Photo chore chart!

One of the many reasons I love digital cameras!  For my pre-reader, this chore chart works beautifully to help her accomplish her daily chores.

Kid's Choice!

Just in time for back-to-school, I found this great idea for young kids to choose their own outfits!  Simply put outfits in gallon-size ziplocs, complete with matching socks and hair doodles if desired, and place them in kid's drawer, then let them select which outfit they wear each day!

Grandparent gift idea!

Here's a great gift idea for Grandparents. (Mother's Day, Father's Day, Birthday or Christmas!)

I don’t know about you, but for me, my dad is always the hardest person to find a gift for.  So here’s an idea for an inexpensive gift that my dad LOVED… A memory jar! 

With my third child, I have finally gotten pretty good at writing down all the cute things she says.  So I typed up all these cute little sayings, printed them off, cut each one out and folded it up, then put it in a nice can (or you could use a jar, a decorative box or have them printed in a picture book through shutterfly.com).  When my dad opened the gift, it was so much fun to watch him laugh at each thing he read, and it will be a fun way for him to remember us when we haven’t seen each other in a while!  You could include childhood memories, sweet notes from various family members, family jokes and more. Here are a few things we included:

(Note:  For my mothering blog I’ve decided to use the names Hope, Faith and Joy for my girls, so "Joy" is my dad's youngest granddaughter.)

March 2009

Joy, age 2 1/2, climbed onto Mommy’s lap, placed her hands on each of Mom’s cheeks, looked into Mom’s eyes and said, “I’m not gonna do what I’m gonna do.”

April 2009

Joy, age 3, had a stuffed Pluto dog she slept with every night, so when we went to Disnleyland and saw Pluto, Joy hollered, “Pluto, it’s me!”

May 2009

We drove by a billboard with an advertisement for Alaska airlines and Joy said, “There’s a big airplane mom.” Mom responded that it was a picture of the airplane’s wing, then asked Bryn, “Can you flap your arms like a bird or plane?” At age 2 ½ Joy promptly corrected Mom with, “Planes don’t flap!”

February 2010

Erin told 3-year old Joy, “I sure do love you!” and Joy responded, “I’m sure I love you!”

September 2010

Mom and 4-yr old Joy went to Walmart and there was an older gentleman in line behind us.  He winked at Joy and she kept trying to wink back. He asked how old she was and after answering “4,” Joy turned to Mom and said, “Mom, his voice is running out.” 

Happy Mother's Day!

Oh what a joy it is to get to be a MOM!  As Mother's Day approaches, I am incredibly grateful that God allowed me to be the mom of my 3 precious kids.  It's what I always wanted to do "when I grew up!"  What makes Mother's Day special to me is knowing my girls love and appreciate me, and that they honor me as their mom.  The flowers and chocolate are fun too, of course, but even more special are the homemade gifts and cards and hugs and love from my girls.  Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with my little darlings!

April 1st Fun!

Our family rule for April Fool's Day is: Fun is OK; Lying or Upsetting someone is not.  So, here's what we came up with for FUN today!  Tasty too!

Erin go Bragh!

My kids and I love celebrating St. Patrick's Day!  To be honest, my hubby thinks I'm a bit over the top...but that's OK.  The story of St. Patrick inspires me. He's a Christian hero!

A few things we can learn from St. Patrick:

God cares for us and provides for us in whatever situations we find ourselves in.

God uses what was intended for evil to accomplish GOOD.

Prayer draws us closer to the Lord.

God can use our willingness to do what He asks of us
to accomplish great things.

As we celebrate Patrick this year by wearing green and eating green foods and dancing some Irish jigs, let's remember that GREEN symbolizes the eternal LIFE we have in Jesus Christ...Thank you Lord!  THAT is a reason to celebrate!!!

St. Patty's Sweet & Salty Popcorn treat

4-6 cups popped popcorn

1/2 bag Fritos corn chips

1 bag white chocolate chips, melted

Add a few drops of green food coloring to the melted chocolate chips, 

then stir everything together until well coated.

Add M&Ms last.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

For Moms & Girls!

FOR tween girls!

I fell in love with "The Body Book" when I read the phrase on the very first page: “You’re giggling one minute and crying the next.” THIS is a book my girl needs to read! It shares in 'tween-friendly' language what to expect with girl body changes, includes scripture and quizzes…and is funny! It helps girls know they are NORMAL and gives fantastic advice.

For MOMS: "Six Ways to Keep the Little in Your Girl"

My favorite book regarding daughters! I just finished this book and my oldest is 11. Ideally I would have read it when she was 7 or 8. GREAT advice for moms approaching the tween years. Did you know that our kids develop their own values based on what they see, hear and experience between the ages of 6 and 11? What a critical time frame for us to be intentional about teaching them about all kinds of topics because when they hit 12, their values are, for the most part, already established.