Grace in Mommyhood

Today, I snapped at Buddy in the library...for reacting like a four year old.  The public library is where two of Buddy's favorite things collide:  time with his best friend and story time.  Is it any wonder he didn't want to leave? 

Buddy throwing a minor tantrum at the idea of leaving, set me on edge.  Buddy making Sweetpea cry because he is being bossy about leaving, set me further on edge.  Then as I am collecting our large stack of newly checked out books, Buddy whining and demanding my attention, my patience snaps. 

Immediately the self-recriminating thoughts set in.  We head home.  Looking back in the rear view mirror to see little hazel green eyes sadly staring out the back seat window made those awful thoughts grow.

"Why can't you be a more patient mom?" 
"He is just a four year old...way to show patience by example."
"Didn't you just say to yourself yesterday that you wanted to live Christ's love to your children?"
"You are a failure as mom...again."

Dwelling on these thoughts throughout lunch and nap time, made for a long few hours.  Then Buddy woke up from nap, and crawled up next to me.  He immediately cuddled in against me and I felt it anew. Grace.

Grace in the knowledge, that for some unknown reason, this four year old loves his mom.  Grace in the ability to move on and have a happy rest of the day.  So we do, we begin again and go past the point of frustration.  And face the afternoon and evening with happy hearts.

Thank you Father God for grace!  For Your grace, when I mess up and fail over and over, is infinitely greater than Buddy's grace.  Thank you for allowing me to go through life as Mommy with a new sense of Your undeserved gift of grace.

Pinterest Projects

I, like many other moms and bloggers, love Pinterest.  There I said it.  Ever since Jon made me I chose to get an iPhone, I have been on Pinterest much more often.  But, I have not created many of the items on my boards.  So I am challenging myself to choose something from Pinterest every two weeks and actually try it.  (I had thought to try every week but with three children, I knew that two weeks would be challenge enough.)  There are lots of recipes and crafts to choose from and I look forward to being able to complete them.

This week I am starting with  DIY onesies for baby gifts for two sweet friends of mine.  I love this onesie because it reminds me of the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.  The completed onesies turned out cute and were simple to make. 

In fact I may have to make one for Ladybug!  And as a bonus, I have lots of leftover buttons for patterning activities with Buddy and Sweetpea.  Yay for Pinterest!

Read Alouds Above Grade Level

We recently discovered that Buddy is reading fluently at a third grade level and I was immediately overwhelmed by the responsibility to teach him.  I also realized that he needed a challenge with new books.  While researching ideas for homeschooling, the idea that was repeated over and over was to do chapter book read alouds as a family above your children's reading level.  So I decided to give it a try with Buddy and Sweetpea.

I decided to start with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe from The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.  I decided to read one chapter a day at either lunch or supper.  I am still doing Highchair Reading even though Sweetpea no longer sits in a highchair and now loves to sit and read.  Meal times gather us around the table and reading a chapter keeps everyone quiet and happy while they eat.

Before we read, we discuss what happened in previous chapters for Sweetpea's benefit and to work on the reading skill of retelling with Buddy.  As we read, I explain any hard to understand words or concepts to introduce new vocabulary.  After we finish the chapter, I ask Buddy and Sweetpea to make guesses as to what they think will happen.  We are currently over half-way through and both  remind me if I start to forget.

I've already have several choices lined out for when we finish this book and I'm glad we started this read aloud journey! 

Noodle Art

As we were working through our units of My Father's World Kindergarten, one of the extra activities suggested was noodle art. 

This was one of the easiest activities and both Sweetpea and Buddy loved it!  All you need is boiled noodles and construction paper.  I recommend to not over-boil the noodles because they break really easily if they become too soft.  The construction paper does crinkle as the noodles dry but I think that is okay.

Here is Buddy's art work.  He did it all by himself even though he had a hard time making the curve for the S.  I was glad he persisted and he was proud at the end.

Sweetpea needed help with the S but loved making the sun by breaking noodles into pieces. 

I think this will be a great rainy day activity to use again in the future.  I look forward to seeing what Buddy and Sweetpea can create with spaghetti noodles.

Teaching Your Child To Pray

Here is an amazing printable set of prayers from When You Rise to help teach your child to pray by example.  Seven days with seven prayers for your children.  I love the way these look and will be posting them around our house soon!

Easy Morning Glory Muffins

Yesterday, Sweetpea and I made these Easy Morning Glory Muffins from Money Saving Mom with a few adaptations for our family.  She woke up from naps first and loved that she was able to help by herself! 
I discovered these back in June and my kiddos love them!  Since Buddy and Sweetpea don't mind the orange color, I shred my carrots as finely as possible because otherwise they won't eat it if they "see" carrots.  Also, I omit the coconut and add in two apples and extra raisins. 
Although a bit labor intensive, the beauty of these muffins is that they freeze for a healthy quick breakfast (or snack).  Starting the day with hidden carrots is not too shabby!

Standing on the Promises

"Standing, standing,
standing on the promises of Christ my Savior;
standing, standing,
I'm standing on the promises of God." 

When I saw Sweetpea today, this is what popped in my head.  She is standing on our Illustrated Family Bible and I had to smile.

I hope you remember to stand on God's promises...but maybe not so literally!