All About Reading Giveaway!

Just a very quick post to share some news. This Reading Mama is giving away one level of choice of the All About Reading on her blog! You all must check this out!! Here's the link http://thisreadingmama.com/reading-giveaway/

The blahs....

Ok, so the last post I wrote was on having a more disciplined life and accomplishing goals. I have gotten better about that, at least more consistent. My husband and I start our Bible study in two weeks, hopefully we will have a great group! I have high hopes:)

I wish I was better at blogging, but I guess it's just going to have to be my sporadic thoughts.

Here lately I have been down on myself about my role as a mom. I fell like I won't ever get it right. So tired, so idk...not the way I want to be. I got to thinking, what isn't right? I want to have fun with my boys, I want to teach them, laugh with them, do things with them, go places, serve with them, I guess I want it all.

The problem is I do all of that. So, why do I fell down? What isn't right? I have been praying about it and I think I have come to a conclusion. I have an unrealistic view of parenting. There I said it. I believe it. I own it.

When we lost Todd, I prayed with everything in me that God would bless us with another son. (I'm so glad He decided to bless us with three more!) When I had my next son I began to plan all the wonderful moments we would have. The times we would spend together, the things we would learn and places we would go. Not that any of this is unusual or wrong, but that's all I thought of. I was surprised when I actually had loads and loads of laundry and lack of sleep and the list goes on and on. I didn't know how to handle it. I felt like it shouldn't matter to me, that I should be grateful that God blessed us with more children, and boys at that! What more could I want? I should be doing all of this with a grateful heart and a smile on my face.

Well part of that is true. But, what God has been showing me is it's not just the "good" parts of my sons lives that I should celebrate. It's all the mundane parts too. The loud, the messy, the obnoxious, the smelly, the embarrassing, all the plain old in between times. It's a crazy thought to celebrate all of this, but I'm not talking balloons here, I'm talking from the heart. Being a mom is hard, even with the support of a wonderful husband! But, that's not all it's about. It's a calling, a reward, a role like none other. I pray God continues to work on my heart and help me to celebrate all the ups and downs and in between times of being a mom of boys!

A more discipline life

I was sorting through some papers the other day and found our goal sheets that each of us made at the beginning of the year. They were simple list of things, limited to four things, we wanted to do this year. The boys had things like go to the zoo, learn all of the letters:), things like that. Mine said 1. Go to Atlanta 2. Start a couples Bible study. 3. Write a children's devotion 4. Manage a financial budget. Well the year is almost gone and even though I've helped my boys complete their tasks.....I only completed one of mine. We went on vacation to Atlanta this year. So much fun! The boys really enjoyed the aquarium. Anyway, the point is I am really bad about having goals, starting them head on and than never finishing them. When I started reading this book I began to fell empowered again. Than overwhelmed. Than mad at myself for having so many things I can think of that need to be completed.

Well, than I decided no matter how long my list is if I do one thing at a time consistently.....I WILL finish what I started! Crystal Paine gives so much helpful advice and adds Bible verses all through the book. Plus, there is an added bonus! Wonderful other women to help hold me accountable and share with each other. So, if you have a project that has been nagging at you for a long time (or several like me) join us at 21 Day of Self Discipline Challenge!

Today is Day 1. Like I said before there are a lot of things I would like to complete. The things on the above list, exercise, house projects......but what I thought a good place to begin would be with the above list. Who knows maybe I'll even finish it before the year is over!

So, here I go! Today I decided my Major project will be to start a couples Bible study. I'm sort of cheating on this considering my husband is helping me. This will be a joint effort:) We have divided up the project in 21 small goals for each day and at the end we will be starting our study with a group of people! So excited!! Also, part of the assignment for today was to complete a tiny project. I cleaned out my mail:) My husband was happy to see a clean box, with no junk mail!

It's feels so good to be working towards something and actually see the light at the end of the tunnel!

31 Days and the special day

Well, I think it's obvious that blogging every day is not for me. Let alone blogging about one subject for 31 days. You live and learn!

Speaking of living and learning.....

Eleven years ago today our firstborn son was born. The term for his birth is stillborn. I have never understood this term. I know it simply means born without life. The thing is, Todd, our son, has touched so many lives it's hard to think of him as stillborn. He was far from still. God used that little life to touch us in way that I would not have chosen, but will be forever blessed by.

Have you ever thrown a pebble into a lake? Todd's life quickly disappeared, but he certainly has impacted our life forever. I pray that God will use me to impact lives like that.

31 Days of Technology in the Home

Day 7 and 8....Shopping and Planning.

Who doesn't like shopping?! Well, I guess there are some people out there who are not fond of this pastime. But, how about you relieve some of that stress by shopping online?

With birthdays and Christmas coming up I've been pretty busy shopping. I purchased an Ipod case for my oldest son's birthday on ebay. I also got a Minecraft skin to go with it! Found that on Etsy. I was so excited when I purchased my first Christmas gift. I chose two of the Scentsy Buddies for my youngest and my niece. They are adorable stuffed animals, complete with scent pak!  I plan on doing some shopping there later also;) My boys also enjoyed getting into the action by circling all the books they wanted in my Usborne catalog. Here's the website to my business, Story Snacks. I could spend all day looking at these wonderful books! I plan on doing some shopping on ThinkGeek and another website I just recently found is EverBuying. Everbuying has tons of things at a great price! Lots of great items for stocking stuffers too!

So, what about you? I would love to hear what your favorite sites are for shopping!

What about planning? Any homeschoolers out there use a specific planner? I am using My Well Planned Day. Absolutely love this!! It has everything you would need to plan your day. From menus to lesson plans, you just plan and add it to your calendar. They will also have an app out soon!! How awesome is that?

Well, now it's your turn. Shop online? Plan online? Share away:)

Day 6: Keeping in touch

There are many ways to use technology to help people keep in touch with their loved ones. It has been so neat to be able to see my kiddos and talk with them when I happen to be miles away! I was on a mission trip  in Guatemala and was able to Skype my family:) Don't get me wrong, I still love receiving letters in the mail and encourage my boys to write, but there is just something extra special in being able to see your loved one's face. Not to mention, it takes a letter longer to get to a person than clicking on a few keys to light up a screen. The weekend is a great time to test this one out! So, grab your computer and start Skyping! Other options are FaceTime, Google Talk, and many more! Have a great weekend with your family:)

My precious family:

Day 5: Taming the Tech Monster

I know this is suppose to be 31 Days on Technology in the Home, but what's the old saying, 'to much of a good thing is a bad thing?' Seriously though, we try to limit the time our boys, and yes ourselves, spend on the electronics. I don't know about you, but I love my little munchkins. I want to spend time with them, quality and quantity! Not to mention, I want them to have healthy habits. I desire for them to have strong relationships, to spend more time with people rather than the t.v.

Stepping off soap box now. There are ways, fun ways, to help tame that Tech Monster. One thing that we do is celebrate Screen Free week.  This is April 30th through May 6th. We put a sign on the t.v., computer, etc. that said SCREEN FREE WEEK! We played games, went outside, did crafts and pretty much did just a lot of fun things together.

We also have a special currency in our home. Emoney! I keep track of all the chores done, good attitudes displayed, extra chores completed, loving attitudes showed toward siblings...you get the picture. Than at the end of the day, Emoney is rewarded to each child according to the "bucks" earned that day. They have the choice to use all of their Emoney in one day (within an already allotted time) or saving it for another day. This has worked well for us and has helped us keep their time under wraps. The one thing that proved to be a problem was keeping track of all of it. So, I found this solution:

Media Minutes Free printable! I love the way this lady keeps the Tech Monster under control in her house! And for all you free printable loving people out there, here's another one. Screentime Chart

What about you? Do you have any helpful hints for taming the Tech Monster? I would love to hear some ideas on this!