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Spoiled…

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I have a confession to make and, well, I might as well go as public as this blog with it, right? I made a discovery at home today that gave me pause. This revelation made me stop, think and want to make some changes starting NOW.

  • Today, I looked into a closet FULL of clothes and thought “I have nothing to wear.”
  • Today, I went to the pantry to find something for lunch and although it was full, I thought “There’s nothing to eat here.”
  • Today, I discovered that I am spoiled. And, yes, I’m pretty ashamed of that fact.

When I realized just how spoiled I’ve become, it was quite humbling. I mean, seriously, to look into a closet full of clothes in utter disgust at having “nothing” to wear? Spoiled. To be entirely too choosy about lunch when I have options? Spoiled. It’s just plain wrong. How many out there would love to have even a second set of clothes to wear? How many would like to have the “problem” of deciding which shoes to wear? The answer, unfortunately, is entirely too many. People go without daily and I have the gall to be disappointed when I can’t find anything in our stocked pantry that suits my fancy for lunch. Y’all, it hit me like a ton of bricks today that I have not been grateful enough. At all. I really haven’t. I mean, sure, when I say my prayers I am thankful for my many blessings, but I admittedly rarely take the time to go through the list. My “things” are plentiful, actually, but my blessings are infinite. I need to be more grateful. Instead of griping that I don’t want to wear THOSE jeans, I should put them on and be thankful I have the ones I have. Instead of whining (to myself) that we don’t have what I wanted for lunch, I can eat and be thankful to have a meal. Because, let’s be honest, nothing guarantees that I’ll have that tomorrow. If it all fell away,I would wish I had the things back that I took so easily for granted. That’s a hard reality, but there it is.

I decided to share this because it’s been on my heart.  I really want this blog to be a place where I can express all kinds of different thoughts, feelings and even things like this that knock me over the head. I have a feeling that some out there can relate to what I have written about today. Trust me, I say that without a hint of judgment, but with an understanding that comes from my own realization. I’ll never be perfect, but I know and trust the One who is and I am thankful that He loves me in spite of me.

I am reminded, yet again, to just be thankful. I am called to be thankful in everything – good, bad, up down and all things in between. Sometimes, I need that reality check even if it’s hard to face.

Blessings,
Kelly

 

 In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 

 

The Truth About Santa…

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First of all…SURPRISE! I’m actually updating my blog. No one faint, okay? 😉 We are several days past Christmas now and I’m finally sitting down to write a post that’s been on my brain for several weeks, actually.

(This photo was taken at our church’s Home For the Holidays celebration in December.)

Over the summer our oldest daughter, Macey, learned the truth about Santa Claus. The way this came about was that little miss detective figured out the Tooth Fairy deal and then that lead to a conversation that involved everyone’s favorite jolly ole elf.  You see, in our house, the Tooth Fairy leaves glitter quarters. I got this idea from a friend several years ago and loved it. You simply paint quarters with glitter nail polish and leave them from the Tooth Fairy. Easy and cute, right? This worked like a charm for the first several teeth Macey lost. She got her glitter quarters and some cash. Win/win and fun. Last summer, Macey had to have a tooth pulled at the dentist. So, out came the glitter quarters that evening. Only, I left the glitter nail polish out on my vanity. Didn’t occur to me that Nancy Drew was in the house. The next day, Macey saw the glitter nail polish out and noticed that it was the same color as her glitter quarters from the TF. When she asked me about it, I will admit, I tried to dodge the question at first, but when it was clear that she wanted a real answer, I told the truth. Instead of redirecting her with questions such as “Well, what do YOU think?” I was up front and honest with her. I told her that the Tooth Fairy isn’t real, but it’s something fun for parents to do for their kids to celebrate losing teeth. She was perfectly fine with that. No tears, no drama – just an understanding. I couldn’t have asked for a better revealing.

Once that conversation started, my wheels started turning and I really wanted to address Santa. I have long wrestled with the Santa dilemma. (See my post from November 2008.) I conferred with Mickey and we decided that the time was right to talk to Macey about SC. So, once we talked about the TF and she was obviously more than fine with that, I segued into the Santa conversation. I asked her if she had any other questions about real vs fun/fantasy and, sure enough, HoHo came into question. So, again, I was just honest. I told her that Santa Claus aka Saint Nicholas was a wonderful legend that had been told and enacted for many years. I told her it’s about giving and how the legend showed that Saint Nicholas was always happier to give than to receive. I emphasized how much fun it is for kids AND for their families. And, once again, she was perfectly fine with it. No drama whatsoever. What a relief!! In fact, she was happy to know the truth. She and I talked about what is real (God) vs fantasy (Santa) and she had a very clear understanding about all of  it. She was also happy to keep the magic alive for her sister and be in on “the secret” with us.

I know some people think that innocence is somehow lost when children no longer believe in Santa, but I’m here to say that isn’t the case. Macey enjoyed a wonderfully “magical” Christmas this year. Not one ounce of joy was diminished for her. In our home, we emphasize the birth of Jesus as the main celebration of Christmas, but we also include secular traditions like Santa, of course, and Elf on the Shelf. This year, Macey helped Mariana (our youngest) write her Santa letter. Once the letter was done, Macey took it to the mailbox to mail and sneaked it back into the house so we’d know what was on the list. When our elf  “arrived”, Macey was there cheering about it and getting her sister all excited about it too. Macey then went to a laptop and printed out a letter from the elf and got excited when it magically appeared on the printer. She never once let on anything to her sister. She loved being in on it  all. So, there was no loss of innocence or fun. It’s simply a new phase in her life and one that she fully embraces with happiness.

We aren’t yet sure when we’ll tell Mariana about SC, but I’m sure the truth will reveal itself in the right time, just like it did with Macey. I always had a fear in the back of my mind that finding out the truth about Santa would cause Macey to have doubts about God, somehow, but that has not been the case. I can’t take any credit for that, but I’m hopeful that our keeping Christ at the center of Christmas was what helped her when she found out about SC. I worry less about Mariana finding out now since her sister has done so well with it all. After all, we are teaching our girls the truth of the Lord and that’s the main thing. We always said that when they came to us for the truth, we’d tell it and that’s what we did. I don’t mind redirecting their questions back to them at a young age, but when they are old enough to know, then it’s time to cease the redirects and come out with the truth. We always want our girls to know that we’ll tell them the truth, even if it’s not always what they want to hear.

I just had to share this story because I know that other people out there have children that are “of age” to find out about Santa too. And, you might have the same or similar worries as I did. My advice would simply be to tell the truth. The legend of Santa Claus is a fun one, so we enjoy including that in our Christmas. But, Jesus’ birth is first and foremost what we believe and celebrate. I’m so thankful that our big girl took the SC news as awesomely as she did and also thankful to know that she realizes and believes that Jesus really IS the reason we celebrate Christmas.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I look forward to blogging more in the new year. 🙂

Kelly

MaceMallows

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Macey has to do an entrepreneurial project at school. She has to come up with something homemade to sell. So, she decided on marshmallows. Homemade marshmallows, of course.  When she told me about it, I was pretty excited because I love to cook and create new things in the kitchen. I also enjoy working with my girls in the kitchen. So, I set about to find a great recipe for homemade marshmallows. My old friend Google led me to The Smitten Kitchen blog where I found a great recipe along with helpful notes for making delicious homemade marshmallows. Score!!

I went to the grocery store yesterday to pick up the various ingredients. When I got home, Macey and I got to work in the kitchen. These marshmallows are really easy to make. I’m glad I had the recipe notes from The Smitten Kitchen because that prepared me for the mess.  Macey couldn’t do everything, but the recipe had plenty for her to assist with in the kitchen. She helped grease and sugar the pan, she measured and poured, etc. We had a great time creating these marshmallows together.  I really couldn’t get over the simplicity of making them. By my own admission, I am not the most talented cook in the kitchen when it comes to candy. I can create all sorts of wonderful dishes and I enjoy baking too. It’s just that I have never found my niche with confections. Fortunately, making marshmallows is significantly more simple than making, say, divinity candy at which I abysmally failed at my first attempt. (oops) Making marshmallows was definitely easy and definitely messy. Macey and I would both agree, however, that the mess was worth it. The clean-up was actually a good bit easier than I anticipated. Just be ready to use HOT water to get the remaining marshmallow “goo” out of the stand mixer bowl. (And, a shout-out of THANKS to Mickey for helping us clean up after the preparation.)

We made the marshmallows last evening and let them set overnight. I cut them this morning and, of course, we had to taste them. Well, to be perfectly honest, we tasted the “goo” last night once the marshmallows were poured into the pan to cool and set. So, we already knew it was good. However, I must say that they got better once they cooled and set. Oh my good gracious, they are fantastic!! My friend Jamie said the following to me in a blog post: “And be prepared to never want to buy another store marshmallow again. Homemade ones taste exactly like store bought ones, only fresh. I can’t explain it, but you’ll understand when you eat one!” Jamie…you were RIGHT! I may never buy store-bought marshmallows again. These were incredibly easy to make and they taste amazing! YUM!!

Macey has decided that her marshmallows will be called MaceMallows. How cute is that?! We now have to come up with cute packaging and a label for them. She will take them in next week and I think I am more excited than she is! I am hoping to get by Michael’s today to find some fun options for her MaceMallows. This school project is definitely one that we have all gotten to enjoy!

I will take a picture of her MaceMallows soon to share. I tried taking photos with my iPhone this morning, but they didn’t do it justice. So, I’ll get out the “big” camera later and see what I can do. 🙂

Happy Thursday,
Kelly

PS: The recipe can be found by clicking through to the springy, fluffy marshmallows blog entry for The Smitten Kitchen. I am so glad I found this blog. I have bookmarked and will be checking back frequently!

Kraft First Taste

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I was referred to a cool website today.  I thought about saving it for my next WHO, but I couldn’t wait that long. What can I say? I’m eager to share. 🙂

Check out Kraft First Taste. This is a great website that I discovered after it was recommended by a friend. Once you register, you can get great coupons for free items, join in message board discussions and more. When I joined today, I was able to print a coupon for a free container of Philadelphia Cooking Cream. I’ve been wanting to try that, so what better way to try than if it’s FREE? Nice, right? Now I just have to decide which flavor to choose because they all sound really good. That’s not a bad problem to have if you ask me.

This a great website and I’m happy to share the link. Hope y’all like it!

Blessings,

Kelly

Essential Oils

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Several months ago I discovered Young Living Essential Oils. My friend Christi had been telling me about them for years, literally, and I finally tried the oils last fall. I am blown away at how wonderful oils are and how great they have been for our family. Let me tell you more…

Ever since Mariana was an infant, whenever she would also get terrible coughing spells. Her first pediatrician insisted that she had asthma as an infant. I had never dealt with this with Macey, so I went along with the antibiotics, breathing treatments, allergy meds, etc. You wouldn’t believe the amount of meds she had Mariana on at once as a baby. A red flag went up quickly for me at that point. So, we changed pediatricians and the new ped confirmed what I long suspected – Mariana was prone to sinus infections which caused post-nasal drip and contributed to the constant coughing. She also had recurrent ear infections that absolutely plagued her, so we had ear tubes put in her ears. The ear tubes helped tremendously. The first set went in when she was 19M old. She didn’t get another ear infection for about a year and when one tube came out, the infections resumed. At that point, the ENT wanted to also take a look at her adenoids because she continued to be plagued by sinus infections and snored also. Turned out that her adenoids were huge and he felt they were contributing to the problem. So, last March (2009) Mariana had her adenoids removed. At the same time, the ENT replaced the ear tube that had come out and cleaned up the remaining tube. That procedure helped her and she didn’t cough or have any colds, infections, etc. for months. When fall came and a new set of allergens popped up, she had a flare. At first, I was disheartened and worried that we were back on track for antibiotics, etc. This was NOT something we wanted for Mariana, of course. I took her to a chiropractor that I had met in Bible study over the summer. Dr. Jamie adjusted her and recommended putting RC essential oil on her feet for the coughing. I’m not going to pretend like I wasn’t somewhat skeptical, but I was more than willing to try it because it was all-natural and worth a shot. So, we took home a sample bottle of RC and used it on Mariana’s feet at bedtime that evening. I kid you not, Mariana didn’t cough once the whole evening! She got a full night of rest! The oils helped her tremendously. At that point, I started to see just how amazing essential oils really are!  I went from being skeptical to very optimistic about oils at that point.

Mariana continues to be the subject of my oils testimonial because in the fall she sustained injuries to her face which required stitches. I contacted my friend Christi who has a lot of knowledge about oils and she recommended that I get helichrysum to help with the scarring. She also recommended Super Salve from Nutritech because it is WONDERFUL and made using essential oils also. I used Super Salve until the wounds started to heal nicely and then we started putting helichrysum on the wounds. I have to say that both the Super Salve and the helichrysum worked WONDERS!! Mariana’s wounds are now light scars and it has been about four months since she was injured. We have been using the helichrysum daily and we are amazed at how wonderfully she has healed! It’s been incredible and we are SO grateful for her healing!! (As a side note, Super Salve is great to have on hand because it’s a great healing agent! Way better than things like neo-sporin and such.)

I could go on and on about essential oils. We have purchased a home diffuser and use it daily. I have used peppermint oil in the diffuser when I have had a bad headache. I’ve used Purification to help with allergens too. And, for Mariana’s coughing I’ve used melaleuca (great for sinuses!!) and the RC I mentioned previously. These oils really help and work beautifully and naturally! I know that some may be skeptics and I can relate because I was there too. But, I can vouch that they are incredibly helpful. God’s products work best, that’s all I can say. 🙂

I have become a Young Living distributor now, so if anyone is interested in purchasing any oils, I’d be happy to help you with that. I am still learning, so I rely on Christi (my dear friend who has been using oils for year) and I also sign onto Oils-Testimonials for recommendations and guidance. The thing I value the most about the oils is that they are natural and Young Living oils are all therapeutic grade oils. The more I learn, the more I appreciate oils and what God has given us in them!

God bless,
Kelly