Kids

  • Book & Pony Set: “Misty of Chincoteague” by Marguerite Henry

    Book Misty of Chincoteague (couldn’t find a picture of “Misty” and “Phantom” that came with the girls set)

    Book & Pony Set – Misty of Chincoteague  (with “Misty” and “Stormy” similar to the one we got, but couldn’t find a picture of the first book with the ponies)

    My girls are very different in many ways, even though they are twins, but they do have two things in common that they both love…….books and horses / ponies.  While I was in India my Mom came to stay with the girls and she brought their birthday gifts.  She gave the girls the book and “Misty” & “Phantom” ponies.  They were so excited when I got home to show me their book and ponies that went with it.  After we finished reading the current book they were going through they both agreed that the next book should be Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry.  Every time I would read the book the girls would get out the ponies and each of them hold one while I read.  They loved this story about a little boy and girl who worked hard to buy and raise these ponies.  It was a cute story that our family enjoyed.

    All the incidents in this story are real.  They did not happen in just the order they are recorded, but they all happened at one time or another on the little island of Chincoteague.  All the characters in the book Misty of Chincoteague really lived on Chincoteague Island.  – Marguerite Henry

    The part that was really neat about the story is it was based off a real family and event “Pony Penning Day”.   After getting into the book you quickly grow to love the Beebe family.  The grandparents dialogue is a little choppy to read but otherwise it was a wonderful story to share with your kids especially if they love horses or ponies!

  • Recipe: Strawberry Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes

    Strawberry cupcake with a dark chocolate center

    The fun part about having kids is they inspire you to experiment.  The girls and I were busy doing something in the kitchen and had to make a dessert for an upcoming event so I told them to pick out a box cake mix out of the pantry.  They picked out a Strawberry Cake mix and as we were talking about all the different strawberries recipes we love it lead into can we make something super special with the strawberry cupcakes……..something that would be a surprise for those eating the cupcakes???  That’s when we came up with the Strawberry Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes!

    It is super easy to make too.  Take your favorite cake mix, make it according to directions, pour into cupcake liners, and bake for 5 minutes.  After 5 minutes add a piece of chocolate to the center of each cupcake.  The chocolate will sink to the middle of the cupcake and melt.  We used dark chocolate eggs left over from our Easter candy stash.  The girls were so happy to bring their strawberry cupcakes with a chocolate surprise to their friends.  We did have chocolate frosting and half vanilla frosting (sorry I didn’t get a picture of a cupcake frosted).

    You can see the dark chocolate pieces sinking down into the cupcakes in the picture.  Can you tell which rows the girls put the chocolate into first?!  🙂  This is a great recipe to try with your kids.  They love being able to help unwrap and put the chocolate pieces into the cupcakes, plus they are super excited to share the treat with family and friends.

  • Sweet Sisters

    Brina picking up a duck out of the river so she can toss it back into the water.

    Now that’s one big bubble!

    Sweet sister

  • Teaching Our Children: The Value of Learning

    Jake reading to the girls

    Jake and I have made it a priority to read to our girls because it is such a important skill to help them continue to learn.  It is our desire to read to them or with them every day.    When life gets really busy it doesn’t always happen but it is an activity all of us enjoy.  Many times in the evening Jake will read to them after dinner.  The girls love picking out a book to read, listening to us read, and looking at any pictures that are in the book.

    On this particular day the girls picked out a book about raising and caring for goats for Daddy to read to them (yes there is more to the reason behind them picking out this particular book, I will give more information on this topic soon).  It is so sweet watching Jake read to the girls and hearing all their questions.  Thankful for those opportunities to slow down, sit down, and relax reading with the kids.  Whether it is to spend quality time with your child or you get excited when your child asks the meaning of a new word or you want your child to develop her academic skills the time you spend reading with your child is valuable.

    Here are a few benefits that I have discovered while reading to my kids:

    • Develops a love for reading and a story
    • Improved confidence in school
    • Increased language development
    • Demonstrates a variety communication skills and styles
    • Opens up many new worlds and adventures for them
    • Quality time with you
    • Stimulates their imagination and creativity

    There are many reasons why it is important to read to your children.  As summer vacation quickly approaches I am reminded of the importance of reading with the girls.  When the girls and I are reading a “chapter book” as they call it together they are always asking me to read the next chapter because they are so excited to hear what happens next.  I think the most chapters they convinced me to read in one sitting was seven, I was having a blast following the story too!  I want to encourage you to find ways to incorporate reading into your schedule everyday even over the summer break.  How do you stimulate a healthy and fun reading environment for your kids over summer vacation?

    Daddy reading about “goats” to the girls

    I love Karlie’s intent look and Brina’s crazy listening position.  They make me laugh but also reminds me of the many blessings in my life too!

  • Teaching Our Children: Spring Into Reading

    Our filled reading tree

    Last year I started a reading tree for the girls in the Spring and we continued to fill it with leaves through the Summer.  I wanted to find a way to encourage the girls to read.  They had blast adding  leaves to the reading tree.  It was a great visual way for them to see how much they were reading.  Each member of the family had a different color leaf to hang up when a book was read.  The girls also did a summer reading program through our local library and one online as well.

    Spring into reading tree full of leaves!

    As the school year ends in a  few weeks and as summer vacation is getting closer it is now time for me to come up with another fun reading activity for the kids.  I have a couple ideas for this summers reading adventure and will be sharing it with you soon.  What ways do you encourage your children to read throughout the summer vacation?

  • Song: “A Mother’s Prayer” by Celine Dion

    In celebration of Mother’s Day this week I picked out a song about Mother’s.  This song is about the prayer of a Mother for her children as they grow up.  I am thankful for my Mom and everything that she has done in my life.  She is still an encouragement in my life.

    Being a Mom is one of the most rewarding yet challenging roles I have in my life.  The girls are an amazing blessing, however, I find that they tend to stretch my character a little bit too.  It is my prayer that I will be the best Mom I can be for my children and that they will not only see past my faults and failures but more importantly that they will learn to rely on Jesus (who never fails) for their strength and portion every day.

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    It has been a wonderful, crazy, and memory packed few weeks since I last updated my weekly goals.  Recently I have had the opportunity to travel to several amazing places both in the USA and overseas including Qatar, India, Charleston and more!  Plus we have had family and friends visiting with us from around the world too.  Life has been a bundle of adventures and memories.  There is so much to catch up on….  It has been several weeks since I had a “normal” week I am not sure what it looks like anymore, nevertheless, I need to re-focus and stay on top of the goals I have set for myself this year.  Thanks for hanging in there with me during this time of travel and a house full of guests!  I have started posting some pictures and tidbits on my adventures these last few weeks and will have more to share soon!  Since I have family guests from Indonesia staying with me this week I tried to make the list short so I can spend the extra time with family.

    Here is the update on last “months” goals:

    Family Goals

    1. Connect with each family member at least once a day – there were a few days that I was not able to Skype with the girls when I was overseas
    2. Write and mail cards
    3. Spend quality time with Jake – I had an amazing time catching up, exploring, and traveling with my man overseas
    4. Date Night with Jake
    5. Visit extended Family – we had the opportunity to go visit Jake’s cousin Matt and his family while we were in India, we had a BLAST!

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week – ummmm….I did a lot of walking and sightseeing but never really kept track of it
    2. Finish reading Who Got Peanut Butter on My Daily Planner by Cindy Sigler Dagnam – finished reading it on the airplane
    3. Keep an up-to-date written & photo log all the adventures this week – I took a lot of pictures, but I didn’t stay on top of the writing piece

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. Take time to talk, listen, and encourage the people I encounter this week
    3. Be a blessing to a total stranger this week – I probably could have done even more, there were so many little things that I enjoyed doing for others during my travels.  Here’s one example – I gave out several disposable toothbrushes to several fellow travelers on my journeys.  A couple times while I was using the Colgate Wisps someone would ask me, “where did you get that?” and after telling them I brought it with me from home I would offer them one, it was amazing how many people appreciated this simple gesture.

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay on track with budgeted amount for the week – need to get our budget back up-to-date and back on track

    Here are my goals for the upcoming week:

    Family Goals

    1. Connect with each family member at least once a day
    2. Spend quality time with our Guests
    3. Spend quality time with Jake
    4. Date Night with Jake
    5. Participate in a fun kid activity (go to the park, play, or explore)
    6. Do a creative craft with the kids

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week
    2. Finish reading  How We Love Our Kids by Milan & Kay Yerkovich

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu & Schedule planned out for the week
    3. Spend 30 minutes every day picking up / cleaning the house

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    3. 1o minutes a day Cleaning / Organizing my desk

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. Take time to talk, listen, and encourage the people I encounter this week
    3. Be a blessing to a total stranger this week

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay on track with budgeted amount for the week

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results

  • Book: “Who Got Peanut Butter on My Daily Planner?” by Cindy Sigler Dagnan

    One of the perks of traveling is that I get to catch up on some of the books I have been wanting to read.  One of the books I read on a recent trip was Who Got Peanut Butter on My Daily Planner by Cindy Sigler Dagnan.  The subtitle is organizing and loving your days as a Mom.  It was a fun and lighthearted book that I enjoyed reading.  The girls loved the cover of the book with the little boy spreading peanut butter on the planner.  While I don’t do as much with my paper planner these days, everything has gone more digital for our family so we can keep up with everyone’s schedule, many of the principles the author talked about still apply.

    She made a lot of great points about the choices we make as parents, especially as Moms.  Even if I could afford to pay someone to do all the tasks I do, I could not pay them enough to love, spend time with, nurture, or share my values with my children  I love this quote from Cindy Dagnam’s book because raising kids is not always easy nor do we did it perfectly but no one else can raise our kids like we do.

    Every day we make choices of what to do with our time, energy and talents.  While not everyday is productive it is important that we continue to invest in the lives and hearts of our children.  While we as parents are raising our kids together it is also healthy for us as Moms to establish friendships with other Moms.  The author gave some examples such as Women’s Bible Study, MOPS group, Girls Weekend Away, Book Club, Moms Play Group, and more.

    Cindy Dagnam discussed many topics that were good reminders for me:

    • Perfectionism is a load you can drop
    • Ask God to help you recognize your kryptonite tendencies….rather than attempt so many things in your own strength
    • God placed you in this home with this family for His purpose
    • Be flexible and build extra time into your plans. Children don’t like to always be hurried.
    • Memories are even more important to your children than a spotless house.
    • Live your priorities and the rest will fall into place

    These were some of the ones that really stood out to me because they are areas I need to work on more in my own life.  At the end of each chapter there is a study and reflection section which includes questions, scripture reading, action plan, journal, and a verse to memorize.   If your a Mom of kids, especially young ones this is a wonderful book to read.  The author does a good job of reminding us that we are not perfect but with a lot of prayer we can still make a positive impact on our husband and children.