motherhood

Every year when mother's day comes around I become so filled with emotion its at times hard for me to embrace it. 

I'm so thankful for my own mom that its unbelievable to me.  She's someone that I consider a true confidant, a best friend and honestly, someone I truly enjoy being around.  There's something about my mom that understands me at my core.  She's been there for me in the brightest of times and she's been there during some of my darkest times and in the midst of every time, she's been there without judgment but with guidance and advice (and many times, there to laugh with me and there to cry with me).  Its inexpressible the blessing she is to me in my life and to the life of my children as their grandma.  She's lovely and precious and beautiful inside and out. 

I'm also thankful for my mother-in-law.  She's a woman of incredible strength.  I look up to her in so many ways and consider her someone that I can go to if I need to bounce ideas off of and get advice. I genuinely enjoy her presence and love spending time just shooting the breeze.  She's also someone who constantly is thinking of others before herself (even at her own expense at times).  She's an example to  me on how to be hospitable and how to be a good host.  I enjoy her in so many ways.  She is an incredible grandma to my children and to my niece and nephews as well.  We are all so blessed to have her. 

And, when it comes to me thinking about my children and how God gave me these specific children, I'm overwhelmed with amazement and joy.  I don't feel worthy, at times, to be their mom but so thankful that I am.  I'm thankful for their personalities that are fully developing, for their expressions and sense of humor.  I'm thankful that they stretch me in every way possible.  They make me want to be a better person and they challenge me to look at myself and see areas that I need to change and improve upon.  They are lovely and I'm so thankful and humbled to be a mom.  As we sit here in all our morning of mother's day bad hair and puffy faces, I'm thankful for every minute I get to be a part of their lives.

.cooking and other news.

Here are some of my latest experiments with baking...

They are based on these recipes:

Doughnuts

Pretzels This is a vegan recipe...I did not make them vegan and they turned out well.

Also, I've delayed in revealing another blog that I've been working on but I think that things have been going well so far, I'm going to let whoever reads this blog know about it...

Its a blog that I've titled RunningTowardTheFinishLine and its about documenting my journey in fitness and keeping healthy.  Lately I've been just keeping my workout diary on there but in the near future, I'm going to be posting more healthy eating tips and recipes as well as workout ideas and products finds and reviews.  The blog is kind of hard for me to share in a way because this is a very personal area of my life (not sure why).  I think perhaps its because I'm afraid of judgment in this area of my life...but I think I'm at the point now where I'm confident and secure enough to share. Anyway, if you're at all interested, please feel free to check it out and let me know if there are any questions or ideas you want me to explore!   Here's the link to the blog:  http://runningtowardthefinishline.blogspot.com/

Sticker Chart

We've been trying to correct some minor behavior issues with Elijah and so we started doing a sticker chart with him to reward him for good behavior and positive reinforcement...well, he finished his chart the other day and couldn't be prouder. He got to pick out a new car as his reward and hasn't let go of it since!

Being Uncomfortable with Being Uncomfortable

Recently its come to Phil's and my attention that to become comfortable or welcomed into a new environment it requires two things. One, it requires that the environment be a place that fosters community and provides opportunities to get involved. Secondly, it requires an act of movement on our part to get involved. Yet, interesting enough, our consumer-based culture tells us that if we're not happy or if we're not satisfied instantly or need to make an effort then whatever we're doing must not be good. Being uncomfortable in a new environment is something that you have to deal with constantly after becoming an adult. It follows you everywhere. Whether in a new job, making a large purchase, having a family, going to a new class or a new hobby or choosing a new church or a new service area...its always uncomfortable at first.

If we simply go to consume, then we're never going to be satisfied. Its like going to a restaurant for the first time. I may go somewhere new and go out on a limb and try something new. The service is great, the atmosphere is fun. What if I taste what I chose for dinner and don't like it, does that mean that the whole restuarant is bad? Probably not. I just made a poor choice. I can't base my whole opinion on the restaurant by only trying one thing. I need to go back and choose something else. The restaurant experience isn't just about food. Its about the experience and how we interact with the environment.

I can't go somewhere new and expect to make instant best friends. It takes work, it takes getting uncomfortable and making an effort. Sharon at SheWorships says it well in her blog post Putting Yourself Out There . Base your decision or opinion by first asking yourself where your heart is at. Are you going to only consume? Are you passing judgments before you've really given it your best effort? Are you willing to put yourself out there?

Teaching Thankfulness

Elijah and Savannah's birthday was a few weeks ago and they had a great time celebrating and thoroughly enjoyed all their new gifts they received. Phil and I feel very strongly in teaching our kids to always have an attitude of thankfulness. At the earliest age we teach them to say please and thank you, but thankfulness goes way beyond that. We thought that this birthday was a great opportunity to take it a step further with Elijah. He's starting to write so I wrote thank you cards to everyone who gave him and Savannah a gift and had him write his name on it after the thank you. I read him what I wrote on each card and we took a moment to remember and talk about the gift. I felt that was an important step so that he wasn't just practicing writing his name but he was able to recognize that he was actually sending each person a thank you. This seems so common sense but I really feel that in this day-and-age, thankfulness is becoming a lost art and a lost characteristic in each of us and especially our children.


There is a quote (I'm not sure who wrote it) that says, "If you want to find gratitude in this generation, you’ll have to look for it in the dictionary." I'm determined for this to not be true with our own children.