Category Archives: Parenting

30 Acts of Thanksgiving (Day 6)

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Day 6: Our Wednesday Night Club Teachers

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Every Wednesday night women volunteer for our Mpact Girls Club. The Girls Ministries is about intentional outreach and Christian discipleship for girls. They teach girls biblical truths that will help them learn to make God-pleasing decisions. Most of these women go straight to church from working all day. These volunteers don’t get paid but do it because they see the big picture of investing in our youth.

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Tonight we gave the girls’ teachers individual roses and thanked them for their commitment and dedication to the children’s program.

Thanks again ladies for all you do!

30 Acts of Thanksgiving (Day 5)

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20131105-110223.jpgDay 5: Our Christian Radio Station z88.3

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

In a world that displays so many negative messages about life on tv, billboards and the radio…where can you find noble things to think on? Here in Central Florida, we have a Christian radio station, Z88.3! I can play this station at any time and know it’s safe for my children. When running our errands around Orlando, I tune in and songs of praise come from the back seats.

To show our thanks to a radio station that plays encouraging, uplifting, and inspiring music 24/7, we donated to the Z’s Fall Fundraiser. Alayna and Victoria each gave $5 dollars and I matched it times two…which equals a total of $30 dollars for this month…$30 dollars representing our 30 Acts of Thanksgiving!

Thank you z88.3 for making a difference in so many lives. We pray God continues to bless this station and uses it to encourage others around Central Florida as you have encouraged us!

If you are a Z listener and would like to donate, click here. 

“Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;” ~Ephesians 5:19

30 Acts of Thanksgiving (Day 4)

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Day 4: We are thankful for the Military Men and Women that serve our country! We talked about the sacrifice these individuals make and the blessing they are to our country.

To show our thanks each of the girls made three to four Christmas cards to send overseas to the troops. On the back of every card, the girls wrote this scripture, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalms 46:1

Tonight we will say an extra prayer for these men and women that lay down their lives for our freedom. God Bless our Troops and God Bless America!

Want to send a thank you card to our military troops, click here. 

30 Acts of Thanksgiving (Day3)

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IMG_4605Today we are thankful for Daddy! We decided to make one of his favorite dishes, Chicken Marsala and for dessert Tres Leche! Each of the girls also made a card describing why they are so thankful for their Dad!

IMG_4607Chicken Marsala Recipe:
Ingreditents
1/4 cup all-purpose flour for coating
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – pounded 1/4 inch thick or cut for desired thickness
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp olive oil
1 cup sliced mushrooms (if desired)
1/2 cup Marsala wine
1/4 cup Cream of Sherry wine
*add some heavy whipping cream for thickness

Directions

  1. In a shallow bowl, mix together the flour, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano. Coat chicken pieces in flour mixture.
  2. In a large skillet, melt butter in oil over medium heat. Place chicken in the pan, and lightly brown. Turn over chicken pieces, and add mushrooms (if desired). Cook until lightly brown then pour in Marsala and Sherry wine. Cover skillet; simmer chicken 10 minutes, turning once, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

30 Acts of Thanksgiving

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photo (3)What does it mean to be thankful? My favorite definition comes from a free online dictionary…thankful is to be aware and appreciative of a benefit, expressive of gratitude.

As Thanksgiving Day approaches I think on how I could teach our kids to be thankful. In years past, we made a thankful bucket. Last year we made a thankful chain. Each day we wrote down something we were thankful for. This year I want our kids to dig a little deeper…to go beyond just writing down what they are thankful for.

For each day in November we are going to express our thankfulness in a tangible way.

Below are some tangible examples of thanksgiving:
1. I’m thankful for food.
-give food to a food bank

2. I’m thankful for my house.
-go volunteer at a homeless shelter

3. I’m thankful for my sister.
-make a craft for your sister
-give her a card telling her why you are thankful for her

4. I’m thankful for our car.
-help vacuum or wash the car

5. I’m thankful for our neighbor.
-bake your neighbor some cookies or invite them over for dinner

I’ll be updating this list as we go through each day in November, so stop by again to see creative ways the kids came up with to show their thanks.

November 1st
Alayna: My Mom! She sat back and thought how she could show her thankfulness…then she leaned forward and gave me a big hug and a nice kiss on the cheek. (Yes, my heart melted! There was no greater way for her to show me that she was thankful for me like that hug and kiss!)
Victoria: Josiah…she also chose to give a kiss to show how thankful she is for him.
Kayla: My Sisters! Kayla has decided to let her sisters pick the games they want to play and she will do whatever they want to do for the day, to show how thankful she is for them.
November 2nd: Friends…we made homemade cookies for them.
November 3rd: Daddy…we made Chicken Marsala and special cards expressing how thankful we are for him.
November 4th: Made Christmas thank you cards for our military men and women.
November 5th: Donated to our local christian radio station.
November 6th:
November 7th:
November 8th:
November 9th:
November 10th:
November 11th:
November 12th:
November 13th:
November 14th:
November 15th:
November 16th:
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November 18th:
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November 20th:
November 21st:
November 22nd:
November 23rd:
November 24th:
November 25th:
November 26th:
November 27th:
November 28th:
November 29th:
November 30th:

In Their Own Time

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Ruby in Her Own Time

We had the book, Ruby in Her Own Time by Jonathan Emmett, passed down to us a couple of months ago. The previous owner told us it was one of her favorite books and we quickly learned why.

Do you have a late bloomer, one that takes longer than the others to understand things, one that drums to her own beat? Then you might just have a Ruby. In the story, Ruby is the last to hatch of her brothers and sisters. She also ends up taking longer than her siblings to eat and swim, but she eventually does everything her siblings do in her own time.

This book has been added to our top 10 books for young readers and I also recommend it for Mom’s out there wondering if she/he will ever get it? Don’t lose hope, they will, in their own time!

Reassuring Your Little One

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kissinghandlargeOur daughter, Kayla, is starting VPK today! She has a special bond with her sisters and has never enjoyed being separated from them. With this in mind, I wanted to ease her fears as much as possible so, I asked my husband to make a special stop yesterday after church. We needed just the right book for the occasion. The sun had gone down, the moon was shining bright and everyone was in their pjs, cuddled up together, ready for a bed time story. This night I was reading, The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. It’s a beautiful story that will reassure your little one that your love is with them always! I definitely recommend this book to anyone that has a toddler or young child going to school for the first time. We finished that night praying over Kayla and her first day of school.

Kayla in her Pre-K class…No tears, no frowny faces, all smiles. Thank you God for easing her fears.

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Tuesdays (Homeschooling) Tip

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For today’s homeschooling tip I’m going to keep it simple…Don’t compare! It’s easy to compare, we all do it. Women compare their bodies, men compare their cars, kids compare their toys, dogs compare their bones with other dogs, etc.

By comparing we can add unnecessary pressure (stress) to ourselves and our children. Kids learn at different rates. This is something I had to learn and something I have to remind myself of sometimes.  It’s okay if our children don’t learn to read until their  nine. So what, who cares, as long as they learn. Learning is not a race. We should strive on creating a joy for learning and developing secure confident children.

Don’t fall into the trap of comparing, no one wins in that scenario.

Just Go to Bed!

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I have often heard moms say they can’t wait for their kids to go to bed…I have never understood what they meant by this. I don’t just love my kids, I enjoy them…I like to be with them 24/7 and more…they are my pride and joy. Then it happened! Last night I had a revelation…the kids must go to bed, early!

Josiah had been diagnosed with a virus on Tuesday that showed up in his throat with blistering red ulcers and 103.7 fever. On top of it, his molars are coming in, so he was extremely fussy and if that’s not enough, he wants to nurse 3 times a night again! Then Thursday morning Kayla looked like she had pink eye, come to find out she’s positive for strep. Are you kidding me?! All three of the girls just had viral gastroenteritis three weeks ago…can’t my kids just be healthy?

This Mama was tired and weary and these babies needed to go to bed. Better yet, I needed to go to bed early! That’s actually the best thing we can do after praying. When we push and push ourselves daily we can run out of fuel, out of patience, out of mercy.

Friday morning I woke up with my batteries recharged and ready to take care of my sick babies.

Thank you God for your strength daily, thank you for giving me wisdom yesterday to know when to say enough. Your presence gives me comfort and assurance that I’m not alone. I pray you will continue to give me wisdom as I raise women and men of God. Amen

And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest a while.” For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. Mark 6:31

Nate’s Pancakes

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Nate the Great

Reading has been a little bit of a struggle for my oldest daughter. The struggle was not her, but the books we were picking. After searching and searching, I found a detective book, Nate The Great by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat. She’s a little detective herself, so she could relate to Nate. After finishing the book we noticed Nate’s Pancake Recipe in the back…it’s perfect for a hungry detective and there’s also leftovers for her sisters 🙂

A good book with a hands on activity equals the love of learning and a yummy breakfast!

Yummy

Now eat and think deep thoughts 😉