The Nativity Hunt

“Nativity Hunt”…. A Hunting we will go... Now is the time of year to be scouring the secondhand shops for inexpensive nativity scenes.  At stores like St. Vincent De Paul’s, Goodwill, or other thrift shops, you will find all kinds of great ornaments and nativity scenes at bargain prices. When my kids were little I decided to make Christmas what it was truly all about… The birth of Jesus.  When the kids were young we lived on one income, and we had a very limited budget (VERY limited)….  However, we made it fun when we went “hunting” for bargains at secondhand stores.  I found cross ornaments, nativity ornaments, angels, (anything that represented Christ) to decorate the tree, and our home, with “the reason for the season” ornaments. ~ You can bring Christ in Christmas by decorating with things that remind the kids it’s “His” Holiday… Teach them at a young age that HE is the reason for the season. – Happy Hunting!

Among the Christmas decorations, my favorite is the Nativity scenes…. At Christmas time we have them all around the house… I bought a couple inexpensive ones (plastic or rubber) at second hand store so that my toddlers could actually play with them.  I kept them up on the table (so they didn’t get mixed in with toys), but they were allowed to handle them and play out the Christmas story with the barn animals, shepherds,  wise men, angels  and of course Mary, Joseph and Jesus.  This helped my kids learn (hands on) the Christmas story, and were able to tell others through their “play”.  Help you children learn that Christmas (CHRISTmas) is not about fancy shiny new toys, but that of LOVE, kindness, sharing, and Jesus Christ our savior…  Be creative and enjoy the holidays!

Puppy Kindergarten – Another Lesson in Life

We are back to homeschooling... after a LONG "lesson" with two of my "babies" Lucy and Lisa.

Don’t buy a puppy unless you are bored, and/or long to have a baby but can’t.  Puppies take a lot of time, commitment and training. I wouldn’t recommend a puppy if you’re trying to have a baby either… you could end up with TWO “babies,” with totally different needs. I’m guessing you would probably want to commit the time to your human baby.  I’m serious when I say, puppies are A LOT of work!  Cute and cuddly, and so hard to resist; However, they grow up very VERY fast!…. The work, time, and commitment is there for their life-time.  Owning a dog is something you should not enter into lightly…. As we did.  I’m thankful we took this on when I’m home all day…. This little girl (puppy) has turned our lives upside down. We love her, but thankful we have the TIME to dedicate to her training.

We were very familiar with dog ownership, since our last dog we raised was over twelve years old.  However, we rescued him and adopted him from the humane society when he was eighteen months old. Potty trained, neutered and well on his way to being trained and well behaved; we didn’t really experience the “joys” of puppy life.  We knew the commitment of dog ownership, the money and time involved, the time needed for walks, play and baths… but the puppy training was NOT something we gave much thought... Until Lucy.

Meet our newest addition, Lucy.  We named her that not only because of her red hair, but because of her goofy theatrics and clumsy character.  Lucy is a Goldendoodle (half golden retriever and half poodle)… We brought her home when she was eight weeks old.  So if you’re wondering where I have been (why I haven’t been blogging), my time has been consumed raising our newest “baby” / puppy.

 

Lesson 1 - Puppies take a lot of TIME and patience.

Lesson 2 - Use puppy pads for potty training.

Lesson 3 - Be ready for getting up multiple times in the middle of the night, to go stand outside in the damp cold night. They need to go outside (with accompaniment) every two hours.

Lesson 4  - Puppies chew…. on EVERYTHING! – Keep things up!

Lesson 5 - Gate off a section of your house (don’t allow them to roam). – A crate works well at night (they like to feel secure in a “den”).

Lesson 6 - Don’t let him/her out of your site unless she’s confined (while she’s a puppy).

Lesson 7 - If you do let her out of you sight then don’t be mad at her when she makes a mess (expect it and deal with it with love and patience (you were warned in lesson 5).

Lesson 8 - Training… Training… Training!! – Spend time TRAINGING your puppy EVERY DAY.

Lesson 9 - Teach them young (training) not to jump up, or nip (bite). They like to knaw on everything because their adult teen are coming in. Training them very young not to jump or nip will help others (visitors / outsiders) grow to love your dog.  

Lesson 10 - Provide lots of toys. Dollar Tree has a great selection of stuffed animals, treats and doggy toys, very inexpensive.

Lesson 11 - Skip Puppy Kindergarten… Save your money.  Train your dog at home, take your dog to the park or to visit friends, kids and other dogs for “socialization.” Buy a book, or look up dog training on Youtube, and work with him/her yourself.  At three months old our puppy already knew the “basics” and we were doing well socializing her… but I signed her up for Puppy Kindergarten because I was new at this puppy stuff and thought they knew what they were doing and could do a better job…. When she got around the other (unruly) puppies she started misbehaving.  There is something to be said about “you become what you hang with”…. She started to develop bad habits as she watched the other naughty puppies….  The teacher didn’t have enough time to go around and give each dog enough time or attention… so every time after Puppy Kindergarten I had to work harder with her to “undo” the negative influence she got from the naughty puppies.  So needless to say, we are back to homeschooling our puppy. She's growing up nicely, as you can see. 

Look how much Lucy has grown in just five months!

A Father's Day Tribute

A Public Thank You...  To: The Father of My Daughters -   

I have come to appreciate the quiet strength of my husband, the father of my daughters…. I’m thankful he leads with LOVE, and not preaching or condemning…. He makes his point known then drops it, and allows GOD, the Holy Spirit, to guide our children. He’s that way for everyone in his life, he allows the Holy Spirit to convict or judge the actions of others, that’s not his job. He does not look down on people or criticize another man (or woman)… I’m thankful he is full of grace and does not judge others with his words or actions. He loves unconditionally.  

I’m thankful he protects and provides…. I am thankful that my daughters love and respect their father…. He gained their respect by LOVING them, not preaching at them… Guiding them, yet still standing behind them in their decisions (to allow God to work in their lives). He values his daughters as women, and believes in them… He walks along side of them… He is not too proud to discern and take into conseration his daughter's concerns, or their sometimes opposing ideas…. He listens and loves, and even when all else fails, he continues to LOVE.



Once those little girls developed into young women he continued valuing them as women and their contribution as such.... viewing them as intelligent and strong enough to make their own decisions (and stand accountable before God for their own choices too). YES, he protected them… but not so much that they cannot go into the world and withstand on their own (with the strength of God).


He guides his children through his quiet gentle spirit, however, they know when he means business. He’s a man of few words but he gets his point across boldly… He would say his piece on an issue and then he dropped it… If his point was not well received, he didn’t continue to beat a dead horse, he trusted God and allowed GOD to be their ultimate “Father”…. and with the help of God he raised strong, intelligent, confident (in Christ), beautiful young women (beautiful on the inside), who have hearts of Gold…. THANK YOU GOD, for the father of my children!

Happy Father’s Day!

~ Good Ol’ Fashioned Memories ~

Bringing Back Grandma’s Apron

My little girls giggled when I put on my first apron; something so foreign to them. My teenagers rolled their eyes, something of a surprise.  I still can hear it in their sighs: “Mom is so old-fashioned!”

It's been a couple decades since I first rekindled my romance with aprons. I now have shared with all five of my daughters the wonders of my grandma’s apron, and how pretty I once thought it to be. But an even more practical reason for me bringing aprons back into the home was to spare our clothing. Let’s face it, my daughters and I can be very messy cooks. Remembering the many shirts I have ruined with splattered grease, or wiping hands on clothing, the apron is not such a silly thing after all.

 My grandma was my role model. I looked up to her as an example of the woman I wanted to be most like. Her love for the Lord intrigued me. Her love for cooking inspired me. She was so faithful in the kitchen, and to her family. Showing her love and dedication by preparing three homemade meals a day; she wore her apron to snap and can the beans that grandpa brought in from the garden. When she wasn’t sitting down at her sewing machine, or with her quilting needle, she was in the kitchen. She was my inspiration of a Proverbs 31 wife.


In the kitchen, with my daughters, I often share my memories of grandma; that includes the memories of her aprons. Now I’m the one who giggles, as I pull them out of the drawer; because I require them to put on an apron, in order to work in my kitchen. We make all kinds of things in the kitchen, but one of the most fun (and messy, requiring an apron) is homemade pies. I remember she was the grandma who placed homemade pies on the windowsill to cool. However, my children also remember their own grandma (my mother), from another generation, who worked outside the home to put bread on the table, placed her pies by the window to THAW, used a can-opener for her beans, and pushed the buttons on the microwave for a speedy meal. So the sight of an apron is still quite comical to them. That did not hinder the reincarnation of the apron in our home.


I have managed to take the great lessons of my mother, and her style of cooking and caring, and meshed it with the memories of my grandmother and her “old fashioned” ways. My daughters still call me old-fashioned. Yes, I own a microwave, and I’m one-up on my mother with an electric can-opener instead of the crank version. I gave up canning my own beans the year my garden was overtaken by pesky moles. However, I do still make my own strawberry jam, and yes, I have several wonderful aprons to wear around the kitchen.


With all that said I hope that I can inspire other “modern” women to entertain the idea of sporting an apron, while working around the house … and consider introducing the apron to your children.

Now, decades after my first love for aprons, even my own little grandchildren can realize that aprons truly do save your clothing from many-a-messy stains. Plus, they are just plain FUN to wear.

This (below) is a fun poem I found while searching the web for my lost love (of aprons :) ~

Grandma’s Apron

The strings were tied, it was freshly washed, and maybe even pressed.

For Grandma, it was everyday to choose one when she dressed.

The simple apron that it was, you would never think about;

the things she used it for, that made it look worn out.

She may have used it to hold some wildflowers that she'd found.

Or to hide a crying child's face when a stranger came around.

Imagine all the little tears that were wiped with just that cloth.

Or it became a potholder to serve some chicken broth.

She probably carried kindling to stoke the kitchen fire.

To hold a load of laundry, or to wipe the clothesline wire.

When canning all her vegetables, it was used to wipe her brow.

You never know, she might have used it to shoo flies from the cow.

She might have carried eggs in from the chicken coop outside.

Whatever chore she used it for, she did them all with pride.

When Grandma went to heaven, God said she now could rest.

I'm sure the apron that she chose, was her Sunday best.

-by Tina Trivett-

 

Find Joy in the little things… and go buy yourself an apron.