Eliza's Best Day Ever

Eliza declared yesterday her "best day ever." Here are the reasons she gave for her day being so great:

• Cinnamon rolls for breakfast (from a can)
• Getting to go to church
• Getting slushies with Daddy from Sonic while Davis napped
• Playing outside on the swingset
• Painting these pictures below for mommy

This is "lips for a kiss and footprints"

This is her caterpillar "Frances". She has starting collecting all the caterpillars she can find in the yard and is keeping them in a container. They are named Frances, Kate, Claire, and Clarice.

Sounds like a pretty good day to me!

The Bye-Bye Buggy

Just had to share these adorable pictures another mom of a child in Davis's MDO class took as the kids were on their way to their school Easter egg hunt. I think a bye-bye buggy full of precious children is about the cutest thing there is. You can tell Davis was excited by the looks on his face!

Happy Easter!

One of my favorite praise songs, especially on Easter!

I'm diggin' the Duggars

Whew, it's been quite a while since I've had a chance to blog; with a new puppy (argh, I forgot how hard puppies are), our house on the market, and just everyday life, I just haven't had the time to sit down and write a post. Or read blogs, which I dearly miss. I'm so amazed by those moms that just have it all together and blog regularly. What it your secret???



But I've been inspired. I've been reading the Duggar family's book "The Duggars: 20 and Counting", and I've enjoyed it so much that I thought I'd share a few things they have to say about their life with 18 (and counting!!) kids.

Ok, I'll admit. When I first heard of their show on TLC "17 kids and counting", I thought they must be crazy. I mean really, who in their right mind has that many kids??? And Michelle (the mom) has weird hair, and the girls all wear long skirts, so they must be religious fanatics, and various other really judgmental things that I'm very ashamed ever went through my mind. Because now I want to be Michelle's best friend. And learn everything she has to teach me.

I'm only about halfway through the book, but I could not be more impressed this family. First and foremost, they are not religious fanatics. They are Christians with very sound beliefs and strong convictions. Their girls wear skirts simply because they believe in modesty. They have 18 kids because after suffering a miscarriage, Michelle and Jim Bob decided to leave it up to God to determine how many children He would bless them with. And boy, has He blessed them.

Last night I started reading their chapter on parenting tips. I've read a few books on Christian parenting, and I've gleaned knowledge and wisdom from all of them. However, sometimes I felt overwhelmed by all the "stuff" I needed to be teaching my children and doing with them every day in order to be a successful parent--like reading them stories directly from the Bible for 30 minutes every day---and Bible storybooks won't do. It has to be original text. I'm not saying that's not a good idea, but some parenting plans I've read were really complicated.

But the Duggars keep it simple. I really like this quote from Michelle:

"I tell our children over and over again, 'You can gain all kinds of training, but no matter what skills and talents you possess, if you do these two things, you'll be successful: first, love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and strength, and second, love your neighbor as yourself.' If our children learn those two things while they're under my tutelage, then I've been successful. And they will be too."

Here's another one I love:

"We dont just lay down a stern do-what-I-say-or-else rule. We teach them why obedience is so crucial. I tell them 'As I teach you to obey my voice, I'm also teaching you to learn to obey God's voice. Someday, you will learn to hear His still, small voice in your heart, and you will know to obey Him. You'll know what's the right thing to do.' "

I love how these statements are so simple, but can be interpreted and applied in a million different scenarios in my everyday life as a mom. I don't have to have 50 different behavior models or discipline plans depending on situations that arise.

Without quoting the entire chapter, I will just say that their tips on getting children to obey "instantly" (an issue in our house with a certain, un-named, strong-willed little girl :)) worked wonders today. Whenever I asked her to do something today, I heard "Yes, ma'am" and the task was done. As opposed to the repertoire of whining, arguing, and throwing oneself on the floor that would occasionally occur around here. Yes, it's only been one day, but it was a great day. A really great day. And for that, I am grateful to the Duggars. No, I am NOT planning on having 18 children (and counting!), but I do believe God is using this family to spread his Word through their TV show and books. So check them out sometime if you have a chance!

My new love---E-mealz!

Thank you to my friend Susan for introducing me to E-mealz.com! One household task I dread every week is planning meals. As I've said before, I'm not much of a chef, but I do enjoy sitting down to a good meal every night with my family. I just hate taking the time to search through recipe books or websites trying to find something that looks good, healthy, and easy. So I end up in the rut of making the same meals over and over again.

Then, E-mealz came into my life. And I'll never be the same.

For $5 a month, you get a weekly meal plan, complete with 7 meals, recipes, a shopping list, and the prices for everything so you can budget. You can even tailor the meal plan to your grocery store of choice (they have plans for Wal-Mart, Aldi, Publix, or Kroger); or for a low-fat, Weight-Watchers, vegetarian, or couples instead of families. Here is a sample of what you get every week:

I've been doing this for about 4 weeks now, and everything I've made has been delicious. I just put each week's plan in a plastic page protector and stick it to my fridge. That way I can see what we are having for dinner each night and the recipes are right there so I don['t have to go digging for them. At the end of each week, I put that week's sheets into a binder to keep for later use. I LOVE IT.

If you LOVE to cook and plan meals and it's the greatest joy of your life, then this is probably not for you. But if cooking is a just a means to a meal and time with your family, then you might just want to check it out. Click on this link below, and if you sign up, I'll get referral credit. THANKS!

E-MEALZ Easy Meals for Busy and Frugal Families

Mud cake, anyone?

Well, we had a beautiful day here on Monday, so we headed out to the backyard that morning to enjoy it. Before I knew what was happening, Eliza and Davis were both digging in the dirt, and Eliza asked for a cup of water. Here is the result: "Mud Cake"

They had a ball, and I was able to keep my mess-induced anxiety to a minimum and just let them go at it.

But then Davis put that mud-encrusted finger IN HIS MOUTH, yall. And licked it. I could hurl right now just thinking about it. I never thought I would be scraping mud off of my son's tongue with a towel. But I guess that's what little boys are made of, right? He didn't seem too bothered by it.

When they'd had their fun, I literally hosed them down with their clothes on before I would let them inside. They thought that was fun, too.

But now that we are back to winter weather and sleet today, we'll have a to wait a few more weeks before making any more mud cakes. Thank goodness :)

Meet Charlie

Here's our new puppy, Charlie. He's an 8-week old Whippet. Isn't he adorable??

Here's some video of him in action.

Been craftin'

Eliza's been busy crafting this week---below is a "Valentine Bouquet" she made. We got the idea from Kids Craft Weekly, a great site from a girl in Australia and you can sign up to get her emails with craft ideas.

First she painted and glittered a piece of construction paper. Then I covered the paper with some contact paper, traced hearts with a cookie cutter, and she cut them out.

Lastly, I got a branch out of the yard and hot-glued the hearts to them. We decided to take the bouquet to my grandmother, who was in the hospital last week. At first we weren't sure if we would be able to fit all the hearts onto the branch, so we decided to pick the "prettiest" ones to put on first. Eliza was insistent on putting the one with the cross on there, because as she said:

"We have to put the cross on there, because the cross is for Jesus, and GG is sick, and Jesus is a good healer."

Melts my heart.

Then we took her Valentine money to Hobby Lobby and got this little craft. Oh my, this brought back some memories. I remember doing these when I was little. That smell of melted plastic coming out of the oven totally took me back.


Finally, she made this picture for me for my birthday. It's our house, with she and I pretending to be princesses. See our itty bitty crowns?

I've been busy craftin' too, just by way of stationery. Here are a few cards and invitations I've made recently. I was so pleased with how they all turned out!

Our Valentine card. And yes, being the genius that I am, I put 2008 on it. I rarely write the date on anything so I'm still stuck in last year.

A rehearsal dinner invitation:

Birthday invite for a girl-version of a Curious George party:


A bridal shower invite. Love this!

Now I must get busy on Eliza's Easter dress. I have this delicious stack of fabric just waiting to made into something adorable...

Inspiring blog

Every now and then I'll come across a blog that is totally awe-inspiring and humbling, and thanks to my friend Suzanne, I found another one of those this week. Kisses from Katie is written by a 23 or 24-year old girl who moved to Uganda straight out of college to teach kindergarten, and has since adopted 11 children there. Wow. And why do I ever complain about my life and how busy it is??? She has incredible faith, and her joy and excitement for God and how He is moving will inspire you. If you have a little extra time, check it out!

Finally...a food Big D won't eat

Davis loves to eat. It's up there on his list of favorite things to do, along with playing with balls and banging stuff with long objects (baseball bat, Eliza's baton or broom, and sticks). Until recently, he would pretty much eat anything you put in front of him, in large quantities. There are some days he eats as much as me, and he always eats more than Eliza. But last week I decided we needed some more green leafy veggies in our diets (thanks Betsy!), so I made some creamed spinach. And by "made", I mean put frozen creamed spinach in the microwave. But let's just say Davis was not a fan.