The LORD is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.
The LORD is my light and my salvation –
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life –
Of whom shall I be afraid?
One thing I ask of the LORD,
This is what I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life,
To gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
And to seek Him in His temple…
I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD;
Be strong and take heart
And wait for the LORD.
Psalm 27:1, 4, 13 & 14
Media Fast Lessons – Part Two
A friend asked the other day what kinds of things I do with my kids – especially when Dad is gone often in this season. Please know that the following list was slightly out of desperation. These are not things we always do and are therefore awesome:
1. Somehow we got a Secret Decoder Pen along the way. So we write and “crack” codes.
2. Paint nails (yes, their toe nails. And they love watching me paint mine)
3. Make bracelets (yes, they like the small rubber band kinds)
4. Paint our faces (here is where they redeem their boyness – they ask for things like Transformers)
5. Cut out pictures in magazines and paste to make collages
6. Look up cheap science experiments online
7. Make a “picture album” with extra copies of older photos in a notebook (are we the only people who have a jillion notebooks lying around?)
8. Make a canvas painting (Still want to do this from Pinterest)
9. Go through Hope Chest in guest bedroom and clear it out. That includes narrowing down art projects and birthday cards saved and every school paper ever done and throwing some away. (Clutter can stress me out and I’m not super sentimental about every project. If we have a couple from each year, I’m good. They loved doing this, by the way. They reminisced and compared paintings and looked through pictures and cards.)
10. Gather up all the stuffed animals and let them go to town (this usually involves acting out a war scene of some sort)
11. Actually use the chalkboard easel and draw with chalk
12. Our neighbor ladies are into rocks/geodes. We have cheap magnifying glasses and can look at all the sparkles and crevices in the rocks they gave us, then record observations a la Sid the Science Kid
13. Make our own battle box game like in a restaurant activity menu
14. Good old fashioned coloring books – we have some good talks while trying to stay in the lines
15. Old Standby: Set a blanket on the floor with a snack and read a book out loud!
This all leads into what I call “The 5 Minute Rule.” If I start out doing one of these projects for the first few minutes with them, they usually are cool if I then get up and fold some laundry or wash dishes or prep dinner or whatever. Not that I wouldn’t work even if they weren’t “cool” with it (because Moms have jobs to do, too) but it’s nice to not hear fussing.
(And if you’re a homeschool mom you probably feel like this is Parenting 101 here. But, hey, gotta pass on what works for us! And you’re still my hero.)
Another thing you might already do: Rotate your kids’ toys and crafts and books. Every few months get out some new stuff and it’s like Christmas!
For this month, starting the day without media wasn’t too bad at their ages. Set a few things out, remind them of the rule, plan ahead to have breakfast first, or just listen to a bit of whining if you don’t get any of those things done. After several days they were used to it and stopped asking first thing. Just like anything else.
And, finally, Caden’s most-oft quote of the month: “I can’t wait until December.”
You can’t win em all, friends.
I love the house where You live, O LORD,
The place where Your Glory dwells.
Psalm 26:8
We survived the stores today.
For the past several years Dan and I have made Black Friday a day date. It’s a fun way to get on the same page for how we want the Christmas season look. What we’re gonna make people for gifts, what we want to do for a “bigger” kid gift, what teachers/friends/carpoolers/helpers we want to bless and thank, what to do for Christmas cards (only every other year), and when to get in a trip to my grandparents’ over the break (love the GGs).
We tend to get it all talked through and written down, along with about 70% taken care of that day. We accomplish something for my man, dream for me, and laugh and connect for us.
In my hometown, Santa arrives at the airport in a little single engine plane to all the children’s delight. Our boys included. Then they all venture to the square downtown to sit in his lap and whisper their requests. I still can’t tell how much of it all they believe. I hope every last drop of it.
I’ve had nostalgia hit me again in a visceral way while at my parents’ for Thanksgiving. I sorted through books and toys in their basement. Including one of my favorites: the out-of-print Richard Scarry’s Busy, Busy World.
Then I moved on to books from my older childhood years. These mostly consisted of Sweet Valley Twins and The Babysitters Club. (Anyone else?) Not Austen or Bronte, but they walked me through some coming-of-age-type themes.
I’ve been thinking about God’s pruning process. Cutting branches that don’t bear fruit. Pruning others so they will become even more fruitful.
Cutting, even pruning, is not exactly painless. And it doesn’t happen overnight.
Our only hope is to remember that the single way to bear lasting fruit is by being connected to the Vine. No one can be there for us the way He can. The only love described in His Word as unfailing is His love.
And it truly is enough. He is relentless in showing me this experientially.
There’s nothing else to which I’d rather submit.
Psalm 25:4 & 5
Show me your ways, O LORD,
Teach me your paths;
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
For you are God my Savior,
And my hope is in you all day long.
Psalm 24
The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it,
The world and all who live in it;
For he founded it upon the seas
And established it upon the waters.
Who may ascend the hill of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who does not lift up his soul to an idol
Or swear by what is false.
He will receive blessing from the LORD
And vindication from God his Savior.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
Who seek your face, O God of Jacob.
Selah
Lift up your heads, O you gates;
Be lifted, you ancient doors,
That the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
The LORD mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O you gates;
Lift them up, you ancient doors,
That the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty –
He is the King of glory.
Selah
Thanksgiving and Travel and “Media Fasts”
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Anybody else traveling this week? There’s nothing fancy about it, but I have a works-for-us kid travel tip.
First, though, I want to make sure and say I’m a big fan of a good movie on a road trip.
But, sometimes we get a wild hair and ask our children to not watch a movie or even listen to their music in the car…but to play nicely or read while we have an adult conversation. (Any other couples have excellent communication while traveling? I’ve concluded it’s because my man is doing something productive [getting to a destination] while not having to make eye contact. Combine that with me having a confined captive audience, and we’re both happy!)
So I have a trick up my sleeve. You know all those treasures your kids collect on their shelves or the kitchen table or any flat surface? Like the party favors and McDonald’s toys and trinkets from a quarter machine and prizes from the dentist and stickers from the doctor’s office and impulse dollar bin purchases? Approximately once a month I go crazy and collect those bad boys and put them in a zip loc. (They do not notice. If they did and something was very important, I would retrieve it for them.) Then I stick them somewhere until a good time.
Let me tell you, friends, a road trip is a good time.
I will pull out one trinket per child every 20 minutes or so and they are happy, seriously happy, and entertained for quite a while.
We get to have adult conversation or listen to music or watch the beautiful Kansas scenery.
Win – win!
And, finally, my new favorite Thanksgiving book: The Perfect Thanksgiving by Eileen Spinelli. So so cute.
Have a Happy Pre-Thanksgiving Day!
Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall
Not be in want.
He makes me lie down in
Green Pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters,
He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
For His Name’s sake.
Even though I walk
Through the valley of the
Shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
For you are with me;
Your rod and Your staff,
They comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
In the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will
Follow me
All the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house
Of the LORD
Forever.
Media Fast Lessons – Part One
Thought I’d give you some thoughts-thus-far on this “Media Fast.”
1. It would be very difficult to maintain relationships and not be on email, blogs, or at least texting. It would also be almost impossible to work and do things He’s asked me to. So I’m grateful for modern technology.
2. Playing board games with a 4 year old is a really good way to teach honesty and integrity (& counting, but starting on the square after the one you’re on). I knew this as board games are not foreign to our family, but we have exponentially increased that number this month and have reaped many character lessons.
3. Afternoon Rest Time overall has not really happened. I don’t even know where to start in walking through this with you. Basically, I am not getting afternoon alone time except on preschool days. He has been faithful to carry me through.
4. I’m quite certain this is far from new advice, but I’m going to tell you about something I call the “Let’s do this” plan. When you’ve listed all the fun and inspiring ideas of stuff your kids can do and they are not interested in any of them because they are not to be found on an iPad, what’s a mom to do? Well, I’m glad you asked. You pick one of those super fun, non-media-related ideas and set out doing it yourself. They can continue to be bored or they can join in the fun you are clearly having with old pictures, a notebook, markers and glue sticks. (So far at their ages this is working.)
5. Thanksgiving Break starts tomorrow and may be…different. I will have to chat with Dan about his thoughts on all this so we are on the same page.
But, anyway, Thanksgiving Break! Yippee for Family Time!
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