What a privilege…
I know, I know, I missed my Tuesday tip. Oh well. I had more important things going on!
Last night was our last MOPS meeting of the year and it was so great. I am so grateful to my steering team, who are so dedicated and who put so much work into making everything look fabulous and go smoothly. I am grateful to our mentors who faithfully pray for all the moms, and also for me and our steering team. I am grateful for our moppets volunteers who faithfully give of their time to watch children, so that “every” mom has the opportunity to come to MOPS.
Last night I shared with the moms about my own ups and downs in the adventure of mothering. What a privilege to be a MOPS coordinator! I feel like I have a front-row seat to see how God is working in these mom’s lives. He nudged me several months ago and let me know that I needed to share my story. He gave me the words. I feel privileged and blessed to have been used by Him. Maybe I’ll even post at some point a (shorter) version of what I shared with the moms.
But right now, I just want to be praising Him for His presence, His provision, and the work He is doing in all of our MOPS moms.
Psalm 138:8 “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me – your love, Oh Lord, endures forever.”
Introducing…
Sammy!
A sweet and lovable 5 year old cocker spaniel, adopted recently from a MOPS friend. The kids love him and he (seems to) enjoy them. He’s adjusting really well!
TTAH Tuesday – leftover buns
Somehow we always have leftover buns after we have hamburgers or hotdogs. I used to put them back into the package, throw them in the fridge, thinking I’d use them for sandwiches or something. I never did. I’d usually end up throwing them out.
That’s when I had an “aha” moment.
I now use leftover buns for homemade garlic “bread” with pasta. Just slather some butter & garlic powder on them, throw them in the oven at about 400 degrees for a little while (watch them carefully!**)… and they will toast up beautifully.
Aha – no more wasting buns, and possibly saving money on not buying garlic bread or something else. Yay! Try it next time you have leftover buns!!
** funny story… I have been known to make very well done (ok, burned) garlic bread. Last night I made some garlic bread out of leftover buns, and when Dave got home he asked the kids what was for dinner. One of them told him – “spaghetti and garlic bread. and it’s not even burned.” Haa.
“BaBaaaa”
Little A (2 yr. old extraordinaire) has recently begun to run to her bedroom and shut the door when she’s got something or doing something that she knows she’s not supposed to have or do.
(Unfortunately, she can’t open it once it’s shut, but that’s a story for a different time.)
This morning I heard the door slam and (a) because I hadn’t had enough coffee yet, and (b) because I was busy writing an e-mail, I didn’t go check on her right away.
Then I heard “Babaaaa”. That’s her word for drink, beverage, cup, sippy cup, or some derivation thereof.
I finally checked on her.
And I found her drinking the dog’s water. We are dog-sitting and I had put the dog’s water in a small bowl.
A was happily holding that bowl with both hands and knocking it back. Yum.
I’m a dog lover, but I have my limits. I don’t even want to think about what types of germs she imbibed this morning. Please don’t google it and tell me, it’ll just gross me out more.
TTAH Tuesday – getting rid of weeds
After moving into our current house early last summer, I realized I needed to learn a lot more about gardening! We have some beautiful flower gardens, and it seemed I’d weed one day and those nasty things would be right back up the next.
My mom recommended Preen Weed Preventer.
Here’s a link to their website. If you go there, you can also sign up for a great garden newsletter and they have a contest going on, too!
I put Preen on my gardens in March and I can already tell a difference from last year. It has definitely cut down on the weeds I’ll have to pluck out! You have to apply it once every three months, I think, but it will definitely be worth it. I’ll caution you… it won’t kill existing weeds, but it will prevent new ones from starting.
Enjoy your garden and the warmer weather!
P.S. – Locally, BJ’s has the best price on Preen!
a lovely two days.
time alone.
a walk in Highland Park. beeautiful.
prayer with a friend.
mom’s surgery went well.
time to listen to God about what he wants me to say at our last MOPS meeting.
mom’s dog behaving.
spring program at school. cute, cute kids. i love seeing them grow up.
horse tire swings in the backyard.
two more snakes dead (not in the house, thankfully).
sleeping in with breakfast made for me!
the rest of my $80 dining room furniture arrived. sweet.
sunshine and flowers.
visit with mom at the hospital.
spending 4 hours with my sister. can’t remember when that’s happened before.
steak dinner with her and my family (made by Dave, no less).
ice cream.
now kids are in bed and… relax!
And it’s not even Mother’s Day yet!!!
TTAH Tuesday – Devotions with Kids
At our last MOPS meeting we had a youth pastor come and speak with us about sharing your faith with your kids. She emphasized the importance of reading the Bible with our kids from a young age.
I have tried to do devotions with my kids on a regular basis, although I’ll admit that I struggle with consistency.
My tip for you today is to share what we’ve used for devotions for our preschoolers. We’ve been happy with this… it’s short and to-the-point and definitely understandable to preschoolers.
It’s called Blessings Every Day by Carla Barnhill.
You can purchase a copy here.
I think the key for us has been to find a time that works. We tried bedtime. It didn’t work because by that hour I’m exhausted. We did it at lunchtime for a while when my older kids were preschoolers… and that seemed to work. Now we’re doing it at dinner because that’s when we’re all together and in one spot.
I highly recommend this book if you need a place to start with your preschoolers! Let me know if you’ve got something else that works for you!
Did you know?
…that snakes can climb pipes?
Oh, yes they can. And I’m not just talking about gigantic pythons. Regular old garter snakes. CAN. CLIMB. PIPES.
And I had one in my bathroom on Tuesday, just to prove it.
I despise snakes. I don’t even like looking at pictures of them in books (I turn the page really fast).
So you can imagine my shock and my utter disgust to find one in my bathroom. I knew they were out in the garden – I’d seen two in the past week. But I never expected one in my first floor bathroom.
I almost puked. Seriously.
And after I got off the phone leaving my husband a message telling him I can’t live like this… then I weighed my options and decided killing the thing was way better than allowing it to roam free in my house. So I killed it.
And then yesterday we had a pest-control company out to discuss how to prevent this from happening again. BECAUSE I CAN’T LIVE LIKE THIS.
At first my husband was all like, “well, at least it was a small one.” And I’m like “IT WAS A SNAKE. IN THE HOUSE. I CAN’T LIVE LIKE THIS!”
And after a few days now of having to check rooms before I enter them, he has graciously agreed to pay the aforementioned company ninety-eleven hundred dollars (well, not exactly) for my peace of mind.
Thank God.
