15 November 2009
Love a Child
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I was thinking today about how easy it is to make sure your children feel loved, and then I was thinking about how many children don't feel loved even though it is easy to show them. A day doesn't go by that I don't tell my children that I love them. No matter what your child's love language is, I firmly believe that children need to be told they are loved every single day, and so I continue this quest to tell my children as often as possible that I love them. I don't tell you this to boast because I don't think that it's boast-worthy. It simply is part of the parental code. If you have a child in your life, tell them you love them. It's that simple. On the topic of love languages, it took me until Lukas was 6 to get a firm handle on what his primary love language might be. Oh, I know there are naysayers out there who disregard this topic altogether, but I have found great value in the concept of love languages. I believe that we all feel love in our own way. Lukas needs our time. He needs us to spend time doing things with him, anything at all. This is easy for me because I spend so much time teaching school with him and planning projects and crafts. I cook with both kids, plan field trips, read to them, etc... We're always spending quality time together. It's a little more challenging for Eric since Lukas seems to think that Daddy is one big playmate. He needs Daddy to play with him. Basketball, soccer, a trip to the park, wrestling on the living room floor, Wii, board games, whatever...He wants Daddy's playtime, and Eric loves to spend this kind of time with him. Today, they're hanging Christmas lights together, a tradition to which Lukas looks forward each year and a simple way for Eric to show him love. Ava's love language was a little more obvious to me. Since she was a baby, she has been a snuggler. If she is within reach, she must be touching you. She still loves to caress our faces, arms, and hands whenever she is trying to show love to us. She still wants to be carried when we go places because it brings her closer to us. She likes to sneak into our bedroom in the middle of the night so that she can cuddle between us. Physical touch is extremely important for her, and it's easy for us to accommodate her. I love to snuggle with my girl! We make sure we meet these needs for our children in addition to telling them that we love them. Isn't that what a parent should do? I think so. How hard is it to say, "I love you" once or twice a day? It makes my heart hurt to think about all the children who have never heard those words, who have never felt that kind of love at all. Children, not just my own, mean the world to me. You may have guessed this. If there is a way to show love to a child, I want to be a part of it. Obviously, this is not always a tangible possibility, but sometimes, there are ways to help give a child joy. One of my absolute favorite projects that I look forward to year after year is Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan's Purse. You may have heard of it. If not, go to their website and check it out. It's easy to participate. You simply pack a shoebox with small toys, school supplies, toiletries or any number of suggested items from their website, take the filled box to a designated drop-off site, and then Samaritan's Purse will take the boxes and ship them to a child in another country who would not receive any Christmas gift otherwise. I love this project. We usually do two boxes, one for a boy and one for a girl, although, this year, I am afraid we will not be able to fill even one box for the first time in a decade of enjoying this project. Because of this, I have decided to share this on my blog to encourage you to do it if you are able. It is an incredible project to do with your family. My kids always love to shop for the items to send in the box. This is not only a meaningful project for the child who receives your box, but it can be an excellent learning tool to teach your own children compassion, appreciation for what they have and so many more valuable life lessons. If you take the time to fill a shoebox, please let me know. I would love to hear about it. You can find drop-off sites on the Samaritan's Purse website. National collection week is this week, November 16th-23rd. If you live in the Columbus area, Grove City Church of the Nazarene is a drop-off site. Also...if this concept of love languages is new to you, check out Gary Chapman's books, The Five Love Languages or The Five Love Languages of Children. You can also find more information on his website, http://www.fivelovelanguages.com/. |
9 November 2009
The Simple Woman's Daybook #17
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For Today, 9 November 2009 Outside my window...is another warm, autumn day which allows the children to jump into piles of leaves and to create leaf houses just like I did when I was a little girl. I am thinking... that I run into trouble when I try to think too far ahead. One step at a time, one moment at a time is all I can handle sometimes. I am thankful for... gas in my car and food on my table. I am wearing... jammies. I have had an "I haven't taken the time to get a shower yet" kind of day. I am remembering... so much. Too much to list here. I am creating... plans to make Thanksgiving crafts. I am going... to stop thinking for other people. Sometimes, people just need to figure it out themselves. I am reading... Ginger Pye. I am hoping... that ducks are in a row without me having to put them there. On my mind... the stress of not knowing. From the learning rooms... cursive writing is going very well for Lukas, which is much changed from a month ago. Ava is reading and doing Explode the Code mostly on her own! Noticing that... if you do too much for someone, they will always expect you to do too much for them. Pondering these words... God chooses people to be heroes because they were faithful in the small things. From the kitchen... freshly baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies will be baking later today for tomorrow's co-op pizza potluck(i.e. they're ordering pizza, and we're supposed to bring desserts/drinks/chips). Can you smell them? ;) Fresh baked honey wheat bread will also be baking in the bread machine. Love the smell of baking bread! Around the house... yard work is getting accomplished. Leaves are raked and will be bagged or mulched or composted in the garden. Herbs are picked and drying in the kitchen. I'm sorting things in the house to sell on ebay and Craig's list. Much is being accomplished! One of my favorite things... going to our church. Grove City Church of the Nazarene is the perfect fit for our family. I am so happy to be serving and growing together with such an incredible family of believers. A few plans for the rest of the week... I'm going to scrapbook Friday night with the ladies at Crosslink Community Church! I can't wait!!! For more Simple Woman's Daybook information and to join us, see the blog created by the initiator of this great idea! http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/ |
7 November 2009
A Happy Saturday
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Today was a happy Saturday. We started our day earlier than most Saturdays and headed to church for Bible quizzing. Lukas is a "quizzer" this year. The Nazarene quizzing program is phenomenal. We are amazed at how much he is learning on their quest through the books of Joshua, Judges and Ruth this year. They're still studying Joshua at this point, and I am pretty sure he knows more than I do about that particular book of the Bible, though I have learned quite a bit through helping him to prepare for the quiz meet. I am the most proud of him for memorizing all 10 Bible verse/passages that he had to know for this event. He knew them all, hands-down! If I said the verse, he could tell me the reference. If I said the reference, he could tell me the verse. 10 Bible passages that he's learned over a little over 2 months was pretty good work in my opinion, especially considering that I have him learning different verses for school (I am considering changing that, but why fix something that isn't broken?)! I love the way this program is designed. It is obvious that this program is well established in the Nazarene church. Since we are relatively new to attending a Nazarene church, we were unfamiliar with their quizzing program until now. Lukas uses it as his morning devotions. He works through a little each day. I don't even have to remind him. He is enjoying it that much! They also use some great multi-media tools to help the kids learn and study during their weekly time together. Lukas comes home singing the Bible verses. As I mentioned in my last blog, he was singing them Elvis style last night. At any rate, I believe I have taken a tangent from my original purpose of writing, but now you know a little about the Nazarene quizzing program for kids. If you get a chance to try it with your child, I don't think you'll be disappointed! After we were done with quizzing for the day, we came home on this lovely fall day with several ideas of what we could get done. There's always something that needs to be accomplished. Unfortunately, I did not accomplish much. I can admit it. I chatted with a dear friend on Facebook, and that was worth my time. I cut the rest of the sage from my herb garden, tied it into bunches and hung it to dry in the kitchen(technically, Eric hung it for me because I couldn't reach). I started planning the rest of this month's school work. That's it. That's all I accomplished. It was a relaxed Saturday afternoon, the kind of afternoon that comes our way not nearly often enough. Eric and the kids were a little more productive. They raked the leaves. The kids and the neighbor kids were all buried in the leaves at one point, jumping into the pile and over the pile. With two maples in our back yard and two more hanging over our yard from the neighbor's back yard, there were plenty of leaves to rake into a giant pile. Eric was also buried in the leaves. He's such a cool dad that way. Some years, I get into the leaves too, but I didn't dare with the way my allergies have been lately. It turns out that I might as well have taken the plunge. Just being outdoors taking pictures of them playing while leaf dust floated in the air and picking the sage bundles has left me with a massive allergy headache. I am not complaining though because it was worth the time outdoors on this lovely autumn day! Since it was so beautiful, Eric made dinner on the grill, which was a treat since I didn't have to cook. BBQ ribs, baked potatoes (on the grill, so they were technically grilled potatoes) and peas. I bought one of those steamer bags of veggies that goes into the microwave. I didn't even realize I had bought it until Eric asked if that was okay to use for dinner (when he is cooking, I am pretty lenient. Whatever he wants to cook is fine with me!). It worked pretty well and made for simple cooking for Eric! Can you imagine a better way to spend your Saturday? Maybe this isn't your ideal, but it was a great day for us. Of course, I have all kinds of favorite ways to spend a Saturday. This is just one of them. The only downside is that I still have quite a lengthy to-do list. I did one load of laundry instead of 5 as I had planned, and school is not planned for the rest of the month. I'll get to it. It'll all get done. Monday is just around the corner. :) |
6 November 2009
They Said Something Else
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My children have been on a roll this evening saying things that simply make us laugh. Tonight during devotions, we had a discussion about the husband being the leader of the family in the Biblical model of the family. The kids seemed to understand this. I misunderstood at one point thinking that Eric had misspoken and said "leave" instead of "lead." Lukas thought it was quite hilarious that I misunderstood and said, "The husband leads the family and he leaves the family to go make money for us." Yep. That's pretty much how it works around here. I thought it was pretty funny. The good news is that he always comes back. After this, Ava had to get in on the action by innocently explaining what she expected her future husband to do to properly lead her family. She was sitting on Eric's lap, and she looked up at him and said, "Dad, you know what I want my husband to do to be a leader for me? To be a leader for me, he needs to cook, unless he is sick, then I will cook for him." If that is the definition of godly leadership, then Eric better get on the ball because he is so NOT the one doing the majority of the cooking around here. I couldn't help but smile at that comment. This of course led to Ava's big confession about who her husband would be and more info than we wanted to know. "Dad, I'm in love with Austin! I kisseded him on the cheek before. I'm gonna marry him!"(note, "kisseded" is exactly how she said it). Please rest assured that we do not encourage her to kiss boys other than her brother, and, at some point, we will discuss proper courtship. I think we're safe for a couple more years with her. She's 5. We're safe, right? Please don't tell me if we're not. There are some things that I simply don't need or want to know. At the end of our family devotional time, we always pray together. Ava prays first, then Lukas prays and then Eric leads us in a family prayer time. Tonight, when it was Lukas' turn, he prayed, "Thank you, God, that dinner was good even though I don't usually like it." How lovely is that? He truly meant it with kindness, and I took it that way. It made me giggle. It's true. He doesn't usually like it when I make stir-fry. He picks the meat from the veggies and eats the rice. Tonight, I made beef stir-fry with strips of meat, mushrooms, onion, red pepper, ginger, garlic, dry mustard, and??? That's right. I neglected to add an ingredient, the ingredient that pulls it all together in my book. Soy sauce. How in the world did I get distracted enough to leave out a main ingredient? Lukas, apparently, does not like soy sauce. I took one bite of my meal and realized that I had forgotten it and added it to my plate. It tasted the same as if it had been cooked into the mixture. Next time, I guess I'll purposefully leave out the soy sauce because it obviously makes it taste a little bit more acceptable to Lukas' pallet. Earlier this evening, Lukas was making me laugh as well. He loves to be the center of attention. This can be good, and this can be not so good. We're working on helping him figure out when it is appropriate. For instance, pulling your pants to your chest and acting like a "hillbilly" during a brief lecture from Daddy is probably not the most appropriate, but singing Bible verses from memory while holding a homemade microphone and doing an Elvis impersonation? Yep. That's okay. Oh, I guess someone out there might think it was fairly poor judgment, but it pretty much made this mama laugh. He knows those Bible verses.I really don't care if he sings them to me like Elvis. He's going to do a great job at tomorrow's Bible quiz meet, and if he managed to figure out a way to make today's quizzing review marathon a little more fun, then so be it! He's a trip. I love that boy. I love my girl too. They both entertain us. I am extremely blessed to be their mama. Everyday brings something new and exciting with them around. I am thankful that God chose these two children for us to raise. They bring us joy each and every day. |
5 November 2009
Pate Chinois
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We're studying world geography this year. I decided that we should have a meal from each country that we study. Cooking with the kids is a blast for me, and it is highly educational for them. Ava gets to practice kitchen safety, and Lukas gets to practice his math skills by measuring. Plus, they both love it! This week, we made a Canadian meal. I found interesting things on the internet when I was googling for traditional Canadian recipes. For instance, did you know that seal fin is quite the big deal on the east coast of Canada? I also found a couple recipes for muskrat. Since seal fin is not readily available in central Ohio and muskrat is anything but appealing, we opted for an inexpensive French-Canadian dish similar to shepherd's pie called pate chinois. It's so simple and seems to be so similar to traditional American cuisine, that you won't believe that it's actually a traditional French-Canadian recipe. I found several recipes for this, and I decided to use the one that seemed to be the friendliest for my kids (well, Lukas, mostly, since he's the picky one). Here it is for your enjoyment: PATE CHINOIS 1 pound ground beef, lamb or pork (we used beef) 1/2 medium onion 1/2 cup green pepper 1.5 cups frozen corn or 1 can whole kernal corn 1 can creamed corn 6-8 servings mashed potatoes (I guessed at this and think we actually had more than this) 1.5 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded Brown ground meat, onion and pepper. Salt and pepper to taste. Drain any fat from meat, and spread meat into bottom of 9x13 casserole dish. Pour whole kernel corn over meat (if using a can, drain water first). Pour creamed corn over the whole kernel corn. Layer the mashed potatoes over this. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Sprinkle the top with cheese and bake for 10 minutes longer. Note: If your potatoes are not freshly made (ours were cold), you will need to bake this longer. Ours baked for almost an hour because the potatoes were refrigerated. Also, I left the green peppers out because neither of my kids eat them. Normally, I would put them in anyway, but I knew it was going to be a battle to get Lukas to eat this meal. He doesn't do casseroles very well. Let me know if you make this! It's delicious, and it makes a lot! It's a great meal to stretch your grocery buck too! |