I don’t know about you but ’round here…summer is synonymous with
“I’m huuuuuuuuuungry”
or
“Can we have a snaaaaaaaack?”
I had to think of something…..fast…..before insanity overthrew sanity.
I made a schedule. I have discovered I like schedules. No, they aren’t for everyone (Hubby is not a schedule-y person. He will learn to love it….9 years and counting but I am sure….soooooon….he’s gonna love them ;)) but try it….you may like it.
I made a snack option for 10am and 2 pm. They can switch them if they want.
My snack suggestions are:
Grapes and cheese
Pretzels with or without a fruit
Frozen yogurt (get greek yogurt tubes and freeze)
Peppers and hummus
Hummus and pretzels
Carrots and hummus
Celery and PB
Fruit leather or fruit rope
Apples and PB
Popcorn (love love love the Nearly Naked brand…it’s just coconut oil and sea salt!)
I got colored baggies (Walmart) and bagged everything up for 2 weeks and put them in baskets in the pantry or a drawer in the fridge.
I love the Rubbermaid Lunch Boxes that you can click together and keep “dippies” separate.
I always keep carrots, clementines, bananas and apples around so they can grab one in between if they are staaaaaaaarving 😉
Couple things I have learned already:
1. My kids are, in fact, not hungry nearly as often as they say they are….
2. When it isn’t a free for all….turns out…they don’t really want to eat….
3. Snacks should give you healthy energy to tide you over until the next meal
4. Treats, on the other hand, can be used as…well….treats…
5. and just. like. that. they don’t bug me for snacks anymore….
6. This totally helps me control portions and stay on my grocery budget!!
My kids devour them and Mike always says “you should put this on the menu every week. I could never get sick of this!”
The thing that I love most is that it literally takes 10 min. but also….once you buy the soy sauce and the rice vinegar and sesame oil…you can make this about 3 times before you have to buy it again!
Get a sirloin steak. But if that is not in your budget…this is faaaaaaaaantastic just noodles alone! Ha…if steak is not in your budget…who am I talking to? Steak is not in mine 🙂 anywhooooooo…..
Grill the steak on high (5 min. both sides…ish)
While that is doing its thang….
Boil some water and cook 12oz. of angel hair pasta or rice noodles (for a more authentic and gluten-free option)
Get a dish and mix the following:
1/2 cup soy sauce (gluten free soy sold in many natural grocers)
2 tablespoons sugar
4 garlic cloves minced. I scoop that right out of my Costco jar 🙂
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar (with Asian foods at the store)
3 Tablespoons sesame oil (with the Asian foods)
4 Tablespoons oil (I use rice bran because I love it. You can use vegetable, canola, etc. something light)
________________________________
Slice your steak against the “grain”
Drain your noodles
Toss it all together with the sauce
Garnish with green onion and crushed red pepper (I omit for the kids)
Voila-tasty tasty in 10 min!
*This is my adaptation of The Pioneer Woman’s Simple Sesame Noodles recipe.
So I read this article the other day and as I read it…there was stuff I agreed with-but something just didn’t sit well with me. I figured it was just the fact that I have some innate desire to challenge anything everything 🙂
But the more I thought about it the more I really disagreed with it.
Here’s why:
As a Christian I know that everything belongs to God. Everything. Even my kids. But also everything else (1 Corinthians 10:26, Psalm 24:1)
And if I am going to teach this to my children I need to show them that we are to be good stewards with what He has entrusted to us
and in order to do that we are called to :
Love one another
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:3-4
That we are to treat others better than ourselves
That people are more important than things
We are not to store up our treasures here where moths, thieves, rust can destroy (Matthew 6:19) but rather set our affections on things above
The Bible reminds us over and over again that it is better to give than receive (Acts 20:35)
“give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38
“Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.” Luke 6:30
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.” Luke 16:10
I don’t need to look very far to see just how far we have come from this. I read the article above and it doesn’t surprise me that people trample one another to death over the latest Blue Light Special on Black Friday. Every day…everywhere…I witness examples of selfishness.
Don’t get me wrong…I don’t think a child (or anyone) should be “forced” to give up anything or share anything. I want to guide my child’s heart to a willingness to share; finding true joy in sharing.
The one thing in the article I do agree with is that my children will most certainly face disappointment in this life. They will most definitely not get everything they want but I have never found disappointment in following God’s word and trusting that He alone…not money…not toys or trinkets….He alone works all things for my good and His glory and when it’s all said and done I just want to hear “well done good and faithful one” and if teaching my child to share a swing shares a glimpse of God’s love I will simply trust Him with the rest…but I certainly won’t fear that my kid will grow up to embody the qualities the article speaks of.
So I ask my kids the question:
If we regard others as more important than ourselves…what does that look like in this situation.
Often times it looks like them giving up the (fill in the blank) but they do it with a real joy.
Other times it looks like one saying “You can have it as soon as I finish this (turn, picture, etc.) and then they finish in a pace that would be treating the other how they want to be treated.
Oh wait! Let me interject here….because I HAVE to say this is NOT how it always goes 😉 some days it’s a bloody war ’round here! But we keep pressin’ on.
And seriously….a TON of times…the one will “regard the other as more important” and the other (SERIOUSLY) says “No-I want you to have it!” and then the other says “No…you” and then I end up yelling at one of them to friggin’ take the toy! 😉
But no doubt (by God’s grace) I am teaching them that it truly is better to give than receive.
Here are a few suggestions to celebrate Easter with your children while pointing to the true meaning and why we celebrate it.
1. Make your own resurrection eggs to share the true meaning of Easter (or buy them)
Or you can dye (or buy) eggs and have each color symbolize part of the story:
Green symbolizes the palm leaves waved by the crowds as Jesus rode into Jerusalem. Red, the symbol of blood and pain. His sacrifice.
Shades of purple are draped around crosses during Lent. Purple is the symbol of royalty and suffering. On Good Friday, the purple cloth is replaced with black. The symbol of sin, death and darkness, black tells us that there is an end to life.
White (representing purity) transforms the cross on Easter morning. The black color of sin is replaced by the bright color of white, signifying the passage from darkness to light.
Gold is symbolic of majesty
Yellow stands for light and renewal.
2. Read books about the true meaning of Easter like Benjamin’s Box
3. Make Resurrection cookies the night before or Resurrection Rolls on Easter. In both, when you break them open-it is hallow…empty…to represent the tomb on Easter.
Here are some pics from last year. In short, you beat nuts to represent the beating Christ endured, you taste vinegar to show what Christ was given on the cross when he was thirsty, etc. you add all the necessary ingredients and put them in the oven, seal it (as in the tomb) but when you open it on Easter morning and crack open a cookie…it is….empty…
You can see Jackson wasn’t exactly “getting it” as he joyfully took advantage of any opportunity to whack something…
and when it came to tasting the vinegar…well, you can see by his face he’s thinking “Go ahead, sis…I dare you!”
But they totally got into their roles as guards of the “tomb”…
4. Make hot cross buns on Good Friday and discuss the crucifixion.
5. Make an Easter basket. Here are some suggestions that point to the true meaning:
Cross-shaped chocolate (I found these at the Dollar Tree)
Bible related coloring or activity book (at the Dollar Tree)
6. Get beads to make this Story of Jesus Bracelet:
A star charm with three beads represents the bethlehem star and the three wise men, three colored beads represent their three gifts, a pearl bead represents the Christ Child. The wood bead represents Jesus as carpenter, a fish symbol represents making fishers of men, and twelve blue beads represent the apostles, and the white bead represents the Word of God. The black beads and cross symbolize His passion. A red bead represents his precious blood while a white bead represents his tears. He now resides in heaven with the Father and the Holy Spirt, the blue beads. And he lived his whole life because of his great love, represented by the heart bead.
7. Act it out or draw out the story
I drew out the story showing how our sin separated us from God but he loves us so much that he sent his Son to take the punishment
He sealed the tomb…
and after we “opened” the tomb and Jesus ascended to Heaven…he did this to the Cross…
because Jesus did this for us… he crossed out sin and I gave him an eraser
To show him that Easter is about this…
Come now, and let us reason together, Says the Lord, though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool. -Isaiah 1:18
Some of the greatest trials we endure are his mercies. Yet, it is our nature to want to be delivered from struggle, pain, affliction and sadness. At church, Paul Tripp proposed that “God’s not simply purposing to relieve us in our difficulties, but to redeem us through them. That he is going to take you where you never intended to go in order to produce in you what you couldn’t achieve on your own.”
The journey is long and hard and I have witnessed more loss, pain, sadness and tests of endurance in this past year than ever before and one thing I learned was that hurt is hurt. Pain…is pain. Struggle is struggle. Yours is not worse than mine. Mine no more deserving of grace than yours. Yours is no more deserving of sacrificial giving than mine, and mine no more deserving of sacrificial service than yours.
We are called to love one another. period. It is not our job to determine another’s worthiness. Worthiness of help. Worthiness of compassion. Worthiness of grace. Worthiness of forgiveness. not. our. job. period. We are called to love.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves…
I heard this phrase awhile ago and it stuck:
“Hold space for me”
It resonated. It was so profound.
And along my own most recent trials I have witnessed so many others hurt and realized we all need space held.
I have come to learn that “holding space” for someone means:
When pain hurts so bad, or the struggle so hard or the journey so long and tiresome that you feel like the world should stop but it doesn’t …I will hold this space for you. When you’re ready…when your world begins to take its first teeny step forward…I held this space for you and I will start right there with you!
It means that we sit in the uncomfortable silence or listen to detail after detail or the same story over and over again so you can try to understand. And when you remember that God’s not simply purposing to relieve you in your difficulties, but to redeem you through them…you can look over and see the space I held for you.
It means that I will hear your hurt as your hurt. I won’t compare it to mine or anyone else’s. It belongs to you but you are not alone in it. I will hold that space.
It means that you can’t fall off the radar. Even though my life will move forward and the sun will rise and fall…I will hold this space for you until….
We have a major problem in this house and as I was looking for a solution…I decided to take you along as I work through several challenge areas in hopes of helping you and kick off Spring Cleaning!
So I am going to do a little series…not that I am an expert but just determined to figure it out…simplify this madness 🙂
Okay…so are you ready? Promise not to judge…
P.S. Excuse the crappy photos. I did not stage this for the blog. This is a typical day so I just grabbed my cell phone and started taking pictures.
Found one here:
A few got hung up here…
A couple of them tossed here:
Some kid ran from the tub to their room dropping one here…
And a couple more managed to get hung here…
another found here:
Seriously….
The kitchen table!!!!!! What?!?
But seriously this is how it is. Everyday.
I honestly can’t take it anymore.
Can you imagine the laundry?
No one remembers whose is whose.
No one knows if it’s clean or needs to be cleaned so they just toss it down the laundry chute.
My husband ALWAYS leaves his downstairs, on the back of a chair…but if I don’t bring it back up by the time he takes his next shower then he grabs another.
So we either have a lot of towels down the chute or a lot of towels hung up or a lot of towels on the floor.
Norwex microfiber-including their bath towels contain silver. So-they are self sanitizing and won’t get that musty smell. Bacteria, molds, fungi, etc. cannot survive in them. It will be a fresh towel, literally, at every use.
So I decided to give myself a gift. Quite possibly the best gift…ever.
Hubby got one color, I got another.
The baby got the hoodie/washcloth set
The big kids each got a towel, too.
The guest bath got a certain color hand towel and the kids’ bath got another color. The Master bath got the remaining color.
It is brilliant. 5 bath towels, 3 hand towels (I actually got 6 of these so there was one hanging while the other was washing)…all fresh and clean all the time and then once a week I grab ’em all up and throw them in the wash. One load. All clean. Hang them back up and d-o-n-e.
Done.
Can you imagine the floor cabinet space I just freed up?!? An entire shelf of my linen closet is empty!
I donated all the towels to the SAFE House.
Do it! Take the challenge to see how Norwex really can improve the quality of your life. As with all products there is a 60-day money back guarantee!
This idea was inspired by a real-life customer who gave herself this gift and did it for her family! Here’s what she wrote me: This is the first weekend in forever that I have not been washing, drying and folding a HUGE load of bath towels. We are loving our Norwex bath towels—means I have barely a load of towels to wash each week! And I just hang them up after each shower or after drying hands, and they dry quick as can be and stay smelling nice. Thanks, Rechel!-Heather B.
Follow me here on the blog and come along as I find more and more and more ways of simplifying the endless task of housework 🙂
Oh and to be perfectly honest….
In our review of the towels…Mike and I both felt like they were very grabby upon first use. In fact…I was not pleased and was not going to give them another try. But I did and I am so glad I did. After that very first use-they are great and super absorbent!
I homeschool two days a week and needed an inexpensive, large space to do school work. Maybe you need space for scrapbooking or crafts?
Thanks to Google…I discovered you can take 2 of these
Assemble and turn it on its side….Now you have a 24 1/2″H x 36″ W base
Go to a home improvement store and get one of these slab doors
Because….it is exactly 36″ perrrrrrrfect!! And the best part…it is EIGHTY inches long!!
Get a can of paint and paint the top of the door (we used a fun green on one side and chalkboard paint on the other)
and buy some of these…or something like it…
Oh…use some L-Brackets to screw the door on the cubbies (underneath) although mine is just sitting on it…sort of held down by the fish tank 🙂
and…
VOILA! A ginormous table (well…36″ x 80″ is big enough for us and 4 chairs!)
And another “best” part….if we keep this around long enough for the kids to grow out…we can flip it the other direction.
Or….if your kids, tweens or teens are already big enough…get the 9 cube cubby…
Okay so one more “best” part….you know those really little “kid” chairs that normally come with or accompany the kids tables …well…we have them…and they are not comfortable
Just to give us something to sit on…I lugged some IKEA chairs I had downstairs to see if they’d work and they are the PERFECT height for the kids to sit comfortably and I can even fit my legs under the table while still sitting on a human chair.
But basically any 35″ H chair or less…(you can totally use kid chairs) will do.
I found this set of 2 at Wally Mart for under $80
Okay and the final “best” part:
Stackable Cubbies $35 x2 = $70.00
Door $30.00 (although if you have an old door or counter top remnant…you can make it free-ninety-free!)
I bought 6 fabric storage cubbies @ $6.00 each = $36.00
Quart o’ paint…$15 ish?
About $150 bucks for a customized, HUGE, super cute table….
I have only been a Norwex representative for a couple months and we all have to start somewhere…
The day of my very first party, the hostess called and asked, “Do you have any Descaler to try out on my shower? It’s awful!”
Being new and all…I didn’t have a lot of supplies, nor had I had time to try all the products.
My Leader called and told me that she had a bottle of Descaler and I could pick it up ON MY WAY TO THE PARTY.
What?!? No time to try it first? Make sure it actually worked. Oh my….what if it doesn’t…right in front of everyone….the entire party will be a bust!
I had been on a quest forever to find something that worked on my own shower…I tried the Barkeepers Friend, the peroxide/baking soda/lemon juice claim…all. failed. Could this really work?
Wait, Rechel…calm down…everything has been amazing…this will be to. Let’s do it!
The directions say to squirt some on and wait 5-10 min. I squirt in on….but before we even left the room….
My hostess was thrilled and so was I!!!!! I heart you, Norwex.
For me there is a big difference between mom and mama. On a regular day I am a mom. I do all the regular stuff (and by “regular” I mean that in the we-are-shaping-hearts-guiding-lives-keeping-them-from-killing-them selves-or-eachother kind-of-way) and then there are days…sometimes just moments that I am a Mama. That variation summarizes a fierce kind of love that only we moms have.
When my youngest was sick-I was a mom. When we went to the hospital and a mean ‘ol phlebotomist was very rough with him…Mama showed up. The next day when that same phlebotomist came in to draw his blood….Mama said “Don’t touch him. We’d like someone else, please.” Love, Mama.
My middle child is a little girl. Ally. “Sparkleberry”. I am her Mama.
As her mom, I wished for her. Every single shooting star I saw I asked God for her. The moment they placed her in my arms I said ” I wanted you so bad!” Those were my very first words to my daughter….I. wanted. you. so. bad. “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks” I can’t think of a time that were more true. I look at my children and am constantly reminded of God’s goodness.
I don’t have a favorite child. I honestly don’t. I am a sucker for them all. I love them all. I get frustrated by them all. I am challenged by them all. I grow because of them all. I became a Mama because of them all.
We knew…no, I knew there was something different about Ally. Her Daddy couldn’t see it. It’s not that I wanted to see it-but a Mama knows. I blamed myself…we Mamas do. She is #2…somehow I “jipped” her; didn’t give her enough attention, she didn’t get to watch Elmo’s World-we had moved on to Star Wars or something else.
But when her teacher mentioned “learning disability” I was actually relieved that someone else was seeing what I was seeing. But when people started asking her, “Ally…what letter is this?” and I saw the look of embarrassment on her face and heard her attempts to escape the question I felt fierce Mama Bear. I wanted to keep her home, shield her and never leave. It’s not that anyone was really concerned because she didn’t know her letters….it was all the ways she was learning around not learning them. There was an inner acknowledgment that she couldn’t learn it.
The day I sat in on her preschool class and watched my little “Big Girl” do “Calendar Time” and seem absolutely clueless-my heart cried but all she saw was her Mama’s eyes light up when she looked over at me. She was simply proud to be standing up in front of her peers. My heart broke for her. My eyes shone for her. I knew something was wrong.
Her Mama was not willing to have her professionally evaluated at 4 1/2. We’d wait another year for Kindergarten…do preschool again…and see.
Then she fell down the stairs…again…and by the goodness of God…a wave of incidents and conversations rushed through my mind and I decided to have her eyes checked first. Although with 20/20 vision parents, it was unlikely her eyes…we said we’d rule that out first….if her eyes were fine….we’d switch schools and see if it was environmental….theeeeeen we’d have her evaluated, when she was a little older…if all else failed.
“Evaluation”…a “label” was our last resort. If you are a woman…you know why. I remember the first negative thing I heard about myself; yet I forget the 100 good things…we. don’t. forget. We own it. In that flippant moment we are called something…labeled something…we own it. I would be damned if my precious little girl was gonna own anything negative this early…I am doing all I can to teach my daughter that her identity is in Christ and Christ alone and she is precious to Him.
So every morning while I brush her teeth and comb her hair… I tell her “You are smaaaaaart….you are kind….you are loved. You are smart. You are kind. You are loved. Youaresmartyouarekindyouareloved….” and we laugh and smile…and every night after prayer I whisper the same thing in her ear. It is my prayer that her “love bank” will be so full and her identity so rooted in Christ that when she does hear something negative about herself she will always know she is loved beyond any measure. But once it became a habit-another beautiful realization occurred. When I die (Lord willing before her) I am certain she will remember this about her Mama. If she knows that she is loved and cherished by God, and remembers the story that her mom’s first words to her were “I wanted you so bad” and her Mama told her every day and night that she is smart, kind and loved…I imagine many of my failures and shortcomings and utter screw ups will be forgotten.
Her eye appointment came…
and surprisingly we learned within the first 5 minutes of the appointment that she is essentially blind.
The doctor must’ve thought I was crazy when I jumped out of my seat-and hugged her. When they asked her to recognize something and she couldn’t…they gave her words to put to something she never understood….”I can’t see that.” To see the weight of the world fall off of her shoulders as she shouted “I can’t see it!” She was empowered and I was overcome with joy and excitement. Not because she is blind but because-with glasses-the world is about to open up for my baby girl. An answered prayer. I should’ve known God would want those pretty, blue eyes framed!!
I know that no other mom would have noticed the idiosyncrasies that led me to have her eyes checked with no immediate history of it. But her Creator made ME-little ‘ol me…her Mama. It’s no little job we’ve been given mamas! Now, not only am I reminded of God’s goodness when I look at my little girl…I am reminded of his mercy.
Her Mama now wears “glasses” too…’cos for now…she wants to be just like me….and I am soakin’ it up. And we got some for her doll, too!
Her Norwex Mama 🙂 got her her very own OpticCloth to keep them clean. I can also use it on my computer screen, camera lens and cell phone; Dad can use it on his plasma or LCD or whatever that thing is. Leave me a comment because I am going to give an OpticCloth away in celebration of GLASSES!!!!!!!
Optometry Cares/The AOA Foundation will receive 10% of all proceeds earned from my Norwex sales this month. They make sure that every child has access to eye care. Thank you for your support!!
Join others as they discover God’s grace in the every day at Gracelaced
We make our own chicken nuggets {easily converted to Gluten Free} and let the kids help! Ha. It sounds so much more brave and adventurous than it is….and just as messy as it sounds but it is intentional family time and the kids love it!
I wish you could hear every “stop dragging your hands through the egg!” threat made by Dad. And trust me when I said it did NOT help that I was walking around snapping pictures. Oh if this blog could talk…you’d surely know that it ain’t always as sweet as it looks ’round here 🙂
Anyway-the recipe is adapted from Rachel Ray’s Chicken Toes and are worth every ounce of sanity you may or may not lose while making them!
Ally asked, “Mom, did the chicken cry when it got killed?”
“I don’t know, hon.”
“I bet it went up to heaven and said “Baaaawk Baaaaawk gimme back my feathers!” as she did a little chicken-with-it’s-head-cut-off-dance…although that is fairly normal behavior 🙂
Okay the point.
Before my kids help me cook they have to wash their hands. HA! As if they clean their hands well. So just as soon as I could I hung an AntiBac hand towel in my downstairs, guest bathroom. Now….when the kids “wash” their hands….it is when they dry them that I know they are actually getting clean. The towel not only removes everything but it sanitizes itself so the next person gets a clean towel each and every time. Phew!!
Now they’re ready to help!
That pic is upside down but that’s fitting for the day…so we’ll move on…
And what is left behind is a floury mess.
You know what will happen if I clean this up with a regular kitchen rag….I will have sticky dough paste all gooped up in it, that will never rinse out so I will have to toss it in the wash!
And then we all wash our hands but it’s not until we dry them with the AntiBac kitchen towel that I know they are truly clean!
And we hang up the towel…so to speak 😉
Here’s the recipe:
You can Print Here (I used Panko instead of bread crumbs)
Ingredients
1 cup corn flakes
1 cup Panko bread crumbs-for Gluten Free…just crush up Rice Chex!!!
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice –
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound chicken breast tenders cut into 2-inch pieces
1/3 cup all-purpose flour or Gluten Free blend~ Orrrrr it probably wouldn’t bother a thing if you didn’t do it at all!
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup honey mustard (recommended: Gulden’s)
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
Directions
Preheat oven on to 375 degrees F.
In a bowl, crush the cereal up with your hands or food processor. Mix in panko crumbs, sugar, salt, pepper, and allspice –
Drizzle about 3 tablespoons vegetable oil evenly over the breading, tossing and turning it to mix the oil all through the bread crumbs and crushed-up corn flakes.
Turn the chicken in flour, then dip in eggs and then in the special crunchy breading. Arrange the chicken toes on a nonstick baking sheet. Place the chicken toes in the oven and cook 15 minutes or until crisp and brown all over.
Mix together honey mustard and barbecue sauce in a small bowl. Serve hot chicken toes with honey mustard and barbecue sauce for dipping.
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