News-What Are They Up to Now?

I thought you would like to see this. Katherine is one of the Mom Bloggers you meet on the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. Look at what she is doing now.

I Am Enough From Katherine Center

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 12:00AM

   

Image of Jenny being painted by Katherine courtesy of Karen Walrond

I’m not exactly sure exactly how I got the idea to paint words on people.  It just kind of came to me—in that mysterious way that ideas do. 

What I am sure of is: There are words I really should say to myself.

And I know that I do not always listen and pay attention the way I should.  Especially when I am saying something kind.

And so I try to write them down.  Just to make them that much more solid.

And words on a piece of paper in Times New Roman can work just fine, but sometimes there are words I need to write big and loud.  The way we see a word can impact how we hear it—what it sounds like in the head. 

And so sometimes I paint the words on canvases.  Or stamp them on metal.  Or put them on cupcakes.

But there’s always a distance between the eyes and what they’re looking at.  That’s how seeing works.  And you have to see words before you can read them.  And you have to read them before you can feel them.

Unless I could close the gap.

I wanted to make words of kindness into things we could literally feel on our bodies:  feel the wet brush move across our skin, and then feel the words’ tiny, almost imperceptible presence when it was dry. 

I wanted to find a way for words to touch not just the mind, but the body.  To make them real.

First I asked a friend if she’d let me paint the last paragraph of one of my novels all over her, and she said yes.  And what she said afterward about how it felt confirmed just what I had hoped: that it was powerful stuff. 

So I painted more words on more people.

And one lucky afternoon, I painted the words on Tracey’s body that led to this collaborative.  I am enough.  And she felt them, and she heard them, and even though the paint itself washed off the next day, the words stayed with her.  They lingered: just exactly—beautifully—the way I had hoped.

Mom-Stuff Celebrates Easter

March 23rd, 2010

This year Easter comes early. We have less than two weeks until Easter weekend. So hurry and visit Mom-Stuff.com and get some great ideas for your Easter celebration.

Our Easter Traditionshttp://www.mom-stuff.com/public/119.cfm

Easter Bunny Eggshttp://www.mom-stuff.com/public/165.cfm

Easter Recipeshttp://www.mom-stuff.com/public/117.cfm

Easter Kids Crafts http://www.mom-stuff.com/public/116.cfm

Easter Scrapbook Layout http://www.mom-stuff.com/public/118.cfm

History of Easter Traditions  http://www.mom-stuff.com/public/259.cfm


Fun with the family is the glue that binds us together. Having fun together makes everyone feel like they belong to the group. The Mom-Stuff Team gives you ideas for celebrating life and having fun with your family. We know how important this is to you and give you some resources to get ideas from. The stronger the family-the stronger the child will become.
The team members here at MOM-STUFF wish you and your family a Happy Easter.

Whimsie’s National Friendship Week Challenge

National Friendship Week Challenge – From Whimsie Doodles

posted on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010 on her blog The Purple Place.

….After realizing that this is National Friendship Week I knew I wanted to make a card in honor of friendship and all of my dear friends.


And because this cards needed to be created with a Whimsy Doodle Image I picked this cute “Bunny” as the image I wanted to use on my card. I also made sure to color her in all of my favorite colors. All the colors and make me smile and make me happy, just like my friends do. This is my “Friendship Card”–

And the sentiment I created for my card says – Friendship is Happiness and to me that could NOT be more true. I adore all of my friends and to me friends are just like family. They bring a lot of fun, love, and happiness into my life and I am soooooo fortunate, because I have a huge world of friends.

And they are the BEST!
Hugs and Love,
Lisa

http://the-purple-place.blogspot.com/2010/02/national-friendship-week-challenge-from.html

Acts of Kindness that Keep on Giving.

It’s National Friendship Week


Acts of Kindness that Keep on Giving.

His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog.

There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have

been a slow and terrifying death.

The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman’s sparse

surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and

introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.

‘I want to repay you,’ said the nobleman. ‘You saved my son’s life.’

‘No, I can’t accept payment for what I did,’ the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer’s own son came to the door of the family hovel.

‘Is that your son?’ the nobleman asked.

‘Yes,’ the farmer replied proudly.

‘I’ll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my own son will enjoy. If the lad is anything like his father, he’ll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of.’ And that he did.

Farmer Fleming’s son attended the very best schools and in time, graduated from St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.

Years afterward, the same nobleman’s son who was saved from the bog was

stricken with pneumonia.

What saved his life this time? Penicillin.

The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill ..

His son’s name? Sir Winston Churchill.

Someone once said: What goes around comes around.

Work like you don’t need the money.

Love like you’ve never been hurt.

Dance like nobody’s watching.

Sing like nobody’s listening.

Live like it’s Heaven on Earth.



It’s National Friendship Week. Share this with everyone you consider A FRIEND. I just did. Thanks for being my friend. I love all of my new friends from mom-stuff.com .It is such a joy to meet all of you wonderful moms.



Have a great week,



Dianne

Decluttering an Emotional Ride

Spring is right around the corner. This is the perfect time to declutter your home. The hardest thing about sorting and cleaning my home is deciding what to let go of. Parting with my stuff becomes an emotional ride for me. What if I need it someday? What if I am sorry or sad without it? Who do I know that needs this? I can’t just throw it out it is a perfectly good something. When I found this article by Betty Fellows about the emotions of decluttering I was surprised. Are there other people who have to force their selves to get rid of the stuff they do not use? Are there others besides me who have emotional turmoil over the sorting and letting go of their stuff? I have nightmares of turning into a star on the new reality show “the Hoarders” so I force myself to get rid of as much as I can. I found this article helpful and I hope you will too.


So you have decided to declutter your home – good for you! It is important to recognize that your emotions may vary. Some items could make you happy or sad to be parting with. Some items may cause guilt, and some items may bring back sentimental feelings. Let’s have a look at the type of emotions you can expect, and how you can cope with those emotions.

Paper Products

Paper items build faster than almost any other items. You need to be merciless when you are cleaning up these items. Toss the junk mail right into the recycling. Decide how many days/weeks of papers you want to keep and out with the rest. If where you live offers recycling then getting rid of them is a much easier task. Feeling relief is common when discarding newspapers and other paper products you no longer need.

Books and magazines are paper items too, but many find it difficult to part with these items. Magazines are often hung onto for an article or two. Why not remove the articles from the magazines and store them safely in a binder. That way you can get rid of all those old magazines.

Getting rid of books can create anxiety, especially if you love to read. Parting with books can be difficult. Keeping those you have not read is fine, but those that you are done with need to be parted with. Giving them to a charity or a literacy group can relieve some of the burden and create happiness for others. That can help you feel better about the entire experience.

Sentimental Items

There is nothing wrong with being sentimental and keeping things that are sentimental to you. But you cannot keep every single item that you have sentimental feelings to. Perhaps you have a cherished baby blanket that is fine to keep. However, you cannot keep all of your baby clothes. Choose a couple of pieces and give the rest to someone who can use them.

Photos are an excellent example of a sentimental item that can get out of control. Most of us take hundreds of photos often of the same thing or nearly the same pose. Choose the best, then either put them in photo albums or start scrapbooking. Get rid of all the excess.

Gifts

Every gift you receive will not be something you want or can use, and you do not want to hurt anyone’s feelings so we accept these gifts and then keep them, often in their original packaging, not knowing what to do with them and feeling guilty at the idea of getting rid of them.

Toss your guilt aside. Instead, find a new home for these unwanted items, whether that means donating them to a charity or re-gifting them, it does not matter, just make sure you move them on without feelings of guilt.

Broken Items

How big is your pile of broken items that you have been meaning to fix because you have some type of emotional attachment to the item? You are not alone, but the problem is almost always these items simply take up space and never do get fixed. The second part of the reality is that many times there is really no reason to be hanging onto them like their your best friend. Most of these items can often be easily replaced.

You will get much more joy out of going shopping for replacement items than hanging onto the broken ones.

Duplicates

It is amazing how often fear creeps into the equation. Many times we replace an existing item but then are too scared to part with the original one because we play the “what if” game in our head. “What if we do not like the new one as much,” “What if the new one does not work as well,” “What if…” well you get the idea.

Do not let fear motivate you when it comes to decluttering your home. Very few items are so rare that they cannot be replaced at a later date.

Try to keep your emotions out of your declutter project instead rely on your logic to make the right choices.

For a FREE email course on how to declutter you home http://reducingcluttersecrets.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Betty_J_Fellows

Featured Blog-Feeding 10 for Under $10.00

March 11th, 2010

Mom-Stuff ’s featured Mom blogger, Jamie. the PolkadotMommy, has a new blog. It is Feeding 10 for Under $10.00. It’s a newer blog focusing on whole foods on a budget… Nothing to do with being gluten free, which is one of her other blog Looks Good in Polka Dots. WOW this talented mom is busy!   I love this new blog. Make sure you visit and tell Jamie thanks for sharing with us. She is such a great resource for all of us moms.

 

 

 

HAPPILY FRUGAL MAMA

I’m a Mama to five, and one giant St. Bernard, Earthquake… I also do in home daycare. Hubs  spends his day developing shoes. He travels the world over and prays I don’t blog about him. We are Catholic Christians. We are Republicans who believe in moderate-conservative views while holding strong beliefs toward Environmental Responsibility. I drink complicated coffee. I follow USDA nutrition guidelines. We eat organic and naturally. We try to avoid processed foods and all things artificial. My food budget goal is to limit our meal expense to $10.00 per meal. We are generally feeding 7-10 people at each meal. I’ve recently started working toward a traditional diet to improve overall health and reduce our grocery costs
Things We Eat Raw

I’m all for a more raw diet… afterall, there is no disputing that fresh food is good for you.  That said… I’m a moderate Mama and believe that 50-75% raw is a great way to go.

For 50% raw, just make sure half of your plate at each meal is raw.
To reach 75% add raw snacks.
Simple, No?

Things we eat raw:
Fresh fruit
Fresh veggies
Nuts & nut butters
Ice pops (that’s another post)
Salsa
Guacomole
Dehydrated (under 106 degrees F) fruits, veggies, seed crackers/tortillas, and fruit leathers
Sprouts
Smoothies

Things I have no desire to eat raw:
Any recipe that requires multiple expensive ingredients
Kelp pasta
Faux anything

I often make pancakes or french toast for breakfast.  My children, like most, would eat until their belly aches if I let them.  So, we have a two rule.  Everyone gets two pancakes or two pieces of french toast.  The rest of breakfast is fresh fruit.  I slice up apples, oranges, bananas, etc… to fill them up.  Difficulty level to reach 50% raw- EASY
At lunch time, I serve a portion of pasta, sandwich or other “main” dish.  Then I add a large green salad, sliced fresh veggies (carrots, broccoli and snap peas are popular) and slice up some more fruit.  Difficulty reaching 50% raw- EASY
For snacks, enjoy a frozen ice pop (raw), bananas and almond butter, veggie sticks and dip, or a smoothie.  Difficulty reaching 100% raw- EASY (We try for one raw snack and one regular snack a day)
At dinner,  my husband wants MEAT.  I’m not much of a meat eater myself, but I can appreciate the need for a good protein.  Everyone eats a larger portion of the “main” dish at dinner alongside fresh garden salad, veggie sticks, fresh fruit salad (with a little real whip for dessert).  Enjoy a small glass of fresh juice made from carrots, apples and oranges.  Difficulty reaching 50% raw- EASY.
The kids always want a before bed snack, this is the perfect time to whip up a raw smoothie or give them another ice pop. Visit my gluten free living blog
Looks Good In Polka Dots . Sharing our journey through gluten free cooking, becoming more environmentally responsible and raising a whole passel of children.
Thanks for visiting the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour sponsored by www.mom-stuff.com.We are so excited by your response to our tour.  We are having so much fun and making so many new friends.  This week’s mom blogger Jamie the PolkadotMommy, has been such fun to work with and to get to know better.
 The mom-team will be giving away gifts to the people who make the most comments while following the blog tour. You can make comments here, on Jamie’s Blogs, Tweeter, Facebook or other social sites. Thanks for being a part of www.mom-stuff.com your moms resource site. Visit Mom-Stuff for your St. Patrick’s Day ideas. We have just added a fast and easy treat bag. Perfect for St. Patrick’s gifts. Remember on St. Patrick’s Day we are all Irish!
See you again tomorrow,
Dianne

Blog Tour Visits Looks Good in Polka Dots

March 9th, 2010

The Mom-Stuff Blog Tour is visiting Looks Good in Polka Dots this week.  Jamie is a talented writer. She has her blogLooksGoodInPolkaDots. “It’s not just about Mothering, Gluten Free Cooking and Socially Conscious Living.”
She is also a Contributing Writer for these sites:
EcoChildsPlay.com
EatDrinkBetter.com
CraftingAGreenWorld.com
Today I want to share one of her articles from EcoChildsPlay.com This sounds like fun.
I Make My Own Soap
http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/01/02/new-year-resolution-1-make-my-own-soap/
Let’s get real here… I like to do crafty things. If you don’t roll that way, it’s okay! There are plenty of options out there for purchasing natural, handcrafted soaps (which are better for you, better for the environment and better for small business). I’ve been “going to” make soap for about six months now. Well, it’s a new year and that means its time “to”.
If you want to jump on the handcrafted soap bandwagon… Here’s how!
First, jump on over to Bramble Berry and purchase an Eco-Chic Soap Kit ($15.45). The kit includes: 2 lbs of Organic Melt and Pour Base, 1 ounce spirulina, 1 ounce cranberry seeds and two essential oils. You provide coffee grounds, oats, rubbing alcohol, and recycled containers of choice (think shape/texture- tofu containers, yogurt tubs, the bottom of a 20oz soda bottle, small milk cartons, etc…).
Once you’ve compiled all the tools and ingredients, use the Eco-Chic Soap Tutorial on the Soap Queen Blog to create your one of a kind soap. Skip the last step that recommends wrapping your soap in plastic wrap. We don’t like that stuff. Instead use parchment paper, corrugated (recycled) paperboard, fabric or place in a recycled tub (like a large cream cheese or margarine tub) or other sealed container.
The best part of this project is the simplicity, which means the kids can help. Let them experiment with other herbs and coarse ingredients, change up your molds by placing a flexible cookie cutter inside the container and filling it with the soap base, have fun! Remember to set the kids’ shower timers so they aren’t tempted to hang out a little longer enjoying their new concoction
Jamie is a very talented Mom as you will find out this week. Polkadotmommy is the kind of person we all want as a friend. Go visit her blog LooksGoodInPolkaDots and make comments, you will be glad you got to know her.
Mom-Stuff.com (featured articles) has got your St. Patrick’s Day food, kids crafts and decorations posted.
I will see you tomorrow with more great stuff from Jamie, the polkadotmommy.
Thanks for following the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour,
Dianne

Meet Jamie-Looks Good in Polka Dots

March 8th, 2010

This week Mom-Stuff .com (the site with the hyphen) want to introduce you to Jamie at Looks Good in Polka Dots she will be the featured mom blog on myMom-Stuff Blog Tour. She has a daughter who is gluten intolerant which has led her on a journey into gluten free food.
 I am really excited to visit Jamie this week. We believe all of our moms will enjoy this week with her. Our blog tour has been so much fun I hate to see it come to an end. I need the break to get my taxes ready for my tax man. I hate tax time. The blog tour has been such a BIG success I am going to do it again in the future. So if you would like me to visit your blog contact me, Dianne@mom-stuff.com. TodayI want to share Jamie’s story with you about her daughter. This story is how I meet Jamie. I made a comment on her blog and she emailed me some very helpful advice. Jamie is the kind of mom I want to promote because she really wants to help other moms.
Sick Since Birth

Behavior is just one of the issues that prompted us to seek out a Naturopathic physician. Kenzie has had issues since infancy. At 9 months old, she underwent testing for some pretty scary diseases because she had failure to thrive. Going from 9lbs 7ozs at birth to only 16lbs 2ozs at 12 months. For several months early in her life, she had what I considered a severe case of baby acne over her entire face. It was horrible. Now I realize it may have actually been eczema caused from her food sensitivities. She would spend 20-30 minutes screaming, grunting and turning red trying to have a bowel movement. She also spit up much more than her older sister had, but not to the extent that anyone considered it “abnormal”. I was breast feeding and she didn’t have any foods introduced until 6 months. Then I went through the standard protocol of one food for a week, then adding another. I didn’t notice a reaction to any specific food, but the constipation and growth issues didn’t pop up until between 7 and 9 months of age. It was probably the addition of wheat and gluten containing foods that prompted this, but it was a slow reaction. Not one that I picked up on as a result of introducing a new food. The doctors didn’t even test for food allergies. Eventually, when all the “scary” disease tests came back normal… they decided to treat the symptoms and label her a “difficult child” regarding the behavior. At 9 months, I was instructed to start offering her a bottle of formula after each breast feeding to ensure she was getting enough nutrition. She wouldn’t drink formula. So, the Doctor prescribed Pediasure instead. Everyday she would get a can of Pediasure with fiber, usually in two servings offered in a sippy cup after she finished nursing. In addition, she was given Miralax once a day in a small amount of diluted juice. This combination helped with the constipation, but she remained a relatively small child.
As time went on, Kenzie became a screamer. Throwing horrible fits and stomping her feet for no apparent reason. She would get up in the morning and stand beside my bed, screaming and thrashing around. Nothing would calm her down until she was done. Most of the time, she didn’t even know what she wanted. In between the fits, she was a happy child who was exremely active. She started walking at only 10 months and followed her then almost 3 year old sister all over the house.
Kenzie is so fidgety, that I have always called her my “dirty child”. Everything she touches ends up all over her! Every bit of food, art mediums, dirt, etc… I thought I was the Queen of Stain Removal before Kenzie. Something about the combination of her saliva and chocolate caused spots to set for life!
While my 7 year olds can play calmly, Kenzie is hyper-reactive. She can be in the middle of quiet play and suddenly she is having a crisis. She also has a tendency to be a bit rough with her younger sister, likely to hit or push at an alarming frequency.
As far as illnesses go… she is sick all the time. From September until Spring, she has a constant cold. Runny noses… coughing… wheezing. She coughs so hard she will vomit. We rely heavily on an inhaler so she can return to normal breathing. Everytime she gets a cold, it settles in her ears. She will wake up crying. I try to treat as few of these as possible. When her ear starts hurting, I put a couple drops of Floxin in and usually that nips it without having to search out antibiotics.
Potty-learning wasn’t achieved until nearly 4 years of age. And we still have night-time isues. If Kenzie has to go to the bathroom… it is a RIGHT THIS MINUTE emergency. This is getting better and I have faith that in the next year she will have full bladder control. In the meantime, we keep a change of clothes in her backpack… just in case and I get her up to potty before I go to bed at night.
Right after she turned 4, we were prompted by a family friend who has been a nurse for over 20 years. She said that Kenzie had the presentation of a child with food allergies and that Doctors often miss it because they don’t see the child everyday. We were spending the week at the lake house with several families and she saw Kenzie all day, every day during that time. We removed all preservatives, dyes and artificial flavors. Going to foods labeled “All Natural” or “Organic”. This made a huge improvement in the behavior, but didn’t affect the blotchy face, itchy skin and other physical symptoms she had. The MD Allergist we saw did a standard skin prick allergy test. Nothing showed reactive. He basically said that it was our imagination that foods were causing behavior issues, and that our expectations of how she reacts to certain foods will cause her to act that way. Funny, since we had NO clue what foods might be prompting her reactions. He then went on to say that reflux was his favorite diagnosis for kids that had belly aches and coughed at night. So we went home with samples of children’s Prevacid SoluTabs (both dyed pink and flavored w/ artifical strawberry) and a prescription for more to add to our inhaler and Zyrtec she was already taking. He said that the test was just too hard for young kids and the best thing to do was treat for it and see how things went. I have a differnt opinion and chose to not treat my child for some illness she probably doesn’t have. We chugged on with our diet modifications until it was apparent that we needed someone who would look further for an answer. That’s when we went to visit the Naturopath. I had long conversations with her about what was going on and my concerns with the behavior/food relationship. I also shared my concerns with ADHD and that I didn’t want my child labeled by a MD and then medicated to “fix” the problem. Now we have some answers. And are hopeful that removing the Wheat, Gluten, Gliadin, Milk and Whey from her diet will help us even more.
When Kindergarten started this year, Daddy was making bets on how long it would be before we were called to the Principals office. I was sure that with the right direction she would be fine. Turns out, she is doing fine. Good even. The Teachers are aware of our needs and how to direct her toward success. I pack ALL of her snacks and lunches, not allowing any substance from joint snack items or school lunches to pass her lips. The staff is great at staying in touch with me, saying that Kenzie was more red and blotchy today or having more fidgeting than normal. This helps us stay on top of what foods might be prompting her reactions, both physical and behavior.
With the diet modifications we have made, Kenzie should hopefully return to normal body function and feel like a “normal” child at school. I worry about her teen years… will she get rebellious and decide she wants to eat the foods she shouldn’t have? What if she does and then there isn’t an immediate response? Will she understand that eating something once may not affect her, but bringing these offenders back into her diet may cause life-long health and behavior issues?
Our child is not a “problem”. She is an amazing… smart… funny and loving child. She can put together a puzzle in a quarter of the time it would take me. She is going to be a whiz with math and science, and might need a little help to slow down and take her time when writing. She is starting to focus on her letters more… instead of sending her eyes wandering all over the room and saying “I don’t know”.
We are embarking on the changes needed to help her be able to succeed and I am positive it will help!
Thanks to everyone following our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. Visit Jamie atLooks Good in Polka Dots.  Make comments, make tweets, follow Jamie on Twitter, invite friends, and tell your friends about how much fun we are having. Mom-Stuff is giving gifts to the moms who make the most comments so join in the fun.

Mom-Stuff .com has posted our St. Patrick’s Day ideas.
Visit the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour tomorrow for some more great information from Jamie at Looks Good in Polka Dots. We believe in moms helping moms. Life is a circle around here. Come and join us.
Dianne-from Mom-Stuff

A Mom-Stuff Favorite from Trench Mommy

The Mom-Stuff Blog tour wants to share a creative post from the trenches of motherhood with you today. Mandy has a great gift of socialization. She brings moms together and lifts them up. It has been such an honor to be welcomed into her world this week. I have only given you a glimpse into her life. Make sure you visit her site, blogs and her Blogfrog community.

Traveling Activity with Quirky Momma

Rachel is mommy to three preschoolers and blogs about their learning activities and adventures at Quirky Momma. Her original mini-whiteboard post can be found on that site






I have three preschoolers and to say that it is a “struggle” to keep them entertained when traveling or at say a Dr. appointment is an understatement. I feel like we are finally getting to a place where keeping them engaged is easier. One of our favorite travel and diaperbag forms of entertainment/learning is our mini-whiteboards. They are super easy to make and can keep your kids entertained for 20-30 min at a time. I have even used them to write notes to myself when out and about or to keep track of a grocery list. This whiteboard is included in my post on 40 Tips to Travel with Preschoolers.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:


An empty CD case


Scissors


glue stick


Dry Erase Markers


Dried out diaper wipe (for cleaning – they last a long time and store inside the case)


White paper – Cardstock is best, or patterned paper – we printed the print one of Charles Harper’s animal works for the kids to play “I Spy” and circle animals they find.


HOW TO MAKE IT:

Take apart the CD case. We made our case white on one side and patterned on the other. Cut your paper to fit. Lightly edge your paper in clear glue to help it adhere to the case. The glue is not necessary, but it helps your mini-whiteboard live a little longer. If your kids are like mine, their favorite part of this activity will be wiping their writing, opening and closing the case between wipes. Reassemble the CD case and have fun writing! This is a great thing for every toddler diaper bag, great for entertaining and keeping kiddos quiet in a pinch. The Dry Erase markers will stain clothes, the carpet at the Dr. office, etc., so I like to take wipe-able crayons with me when we are out. Have fun playing “I Spy” and learning with your mini-whiteboard.

ACTIVITIES YOU CAN DO WITH YOUR WHITEBOARD:


If you go with the Harper print, circle the animals in one color, plants in another… or circle a specific animal. He found the walrus!!!


If you have patterned paper that is dot-to-dot have the kids follow the numbers to create the design.


play guess that letter or guess that word. As you write the letter have the kids guess it before you are finished.


Use it in Bible memory. Write your Bible verse and erase a word each time you say it until you are saying the entire verse with out seeing the words (this is a great way to work on site reading with your early reader).


Color a picture – be creative!

Today is our last day with Mandy from the trenches of motherhood. We want to thank Mandy for sharing her blogs with us. The Mom-Stuff Blog Tour is almost over and that makes me sad. Next week will be our last week for this tour. We will be visiting Looks Good in Polkadots. It will be educational. Jamie nitch is glutten free foods.

I hope you are having as much fun following Mom-Stuff Blog Tour as we are. If you want to make some fun St. Patrick’s Day crafts with your kids this weekend we have some great ones at Mom-Stuff.com

Have a great weekend.

See you next week.

dianne@mom-stuff.com

Trench Mommy-Blog of the Week

Mom-Stuff Blog of the week- From the Trenches of Motherhood. Mandy calls herself Trench Mommy.  But as you will see in these posts I am sharing withyou today, she doesn’t allow herself to stay in the foxhole. She finds some motivation, she finds her strength, she makes a plan and then she follows through. The more time I spend on her site the more I find a mom who not only wants to thrive; she wants you to thrive too. She shares her process and invites you to join her.  The first post Going Through the Motions was her motivation and her plan. The second post is the third week in this series, What if I had Given Everything. This post Getting Up On Time, is an example of her follow through. You can see each weeks goal and progress on her blog.
Going Through The Motions
Mathew West-The Motion  shttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6d23mBY0nGY
This past year was one of the hardest years in my life.  Maybe the hardest of all.
In an ironic twist, it seemed that every time this sweet baby was in the hospital, my own trials increased.
While the things that God allowed to come my way in the past 12 months have strengthened me, they have also left me exhausted and spiritually drained.
At this moment, the close of this 28th year of my life, I feel like I am stuck on “auto pilot” or in what I fondly call the “cope mode”.  And I am tired of that.  I don’t want to be stuck…
…I want to be thriving!
I don’t want to go through the motions anymore, I want to give my everything with an all consuming passion for Christ and His amazing grace in my life.
When I came across the above video clip of Matthew West’s song The Motions I knew it was going to be my theme for the year of 2010.  I hope it will be your theme as well as we step out together from going through the motions to soaking in the presence of God and living a life consumed by Him.
I don’t want to wake up at 60 years of age and look back and ask myself: “What if I had given everything?”  I want God to take me – my selfish pride – out of the way this year and dig deep to refresh my heart, mind, and soul in Him.
Do I have a plan?
Yes!  I do have a plan.  Something that I am going to set in motion this week to help make this a year where I just soak up all I possibly can and saturate my life with the truth of God’s Word.
Join me on January 1st to read about my 2010 theme…
WHAT IF I HAD GIVEN EVERYTHING?
Welcome to Week Three of:
What If I Had Given Everything In 2010?
If this is the first time you have joined me for my year-long-post-series, please click here to read the introduction.
Now, for those of you following or joining me – I hope you’re doing this with me! – read on for the 3rd goal for the year.
Remember that we are still in our first goal unit – SCHEDULE – and this is the 3rd week, so that means 2 left to go!  Speaking of which, I just finished my book for this unit, too.
 Goal #3 Get Up On Time
I know….this is the hard one depending on what your life is like.  If you have any time in the morning that you can flex, like me, it may be a battle.  But that’s what this is all about: battling to give everything this year.
I will be vulnerable here and share that getting to bed on time this past week has been tough.  Really tough.  It seemed that things just came up to get me off track even with the best of intentions.
At some moments I thought: “Well, maybe my life has just changed and I just can’t get up early any more….”  BUT then God would bring to mind that this wasn’t meant to be easy.  If it was, I would not be struggling with it and would be “perfect”!  However, HE has will supply me with what I need at the moment I need it.  And sometimes that means the strength to keep on keeping on even when I’ve just failed.
So when I have missed my bedtime for two nights in a row I don’t give up…I keep on.  As my body adjust it will be easier because my body will automatically draw me to bed without as much will power.
So how about you?  How are you goals going?  Join me in my community forum to start a discussion or join an existing one about your battle for this year.  Let’s encourage one another!
Thanks for visiting the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour sponsored by www.mom-stuff.com. We are so excited by your response to our tour.  We are having so much fun and making so many new friends. We have posted some fun kids crafts, food and decorations for your St. Patrick’s Day
See you tomorrow, Dianne

Mom-Stuff Visits Trench Mommy

The Mom-Stuff Blog Tour is visiting From the Trenches of Motherhood this week.  Mandy is a preacher’s wife and a mother of three. Mandy has a positive attitude about life which really shows in her blog and her Blog Frog Community. She wants to encourage others to improve their lives.  Today I want to share a post from her blog to show you her personality. This post encourages wife’s to love and appreciate their husbands.
Fan The Flame {Part Two”}

Welcome to week two of my marriage series based on the bookSeven Reasons Why God Created Marriage.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will join us as we seek to grow our marriages.
This week’s verse is:
“Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” –Romans 15:7 (ESV)
This week’s theme is:
Accept One Another
I love my husband, but there are times he does something and it annoys me.  A lot.
I know…you’re shocked that I get annoyed, right?!
What?  You’re not?!
Okay, okay…we all have our moments.  And this is what this post is all about.
The challenge for the week is finding a way to accept your husband in the little things.  Maybe it’s when he leaves the toothpaste cap off or his dirty socks by the bed.  Maybe it is something bigger than that.
Whatever the case is, I want to challenge you to accept your husband unconditionally this week by picking one thing that he does – that annoys you – and ignoring it this week.  Perhaps it is the socks on the floor or the shoes left out.
This week our job – yes, I’m included in on this! – is to simply accept them for who they are and not criticize or nag them.
For me, it’s going to be about the shoes, the toilet lid, and the shower curtain.  I am going to accept him for who he is by silently just taking care of the item or problem that gets to me.  If he leaves his shoes out, I will put them away.  If he leaves the toilet lid up, I’ll just put it down without saying a word.  And if it’s the shower curtain not pulled back after his shower, I will just close it without sighing in frustration.
Now it’s your turn to share what and how you are going to accept your husband.  Write your post and then link back up here so we can all be encouraged together.


I want to thank Mandy from the Trenches of Motherhood for sharing her blog posts with other moms. We love learning from each other. Follow along with us on our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. You will find great information and make some new friends. Make sure to leave comments here or on Mandy’s blog. Follow with Google Connect. If you are on twitter you can find Mandy at http://twitter.com/TrenchMommy and me at http://twitter.com/ Dianne_mom-stuff. Come follow us. Retweet and share with your peeps.
Mom-Stuff.com has posted our St. Patrick’s Day ideas.
See you tomorrow,  I will share more from the Trenches of Motherhood..
Dianne

Meet Mandy the Trench Mommy

This week Mom-Stuff .com  would like to introduce you to  Mandy From the Trenches of Motherhood. Mandy has a large online presence and there is allot we can learn from her. Besides her great web site she has a blog and a blog frog community. We are having lots of fun visiting such great moms on our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour.

Meet Mandy

Who am I?
How do you share with a complete stranger who you are as a person? This is a daunting task, but I’ll give it my best effort and not just tell you about me, but show you who I am.
My name is Mandy.  Although around here I refer to myself as “Mandy the Trench Mommy”.  I’m very pleased to meet you!
I am in my late 20’s with the “30″ mark looming ahead of me. Part of me is sad to see this decade of my life come to a close. While growing up I dreamed of being in my 20’s. That awe-inducing era will soon be over.
But, who am I?
Most importantly I am a child of God.
What I mean is that I have a personal relationship with God, the Creator of the universe. He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die cruelly on a wooden cross in order to pay the price of my sin and your sin – death. But it didn’t end there! After three days in a tomb, through the power of God, Jesus Christ arose from the dead and defeated the grip of death so that He might have an ongoing relationship with you and I.  Because I have accepted God’s gift of eternal life and an ongoing relationship with Him, my life is His and my purpose is to glorify Him.
Because of all that, next on the list of who I am is: a wife – my husband’s “First Lady”. I look forward to each day with the love of my life, Justin. We were married in 2002 and we are more in love today than we were then. I’m not ashamed to say that we have an awesome marriage due to the 1st cord in our 3-cord marriage – Jesus Christ.
My wonderful husband is an assistant Pastor in our church who’s main ministry focus is the youth of our church.  Along with being passionate about the lives of people, he is passionate about hunting, and likes it as much as I like reading.
Third on my list is being a mommy. God has blessed our family with 3 children. Abby, Emmy, & Micah. All of which are blue-eyed, blonde-haired miniatures of us. 
Abby, born in 2003, is the spittin’ image of myself as a child, personality and all.  She loves God in such a simple and yet passionate way…she truly is a joy to us.
 Micah, born in 2007, is a good mix of both of us in his features, but his personality is his father’s through and through.  As the youngest of 3, and the only boy, too, he lights up our life with his antics, drama, and boyish playfulness.
And Emmy, born in 2005, well…she’s the child that keeps our family lively. She, too, bears prominent features of the two of us, but her personality is unique to her!  She is the definition of life as she does everything with 200% energy and zest.  She keeps us on our knees in prayer and also keeps the laughter close to our lips!
Continuing on, I am a family member – daughter, sister, granddaughter, cousin, and niece…and to each of those I can add “in-law” as well.  I have wonderful parents who raised me in a sound Christian home along with my 2 brothers. I am blessed to have 2 sets of living grandparents and many other extended family members along with all the family I gained through marriage.  And that was a lot of family!
As you read above, I’m also a pastor’s wife. I enjoy serving others and I pray that those in my direct line of care can see my heart and the love I have in my heart for them. Also, I am honored to have a large handful of teen girls for whom I am small group leader.
And then…I am just me.  Mandy.  I am usually quite serious and many people think I’m “a stick in the mud”.  But I am also very shy. (Unless I’ve lived with you.)  It’s very hard – like blood pressure raising & heart racing hard – for me to strike up a conversation with someone I don’t know very well. However, if you ask those closest to me, I really do enjoy having fun and being silly.
You will never see me test out my car to see just how high the speedometer will go, or ride in a hot air balloon, or go rock climbing, or white water rafting. What I am not is adventurous, brave, daring, spontaneous, and reckless. I’ve left all those things for my brothers to handle! 
I am caring, steadfast, organized, loyal, friendly (once I break through the coating of shyness!), and understanding. I enjoy things like talking, writing, scrapbooking, reading, talking about deep things, studying, blogging, designing, decorating, organizing, cooking, shopping, baking, and even cleaning. I am a neat freak…with the exception of my desk. That’s just one area that I can’t seem to ever organize to my satisfaction and so it’s the area that just “is”.
I enjoy playing games like Taboo, Scategories, Uno; and I can play a mean game of Spoons.  I am very competitive!
I like to watch Nascar and sappy girly movies like Anne Of Green Gables.
My favorite place in the world is central Pennsylvania, even though I have traveled to beautiful places like France, Prince Edward Island, Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon, Chicago, New York City, Colorado Springs, and other places, as well.
I enjoy blogging and am a member of the BlogFrog Community Leaders and the BlogStar Community, too.
Even though I am “all girl” as they say, I also enjoy a new hobby of turkey hunting with my husband as well as shooting clays with my brothers or brother-in-laws.
And when I am not doing everything else I am involved in my local church…and not just because I’m one of the pastor’s wives, but because I believe that is part of my reasonable act of service.
And lastly, but far from the least, I am simply a sinful wretch redeemed by God’s grace.
 Thanks to everyone following our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. Visit Mandy the Trench Mommy.   Make comments, make tweets, join her community, invite friends, and tell your friends about how much fun we are having. Mom-Stuff is giving gifts to the moms who make the most comments so join in the fun.
Mom-Stuff has posted our St. Patrick’s Day ideas.
Visit us tomorrow for some more great information from the mom-stuff team. We believe in moms helping moms. Life is a circle around here. Come and join us.
Dianne-from Mom-Stuff