Snack time!!

Okay, I'll be honest. I love having kids simply for the excuse to sit down and have snack time twice a day :) Man, I'll miss this stage! As an early-child educator I learned early on that children function best on 3 healthy meals and 2 small snacks a day. Done properly this also trains them to be good eaters and shows them an ideal routine for consuming food. Once I became a parent, my training was confirmed when I started to teach my kids (and myself) the best way to eat. Now I'm sure this is done differently in many homes, but this is what I've come to learn, know, and trust.

The first question is: When and how often should my kids eat?
Typically children have breakfast within an hour of waking up. Usually their morning snack should fall somewhere between 1.5-2 hours after breakfast and the same before lunch. A mid day meal should be provided (usually between 11-1 depending on your type of schedule, early or later). An afternoon snack should be provided sometime after an afternoon nap or 2-3 hours after lunch and 1.5-2 hours before dinner. Now obviously, tweak this for your child... some kids eat little meals, so don't over do their snack. Be sure your child is at a healthy weight and not over eating. Outside of 3 meals and 2 good snacks a day, kids really don't need to eat anymore than this.

Second question: What type of snacks should I provide?
This is where the fun begins! Snack time can be creative and fun and easy! I encourage a snack time where you sit down with your child and take time to chat with them, relax, and let them develop healthy eating habits (chewing, swallowing, eating slow enough it doesn't get crammed in a mouth in 2 minutes, table manners).

Milk, 100% juice (be careful, many juices are NOT 100%- this is important! read your labels), or water are the perfect beverage choice. It is really unnecessary for kids under 2 to have juice just yet, but if you want to explore with that try half and half (half 100% juice, half water) to dilute it a bit. A special treat at my house: chocolate milk (Ovaltine :)

Here are some food suggestions... I recommend 2-3 items from the 4 food groups. This list is written as a variety of snack ideas for 1 snack time.

1/2 apple, cheese slices, milk
Goldfish crackers, milk, applesauce
milk, fruit kabobs (easy to make), cottage cheese
1/2 bagel with optional cream cheese, juice, ham cubes
cereal mix (non-sugared), milk, grapes
graham crackers, milk, fruit cup (easy to make & freeze)
muffin, milk, 1/2 apple
crackers, veggies with dip, cheese slices, juice
Nutri-Grain bar, milk, fresh fruit
pretzels, juice, cheese slices
crackers, raisins, cheese slices, deli meat, juice
cheese sandwich, fresh fruit, juice
mini pizzas ( biscuit dough, pizza sauce, cheese) hands on snack!, juice
celery, peanut butter, raisins, crackers, juice (make "ants on a log")
yogurt, granola, blueberries, milk (make a parfait in a cup, let your child create it!)
fruit smoothie ( frozen strawberries, yogurt, apple juice, bananas), muffin
yogurt sticks (not sure what to call these, we freeze them like a popsicle :), crackers, pineapple, milk

Be creative and try a variety of things. There are so many fresh fruits & veggies and kids love to help pick them out. Make snack time fun!

Third Question: Other ideas??? What do you serve for snack time???

loving your man

This one is geared towards you married mom's... all women are welcome to read though :)
Lets talk about husbands. I believe husbands are a true gift from God. If you have been blessed with a special man in your life, take time to thank God for him today if you haven't yet. At times, they are a real pain in the you know what, but they are and always will be God's gift to us. :0) I love my husband and though we have our quarrels like any other married couple, we are united, together, steadfast. I love him. He has been my best friend for many years. He brings to our marriage characteristics that I don't and can't give to this team. He brings to our family qualities that were set aside just for him. Your husbands were woven together for you and my prayer is that you will live life today in a way that honors God's plan for your life in this area.

If you are a wife, we are instructed to love our husbands. Titus 2:4 says 'Admonish the young women to love their husbands". Before our children even, we are to love our husbands! Older women should train the younger to love their husbands! That can be a hard task when you are constantly tending to your children's needs. However, I constantly have to instruct myself to put him before them. Our children will be better off when we focus on our second love first. (God first, husband second, kids third). I think this can be shown in the little things. A quick love note, hot breakfast made before he heads to work, cleaning his favorite jeans and shirt to wear, making his favorite meals, letting him have the remote control and actually sitting with him while he watches whatever he wants (and not reading or being on our computers!), an encouraging email to him during his work day, praying for him, asking him "what can I do to help you today?", paying attention to him. Often times it's the little things that go the farthest in our relationship. Especially as kids enter the picture, the little things happening will make your relationship with your husband feel more constant instead of small and minimal. Take time to connect with your husbands. My relationship with my hubby goes much farther when I intentionally focus a little bit of myself on him.

What about you married mom's? What things do you do that speak love to your hubby? I'm always looking for ideas to enrich our life here in our home. Share the love my friends!

And looking back at the verse from Titus... do you have an older woman whom you look up to in the "wife" department? If you do... what is it she is doing that makes her stand out as a good wife?

Love your husbands today! You were made for him. You are wonderful and beautiful and made to love! Be sure your husband knows that today!

Inside Play

I don't know about you, but living in the Midwest in the middle of winter can start to feel... well, a bit boring and very cooped up! Times that feeling times 5 for kids!! A great way to keep activities rolling along and give the kids something to do, as well as learn, is to create yourself a sensory table! If you've been in a preschool or kindergarten classroom you probably know what this looks like. If not, it's pretty simple to recreate in your own home. Get yourself any type of sturdy box, rubber maid tub, big bowls even, or the bathtub if you have to! Little kids pools work well too. My favorite thing to use... one of those skinny, narrow, and low tubs with an easy to store lid or our blow up kiddie pool. You can find them at most Walmarts, Targets, or even Menard's. Once you've established a sensory table area just fill it up. Sensory tables are a great way for kids to experience hands on learning!! You can always add measuring cups, little kids scissors, bowls, water toys, fish (yes, a goldfish can be VERY fun in water!), wash clothes (wash baby dolls or pumpkins or veggies from the garden), shovels, buckets, watering can, gloves, little cars, etc.

Here's a list of ideas to use in your new table...

cotton balls
snow (from outside or fake snow)
water
vegetables
rice
balls
dirt
sand
shaving cream
scrap pieces of wrapping paper
different textured fabrics
jello
easter grass
easter eggs
ribbons & bows
popped popcorn with bags and scoops
cooked spaghetti with a touch of oil (some red and some blue)
potting soil and flower pots
add straw to your water table (for an experiment in texture changes)
leaves and acorns
rocks
feathers
packing peanuts
dry pasta (color it for bright colors!)
corn cobs (have kids pick kernels off)
pudding
Bubble bath soap with water


Any other good things you've used for sensory activities??? Pass them on!

prayers for Haiti...

Sometimes the biggest tragedy's bring out the biggest hearts... please pray for our brothers and sisters in Haiti today.

P.U.S.H.- Pray Until Something Happens

If your heart leads you, consider making a financial contribution to your local Salvation Army, Red Cross, churches sponsoring Haiti programs, World Vision, and the so many great organizations stepping in to bring relief to those in need today. This disaster clean-up process won't end today, tomorrow, or even this year. This will be a long term effort to bring care, resources, support, and healing to the people of Haiti. Make a commitment to remember those in need and pray often. Prayer does change things. Peace to you today!

Secret Indulgence

Everybody has a certain something they love to do, love to eat, love to have. Women especially have a love for chocolate, a day at the beach, a new pair of shoes, a new book, whatever their "thing" is... I meet too many women who never let themselves indulge just an itsy bitsy little teeny bit. Sometimes I just want to buy them their secret treat or take their kids so they can sneak in that nice long bath while they get lost in a good book. Now of course there is an extreme to this "reward" method... you can surely take this to extreme levels and make it an unhealthy habit. Be careful! BUT, for those of you that could use a little indulging today... go for it. I think we're better mom's when we care for ourselves just a bit. Mine? I love a Sunday afternoon nap followed by a really good fiction book. I'm feeling the urge to let myself indulge today... sigh, what a precious little treat to myself :) Especially while my kids nap themselves! What about you??? What's your thing? Find some time and let yourself unwind a bit this week. Indulge yourself... it's okay, I promise :)

What is a woman after God's own heart?

The description at the head of this blog talks about being a mother who lives a life following God's heart. Being a woman after God's own heart. This is a focus I really started to look at about half way through my college years. Once I was married I really started to look at this from a wife perspective and then once I became a mom I REALLY wanted to know what following God's heart meant for me as a woman. I yearn to be a woman of God. I desire this so much because in the last couple decades of my life, when I've found my "sweet spot" so to say has been when I was in complete obedience to God's will for my life. I use the phrase "sweet spot" to define doing that one or two things in your life that you know with all your heart, mind, and soul that you were created for for such a time as this. When I am in my sweet spot, my heart is in rhythm with God's, I have the most contentment, joy, and peace in my life. So when I talk about being a woman after God's own heart I am talking about being that woman who has found her place with God and are using your purpose to be a part of this world. Sometimes I am dead on with living in my sweet spot, sometimes I shift or make choices that sway me away. Either way, I never want to stop reaching for God's desires for my life. I never want to stop trying to live His purpose for me with each day I am given.

Are you a woman after God's own heart? How do you know? Look at your life today and see if you are spiritually where you want to be. Pour some coffee and sit down to make a list of the type of woman you want to be today, 1 year from today, and even 10 years from now. It doesn't have to take very long... give yourself 10 minutes. Are the choices you're making, the actions you are having, and the words you are using pointing you in that direction of what you want to be? Do you have a desire to be a woman after God's own heart? I do. I'm praying you do to. Believe you can be this woman after God's own heart. God already knows this about you...

What's your life verse?

Life verse. This is something I hadn't really heard of until about 6-7 years ago. I started to hear this term being used in a series of fiction books I was reading and became curious as to how many others lived their life with a "life verse". Turns out, many do! Looking back I seem to have always gone back to a certain verse in the Bible when I ran across valleys and mountains in my life. Jeremiah 29:11 says... "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to bring you hope and a future." I guess this was sort of my life verse without really knowing it. Of all the verses in the Bible this one speaks to me the most consistently. When I graduated from high school I marked it in my Bible the first time. It reminded me that even though I felt a bit lost going off to college and a little overwhelmed with the next phase of life, God had a plan for me. And it was a good one. This verse stumbled back to me when I found myself knee deep in a party phase, in debt, and clueless as to what I should do with my life. Again, God told me he had a plan. And still, it was good and filled with hope. Later on as I found my way off a too well traveled path and onto a more straight and narrow one, God again told me He planned to bring me hope and a future... even after many mistakes. And so it goes... when I married, had a baby, changed jobs, lost friends, fought with family members, struggled with a purpose, lost self-esteem, lost a baby, had another baby, made a house a home, started new relationships, and so on... God has been steadfast with His promise. He truly did and still does have a plan for my life. It has been filled with hope and a future and though I haven't been able to see it as times... He's been there holding up His end of the deal. Having a life verse has comforted me and given me strength when I couldn't do that for myself.

How about you? Do you have a life verse? A piece of scripture that you turn to on a regular basis? Some of the word that drives your inner-self to keep going when it's tough and praising joyfully when it's just lovely on this side of heaven? I believe life verses can shift at times. Even though this verse from Jeremiah stays with me often, I've found other verses to guide me through certain seasons of my life too. A handful of verses are written in my notebook of "anything and everything" and each have spoken to me in different times. I love the verse from Jeremiah though and it will continue to be a verse I carry with me through this life even if it has a side kick or two at certain moments.

As a mother I want my children to grow up filled with God's word. I want them to find truth and meaning in God's promises and stories. My prayer is that they too will find a life verse to guide them along the way...or bring them back when and if they've fallen off that well guided road at some point in their own lives.

If you have a life verse I'd love for you to share it with me today! If you don't, check out Jeremiah 29:11. It's sure to speak to you as it has to me so many times in my life. Happy verse hunting!

What to make?

Ever ask yourself this question at oh, say, 5:30 in the evening and have no idea what you are going to make for dinner? I hate that feeling! Being a mom, a stay home especially, has placed me in the position as primary meal maker. I don't mind most the time and actually really enjoy cooking (and baking even more!!), but I have fallen guilty on more then one occasion with that horrible question bouncing around in my brain. I am finding after 6 years of parenting and almost 9 years of marriage that a "meal system" is a must in a household where you need to feed people. (I think that covers all of us!) I am a planner in many areas in my life and meal planning is no different!

To begin... I believe meal planning has to be do-able and non-stressful. Not everyone will function on the same plan or in the same way. I have tried a few different styles and this is what works for me. I have tried planning meals by weeks, months, and bi-monthly. I have found that month meal plans leaves me feeling bored with end of the month's meals and not enough space in my kitchen to store all the ingredients. Plus, I always end up running to the store for basics and grab random things as I walk the aisles. Lately I have been using the weekly method. Not my favorite, but it's working for now. I am a big fan of bi-monthly when I can get in that groove. My suggestion... sit down on the weekend and write out your meals for the week. Use some fun paper that you can place on the fridge or in a cupboard to help keep you on schedule :) I like to check out the newspaper ads and check out what's on sale that week and plan around that. Once you have your meals planned make your grocery list. ALL of it. Basics, meal prep ingredients, meat, anything you might need that week. I like to shop on Monday's and get EVERYTHING I need for the whole week. This saves "quick trips' in the middle of the week and when it's time to prepare your meal at the end of the day you have everything you need. Planning meals is not only a time saver, but a money saver too. Grocery shopping for a list of meal items all at once will save you in the long run. Have you found yourself running to the store for milk and a can of cream of mushroom and returned home with 2 bags full of random things because it looked good at the time, was on sale, or you thought you might need it? Yeah, me too. Having a plan is a time saver, a money saver, and a brain saver!!

Go ahead... try it out. Plan your meals for this week or the next 2 weeks and see how it feels to come home or be home and be able to answer that dreadful question of "what to make" at 5:30 everyday. Even better, your husband and kids will thank you (or at least be happy :-) when you can politely answer their question of "what's for dinner"? Happy Cooking! Happy Planning!

Hello, come on over!

Hello! And welcome to A Mother's Place! I hope this blog finds it's way into the homes of women who are walking the motherhood path right now. I'm not sure what my exact goals are of this blog just yet, but do know I hope to offer some encouragement, some lessons I've learned along the way, a laugh or two every now and then, and mostly a place to be yourself... to be myself. Being a mom is the best job in the world (in my opinion) and also the hardest thing I've ever done. I am confidant that we are meant to walk through this life with each other. Being a mom is no exception. Never have I needed God more than I do when I parent. I've also realized I need friends and family and community more than ever too. My hope for myself is to follow God's heart. I want to be a woman after God's own heart. I want everything I do, say, and feel to be a reflection of that. Thank goodness for grace as I attempt to follow through with the last statement!!

Well, I am posting this first blog not really sure what will come of this, but do know that I want to welcome all of you out there raising little ones or big ones these days. Come, let yourself relax for a few minutes, grab that cup of coffee (or tea or water or favorite drink of your choice!), and sit with me as we share life together as mom's. I hope to write about everything from creating a home, good family friendly recipes, the heart of a mom, baby days, marriage, Biblical truth, relationships, and anything in between! I begin this with a little bit of personal fear as I don't want to be seen as your typical "know it all", but more as someone who cares deeply for mom's and their very important roles in this world. More then anything I want to cheer you on and give you a place to relate with each other. A place to be real and honest and when you are done you can hopefully walk away with a little more love in the old love tank or a new idea to apply in your own home. So... make yourself at home and welcome to A Mother's Place!