My Pi Pod.

In the age of technology children are becoming more computer/tech savvy. Last week Dolly was showing us her Pi Pod. Which in baby language means " I pod". When Cookie was little the coolest thing for a baby to have besides their favorite stuffed animal or doll was a toy phone. Now I am proud to say that my 2 year old carries around and plays her favorite song on her Pi Pod. As you can see from the picture, her ipod is an old musical box from her mobile that she graduated from.

It of course only plays one song and just knowing that she and mommy have a Pi Pod is good enough for her.

Advice concerning new moms

This is the truth:

• New moms need help-and usually they need more than just meals.
• New moms need lots of help over the first year of her new baby's life-even if its not her first baby.
• Pregnancy takes 10 months (40 weeks), It takes longer to get your pre-pregnancy body back.
• If/When your daughter/son has a baby, be helpful. That means be complimentary,cook, and clean...all done with a smile. She/he just bought your grandchild/children into the world-and that's a big deal.
• A new mom is usually very sensitive. Don't tell a her how much she doesn't look like her child/children -even if it is true.
• Cultivate a loving relationship with your children so that you will be welcomed when they begin their own family.
• Cultivating a relationship includes swallowing pride and saying I'm sorry-even though you felt as though you tried your best or even if you feel you have the right to be right..
• New moms need to hear the phrases: "I think you're a great mom", or even "Happy Mother's Day".
• You will parent differently than your parents, And your children will do things differently than you.
• Above all, never read into things. take things at face value. When in doubt ask, "What did you mean by that?"

Green isn't yucky

I can' take all the credit. I have to say that I was raised by parents who both cooked and were heavy on the vegetables. More than half of my fathers diet comprised of fruits and veggies and we ate veggies with 99% of our meals. My mother never made 2 or 3 different meals to appease the tastebuds of her 3 girls. We just ate what was in front of us. We never asked for an alternative and never was offered one. I now see how 2 & 3 different meals causes chaos in the house and kids who expect it where ever they go. With 4 kids in my life and all the craziness that comes with that, I just don't invite meal chaos. (Although and occasional scoop of icecream with waffles at breakfast time doesn't hurt).

I usually make 1 meal in our house with a tiny bit of wiggle room. After being on solids for over 3 years, Saturday night we celebrated Noahkeem eating his first spinach salad-loaded down with ranch dressing of course. Sunday he ate another salad. I heard words echoing in the kitchen like "good" and "yummy". And they were all coming from my Noahkeem. The next day after church, Noahkeem helped make the salad. Which we all ate before dinner/supper/lunch was served. Last night-Monday he said in an Eeyore kind of voice, "Okay... I'll try the corn". As he chewed his corn, you could see that he was in terrible distress. (Distress being that corn did not rank on his list of yummy foods) He chewed and swallowed anyway and then the coughing started- no vomit though. Lots of coughing and then he simply stated, "Mommy, I don't like corn". Which was fine with me. This is coming from a little boy who is in love with chicken-any style, and had digestive issues a little over a year ago. So to all the moms out their who make one meal, keep persevering.. eventually they will try things that are green or look yucky.

This is what He keeps telling me- over and over again

In the midst of what has been going on in the motherhood these are my latest adventures:

• Noahkeem finally ate his first spinach salad and had another today (an answer to prayer)
• Dolly ate a cucumber yesterday and managed to use the most band-aids this week
• Rocco is loving his school time. His eyes light up and his face beams with joy-most of the time. (another answer to prayer)
• Cookie is secretly planning all kinds of surprises for my upcoming 9th anniversary of my 27th birthday.
• I managed to clear my front beds of weeds in less than an hour and nearly filled what seemed to be a 33 gallon lawn bag.
• We planted seeds to grow indoors and they are actually thriving in the kitchen window quite nicely. (Zinnias, and 4 clementine seeds-Cookies idea)
• Most importantly, It still blows my mind that as imperfect as I am that the God of the universe keeps declaring His love for me. And this my friends is what He keeps telling me:

For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”Zephaniah 3:16-18. Did you ever stop to consider that God Almighty is in heaven, singing love songs over you? So this is what He keeps telling me. He love's us, Oh how he loves us! Imperfect, Loud, obnoxious, bitter, loving, unforgiving, happy, sad, sick, healthy, bound or free- whatever state we are in does not change His love for us and He is the only one that can fill that hollowness, that longing, that hunger -that void that we feel in our hearts. There's no magic formula, there's no secret, there's no special 7 step plan that will lead you to the path of fullfillment or contentment. Everything this world has to offer is so temporary. Salvation, peace of mind, redemption, forgiveness, ressurection, reconcilation and healing are only things that Father God can give. And if it is coming from Him, then you can believe it is everlasting. I used to think going to church and being good and doing good would make me a great person, I found out-that is not the way, (Isaiah 64:6). You can't earn salvation by doing good things. You may gain influence and acceptance from the world but, you can't work your way into a right relationship with the one who created you. You can't live a "good" life in order to fulfill you when Jesus already gave His life for you. God declares that He has loved you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). Yet we question Him constantly. If you love me why is this or that happening to me? Why is there so much suffering? Why do people get killed? Why aren't people getting healed? Why is there so much injustice in the world? Why? Why? Why? This is what I know: God has used Many- and I mean many situations in my life to grab my attention so that my heart is turned toward Him so that He can demonstrate His love and ressurection power in my life. His power to heal, forgive, set free, restore, and strengthen. So that is the answer to why in many cases-( I can not answer for all cases). Being a mother, wife, a sister, an aunt, a daughter, and a friend coupled with all of the drama those roles can entail has driven me to my knees so many times to cry out before the Lord and to search Word to get the answers to the questions that life throws at me. And God has remained faithful. He always gives answers, ideas, creativity, strength, discernment and causes me to trust Him so that he can show me and others around me that He is sovereign and He knows what he is doing. He manages to show that He is not some far off angry being in the sky who is mad at me and ready to crush me for my sins. I often tell myself and those I love that GOD IS NOT MAD AT YOU -HE IS MAD ABOUT YOU. So my confession for the evening is found in: Romans 10:9 (New International Version)
'"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved". One simple prayer of acknowledging who you are, and what you are not, and the sin that seperates you from God, and asking for His mercy and asking for His Love and His Power to become real in your life like you have never known before.... that's all it takes. He will lead you and guide you on the narrow road that leads to true fulfillment. He's the Father you have been waiting for.

Kim Walker sings an awesome rendition of "How He Loves Us. Please click the link and give a listen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoC1ec-lYps

Chores, Chores, and more Chores.

First I have to say, I can't stand the word "Chores". I guess because my father ran it in the ground when I was growing up. He would always ask if I did my "chores". I got a whopping $2.00 for cleaning 1/2 the house! In my eyes it wasn't nearly enough for a girl who liked to go rollerskating every Friday and it cost at least $3.00 to get in and $2.00 for the skate rental.

Now that I am a grown up, no one asks if I did my chores, they just notice when I don't. With 4 children and homeschooling to boot, I wouldn't dare try to do all the chores at one time. Although I do have a 1 hour home blessing hour that I do courtesy of http://flylady.com. More often than not my chores are divided by days , each day has an assigned chore, even though there are some things that are done every day i.e. trash, kitchen floor, dishes. But as life would have it after I moped the kitchen floor twice in the last seven days, the spills kept running like Niagara falls. Today we had an avalanche of milk in the a.m. followed by a downpour of apple juice in the p.m. In my brain I ask myself, "Didn't you just mop this floor?" But my mouth says, "you have to be more careful next time... get some paper towels and wipe up were it's wet." as if that calm little statement will prevent the next "accidental spill". Thursday is usually bathroom day where I thoroughly clean all the bathrooms and get my boys to tame the toilet with the magic of the all powerful toilet brush. This is there favorite job. But by the time the weekend is over or sometimes by the time Thursday night rolls around, I find a sad, sopping wet pair of underwear on the floor drowning in a little yellow pond. And finally somewhere between bath time and bedtime kisses a little 3 year old confesses that he had an accident on the floor. Now why didn't I notice this accident earlier you might wonder. It's because I don't usually come back upstairs during the course of the day unless I'm taking my 1:00pm union break after I put Dolly down for her nap and toss her dirty duds into the diaper pail- which is located in the infamous bathroom.

So tomorrow, I will do my chores again and thank God at the end of the day for kids who function normally and can go to the bathroom on their own, and for children that have hands that can grasp cups and spill the contents at the same time and for a house that has both a kitchen and bathroom to do all of this in.

"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

I need you Jesus.

Rescue by Eddie James is my hearts sentiment today. The bottom line is that Jesus is the bottom line. So click on the You tube link above and realize no matter how much we try to fill ourselves with anything but Jesus, our souls are desperate for Him -at least mine is.