I'm so sneaky!

I'm so sneaky, oh so sneaky.

Normally I am not a food-sneaker. That being said...there are 3 things that I make that I do sneak food into.
1)Chili. Whether the kids like it or not, I make chili. It's cheap, it's wholesome, it's easy to make, it's versatile. My chili is special in one more way....pumpkin. Yep, a whole can of pumpkin. Why? Well...why not? You can't taste the pumpkin. It adds a whole other layer of fiber and beta-carotene to the already good for you chili, so really it's a win-win situation.
2) Fettucini Alfredo. #2 LOVES fettucini alfredo or any other kind of alfredo. Now, while I do know how to make alfredo sauce and have made it before, it is one of the only jarred sauces I buy. Mostly because anything alfredo is a last minute meal idea here around our house. However....*cue the sneaky music....my alfredo sauce has pureed great northern beans in it. I take my handy dandy wand mixer and puree up a can of great northern beans and add it right to the Alfredo sauce. Why? Fiber. Lots of fiber. We've got to keep these kids regular!!
3) The infamous weight watchers chocolate muffins. 1 box Devil's food cake mix. 1 can pumpkin, 1/2 cup chocolate chips (who are we kidding....it's more like 1/2 the bag!) Mix first two, add the chips, bake in either a 9x13 pan to make brownies or muffin tin for muffins. Why? Fiber, baby!!

Make sure you've stocked up on toilet paper and then get to cookin'!
:)
Audrey

Is Sex Bad?

Last night at youth group, they had the last talk in a series on Love and Dating.  It was concluded by a time of Q & A. Questions that the youth had anonymously turned in over the course of the month. As I was talking to #2 (my only girl-11years old and in 6th grade) this was our conversation:
Me: Were there any questions that you want to talk about with me?
#2: No, they really explained everything well.
Me: ok.
#2: Well, there was this one. It was, "Is sex bad?"
Me: What do you think?
#2: Well, they said it was created by God, so it can't be bad, but Satan has twisted it to make it seem bad.
Me: Yeah. They are right. Think about when Adam and Eve were in the garden, and God commanded them to be fruitful and multiply. If he wanted there to be lots of people on the earth, and the only way to make a person was through sex, then do you think he would make it un-fun, like getting a root canal, or donating your left kidney??
#2:*giggles* no...
Me: Right! So sex has to be fun and feel good, so that people will do it and fulfill the commandment to be fruitful and multiply.
#2:*gross face*
Me: It's like ice cream.
#2: *huh??? face*
Me: Ice cream is great, right? Is eating ice cream ever wrong??
#2: yeah if you're on a diet.
Me: ha-ha. But seriously, is it every wrong?
#2: only if you tell us not to.
Me: exactly. If I buy ice cream and tell you that it's for your birthday, so please don't eat it until then, and you eat it before your birthday, then it's wrong. It's a sin, because you disobeyed, right?
#2: right.
Me: but if you wait until your bday to eat the ice cream, then it's not a sin, right?
#2: right.
Me: now, if you eat the ice cream before your bday, you will still probably get ice cream on your bday too, but it won't be special anymore. It would just be ice cream again. But if you wait until your bday for the ice cream, then it's special. You've obeyed too, so you can enjoy your ice cream without any guilt or shame. Sex is the same. If you wait until your married, then you can have sex without guilt or shame. But if you don't wait to be married, then you have disobeyed and it's wrong. You'll still have sex when you get married, but it won't be as special as if you had waited. Does that make sense?
#2: yeah.
Me: Let's keep going with the ice cream theme...it is one of my favorite foods! Let's say we were really poor and had never had ice cream before. But we saved and saved and eventually bought some vanilla ice cream. You loved that vanilla ice cream. And that was the only kind you ever tried...Well, until the day you died, anytime someone mentioned ice cream, you would always think about that vanilla ice cream and it would be the best ever. But....let's say you had vanilla, but then you also tried rocky road, then a gross sorbet thing, and then chocolate cookie dough. Then if someone talked about ice cream, your mind would go to all those different kinds that you had tried. AND each time you tried a new flavor, you would be comparing it to the other kinds you had tried. It's kind of like sex. If the only person you are ever with is your husband, then sex with him will be the only thing you think about and same about you. But if you have sex with more people than your spouse, then your mind will go to all those other people you had been with. That is why sex was designed to be with only your spouse when you get married. Does that make sense?
#2: Yes. Why do all your analogies go back to ice cream??
Me: I'm hungry. :)



:)
Audrey

Wake up sleepy heads!

Every school morning, #1 and #2 get up first and get on the bus. Then I have 20 minutes before #3 and #4 need to wake up. The last two are not easy to wake up....unless it is Saturday morning, but that's another story. I've tried going in their rooms and waking them up nicely, speaking softly, turning on their light, speaking loudly outside or inside their room, taking the covers off, singing....you get the picture. They fight me tooth and nail. They whine, ignore me, pull the covers over their heads, whatever they can do to get another wink or two of sleep.
But today I tried a different approach.
I walked into their room, turned off their fan (we use it for white noise) and sat down in their quiet room and began to play with their toys. I took a bucket of little army men and lego men and began playing with them--taking them apart, putting them back together, etc. After one minute, #3 sat up and looked at me and said, "What are you doing?" :)  Then he sat down beside me and told me about each and every lego guy. During this, #4 sits up in bed and looks at us to find out what's going on and who is playing with toys!
He comes on down from his top bunk and tells me about one or two of the guys also. After a minute or so, I asked them to get dressed and brush their teeth, and then we went downstairs for breakfast. It was such a calm beginning to the day!
~~I might try this technique again tomorrow, but with different toys. We'll see if it works 2 days in a row!
:)
Audrey

Hair is not a moral issue

When my kids were little, and I was still idealistic, one of our neighbors had teenagers. I was shocked that she had let her sons wear their hair so crazy--colors, length, etc. (Keep in mind that we are military, and were living on an Army base where kids' hair is usually kept to military standards. :)
She said some wise words that have stuck with me over the years--Hair is not a moral issue....the heart is.

Wow. She and I went on to have a discussion about how to discover if the hairstyle (color, length, etc) is being influenced by a heart issue (rebellion, specifically) or just a normal teenage desire to try new things, fit in, etc.

I have "pondered these words in my heart" for several years. And beginning last year (7th grade), I finally had a chance to put feet to those words. #1 decided he wanted to grow his hair out. Some would say it was to be like Justin Bieber....no. It's not about being like J.B., but it is about fitting in, being noticed, wanting to look different than you did in elementary school.
Those wise words were so helpful to hubs and I as we waited patiently and supported #1 with haircuts that were "trims", just to adjust the shape and finetune the evolving style. I was so proud of my husband for being willing to stick this one out.
Last week, #1 made the middle school soccer team. When he saw the final list online, he first went to facebook and posted it...but THEN he came into the kitchen and annouced that he wanted to get a haircut...a real haircut. He said the hair gets in his way when he is trying to play soccer. When hubs got home, I relayed the message as calmly as I could, while inside I was grinning from ear to ear that our child had just made a huge decision all on his own. :)
We took him to get his haircut and hubs and I stood there watching as all 6 or 7 inches of hair fell to the floor. I was so proud. Proud of him making the team. Proud of him making the decision on his own to get a haircut. Proud of his dad for not needling his decision or telling him "I told you so". Proud that #1 is open enough with us to feel like he can change his mind and try new things without us berating him or belittling him. Just plain proud.
So...here's the before:

And here's the after:

:)
Audrey

Spit happens

My husband spits sometimes. It grosses me out, but he does it outside. When my boys do it inside or on one another, that is a totally different story.
Last year, I found out that 2 of my boys (#1 and #3) had spit on each other, while being hateful to each other. I was livid. So I made them sit on both sides of the trash can and spit for 10 minutes.

A month or so later, #3 spit again. This time he had to spit at the can for 20 minutes.
I really thought we had fixed the problem...until last week.
We brought along a neighbor's kid to church with us on Wednesday night. In the van on the way home, I heard the kid say that #3 had spit on him. Oh, no he didn't! Yep, he did.
So after a profuse apology to the kid, and I dropped him off at his house, we went home. #3 sat and spit, and spit, and spit.... until I had enough. (no photo taken this time, I was too mad!) We moved from there to another form of discipline, since it was discovered that he lied about the reason for the spitting....
I am not naive enough to think we've solved this problem, but I sure am hoping that it doesn't happen again for a long time. Until then....spit happens.
:)
Audrey

The Wienermobile

If I could go back 50-60 years, I think I would ask Mr. Oscar Mayer (or whoever began the company) to please reconsider naming his hot dog creation-- the wiener. And more pointedly, not having a contraption called the wienermobile. 
The Wienermobile, the one and only by the way, came by the Richmond Hill Kroger this week. Of course the kids wanted to go see it.
This begun an entire day of wiener jokes. "Can I touch your wiener?" was probably the most embarrassing, as it was asked of the Oscar Mayer representative who was standing by the wienermobile giving out stickers and coupons.

But seriously. If you're going to have a food called a wiener, drive a mini-coop shaped like a wiener, give out stickers that say something about seeing the wienermobile....do you really need to also give out silly bands shaped like a wienermobile and whistles shaped like a wienermobile??
*Sigh*
Bright side: lots of laughter, smiles, jokes and family fun--albeit not the cleanest of fun!
:)
Audrey

Kid's Activity that's Fun, Safe and Sterile!

For this post, I am removing the hat of "mom" and putting on the hat of "music teacher". 

This classroom activity worked so well, I just had to share it.

My classes of Kindergarteners, First Graders and Second Graders, can sometimes be a little...rowdy. They really need to expend energy when they come to music class. And sometimes they can't keep their hands to themselves. So I usually have them marching around the classroom or moving to music in other ways, but even then they struggle to keep their hands to themselves.

Enter the Kleenex. 

Each student took 2 tissues, one in each hand, I turned on some awesome music and we moved to music--safely and fun-ly. (Is that even a word?)  The kids loved it. It was very similar to using scarves, but the tissues were disposable. (Can I get an Amen from all the teachers who bathe in hand sanitizer everyday?)

The biggest plus-es were:

1. keeps both hands busy

2. if they do try to hit each other with them...they don't hurt!

3. easy clean up

4. sterile

There were so many things that they discovered and learned with the tissues, I could go on and on....maybe another time.

So next time you have a group of little guys that need to get some wiggles out and keep their hands to themselves, grab a box of Puffs and go to it!

*one of my favorite classroom bulletin boards I copied from one on boardsgalore.com

:)

Audrey