1st phone blog

Thanksgiving with Children

We are making every effort to focus on what matters most in each holiday this year!

Thanksgiving is about being truly thankful, giving thanks with a grateful heart. If you havent read the story of Squanto and the first Thanksgiving in detail, it is worth a google search (I recommend www.joyfulheart.com/thanksgiving/squanto.htm). This is an emotional story, worth knowing and sharing with your children/grandchildren!

To help us remember to be truly thankful this year, we used this idea from a blog I follow called Tatortots and Jello! The kids have really enjoyed this!

The blank printable is available free online. Each child can make it unique.
I laminated the trees after they colored them, but wish I had laminated the leaves, too!

One side of the leaf is numbered, one side has something the child is thankful for!
You just turn one over and let it "fall" off the tree each day until Thanksgiving Day!
So simple, yet so meaningful...really helped make thankfulness concrete for my two kiddos!

We have also been memorizing scripture about thankfulness and learning a song, hopefully to be presented in plastic microphones after our Thanksgiving meal with extended family!
All it takes is a simple effort to really bring the meaning of this holiday home!!!

Halloween 2011: Belated, but Cute!

I don't have very many photos from Halloween 2011, mostly because I was just enjoying it!

Alex was the cutest policeman ever...took this role VERY SERIOUSLY!
Reagan was Jessie from Toy Story...not very familiar with the movie, but thrilled with the costume, and super cute, if you ask me! I think she just wanted the hat! HA!


I even dressed up this year, to host a fall festival at our church the week before Halloween.



Another reason for only a few pics is because Eric and I took a getaway to Denver, CO and our return flight was late on Halloween night, so there was no trick or treating this year. Don't worry...we still have plenty of candy and prizes from the THREE fall festivals the children attended the week before Halloween, and both kids wore those costumes almost every day of October, pretending at home! What fun ages we enjoyed this year!!!


Happy Halloween!
Hey, I got this post up before Thanksgiving Day, so it counts! :)

Discipline 101

Recently, I prayed much for guidance on some discipline issues.
To some of you, the problems may seem minor. However, as children of God, we are called to a high standard, striving for Christ-likeness.
Some of the things we were seeing in our two children were absolute opposites of the Fruit of the Spirit.
God led me to some clear examples of His kind of discipline!

First, we addressed the problem behaviors that were consistently seen over several weeks...
Each child was given a trash bag and a choice...
Either put inside the bag every toy and item that was off limits to others and throw the item(s) away, OR...

Write down these things that we are commanded to "put off" in scripture and symbolically throw those away in the trash bags instead!

Both children chose to throw away the behaviors and attitudes, of course, but the approach was powerful for these two little ones! We read scripture to back it up and the response was exactly what I believe Christ wants...a true brokenness, followed by change!



I couldn't just leave it at that, though. I wanted the positive changes to be rewarded and, we pray, genuine and long lasting! So, we also added a long term system of rewarding Christ-like attitudes and behaviors!

We set up this area in our former dining room, now homeschool/play room!
We had lots of dialogue about the plan and the rewards, using input from the kids to decide on positive reinforcement that they would each want to earn!!!

Now, the small jars have an A and an R on them and have over 10 marbles each from the past few weeks. This has helped Eric and I be intentional about noticing good behavior, rather than just always correcting disobedience. We all have an eternal focus in this! We have already seen a tremendous change for the better in about a month's time. Still needing some reminders, of course, but bringing it all back to God's Word brings such a calm peace to us all!


I must brag on God here...He gave these ideas through His Word and through prayer. On my own, I am nothing! With God, I can be a great mom who raises Christ-like kiddos!!!
If any of you are struggling with discipline issues, I would love to pray with you and for you and have a chance to encourage you!
We are called to do hard things as parents, but the eternal reward is great!