Keeping it Real.....

Listen. I love Pinterest just as much as the other pinners. But honestly, I like to keep it simple in the Ward house. As in real simple. In a house full of boys, crafts and cute Valentines aren't real high in their priority list. I searched the craft engine for super simple ideas, but found none as easy as the one stirring around in my brain. Enter an easy, healthy Valentine craft! 

You need: a box of Valentines ( because nothing screams easy as an already printed and perforated card); stickers ( even though I bought Valentine stickers, my boys preferred the 4th of July ones...go figure!;)); fruit cups; low expectations in the cutesy department. 

The boys did practice writing their name on the cards. Then I just plopped the basket of fruit cups on the table with an assortment of stickers and let the have at it. Although I had to force this craft upon them ( they had intentions of creating a derby in the driveway) they actually sat and completed this super simple "craft". 

Now, I am not bragging, but I think it is a "win" if a 6, 4, and a 2 year old will sit still for 30 minutes to make a craft.

The final product:

Valentine treats for friends. Check. 

Now what to do about the Valentine mailboxes.......

Mama Take My Picture......

He really does pose for his pictures. Life is never dull with this one!!!

By the way....

This happened!!!

Samuel Paul. Born on July 16, 2013. Blessing!

Groceries

Let's talk about groceries for a minute. Are you as shocked as me when the 30 items you buy totals to the equivalent of a car payment?! It is disgusting. But a family has to eat, right?

I have couponed, played the grocery game, shopped sales, fed my family egg sandwiches, all in the name of reducing the amount of money we spend on groceries. Like many moms, I find it a delicate balance to feed my family healthy on a budget.

I want my family to eat as healthy as possible. I also want to be able to pay the mortgage each month. Magazine articles and blogs all offer advice.....buy the "dirty dozen" fruits and veggies organic; make sure your meat is organic, grass fed; organic diary is a must; no processed food; food with only five ingredients; avoid food with gluten; no wheat; no dairy; non-gmo (still don't quite understand this one); no artificial dyes; no artificial sweeteners; definitely no high fructose corn syrup; no carbs.....the list goes on and on.

Quite honestly following this "advice" leaves me stressed. Listen, I know organic is best. How could adding chemicals to your body be good? I understand gluten is a problem for many. Protein is great fuel. Sugar and carbs should be consumed in moderation. GMO's mean somehow your food has been genetically modified. And dairy and wheat are common allergens.

But what does eating healthy on a budget for my family look like? As I was praying through this the Lord laid something on my heart. He reminded me that first, I need to respect my husband and the income he provides for our family. This includes the grocery budget. This does not include nagging my husband that I need more money for groceries because I have to feed my family all organic, non-gmo, grassfed meals. Because, for our budget that we agreed on for groceries, this is not feasible. And, let me get real honest with you here, there isn't much room to cut from other budgeted items to add to our grocery budget to even accomplish buying all organic. So, while some are able to cut out other items to afford organic milk to hydrate their family of five, this isn't an option for our budget.

By respecting my husband and the grocery budget we can afford, I am obeying God. And doing the absolute best for my family. We try not to eat tons of processed snacks. Chips are for weekends only. No cokes (or sodas, whatever). No juice. I buy grassfed beef when it is on sale and stock up. Same for chicken. I do BOGO at Publix only on items we actually eat. I shop at Sam's for cheese, milk (freeze for the whole month), bread (freeze for the whole month), and dog food.I try to keep meals simple and less processed, but I don't stress if there is boxed mac and cheese every now and then either. I cut down on grocery trips (and my stress levels that elevate when grocery shopping with 3 kids) by eating what we have on hand. (Meals can get real interesting in the Ward house!) There is very little organic in our house. But there is also less stress about going over on the grocery budget.

When I start to look at food blogs or blogs of other women feeding their family different, I lose sight of what the Lord has revealed to me. To my family. (I know your family is different!). So I try to avoid those sights, and blog entries. I too easily fall victim to comparing myself to others.

And, have you ever thought about this? I read this somewhere......God gave us the ability to pray over our food?! Ever heard this, "Lord bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies."? Back before we had all this knowledge about how to prepare, cook, and store food, a family literally had to pray that what they were about to ingest wouldn't kill them! The Lord wants what we put into our bodies to be healthy, to nourish what He has given us. But, for me, He also doesn't want me to draw our family into debt over food. I would rather pray that the Lord blesses the boxed mac n cheese that I was able to purchase while staying within my budget and being obedient, than pray that He get me out of debt incurred over food. He wants to bless my family when I respect my husband, stay on budget, pray over my food, and feed my family as healthy as I can. And that, my friends, is better than organic.

(Let me just say that if the Lord has called your family to eat different than mine, I am not implying that you are being disobedient. I understand that all families have differing dietary and budgeting issues.)

Conversations With A Preschooler

My oldest started k4 last week. In the past few months he sure has matured and his personality has blossomed. Conversations with him are,well, enlightening!
Me: Andrew, John Dixon will let his sunday school teachers rock him to sleep; he will let his school (mothers day away JD attends 2x/ month) teachers rock him to sleep; but he won't let me rock him to sleep!
Andrew: Maybe he just likes them better than you.

Words of affirmation may not be his love language!

Eight Days....

.....till kickoff!!!! The Ward house is getting ready to cheer on the Dawgs (me) and the AU Tigers (the rest of my family).

Thoughts on a First Birthday

My baby is 1!!

Happy Birthday, John Dixon!!

A few things I have learned after hosting three 1st birthdays:

1). Hobby Lobby makes great invitations.

2). Nekkid birthday child is ideal. Outside (or on a porch in this case), even better.

3). Smash cake can be smashed before birthday boy even touches cake. For our third child, a hectic trip to the grocery store with three boys in tow, resulted in the smashed smash cake before it even reached the party. Thank goodness for the memory of a one year old!

4). Birthday boy may not act surprised to see an entire cake sitting before him. Cake may have been previously employed to keep said child entertained/quiet so that mama could finish a meal. Sitting down.

5). Elaborate treat bags? Last minute cookies made from a mix with ziploc bags will suffice. And if you go to all that trouble and then forget to hand out said cookies in ziploc bag? Your guests probably won't even notice. Then you can surprise your Sunday School class the following morning with??!! Cookies in ziploc bags.

6). Kids just want cake and juice boxes at a party. Keep it simple. The most fun parties we have attended included bags of mulch spotting the yard, a trampoline without a net, and a giant jar of laffy taffy. 

7). With multiple brothers and cousins opening birthday child's presents and playing with the new toys, some gifts may get misplaced. Which will later result in a frantic phone call to locate some very nice books. The books will mysteriously appear in birthday childs' bedroom.

8). An ideal location for a first birthday is a grand parents house. Especially one that has a pool.

9). Everything that needs to be accomplished at this bash can be done in about 45 minutes. Which leaves plenty of time to play on that trampoline without a net.

10). If mama wants to hide left over birthday cake from all other members of the family and eat it quietly by herself while all children sleep....you go girl!! You deserve it.....it's your third 1st birthday.

11). If your smash cake gets smashed, you forget to hand out last minute thrown together treat bags, and some gifts go rogue for a few hours, I can promise you at least one person at the party did not notice....yep, your precious one year old!!