A Tea Party With My Children

Every now and then my children and I have a tea party. Yes..you read that right. I said, "my children"; not just "my girls".  My boys love the parties as much as my girls.

Some of you might wonder why  boys would want to have a tea party. Simple: wherever  there's food,  you'll find my boys.  :)

Even if they have to use their very best manners...and even if they have to dress up in their Sunday best.

Here are some photos of our latest tea party..


The dishes are ready.....

The Russian teacakes are ready.....(yes! we use real food!)

Time to eat!

And by the way, we drink milk instead of tea.  :)

Tea parties are a fun way to reinforce table manners -  and make memories with your children at  the same time.

Have a blessed day, friends!








linking up at Deep Roots at Home

Queen of the Home 6

"What would be gained to woman's comfort, respectability, or usefulness, or to the welfare of society, and how much would be lost to each, by withdrawing her from her own appropriate sphere, and introducing her to that for which she has no adaptation?

Who, but a few wild visionaries, and rash speculatists, and mistaken advocates of 'women's rights' would take her from the home of her husband, of her children, and of her own heart - to wear out her strength,consume her time, and destroy her feminine excellence - in committee rooms, on platforms, in mechanics' or philosophical institutions?"

Please Pray for Noah

Dear friends,

Little Noah is seriously ill with an infection that is not responding to antibiotics. Read here for an update or use the link on my right sidebar.

Please continue to pray for him and his family. Thank you.

Praising the Good

It's so easy for me to become focused on what my children do wrong..

 - when my five year old forgets to make her bed - again. And I have to remind her again.

 - when my angry boys resort to punching each other, I have to become "judge and jury" to figure out who's right and who's wrong. I have to discipline them and train them in patience and love.

 - when the trash isn't taken out - again, I have to track down the guilty party, make sure he does the job, and train him toward greater responsibility.

But when the bed is made, I barely acknowledge her hard work. When no one is arguing, we manage to get more on our to-do list done. When the trash is taken out, we just put more trash in the trash can.

When things are going well, it's easy for me to forget to give thanks and commend those who are doing well. I have come to realize that I can unintentionally discourage my children when I remember to discipline them, but forget to encourage.

In 1 Peter 2:14, Peter mentions leaders that are sent by God "to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good." The same can be said for us as mothers.

It can be likened to making deposits and withdrawals in a checking account. If we just write checks and never make deposits, the checks we write will bounce. In the same way, if we just correct our children but never encourage them, our discipline efforts will fail.

Personally, I tend to "overdraw" and spot the wrong-doer before I spot the right-doer.  But my children started to change when I started to change. I started to look for what they were doing right. Instead of focusing all my attention on all their wrongdoing, I looked for opportunities to encourage them and bless them when they were doing something good. And that's when things began to change.

That's how the Lord treats me. He doesn't overlook my sin. He keeps His promises and disciplines me (often after much long-suffering and mercy on His part). But He also blesses me when, by His grace, I obey Him. The Scriptures are full of promises of blessing for those who choose to obey Him. And those promises are part of what gives me hope as I persevere in following Him.

Many of you are probably very good at encouraging your children when they do well. For those of you who are like me, I challenge you to spend the next few days catching your children doing good things.

 Conduct an "experiment": Pay attention and grab every opportunity to encourage and bless. Watch your children playing happily together, think about all the chores they do around the house, and appreciate their strong points. Take notes if you have to - I did!  :) And start blessing your children with encouragement.

For example,  words of encouragement: "I love you!" "Look how much you've improved in this area!" "You are such a blessing to me!" "Yay! I saw that! Good job!" "I've noticed that you and   _____ are getting along much better today. God is helping you to be more patient, isn't He?" "Your cheerful attitude is such an encouragement to me."

Physical gestures: A wink across the room, a big smile, a big hug, applause!

Gifts and special events: Sometimes real progress in an area of serious struggle might deserve a special blessing - a special home-baked treat, a favorite dinner, a piece of jewelry, or some other special gift...along with words of love and encouragement.

I'd love to hear about the results of your "experiment".   :)

"..do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."  ~  Ephesians 6:4

Have a blessed day, friends!
  







linking up this week at Deep Roots at Home

Noah

Dear friends,

While requesting prayer for  Annaleigh's family, I felt compelled to also ask for prayer for a little boy named Noah.  He has been through so much during his short life..and his parents are now facing a big decision. Prayers are coveted for him and his family.

You can read his story here,  or use the link on my right sidebar.

Thank you.

Continue to Pray..

Please continue to pray for Annaleigh's family.  You can read the latest from Rebecca here.

Thank you!

Some Thoughts on Feminine Dress

Dear friends,

It's been almost one year since I (and my girls) started wearing skirts full-time. Here's how it all began......

 Last spring, I was really encouraged - and challenged -  by reading Amy's posts @  She Wears Skirts Series, and Caroline's posts @ The Modest Mom.
(You can read my post about skirts here.)

But even before I had stumbled upon  their  blogs,  the Lord had already been dealing with me about what I was wearing, which I call the "The Uniform of the Day" :  jeans and t-shirts.  I knew that, as Christians, we are to be "set apart" from the world (Psalm 4:3) "not conformed" to it (Romans 12:2), and that we were "to keep oneself unspotted" from it (James 1:27).   I had to admit to myself that  what I was wearing was not separate from the world because I looked exactly like almost every other woman when I went out in public. Not only did I consider myself not separated from the world, but I just didn't feel feminine in what I was wearing. However, I  felt very feminine in my Sunday clothes.

As I read the posts in the series, the topic came up at lunch one day. I asked the children, "What's the first thing that pops into your mind when you see a lady in a long skirt?" My then 9 year-old son summed it up well.   His answer was," I would think, 'Wow! There's something different about her!'"

Exactly! We are supposed to different from the world - even in how we dress.  And  in our society, with the gender lines blurred, or sometimes non-existent, it's hard to distinguish  male from female these days.

So I found myself looking forward to each new post and loving what I was reading.  And  I felt the Lord tugging on my heart even more. I knew what He was trying to tell me:  make the change..literally - to embrace my femininity, to love being the woman God created me to be..... and to be more modest at the same, (which is a topic for another  post).  : )  The Lord made it very clear to me and I knew what I had to do.
 
But there was the question about how to afford practically a whole new wardrobe. I had Sunday clothes, but no skirts to wear around the house, or  to run errands, etc. And I would need some shoes, too.  The Lord graciously provided exactly what I needed from thrift stores, and also material to make skirts for me and my girls.

 I must tell you that I  feel much more feminine in a long, flowing skirt than I ever did in a pair of jeans or even capris. And for the record, my hubby says, "Dear, you look really nice" much more now than he ever did when I wore jeans.  :)  My daughters act more feminine in their skirts, too.

 I also find that I can do anything in skirts that I could do in jeans..from cleaning the house to weeding the garden.  My sweet daughter-in-law gave me an apron a couple of years ago, I use it on a daily basis to keep my skirts clean.

So it's been a year since the switch and I have yet to be questioned by family or  friends about why we wear skirts. Maybe it's because they're thinking, "They homeschool and wear skirts. Typical weirdos."  ;) 

There's a quote from Kim Brenneman in her book, "Large Family Logistics" that was a wonderful encouragement to me while switching over to skirts. She said, "Our foremothers settled this land, built houses, planted gardens, and tended animals in long skirts and beautiful dresses. Even their aprons were wonderful to behold! Surely in our day of microwaves, washing machines, and vacuum cleaners, we can do our chores with as much feminine flair as they. Personally, I feel it is uplifting to the spirit to go through each day in womanly attire. Let's dignify our work by dressing appropriately and beautifully for it!"

Now obviously, I realize that there are people who would call me legalistic, but I disagree. I 'm not legalistic.  I'm  liberated  -  in the right sense of the word;  liberated to embrace how the Lord created me - to be a woman, to act like a woman, and to dress like a woman.  

Have a blessed day,








linking up at The Modest Mom
                                                             Deep Roots at Home
                                                            Feminine Friday 
Thanks for reading, friends. And I try to respond to each comment that you leave.   :)