Happy Easter!

For now, this will have to do. Taken with an iPhone camera. Not everyone smiling. But, we really DID have a wonderful day at church and with our family.

"Was God really making everything sad come untrue?

Was he making even death come untrue?

"Now everyone can come home to God," Jesus said. "Death

is not the end of you. You can live forever with your Father

in heaven because I have rescued the whole world!"

--excerpts from The Jesus Storybook Bible

Personalized Banks for Kids

We recently had a speaker come to our MOPS group and she talked about teaching our children the value of money. A few key take-aways from her message include:

*Have on-going, natural conversations about money with your kids

*Open bills together (once they are school-aged) and talk to them about how much water, electricity, gas, trash, mortgage, cell phones, TV, Internet, etc. cost. Also a great time to do mini-math lessons and see how the amount varies each month.

*Teach your children to write checks; show them how it's done. Our speaker's girls (ages 10 and up) write all the checks for the bills and she spot checks them and signs them. She said her girls LOVE doing this. I love that they are getting exposure to this early and are seeing what a great responsibility it is to pay bills and manage money.

*Per the above banks above, children have the freedom to chose how to give their money and spend their money. The savings is untouchable until high school or college (though this is not a college fund); she said she sees her children taking ownership of the savings (which they eventually transfer to a bank account in each child's name) in late high school.

*Start chores with children as early as age 2 (many older 2-year-olds can throw own diaper away, get shoes, clean up some toys, etc.).

*Allowance for a 2-year-old might be 3 dimes (one goes in each bank above); a 9-year-old allowance would start at the base of 3 dollars.

*Her children get a simple, small base for doing their weekly chores and can earn extra money for doing extra projects around the house. Our speaker, though, was really clear about saying that children shouldn't be motivated by money to do chores; doing chores is part of being in the family and making the family work. I love this.

*If a child borrows money from a sibling or parent they are charged interest (if at Target and a child sees a toy he/she wants and does not have the money on hand, and really wants it, he/she will have to weigh the immediate gratification vs. being charged interest for borrowing the money).

*The speaker shared that she and her husband tell their children, "We are giving you a weekly amount of money to manage." GREAT perspective

We had a follow-up (awesome) craft at our next MOPS group and made these "Save," "Give," and "Spend" banks for our kiddos. We simply cut paper and decoupaged these beauties. Easy! And Maggie insisted on sleeping with hers the next day when I brought them home (we just put them next to her bed).

One of my favorite mothering blogs, Simple Mom, had an excellent post about teaching the value of money to your children, though specifically focused on teens. One point that stood out to me was discussing up front with them what you will continue to fund since they are still in the home(school fees, haircuts, some clothing, etc.) which takes the guess work out of items that will be purchased. I'm all about good communication and managing expectations so this article was right up my alley.

I already enjoy talking to Maggie about money and look forward to hopefully giving my kids a strong understanding of how to manage it well and to God's glory.

happiness

Many joys abound in the midst of another busy season of life for our family. Aron and I enjoyed a wonderful date night last night and ate for the first time at Cafe Rio. Be. Still.My. Beating. Heart. That food is to die for. Seriously. Their sweet pork barbacoa salad was killer. I keep hearing people talk about it and we finally tasted and we will never be the same. I also got my nose re-pierced. Love.

Another few happies pictured below.

Book club breakfast at yummy Plum Cafe eating this amazing, amazing Belgian berry waffle. Great time discussing Barbara Kingslover's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma.

Curren doing amazingly well in his big boy bed. I found him asleep like this a couple of weeks ago

Spring planting! I just love foxgloves!

Bathtime in the sink.

First haircut and not happy about it at first!

Disneyland with friends: meeting several princesses for the first time, first roller coaster rides for Maggie (who cannot stop talking about how much fun they were!), delicious corn dogs and ice-cream and overall, so much fun with our seminary friends, the Schultzs!

Kate Evangeline: Month 8

Sweet, sweet Katers:

*4 new top teeth in at once! Yes, all 4.

*Rolling and scooting everywhere, though no true crawling yet.

*Loving solid foods of every variety (except meat in a jar; really, who invented that!?)

*Hilarious silent laugh

*Loves to swing at the park

Today

Today, I'm reflective. For the better part of 8 months, I feel I'm at a really good place with motherhood. Sure, I have tough days, but I feel I've finally come into my own which includes accepting my limitations, knowing what I need to stay refreshed (i.e. good self-care), and overall, really enjoying my kids. And being OK with the process of parenting, both in me and in them.

Yet, there are days like today, days that dawn gorgeous and bright and the beach beckons and I want to LOVE this day, but I do not. My oldest is in a tough spot at the moment, battling areas of grumbling and complaining, and general moodiness. In tears during lunch, I called my husband, expressing feelings of defeat, not a place I've been in a long time. He listened, encouraged, and prayed for me. I love that man with all my heart. And sweet little baby girl is getting in all 4 top teeth, yes, at once. All but 1 have finally popped through, but my usual very, very happy, best-sleeper-baby has not napped well today, was up at night, and up early. Sigh. My friend, Katchen, had a terrific picture-post on the joys and sorrows of motherhood that I related with.

I'm choosing joy today. I'm choosing gratitude. And I'm choosing to focus on the good things happening, too.

My sweet boy is now 2 nights in his big boy bed and has done amazingly. Better than I ever thought possible. He is also staying in bed until we come get him, a family rule we have. I'm hopeful it will continue. On Sunday before church he grabbed these 2 dolls and proceeded to park them in the shopping cart and wheel them around the back yard. He can be quite the gentle-spirited one!

I'm prepping for a visit from some seminary friends. We LOVE this family, they were some of our closest friends while living on campus in Dallas. Maggie and Avery are going to have a ball together, as they haven't seen eachother since they were 2 years old (they are 4 weeks apart in age). We made a paper chain and are counting down the days until she arrives (I did green and purple to distinguish the weekend days). Also, this was Maggie's verse from school last week and it's a verse that has come in handy lately!

I am reading an incredible book on discerning making big choices, even when the odds are not stacked in your favor. We are in the brink of some GREAT changes in our lives, and this book is bolstering my faith in the sovereignty of God when it comes to the choices we make. In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day may be one of the best books I've read when it comes to taking opportunities and stepping out in faith.

Aron and I enjoyed a date morning on Saturday, coffee and a movie. Later that night with his encouragement and help, we spent 3 hours cleaning out all our stuff we've been storing in boxes through the last several moves. I knew we'd get rid of some things, surely, but 30 boxes?? I'm stunned at how much we are "letting go of." It's freeing. I love, love my husband. And I'm terribly excited for what this next season of life holds for us.

I really do love this sweet girl, even when she is not sleeping her best. Hard to believe she is already 8 months old. Those blue eyes are so lovely.

And I really do love this sweet girl, even when she seems pre-pubescent in emotion. She is so creative! We played a matching game the other day and she then created her own game! She drew matching pictures in different colors and everything.

I'm getting my hair cut and colored tonight. That should lift any woman's spirits, right?

Kate Evangeline: Month 7

Our little sweetie turned 7 months old on the 3rd of this month. She is an amazing baby, so full of joy and life. I want 3 more! :)

them

This sweet girl is so incredibly articulate it blows my mind some days. She makes up hilarious stories, still loves to play "voices" (where we imitate a character in a show/book and "talk" to her in that voice), and has her first loose tooth! She is so excited and yes, it's very early for this (she is just 4, but apparently, those who teethe early, lose early).
This boy is always singing, and I do mean always: when he wakes up it's either his FAVORITE David Crowder song, "Oh, Happiness," "All Creatures of Our God and King," or U2's "Beautiful Day." If you start a song, he can finish it. He sings loudly in public now, too. For example, he was belting out "How He Loves" (a David Crowder cover song) in Target yesterday. He likes to play chase and hide-and-seek with his sister, even hiding his bear under the table yesterday, then racing to the wall to cover his eyes and count. How cute is that?! He accidently locked himself in the bathroom on Sunday afternoon and I had Maggie feed him chocolate chips, one at a time, under the door to pass the time while we waited for the locksmith. He LOVES chocolate and after he was freed he was begging for more "choco!"

This little girl is eating lots of solid foods: sweet potatoes, bananas, pears, green beans, squash, avocado. Her 3rd tooth is coming in, I'm sure of it. She rolls everywhere (and has rolls everywhere-ha!), still sleeps like a champ, loves to be cuddled, and always finds a way to take her socks off and eat them.

why living in SoCal in the winter rocks my socks...

Because we can have night-time, kite-flying, non-crowded, perfect-weather picnics on the beach.

In February.

Did I mention we ate Pedro's tacos? And it was Kate's first time ever at the beach? In winter.

I love it here.

twins

It blows my mind how much my girls look alike!

Kate at 6 months
Maggie at 8 months
Kate at 6 months

Maggie at 8 months

more Valentines-y things

For Maggie's class party last Friday, I made these yogurt parfaits. They were a huge hit! Instead of the suggested "X and O" in each cup (there were not enough in the cookie tub), I did each child's first initial. They loved it! I also whipped up some homemade vanilla whipped cream.

And Maggie and I also made these candies to pass out with her Valentines. So fun and quite easy (although because of the hot nature of the molten candy, I did most of the work).

Next year, I'd love to make these cards for Maggie's class; super creative!

Happy Valentine's Day!