Monday, March 31, 2014

Stay-at-home-moms.

I have blogged about being a stay-at-home-mom before, but I am doing it again. It's something I'm passionate about and that means a lot to me. 

I was spurred on again by a few recent conversations, and by reading this article by Matt Walsh about his wife staying home.

I think the thing that bothers be the most is throwing the word JUST into it. Like, you're JUST a stay-at-home-mom. One of the main questions people ask after you have the baby is, "When are you going back to work?" It seems like most people don't consider being a SAHM, for themselves or for others. 

Since when did being a stay-at-home-mom become not enough? I think it's everything!

Again, I know there are tons of women out there who truly need to work, and I understand that. I am sensitive to you, I am. Whether you have a two-income household is not for me to tell you. But, right now I am speaking about a few recent comments I have heard recently along the lines of I could never stay home or the weekend is plenty long enough. 

That makes me sad. Raising your children, whether you work outside the home or not, is an extremely high calling. I like what Matt said in his article about how you are expendable at your job. You can be replaced easily. You are never expendable as a mom and you can never be replaced. The second your children are born, you are forever changed. I'm so excited for that. 

I also liked what he said about being busy. You can be busy and not be important, and you can be important and not be busy. People are obsessed with being busy. Consider what Proverbs 31 says:

Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character

10 [b]A wife of noble character who can find?
    She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her
    and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm,
    all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax
    and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
    bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still night;
    she provides food for her family
    and portions for her female servants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
    out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously;
    her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
    and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff
    and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor
    and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
    for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed;
    she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
    where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
    and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
    she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom,
    and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household
    and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women do noble things,
    but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,
    and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
I want to be that kind of woman. I want to be busy enough that I am making a difference in my community and meeting the needs of others, yet be there for my children's needs. I want to bring my family good, not harm. I want to be a hard worker and give my family what they need. I want to have the character qualities described- clothed with strength and dignity, speaks with wisdom, gives faithful instruction, and fears the Lord.

For me (and Kley), I am thrilled that God is blessing us with the opportunity for me to stay home. I am excited to stay at home. I know it will be hard, but it's what I've always wanted. 

I can't wait to have this baby. :)

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Thankful.

Today I am thankful for:

Warm weather!
A nice walk outside
Chocolate chip muffins
Character macaroni and cheese
Date night
Seeing a movie (God's Not Dead)
Taking naps
Catching up on favorite TV shows
Our vacation to Florida last week
Our church
Friends coming home for Easter

And, the huge next seasons we are going to have- having a baby (!!!!!), Kley graduating, moving...

Saturday, March 29, 2014

2CELLOS- Thunderstruck.

http://www.sharedots.com/2-men-with-their-cellos-produce-most-incredible-song-cover-ever-this-will-blow-your-mind-122.html

You have to watch this. They are amazingly talented. Stringed instruments are so cool.

Ocean crafts.

Paper Plate Streamer Jellyfish. 


Glitter Starfish.


Handprint Goldfish.


Ocean Fish Painting.


"Ocean" Blue Jello with Swedish Fish.

Community helpers crafts.

Doctor bag.


Nurse Hat- I also let them decorate with stickers/dot markers.


Dentist- Brushing Teeth.


Veterinarian Painting/Watercolor/Dot markers.


Police Officer Badge (coloring, writing their name on it, and star stickers).



Fire Truck Gluing.


Fire Painting- I also added a hose with water coming off the side.



Construction Tools Painting.



And these community helpers people were a big hit in the block center.

Friday, March 28, 2014

March Vacation Books.

I love having time to read on vacation. It's the best. I was originally pumped to read this first book, The Husband's Secret by Liana Moriarty, because I found it on the New York Times bestseller list, so I assumed it would be good. When I looked it up at my local library, there was a HUGE wait (like 45+ people), so then I really thought it would be good. I had been on the waiting list for months, and it lined up absolutely perfect that it was my turn over our vacation!

Unfortunately, the initial hype did not live up. It was okay, but definitely not my favorite. The book revolves around three different families in Australia, and each chapter is about a different family and has numerous characters, so it took a few chapters to actually learn who was who and who went with what family. All three families, obviously, intertwine throughout the book and their stories intersect. 

I don't want to give away plot, but it's basically about secrets people keep and the damage they can cause. Personally, I thought the book was kind of petty. It dealt with serious subjects, but handled in a gossipy/soap opera-ish way, in my opinion. I also didn't like the amount of language in the book. I think foul language is totally unnecessary.

I also absolutely hated the epilogue at the end. Remember the "What If?" post I put up earlier this week? This was the worst thing to read after thinking about that. The epilogue went through all the characters and listed ways their lives would have or could have been different if they would have taken a different path or made different choices. 

So, read it if you want to, but I wouldn't recommend very highly.



This next book, The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, I would TOTALLY RECOMMEND! I loved it so much. I heard a recommendation for this book from another blog I read (http://haverleecolyer.blogspot.com/), who gives lots of book reviews. I was originally drawn to read it because it deals with a girl who grew up in foster care. Foster care is an intriguing, fascinating, and passionate topic for me. With teaching children who have been in or are in foster care, and also contemplating being foster parents someday, the topic drew me in. It's about a girl named Victoria, and you immediately get drawn into her character, root for her, and empathize with her. The chapters go back and forth in between past tense (to mainly when she lived with Elizabeth), to present tense (to her emancipating from the system, getting a job, and her story with Grant). 

It's so good. Read it. It also weaves in a lot of information about flowers and their meanings, because Victoria is passionate about flowers and ends up working at Bloom. I liked that aspect because I have a secret dream of being a florist. 

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

The best news.

We have some thrilling news that's been so hard to keep secret: we're having a baby! We are SO excited! We are due October 19 and can't wait. :)





Monday, March 24, 2014

My nerd game show dream.

Anyone remember Supermarket Sweep? It was back in the 90's. If I could go on any game show, that would be the one. I bet I am the only one that would say that. Basically, you had to run through a grocery store and get items worth the most amount of money. I think I would rock at that. I love grocery shopping.


Saturday, March 22, 2014

Florida Spring Break 2014 Part 6.

Well, today was our last day in Florida. Bummer, but so thankful for a warm week away. We spent the day at Keaton's baseball game and at the beach. Here are a few favorite pictures from the week. See you next time, Florida!








Friday, March 21, 2014

Florida Spring Break 2014 Part 5.

Yesterday I didn't take any pictures. We woke up early and went shell hunting on this beach that was supposed to be really good in Sanibel, but honestly the shells were just okay. There were a lot, but they were mainly all small and white and looked the same. But, it was still really fun and always amazing to be at the beach. In the afternoon we went to Keaton's game again, and then had dinner at Ruby Tuesday's.

Today was awesome! We left early this morning and didn't get back until after dinner- it was a full and fun day. We went to the Fort Myers Beach area for the dolphin cruise! We got there early and walked along the beach and went shell hunting again. This beach was better than yesterday's, I thought, and the shells were much better!

Here are some pictures of the dock where our dolphin boat left from.




In the gift shop they had an aquarium with a few sea creatures. 



They also had Tiki the parrot outside.


Kayla, Kley, and me!


Palm trees are the best.



This was the morning shell hunting.


Kley and I on the beach. (Christmas card material, I think! :)



There were these huge pelicans that would sweep down.




Dolphin cruise!


It was so much fun. The weather was absolutely beautiful today- the perfect temperature. I was warm but not hot. The boat ride was beautiful and seeing dolphins was so great!




Here are some dolphin pictures. These don't do it justice at all. We got much better views in person, but it was too fast to photograph well and everyone was trying to take pictures at the same time.



This is an osprey nest on top of the sign.


They came up so close to the boat! It was so cool.








This was a guy on the dock who was feeding some sort of raw fish to the catfish in the water. They went crazy!


After the dolphin cruise, we hit the beach again. It was the perfect afternoon.



Someone had spent a lot of time making sand castles.



For dinner, we hit up Five Guys. It was my first experience, and it was pretty good!



After that, we put in Dairy Queen into the Garmin, but it took us to Eats & Treats instead, which was quite funny. So we had ice cream there!




Today was an absolutely great day. :)