A Mother's Heart

I passed a church sign this morning and this is what it said:

"A mother's heart is the child's classroom!"

I loved it

It is SO TRUE!

Think about that and fall in love with Motherhood all over again!

Have a Happy Day!

Summer Notes to Myself

Ahhh, summer!
Lazy days and dreamy nights!
I am SO ready!
The formal school year is over and thoughts of summer outings, fun projects and relaxing days fill my head!
And since I'm a list maker, I made a little list with notes to myself of things we can do to make this a FUN summer!

1) Invite swimming company-slice up watermelon and make homemade iced tea lemonade.
2) Visit the local Farmer's market-grill up local veggies for Saturday night BBQ and make fresh berry shortcake for dessert. Invite company.
3) Freeze fruit and yogurt into popsicles.
4) Organize a summer craft box for crafting outside at any given time.
5) Visit the local parks, large or small-keep a cooler in car for drinks and snacks, a pair of binoculars for bird watching, a blanket and a ball.
6) Make homemade ice cream
7) Go to the beach! Make homemade natural sunscreen, make sure baby has her sunhat, construct a 'beach' tent for shade!  Bring lots of water and snacks, and a great summer read!
8) Sign up for the library summer reading program and participate in all the summer programs that they offer!
9) Organize the 'lawn' games-bocce, whiffle-ball, horseshoes, volleyball, etc.  Invite company for a tournament.
10) Give the kids ideas: make a fort, put on an outdoor play-make tickets-invite an audience-make popcorn, paint rocks, make flower crowns, set up a lemonade stand, help your mama with a few chores in the morning, etc.
11) Have a  midsummer night dinner party-tell everyone to wear white, string white lights in the tree branches, light candles, have the hubby grill fish and vegetables.
12) Go camping-bring bikes
13) Eat breakfast on the front porch, sing praises with the birds!
14) Bring the kids fishing out on the boat.
15) Have hubby bring ME out on the boat.
16) Visit the local botanical gardens-pack a picnic!
17) Go to the 4th of July parade, decorate t-shirts, see the fireworks!  BUY fireworks!
18) Visit the local fairs.
19) Go golfing, play tennis, rollerblade, jumprope, play hopscotch and four-square.
20) Work on a summer project-create a new garden spot, build a fort, help out a neighbor, etc.
21) Make summer pies! Peach is my favorite! Serve with homemade ice cream or real whipped cream!
22) Dig in the dirt! Plant a few vegetables, a few new perennials.
23) Let the local Robin build her nest in the hanging flowering basket-watch her babies grow up!
24) Have a midnight snack outside and watch the fireflies, gaze at the stars, count our blessings!
25) Hang up a hammock, make outdoor summer pillows, hang a breezy canopy, enjoy the outdoors!

Here are some local summer events we would like to get to:
~Library programs
~Hamburg Family Fun Fest-June 13-15
~Fireworks at Kensington MetroPark-June 16
~Michigan Philharmonic Symphony 'An American Salute' free concert at Kensington MetroPark at 8:00 pm-June 22
~Outdoor weekly concerts in local towns.
~Howell Balloonfest-June 22-24
~Local waterski shows-Silver Lake, etc.
~Fowlerville Family Fair-July 23-28
~Colonial Kensington-Kensington MetroPark-August 11-12 Free
~Rodeo-Gaines, Michigan-July, Coldwater, MI- August 10
~Howell Melon Fest-August 17-19
~Selfridge Air Show-around 3rd weekend in August

If you have any other ideas, I would love you to share with me!
I hope your summer is blest with family, faith and friends!

God's Helpers

 

 

 

 

God's Helpers

God could not be in every place
With loving hands to help erase
The teardrops from each baby's face,
And so He thought of mother.

He could not send us here alone
And leave us to a fate unknown;
Without providing for His own,
The outstretched arms of mother.

God could not watch us night and day
And kneel beside our crib to pray,
Or kiss our little aches away;
And so He sent us mother.

And when our childhood days began,
He simply could not take command.
That's why He placed our tiny hand
Securely into mother's.

The days of youth slipped quickly by,
Life's sun rose higher in the sky.
Full grown were we, yet ever nigh
To love us still, was mother.

And when life's span of years shall end,
I know that God will gladly send,
To welcome home her child again,
That ever-faithful mother.
--George W. Wiseman

Dear Children, I Just Want You To Know

Dear Children,

I just want you to know that each one of you has brought so much joy to my life.

From the time Dad and I knew that you would be our child until now, I have found no greater joy than to be your mother.

To think that God created each one of you and sent you straight from Heaven for me and Dad to love is just so very wonderful!

Our lives have been so richly blessed by the birth of each one of you! And to watch you grow and become the person God created you to be is just so exciting!

You are all so special and beautiful in your own way! Each one having your own special gifts!

And to think that I get to be your mother! Wow, did I luck out!

Thank you, God, thank you, God, for these precious, precious children!

I just want you to know that my heart is so full of love for all of you and eventhough a mothers love will never be perfect, I love you more than you'll ever know.

And I will never stop loving you, no matter what!

Someday, you will all be grown up and have your own families, but I will always be your mother and I will always love you.

My prayer is that I can love each one of you the way you need to be loved, for everyone of you is different and you all bring joy in many different ways.

I just want you to know that you never have to be anyone besides yourself because you are beautiful and perfect just the way God made you and that is where your joy comes from. From being you!

I want you to know that eventhough I love you more than you'll ever know, that God loves you more! So much that He gave us Jesus to be our Savior!

So even when you feel alone, you never are. Jesus is always with you, loving you and taking care of you!

But anyway, I just wanted you to know that I love being your mother and that I couldn't be happier being anything else!

Every day is a happy day for me. I get to be your mother!

O happy me!

O happy day!

O Happy Mothers Day!

I love you, Dear Children!

I just wanted you to know!

Love, Mom

Princes and Princesses

All is well!

We had our baby!

Princess Rose Katharine~born December 8, 2010.

Little Rosie is bringing so much joy to our household!

We had a few hectic days since she was born:

~Princess Elizabeth and Princess Josefiina had chickenpox. Of course, not at the same time!~Princess Rosie had a fever at 4 weeks, went to emergency and then took a ride with Mommy in the ambulance! Admitted to hospital, diagnosed with RSV-related pneumonia, came home 4 days later.

~Prince Lenny (Dad) took Prince Jacob to emergency~neurological-related symptom. Everything was fine, but just a bit scary!

Things have been a little hairy lately, but we know how much we have been blessed!

A perfect, beautiful baby has been given to us!

We get to see our children smile everyday!

We live in an area where we can find good care for our family.

Family, friends and faith are constant companions!

So when I asked God what lesson I was to learn through all of these trials~

~The only thing that kept coming to me was~

~we are all in such need of a Savior! There was no other lesson to be learned!

And now, getting to the Princes and Princesses~

When Rosie was born, Lenny said "We now have 6 princesses!

And I quickly added, "And 3 handsome Princes!"

We have told our children that they really are true Princes and Princesses,

And they are!

Their Father is the One and Only King!

We are all of Royal Blood!

How lucky we are!

All you girls out there that always dreamed of being a real Princess someday~

You are and always have been! (And, boys, don't forget you are a true Prince!)

Know it and live it and love it!

Who Will Love Our Children When They Leave The Nest?

Our 1st child has gone away to college.

Shane had his car packed to the brim, a smile on his face and thoughts of adventures as he pulled out of our driveway.

I was quite composed, I thought, for a mother who not only is dealing with her 1st child leaving the house but also quite hormonal due to this pregnancy at 44 years of age!

He turned his head and said,

"Thanks Mom, for everything!"

I went to the bathroom and bawled!

Our precious child that we have loved long before birth and has given us a world of joy is thanking me.

It didn't seem right.

Our lives have been so very blessed by the children that God is loaning to us while here on earth and I know I could never thank Him enough!

I try

but know that my thankfulness will only be enough in Heaven!

How has Our Loving Father taken such good care of us that He gives, and gives, and gives,

without us even being barely aware of it?!

He has given us a most precious gift in the children He has blessed us with!

As Shane was preparing to leave the nest, I knew I had to completely put him in God's care.

I am not equipped to care for him anymore like I was when he was little.

Oh, I knew that God was taking care of him all along but I guess I thought I was taking care of him better than anyone else at the time.

No one loves more than a mother, right!

Well, of course, I had to come to face the fact that, yes, someone does love more than a mother!

Our children's first Father!

I worried and prayed that Shane would be okay, stay on the narrow path, fight temptation, even study, for Pete's sake!

Then God hit me with a ton of bricks!

This is what I felt He said to me:

"I am His Father. I created him and had plans for him long before he was in the womb. I WILL TAKE CARE OF HIM!"

I felt a little sheepish!

It was all so clear!

I was just clouding it up with my own fear and doubt!

I have surrendered my child into the hands of his Father as I should have been doing all along!

It has given me peace!

I still love him and miss him as only a mother could!

I miss putting a plate a food aside for him when he comes home late from work.

I miss his smiling face.

And his whistling.

He has truly been, and still is, such a joy to all of us!

A precious child that only God could create.

A true joy straight from Heaven!

I am so very thankful for the time we have had together!

He has been homeschooled all of his life, except for kindergarten in Australia, and I believe that God has blessed us with that opportunity to treasure Shane's life even more.

I am so very thankful!

I am happy to see him go.

We are so very proud of him and we know we would never want to keep him from his path in life!

He knows he is loved and that is what I pray that all of our children will come to know.

That they are loved!

And truly they are!

More than we will ever know!

I pray for all the Mothers out there who have had to let go of their children in one form or another~

May the peace of God fill your hearts as you hear again how much your children are loved, for Our Heavenly Father has loved them all along and loves them as perfectly as only He can!

Just A Few Things

Just a few things I would love to share with all of you:

The Eat Clean Diet Newsletter has 4 tips to get your dream body: http://www.eatcleandiet.com/
1. Eat Clean!
~This is THE biggest factor! We could exercise until we are blue in the face, but if we choose to reinforce our bodies with worthless junk, the dream body just ain't gonna happen!
~Ditch the processed foods, white flour, white sugar, junk etc.
~Focus on whole foods.
~Read the ingredient list and stay away from anything you can't seem to figure out what it is.

2. Schedule a time, perhaps 2 times a week, for meal planning and preparation.
~It takes some effort but so worth it.
~Pack a cooler for the car
~No more running through the drive-thru when your hungry or picking up pizza for dinner when all your meals are planned and prepared to start your meals off right!
~Grill up a big batch of chicken breast or cook whole chickens and make a big batch of brown rice for tossing with veggies, spices, etc or putting in soup.
~Chop and store fresh veggies and herbs for grilling, stir-frys, salads, soups etc.

3. Get Active.
~Expect yourself to set up a time for evercise at least 4 times a week. Expect is a key word here!

4. Don't feel guilty!
~Just try for consistency, not perfection.
~ I always like to say: "We'll be perfect in Heaven!"
~It's just not going to happen here!

Okay, so that's that! You can find tons more inspiration at http://www.eatcleandiet.com/

NEXT!

I also received a newsletter from Precious Health Campaign.
~Anyone at all interested in what is in vaccines, the latest legislature on vaccines or anything else you may be wondering about vaccines, please visit http://www.childhoodshots.com/ and just browse around on the site.
~I happened to watch Mary Tocco's dvd "Are Vaccines Safe?" a few years ago and found it to be quite helpful in helping me clarify a few things about vaccines.
~I even sent an email with a question I had to the website and I received a response right away.
~They really just want everyone to get more informed about what options we have as parents of our very precious children.
~It is definitely something to look into.

One more thing that I just have to say:

~Of course, it is just my opinion, but if anyone out there that is residing in the beautiful state of Michigan and is ready for a new Governor, I highly recommend you check out Pete Hoekstra's web page at http://www.hoekstraforgovernor.com/.

~He is 100% pro-life, fights for the rights of parents etc.
~The primaries are this coming Tuesday, August 3, and I urge everyone who loves life to vote!

Thanks for reading and I hope you found something that inspires you!

"Jesus, Tender Shepherd" and the Best Earache Remedy

The other night our almost 4 year old woke up in the middle of the night with an earache.


I bet it was from swimming every day during the hot weather that we had.


My old stand-by remedy is to crush a clove of garlic and then mix it with a tiny bit of water to create somewhat of a paste.


I dab the garlic paste onto the outside of her ear with a cotton swab.


I do not go into the ear canal, but I do dab it onto the earlobe.


Then I warm a rice-filled sock or just a plain dry cloth and hold it onto her ear.


I usually put a drop of peppermint oil on the sock or cloth, but our teenage daughter was using it for cramps and she wasn't at home at the time.


So this time I just used a warm cloth.

Then I gave her reflexology on the bottom top half of her foot (the side that the earache was on)~the toes and the area just underneath the toes.

I use firm pressure with my fingers and thumb.


Of course, this little child came into our bed and I asked her if she wanted me to sing her a song.


She did.




She chose "Jesus, Tender Shepherd" which is a bedtime song that my grandparents sung to me and all of my cousins.


All of us cousins still love that song to this day and we fondly connect to each other whenever it is brought up.


It is a favorite with all of our children, too!


Our little 'earache child' went to sleep shortly after and she slept the rest of the night!
Here are the words to our favorite bedtime song, which is actually a prayer but we have always known it with a little tune.


"Jesus, Tender Shepherd"

Jesus, Tender Shepherd, hear me;
Bless thy little lamb tonight;
Through the darkness be Thou near me,
Keep me safe till morning light.

All this day thy hand has led me,
And I thank thee for thy care;
Thou has warmed me, clothed and fed me;
Listen to my evening prayer!

Let my sins be all forgiven;
Bless the friends I love so well:
Take us all at last to heaven,
Happy there with thee to dwell.

If by chance you happen to see one of us 'Storm' relatives and you want to know the tune, we would be delighted to share it with you!

May God bless your days and your nights!

PS. Don't you just adore the painting? I found it on http://www.allposters.com/ and the original was painted by Bartholome Esteban Murillo.

The title is called, "Christ Child as Shepherd"

I am putting it on my list of favorites.

Top 10 Things Children Want Their Parents to Do With Them

I just have to pass this along. It is such a good reminder for all of us parents. This was posted at www.mercola.com.

This is a list of the top 10 things students around the world said they desire most from their parents.

1. Come into my bedroom at night, tuck me in and sing me a song. Also tell me stories about when you were little.

2. Give me hugs and kisses and sit and talk with me privately.

3. Spend quality time just with me, not with my brothers and sisters around.

4. Give me nutritious food so I can grow up healthy.

5. At dinner talk about what we could do together on the weekends.

6. At night talk to me about anything: love, school, family etc.

7. Let me play outside a lot.

8. Cuddle under a blanket and watch our favorite TV show together (or read books).

9. Discipline me. It makes me feel like you care.

10. Leave special messages in my desk or lunch bag.

Children are incredibly wise and tend to see the world more simply than we do. Perhaps it is time we start taking their advice.

I think I could add a little note and say that this might be a list husbands and wives would desire of each other, also. What do you think? lol

The Lamb

This is one of my favorite poems. It is by William Blake from 'Songs of Innocence', 1789.

It reminds me of all the sweet children in this world that were created so perfectly by God, each one having their own little gifts and blessing the world around them! If every child in this world knew that they were created perfectly and thus geniuses in that they were 'knit together' with so much love and by the most masterful Creator ever, I believe that we would have a little more happiness in this world. So I want to dedicate this poem to all the children in the world that no matter what the world sees them as, that God sees them perfect as He created them down to every last detail to be His perfect little child!

The Lamb by William Blake

Little Lamb, who made thee?

Dost thou know who made thee?

Gave thee life, and bid thee feed

By the stream and o'er the mead;

Gave thee clothing of delight,

Softest clothing, wooly, bright;

Gave thee such a tender voice,

Making all the vales rejoice?

Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,

Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:

He is called by thy name,

For he calls himself a Lamb.

He is meek, and he is mild;

He became a little child.

I a child, and thou a lamb,

We are called by his name.

Little Lamb, God bless thee!

Little Lamb, God bless thee!