Fried Chicken and Oreos

Sometimes you just have to celebrate life.

I'm a firm believer in parties.

 My Daniel turned 9 this month, so we had to get his favorite fried chicken and these:

 Invite some good buddies...

 Wear silly party hats

 Share the love

 Stick on a fake 'stache

And take pictures of cute babies!

Happy Birthday, D.  You are my blue-eyed baby forever.

Freestyle Friday 3-16-12

Have you ever made a promise to a child you knew you might not be able to keep?  Guilty!  Maybe that's one of the reasons I love this website - www.makeareadingpromise.com, based on the book by Alice Ozma. 

Alice's father promised to read to her EVERY night for 1,000 nights straight.  From 9 years old to 18 years old, He. Did. It.  Sometimes over the phone, very late, but he did it.  Get the book, check out the website, be inspired.
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Have you heard of Jen Hatmaker?  She's a great writer and someone I want to have a Coke with.  Check out her blog and her book trailer.  It's on my list to read next!

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Speaking of books, I stumbled onto this website from a friend - www.redeemedreader.com.  They offer great book reviews of all kid's literature, so you don't have to read everything! :)  (Does that mean I don't have an excuse now?)

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And just for fun - this hilarious website from someone "in the trenches" - www.whendidigetlikethis.com I love how one of her blog posts was entitled:

Let whatever you do today be enough....

The School Wars

I had the privilege of being a part of a panel today about education at a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) Group.  I represented Christian school along with another mom, and then there were 2 moms representing public schools and another 2 moms as homeschool representatives.

Can I be honest here?

  I was scared to death. 

I hate conflict.  I hate that gut-wrenching feeling I get when people are getting testy and angry ....I didn't want this discussion to turn into defensive, angry opinions or criticism.

I LOVE my Christian School, y'all know that. 

And I think it is a fantastic option for many, many Bible-believing Christians. 

 But I also recognize the fact that education is not a one-size-fits-all situation. 

The beautiful thing about this talk today was how our entire panel spoke with grace, love, and encouragement to these moms who are at the very beginning of the journey.  I was excited to see all 6 of us recognize the fact that we all want the best for our kids and it takes prayer, humility, and wisdom to select the education scenario best for each child. 

We are our children's first and primary teachers.  Always.

If our children do not know the word of God or Who He Is, we cannot blame anyone or anything else except ourselves. 

Shame on us if we hold others responsible for our children's view of God. 

We all agreed that no matter where or how your child is educated, you must be extremely involved in their school/classroom.  Don't trust their opinions -- get in there and get to know the kids and the teachers.

There is no cookie cutter recipe for turning out godly, mature young men and women.  I have seen positive and negative aspects of EVERY educational option!  I'm sure you have, too. 

Here is what I think it comes down to:

1.  Pray for wisdom months and months before your child even reaches school age.  Ask the Lord to make it clear to you how your children should be taught.

2.  Talk to your husband and pray together.  (Hopefully you talked about it before you even got married!)

3.  Search what the Bible says about knowledge and wisdom.

4.  Know your child!  How does he learn best? 

5.  Don't let others' opinions sway you from doing what God has called YOU to do.  There are negative people in every camp - that's life.

What about you? How do you decide your children's education? What are your fears/worries?

Freestyle Friday 3-9-12

It's new!

It's funky and fresh like D.J. Jazzy Jeff!
If you're old enough to know who that is, I salute you.

It's FREESTYLE FRIDAY!  I'm starting a new feature where every Friday I serve up a few smokin' links that have caught my attention over the week.

What to expect?  Mmm, a little bit of everything! Here we go...

~ This short article helped me realize that the One Essential Habit Of Every Effective Leader isn't as mysterious as I think it is.  Very freeing!

~ For those of you who like to blog yourself, this is a really helpful link on Finding Your Blog's Unique Voice or any writing in general.

~ Sometimes I am just plain sick of Housework.  It feels like shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing!  This encouraged me.

~ And this is just a hilarious video about trying to be fluent in our native tongue, English.  Brian Regan kills me again.

Let me know what you think of Freestyle Friday! 

And thanks for reading.  I'm having fun and I hope you are, too.

Put on Your Glasses to Watch This

Last weekend, Aaron and I went to see this guy perform in Minneapolis, and I'm telling you, I'm still recovering.  I love the kind of laughing where it practically hurts, you've been laughing so much.

I love the fact that he does a sort-of Seinfeld act, just observations about life without getting nasty or inappropriate.

Stay tuned for the last few seconds - that's one of my favorite parts!

What/Who has made you laugh REALLY HARD lately?