Family

  • Travel & Vacation: Life Around the Kabini River, India

    Sign near the Kabini River.  Guess it probably won’t be a great idea to swim in the river….not a fan of swimming with crocodiles! Hmmm…let me think about it….No, thank you I would rather not swim with the crocodile! 🙂

    I absolutely LOVED going to India.  It was an amazing experience.  The people were awesome and I learned a lot about myself during the trip.  I have many things to be grateful for in my life yet so often I complain.  I don’t have to pump drinking water or live in a tarp yet how often I grumble with the inconveniences of my life.  I really do need to have a more thankful and giving heart because there a many people in this world that are content with far less.  May I never forget this trip or the many things India revealed to me.

    Filling her water jugs up to take back to her home.  Watching her pump the water makes me appreciate the running water we have in our home.  Sometimes I don’t realize how “convenient” life really is in the United States.  I don’t ever remember pumping and carrying my drinking water.

    Road full of goats!

    Family in a small village near the Kabini River! The little boy is so cute.

    Colorful houses near Kabini River

    Look out stand in the tree.  They use these look out to spot dangerous predators.

    People will set up tents near the fields that are ready to be harvested.  When the field is done they move to the next location and set up their tents.  Makes me feel so very blessed to have a nice home.  Even though its not perfect I don’t have to set up tarp tents near a jungle with lions and leopards in it.  I have so much to be grateful for in my life.

    Traveling through India was an eye opening experience for me.  I enjoyed meeting a lot of wonderful people.  Jake and I spent time exploring the area with Jake’s cousin Matt and his family.  Thankful for an opportunity to spend some time with their family.  We had a blast and hope we will be able to go back again some day.

    The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family and ways we relax.  Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away.  Explore with a good attitude, look for fun, and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories.  It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine.  Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn.  You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!

  • Kids in the Kitchen: Colorful Gingerbread Cookies

    Tray full of Gingerbread cookies to share!

    The girls love helping out in the kitchen.  At some point over the Christmas Holidays we try to make cookies.  The girls really enjoy decorating the cookies.  We have done a variety of different cookies from sugar to gingerbread and more.

    We typically turn on some Christmas music, whip up a batch of cookies, and play a game or read a book while the first batch is cooking.  Once the first batch has cooled enough and others are baking in the oven we start decorating.  As you can see from the pictures we used a couple varieties of frosting and decorations.  The girls decorate them however they want and as many as they want (they stick to the decorating until the very last cookie is done).

    It has been really neat seeing their skills improve over the past few years.  You can actually tell what the shapes of most cookies are after they are done decorating nowadays.  Plus, they have learned not to “lick” the frosting or their fingers during the whole process, ha!  🙂

    Starting to fill the tray with colorful Gingerbread cookies.  I especially like the Betty Crocker writable frosting because their easy to use for kids, only a little bit comes out, and you can stack the cookies together once they have dried.

    Just looking at these make me smile!   Some as you can see from the tops of the Christmas trees broke in the decorating process.  Love seeing the girls creative juices get flowing.

    Another rack of delicious gingerbread cookies, decorated with love! 🙂  Thankful for those quiet afternoons that we can spend relaxing and decorating cookies together.

    Next time I need to do better about taking pictures of the kids too.  I only have a couple of pictures of the girls just starting to make the cookies that didn’t really turn out.  Once we got into the cooking and decorating I got swept away with the fun that I didn’t pull the camera back out until all the cookies were done.  Hopefully, next time I will have more kid pictures to share. Does your family like to decorate cookies, if so what kind is your favorite?

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    Oh, I am so not a fan of being sick.  The whole family went to the doctor last week because we were all not feeling well and had temps from 101 to 104.  Somehow we had managed to get strep throat and a couple ear infections.  Thankfully we all seem to be on the mend.  I am hoping that this is our last round of sickness for a long time.  Maybe this week I can get caught up on some items!

    Last week’s goals

    Family Goals

    1. Read to the girls and have them read to me daily – we didn’t read for a couple days when everyone was really sick
    2. Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
    3. Daily School Activities & Homework Completed
    4. Attend After School Activities
    5. Plan one special Activity with the Family
    6. Finish Decorating  & Putting up Christmas Bins
    7. Work on Christmas List – working on it, still have more to do
    8. Blessing Lives Everyday with Special Surprises (B.L.E.S.S.): 25 Days of Christmas Blessings – we finished week 1 and it was a neat experience for everyone!
    9. Date Night with my Man

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise at least 5 days this week – with being sick I didn’t get this done
    2. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    3. Finish reading The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith – working on it
    4. Reading / listening through my Bible – doing the 90 day plan through YouVersion – faithfully going through the days, love being able to listen it on my phone
    5. Make my first fresh Wreath at a Wreath Party with Friends

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day – it took me 2 days to get it done this week
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Tackle Fall Cleaning & Organization Projects – was put on hold with being sick this week
    4. Pay all upcoming bills

    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. Write and Send Out Community Group Email – missed Community Group so didn’t get the email out
    3. Community Group Christmas Social at our House

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4 – between Jake and I going to pick up things I didn’t have all the receipts by the end of the week
    2. Payoff the Van – working on it
    3. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses (we are trying to build this back up because we had to take some out for unexpected expenses recently.) – moving forward
    4. Stay within Christmas Budget – staying up-to-date

    My goals for the upcoming week

    Family Goals

    1. Read to the girls and have them read to me daily
    2. Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
    3. Daily School Activities & Homework Completed
    4. Attend After School Activities
    5. Plan one special Activity with the Family
    6. Finish Decorating  & Putting up Christmas Bins
    7. Work on Christmas List
    8. Blessing Lives Everyday with Special Surprises (B.L.E.S.S.): 25 Days of Christmas Blessings

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise at least 5 days this week
    2. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    3. Reading / listening through my Bible – doing the 90 day plan through YouVersion

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Tackle Fall Cleaning & Organization Projects
    4. Pay all upcoming bills

    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. Write and Send Out Community Group Email

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Payoff the Van
    3. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses (we are trying to build this back up because we had to take some out for unexpected expenses recently.)
    4. Stay within Christmas Budget

    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.

  • Game: “Wits and Wagers Party” Game by North Star Games

     Do you have an upcoming celebration or game night?  Are you looking for the perfect party game?  You should check out Wits & Wagers Party by North Star Games!  You can have from 4 to 20 players and it only takes about 20 minutes to play a round.  The rules are simple.  Your guests will have a blast and will insist on playing another round.

    Wits & Wagers Party has over 200 questions that will test your knowledge of various facts.  Every answer is a number such as a year, percent, measurement, and so forth.  You get points for having the closest answer without going over as well as for guessing the best answer (which could be any player’s answer).  While this game is based on facts you don’t need to know all the answers in order to enjoy, participate, or even win the game!

    Here’s 3 more games we recommend (we’ve played them many times):

    Our review of this Wits & Wagers Family Game (easy enough for the kids to play too)

  • Blessing Lives Everyday with Special Surprises (B.L.E.S.S.): 25 Days of Christmas Blessings (Week 1)

    The girls picked up Pop-Up Christmas Stickers to give out to kids!

    We have officially started our 25 Days of Christmas B.L.E.S.S. (Blessing Lives Everyday with Special Surprises) and in all honesty I think we have been blessed more by doing these activities.  It has been a real joy doing these fun events everyday and it has been a great experience again this year.

    In some cases we get to see who receives our B.L.E.S.S. gift and in other cases we will never know who is on the receiving end.  We pray that whoever receives or finds these gifts will experience joy during this Holiday Season.  Each night we take down the B.L.E.S.S. activity for the next day and read the verse and the activity then pray for those who have and will receive our little BLESS’ings.

    Our Christmas Pop-Up Stickers and B.L.E.S.S. card in a “penguin” bag so we can hand them out easier!

    Here is what we have done so far and a couple pictures to share of our adventures:

    • Day 1 – Handed out “pop-up” Christmas stickers to people we encountered throughout our day, including while we were running errands.  The girls even saw a couple of friends that day to give the stickers to as well (they were so excited).  The stickers they picked out were pretty neat, they have something like a little bubble under each one and when you pushed it down it would pop up within a few seconds making a little clicking noise (quite fascinating for all the kids).  Loved watching the girls give out the stickers and demonstrate how they work.
    • Day 2 – I had to make a trip to CVS Pharmacy to pick up some items.  Since I was in no hurry I decided to let the person behind me in line go first.  She seemed to have a lot of her mind and was in a hurry that day.  She was super sweet and thanked me several times for letting her go ahead of me.

    Donating to the Food Pantry

    • Day 3 – Picked out items to donate to our Church’s Alms & Legs Food Pantry.  The girls Awana is doing a food drive this upcoming Sunday.  The Food Pantry helps people in the local community who are in need of food and encouragement.

    Sharing some Pampers diapers and Clorox wipes

    • Day 4 – The girls were super excited to bring a pack of Pampers diapers and a container of Clorox wipes to our Doctors appointment today.  The Doctor, and his wife, recently had their first baby so we all thought it would be something practical we could share with them.  Brina loved bringing in the diapers and Karlie thought the wipes were an excellent idea especially with all the germs that are around during the Christmas Holidays.
    • Day 5 – While I was at the store today picking up items I noticed there were no carts in the store because they were all sitting on the sidewalks outside the store.  I decided to gather up as many carts as I could and take them back into the store.  It didn’t take much of my time yet it not only helped the store but those wanting to purchase items while they were there.

    Some of the goodies we have picked up for Country Santa this year

    • Day 6 – We picked out and donated gifts to Country Santa today which gives Christmas presents to local children who would otherwise have no gifts at Christmas.  The girls love giving to Country Santa because they get to help make another kid(s) Christmas  special. We pray that these gifts will be a to blessing to the kids that will receive these gifts for Christmas.

    Heart of Christmas – Toothbrushes, Toothpastes, and Pants

    • Day 7 –  Picked up hot pink Junior Pants for a sweet girl, 7 tubes of Toothpaste, and 7 Toothbrushes to donate to the “Heart of Christmas” event.  Our Church collects items for kids in our local schools who need clothing and hygiene items.  Since we were sick last Sunday we were not able to sign up directly, but when I emailed the person coordinating the event she said that these 15 items were still needed

    One of our favorite verses this week went along with our Day 6 activity. 

    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

    It has been a lot of fun working on ways we can be a blessing to others.  This verse talked about “giving” so it was a great one to discuss with the kids.  We talked about why it is important to share, give, and be to be a blessing to others not because we anticipate any rewards from it or benefits from it, but because we were given the greatest gift of all.  God’s love, grace, and mercy.  He wants us to give cheerfully from the heart.

    Hot pink pants wrapped up with some extra goodies to be given to a teenager in our community through “Heart of Christmas”

    I am super excited to see how great this B.L.E.S.S. activity is going already.  It has been a true joy sharing with others (many of whom we’ll never meet).  It has been a great experience and I look forward to seeing what will happen with our fun adventures this week.

    The main purpose of this activity is to teach our family the joy of giving and sharing to those around us.  I plan to do another update on our fun B.L.E.S.S. adventures next week.  Sometimes it’s the little stuff that can make the most positive impact.  I would love to hear how you are spreading the Christmas cheer this Holiday Season.

    Below are the printable versions of the  25 Days of Christmas B.L.E.S.S. activities, verses, and sheets to handout so here they are for your family to enjoy as well:

  • Do You See Apple Slices or A Candy Cane?

    It is the super simple things that can add an extra festive touch to a family snack or get together.  The girls wanted a snack so I sliced up some apples, but instead of putting them in a bowl or on a plate I left them on the cutting board in the shape of a candy cane.  I love it when I am thinking clearly enough to actually do the “little stuff” because it is so worth seeing them get excited over apple slices in the shape of a candy cane or something similar.

    Think of 3 simple ways you can add a festive touch to things you are already doing.  Not to mention it may coax your kids to eat more apples or other healthy foods around the Holidays! 🙂   You don’t have to make  elaborate dishes to spark a smile in your family members!

  • Gift Giving: Small Spontaneous Tokens of Appreciation

    I love celebrations…..birthdays, Holidays, anniversaries, and more!  Most of the time I have a reason to celebrate, but other times it is just as much fun to surprise someone with a special unexpected treat.   Every once in awhile I will put a gift on the table or on a person’s plate or some other random place (in this case it is one sitting on Jake’s plate before dinner) for the fun of it.

    It doesn’t need to be fancy or expensive to be  meaningful.  A favorite box of candy or a roll of coins or a sweet note to greet them on their plate when they sit down for dinner is always appreciated.  It really is the thought that counts.

    During the Christmas Season I like to spread out the fun, so at various times throughout the Holidays my family may find a special surprise waiting for them in random places.  Yes, I do specific activities like our 12 Days of Christmas 2011 or 12 Days of Christmas 2010 to help spread out the gifts so it is not so overwhelming the day of Christmas, but these more more like small spontaneous tokens of my appreciation.  How do you show appreciation and spread extra Holiday cheer in your home throughout the season?

  • Lounging in the Haystack

    Karlie and Brina having fun outside

    Karlie and Brina taking a break and relaxing in a pile of hay.  They were having a grand time playing in it while we were working in the yard.  Next thing I knew they both had their lounge chairs in the pile too.

    It was cute listening to their conversations as they relaxed in the hay stack.  Who knew that a haystack could be a such an awesome place to hang out together?!  It was amazing how long they cheerfully played, talked, and giggled while lounging in that little stack of hay!

    Sometimes it is the simple things already in the yard that can be the most entertaining for the kids. 🙂

    Chickies hanging out on a pile of hay in their lawn chairs…….silly girls!

  • Creative Kids: Packing Peanut & Wallpaper Craft

    Fun craft for the kids

    There are many great uses for the styrofoam packing peanuts.  Not only are the styrofoam packing peanuts  used to protect items that are being stored or transported they can be a wonderful kids craft once they are no longer needed.  The colorful ones are the most fun (at least according to the kids).  You can also pick up a big bag of them at your local craft store.

    When Jake’s sister and her family came to visit they spent one of their evenings here with friends.  Their friends introduced them to this easy and entertaining craft for the kids.  They brought home a baggie full of packing peanuts so I got out some wallpaper samples and the kids had a blast building all kids of items with the craft.

    The kids used paint brushes and water to wet down the styrofoam peanuts.  The wet peanuts would stick together and to the wallpaper like glue once they dried.  They can use their imagination and build whatever they want.  On the fireplace we had towers, houses, forts, pools and more fun stuff.

    If your looking for a fun craft and have a few extra packing peanuts around you should try it.

  • Decorating the Christmas Tree

    A picture of our spinning Christmas tree all decorated at night!

    The girls LOVE helping us decorate the tree for Christmas and can barely wait for us to get all the stuff out of the attic.  Over the years they really have become a huge help when it comes to decorating, not to mention that their excitement is contagious!

    When we decorate the Christmas tree we like to turn on the Christmas music and have fun.  While our tree will not win any award for the “most professionally decorated”  or “color coordinated”, it is packed full of memories.   Christmas ornaments I had as a baby, items the girls have made for us, and many other fun family treasures. In all fairness it is the perfect tree for our family because we did it together.

    Karlie all smiles as she wears the “tree skirt”!

    My little Brina helper!  All smiles as she listens to music and helps put up the Christmas decorations.

    Taking a break from tree decorating to drink some Eggnog!

    Our Christmas tree, decorated by the whole family!

    Throughout the Christmas Season you can often find our family reading a book together near the tree, sitting on the couch next to it talking about our days, or even enjoying a cup of hot chocolate while looking into the tinkling lights.  I am thankful for my family and the opportunity to celebrate yet another wonderful season together.