes change with the seasons. For instance, in the fall I schedule time for Christmas prep activities (shopping, wrapping, decorating, etc.) and in the spring I schedule time for decluttering and yard sale/consignment prep. Here's a dalily schedule page:

School... Here I like to keep special project ideas, art/craft ideas, articles, lesson planning sheets, etc.

Meal planning - I detail out what I'm going to cook for the week and if I'm trying a new recipe I put that in this section, too.

Other sections in the notebook include:

• Extracurricular activities - where I put their baseball schedules, etc.
• Prayer requests/ Praises - for our family to pray for and give thanks.
• Goals - this one is empty right now, but I've been thinking of listing and tracking goals we have.
• Family worship - for family bible study/devotional ideas.
• Expense planning - for receipts or bills we need to pay or keep track of.
• Coupons

That's about it for the notebook. It gives a little order to this crazy (or whatever Greek word goes best here), joyful, happy, wonderful life!

Save, Save, Save!!

Chris and I have really been focusing lately on being better stewards of our money. We want to do what we can to spend less and save more. So, I thought I would share some of the money saving ideas on here. :)

1. We are refinancing our home! We bought our home over 8 years ago and we were able to secure what was considered a low interest rate at the time. But, in today's economy, it is a very high rate. Looking forward to a much lower payment each month!

2. We use a rewards-earning credit card for almost all of our purchases instead of a bank card. We pay it off each month so we don't accrue interest. We cash in our points for gift cards (usually home depot) and get lots of free stuff!

3. We do not use gas at our house... everything is electric and our bill is sometimes out of control! So, we started thinking of things we could do to lower it. These tips make for more work, but they do save!

• We stopped using our dish washer and now wash all of our dishes by hand.
• We adjust our thermostat a little lower than we used to in the winter, and we adjust it a little higher in the summer. A couple of degrees make a big difference.
• We stopped using our dryer, except to "fluff". We hang our clothes to dry and then put in the dryer on low heat for about 10 minutes. (I have to thank The Castleberry Clan for this tip!) This also makes the clothes stay in better shape longer. We can only do 1 or 2 loads a day this way because I only have room to hang 1 load at a time around the house. I don't like hanging them outside because they don't smell clean to me after hanging outside all day. Maybe someone has a tip for this problem??

So, in our house, we hang the clothes:

On hangers in the laundry room:

On chairs in the dining room:

On the shower rod and the side of the bath tub in the bathroom:

Over the banister:

Or where ever else I can find something that's still! :)

4. Couponing. I have to admit, I am not very consistent with this one! I get on a kick every now and then, but I am off the wagon more than I am on it. I definitely could do better. I clip coupons and organize them by "type" (baby, grocery, health, etc.) and then slide them into baseball card organizer sheets in my notebook. I don't know if this is the "best" way to do it, so I'll accept suggestions and tips! :)

5. Home-made laundry soap. OK... so, I haven't actually done this yet. I am still trying to get through all of the commercial laundry detergent we already have. But, I have a lot of friends who do this and love it. It works in regular and high-efficiency machines. It smells GREAT, it's EASY, and it's CHEAP!! You can make a liquid version or a powder version. I have friends who love both. Here are the recipes:

Powder Version:
1 lb Borax
1 lb Baking soda
1 lb Washing soda
1/3 bar of Fels-Naptha soap (shredded)
Mix together in a bucket and use 1 tablespoon of detergent per load (more for very large or heavily soiled loads).

Liquid Version:
4 cups hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 cup Arm& Hammer Super Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over med-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted. Fill 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken. Use 1/2 - 3/4 cup per load depending on size of load. Over time you may have to stir it because it will settle.

6. Vinegar and Baking Soda work wonders for cleaning! No need to buy a lot of different cleaners. Although, I don't think I could do without Pine-Sol or Windex. :)

7. We signed up for Amazon Prime. We find a lot of things are cheaper on amazon than in the store and you don't have to pay tax at checkout and we get free shipping with Prime... not to mention lots of free movies, apps, e-books, etc.

8. We stopped eating out so much. We are trying to keep that to once a month and making it a special treat.

9. We make weekly meal plans and I try to plan our meals and grocery shop around what is on sale that week. This not only saves money, but it makes it easier on me to know what we are having for dinner each night and not have to figure it out at 5:00. Sometimes I will make several meals in one day (usually on Monday) and refrigerate meals for later in the week. That way I just have to heat things up the other nights. This especially works well with Spaghetti, Chili, and Sloppy Joes - they always taste better after they've had time to marinate. Also, we always have a "pot-luck" night with leftovers! If you're not big into meal planning, check out emeals for money saving weekly meal plans based on sales at the store you choose. It's $5/month, but they do all the planning and grocery list making for you... plus they provide all the recipes. :)

That's it for now. I'm always up for more money saving tips... so feel free to make additional suggestions!! :)