Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving for children: Ideas

Since our national holiday of Thanksgiving is right around the corner, I've been thinking about different ways I can teach my children about this most lovely time!!  Not only in ways that we can celebrate the roots it has in our national history and some of the founding events in our country, but also in the state of mind in which we live everyday!!
As a parent who has been given 6 delightful lives to nurture and guide in Biblical values and truths, I want my children to learn how to live always in a thankful mindset.  In scripture we are told that it is God's will for us to be thankful in everything we experience.....good times and bad.

"In everything give thanks:

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

1 Thessalonians 5:18

This verse certainly gives no limitations on when we are to be expressing thanksgiving to our Lord, so even though we certainly do verbalize things we are thankful for at this time in November, I want my children to learn that we should be thanking Him ALL the time!!

But practically, how do we do this?  How do I teach my children to be thankful for EVERYTHING?  For the things that are good in our lives, as well as the things that are uncomfortable or, dare I say, downright ugly?

For one thing, I think it takes practice.  Naturally, we are grumblers and complainers.  I know I am anyway.

It takes a conscious effort on our part, a disciplined mind, to praise the Lord in difficult times.

"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

and (enter) into his courts with praise.

Be thankful unto Him,

and bless His name.

(Why?)

(1.)  For the Lord is good.

(2.) His mercy is everlasting.

(3). His truth endureth to all generations."

~Psalm 100:4,5

My children are memorizing this entire Psalm this month, and I think it's significant to point out to my babes that no where in this scripture are we commanded to thank the Lord for the circumstances around us or the material possessions we have.  Our focus is to be on the attributes of our Heavenly Father.  We can always find something to praise Him for because we know that God never changes.  He is always good.  His truth never changes.  His mercy to us is "new every morning!"

Another way I can teach my children to be thankful is to learn to see things the way our Heavenly Father sees things.  We don't always understand why things happen to us that we may perceive as being "bad".  But scripture tells us:

"And we know that all things work together for good

to them that love God,

to them who are the called according to his purpose."

~Romans 8:28

I want my children to understand that even though we don't know the outcome, our Heavenly Father has the blueprint of our life that He is following, and that sometimes we have sorrowful, or painful, or hard times to teach us to trust Him more, or for a purpose that we may not even be aware of yet.  We are told to just be thankful.  Even if we don't understand.....even when it seems illogical...we must trust Him.

Finally, I want to teach my children to write things down!!  Write out everyday something you can be thankful for!!    Two of my favorite ideas are found at :

"The Most Important Day of the Year"

and

"Make a Thankful Tree."

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts,

to the which also ye are called in one body;

and be ye thankful."

~Colossians 3:15

Saturdays are for: Visiting with precious friends!!

This precious couple has been friends of our family for years.

When I think back over the years of knowing them,

 what has always stood out about them is their love for children.

They have been foster parents, he has been a history teacher in tough public high schools,

and she was always my "craft lady" for Vacation Bible School.

Their generosity to our family alone is incredible.

They have blessed us over and over.

The sweet boy between them is the son of one of their adopted daughters.

They are now raising him.

Today, we helped them celebrate his 4th year of life.

And what a celebration it was!!

We all went hoping to be a blessing to them, to play with this little guy, to delight him with a gift,

and express our admiration to them for the daunting task they have so willingly taken upon themselves.

But guess who ended up being blessed the most?

 Of course, it was us!!

Again, their generosity to us was very humbling, and my children

were very touched that THEY were the ones who came away with gifts and so much love.

The journey: Getting Started

That's such a lame title.

Maybe, as time goes on, I'll think of something a little more descriptive.

What I DO know is that I don't want this to be all about me.

Over the course of this year, I have learned so much about how SO MUCH is not about ME!

I write the following information strictly for the curious.

Since the beginning of this year, I have run into people I haven't seen for awhile and here is the first reaction:

"Wow!!  You've lost weight!"

The second statement that ALWAYS follows is this:

"How did you do it?"

So I quickly want to answer that question before I move onto what I actually gained this year!

When I decided that I was GOING to lose weight, I knew I was going to need a plan.

Something outlined in map formation.

With little goals along the way that would help me reach my ultimate goal of losing 45 pounds.

But I did not want to spend a lot of money on this.

I didn't want to buy any exercise equipment:

1. I don't have space in my crowded house for something like that.

2.  I don't know one. single. person who has purchased a piece of exercise equipment who didn't end up moving it out onto the patio for storage or just selling the thing. 

3.  I didn't want to get involved in something I would not want to continue once I reached my goal.

I didn't want to go out and spend a fortune on a gym membership,

or for a fancy, shmancy set of tennis shoes and matching workout clothes.

I didn't want to get involved in some kind of fad diet that you grow so secure in that you don't

learn how to change your lifestyle on your own for lasting weight loss.

No pills (what are you learning about yourself when you pop a pill?).

No weight watchers (great group, but not for me, 

hard to maintain unless you keep going to the support groups).

No pre-packaged meals sent to my house (too expensive, processed food, how are you learning portion control yourself when they do it for you?).

No cleanses or flushing of the bowels for this chick!!

I remembered that when we were sitting in the hospital with Ashlyn when she was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes nearly 2 years ago, that our "Diabetic Educator" handed us a book

that you take everywhere you go that has nearly every restaurant in the country listed

along with every entrée that restaurant offers.  Then they have the calories and carbs listed so you

can figure out how much insulin you need with your meal.

It's called "Calorie King."

I remembered that when I read through this book, I realized the guy who started putting all this information 

together was passionate about making weight management easier.

So I went to their website.

Calorie King

I read through the information on the website, and did the 1 week free trial.

What was there to lose (besides 45 pounds???)

I immediately liked the user friendliness of the program and ALL the tremendous information they give you.

I liked that it was simply about learning how many calories your body needs every day, 

and then reducing that amount by several hundred (calories) to lose 1-2 pounds a week.

I liked that you have to learn that every morsel you put in your mouth has a calorie attached to it,

and to remember that amount, you must write it down.

I especially like that they said up front, "You don't HAVE to exercise to lose the weight."

I wasn't sure how I would fit exercise into my already overloaded daily routine.

I didn't want my weight loss to become the overriding obsession of my life to the point

that it impacted my time with my children and husband.

I didn't want them resenting that I was gone everyday for hours!

So I signed up.

And I followed it faithfully.

I recorded my calorie intake everyday in their online journal, weighed in once a week, and learned that with exercising you can eat a few more calories on that day.  

I started walking 30 minutes 3 days a week.

Then I bumped it up to 45 minutes for 4 days a week.

The first week I lost 5 pounds, then every week after that I lost 2 pounds....until about the fourth week.

That's when I ran into my first experience with the phenomenon known as:

the plateau!!

That is the infamous point in your weight loss journey that can occur over and over where you lose very little weight one week to no weight at all!!

Those are very frustrating weeks!!

I'll tell you more about what I learned through those times and how to "bust 'em"

in the next installment of this journey!!

Monday Fundays!!!

Last week my husband was gone all week to a conference that was several hours away in another big city.

Today, neither of us really had the energy or desire to pack up everybody and go do something.

So for today's "Monday Funday" we had a stay-at-home game-day.

Games are a great way to practice with your children certain
math skills, reasoning skills, vocabulary skills,
how to take turns, be accepting of each others differences,
 and self-control among other critical social skills.

Here are a few of our family's favorites:

Saturdays are for: A Random Act of Culture

I just loved this when I first saw it, and just had to share!!

Crank up the volume and enjoy!!

Can you just imagine how much fun this was!!!

"Classic Conversations"

Do you have conversations like these with your children?

Here is just a taste of the confabulations at my house.....

Garrett (who is 4 1/2):  Mom, do you have a boyfriend?

Me: Yes. Daddy is my boyfriend (said with much gushing)!

Garrett:  I'm your boyfriend too, and so is Grant.  You have 3 boyfriends, Mom.

Abby (who is 6):  Uh...Mom!!  Why did Garrett get both an ice cream cone AND a slushie?

(Asked of me at Sonic the other day, after some confusion on Garrett's part as to what he wanted for his treat.

He had originally asked for a slushie, but upon seeing everyone else's ice cream decided he wanted ice cream.  So I got him an ice cream with the intention of the his slushie going home with us. But after eating the ice cream, he then was chugging down the slushie before I realized he had it; and, of course, Abby witnessed all this with a completely different interpretation.)

Me (knowing what she was unintentionally implying):  Because Garrett is my favorite!!

My husband has been gone all week to a work related conference in another big city 5 hours away.

The second night he was gone, Ashlyn (who is 10 1/2) asked me where her daddy was sleeping.  

"Is he just staying up at the Hilton Garden Inn?"

(This hotel is just 5 minutes from our home and 3 in minutes from his employment.

Apparently, she thought that his week long conference was at his place of employment,

and that instead of just driving home, stopped in at the most convenient place to stay for the night!!!)

Me:  No, Ashlyn.....he's in San Antonio.

Ashlyn:  He's in SAN ANTONIO????

Abby: Mommy, how long til Christmas? 

Me: Um, I think like 8 weeks or so.

 Abby: I think 2 (weeks).

I was sitting in the front room of the house enjoying the quiet, when I hear from the other room

where all 6 children and Daddy are:

"EW!!" 

Me:  "What is it?" 

 Lexi:  "A piece of carrot from the salad......way up in Aryn's nose!! Daddy had to dig it out with tweezers!"