Sugar Pie, Honey Bun......

Tonight's conversation with Noah went something like this:

Mama, I'm hungry.

Supper will be ready in just a few minutes, Sweet Pea.

Mama, what's sweet pea?

It's just a name I call you to show you that I love you.  Like when I call you Baby, or Sweetheart, or Honey.

Mama, where does honey come from?  (He knows the answer already.)

Bees make honey.

Mama, why do you call me honey?  Do you want to eat me with honey?  :)

Yes.....sometimes I just want to eat you up!  :)

Ever Had Ants??

Have you ever had ants in your house?

I guess it's been about a year or so ago that we had ants in our kitchen.  I thought we'd never get rid of the little pests.  They were coming in around our bay window and marching down the wall and across the floor....right to the spot where Noah's high chair sat.  Noah had a bad habit of slinging his sippie cup all around and tossing it on the floor.  Let's just say the "spill-proof" cups weren't really 100% effective.  After every meal or snack, there would be milk/juice on the floor, on the wall, in the window sill.  It was everywhere.  Sometimes I think Noah did this on purpose just to keep the ants coming back.  He'd spend the day smashing ants with his fingers or vacuuming them up with our stick vac. 

I was thinking about those ants again today.  I had gone upstairs to retrieve my phone charger and noticed some ants in the windowsill (upstairs, might I remind you).  They were collected around something sticky, no doubt.  And I thought to myself, "How in the world did those ants know there was something sticky on my windowsill INSIDE my house and on the SECOND FLOOR!?  Do they smell it from their homes 20+ feet away?" (If you know the scientific answer, please enlighten me.)

And then these verses from Matthew 6:25-34 came to mind.  

Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit {about 18 inches} to his stature?  So why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you,m O you of little faith?  Therefore do not worry, saying What shall we eat? or What shall we drink?  or What shall we wear?  For after all these things the Gentiles seek.  For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

If God takes care of the birds, the lilies, and the ants, He's going to take care of me too.  I need reminding of this all too often.  He knows my needs.  If I'll just trust and obey Him, He'll work out all the details.

A Penny Saved

   

     Since I have the amazing privilege to be a stay-at-home mom (thanks honey!), we have to make every penny count.  Less money but more time with my precious babies.  Definitely a trade-off I do not regret making!   

     Some things I do to help save are:  

• I try to plan weekly menus before grocery shopping.  And I try to never buy groceries when I'm hungry! Junk-food anyone? :)  
• I cut Luke's and Noah's hair myself.  Luke talked me in to cutting his hair when we were dating.  The first hair cut I gave him wasn't a complete disaster but it definitely wasn't something either of us were proud to show off.  Let's just say, it's a good thing Luke looks so cute in a baseball cap!  :)
• We are on a pretty strict budget. We LOVE the FREE budgeting software we use!  Don't know how we survived before EEBA!  Every penny has a purpose. :)
• We called our satellite provider fully intending to have our service disconnected but they talked us into staying when they cut our bill in half. :)  We don't have a ton of channels but we have more than enough.  More channels just means more excuses to spend less time in conversation with your children and spouse, if you ask me.

     I have also tried to find other ways to save and/or contribute to our household income.

     A few years ago, I really got in to couponing.  I was never very good at it.  I spent entirely too much time clipping, sorting, and scanning papers/blogs/web for the best deals.  I'll admit, it was exciting seeing how much money I could save each trip and especially all the FREE or nearly free items I could find.  But I just didn't feel that the time I spent couponing was worth the money I saved.  So with two kids and a husband begging for my attention, I put down the scissors.

     I got involved briefly with a start-up direct sales company that was supposed to be the next Avon/Mary Kay but things didn't work out.  :( Oh well.  You can't win 'em all, right?

     Then I stumbled into the childcare business.  I started out just doing a favor for a friend for a few weeks while her babysitter was on maternity leave...and here I am a year later still sitting for her. :)  The little girl I keep is two weeks younger than Hannah, so it's basically like having twins!  She has become a part of our family and we miss her during the holidays when she is able to stay at home with her mommy.  I'll also be adding a 2 year old boy in January to our "day-time family".  We are all really excited for Noah to have a friend closer to his age to play with.  This has really helped us out financially & I'm thankful for the time to invest in more children (even if they aren't mine). :)

     But I'm still on the look-out for other creative ways to help our family financially.  I've thought of getting my medical transcription license & trying to do some transcription work from home, but that costs quite a bit of money to get your degree/certificate/license.  And I'm not sure how much work I would actually be able to get done with all these kids! :)  Maybe one day.

     I've also seriously considered becoming a Scentsy consultant.  I love the products and it would be a low-commitment way to add a little income.  Plus I would get an excuse to spend more time with friends and family!  (You know we SAHM's need all the extra adult time we can get.) :)  I guess the main reason I haven't pursued this is because I do NOT want anyone to feel obligated to make purchases. 

     I hit-up the "Black Friday" deals to save a little money for Christmas.  Most of the shopping was done online, but I did send Luke to Walmart at 1am (an hour after the sale began) to look for a "goody" AND he GOT it!  Yay!

     And I'm always checking my Groupon emails to see what deals I can find in my area.  The "pamper-yourself" deals are always so tempting!

     I'm going to keep trying to save and help contribute to our family's income.  I want to be a good steward of the finances and time that I'm given.  But I'm not going to worry about it.  If my Father cares for the birds of the air and the lilies of the fields, how much more does He care for me?  (Matt 6:25-33)  In spite of our selfishness, we take care of our children, and, likewise, He's going to take care of us.  (Matt 7:11)    

Success - One Day at a Time

I am so proud of Noah!  He woke up with a dry diaper this morning and wore "big-boy undies" all day with no accidents!  I could hardly believe it - because yesterday he did not use his potty a single time.  (He wore diapers yesterday because all his underoos were dirty.)  I hope this is the first of MANY successful days to come!!

The Click Beetle

A few days ago, Noah and I were visiting our local library.  One of the books we read that day was The Very Clumsy Click Beetle by Eric Carle.  Fast-forward a few days.

Today we found a click beetle!  I reminded Noah of the book we had read and then we were able to see the click beetle in action!  It was so much fun!  This is one of the many reasons I hope to homeschool our kids.  It is exciting and rewarding teaching others' kids but there is nothing like being there in the moment with your own child as he/she explores and learns new things!

We also looked up a few pictures and youtube videos online.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH4roWTUMoA  - Here's one of your average click beetle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jXp9JAl7kU  - This was a very interesting click beetle!  He had a glow like that of a firefly!  Very cool!

You Are Invited

I have been reading through the chronological bible lately.  This particular scripture really stuck out to me today.

"and the Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat."  Leviticus 16:2

 Aaron, the high priest, wasn't allowed to approach God casually, whenever he wanted.  But because Jesus came to be our sacrifice, we have a special invitation to come.

"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."  Matthew 11:28-30

"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."  Isaiah 55:1                       (see also John 4:10-14)

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"  John 7:37-38

 Are you "heavy laden"?  Are you "thirsty"?


What are you waiting for?

___________________________________________________

Come Unto Me 

(by Charles P. Jones)

1. Hear the blessed Savior calling the oppressed,
   “Oh, ye heavy-laden, come to Me and rest;
   Come, no longer tarry, I your load will bear,
   Bring Me every burden, bring Me every care.”
   • Refrain:
     Come unto Me, I will give you rest;
     Take My yoke upon you, hear Me and be blest;
     I am meek and lowly, come and trust My might;
     Come, My yoke is easy, and My burden’s light.
2. Are you disappointed, wand’ring here and there,
   Dragging chains of doubt and loaded down with care?
   Do unholy feelings struggle in your breast?
   Bring your case to Jesus—He will give you rest.
3. Stumbling on the mountains dark with sin and shame,
   Stumbling toward the pit of hell’s consuming flame;
   By the pow’rs of sin deluded and oppressed,
   Hear the tender Shepherd, “Come to Me and rest.”
4. Have you by temptation often conquered been,
   Has a sense of weakness brought distress within?
   Christ will sanctify you, if you’ll claim His best;
   In the Holy Spirit, He will give you rest.

Reading the Bible

This morning I was reading my Bible at the kitchen table.  Noah came up to me and said, "Mama, I want to sit in your lap."  So I picked him up and sat him in my lap.  He began trying to flip the pages of my Bible, which, as you can imagine, was making it a tad difficult to read.  


"Stop, Noah. Mama's trying to read her Bible."  I'm beginning to get a little irritated.  


I think Noah was equally as irritated that I was keeping him from flipping the pages of my Bible. "Mama, stop!  I wanna read the Bible, too!"


My son wants to read the Bible.  Well, that made my day just a little. :)  So I let him "read" my Bible.  He flipped the pages a few times.  Then he bowed his head a little and said, "Jesus, God, help our friends...." and mumbled a few more words that I couldn't understand. 

Another similar story from a few weeks back:

Noah was sitting in his high chair at the kitchen table finishing up a snack and watching Dora the Explorer.  I was sitting in the living room.  I can't remember exactly what I was doing, probably feeding Hannah and/or watching HGTV or Food Network.  Noah had finished his snack and was tired of watching Dora, so he begins to yell (even though I'm only 10 feet from him) for me to come get him down from the table.  

I kept putting him off.  "Just a minute, Noah.  I'll be there in a minute."  

But that was unacceptable.  "Mama!  Stop reading your Bible and get Noah!!" he yelled!  :)  

Well, I wasn't actually reading my Bible, but it sure made me feel good that he assumed I was.

I am so thankful that I have such a hardworking husband and that God has given him a good-paying job so that I am able to stay at home with my kids.  Many days I don't feel like it's worth the financial stress for me to stay home.  But it's times like these that God reassures me that we're doing the right thing.  

Big Brother is a Big Helper

Noah and I were waking Luke up this afternoon to go in to work and Hannah started fussing.  Noah stopped what he was doing and said, "Mama, Hannah is crying.  Let's go check her." 


"Alright!  Let's go!"  And I jogged into the living room to check on Hannah.  Noah ran behind me yelling, "Stop, Mama! Wait!  I check Hannah!"


"Okay," I agreed. "You check on her then."


Noah leans down over Hannah who is sitting in her Boppy chair and says, "Whazza madder, Hannah?  You want chur paci? Here.  Here's your paci."  And he plops it (almost gently) into her mouth. :)


Such a good brother!


[Hannah spit the paci out as soon as he walked away. :)  She's gonna be a feisty little thing.]

Underwear & Curious George

Tonight, I was telling Noah that we would get him some big boy underwear if he would stop peeing and pooping in his diaper and start going in the potty.  I said, "Then you can wear underwear like Daddy instead of a diaper like babies."  He thought about it for a minute and then said, "That sounds GREAT!"  ha!  


Before bed tonight, I spent some time rocking him in the rocking chair.  We read a few books.  Then I talked to him about how much I love him, how smart and sweet he is, what a good big brother he is, etc.  I reminded him again that he could start wearing big-boy underwear if he'd start using the potty.  He said, "and policeman underwear? like daddy?"  I said, "Yeah, we'll try to find you some policeman underwear like daddy's." :)  He thought a minute and then said, "you wear policeman's with me?"  :)  I don't know exactly what policeman underwear looks like, but I guess I'll be hunting all 3 of us a pair before too long. :)


After reading and rocking and praying together, I put Noah in bed and tucked him in.  I sat down beside his toddler bed (while holding Hannah) to wait a while, hoping he would go to sleep quickly.  He laid very still and quiet for a long time.  Then I saw him give his Curious George an "mmm-mmm tight" hug and heard him whisper, "I love you, George."  Then he sits up in bed, looks at me, and says, "Mama, I love George." :)


He. Is. The. Sweetest.


I am a happy Mama!