Wordless Wednesday

Pray for Pastor Yousef today.  

http://www.persecutionblog.com/2011/09/christian-pastor-yousef-nadarkhani-faces-potential-execution-as-early-as-tomorrow.html

Newest sling

I've been on a bit of a sling making roll.... I'm working on a mei tai as well.  It's super fun.  Especially since I just fixed up my craft area.

I really need a cool lamp shade.  

See?

Anyway... this is my latest.

I decided to model it with a smaller baby... just for fun.  When J saw me holding the baby, he said, "baby num nums mama."  I asked him if I should give the baby num nums and he yelled "yes!"  See?  Even he knows how good it is for babies.  :)

In other news.... I finally put my mom's old door to good use.

It will be fun to collect Christmas cards on it.  That wall is where I plan to do this:

From Young House Love

Cheers!

Great Decals

Check out Educated Mama Decals.  I'm loving my new car tattoo.

Self Esteem

I've noticed a trend lately...

There is such huge focus on making us feel good about ourselves these days.  Everywhere I turn I see stuff like this

Believe in yourself.  You are amazing.  You are beautiful.  Songs like this are hugely popular.



I know the answer to her question!  Who says you're not perfect?  Jesus does.  That's why it was necessary to die for us.  HE is perfect.  Not me.  See... this is the root of our self esteem issues.  They revolve around SELF.

And we wonder why kids are spoiled and entitled these days.  No one will love you if you don't love yourself?  How about "If everyone focused their attention on loving others the way Jesus does, we wouldn't have any time left over to worry about ourselves.  And, in the meantime, everyone else would be loving us while we're loving others.  Problem solved"

Now I know there is a real problem with bullying.  I'm not minimizing it.  I'm just pointing out the fact that if we place our self worth in what other people think of us... we don't stand a chance.  And we are the only ones that are fully aware of how sinful we are in our own hearts, so how can we place our self worth in what we think of ourselves?  When we say "I'm perfect just the way I am" not only do we know we are lying to ourselves, but we are stating that there is no room for improvement.  There is always room for improvement ya know?  So what is the answer?  Understanding how Jesus sees us is the answer.  He sees our filth, sin, pride, and still loves us.  We are covered by His perfect blood.  Instead of deluding our kids into telling themselves they are perfect as they are, lets teach them humility and help them to see that their perfection is found in Jesus.

Sending kids messages like this not only sets them up for disappointment, but feeds pride.  Not only are you great... but you are BETTER than those around you?  No.  We are made perfect in Him.  We are equal in His eyes.  Job 34:18-19 "Is he not the One who says to kings, 'You are worthless,' and to nobles, 'You are wicked,' who shows no partiality to princes and does not favor the rich over the poor, for they are all the work of his hands?"


If we must label ourselves, instead of choosing words like these:
beautiful
smart
clever
special
Lets instead focus on words like these.

Instead of wearing shirts that say this

we need shirts that say "HE loves me".

So I propose the following cure for our society's lack of self esteem:

Bottom line:
Spend more time caring about others than worrying about ourselves.  

Popsicle Trick

When we were kids, we would poke a hole in a paper plate and put the stick of a Popsicle through it.  Much like this:

but with a paper plate instead of a paper towel.  I've always thought it was a great idea... however, the drips still run off the plate.  So.... enter this solution:

Cupcake liners save the day.  They catch everything, and they're compact.
~Yay~

He approves.

Homeschool Day

Yesterday we went to homeschool day at the aquarium.  C had a notebook with all kinds of pages for her to fill out and we did a self led field trip.  It was really fun.  I busted out my stroller and we used it for J.  He was much happier running around than in it though.  I had forgotten how it's kinda nice to have a stroller once in a while though.  Place to stick my stuff, place for him to lay and nap without me having to keep still and calm, and the option to share the pushing duty.

When we got there, they had classrooms that Josh took C to explore in.  There were special activities and such for the students.  J and I hung out and looked at the fish in the giant tank.  I think he may have said "fishies" about 5000000000 times throughout the day.

While back in the classroom, C was able to hold some of the animals.  I remember having people come to my school and set up tide pools that we could touch the animals in, so I was glad for her to have a similar experience.

After that, I was hungry, so we went outside and ate lunch.  There is a nice fountain out there, so the kids were visually entertained while we ate.
After that, we just went through the aquarium filling out C's scavenger hunt worksheets.  It was a really fun day...especially because Josh was able to take off work and come with us.  The kids love having their daddy around, and so do I.

Tip of the day

Ok... who has a dishwasher?  (And no... I'm not referring to a person)  If you do and you use it regularly, here's a tip for you.  Always do a second rinse of your dishes after washing them.  Automatic dishwasher soap is actually quite toxic.  We always do a second rinse around here and I would strongly recommend that ya'll do as well.  
Here are some of the symptoms of dishwasher soap poisioning:

• Eyes, ears, nose, and throat
  • Severe pain in the throat
  • Severe pain or burning in the nose, eyes, ears, lips, or tongue
  • Loss of vision
  • Throat swelling (which may also cause breathing difficulty)
• Heart and blood circulation
  • Low blood pressure -- develops rapidly
  • Collapse
  • Severe change in blood acid levels, which can lead to organ damage
• Lungs
  • Breathing difficulty (from inhalation)
• Skin
  • Irritation
  • Burns
  • Necrosis (tissue death) in the skin or underlying tissues
• Stomach and intestines
• Severe abdominal pain
• Vomiting, may be bloody
• Burns of the esophagus (food pipe)
• Blood in the stool                                                                                                             

So, the moral of the story is.... Do a second rinse.  It's as simple as that.  Oh yea... and don't suck on these things.

I know they look like candy but.... they're not.  :)

http://www.wildcrafted.com.au/Articles_Other/Health/Are_Your_Household_Products_Poisoning_You.html

Fun dance hair.

So, by now we're kinda bored with the usual dance bun.  We decided to try and doll it up a bit.  What better way to doll up some hair than with cute yarn?

 Here's the step by step:

You will need

Step 1
Separate the top portion at the ear level and make four small ponytails.  Dont' tighten them all the way just yet.

Step 2
Split the top portion of the ponytail, making a "tunnel" for the yarn.

Step 3
Slip the yarn through the loops and tighten the ponytails now.

Step 4
Braid each piece using the 2 yarn pieces and the 1 ponytail to make your three parts.  You can do your own versions here if you prefer, a twist braid, a 5 strand... whatever you fancy.

Step 5
Release the top portion and bring all hair into a ponytail.

Step 6
Attach the bun mold. For more info on how to put in the bun mold, go here.

Step 7
Spread the hair around the mold leaving out the braided/yarn pieces.  If you did more than four, you could mix them all in.  Since I only did the four, I chose to place them more carefully.

Step 8
Pin them where you want 'em.  I then twisted the extra hair and wound it around the bun for a clean look.  Tada.  All done.

Variations:
Use ribbon instead of yarn.
Make more braids
Do twist braids or 5 strand braids
Use clip in color hair extensions
Use your imagination and let me know if you try this one.