Later that afternoon, once we were home and in lounging clothes, the rain came pouring down!  I jokingly told Emily she should go out and play in the rain while she had a chance.  She’s always wanting to go play in the rain but unfortunately it often happens when we are in good clothes or about to go somewhere.  This time, we had all the time in the world and she was already in “get dirty clothes”.

I also joked that she should take Daddy with her. (Rob has a love/dislike relationship with the rain.  Loves it to water the yard, but very much dislikes it raining on his ears.)

She responded that she would go out and play in the rain *IF* Mommy AND Daddy came with her.

That was an offer we couldn’t refuse – so off we went into the backyard to run around like silly people!  Well, almost.  As Emily and I were halfway across the yard we looked back to see Rob watching us through the back door window.  Nice try, Daddy! It didn’t work.  Soon we were all jumping on the wet trampoline together – singing and laughing while our clothes got absolutely drenched.

I wish I had known where my camera was at the time we came in, but you’ll just have to use your imagination when I say we were soaked from our heads to our toes and back again, but we had huge smiles on our faces!

Sometimes it’s not about what’s comfortable or convenient – it’s just about making your child feel loved and important through good old fashioned playtime.

“Today I shall behave, as if this is the day I will be remembered.” ― Dr. Seuss

“It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them.” ― Leo F. Buscaglia

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” ― George Bernard Shaw

Each evening after getting Emily to bed, Rob and I were spending way too much time cleaning up and preparing for the next day.  By the time we got everything done we were both worn out and unmotivated to do anything else on our to-do list, or to even spend quality time talking to each other, so we’d end up crashing in front of a TV show to unwind before bed. 

Emily is getting older, so she goes to bed a little later.  Rob gets up so early for PT that he doesn’t want to stay up super late. As a result of this “husband & wife only” time window getting smaller, I felt like I was really missing out on personal communication between myself and my husband. 

Don’t get me wrong – we were talking. In fact, we work amazingly well together as team and I am so incredibly blessed to have a husband who is truly my partner in every way.  He’s awesome at helping with cooking, cleaning & parenting – even after a full, long day at work.  As soon as we’d get Emily to bed, we would jump into gear working together like a well-oiled machine getting everything done. 

Breakfast prepared for the next day? (Rob takes both breakfast & lunch to work since he leaves so early)   Check.

Lunch made & packed? Check.

PT clothes set out? Check.

Regular uniform ready for changing into after PT? Check.

Dinner dishes done & kitchen cleaned up? Check.

Anything else that needs to be packed & prepared for the next day’s activities? Check.

I know it doesn’t look like much, but it just felt like we were go-go-go when we wanted to relax.   We both work so well together that we got it done, but it felt more like a job than it did fun interaction with my husband.

Each night, we make a point of having a family dinner at the table because it’s important to us to have that quality time as a family – often playing a fun board game or even watching an episode of Iron Chef while eating.  After dinner, we’d have devotional time and bedtime story time with Emily where we read a story a chapter at a time (just finished The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe) followed by Emily’s favorite ending to the day – an “elephant ride” on Daddy’s back – all the way to bed.  Once in bed, we do bedtime prayers, hugs & kisses and tucks before saying goodnight.  It’s a fun routine and I’m going to enjoy it as long as she’ll let us do it – but once it’s all over, I’m ready for some quality time relaxing or having fun with my hubby.  Instead, we were spending the next hour or so cleaning up, packing & preparing for the next day.  We hadn’t included Emily in this part before because by the time we got everything else done, it was her bedtime and we just didn’t think about it. 

The Simple Solution?

Recently the thought occurred to us – let’s have some family time in the kitchen after dinner before starting the bedtime routine!  Emily LOVES to help in the kitchen and around the house (another thing I’m enjoying while it lasts!), so why not include her at night?  She already helps with many chores around the house during the day, so let’s include her in the process to get things ready for the next day.

Now she unloads the dishwasher (and puts the dishes away!) all by herself, while Rob gets his uniforms ready and I prepare his meals.  It’s a beautiful picture of teamwork and is a definite “win-win” for all of us.  We get extra time together as a family without extending her bedtime by much and by the time Emily is tucked into bed for the night, Rob and I have plenty of time and energy to enjoy some quality time together.  We read together, play a game together, work on a project or discuss those important things that need to be discussed.  We still watch some TV at night, but only after we’ve had our quality time.

I cant believe we didn’t do this sooner!

Yesterday we bought one, and wow – those things are a lot harder than I remember!  Of course, I think the last time I used one was in elementary school.

I just turned 38 29 for the 10th time last week, so elementary school was a long, long time ago.  Evidently, I have lost some of my youthful coordination too.  There will be no videos of my jumping rope on YouTube anytime soon.

So, why in the world did I buy a jump rope?  Like I said, I just turned 38.  That’s 2 years away from the big 4-0.  Yikes! It’s sneaking up on me.  Good thing my sweet husband went first so I can see it’s not the end of the world (like how I fit that in? I love you, honey!), but I still want to do what I can to ensure that my 40’s are full of fun and lots of activity, and for that – I need to get FIT by FORTY!  I want to be in the best shape of my life.  I have spent the last year adjusting the foods I eat, figuring out what works for me (paleo) and what really doesn’t (gluten, sugar & too much dairy!).  Now, it’s time to really focus on the activity & exercise.  Like most people, I used to be fit and active, but years of desk jobs and too sedentary of a lifestyle have left me wondering where my strength, flexibility, endurance, and coordination have gone.

For now, I’m working on things I can do at home.  I’ve tried the gym membership and that only works as long as your motivation to drive to the gym lasts, so I’m determined to make it a daily habit at home first.  We have plenty to work with – a giant trampoline, weights, exercise ball, stretchy bands, & the Wii Fit/Yoga.  I can also do pushups, crunches, lunges & squats without any equipment.  We just added a pull up bar and the jump rope, so I have plenty to work with for now.  Once I get to the point where all of these things are easy, then we can re-evaluate.   My hubby and I put together an exercise plan that I will follow for a couple weeks at a time and we can make adjustments as necessary.

I’m actually really excited about the jump rope.  It’s such a simple thing, but doing it for a short time yesterday sure got me winded, so I’m looking forward to seeing my cardio improve as I use it daily.  Reading the paper insert surprised me though – I don’t remember jump ropes being so dangerous!  Evidently, kids aren’t supposed to even touch them (rules #5 & 6) and I’m going to need eye protection (rule #8). 

Well, no pain – no gain, right?

Deal?

It turns out we aren’t dog people.  We are most definitely CAT people.  Actually, my husband and I have known this about ourselves for a long time.  We love that cats are independent – our kitty loves to cuddle but is also fine being left alone.  She’s social enough, but not needy.  She’s entertaining and loves to chase the laser light.  Even knowing that we were true cat people, we thought that for the sake of our daughter we would attempt to become dog people so that she could experience the childhood joy of having a dog.  We didn’t want her to miss out on something that she thought was so important to her.  Something she had been asking for – for a long, long time.

So, we got a dog 3 months ago.

Now Emily knows that she likes dogs a lot better when they live at someone else’s house.

Our daughter is quite independent too and actually likes playing on her own.  She likes to have people (or the cat) nearby to talk to her and keep her company, but she doesn’t like always having to play WITH them.  She is also extremely sensitive to touch and having the dog nip at her when he wants to play and constantly herding her was not going over well.  Yes, we knew he would nip – he’s a puppy!  What we didn’t realize was that he had some serious herding instinct that was only getting stronger – as was his bite.  Emily couldn’t even walk across the yard or down the hall at home without being chased down and the dog’s mouth around her calf.  As he grew, so did the pressure from his “nipping”, and even though he was trying to play – it hurt.  We’ve had many days that she’s been brought to tears and the skin has never been broken.

She was NOT enjoying him at all, so as a family we decided that it was time for the dog to go.  We didn’t make the decision lightly, but since she was the reason we got the dog we put a lot of value in her opinion.

God was so good to us and answered our prayers for the perfect family for him.  It’s a couple that was looking for a dog to join their family because they both grew up with dogs and have always been around dogs, but wanted one to call their own.  When they came over to meet him, they were smitten!  The puppy loved them immediately and they loved him.  They were so excited about getting to work with and train him.  They loved his personality – even the things that drove us crazy!   It was totally a God thing the way it worked out – the guy works with Rob and had seen a flier Rob took to work and said he wanted him.  The same day, the wife saw my ad on Craigslist and she contacted me.  They both wanted the same dog!

I guess we were just meant to be “foster parents” for this one.  We rescued him, got him neutered, vaccinated, loved on him, trained him – and now he’s got his fur-ever family.

As for us – we are on a “pet freeze” for now.

Today is Day 4 of the Blog Carnival hosted by Wives of Faith. If you are a military spouse and like to write, jump on over and join in – you might even win a prize!

Today’s topic is:

“Picture It: It’s been said that a picture’s worth a thousand words. Post a photograph you’ve taken.”

This one was pretty easy for me because I have a picture I’ve been wanting to post anyway!  I can’t do it in one picture, but rather a series of pictures.

To some of you that might look like an ordinary weed – something that takes over your yard where the grass should be, something you try to get rid of.

But you would be wrong.

What I see when I look at that little flower is BEAUTY.  I think of the delicate petals, the bright color of sunshine, and happiness – pure joy, even.  I actually look forward to spring when these little flowers pop up all over the yard.

Why?

Because of this…the bigger picture.

For as long as I can remember, Emily has loved picking these flowers for me.  When she runs out to check the mail, she comes back with one for my hair.  After playing outside, she’ll come in with a handful of them and present them to me like a bouquet.  She loves to sneak up and put one in a place that will surprise me when I turn around.

Recently, she even put together an entire arrangement with sand, marbles, seashells and rose petals for me.  Isn’t it beautiful?

Seeing her joy in these little flowers brings me joy, and every time I see a dandelion I have to smile!  God uses the ordinary, and makes them extraordinary – just like He uses you and me.

I know I’m really late posting about this, but I wanted to share a few pictures from our recent military ball.  It’s my 2nd one in just over a year, and we enjoyed the chance to get dressed up and go out for a fancy date.  Emily even had a great time that night because she got to have her 2nd sleepover ever (read about her first one here) with some great friends that night.

I got the most incredible dress from my dear friend and bridal/formal wear shop owner – Unforgettable You.  This is the second time she’s managed to help me pick a perfect dress based only on my (self-measured) measurements and sent me the dress through the mail all the way from Canada to North Carolina! I wonder how many formal gowns I’m going to end up with in my closet when Rob finally retires from the Army?

We had a great time at the ball chatting with friends, watching people strut their stuff on the dance floor, and enjoying the traditions of the Calvary.

One of the traditions is the Punch Bowl Ceremony and includes filling up this trough with a variety of alcoholic beverages.

Here is a description I found on this tradition:

The history of the “Punch Bowl” ceremony has become obscured with time. It is thought that during the years of the west ward expansion, Cavalry Troopers would share their spirits with one another thereby insuring that all fellow troopers had something. The alcoholic spirits usually consisted of what ever an individual trooper’s taste was, and that when mixed with other alcohol created a powerful drink known as “GROG”.

The comradeship developed over the decades and through the various wars and campaigns usually entailed the rare opportunity to share “liberated” spirits with each other.

Today’s “GROG” or punch bowl ceremony is more symbolic. It encompasses the age old custom of sharing with the history of a unit.

I think my favorite part (besides admiring my very handsome hubby in his uniform!) is the “photo booth” they set up for us to take free pictures using funny props.  In the first one we were trying to do our “serious face” because I’m always teasing Rob about how the soldiers aren’t allowed to smile in pictures.

Today is Day 3 of the Blog Carnival hosted by Wives of Faith. If you are a military spouse and like to write, jump on over and join in – you might even win a prize!

Today’s topic is:

“Describe your best HOOAH moment”

HOOAH: The phonetic pronunciation of the acronym HUA (Heard, Understood, Acknowledged)

According to Wikipedia, HOOAH can also:

• be used as a call and response cheer, with one soldier exclaiming, “hooah!,” and other soldiers responding in like.
• be uttered at random and in a group in order to boost morale. One or a few soldiers will begin chanting “hooah!,” and then others join in.
• be used as a sarcastic remark for something specific to the Army. Sometimes used sarcastically. As in, “This detail is about as hoo-ah as it gets.”
• to describe a highly motivated individual. As in, “Greenfield has been extremely Hoo-ah lately.”

I can think of a few things that make me want to say, “HOOAH!” – like seeing my man in uniform! I am so proud of him and it is an honor to stand by his side.   Also, when I finally had him back in my arms after his deployment – what a day to celebrate!

When I read this topic though, I immediately thought of a time where I felt really proud of myself as an Army wife.  A time that I felt like I pushed myself, pulled myself up from my bootstraps so to speak, and worked through it.

When Rob was deployed to Iraq last year, Murphy (of Murphy’s Law) decided to attack our truck.  Our truck that was fully paid for and our only option for transportation.  A few issues came and went, but the one I was the most proud of was when I fixed a window on the truck, saving us 200-300 dollars and earning a lot of self confidence.

One day my daughter and I headed out to run a few errands.  We had a big list ahead of us and a lot of driving to do, so our first stop was to fill up the truck with gas – something that should have been routine.  As I hopped back in the driver’s seat and closed the door, the back left window fell down.

Ok, that was weird. I didn’t shut the door THAT hard.  I’ve had windows fall before so I thought I’d just hop out, push it back up with my hands and be on my way.  Only, it wouldn’t budge!

Tried the power switch – it would go down, but not up.  Great, I just made it worse. Tried the other windows and they worked just fine.  Isolating the problem already!

I decided I couldn’t go run my errands and leave the truck with an open window (and our purchases inside) everywhere we went, so we changed our plans and went home.

Normally, I would have just waited until Rob got home and he would have taken care of it.  He’s handy with fixing things like that but since we had several months of the deployment left to go, I knew it couldn’t wait.  My second best option? Google. I quickly came to the conclusion that the window had either simply fallen off the track, or the window motor would need to be replaced.  Neither of those sounded like something I knew how to do, so I called a repair shop for a quote.

“$300-400 including parts & labor.  Oh, and we don’t have any in stock so it’s a special order.”

WHAT????

I needed a plan B.  Sure, we had the extra deployment money and even money in savings, but I sure didn’t want to spend it on that.   So, I prayed for direction, and then I looked up the price of the worst case scenario – a window motor.

The price of the part? $100.00 delivered to my house.

That’s it?  God is so good!

I knew that if my husband were home, he would replace the part himself to save us that $200-300 dollars, so I was determined to do it myself.  Now, how to accomplish that?

“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Phil 4:13)

It is an amazing world we live in, folks.  Seriously.  I’m aging myself here, but the internet still amazes me on almost a daily basis.  You can find anything out there.  Lots of things I don’t even want to know about, but that’s another post.

I found a video on YouTube of a guy demoing how to take off the door panel and replace the window motor.  I can do this!

I put on my work clothes, got the tools out, and took my laptop out on the driveway to keep the video handy.   I’d watch a little, push pause, work a little, hit play…over and over until I was done.   I ended up taking the entire panel off the door, removing the speaker, unhooking the motor, and then putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.  It took me about 30 minutes.  Mechanics get a really good hourly rate!

HOOAH!

Sure, I was proud of myself, but even more I was thankful that God helped me get through this.  I trusted Him and He never lets us down.  It’s moments like this where we can choose to let the hard times knock us down, or we can push through them.  It was important to me to do this for several reasons — 1) I wanted to make my husband proud – for him to know I can handle things at home,  2) I wanted to save us from spending money if we didn’t need to, and 3) I wanted to be an example to my daughter – she even got to help me!

When the hard times come – and they will – I hope you’ll make the choice to push through them and find your own HOOAH moment! You’ll be glad you did.

Today is Day 2 of the Blog Carnival hosted by Wives of Faith, and the topic is:

“What duty stations or locations would be on YOUR dream sheet?”

This one is easy for me to answer! So far I’ve only lived at one duty station – Fort Bragg – and I really like it here.  It’s close to the mountains and the beach. There are plenty of fun attractions a short drive away, and countless ones within a day’s drive all up and down the east coast!  Coming from Dallas, TX where going to the beach required a long weekend, I absolutely LOVE being able to go to the beach and back in a single day.

That said, there are some places that I would love to live during the remainder of my husband’s Army career, if the options were ever given to us.

1) Italy or Germany – these are a tie for me because either one would get us to Europe.  Rob was fortunate to be stationed at both of these his first time around in the Army, but those were before he met me so I would love the chance to experience that with him and see first hand where he spent several years of his life.

2) Hawaii – This one might not ever happen because it would require my husband giving up his Airborne status to go there, but it’s still on my dream list.  Our family loves, LOVES the beach and all things about the ocean.  While it might not be our retirement dream of the Caribbean, it would certainly be paradise to live in such a beautiful place and experience God’s glory in nature. They have mountains IN the ocean there, what’s not to love about that?

3) Alaska – I know, crazy cold right? That part would probably take a lot of getting used to, but I would still choose it over a stateside location just for the beauty of it and the chance to experience it.  The pictures I’ve seen of Alaska are always just beautiful and where else can you spot a moose in your backyard?

All of my “dream spots” are out of the continental U.S. because I figure we could go anywhere within the lower 48 on our own if we were willing to drive a while.  These dream spots are places that I figure we will never have a chance to move to unless it’s on the Army’s dime, so why not go big?

Also, I was born in California and moved to Texas when I was 5.  Then, I spent the next 30 years living in the same 30 mile radius, but my heart has ached for years to move to a new place and get to travel.  One of the things I was most excited about when Rob got back in the Army was the chance to see the world and show it to our daughter.  I know God has a sense of humor and it would be ironic if we spent the next 13 years at just ONE duty station, but we’ll hope not! Let’s get out there and see the world!

It’s no secret that I love chocolate.  Dark chocolate, to be exact (it’s even good for you).  Back when I used to eat milk chocolate and too much sugar, I loved Magic Shell – remember the ice cream topping that gets hard when you pour it on your ice cream?  It was so yummy!

Unfortunately, the original Magic Shell has a couple problems.  First, it lists sugar as the first ingredient.  Ingredients are listed on a package in the order of quantity which means that in this case, there is more sugar than any other ingredient.  Chocolate is much further down the list (#4) after the oils.  Second, the only source of “chocolate” in there is listed as “chocolate processed with alkali”.  Processing chocolate like that is sometimes referred to as the Dutch method and the purpose is to remove the bitter flavor and make the chocolate a more uniform color.

The trade off is that cocoa beans processed with alkali lose the flavonoids and antioxidants that are found in raw cocoa nibs or very dark chocolate. In order words, it removes the part that makes dark chocolate good for your health.

But now, my friends, you can have your Magic Shell and eat it too!

I made my own “Magic Shell” using 2 ingredients – our favorite dark chocolate (antioxidants and all) and coconut oil!

You can use as dark of a chocolate as your prefer, and even get organic if you wish.  Even though the dark chocolate we usually buy does have sugar in it, it has unsweetened chocolate as the first ingredient followed by cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and then sugar.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dark chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup coconut oil

Directions:

• Melt chocolate and coconut oil together in a double boiler and let cool to room temperature.
• Pour over ice cream, and eat! (Store the leftovers at room temperature)

And eat it, we did – as you can see! On top of homemade ice cream, on top of a brownie – all homemade, gluten-free, and paleo too! I’ll post the brownie recipe and ice cream secret soon!  We splurged and called it dinner a couple of nights ago.  I don’t like to brag, but I was called “the best mom EVER” and that’s pretty cool.

This week, I’m taking part in a Blog Carnival hosted by Wives of Faith.  If you are a military wife, I can’t encourage you enough to become a member and get connected with these awesome ladies!

Here are my top 20 answers in no particular order to today’s topic,

“You know you are a military wife when…”

…you no longer have to do math to figure out what time to start dinner when your husband tells you he’ll be home at 1830.

…someone asks for the last 4 of your social security number and you ramble off your husband’s instead.

…you are surprised when the sound of thunder is REALLY thunder and not just artillery.

…you are close friends with someone for an entire year, but your husband’s have never met because they are never home at the same time.

…a good day includes your husband not landing in a tree.

…you say, “stand by” to someone when you are figuring out your answer.

…you refuse to answer the front door when your husband is deployed.

…you have a plan on what to do with your child if you should ever see men in dress uniforms at your door.

…you store your kid’s outside toys in a Tuff box.

…your husband’s work & dress clothes cost more than yours do.

…you tear up at songs like “Proud to be an American” and “American Soldier” no matter how many times you hear them.

…you run out of leftovers for your husband’s lunch the next day and he says, “I’ll just grab an MRE at work”.

…some of your closest friends are people you’ve known less than a year.

…the emergency contact for your child is someone you’ve known less than a month.

…you know your husband’s co-workers by last name only.

…you need your ID to buy groceries.

…your husband says he’s going to another state for a week to for training and you think nothing of it because it’s “only” a week.

…you know that any reference to “sand box” describes a deployment, not your kid’s backyard toys.

…you avoid going grocery shopping within 2 days of payday unless it’s an absolute emergency!

…your husband says he gets to “sleep in” and sets his alarm for 6:30.

It couldn’t be just any food though.  It needs to be healthy and packed full of nutrients so that she can get through the morning with enough energy and is able to focus. 

Today I made “Egg Cupcakes”, and “Apple Muffins”, and I made a ton of them so I can throw them in the freezer and just pop a couple out each day.  One of each, and a side of grapes or apple slices will make a perfect breakfast that can be eaten easily in the car if needed.

The Egg Cupcakes have eggs, chopped ham, zucchini, red bell pepper, spinach and seasonings.  Lovebug will eat almost anything, but she doesn’t like zucchini or red bell pepper.  However, thanks to my food processor, she can’t even taste it in there – as evidenced by the fact that she ate 3 of them tonight fresh out of the oven!

The Apple Muffins have apples (of course), banana, grated carrots, & raisins.  They are also GFCF, and made with almond meal instead of flour.  Delicious!!

These also make great snacks, or a quick lunch too!

What is your favorite “on the run” breakfast?

I love almond butter, but it’s so expensive.  Not with the Vitamix!  I buy almonds in bulk at Sam’s and got 3 pounds for under $9.00. 

Then, I pour about 3 cups at a time into the Vitamix, crank that baby on high and in a matter of minutes, I have fresh, creamy almond butter at a fraction of the price I would pay for the pre-jarred stuff.  If you are trying this, it doesn’t just grind them all up by itself – you have to use the tamper for this and keep pushing the nuts down into the blades.  That’s another thing I love about the Vitamix – the tamper will NOT reach the blades, so no getting plastic pieces in your food.  Not that I ever had that happen with a regular blender…nope, not me

Lovebug loves to help me make it, and I have so much fun with my favorite sous chef in the kitchen!

The blender looks dirty because I had just made a batch of macadamia nut butter and didn’t rinse it out.  I didn’t really care if they mixed a tiny bit.

Taste testing!

Final products: Almond Butter and Macadamia Nut Butter!  The macadamia nut butter is much more runny, but is better after sitting in the fridge for a couple days.  It is super runny coming out of the blender because it gets so warm.  It’s oh so tasty though!

My husband grew up enjoying his Granny’s homemade chocolate gravy & biscuits when he would visit her house.  He has talked about this tradition many times over the years, and I always thought I would try to make it sometime.  I kept putting it off because I’m not an experienced gravy maker, and I thought it would be difficult.  It’s not!

Granny is visiting with us right now, so I wanted to make this family favorite for her & Hubby to enjoy…and to introduce it to our daughter to pass on the tradition. 

It turned out so YUMMY, and was simple to make.  I admit, I was a little nervous in the middle of the cooking process because I thought it wouldn’t thicken up, but it all turned out perfect and just required a bit of patience.

Want the recipe? Ok, I’ll share! I didn’t take pictures of the process, but I’ll try to do that next time.

CHOCOLATE GRAVY

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup butter

* 4 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

* 3/4 cup white sugar

* 2 cups milk

Directions:

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add cocoa and flour, then stir until thick. Stir in sugar and milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick.  This will take several minutes, so be patient – it’s worth the wait!

This is best served immediately, but the cold leftovers are also very tasty!

** Click here for a printable version of the chocolate gravy recipe **

I also made homemade biscuits to pour the gravy over, although it’s good enough to just eat with a spoon!  If you want a good recipe for biscuits, here is a great one from the AllRecipes website.

Never Fail Biscuits

Americanized Kids Sushi

For those kids who DON’T like fish or seaweed, this is a great alternative.

My daughter LOVES sushi – the real kind.  She and her Daddy go on “Sushi Dates”, she even requested it for her 5th birthday, but she would love making these at home!

These adorable party wrappers come in several pretty colors with all natural coloring! None of that fake stuff.  You can also find several fun recipes on their site as well.  Here is a picture from one of their recipe ideas:

Enjoy!

In this particular study mentioned in the article it was found that,

“children who consumed a mixture of common synthetic dyes displayed hyperactive behavior within an hour of consumption”

We’ve seen plenty of evidence of that in our daughter, that’s for sure!

We are talking about the dyes listed in the ingredient list as a color followed by a number such as: Blue 1 and 2, Citrus Red 2, Green 3, Red 3 and 40, Yellow 5 and 6.  Do your own research on the ingredients and dangers of these toxins.  Did you know they are made from tar and petroleum? Yuck! Who wants to eat crude oil?

One thing to note as you are looking at the labels is that the terms “artificial color,” “artificial color added” or “color added” indicate that nature-derived pigments were used since synthetic dyes must be listed by their names.

Start watching the ingredients of the foods you buy, and I bet you will be surprised how many of them contain these synthetic dyes.  Vanilla pudding, and even white marshmallows contain dyes to get it “just the right shade”.  M&Ms, cereals, chewing gum, Kool-Aid, Jello, maraschino cherries, Doritos, Sun Chips – it’s everywhere!! Some blueberry waffles don’t even have blueberries in them – just blue colored bits.

Good News! There are healthier alternatives available.  We’ve been able to find comparable dye-free substitutes for just about everything (Except candy corn! Someone make an organic version, PLEASE!).  If you are looking for some dye-free candy alternatives for your family and you don’t have a Whole Foods Market nearby, check out NaturalCandyStore.com!  We shop from them frequently, stocking up on things like candy canes for Christmas and cotton candy before we go to the fair.  Right now they have lots of cute natural Valentine Candy available!

If you are looking for other suggestions to replace dye-filled foods in your pantry, let me know and I’ll point you in the right direction.  We’ve had no trouble having cupcakes with sprinkles, ice cream sundaes with cherries, or even cereal with marshmallows – it’s just about finding the right products.

Obviously, this isn’t a problem when eating meat, veggies, fruits, and whole grains.  That’s why I only focused on all the sweet treats in my suggestions.  I find that a lot of parents are afraid to make the change because their kids are used to having these treats and they don’t want to take them away from them.  You don’t have to – just switch to a better product.  For their sake – and yours!

I’m looking forward to starting fresh and buying less.  Doing this Pantry-Clean-Out has caused me to break away from the rut we can get in of eating the same thing over and over.  Also, Lovebug loves her Muffin Tin Meals and while I love doing these for lunch I don’t really want to do them for dinner too often, but sometimes when it’s just the two of us it’s easy to fall back on that.  Not exactly a real sit-down dinner!

One of my goals this year is to eat even less processed food and make more of our meals using whole foods.  We already avoid artificial food coloring, artificial sweeteners, and high fructose corn syrup.  That eliminates a lot of the processed foods, but I’d like to cut back even more on the pre-packaged (more expensive!) products that we use.  This also helps our grocery budget, which I’m working on lowering!  Buying meat in bulk on sale and pairing it with in-season produce and a side of rice/potatoes/pasta can be pretty cheap.  I want to focus on planning our meals around the store sales, and buying less pre-packaged snack foods unless I get them on a good sale!

One of the meals I made this week was this Pork Chops with Sour Cream & Mushroom Sauce.  One of the things I love about AllRecipes.com is that you can search by ingredients.  You can put in a few things that you have in your pantry and it will give you recipes that use those ingredients.  That’s how I found this one.  I had a couple cans of soup leftover that I wanted to use up and some pork chops on hand. Perfect! I served it over brown rice (also on hand) and a side of green peas from the freezer.

It’s also how I made yesterday’s chili recipe the first time.  I substituted pasta sauce for the plain tomato sauce because it’s what I had on hand.  I also used mayo instead of eggs in my cornbread today.

In an attempt to avoid buying much additional food, we’ve also been eating a lot of PB&J sandwiches for lunch.  Simple, cheap, and tasty.  Serve with some celery & carrot sticks or apple slices and it’s a great meal.

Once we get moved and stop eating-on-the go for a couple weeks, I’ll get back to menu planning.  My friend, Brit at Living with 3 Boys is a great inspiration for me.  She’s great at this! I look forward to sharing my menu ideas with you as well as how we manage to eat healthy foods and stay frugal while traveling! 

Any tips you have for frugal, healthy meals? I’d love to hear them! 

I almost had a setback.  I had most of the ingredients mixed up for the cornbread, when I realized I used the last of my eggs at breakfast. Oops! A quick Bing search led me to the suggestion of substituting mayo for eggs.  3 Tablespoons for each egg.  Hmmm, mayo is made from eggs, so why not?  I was a little nervous.  I’m comfortable experimenting with cooking, but not with baking – it’s too scientific.

It worked!  I used Kraft Mayo made with olive oil and it turned out perfect.

By the way, if you have the chance to get your hands on some freshly ground corn meal (check farmer’s markets) – do so!! Now, I like Jiffy as much as anyone, but this? SO much better!!

Want to make some yourself? Check out these recipes!

* Homesteader Cornbread

* For the chili, if you have plenty of time and ingredients, I encourage you to try this one! It’s deee-licious!

* If you are looking for faster that uses ingredients you likely have on hand, give this Blue Ribbon Chili a try.  I’ve made it a few times now and LOVE it! This is what I made yesterday.  You can adjust the amount of salsa and chili mix to your own spice preferences.  If it ends up too spicy for the kids, just add a sprinkle or two of sugar to their bowl and it cuts the spice factor.

Do you eat chili WITH beans or WITHOUT?  In our house, I add extra meat and leave out the beans.  

We put Lovebug on a Gluten Free diet a few months ago.  At first I thought I was seeing some changes, but the more we progressed I’m not so sure anymore.  I think we were just in a “season” of hers.  See, ever since she’s been very young, Hubby and I have noticed that she has cycles.  6 months on, 6 months off.  She tends to have half the year that is easier for her, and then the other half is more…well…challenging.  Physical changes I’m sure play a big part in it as she’s growing.  It seems that she is often learning a new skill or going through a change and it all plays a part.  So, sometimes I find myself thinking we are in a really challenging time with her and trying to figure out what’s wrong and what we should do.  Other times I’m thinking “Wow, this is easy sailing…is this the same child?”.  All to realize we’re on one side of the 6 month cycle.

So, a couple weeks ago, I stopped avoiding the gluten.  Just to see how it goes.  I let her have pizza.  Regular bread.  A sausage roll.  I haven’t seen any negative effects yet.

I know some will argue that I should give it a whole year ON the diet to really see any changes.  But the truth is, I don’t wanna.  I’m just not sure that she needs it.  I don’t know that it would cause a noticeable improvement.  I’m not sure that her struggles are “bad” enough to warrant the effort required for a GF diet.  It’s also VERY expensive and has put a serious dent in our grocery budget.  I’m frugal, so this is painful.

Now, of course I would do ANYTHING for her if I thought it would help.  I would spend whatever I had to in order to help her health.  But if there is a cheaper option that works just as well, I’ll choose that first.  We already avoid HFCS, artificial colorings, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and we eat mostly organic.  I KNOW those things have made a WORLD of difference!  I wouldn’t go back on these things, ever!  I just don’t know that we have that much more room for improvement.

It’s also REALLY hard on her emotionally to be GF.  We already avoid so many things, that to add to that list was hard for her to take.  Sure, she got excited when she saw so many things in the store labeled gluten free.  She has also, many times, cried in the grocery store when I had to tell her she couldn’t have an old favorite food because it wasn’t gluten free.

It would be one thing if it made her noticeably sick or in pain.  But she doesn’t have Celiac Disease.  She knows that artificial coloring alters her behavior and her ability to focus, so she has no problem avoiding that.  But she also knows that she feels no different ON gluten or OFF gluten.  So that makes it harder to enforce or explain.

I’m still a huge fan of all-natural and organic eating as well as finding healthy, fun, kid-friendly foods, so I’ll continue to do that and pass on gluten free recipes that I find.  I have so many friends that are gluten free that it’s definitely an interest of mine.  And who knows….we might go back to it.  But first, I’d have to find a way to make more things from scratch because I just can’t handle the price of pre-made, gluten free bread/pizza/muffin/cupcake products!

That said, I think that I’ll be careful not to overdose on gluten, if there is such a thing.  But I’m also not going to avoid it.  We might revisit this at a later time, but for now we’re off the wagon.

Some days I think I’m moving on and at peace with it.  That I’m truly trusting that God will take care of that little boy and that God’s plan is better than my own.  The truth is, I’m not there yet.  I’m not ready to face the grief. I just can’t let myself go there.  If I avoid thinking about it the I won’t be sad.  Sure, in my head, I know God has him in His sights.  I know God made him and has a plan for him.  I know all that LOGICALLY.  But my heart doesn’t want to hear that just let.  Sometimes “God has a plan for everything”, is not as comforting as we’d like it to be.

It also stinks because so few people understand.  I don’t mean to sound like I’m fishing for comments, because I’m not.  I don’t need pity.  But it is hard going through this mostly alone.  Hubby gets it, but we don’t really have time to talk about it and he didn’t get to be here when Little Bear left.  I have a couple friends that are foster parents that get it.  I have a close circle of amazing friends that get it as much as they can because we communicate daily in spite of being spread out around the country(ies).   But most people, it seems, just don’t know what to say….so they don’t say anything.  It’s like he died and no one is talking about him.  Like he never existed.  I’ve been on the other side – I’ve known foster parents that had kids moved out of their homes.  I’ve known people that lost a child to death.  I’m afraid I was guilty of doing the same thing.  Of thinking it would be easier on the person if I didn’t bring it up at all when I didn’t know what to say.

But it’s not.  And I pray I never make that mistake with someone else again.  You don’t have to know what to say.  Just saying something helps.

I WANT to talk about him.  I want to remember him.  I’m scared to, and I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do or not, but I don’t want to forget. 

Some members of my own family haven’t even asked about him, or how I’m doing since he was taken away.  That hurts.  BAD.  My in-laws have been awesome though, so that helps a lot.  I’ve also heard some people say that they guess it’s not that hard because we “knew what we were getting into” or we’ve “done this before”, as if that somehow that keeps the pain away.  If you had warning that your child was going to die, would that make it easier when it happened? 

I did have a friend come up to me at church Sunday.  She took care of Little Bear in the nursery each week while I was at Bible study.  She gave me a hug and told me how much they missed him.  Words can’t express how much that meant to me.  To know someone was thinking about him and he wasn’t forgotten.

I’ll never forget.  Ever.

I am trusting God, and I have deep faith that God is in control of all of this.  I really do.  I’m not over it, but each and every day I am trying to surrender it all to my Savior! I am drawing closer to HIM thought this and for that, even if it means I hurt, I am thankful.  I am thankful that He is there for me, and He understands when no one else does.  He gets it.  He gets me.

Jesus loves me this I know.  For the Bible tells me so.  Little ones to Him belong. They are weak, but HE is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so.

Today I saw something that took me back to my Junior High days and an old favorite! I saw a blue package, the triangle shape chip, and then….the word RANCH!

Could it be?  Could these possibly taste as good as my old favorite?

I stopped eating the Doritos brand years ago because they have artificial coloring in them, along with other stuff I can’t pronounce.  I’ve missed them though.

But these Kettle TIAS! taste just like the Doritos…only better! No MSG, no artificial coloring…just yummy-ness!

I used to dip the Cool Ranch Doritos in Hidden Valley Ranch dressing!  Good use of my lunch money, right?  Tonight, I just couldn’t resist.  I had to try it with these.  It was as good as I remember. 

Too bad I can’t kick my Hidden Valley Ranch dressing habit.  We try to avoid MSG and to eat mostly organic or all natural so I’ve tried.  I’ve tried so many other brands, and they just don’t compare.  I did get excited recently when I saw a Hidden Valley ORGANIC Ranch dressing.  No MSG!  Also…..no taste! At least, not the same taste as the “original” version.  I guess it’s the MSG that makes it so good.  Too bad.  I do limit my intake, but I just can’t get rid of it completely.

So, what are some of your old favorites that take you back?  Come on, share!  I can’t be the only one!

“Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

Reading that verse takes me back.  Back to a time when I was searching for a relationship with God.  A time when God was pulling me close to Him and holding on tight.  A time when I needed the Lord desperately.  When I was in high school, I went to the same church summer camp every year.  A musical group called Acapella always performed a concert for us, and I looked forward to it every year.  Their songs are still some of my all time favorites and I have many of them on my phone to listen to frequently.

I know other songs have been written from this Psalm, but this is one of my favorites!

As I continued reading, I came to verse 3 & 4 which say,

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” ~ Psalm 8:3-4

Just like the sign in the stars that He gave me a couple nights ago, the Lord is reminding me again that He is mindful of each and every one of us.  He cares for each of us.

Boy, was I wrong! See, up until a week or so ago, my experience with Army wives (other than 3 good friends of mine) was based on a message board I stumbled across one day and like a bad car wreck, I kept going back to stare at it and to read some of the “soap opera” style posts.  Lots of drama, tons of complaining, husband bashing…on and on.  No, I’m not going to post the name of that board.

THEN…this past week I followed a link and found Wives of Faith.  A community of Army wives sharing their friendship and their faith in Christ.  AWESOME!  As I read through some of the posts, I got excited and could already tell I would learn a lot from these wives.  They must be really experienced, probably in the Army a long time, married for decades to have built a faith this strong….right?

Nope.

One post I read turned out to be written by a 22 year old.  Twenty-Two.  Wow.  She’s starting a Bible study on the site.  I can’t wait to follow along with her.  I can tell that although she’s 14 years my junior, I will learn a lot from her. 

God puts the right people in your life at just the right time, and He knew I needed this site, these ladies.  I needed to realize that not only can I learn a lot about the Army from these young wives (that part I knew!), but I can also learn a lot about HIM. 

You know who else I’ve discovered I can learn a lot from?  Drug dealers, ex-cons, & people that literally live on the street.  A couple dear friends of mine that have mentored me in discipleship for years also run a weekly Bible study for a bunch of women that, live in shelters, or in very low income apartments, or even on the street.  They even go to the local jail to talk to these women.  Several months ago, they held an overnight retreat for these ladies. They were picked up and taken to a retreat center where they got to spend the night (in a bed!), get fed great food, were given a change of clothes & shoes, and taught the Word of God.   I was blessed to participate in that retreat as a helper, and oh what I learned!!  I remember walking around the grounds while things had not quite started yet, and I came across a chapel where I heard singing.  As I walked in, I saw several of these ladies – who had not a dime or change of clothes to their name – singing and praising God for all that He has done! 

This upcoming weekend I have the chance to once again help with a retreat for these ladies.  I cannot wait!! I know that while I am serving them, I will also glean so much from them.  I know that God will not only speak though us to them, but also through them to us.

The Lord has really been speaking to my heart for a while about being bold, speaking for Him and not being afraid to share my story with others.  To share His name and all that He has done.  To share my faith openly and proudly.  To see all of these young wives, and these ladies who had has some hard knocks doing just that is incredibly humbling to me.  I hope that I can speak up for God as much as they do.  I pray that I will be bold like them.

“Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.” (Acts 4:29)

I love to be comfortable.  Bare feet in the soft grass.  Cozy blankets on the sofa.  Fall Weather.  But God never promised us that we’d be comfortable.  In fact, He tells us quite the opposite, but we don’t like to hear that.  Read my previous post about being comfortable.

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“For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.” (2 Cor 1:5)

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I’ve been uncomfortable lately.  Really uncomfortable.  I’ve been tired, confused, weary, doubting.  As a foster parent, I have seen a lot of hard things.  I’ve been disappointed in parents, and in the system.  I’ve seen children who have been neglected, abused, and forgotten.  I’ve also seen moms who paid a hard price for making a bad choice.  I’ve seen too much.  Sometimes I think I’ve seen too much to continue.  Really, I’ve seen too much not to. 

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Lately, I’ve been weary.  Little Bear has not been sleeping well due to his reflux, but then he got a cold!  He was up the majority of the night for several nights in a row.  With Hubby gone, that means I take all the night shifts myself. Sometimes only sleeping 2 hours in a 7-8 hour period.  I am not one of those Super Moms that thrives off 2-3 hours of sleep.  My hormones get crazy if I don’t get my 8 hours.  I was exhausted.  Physically, mentally, emotionally.  I had to swallow my pride and ask for help.  I really don’t like that.  I want to be able to do it all, but I can’t.  I had to give in and let my parents watch him for a few nights.  I had to let Hubby’s grandmother entertain him for 30 minutes while I caught a nap.  I had to let Go.  I had to let God take over.

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Isn’t that the point?

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I was never supposed to do it myself.  I’m supposed to rely on HIM.

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Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. (2 Cor 1:9)

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He offered me help through my parents.  I finally agreed to take it.  After a couple nights of sleeping through the night, I felt much better! I feel like I can think clearly enough to make my own coffee.   Little Bear is doing much better and sleeping much much more now!  Now to just get rid of that middle-of-the-night waking he got used to, and get back to the sleeping-all-night that I was used to!

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Father,

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Please help me to see Little Bear through YOUR eyes, even in the middle of the night.  Allow me to cherish those moments with him, Father, even if I’d rather be holding him during the day.  Allow me to trust you to give me the rest I need rather than rushing back to bed and watching the clock.  Help me to remember that what I do for the least of these, I do for you.  Forgive my selfishness as I have been focusing on how this affects me.  I want to love him as I do you.  I want to care for him as if he were you.  I need your strength, Father.  I need your arms to carry me through this.  In Jesus name, Amen.

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Sometimes when it’s so hard, the thought crosses my mind and I wonder if we are supposed to continue on as foster parents.  Maybe this is just “too” hard, I wonder.   Then I read a post like this one by an amazing 17 year old girl, and I know….this isn’t about me.  I continue to love and to give because I’m called to, not because it’s easy or convenient.  I do this because right now at this moment, there is a little baby boy who needs my love.  And I do love him.  With all my heart.  Sometimes that’s what makes this so hard.  I’m relying on a broken, messed up system to determine what to do with this little boy’s life.  I don’t know yet what’s going to happen in his future.  I don’t know how long he’ll be in our family, but I know he’ll be in my heart forever.

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Oh, I’m so so glad that God is in control! That He knew what the plan was for this little boy before he was even conceived.  

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So, I continue to wait.  To trust.  To hope.  And to love.

Dear Lord,

We’re still hoping we’ll wake up. We’re still hoping we’ll open a sleepy eye and think, What a horrible dream.

But we won’t, will we, Father? What we saw was not a dream. Planes did gouge towers. Flames did consume our fortress. People did perish. It was no dream and, dear Father, we are sad.

There is a ballet dancer who will no longer dance and a doctor who will no longer heal. A church has lost her priest, a classroom is minus a teacher. Cora ran a food pantry. Paige was a counselor and Dana, dearest Father, Dana was only three years old. (Who held her in those final moments?)

We are sad, Father. For as the innocent are buried, our innocence is buried as well. We thought we were safe. Perhaps we should have known better. But we didn’t.

And so we come to you. We don’t ask you for help; we beg you for it. We don’t request it; we implore it. We know what you can do. We’ve read the accounts. We’ve pondered the stories and now we plead, Do it again, Lord. Do it again.

Remember Joseph? You rescued him from the pit. You can do the same for us. Do it again, Lord.

Remember the Hebrews in Egypt? You protected their children from the angel of death. We have children, too, Lord. Do it again.

And Sarah? Remember her prayers? You heard them. Joshua? Remember his fears? You inspired him. The women at the tomb? You resurrected their hope. The doubts of Thomas? You took them away. Do it again, Lord. Do it again.

You changed Daniel from a captive into a king’s counselor. You took Peter the fisherman and made him Peter an apostle. Because of you, David went from leading sheep to leading armies. Do it again, Lord, for we need counselors today, Lord. We need apostles. We need leaders. Do it again, dear Lord.

Most of all, do again what you did at Calvary. What we saw here on that Tuesday, you saw there on that Friday. Innocence slaughtered. Goodness murdered. Mothers weeping. Evil dancing. Just as the ash fell on our children, the darkness fell on your Son. Just as our towers were shattered, the very Tower of Eternity was pierced.

And by dusk, heaven’s sweetest song was silent, buried behind a rock.

But you did not waver, O Lord. You did not waver. After three days in a dark hole, you rolled the rock and rumbled the earth and turned the darkest Friday into the brightest Sunday. Do it again, Lord. Grant us a September Easter.

We thank you, dear Father, for these hours of unity. Disaster has done what discussion could not. Doctrinal fences have fallen. Republicans are standing with Democrats. Skin colors have been covered by the ash of burning buildings. We thank you for these hours of unity.

And we thank you for these hours of prayer. The Enemy sought to bring us to our knees and succeeded. He had no idea, however, that we would kneel before you. And he has no idea what you can do.

Let your mercy be upon our President, Vice President, and their families. Grant to those who lead us wisdom beyond their years and experience. Have mercy upon the souls who have departed and the wounded who remain. Give us grace that we might forgive and faith that we might believe.

And look kindly upon your church. For two thousand years you’ve used her to heal a hurting world.

Do it again, Lord. Do it again.

Through Christ, Amen.

As written by Max Lucado for America Prays, a national prayer vigil held Saturday, September 14, 2001. Permission to copy not only granted but encouraged.

Strawberries & Cream Crepes, served with a side of “Cheesy Eggs”

My husband is the King of Crepes! Before Bug was born, Hubby’s mom bought us a crepe pan and a crepe cookbook.  Those 2 things are in the top 5 most-used gifts we’ve received!  We’ve had to replace the pan a couple times since because we use it SO often for all sorts of things.  He can even flip them!! See?

Recently we had our first try at making Gluten Free pancakes, and they were delicious! We couldn’t tell the difference from what we used to make.  We made Strawberry & Cream Crepes. YUM!! Make them yourselves, and see what you think.

Crepe Batter Ingredients:

Preparation:

Crêpe Batter- Pour milk, egg, melted butter OR olive oil and vanilla into a blender pitcher or a medium mixing bowl. Whisk the dry ingredients together and add to the blender or mixing bowl. Blend or whisk just until combined and smooth. The batter should be the consistency of thin pancake batter. Add more milk, one teaspoon at a time if the batter is too thick.

Note-Batter can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for up to one day.  (We always make it the day before)

Directions:

Heat a low-sided 8-inch skillet or crêpe pan over medium high heat. Add 1/4 teaspoon oil to the skillet and brush to coat the bottom of the skillet. (Do this before making each crêpe) Pour 1/4 cup of batter into the heated skillet. Swirl the skillet until the bottom of the pan is covered with batter. Cook the crepe for about 1 minute- the crepe should be barely moist on top. Use a thin spatula to loosen the edges of the crêpe, slide the spatula under the crêpe and gently flip it upside down. Cook for about one more minute, just until golden and transfer crêpe to a cooling rack or plate. Repeat with the remaining batter.

We turn the oven on 200 degrees F, and place the cooked crepes on a cookie sheet to keep warm if using right away.

Filling:

• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 cup cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon (or to taste)

Mix together by hand, or in a food processor.

Topping:

I took a bowl full of frozen (no-sugar-added) strawberries, microwaved till soft, added 1/4 cup or of sugar, then tossed it all in the Vitamix and pureed till smooth.  Use your favorite berry, or a mixture!

Assembly:

Place crepe on plate.

Put 1/4 cup or so of filling down the middle of crepe.

Fold like a burrito – tops/bottoms in, then roll from one side.

Top with strawberry sauce.]]> http://midlifearmywife.com/faith/2010/09/02/out-of-the-mouths-of-babes/ <p>Out of the blue, Lovebug asked me this question,</p> <p>“How do I know if it’s God talking to me, or if it’s Satan talking to me, or if it’s ME talking to me?”</p> <p>Really?  She’s 6.  I was over 30 before I attempted to address that question for myself.  She is so incredibly deep, it’s amazing.</p> <p>I struggled with <span style="color:#777;"> . . . &#8594; Read More: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://midlifearmywife.com/faith/2010/09/02/out-of-the-mouths-of-babes/">Out of the mouths of babes</a></span> http://midlifearmywife.com/faith/2010/09/02/out-of-the-mouths-of-babes/ Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:06:11 +0000 Out of the blue, Lovebug asked me this question,

“How do I know if it’s God talking to me, or if it’s Satan talking to me, or if it’s ME talking to me?”

Really?  She’s 6.  I was over 30 before I attempted to address that question for myself.  She is so incredibly deep, it’s amazing.

I struggled with how to answer her appropriately.  I didn’t want to blow off such an important question with too childish of an answer, but then again, she IS a child.

Here is the bottom line of what I told her:

1) The more you talk to God, the more you’ll recognize His voice.  Just like you recognize the voice when your spouse, mom, or best friend call you on the phone without them having to introduce themselves each time.

2) Compare what you are being told against the Bible.  God is never going to tell you to do something that goes against what He tells us in His Word.  So if you hear “go kick that girl because she has on a blue dress and your favorite color is pink” – that’s not from God.  God would not tell you to kick anyone.

3) It’s ok to ask God to clarify things for you.  He wants you to understand Him, and He isn’t going to be offended if you are TRYING to understand, but are having trouble.  Tell Him you need help, and He will help you.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)

It’s scary sometimes to think “Where will I go?”,  “What will I eat?”,  “What kind of house would I live in?”,  “What would I have to give up or do without?”, “What will THEY think?”.

God’s word tells us not to be anxious about these things.  To let HIM be our PROVIDER!  One of my favorite group of verses is Matthew 6:25-37 (click to read) where He reminds us that we do not need to worry.

What is God calling you to do? Something that seems impossible? Something that seems HUGE to you and way out of your comfort zone? Something that makes you think “No way! That’s crazy!”  No matter how big it seems to you, it is small in the hands of God.  He’s got it covered!

I wonder how Noah felt when he was told to build a huge ark…especially considering it had never rained before.

What about Gideon when his army got cut down from 32,000 to 300?

Or Joshua, who was told to use marching, trumpets, and yelling to knock down the Jericho walls?

Think about little David, a young teenager, who was called by God to kill a GIANT with just a stone and a slingshot?

God calls us to do uncomfortable things! Things that require us to depend totally on HIM for our strength, courage, provisions.

WHY?

Because HE did big things for us!! His only Son came to earth, suffered and died for our sins!  He was born in a stable and placed in an animal’s feeding trough for his bed.  He never lived in a palace, or even had his own home.  He didn’t travel around in the fanciest of chariots.  He was uncomfortable…for US!

You can do it for Him!

Suddenly, she burst into tears!  She said “I don’t want to grow up.  I want to stay a kid forever.”  I assured her that she had tons of time to enjoy being a kid, and when it was time for her to be a grownup, she would WANT to be a grownup!  She was worried about outgrowing her bunk bed (a twin!), so I told her about how I slept on a bed that size until I was a much older grownup and it fit just fine.

Then the conversation got around to us moving (ahhh! the real worry!).  We know that about a year from now our family will be moving.  We don’t know where yet.  Most of the time, Emily is super excited about it.  God blessed her with an amazing sense of adventure and curiosity.  She wants to visit more countries and states than I think I even knew existed at her age.

However, this time, she was bawling.  She was scared and worried about the move.  I held her close and told her she could ask me anything.  That Daddy and I had both moved many, many times in our life, so we could tell her all about it.   She’s moved before, but she was too young to remember it.  Now, she’s starting to process the concept of moving, and trying to figure it all out.  See, she’s a detail person and a planner.  That’s who she is.  So, rather than focusing on the adventure of it, right now she was focused on the little details.

What was she worried about? Well, here were a couple of her questions.

* What if my new bedroom doesn’t have a window?  I assured her that her bedroom, would in fact, have a window!  She loves to look out her bedroom window!

* What if we are driving to our new home and we have to stop, but we can’t sleep in the van….where will we sleep?  Obviously she had forgotten the many times we’ve slept in a hotel room on the way to a destination!  I reminded her of the hotel stops when we went to Florida this past year, and that settled her mind.

Last time she did this, she was concerned because she “would never get to go to the zoo again!”, but was fine once I showed her that there are zoos in or near most cities, and that she would definitely get to go to the zoo again!

She was also curious about having a yard to play in, and since I don’t know if we’ll be in a house or apartment at first, I couldn’t promise that.  But once I told her that apartments have swimming pools, she said she wanted us to live there!

Our sweet girl is not a big fan of change.  She likes to plan ahead and know what’s going to happen….exactly how it’s going to happen.  So this first move will be challenging for us.  We’ll have to give her lots of details, without giving her ones she doesn’t need to know at her age.

As she was worrying about whether or not her bedroom would have a window, I was reminded of Christ in Matthew 6:25-39.  He tells us not to worry because he will take care of us, even more than he does the birds and the flowers.  He’s already in the details.  He sees the big picture, when we only see what’s right in front of us.

Just the same, I can worry about where we are going to be stationed, what our house will look like, if it will have a microwave built in, whether I’ll have a bathtub or just a shower…..Or I can just relax, take it as it comes, and trust that God has it all planned out for us.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:6-7)

How right she is!

If only practice made perfect, then maybe I could have hopes of being a perfect mother one day, but alas, it doesn’t….and I can’t.  Lately, I find myself making mistake after mistake after mistake.  I lose my temper, or get upset about something I shouldn’t, and I end up having to go once again and apologize to my 5 year old for getting too mad, or yelling, or not listening well enough.  It’s humbling.  Even more humbling when she practically interrupts me to quickly say, “it’s ok Mommy, I forgive you!”.

I am finding that the more that I acknowledge that God is growing me in an area, the more I struggle with it.  Also, I and realizing that I tend to be harder on Emily in the areas that I myself need the most work in.

For just one example – she gets upset because she’s not getting her way about something and gets grumpy with me.  DUH, right? She’s a kid!  But when she does this, I get upset with her because she’s upset, instead of just letting her be upset.  I accuse her of being selfish and getting upset just because she doesn’t get her way.  Wait – aren’t *I* upset because I’m not getting MY way? I’m not getting a nice, perfectly obedient child every minute of the day, so I get upset because it’s inconvenient for me to stop and discipline her, or teach her at this very moment.  Now who is being selfish?   I’m expecting her to have adult level behavior for issues that took me years as an adult to learn….and that I’m still learning.  Why are my expectations so high (too high) of her sometimes?

I’ve often heard saying, “When you point a finger at someone, there are 3 more fingers pointing right back at yourself”. Try it, you’ll see.  No really…stop and try it.  Point at something or someone.  See those 3 folded fingers? They are pointing right back at YOU!

I find that SO often when I am saying something to Emily out of frustration or anger, it’s like God was saying them to ME instead.  “You need to get in control.”,   “You need to listen to me”, “You aren’t paying attention to what I’m saying.”,  “Are you thinking of yourself or others?”, “Are you being a blessing to others right now?”.

OUCH.

So, I’ll keep practicing.  Every day for the rest of my life.  I’ll never be perfect, but I do hope to become more and more Christ-like.  In the meantime, I surrender all to Him!

“He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.” ~ Proverbs 21:21

The Bible tells us that unless we become like a child, we will not enter the kingdom of Heaven.

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ~ Matt 18:3

I learn so much from my little girl each day!  God uses her to teach me about His character, and the qualities He wants in each of us.  I find that I do much better when I strive to be more like her, than when I focus on trying to make her more like me.

Yesterday, I talked to Bug about her play kitchen she’s had since she was 2.  She played with it for a couple years and thoroughly enjoyed it!  However, now it just sits in our kitchen taking up space and she never plays with it anymore.  Her interests have taken her elsewhere, and she prefers to help Mommy cook in the real kitchen than to pretend to cook in a pretend kitchen.

So, I gave her some choices. 

1) She could move it outside and see if she played with it outside differently. 
2) She could sell it and use the money to buy something else. 
3) She could give it away.

She chose option #4 – “I want to sell it and give all the money to God because helping other people is more important than toys.”

WOW.

Why is it that my first (sinful) reaction in my mind is “Are you sure?? You don’t want the money for something else? You could tithe on it, but then buy something else, you know. “  Thankfully my brain-to-mouth filter was turned on, and I didn’t say any of that out loud.    Instead, I told her how proud I was of her choice and of her generosity.

Right now, I’m spending my quiet time in Psalm 119.  This morning, I picked up where I left off yesterday and read verses 36-37,

“Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.  Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.”

We don’t need to raise our kids to be grownups who seek to “have it all”.  We need to cherish our children, and look to them as examples of what God wants us to be like.