Teachable {MOM}ents

Today, I read this passage in my bible: "Stand at attention while I prepare you for your work. I'm making you as impregnable as a castle, Immovable as a steel post, solid as a concrete block wall. You're a one-man defense system against this culture, Against Judah's kings and princes, against the priests and local leaders. They'll fight you, but they won't even scratch you. I'll back you up every inch of the way." ~Jeremiah 1:18-19 "You're a one-man defense system against this culture ". This whole passage spoke to me but I was particularly drawn to this line. As I was reading it, God just pulled this line out to my attention. And as strange as it may seem, it got me thinking about my children and their futures. I was thinking about the kind of "culture" they will be faced with in their lives. God is asking of Jeremiah to go into the world and do His work, He is preparing him for what is to come. As parents, God has laid t

So it has been a rough day. I literally knocked our laptop off of it's tray, and it died. I mean for real, goodbye, money down the drain, never to be revived again DEAD! It has all of of our family photos & videos saved on it (which we think can be salvaged, yay!)...so I was just really emotional (hormonal?!?) about the whole thing. I needed an escape. I wanted to go hide in my bedroom and cry, maybe take a relaxing bath, listen to some soothing music. But life goes on, and I had to pull myself together. It seems so silly that I would be emotional about that. It is material possession and completely replaceable. I think about losing something more important to me, something irreplaceable like my family or my freedom or my faith...and I realize that life is too short to sweat the small stuff and too good to take things for granted. On another note, last week we finished "THE VERY HUNGRY EVELYN" book (pics to come whenever I have a working computer at home again...I am

I have been thinking about Jesus being the ultimate teacher. Jesus created "teachable moments", isn't that exactly what the parables are? Jesus took 'every-day' moments and turned them into 'teachable' ones. Jesus really used every moment as a teachable moment, and as I strive to be more like Him, that is definitely an area that I hope to improve upon. So it was Day 4 of "The Very Hungry Evelyn" book, and she 'ate' through four red strawberries. She painted strawberries with strawberry Jell0, and ate some real strawberries as well (she liked the Jello better!). I had to let some cleaning go so that I could get this done and get us all ready to go on a family outing (read below), but sometimes it is good to have days when you realize that your children are more important than the dishes in the sink :) My friend, Amanda , actually just blogged about this as well. We went to a soccer game for the school my husband teaches at (Mansfield Chris

So during the night (Tuesday) Beckett started coughing and having a hard time breathing out of his nose...I can't help but feel extremely frustrated that my one month old baby is sick! I am breastfeeding and none of the rest of us have been sick...plus the few places we have taken him, we have not really allowed people to hold him. It is hard when you try and take every precaution and they still end up sick. I had RSV when I was about his age, and so I am just praying that this cold does not turn into something more serious, which I know with infants, it can. I would certainly appreciate prayers for Beckett :) Yesterday was "Day 3" of "The Very Hungry Evelyn" book project. She painted 3 plums using watercolors and then ate a plum for the very first time...and she LOVED it! If nothing else this project is a great way to try some new fruits, and see if your children like them. Here are some pics: I love fall...Everything about it. I love the smells, the breeze,

This is my first blog entry of this new blog! I am excited to start this blog. This is dedicated to my life as a mom and all the adventures that road takes me on! I have a daughter, Evelyn, who is 18 months old and I have a son, Beckett, who is one month old. I worked for about 5 years in early childhood education prior to having my children, and that carries over into my parenting. I believe children should be able to have many different learning experiences. I am not perfect, and I don't claim to be an expert, but I do have strong beliefs when it comes to raising children and I enjoy sharing my ideas and having lots of fun! As my blog title states...I believe every moment is a teachable moment with children. I don't always remember that, but am striving to be better! This week I had planned to continue learning about apples as we have been, but Evelyn has been really interested in "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle. So I tried to think of new ways to explor