Monday, October 31, 2011

IParenting

Recent statistics  show us that sixty-five percent of children raised in the church, will leave the church by the time they leave home.  Hearing this brought on a slight panic.  Seriously?  Our children are sixty-five percent likely to turn their backs on God?  This really hit me hard as one of the most important things for me is that our children will grow up to be incredible and faithful children of God.

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Jeremy and I became students of Dr. Dave Currie this past weekend at the I-Parent Conference hosted by our church.  Our hope was to learn some strategies along the way to build a strong family with a strong faith.

The sessions were amazing.  Filled with laughter and useful tools to help us become great parents with great children who have a great faith.

If I took one thing out of the weekend, it was this one key thing.  Slow down.  That simple.  Slow down.  Hmmm.  This is a curse word to me.  Lots of thought going into this one.

 

Time is craved by our children and giving time  results in the following things:

1) Prevent lost connections.  Take the time to talk and listen to our children

2) Build greater security.  Take the time to raise confident kids who know their worth before God, because they are reminded by us consistently.

3) Catch our core values.  Take the time to model and teach the values we hold close to our hearts.  (These values still need to be developed by Jeremy and I officially)

4) Maintaining high-speed connections.  Take the time to allow our kids a variety of opportunities.  Don’t rob them because of the time it takes.  Enjoy the season of ‘busyness’ and ‘taxi-driving’, it will come to an end.

This weekend could not have come sooner for us.  If I were to be completely honest, slowing down and taking time out was not nearly as high on my priority list as it should be.  This is going to change.  That is a promise I have made to my children. 

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Saturday, October 29, 2011

Our Little Photo Shoot

My family is filled with very capable photographers, but when it really came down to making an appointment with one of them to do a photo shoot, it simply never happened.  So, I finally made an appointment with Maria Boone this summer to get some fantastic photos of my favorite 2 kids, Peyton and Cayden.  She even took a few of me, a rare occasion. 

I was determined to have some unique photos.  I wanted them to be like art on the walls of our home. So, I gathered a variety of items from my home to take along to the park.  A chair, swing, books, fire truck and a change of clothes later, then off we went.

What was supposed to take hour quickly turned into two because of how much fun we were having taking a wide-assortment of poses.  The kids were so easy, and our photographer was a pleasure to work with.   Cayden was especially  happy, as Maria lined his pockets with quarters for his efforts to provide smiles on demand.  

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Thursday, October 27, 2011

Caydens “Big Brother”

One of Cayden’s favorite people is Ivan. He pesters Ivan, annoys Ivan and looks up to Ivan as his own big brother. This is exactly how he introduces Ivan. “My big brother.”


Some of Cayden’s favorite things he likes to do with Ivan is jump on the trampoline and play soccer in the backyard. I love watching the two of them together. I especially love how Ivan is patient and playful with Cayden.


Yesterday was Ivan’s 18th Birthday and Cayden wanted so badly to contribute to the gift pile. So he spent the afternoon scrounging for some great ‘gifts’. An un-used pencil and a toque came to the top of the list. He then carefully wrapped both items up with cardstock and a ton of tape. Then practiced some writing skills and wrote him a heartfelt note. Sooo Sweet!


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Waiting for Ivan to come home to open his gifts was exhausting. Cayden finally fell asleep waitingSad smile


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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Cake Pop Addiction

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Ivan celebrated his 18th Birthday today! What a great young man he has become.   Pink and Aqua Blue?  Really? For a boy? Ah, he didn’t care.  He just cares about how things taste, and they certainly tasted fabulous!

I have become seriously addicted to the new fad, “The Cake Pop”.  Not just to eating them at Starbucks, at a whopping $1.90 each one, but also to creating them.  And not just to eating them and creating them, but to also displaying them in a nice kind-of-way. 

Sure, a simple cake is much easier to make, but not nearly as satisfying as a delicious Cake Pop.  The key to making Cake Pops, is having the time.  The difficulty level is low, but the time level can be quite high, especially for the super-creative person.

Ingredients Needed

-Popsicle Sticks, melting wafers, box cake, 1/2 tub of frosting and some coloring gel, Styrofoam

    - Bake the cake as directed on the box, then cool

-Scoop the cake with your hands into a mixing bowl

-Mix 1/2 tub of frosting in with hands or mixer, will be    squishy and dough like

-Roll into small balls and place on a bake sheet

-Put in freezer for approx. 1/2 hour to make the balls easier to work with

-Melt a few melting wafers, mix with color of choice

-Dip popsicle stick into chocolate, then push into Cake Pop, put back onto back sheet

-When all are done, put back into freezer for 15 mins to 1/2 hour

-Meanwhile, melt more wafers, add coloring (tip, put a 1/2 teaspoon of Crisco in with wafers, helps with smoothness)

-Dip Cake Pop into melted chocolate, tap stick on edge of bowl or twist to remove excess chocolate

-Push cake pop stick into Styrofoam to harden

Give it a try. The first few will be trying, but it gets easier once a few “trial and errors” get out of the way. It does take some extra time, but the satisfaction of being creative feels so great!

 

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