Mermaid Punch

Saturday, we hosted my daughter's 4th Birthday at our house.  She dreamed for months about a mermaid party.  So on Saturday, we threw her a mermaid party!  This punch was a hit!  A perfect blend of color, foam, and taste.  My sister sent me a recipe for "Mermaid Punch" but I searched every store around me and COULD NOT find Blue Raspberry Kool-Aid packets.  Weirdest thing ever!  My mom saved the day and found Blue Hawaiian Punch.  So here is our rendition of Mermaid Punch.

1 Gallon of Blue Hawaiian Punch (cold)

1 can of frozen lemon lemonaid (thawed)

4 cups of cold water (use the lemonaid can to measure)

1 2-litter bottle of Sprite (cold)

1 1/2 gallon of pinnapple sherbert

I used a very large glass drink dispenser and mixed all of the ingredients together.

Next, scoop and add 1/2 of the pinnapple sherbet to the liquid.

Stir. Stir. Stir. You want the sherbert to make a "foam" in your Mermaid Punch.

I continued to add scoops of sherbert until I had almost used the entire 1/2 gallon.

Some recipes call for a scoop of sherbert in your cup and then pour the punch over but I knew that would be too much of a mess with little ones....so I just stirred the sherbet in.  And, it worked perfectly.

Mermaid Punch: Easy, Fun, and a perfect touch to your under the sea party!

Enjoy!

A Date With My Daughter

A few weeks ago our older kids went to see their grandparents.  That left my husband and me with just one baby.  We laughed at how difficult we once thought one baby was.  Now we see life differently and having one baby in our house felt like a vacation.

"Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds".

Proverbs 27:23

We enjoyed our baby and our time together and lots of days sleeping in.  Our baby slept until 8:30 most mornings (so not the norm with our other two 7am risers).  We enjoyed our baby in ways we never knew.  He had our undivided attention 24/7.  He learned things about us and we learned things about him.

It made us think a lot about our children's needs for one on one time with us.  It made us think a lot about our needs for one on one time with our children.  We even talked about once a year letting them each have a week at home as the only child.

While our daughter was away, she kept telling her MiMi that she and her mommy go on dates.  We do go on dates.  I really try hard to do something with just "the girls" even if it is just a trip to the grocery store.  When she returned home from MiMi's first thing she asked was to go on a date with mommy.

So we ate dinner one night with the boys and then jumped in the car for a mommy/daughter date.  She chose the library and a few swings and twirls in the park.  I helped her finish out her date by suggesting milk and a cake pop at Starbucks.  Mommy always enjoys an excuse for a cup of coffee.

We had the best time.  She held my hand and I held hers back with deep intentionality (not just trying to save her from the cars in the parking lot).  We skipped.  She looked up at me and said, "I love you mommy and our just girl dates".  She checked scanned books out at the library.  I pushed her in the swing at the park and enjoyed her little giggle.  We danced in the parks open field and when she had to go the bathroom (cause don't they always) we raced to see who could get there the fastest.

She carefully selected her milk at Starbucks and asked the lady for no less than a pink cake pop.  When we got to the table she sat across from me, took one bite out of the cake pop and said, "This is so good.  Mommy would you like a bite"?  I love how she savors every moment and is extremely generous.

Intentional.  That is what I want to be with my children.  It is easy to lose who they are individually in the mundane of our everyday.  It is easy for me to wish they were just all the same and fit them into a box nicely.  But they are all very different from one another.  I don't want to miss out on who they are.  I don't want to miss out on their dreams.  I do not want to miss out on the little detail of each one of them.

Dates with your children don't have to cost one penny.  At the end of the day there is no amount of money that can replace the time we spent with our children.  Dates with your children are most fun when you let them choose how to spend the time together.  It may not be the most fun activity for you but will give you deep insight into what is going on in their little mind.

God's been speaking to me a lot about the intentional individual time I spend with my children.  He has been talking to me a lot about not lumping them together.  For me, a once a month intentional date with my children is what I can balance right now.

What about you?  Do you spend intentional individual time with your children?  What does it look like?  How often do you do it?  How has it changed your relationship with him/her?  What ways do you hope it will change your relationship with him/her?

Starfish Princess Wand

We are having a Mermaid Princess Party on Saturday to celebrate our first born's 4th Birthday.  I wanted to make something memorable for each little girl to go home with and not add to the headache of plastic toys for her mommy.  I saw these wands a few months ago while out of town visiting a friend.  She hosted a mermaid party for her daughter last year and I loved this idea.

So here is a little how to on the Starfish Princess Wand.

What you will need:

Starfish (I bought mine here)

Hot glue gun

Finishing line

Dowel rods

Hand saw

Ribbon

(pay no attention to the pink circles....they accidentally made their way into this photo)

Cut the dowel rod with your hand saw to your desired length.  I cut mine ~ 10 inches each.  You could paint these rods before cutting if you wanted them another color besides natural.

Turn the starfish over so that the "belly" is facing you.

Generously squeeze hot glue onto the belly of the starfish and adhere a dowel rod to the belly.

Take a 6 inch piece of fishing line and wrap around the starfish.  Be sure and leave a decent amount of length at the beginning and the end in order to tie a knot at the end of the wrap.  I like fishing line because it is clear and extremely durable.  You don't have to do this step, I just thought it might hold the starfish on a little better because sometimes things can pop off hot glue.

Cut several pieces of ribbon.  I cut mine ~12 inches long and used 4 pieces of ribbon.  I tied a double knot to ensure securement to the dowel rod.

And there you have it.  Some people embellish them with stones and glitter.  Honestly the possibilities are endless.  I think it is an easy project that will hopefully bring some smiles to some mermaid faces as well as their mommies!

Next week.....a punch recipe from the party as well as a mermaid canvas.  Two simple ideas that are sure to be fun for all mermaids.
 

"Sharing" on Easter

We had a really great Easter!  Easter looks a bit different in our family because our daddy is a pastor.  Christmas looks a bit different in our family because our daddy is a pastor.  And then sometimes they both get really hectic because mommy is a nurse and some years has to work the holidays.  The shuffle is sometimes so crazy I don't even know how it really all manages to work out.

With everything we have, Matt and I try and make deep meaningful moments for our children during the holidays.  We usually don't celebrate "the day" together as a family.  We have to "share" our daddy.  And sometimes that can be just down right hard. Sometimes our mommy has to be "shared" and that can be just down right hard.

In the last eight years, as the wife of a pastor, I have learned holidays are not about me!  In my earliest days I didn't feel the sting so much because I got to be with Matt and serve alongside of him with no hesitation.  When we started having children.....that changed everything.  I would have to miss out in serving along side of him because of scheduled nap times, unexpected temper tantrums, and the endless task of feeding children.  God has been GENEROUS with me through this process.  He has allowed me to embrace holidays celebrated early as a family and seeking out other people to spend the actual holiday with.

Just yesterday, my kids and I, celebrated Easter with a few friends who were "sharing their daddies" as well.  God blessed us with yummy food, warm friendship, and a beautiful reminder of His ultimate sacrifice.  With seven children in our house, I could not help but be thankful and prayerfully ask God to capture each one of their hearts for eternity.  

Yesterday, my husband wrote a sweet Facebook note of thanks to me and all pastor's wives who sacrificially give on Easter.  As I read his sweet words, God brought to mind the pastors and their families who lived and spoke deep truths into my life.  I never knew the sacrifice their families made for my "happy holiday".  It is real to me now and I am incredibly thankful.  

When our holidays seem a little crazy and I feel like being selfish....JOY comes in knowing lives are being changed because of Jesus and HIS KINGDOM is advancing.  And when I stop and reflect on what that truly means....I would "share" our daddy any day! 

I hope you had a wonderful EASTER!

First Fruit

Five years ago today, April 17, 2009, we gave our "first fruit" back to the Lord.  At the time, I did not view the miscarriage of our first pregnancy, as our "first fruit".  I just cried a lot, felt extremely isolated, and begged God to give that baby back to us.  But in the years that followed, God showed me...he/she was our "first fruit".

"Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything your land produces"

Proverbs 3:9 

That baby was "the best part" of Matt and I together and I believe God wanted our "first fruit".  I believe He knew if we could praise Him through sacrifice of our "first fruit" He would gain much glory in the days of our lives after that event.

God has since blessed us three fold with more love, energy, and joy than we could have ever imagined through the process of releasing our "first fruit".  In April 2010, we welcomed our daughter.  In July 2011, we welcomed our first born son.  In May 2013, we welcomed our second born son.  We get asked a lot, if they were an accident because of their close proximity in age.  None of them were accidents, the Lord knew.  

He knew that day, April 17, 2009, as I sat in dispair what lay ahead for Matt and me.  He knew the undoing of me would bring me closer to His presence.  He knew loss of life would bring greater life. He knew the greater the sacrifice the greater the trust.  He knew His Glory would be displayed in the sacrifice of our "first fruit" and the three fold blessing of life that would follow in such a short amount of time. 

"But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.  They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water.  Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought.  Their leaves stay green, and they go right on producing delicious fruit."

Jeremiah 17:7-8

The further I get from that life event, the more I realize, the event had everything to do with Jesus.  Everything to do with the glorification of Him.  Everything to do with Him becoming greater and me becoming less.  

I went on a "date" with my daughter last night.  Her choice: library, park, and a cake pop at Starbucks.  She held my hand, danced as we walked, looked up at me smiled and said "I love you mommy".  I felt like my heart might burst in that precious time with her.  I reflected on our "first fruit" and I danced with my daughter in the park, knowing with confidence that I want GOD'S GLORY displayed more than I want my own ways.  HE has been FAITHFUL!

You can read more of this story in the links below.....

Limited In My Ability to Carry Life Part I

Limited In My Ability to Carry Life Part II

Anything by Jennie Allen

Last Fall I worked through Jennie Allen's STUCK study.  It was my introduction to Jennie Allen and I was so impressed.  Mostly impressed with "in your face honesty" from a woman who grew up in the church and finds herself a pastor's wife and a mom to four kiddos.

Anything was part of my Winter Reading List.  I read it because of my friend Laura's recommendation.  Anything is Jennie's personal prayer to the Lord.  Anything should be our prayer to if we want Jesus to become greater in our lives and everything else smaller.

This book continues the wreckage that God is doing in my life right now.  It continues His upheaval of me and magnification of Himself.  I've known Jesus for 26 years.  It almost seems impossible.  Sometimes I wonder....what have I done in those 26 years?  What I love about Jesus....He continues to press deep into me and I never "master" Him.

Here are a few of my favorite highlights from the book

 {and when looking back, I almost highlighted the ENTIRE book}

"Every sin, at its root, is based in something we do not fully believe about God"

"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us" ~Tozer

"To risk is to willingly place your life in the hand of an unseen God and an unknown future, then to watch him come through.  He starts to get real when you live like that"

"What if the thing we are trying to impress him with was the very thing keeping us from him?"

"God is home to us.  He is where we were made to be.  He is what we were made for.  We just forget all that while we are trying to be good and independent"

"Pretending to be good halts God's movement in our life"

"Love is jealous...especially God's love.  He wants me, and I want everybody else"

"We keep spinning.  We keep searching, restless.  We keep missing all he has for us.  He'll always feel far away, drowned out by other louder rivers, until every other thing fades away and He becomes the only thing"

"If we can taste heaven, we live differently"

"If we exalt God to his right place in our lives, a thousand minor problems will be solved at once" ~Tozer

On Mary (The Mother of Jesus)

"With no regard for the way this would impact her short life here, she looked for the big picture.  She saw that this was going to save generations of humans.  She felt the eternal significance of her life and praised God that she got to be part of his plan, part of his plan to redeem people.  No matter the suffering she would have in this life, she was praising God for a chance to participate in eternity."

"God did not seem too worried about what the people in Scripture thought about their callings; he handed them out even if they felt reluctant or unsure about their assignments.  Moses and Jonah and Esther all wished their callings away.  But, in their obedience, God was changing the world and building his stories."

"Eternity was changed by a few disciples?  The entire church age started by fishermen?"

"God's priorities are beautiful, and they trickle down into invisible spaces....into neighborhoods and families and friends and strangers.  He will call us to pour our lives into the cracks around us, and sometimes into cracks far from our doorsteps.  But wherever he calls us, we pour, not wishing for a larger crack or a more noticeable one, or even the one we were expecting" ~Oswald Chambers

"We don't follow God just because he is God, just because he is boss.  We follow God because he builds beautiful stories, even if they are not easy"

"So do your everyday and your ordinary.  Godliness is found and formed in those places.  No man or woman greatly used by God has escaped them.  Great men and women of God have transformed the mundane, turning neighborhoods into mission fields, parenting into launching the next generation of God's voices, legal work into loving those most hurting, waiting tables into serving and loving in such a way that people see our God"

Eleanor Rose

I have a sweet friend who was a blessing to Matt and I during our first days at our church.  She welcomed us in with open arms and supported us from the start.  She brought a yummy meal to our home after the birth of our first child.  She called me every week for a month after my delivery to make sure that I was doing okay "emotionally" as a new mommy.

Laura made Amelia's 1st year birthday/Easter dress and her 2nd year Easter dress.  She has a gift for selecting fabrics that look beautiful together.  Such a sweet vintage/modern flare.  I love her work and the quality of her clothing has always been impeccable.

This last year Laura joined the Kelly's Kids team to develop Eleanor Rose.  Eleanor Rose is a vintage line of girls clothing at affordable prices and Laura is their designer.  It is a dream come true for her.  They launched their first collection "Ladylike" on April 2nd and are set to launch their second collection "Orange Crush" on April 9th.

Please check out their website.  Join their mailing list for announcements.  Like their Facebook Page.  And follow them on Instagram.  If you have a little girl that loves to twirl you are not going to want to miss this line of clothing.  My most favorite things about Eleanor Rose.....Laura's creativity, affordability, and durability!

Can't wait to see this business EXPLODE!!!!

Be on the look out for the "Orange Crush"Collection out tomorrow. 

No Matter What......

I have been in a personal funk the last several weeks.

Exhausted, short with my kids, not accomplishing goals, wanting to sleep alot,

frustration over never ending house work.....

And then.......

The sun finally came out.  The weather warmed up to my most favorite 78 degrees.

And a lady in a black suburban pulled into my cul-de-sac with her ~10 year old hanging onto the outside of the SUV's door with his feet firmly planted on the running board.

He released his hand from the car and hopped off the running board to hand my daughter a flyer.

A flyer that smacked me dead in the face with the reality....

THE POOL IS OPENING MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND.

Nothing like making you feel any worse or more insecure about your post 3 baby body (in 4 years).

So I am back at it.  Five days a week. Workouts for time.  Hoping that I can finish before someone needs me.  Somedays it is peaceful (in the sense that all children are napping).  Somedays it is chaotic...like jumping rope in the garage while your kids draw with chalk on the driveway, fight, and throw their balls down the street....and the baby is screaming!!!!

It's ALWAYS HARD.  It's never easy (although if they are sleeping the conditions are more peaceful).

I want to get up every morning before they rise and have time with Jesus, workout, and shower. 

But my kids wake up at 7am and somedays I am just TOOOOOOOO tired (especially if I have worked the day before).

But I am feeling better about myself.  I am not as short with my kids. I rarely ever get fully dressed (I'm talking hair dried and makeup) but I do feel good about the fact that in 9 weeks when the pool opens I will have done something.  Cause let's face it.....there will be no sitting in a lounge chair for me.  No flipping through magazines.  Nope this mommy is going to be up and at 'em chasing 3 littles around the pool.  Hoping these next 9 weeks of pain will help lessen the visual pain of my post 3 baby body.

So here is what I have to work out with.....

Yoga Mat

Jump Rope

20 lb slam ball

Ab Mat

Pull Up Bar

And ME!

Really trying hard to get workouts completed in less than 20 minutes.  Work hard! Work fast!  I don't have a lot of time to spare.  I don't workout on the two days I work (that leaves five other days to get it in).  For me I have to get it done by 3pm in the afternoon or I wont get it done (nights are too hard around here).  Somedays I workout before they are up.  Sometimes I workout during the baby's first nap.  Sometimes I workout outside while they play outside.  Somedays I work out right after I put them all down for afternoon nap. 

I have used this as a guide before and I am using it again.  

12Stone Church's Physical Breakthrough 30 Day Challenge.

{Click on the link and under the video you will be able to access 30 days of workout in pdf form}

And then somedays I ask my husband Matt (who loves Crossfit) to give me a workout.

What he puts together is always harder than I want but always is a great challenge to me. 

I don't have some perfect workout regimen that is bound to get you skinny in 30 days.

I just have good old fashion....use your body weight, move and eat right method.

That is really what being healthy is all about anyhow, right?!

More calories burned than taken in and fill your body with good wholesome foods from the earth!

I posted last year several workouts I have used in the past and loved.  

I highly recommend this post as it might provide workout resources if you are in a different stage of life and have more time to dedicate.