If you give a husband a paintbrush

if you give a husband a paintbrush, a wife is going to want to paint a room.

Before she can paint the room she's going to want to clean the room.  Cleaning the room will make her realize she first needs to De-clutter the room.  When she De-clutters the room she is then going to have a pile of stuff she wants to list on Craigslist.  After she lists stuff on Craigslist and the room is De-cluttered she is then going to start painting the room.  When she starts painting she realizes the room would look really nice with a border.  She gets her husband to put up a border.  While he's doing the border she is going to want to use the extra paint to paint the desk to match the room.  While painting the desk she is going to realize she needs to organize the desk and the rest of the room.  Organizing the room will make her realize she needs to go buy some organization stuff.
  After the room is organized she is then going to want to decorate the room, which means she will have to go buy some new decor.
While she is buying decor she will get the idea to make some additional art for the room.  When the border is finally done, she will hang the new room decor and touch up the paint in the room.
 While touching up some paint on the ceiling she will get the idea to  install a ceiling fan in the room.

which brings us back to the husband.....

HEARTS IN HIS HANDS

If you are mom then you are one of about two billion in the world. You have had your body taken over by another little person, you wipe butts and noses, You will have changes 7,300 diapers by your child's second birthday. You probably wash a minimum of 330 loads of laundry a year,  you definitely have suffered from sleep deprivation, maybe depression, and definitely stress. You probably have locked yourself in the bathroom at some point and if you haven't, believe me, you will!  you probably have felt alone despite being in the midst of the whining pant pulling little ones around you.


Yes, Children are gifts from God and as mothers, we dedicate our lives to raising them and we love it (most of the time).  But this job comes with a lot of self-sacrifice. Mothers can often feel isolated and there is constantly uncharted territory as our children grow and go through different stages.   We are constantly trying to figure things out as we attempt to raise them "right." 


So in an attempt to encourage and support moms, my Sis-in-Law Julie Rowlands over at http://makingitmatterjr@blogspot.com and I have started a mom's group.  We are going to have food, fellowship and topical conversation.  Our heart's desire is to bring moms together to build relationships that encourage and support!  The group will be meeting once a month.


Sooooooooo if you are a mom and interested, we would love it if you would check out the blog page for HEARTS IN HIS HANDS MOMS GROUP and we hope you will join us for a mom's night out! 

Godbless!
-Shannon

Hearts In His Hands Mom's Group

Calm in the Morning

Is this how you feel some mornings???  I don't know how your mornings typically are but mine tend to be a little hectic and I tend to be a little not too thrilled to be up!  I think many of you can relate. My day starts a little after 6:30 am when the little girl I watch arrives. Then it's time to wake up the boys for school and feed everybody breakfast. Ironing my husbands clothes, making coffee, getting the boys clothes out for them, finding everyone socks!, getting snacks and lunches together, finding papers, tying shoes, finding backpacks, making sure teeth are brushed, getting the girl's busy doing something, letting the dogs out, letting the muddy dogs in, wiping the muddy dogs, feeding the dogs, filling sippie cups, making sure the boys have hats, gloves, coats, and Lord help me if it snowed and I also have to shovel a path to the bus.  Anyways, I think you get the Idea..... CRAZINESS!


Soooo what to do???!!!!


If I was able to resist the urge to hit the snooze button 3 times before getting up in the am I would be like the Proverbs 31 woman who "rises while it is yet night and gives food to her household."  I would be up very early,  I would exercise for about 30min, read my Bible and pray, get dressed, and of course have my hair and makeup done.  I tell myself all this and often even set my alarm for early but it doesn't often happen.  But what about when it is 10:00 at night and you really just want to go to bed, what if you took just 10 minutes and prepared for your morning.  What if you thought of the "You" of tomorrow instead of the "You" of right now, as my awesomely organized sis-in-law once said.  You will still be "rising while it is night", just the other end of it. 


Last night I took just 10 minutes and laid out the kids clothes and Ironed for Bryan.  Just by doing those two little things my morning went much smoother.  Imagine if I had set the coffee, made lunch's and prepared the kids backpacks!  That will be my goal for tonight.  And if you can resist the urge to hit the snooze, getting up even just 10 minutes early to get yourself together, read a verse and pray will help get you mentally prepared for all you have to handle in the morning!   

Psalms 5:8

"My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

 Proverbs 31:15

"She rises also while it is yet night and gives meat to her household and a portion to her maidens"

Psalms 63:1

 "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee"

Thanks for stopping by! Would love it if you would "follow" my Blog!! xoxo

BIGGER

The kids and I stood on our front porch taking in the fresh air and watching the downpour of rain. The thunder was loud and the storm was right above us. It was exciting! Suddenly lightning struck the tree in between our house and our neighbor's. It sounded like a car bomb went off and I could feel the vibration in my chest. We all jumped and clung to each other in fear as we darted inside! My five year old went up to my husband who was in the living room and said, "Dad, God is really powerful!"

With so much distractions in this world, it is easy to forget to look up at the beautiful sky and all realize how small we are in this universe and how big God is and indeed how powerful!Surrounded by concrete jungles and with our noses constantly in our ipads, facebook, and cell phones, it can be easy to overlook or ignore nature and all that God has created. But we must not. Just look up and look around you and you will see God in all he has created!

We went to Stonybrook state park a couple of weeks ago. It was beautiful and humbling. We looked up and saw huge cliffs and towering trees above; and below, people that looked as if they were the size of ants. When we get things in perspective it is humbling. Glorifying God in his creation not only teaches our children to realize how big God is but it teaches them about God's love for them. God loved us so much that he made this world and everything in it for us. He painted the sunsets for us, gave us big beautiful tree's for shade, I think he even created the bugs and snakes for the enjoyment of my little boys. By speaking to our children about how Great God is when we are in the midst of his amazing creation we are instilling in them God's love and a reverence for Him.

Psalms 145:1-10

" I will extol you my God and King and I will bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You and I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One Generation shall praise your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. I will meditate on the glorious splendor of your majesty and on your wonderous works. Men shall speak of the might of your awesome acts, and I will declare your greatness. They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness and shall sing of your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all and His tender mercies are over all his works. All Your works shall praise you O Lord, and your saints shall bless you..."

Psalms 104:1-7

"Bless the Lord oh my soul! O Lord my God you are very great: You are clothed with honor and Majesty, Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain. He lays the beams of his upper chambers in waters, Who makes the clouds his chariot, Who walks on the wings of the wind, Who makes his angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire. You who laid the foundations of the earth, so that it should not be moved forever, You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they fled; at the voice of your thunder they hastened away..."

If God is so big that He created the universe and all in it then He is for sure bigger than anything we would face in this life and there is hope and comfort in that too!

GOD IS BIGGER than ___________ (fill in the blank)

-Shannon

Discouragement

Discouragement paralyzes motivation like a deadly snakebite.....


He whispers in our ear.....


You are small, Look at the amazing things others are doing, why even bother, there's nothing that hasn't already been done.


Almost 3o now, life is passing. face reality there are many better than you, you are not original.


Then I hear the quiet whisper of the spirit of God ........


I never meant for you to know of every way I am working through others in the entire world. you need to be doing what I called you to do in YOUR WORLD.


You can make a difference for me


All the little things DO matter.


You are the most magnificent, original, special and BIG person to the three little people I put in your care.... THEY ARE YOUR WORLD.


Don't forget my word....



Phillipians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"



John 15:16a, "You did not choose me, but I choose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain."



Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the thoughts I think toward you sayeth the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."



Psalms 40:5, "Many O Lord are thy wonderous works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are toward us; they can not be reckoned up in order unto thee. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered."


Psalms 139:14, "I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made."



And HIS peace settles the soul and quiets the accuser's voice.


Isaiah 26:3, "And you will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you/"

-Shannon

Our Recent School Drama Continued!

Ok, so I know I have been terribly inconsistent and slow at keeping this blog up to date and for that I am sorry, but hey, atleast I get to it at some point, right? lol. So let me share with you all what happened with Domenic's School a couple of months ago.......


Domenic was in class and he drew a picture of two people with word bubbles. The one person was calling the other a name, and the other was saying "I'm going to kill you. That may not have been very appropriate to draw in school, but it was just typical boy behavior. Now, at this point in the story, we recieved two different accounts of what took place. One account from Domenic's teacher, who was there at the time, and another account from the school psychologist. The teacher said that another student and Domenic came up to his desk and that the one student told on Domenic that he had written bad words. According to the teacher, he took the paper and gave it to the assistant principle as was procedure for anything "violent" or questionable. and that was the end of it as far as what he dealt with. So the story continues......


Later that day, Domenic was called out of art class and taken down to the psychologist's office and was questioned by the psychologist and the social worker without our knowledge or consent!!! They basically did a psych evaluation on him. They asked him questions about every area of his life and even asked him, "do both your parents live with you?" and "do you sleep in the same bed with your brother?" as well as, "What happens when you get into trouble at home"

I only learned of this later that day when I got a call from the school. I think it was the assistant to the principle that called. She informed me of the drawing and said that he was talked to about it and that he didn't give them much information, but he did say that he was sad because his father was gone. BRYAN WAS IN NYC FOR 2 DAYS!!! Not gone like they were obviously thinking! It was very obvious to me that they were asking him leading questions and infact doing a psych eval on him. Domenic gave us a list a page long of questions that were asked him.

So, Bryan, having a law degree was not happy! According to the constitution of the United States of America you cannot interview or question a minor without his or her parent's consent. There are reasons for this. For those of you who have children, you especially know that a child will oftentimes say things they don't mean, mix up definitions of what they do mean, and may not always recall things accuratly. But the school district thinks they can do whatever they want. After meeting with the principle and social worker and expressing our concern for the handling of the situation this is what we got....

Basically, if your child is deemed a possible threat to another student or staff the school has the right to question your child without your knowledge or consent. Ok, soooooooooooooo they determined my child was a possible threat......because of a drawing. Ok, so they can basically say that anything is a threat. There are no guidelines. One question, if they thought my child was a possible threat, why did they let him continue on with his day to later take him out of art class? If a child is a possible threat to someone shouldn't they immediatly be removed from the classroom and sent to the principle office? I sure wouldn't want my child in a room with another child that could possibly be a "threat"! The corrent handling of the situation would have been to send Domenic to the principles office. contact us, and then deal with the situation with us involved. They took a simple thing, a drawing from a good boy who is exactly that, a BOY and turned it into this big fiasco! This whole thing could have been avoided by a simple phone call. But no, the school thinks they can do whatever they want, even usurp our children's constitutional rights!

But wait, it's not over yet! There is still more to this story. Stay tuned!

-Shannon

RAISING BOYS IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM AND OUR RECENT SCHOOL DRAMA!!!!

Well, I have not blogged in a while, but this one should be pretty interesting and make up for it! We have our children in public school and recently had a situation occur with our seven year old son that would make any parent sick to their stomach! But before i go into the details, I just need to vent about some observations about raising boys in the public school system that we have noticed the past couple years. This will be a two part blog. The next one I do will tell all the drama we've been dealing with. OK, here we go.

Schools nowadays do not want boys to be boys, and if they behave like boys they then assume that something is wrong with them. Now of course their are children who do have problems and need medication, but we have heard numerous stories, especially with boys, where the child is very active like boys often are and the school wants to put them on Ritalin and label them with ADD or something. Now this is not what happened with our son, but there seems to be this mentality in society that boys should not behave like boys, but like girls. Yet people do not understand that God created boys differently then girls for his special purpose!

Modern secular society says that children are the way they are because of how they are conditioned by their environment. So give a boy, boy toys when he is little and he will gravitate towards those things, give a boy baby dolls and girl toys and he will develop a love for those type of things.

Well, these people obviously do not have children. I have two boys and a girl. When my oldest was three we were debating whether or not we should let him play with toy guns. Some boys in the neighborhood played with them and he wanted one. The poor child carried around a wood chip for 2 weeks and pretended it was a gun! He even made his pretzels into guns! And no, we did not let him watch anything violent where he would have learned this, other then observation of other boys playing. I gave in and got him one.

Now on the other end, my youngest is a girl and after having two boys, it has been so fun having a girl and she is sooo different. Before she was even two years old she was putting on my shoes and jewelry and pretending to be a little mommy to her dolls! And she definitely had her choice of guns, dinosaurs, and cars to play with having two older brothers. So, my point is boys and girls are different. We have come across this mentality on more than one occasion with our son who is now 7 years old and in second grade.

Now Obviously since Columbine, things have gotten a lot more serious in school when dealing with behaviors and possible problems. And they should be dealing with these things more seriously. The school district we are in has a Zero tolerance policy which basically says that they will not tolerate ANYTHING, even if your child just defended himself, he is at fault too! Another issue I have with this is that the school our son is in seems to think that they have the power to take away a child's constitutional rights if they think that there is any kind of possible threat to another child or to the school. And when I say threat, I mean it according to their definition, which could be ANYTHING!!!!! a drawing, something someone said someone said someone said, any kind of child to child conflict, as well as anything else. This is a problem! If this is already starting in our schools with our children, what is next? What if the government started behaving this way with our rights?

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. ok, done venting. stay tuned as the drama unfolds and make sure every parent you know with children in the public schools reads this next blog. And follow me!!!!

Catching up

Hi everybody! I know I haven't blogged in a while. The summer had gotten busy lately. We had a family reunion to attend as well as a wedding, an army ceremony up at Fort Drum, a trip to my cousin's campsite, a big get together with old friends (that included all of our 16 children!), and I'm sure there's more that I forgot to mention. I also have been babysitting more which has been great for my kids! They love having people to play with. Soooooo I know I wrote a few blogs that were to be continued. But things have not gone as planned. Here is the sandbox update and the example prayer update:

Sandbox

I dug out the area for the sandbox and put some wood boards over top to keep the dog out until I filled it. Well, they are still sitting there and I have not filled it yet. Bryan decided he doesn't want me to put pea rock in it because he says the boys will get it all over the grass and he will have to mow over it. Valid argument, but I think it would be fine. I also figured that it will cost over 100.00 dollars to fill it with sand or rock, and right now, well, car repairs and rascal flatts tickets take precedent. Sorry kids! But it has turned out alright. Some frogs and toads have decided to make the sandbox their home and every day for the past couple weeks the boys have been going out there and catching them, and then returning them to their home in the evening. It has really kept them busy and entertained! Well, minus that one little toad that the dog ate! Poor thing! So for now we will keep it as a frog/toad habitat and then in the spring make it into some sort of sandbox for the kids. Oh, and did I mention I found a whole bin of sand toys for 3.00 at a garage sale?! The bin was even included! There must be 20 or more digging and scooping toys in there as well as multiple buckets and trucks! The kids have hauled alot of them up the hill in the backyard and have been digging in the dirt in our "woods" Yes they have gotten dirty, but the benefits of them pretending to be archaeologists and actually getting along for a good amount of time outweigh that. They have found lots of cool rocks and things.

Example Prayer


Well, things don't always go as I would prefer them to. The plan was to go over each part of the verse, but we made it through the first couple and then I ended up just doing the rest of it all at once and talking to them about it. I think they had a hard time taking the concepts of the prayer and making it their own. Domenic did try to incorporate it when he prayed, but he just said the words of the Lord's prayer. I believe he understood what he was praying and it was easier for him to just do that. However, the last thing I want for them is to just repeat mindlessly something that they memorized in prayer. I told him that he did not need to say those exact words, but what was in his heart. The first part of the prayer "....hallowed be thy name..." speaks of giving glory and praise to God, and both the boys did good at this. I helped them by talking about all the words we could use to describe God. Awsome, cool, powerful, loving, forgiving and kind are some of the words we came up with. Then, in prayer they worshipped Him by telling Him one of these things. It was so cute to hear them speak to God from their hearts. Here is an outline of the Lord's prayer that can help us and our children to know how God wants us to pray. Christ, in Matthew 6:9 says, "pray then this way" it says "this way" not "these words" It is meant to be a guide. God wants us to talk to him from our hearts, he cares about the details of our lives!

The example prayer

Matthew 6:9-13

"Pray then in this way....."

"our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name" (Give Glory and Praise to God)

"your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Pray for God's will, not our own)

" give us this day our daily bread" ( Pray for our immediate needs, and for God's provision)

" and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" ( Pray for forgiveness)

" and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" ( pray to not be tempted with sin and for protection)

"For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever" (acknowledge his Godhead and submit to his control over our lives and over everything)

Well, thanks for reading. Now that I am all caught up, I have some other thoughts and Mom friendly ideas I would like to share! I plan on posting again soon! Love you all,
Shannon

Children put on your Respirators, it's time to play in the sand box!

SANDBOXES AND CARCINOGENS

So my most recent project is a sandbox for the kids. I have been working on digging it out the past week or so and am finally ready to start shopping for Sand. Well, little did I know how complex this would be! It turns out that the PLAY SAND that places like Home Depot and Wal-Mart have are labeled with carcinogen warnings! Seriously? And they label it as play sand? One label I saw even said, "Don't inhale without a respirator!" Ok kids, go play in your sandbox, but don't forget to wear your respirator! LOL! So basically any sand containing Silicates are harmful and sand containing Carbonates are not. I also learned that there are other things to be concerned about. If your going to have a sandbox it HAS TO BE COVERED!!!! I read a couple articles talking about racoon's doing their business in sand boxes and some sort of worm they can transmit to our children that causes disease and mi grains! Also, bacteria can grow and contaminate the sand if the children's hands are dirty or if they are eating in the sand box! There are a couple options available for safe sandbox's. Sterilized Sand is one option but it is hard to find. You can get some at http://www.safesand.com/, but it will cost you about 60.00 per 50lb. bag, which is a lot considering you will probably need about 200-300 lbs for an average size sand box. The option that I am leaning towards is not sand, but PEA GRAVEL. It is basically just a variety of tiny rocks. You don't really need to worry about animals getting into it, and it will not cause cancer, and you can get different sizes and types of rock. I am pretty sure that any landscaping company can deliver pea gravel right to your sandbox. You can also buy it at Lowe's or Home Depot. The smallest variety looks almost like sand. I am headed to Lowe's tomorrow and I will let you all know what I end up with and how much it cost me! For some good info on using pea gravel check out http://hubpages.com/hub/Geology-101-for-Toddlers I found a lot of good info here! Another Blog on toxic sand : http://livegreenmom.com/2010/04/sand-box-toxic/

LOVE,

Shannon

FAMILY UPDATE

Michael with the frog that he and Dom found in the backyard

Strawberry Picking

Relaxing in the backyard

Pool Time!!!

FAMILY UPDATE / July 2010

So I thought I would do a little family update of what has been going on around here lately. The kids are enjoying their summer vacation, and have already made several trips over to Gramps and Nanna's house to swim. Samantha loves the water and is already trying to "swim" (in her own way) Her hair is looking really blond lately, and it is actually growing and curly at the ends! Not at all what I pictured my little girl's hair to be like, but soooo cute!!!! Dom and Mike are sporting Mohawks for the summer! I made a deal with them that if they let me get some nice pics of them, then afterwards they can shave their heads, it worked. The silly band craze has hit our house also recently and the boys arms are decked with stretchy pigs, tools, fish, and any other thing imaginable! They have been fighting a lot lately and it has been driving me crazy! I have been trying to think of creative ways to get them to get along. The other day I decided that we were going to go to the store and buy water guns. They were still fighting, but fighting happily that afternoon! A good investment on my part for some sanity and peace ( inside at least!) Michael had his first dentist appt awhile ago!!!! He was soooo good and even whispered to me "mom, this is fun" when the hygienist stepped out for a sec! Samantha is still teething and I am wondering when she will ever get those last few teeth, but until then she will probably continue to try and chew everything, including bars of soap, candles, my lip gloss, dog food, random pieces of wood found outside, erasers, markers, crayons, play dough, and just about everything else! Oh yes, I cannot forget to tell you all about Soccer! Dom is DOMinating! this year! It is ridiculous and almost embarrassing at times. He really should be in the higher league but his birthday is in Sept. and they are strict about it! Ugh! He headed the ball the other night and then followed it though with a goal! Just about every time someone from the other team would get the ball and head towards the goal Dom would sweep in and turn it around, bringing it right back to score! Here's an example of borderline embarrassing (but yet proud!) parent moments Bry and I have been having lately! Everyone (even OUR coach!) is cheering for one of the cute little small boys on the other team who finally gets the ball and is headed towards the goal ahead of the crowd (mind you everyone is excited because this is rare!) Then comes Dom, from the other end of the field, flying by everyone headed for his target. All I am thinking is "Please don't knock him over! Please don't knock him over!" Well, he sweeps in and steals the ball turning it around. The little boy trips over his toes and falls and you can hear the sighs of parents as their hopes of a goal is taken from them..... What am I to do?! I have to cheer for my little soccer pro! It's ridiculous! Well, he played a great game that night! He is great at soccer, but I like that he is also kind. He never pushes or does things maliciously and he really does try to use teamwork. He passed a bunch of times tonight, and had some goal assists along with his goals (which I really didn't keep track of the exact #) Ok, enough about soccer. Some other things we have been up to..... strawberry picking, wild berry picking, visiting the Children's Museum, hitting the summer community sales, getting together with friends and fireworks! What have I been up to? Hmmm, I guess I have been enjoying our yard a lot this summer and have been making an attempt to grow some fruits and vegetables. We currently have Roma tomatoes, blackberry bushes, raspberries, grapes, blueberry bushes, red peppers, and strawberries. It looks like we will be getting a lot of tomatoes, but as for everything else, I am holding out hope for next year! A good friend told me a little saying about perennials, "First year they sleep, second year they creep, third year they leap" So in two years..... can't wait! I am really beginning to love gardening! I just picture the kids next year running around playing and snacking on all the fruits we will be growing! I have grapes growing next to the boys playground "Fort" and in a year or two they should cover it and make it look really cool! I know the boys will love it. I am also working on a sandbox for the kids. I actually just finished digging it out today so now all we have to do is get some sand. I was really excited last weekend when I found a whole storage bin full of sand toys for 3 bucks at a garage sale (bin included!) Well, Bry has been up to his usual stuff: Enjoying the Yankee's games and doing BJJ. He is now also teaching BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) at our church in a self-defense/fitness class. And then there's the furry child. Leo really thinks he is one of the kids and does everything with them. He was even in the kiddie pool with them the other day. Sam is his baby and she always lays on him on the floor and cuddles with him, it is so cute! He is very gentle with her and lets her pull his ears, bounce on him, ect... He is a great dog and we are blessed to have him! Sooooooooo that is about it. We are planning on doing some fun stuff this summer around here with the kids... Sea breeze, Red Wings, state fair, and maybe a short out of town trip. I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their summer! Keep in touch! Love u all! ~Shannon

"Dear Lord, Thank you for this food, spend time, good day, amen"

Sitting around my kitchen table at any given meal this is what you will hear as Micheal prays. It is precious and I will always cherish his little voice saying those same little words every night.

But.....

It has also bothered me that they think of prayer as just some words you casually repeat before a meal or before bed. Prayer is talking to the God of the Universe! So I have decided to focus their Bible lesson on prayer for the next week or so. Undoubtedly this is an area that I need to work on too! I do not pray as much as I should and I do not think I approach God with as much reverence as I should, me being made of dust and all, and he being well, GOD!

Jesus gave us an example prayer to pray. He didn't tell us to pray the exact words when we pray, but he told us "this then is HOW you should pray" (Matthew 6:9). So verse by verse I am going to take the boys through this prayer and show them how they can say a little more then "rub a dub dub, thank u for the grub" I am going to be working on it myself too. One of the amazing things about God's word is that it is just as applicable for a four year old as it is for a twenty-eight year old! So here we go!

Matthew 6:9

"this then is how you should pray, 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name..."

Lets keep this simple, 1. He shows respect "Our Father" and 2. He praises God "hallowed be your name"

The boys and I read this and talked about it and decided that we would work on saying one thing to praise God when we pray. Micheal prayed before bed tonight, "...you are awesome, and you take care of us..." Domenic prayed, " you are so good and powerful..."

I think That God wants us to pray in this way, not for his own benefit, but for ours. I mean, he is God, he knows how great his is! But when we acknowledge it to him and to ourselves, it prepares our heart to be humble as we approach him in prayer. I think that this is why it is at the beginning.

Work on prayer with us! Let me know your thoughts on prayer and Follow me! let me know that I am not just writing into the air! Love and God bless,

Shannon

I was "THAT MOM" with "THAT KID" !!!! (Our trip to the Library)

I had the motherly privilege of being "THAT MOM" with "THAT KID" the other day at the library. It is always a memorable and humbling experience. I know because I have been "THAT MOM" on more than one occasion over the past few years. LOL! It was a dark rainy day. A perfect day to go to the library. Michael hadn't been in a while so I told him as soon as he got up that we were going after breakfast. We got ready and headed out the door into the garage around 10:00. It was then that I realized that the stroller was in the other Car!!! Nooooo!!! I had already told Mike we were going. I couldn't back out now! Why did I sell that old umbrella stroller at the garage sale for 1.oo? What was I thinking? So we headed to the library without a stroller for Sam. She can walk, it couldn't be that bad right? Well, we got there and immediately she tried taking off and didn't want to hold my hand. I had to chase her down the aisles a couple times. We got the book I was looking for and headed to the children's section where we stayed for a while and where Sam roamed around, rode the wooden horse, ect..... when it was time to leave, she didn't want to go and started throwing a fit! I am at the counter with my books in one arm and Samantha in the other putting up a fight to be let down. Ugh!!! At least Mike was good. His rank has moved up. He has officially been replaced by a littler more rascally rascal. (One that bites! Yes, Heather, if your reading this, I got a biter!Lol!) I think he thought it felt good to be the bigger, "look at me mom, I'm being good" Child. I could see it in his eyes! Anyways, the nice librarian thought she would try to help and put a large bin of stickers on the floor for my kids to pick through. I was checking out my books and was just relieved to have her distracted for a sec. Next thing I know she has dumped the entire bin onto the floor! Mike is scrambling to help put them back. I had just finished checking out my books and there is a line of people behind me as I am bent down on the floor with Sam and Mike picking up stickers. Can we say embarrassing?!!!! So then the librarian comes around and tries to help. Sam is not happy about the stickers being put away or about me picking her up so she starts to kick and scream and flail her arms. Mind you we are in the Library, and Sam does not have a sweet little voice when she screams. Her scream is soooo much louder than I ever remember Dom and Mike's being! She screams and you think she is dying! Well, I hauled her butt out of there as fast as I could only to have the security alarm go off as I passed though the detectors!!! COME ON!!! SERIOUSLY??? WHAT ELSE?!! The Librarian nicely just told me to "just go, your having a hard enough time" LOl! THANK YOU!!! Oh, and to that Lady in the nice suit with the short blond bob and black glasses sitting in that chair giving me that look....... I would gladly rather be "THAT MOM" than no mom, and if you think my child is ridiculous or horrible, you obviously have never had children. They all have their Crazy Embarrassing Child moments. But the good moments far outweigh the bad. For all of you who don't have kids and don't understand... next time you see a mom having a hard time with her child, just go on about your business and ignore. The looks DO NOT HELP! And for all of you moms who have been there.... you will be there again soon so just

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON.

Love,

Shannon

RAINY DAY IDEA: Continue the library fun at home. When we got back Mike and I made our own little library in the back corner of the family room. I used babygates and the toy box to section the area off and put a kiddie table and chair set in there with lots of books and to make it a cozy nook added stuffed animals, blankets, pillows, and a bean bag chair. The kids loved it. They sat in their little area looking at books alot that day and it was quiet because I told them you had to be quiet in the library! Even Sam was well behaved in her own little library! LOL!

A Conversation with Dom about Evil- The Cheerful Coffin

How do you talk to your kids about good vs evil? It can be a tricky subject these days. There is little on t.v. , in music, and in books that is pure and only good. Are we to throw out our tv, and ban all music? How can I teach my children to discern good vs evil for themselves so they are not just always relying on what I say? How Can I teach them to live in the world and know how to make wise decisions without me right by their side? These are questions I wonder about and am working through the awnsers to. I sometimes do want to just ban tv all together and other things as well, but I think a part of me is afraid to shelter the children to much for fear that they will rebel when they are a bit older and go off the deep end. I want their spiritual convictions to be their own. I want them to know in their own head and hearts the why's of right vs. wrong and good vs. evil. So far I have been teaching them that if something on t.v. appears evil, we aren't going to watch it. We have read the verse together that says, " abstain from every form of evil" (1 thes. 5:22) and another one I really like for the kids (short and easy) is in Psalms 101:3 which says, "I will set no worthless thing before my eyes" We read the verse and then we have a discussion about what it means and I try to relate it to their everyday life. The first time we read this verse and talked about it, Domenic asked me "well, is star wars evil?" (mind you this is his favorite show and game which he plays daily). I was like uhhhh. I didn't know what to say. They do harness powers that come from "the force" and not from God. Could we just say that "the force" is God? I really didn't want to tell him it was possibly evil, atleast the good guys anyways. Here is where you can see how I might be compromising, or "grey". I instead turned the question around and asked him what he thought. He said he thought it was evil and vowed that he would never watch it again. Ofcourse he was back to it the next day. Should I have told him he shouldn't watch it? Am I helping him compromise something he was convicted about? I don't know! from a young age with Domenic I have tried to point him to discerning what is right and wrong with what he sees. I would comment on a show if the charactors were having a bad attitude ect.. with the hopes that he would begin to recognize those things himself and think a little more about what he sees

Ok, so that brings us to the situation at hand. Sorry about the drawnout intro! I found in Domenic's lunch bag the Yu-Gi-Oh! card pictured above. I really know nothing about them, except from what I am seeing on the card, and to me, well, it looks a little evil (When I found the above pic online, it said that the original Japanese card had a cross on the coffin). I asked Dom what it was and he told me that his friend at school gave it to him and keeps giving them to him. I asked him if he knew what it said, he didn't know so I told him. Then I asked him if he knew what a coffin was. He didn't so I told him. You should have seen the look on his face. I then asked him if he thought that this was good? He awnsered, "No, I don't think so" with a tone of sarcasm and a raised eyebrow. I told him that he should just give it back to his friend at school that day but he had a different idea. He told me,"No way! I am tearing this into a million tiny peices and throwing it out" and he did. It was pretty funny, but I was proud of my little man! I really don't want him to just follow the crowd. I want him to think for himself and stand by his own convictions. Being a mom with the goal of raising my kids to follow Christ is hard. Kids don't really see grey like we allow ourselves to sometimes. It is black or white, good or evil. I need to be more like Domenic some days. He has a heart that is pure and undefiled by compromise and apathy. Christ said we need to become like little children and I am understanding that statement more and more as I raise mine.

Strive for five

STRIVE FOR FIVE!!!!! If anyone is familiar with the beloved Wegmans of upstate New York, you undoubtedly have heard this phrase! Strive For Five is the grocery chain's logo that encourages shoppers to eat atleast five cups of fruits and vegetables a day, and thus buy more food from them! Let's take this phrase and use it for a goal to spend time sharing Christ with our children on a daily basis. This is a good starting point if you are a new believer or if you have fallen away for while also. What could be more important then our relationship with GOD and spending time getting to know him? We say nothing, ofcourse! But our actions often tell otherwise. It is also so important to share God's Word and pray with our Children, even at a young age. This is something that I have been trying to do. I read a little Biblestory to Mike this a.m. and then we prayed together. It was soooo precious to hear him pray and talk to God! Five minutes a day is not much time at all. Most preschooler's attention spans are about that long, so it's perfect. Let's think for a moment about what we spend 5 minutes of our day on... hmmm... for me.... tweezing my eyebrows (Only if your Italian like me would that take so long! Lol!), Watching the morning weather forcast, picking up toys in the playroom, checking my email, Staring at a room in my house and moving things around, Waiting on hold to make an appointment, putting on my makupe, chasing the dog around the house, who has once again stolen a dirty diaper out of the garbage or my underwear out of the laundry! I am sure I could go on forever but you get the point. None of these things are even close to being as important as spending time with the Lord and teaching my children to pray, seek God, and develop a relationship with him. But they all take up atleast five minutes of my time on a regular basis! How much time in your day are you devoting to God? If you have children, how much time are you devoting to nurturing their spiritual needs? Lets Strive for Five. Leave those dishes in the sink, skip your eyemakupe for one day, turn off the t.v., leave the toys for later. Grab your kids and share with them God's love for them. It will make a difference in their lives, and yours!

This is what we do.....

1. We talk about who we could pray for and decide who will pray for what, then we pray

2. I then pick out a Bible verse to read. We read it and talk about what it means and how we can apply it to our lives.

3. Then we usually will go over some memory verses that I keep on notecards in a little recipe box

PROJECT IDEA: PRAYER JAR

With your kids, put the names of everybody that you know on little peices of paper. You can even include the president, Christians in China, and the Mailman, whoever you want! Put them all in a cleaned out candle jar or some other sort of jar. When you have your meals, or during your devotion time let the children each pick out a name or two and add those people to your prayers! The kids will be so excited to pick a name and it will help encourage them to pray!

Hope this has been an encouragment to you! Have any other ideas or comments? Please Share!!!
Love,
Shannon

TOP TEN funny things my kids have said and done

1. ( 2006)When Michael was first born, Domenic was about two and a half years old. At that time we realized that yes, even children as young as two years old are capable of lying! Michael was laying in his crib watching his mobile spin. I told Domenic not to touch the mobile and I went into the other room. I came back to find the mobile ontop of baby Michael! After fixing it, I asked Domenic if he touched it and knocked it down like I told him not to. He looked at me with a completely strait face and said, "Michael hit it really hard" Ofcourse he did not! He was only an infant! Lol. Lets just say Dom got into trouble fo that one!

2. After peeing all over me while learning to go pee on the potty, Michael looks up at me (who had just flipped out!) and says with a pouty lip and big eyes, "Sorry about that mom." I have to say I couldn't be upset at him after that.

3. (Oct. 2008) It was fall and the boys were outside raking leaves and playing in them. I had gone inside to take care of Sam. I came back out a while later after Domenic told me he had a great idea: Sliding down the slide into the leaves. Yes, that would normally be a good Idea. But when I came outside I realized he had left out one little detail. He and Michael decided to do this IN THE GARAGE!!!!! They had raked all the piles of leaves in teh front yard into the garage!!! You couldn't even see the ground. As I helped them rake out the garage it definitly was not funny; but I can see the humor in it now!

4. (Feb. 2009) I was cleaning the coffee table with pledge wood cleaner and Domenic looks at me and says, " Mom, why are you putting Chemicals on the table?"

5. (Feb. 2009) I was making a salad and the boys wanted to eat some cucumber slices so I gave them each one. I look in the family room and they have their shirts off and their cucumbers in their mouths like mouthgaurds as they pretended they were fighters.

6. I was cleaning the house and singing that song that goes "No air, how am I suppost to breathe with no air... no air.." Domenic looks at me with this raised eyebrow and says, "Mom, you couldn't! You would just die!"

7. When Domenic found out we were having a baby shower at our house he asked me, " But mom, how are you all going to fit in the shower?"

8. When Michael was 3 we went on a walk one afternoon and he was riding his scooter. Out of the blue he stopped his scooter and said, "wait mom! Someone is texting me" He pulled out his toy phone opened it up and pressed a couple buttons. Looking up he said, "Its Buzz" then put the phone back in his pocket and got back on his scooter!

9. Pretending to talk on the phone one day Michael said, "Hi Domenic. I miss you. I'm stuck here with the two girls!"

10. We took the boys skating at R.I.T one day. Domenic saw the big metal sculpture and said to Bryan, "what is that?" Bryan told him it was art. Domenic then said, "It looks like a big pile of garbage!"

So there you have it! And knowing my kids, there will definitly be more to come!! I hope this gave you a good laugh!

Love,

Shannon

Thanks and Thoughts on Mother's Day

On this Mothers Day, I would like to thank my grandmother for raising my mother to be such a great woman! I would like to thank my mother for being such an example of godliness and love; for all the sacrifices she made for me growing up; and for raising me to love the Lord. I would like to thank my mother-in-law for all she does and for the amazing man who is now my husband. I would like to thank my husband, for without him I would not have my three beautiful children. I am so blessed to be a mother and to be able to stay home with my children as they grow up! I never could have dreamed I would have been blessed with such a life! There is no one else I would rather be than mommy. Mom to a six year old fully dressed in camo outside collecting bugs and climbing trees. A boy who says to me on a rough day, " Mom, you look tired, why don't you go lay down and rest and I will do the dishes." A boy who is so protective over his sister that when she hurts her head on the door, he goes crazy " beating up" the door, because he is so mad that it hurt Sam! (Can't wait to see what he is going to do when the first boy hurts her! Lol) Mommy to a four year old who needs his blue doggie in order to sleep every night. A boy who loves to cuddle and give me kissess all day. A boy who would rather drink milk than eat food (Milkle the Milkaholic). The little man who just attracts coolness and can hold a beat from any song he hears. Momma to a little princess who already loves shoes. The one who says babada for bananna, and who sings "dada, dada, Papa, Papa" all day. She is a little girl who loves her doggie and loves to climb on his back and bounce on him. Her first words were no, stop, and dont! (lol! She had all the critical ones down to manage her brothers) definitly a little girl who can hold her own! She is a true daddy's girl who loves to give him kissess and cuddle in his neck when she is sleepy. Each one of my precious little gifts I am so thankful for! It is a priviledge to care for them. Lastly I want to thank my God for entrusting me with their little souls. I pray that as their mother, especially on this mother's day, I would be a mother that glorifies and pleases him. A mother that raises her children to love and serve the Lord.

Introduction to Growing God's Gifts

Hi Everybody! Yes, I too, have officially joined the blogging bandwagon! I have decided to start this blog in an attempt to motivate myself in my goal of daily encouraging my children to follow Christ. I am a stay at home mom, with my oldest child in public school. I am realizing more and more how fast they grow up and how early the world starts attempting to make its mark on our children. My desire is to Make my time home with the Children Matter! (Check out My Sis-In-Law's blog: makeitmatterjr.blogspot.com) I thought that maybe this would not only encourage me to be consistent, but also other mothers who have the same goal! Striving to raise your children to be "in the world, but not of the world" can be a daunting task, especially when they are in school most of the day. We struggle ourselves with the same thing! But it is important, and God would not give us mothers a task that was impossible. I will be blogging about ways we can point our children to Christ including devos, activities, ect. I will also be sharing stories of my experiences with my children as i strive for that goal. Even if you don't have kids, I promise you will atleast get a lot of laughs out of this blog. I will be posting all the funny things that the kids say and do on a regular basis! Along with all that, I will be giving updates on our family and on the new ministry we are starting at Open Door Baptist Church called "hearts in his hands." This ministry's goal is to encourage and support new and expecting mothers as they start off on a new chapter of their life! I am by no means an expert, but learning as I go, so if u have an idea or imput, especially if you are an experienced mom who has "been there and done that" Please Share!!! and stay tuned!

Godbless,
Shannon