Childlike Awe

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. (Luke 2:11 NIV)

Does your child get all giddy about the lights on the houses? How about when he or she sees the manger scene? Katie gets so excited about all of it. Gasps can be heard from the back seat as we drive around town after dark. When we drive by the Catholic Church near us, she gets all excited to see baby Jesus all lit up. I don't always share in her excitement. 

Then I read in my advent devotional:

"Kids love Christmas because they figure they are going to get something they like...Think for just a minute of what Jesus came to give you--forgiveness for your sins, love to drown out the hate, the supreme honor of being called a child of God, and immortality to lift you out of your grave." (timeofgrace.org)

What a great reminder. Childlike awe is not just for the children. Honestly, when someone has a really good light display, I enjoy it too. Even more so, baby Jesus should excite us all. He gave us such a wonderful gift when He came to earth. Started off as a baby, became our savior in His death & resurrection. I am getting excited to celebrate His birthday!

Thanksgiving 2014

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

Teaching an attitude of gratitude is an on going task. Here is one activity we did.

We made a Thankfulness Turkey. Each of us (yes, even Josiah) made a list of things we are thankful for. You would think coming up with 8-10 thing should be too hard easy. I guess it all depends on how detailed you want to be. Katie was so cute coming up with her list. Dusty, the airplane, of course made the cut. She is slightly obsessed. 

Josiah Daniel

Welcome to the family!

I'm a little late in posting this (oh life with two children is just so BUSY!)

We all love the newest addition to our family!!! He truly completes us. 

Ready for the hospital

All our bags are packed. We're ready to go...wait that sounds like a song.

Seriously though, now that I've finished baby boy's layette, I'm ready! Since nothing has happened yet, I made these Pinterest inspired Thank You gifts for our nurses. I was thinking about doing it, but wasn't sure I'd have time. Nurses are under appreciated, so I'm hoping these little gifts let them know how much we appreciate their help with our new little one.

Included inside these jungle themed cellophane bags is candy (Lifesavers, Twix, Snickers & gum), lip balm and hand lotion. Found all these for a great price at Special Thoughts. I love that store! Made each bag for under $4 each!

Layette for Baby Boy

I've been nesting for a few weeks now. Nesting, ya know, getting ready for baby boy to arrive. I've been going through Katie's baby things and selling clothes, getting baby toys ready, and making room in Katie's drawers for baby's clothes.  (more on that in a other post)

Part of my nesting also included making this cute coordinating layette.  Katie even has a matching hat. These are in my hospital bag, I can't wait to meet our little man and get him in these cute clothes! I just had to share the finished product. I am currently working on another hat, because this beanie looks a little big, but who knows. Only 5 more days until my due date...tick tock

Discipline

Warning: hot topic ahead

Have you ever said or thought, "I don't know why my child asks this way." Well, as parents, who else is the blame on but us. Having a toddler makes this topic all the more prevalent to me. Now is the time to shape my daughter's behavior & attitude. Now is the time to tune her heart to the Lord's and show her what it means to live out Christ's love.

Here is an excerpt from my devotional:

Discipline begins with a parent’s willingness to spend time and energy to shape attitudes and behaviors. Love sets boundaries so that a child knows what is good and bad, what he or she is free to do and not free to do. Discipline involves punishment, because sometimes people learn best through pain. It isn’t simply punishment though; it is a process in which you help to shape a person’s attitudes and values and behavior to reflect God’s ways. 

Verse:

Correct your son, and he will give you comfort; He will also delight your soul. (Proverbs 29:17 NASB)

or

Correct your children whenever they are wrong. Then you will always be proud of them. They will never make you ashamed. (Proverbs 29:17 ERV)

Discipline is not wrong. There are many ways to go about it (not going to get into that), but it needs to happen. Discipline needs to be consistent. Correcting your child's behavior or attitude is as much to your benefit as it is to theirs. (See the verse above)

Loving your child means correcting them.  If you want to have the next generation be loving, kind, "good citizens", then be sure to raise your children as such. Correct them (discipline, when necessary) when they are treating someone poorly or having a bad attitude. That shows them just as much love as when you give them the hugs & kisses they deserve as well.

Driveway Education

It's been some time since my last post. Sorry about that. I needed a little break. Now I'm back with a great idea for preschool even early education parents & teachers.

What 2 year old doesn't love sidewalk chalk? Ok, well, Katie doesn't always LOVE sidewalk chalk. Sometimes I end up doing more of the drawing than she does. On one such occasion, I decided to make my drawings a bit of an educational time. Katie thought it was just a game, perfect!

Let me describe our "game": I drew shapes and letters Katie knew on the driveway as you can see. She was excited to name each thing as I drew it. Once I felt we had enough shapes and letters on the driveway, I would tell Katie to stand on the square or the K, etc. Surprisingly, this "game" lasted a long time, as in more than 2 minutes.  My plan is to add letters, shapes, and numbers as Katie learns them. Maybe add a new letter or shape for her to learn as we play our game.

Any other great ideas like this for some driveway education?