Fun Moms

A friend of mine started a blog a few months ago to encourage, equip, and empower moms to have messy, silly, crafty, sporty, yummy, genuine, good ol' fashioned FUN with their kids. She wanted a visual image that communicates her desire to give moms unique and fun ways to move, make and munch with their kiddos. I got the opportunity to help her create this logo, because I have the software and I come at the low, low price of free!! I really think the image does a great job of communicating the message. I love everything about graphic design and hopefully someday I will pursue this passion. For now the little time I give to these activities comes at a big price for my kiddos. They definitely do not enjoy when Mommy's attention is diverted. However, I think refining the skill of independent play was a priceless lesson. It was also so rewarding to watch them interact from a far and further develop their cherished friendship.

I would really encourage you all to check out her blog. Just click the image.

Going Private and Popsicle Sillies

I've decided to make this blog private, because my kids are getting older and Caleb is starting school soon. I feel it is necessary for safety and peace of mind, because he won't be in my care all the time. If you read and I am unaware, please let me know so I can add you to my list. I am starting a new public blog that will be more anonymous, but if I said where well then of course it wouldn't be anonymous. But, feel free to leave a comment and I will add you to the private list or give you the new address. This will be in effect in about 3 weeks.

And now for some good old fashioned popsicle silliness.

And of course baseball has to follow a popsicle cool down.

Gift of Honor

Letting my family know they are the most important treasure God has given my is the desire of my heart. Yet, at times the broken decor, scattered messes or sibling conflicts get the best of me and I communicate frustration. I remember as a child feeling like an annoyance and a pain in the booty at times. These feelings really hurt.  I thought in Where the Wild Things Are they did an excellent job of illustrating this point. You see an energetic little guy who gets on everyones last nerve, and all he wants is to be someones treasure. I believe children knowing their infinite value to mom is an essential message in building a high sense of self worth in our kiddos.  To set myself up for success and be able to communicate how special they are to me I am eliminating some of the potential for them to make a mess. All the toys are going in the basement in bins. Each day I will take the kids down and let them pick out a few toys to enjoy.  I think this will be a great way to keep their toys new and exciting, alleviate being surrounded with too much and eliminate the mess that sends this mommy into annoyance.

We also just implemented dates with our kiddos to help communicate their value and make them feel honored. On Saturday Cory took Sissy and I took Brother. I let Big Brother pick where ever he wanted to go and of course, he picked the Dinosaur Museum. We had the best time! It was by far my favorite day we have ever had together.

Caleb's Favorite Dinosaurs

Of course, the Tyrannosaurus Rex

Ceratosaurus

going up to viewing area of another of his favorites

Allosaurus

He couldn't wait to go digging for dinos!!

Mommy digging before I got in trouble for too much helping.

I couldn't resist putting this picture in, 

can you guess what this face is about? 

A hint, we had just finished lunch.

The Discovery Room was full of fun.

This boy loves Shamu after our trip in the spring to Seaworld

Right before we went on our date he filled 

his scoop jar and got to pick one of the 

coolest dinosaurs from the gift shop, the Spinosaurus

He actually let me take a couple of pictures, such a handsome sweet guy.

Subjected in Hope

The suffering of this world has been hitting me pretty hard, lately. Mostly, because it is so close to home. I'm perplex by it and in my limited knowledge it is hard not to ask WHY? Some of the why was answered in Piper's sermon to a congregation and family that is watching their 30 something pastor, husband and father battle a tumor in his brain. "Subjected in Hope"
He reminds me this world is not as it is meant to be. There is pain and suffering, but it is not in vain. God is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance, acknowledging Him as LORD of their life. I pray my life reflects this for those that He puts in my path, especially my children. And thus, the hurt we see and experience, He will use for good.

Half Full

We have all heard the saying about the glass and I've never thought of myself as a half empty girl, but I've realized lately that my eyes have been staring at the clear part of the glass. As I've been digging deeper I realize it goes right along with my problem solving personality, which is a strength. In order to make things better you have to see the problem, so you can solve it. However, if you get fixated on the problem you fail to see all the good that is going on in the mist of what needs sharpened. Even when things are way off and seem a mess there is always some good. Corrie Ten Boom, a survivor of the holocaust, reminds me that even in the darkest place we can always look up. "If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. If you look at God you'll be at rest." 


I've been doing an awesome bible study Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow and it really has helped me see my perspective is seeing the mud instead of the stars. Whether, it be with my role as mommy, my body or with the people both friends and family I have been focusing on the things that need fixing and not all the wonderful. I've been so encouraged by Philippians 4:8 
Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

I am not suggesting we ignore problems. Rather, see the problem, point it out if necessary, even come up with a solution if possible, but then focus on the good. The temptation is to hyper focus on the less than desirable. Seeing the tiny weed in the mist of a beautiful flower garden. I know there are seasons where it feels like the weeds just keep growing, choking out the beauty. Thus, making it all the more necessary to keep our eyes fixed on the flowers no matter how minimal they seem and then get to weeding. I've found this applies to all aspects of my life, but one area imparticular is focusing on that one part of a person's personality that seems like a tall thistle ready to burst seed and I miss all their beauty.

Even if their beauty doesn't stand out like the butterfly it is there and we must choose to let that be our focus. I was especially encouraged last night by the Proverbs 31 women who is the perfect example of seeing what's going on around her, giving wisdom, but not dwelling on things that lead to destruction.
She opens her mouth in skillful and godly Wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness [giving counsel and instruction]. She looks well to how things go in her household, and the bread of idleness (gossip, discontent, and self-pity) she will not eat.
And now to dwell on some of that lovely.

Our fishing project

They loved the craft of making them

 But the fishing was the best part

All smiles on her catch of the pink fish

Kisses from Daddy over the moon

If this looks fun check out how to get it done at Fun Mom Online.

Baffeled By Backgrounds

Ever since I started this blog I have been trying to make it cuter and cuter for free. Thanks to Cutest Blog on the Block and Shabby Blogs there a some fun free blog backgrounds. Yet, at times the backgrounds have not been quite right for what I needed on my blog. Plus, I love doing my digital scrapbook software, so I knew I could have a great time creating background images if I could just figure out the secret. I got the basic how to's from a very a helpful site, but it still wasn't working. I don't have Photoshop, so following the directions exactly wasn't an option and making do wasn't cutting it. Finally, after countless hours thanks to my determined personality, I figured out dpi and the type of image (jpg or png) makes a huge difference in the world of html code. I am inspired to change my background, because I just got great new pictures from the amazing Robin Sherman in Dallas. I am going to remind myself what I figured out, because updating my background doesn't happen but about every six months and I'm sure I will forget by then and it may help you, too. The main thing to keep in mind if you're not working with Photoshop when you are getting directions for Photoshop is to stick as close to possible with the dpi and dimension recommendations. In her example she used 100 dpi and made the image 14"x 7.5". In my software the closest options were 150 or 96 dpi, so I just adjusted my image to 15" and saved it at 96 dpi. I actually I had to make it a bit smaller in height. Don't ask my why. After several attempts of loading to my Photobucket account sized at 1 MEGA,  I got my image to fit in the background section. The other issue is the column width for the post information. The white background in my case. She recommended nine inches for a 3 column blogger blog.  For me 10 inches worked better, maybe because I expanded the image. Again, who knows? I am really loving my new background and header. Now, if I can just remember how I imported a font and changed the color I can make everything match. If history repeats it could be hours or days, but eventually I will have the blog looking up to snuff. It might make sense to hire someone, but I think solving the mystery is half the fun for this stay at home mom of two adorable munchkins.

Check them out in the new header and background.