Practical Ways to Teach Your Kids About Jesus

This was originally my idea for a post on Monday, but after praying about it, I felt like God was leading my into a different direction(obviously.) But, this has been on my mind SO much lately, and I've been working on compiling a mental list of small ways that I can teach my kids about Jesus. Here it is!

*Every night at bedtime, Charlie and I lay in bed and thank God for the things He's given us. We also pray specifically for those who are sick, or hurting.

*Let them see me reading my Bible, or doing my Bible study

*Read to them from a Children's Bible. We have this one.

*A friend gave me the idea to pray over them as their acting up. For example, if Charlie pushes Maddie, I will hold his hands, and ask God to help him to remember to have kind hands.

*Memorizing verses. Charlie is part of Cubbies, so this is pretty easy for me. We just read through his book each week, and memorize the verse that goes with it.

Charlie at Cubbies

*Make a prayer book. This is an idea that I have yet to work on. It's really pretty simple, I just have to put it together! I just plan to take a small photo album, and put pictures of family and friends in it. The kids will each have their own, and it will be a great reminder that we need to be praying for our family!

*Listen to christian music on the radio. I try to be very careful about what we listen to in the car...we pretty much stay away from most secular music, especially now that Charlie is really listening and repeating everything that we say!

*Reminding him that Jesus wants us to be loving and kind, and that it makes God sad when Charlie sins.

*Answering questions that they have. Talking to them about where Jesus lives, and about heaven. It's fun to imagine what heaven will be like!

I hope this is a helpful list, I know that we have a long way to go, but this is a pretty good start!

Thrifty Tuesday

Whoops. I missed this yesterday, sorry about that! You know how it is...life with two kids and all.
Instead of sitting down and writing out this post, I actually made myself some lunch and cleaned up the kitchen...and then of course, as I sat down to eat, Charlie got up early from his nap :)

So anyway, this was a tough week for me. I can feel that we're in the middle of the month, because this is when I usually go downhill and get antsy. Instead of doing my grocery shopping at Aldi, like I've been doing the past couple of weeks, I went to Target. And oh, it was like a breath of fresh air. They have the organic whole chickens that I usually buy, and their produce is fresh. BUT...I spent more. I could feel it as I went through the checkout lane, and saw the total...even with my cartwheel coupons, and target card...it was still more than what I would have spent at Aldi.

Here's the good news though...I still managed to save some money last week! Here's what we did:
*The kids and I stayed home most days. Other than to BSF and Cubbies, we didn't really go anywhere. This saved me from spending more money at a store, AND saved gas money!
*Charlie and I DID go out on a date...but I got water, and no appetizer, even though we were starving! (does that count, at all??)
*We made crafts with things that we already had on hand
*I made all of our meals, except for the night that Charlie and I went out
* Baked with ingredients that we already had on hand
*Skipped going out for lunch on Sunday, even though it was already after naptime, I didn't know what we were going to eat, and we were all, once again, starving!

There really isn't too much from last week, and I'm probably not remembering some things, but there you go!

Things that I'm learning.

As a woman who grew up doing the whole "Church thing", I thought that I knew so much more about the Bible than I actually do. Yesterday, at church, I heard the story of Gideon for the first time. It's a pretty huge story in the Bible, and yet, I didn't know it. Of course...part of that was probably my fault. I was pretty boy crazy/distracted no matter where I went...so more than likely, I had the opportunity to hear and study those stories, but I chose not to.

I consider myself to be a relatively new christian, and am always learning new things when I study the Bible (shocking, right?!). I've been going to BSF for a little over a year, and I know it's not for everyone, but I've gotta tell you...it's made a HUGE impact on my life. Right now, I feel like I need to study the Bible in depth. I need to dig deeper than just reading through, and skimming. My soul needs to learn as much about my Lord as it can. 

Do you know what else I've been learning throughout these past few years? My heart desires to spend time with women who trust and serve the Lord. To spend as much time as I can, soaking up their wisdom, and praying with them. Women who are my age, and especially women who are older than me, and have been through my stage of life. It's so important that I can talk and share and be vulnerable with those that I trust. Who I know will pray for me and with me when I'm walking through trials. 

So, here I stand today, convicted, because do you know what? Deep down, I know that my kids need the same thing. Yes, they're only three and one, but they, too, need to know that someone greater than their mom and dad loves them, more than we EVER could. Someone who send HIS SON to die for THEIR SINS. They need to be with family and friends who will teach them about their Lord and Savior. Not only that, they need me, someone who feels so inadequate, and so small compared to my Father, to teach them about Christ's unfailing love for them. 

The most important thing that I can do for Charlie and Maddie is to pray for them. Every day. Every night when I go to bed, I need to pray for their sweet souls, that they would grow to love Christ at an early age. That they will stand strong in the faith. That when they are called to do something impossible, they can hold on to the promise that their Father in Heaven, has everything planned out, and has gone before them. That they will share their faith with others. For their character traits that can seem so frustrating to me, but that God gave them. That God would help me to be the mom that HE made me to be, and that my kids need me to be.

Thrifty Tuesday

Here we are again!
I'm actually really excited about this past week, I feel like I really remembered that we wanted to save money, and we did!
Here's how we saved last week:
*We only went to the store once. I kept thinking of more things that I wanted to eat, but had to keep reminding myself that we have plenty to eat, in the apartment!
*We didn't go anywhere special. We went to cubbies and to BSF and that was it.
*We kept Charlie in underwear all day, instead of using pull-ups more often
*I bought snow pants and boots for both kids at once upon a child, and only paid about $20 total!
*We didn't eat out, but had leftovers for lunches

That's about all that I can think of...but I feel like by staying home, we really saved this week! Hurray!

How did you save money last week?

Pregnancy snacks

Every time I've been pregnant, I've promised myself that I would try to eat as healthfully as I could. And then...I get sick. I generally feel awful from week 6-17 or so...it's a miserable 11 weeks! Now that I'm feeling better, I'm trying to DO better. 

I'm finding myself constantly starving, which I would guess is pretty common when pregnant with the 3rd baby. I don't have time or energy to make many snacks, and instead finding myself grabbing a boxed granola bar, which really does nothing, but makes me feel worse!

Today, I made up some dried apricots, dipped in dark chocolate.

It might sound kind of strange, but they were SO good and SO addictive! Dried apricots are loaded with iron and vitamin A, and dark chocolate is....delicious.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (or a microwave...but we don't have one!) dip the apricots in them, and refrigerate until the chocolate sets! Believe me, you won't be able to stop eating them! 

Here's a list of other snacks that I'm making/eating this week!

Pregnancy Snacks

*dried apricots dipped in dark chocolate

*pumpkin cream cheese dip with apples

*tomatoes with cottage cheese

*peppermint smoothies

*hummus with veggies

*homemade jr. mints

*fruit

*hard boiled eggs

That's all I've got for now, but I'm sure that the list will grow...as will my belly! :)

Thrifty Tuesday?

Being a stay at home mom, I sometimes find it difficult to feel content with staying at home, EVERY DAY. We do get out on Thursday mornings, and head over to our local BSF Group (If you haven't checked this out...please do! I have learned SO much while actually STUDYING the Bible, instead of just skimming it, and the fellowship with other women is something that my soul needs. More on this in another post.). We do have a zoo pass, and once I'm feeling completely like myself again, we will definitely make it there more...but, that's pretty much it! That leaves 4 days of the week that I have to find something for the kids and me to do. I don't know about you, but I get pretty restless after a day or two!

Usually we end up going to Target to grab one or two things for a new recipe or craft that I've found...and of course we end up buying 5 more things that we don't need, or even have room for! I end up feeling guilty, and frustrated every time I leave the store. 

This brings us to right now. Today, the first Tuesday in November. I made a mental goal to spend as little money as I possibly can this month. BUT - here it is in the open. I'm telling you all, because I want to/need to be held accountable. I'm excited, but nervous! I've done this before, and failed miserably every other time I've tried it. I'm feeling motivated, but cautious. I don't want to fail - again. 

Which again...brings me to TODAY! Each Tuesday this month, I'm going to share any tips that I find on how to save/not spend money. I'll also share what we did during the previous week! So, for the first week in November, here's what's been happening:

*We voted. Totally free outing!

*We haven't eaten out at all yet, and instead I've made up my mind to stick to our menu this week!

*I'm making homemade pizza for supper this week, and sticking one right into the freezer for another night!

*We did our grocery shopping at ALDI

*I'm working on printing coupons for diapers/dish soap. Do you know HOW MUCH you can save when you you coupons? It's kind of crazy.

*Checking out other bloggers who are into the same things as me (saving money, eating real food)

That's my list so far. Check out the links below to see some of my favorite money saving blogs!

http://www.duggarfamilyblog.com/

http://www.thehumbledhomemaker.com

http://www.myhumblekitchen.com

http://www.moneysavingmom.com