Just a Few Quick Notes

I don’t have time to write out a full blog post but I want to share a few quick notes I’ve taken at MOPS this year.

• If you are a parent, you are a leader.  You will always be a leader. 
• Put verses where you can soak them in.  This is as simple as writing out a verse on a note card and sticking it at the kitchen sink, on the mirror, or on the door so you see it before you head out. 
• Praise First!
• Don’t keep secrets from your spouse.  Share EVERYTHING.  There isn’t such thing as sharing too much in a marriage.  I’ll devote a post to this later.
• Men, although they are tough on the outside, are fragile on the inside.  Remember that, and treat them accordingly.
• It’s okay to want good things, but not more than we want to please the Lord.

Challenge: Write A Letter

When was the last time you wrote a letter?  I mean a real pen and paper letter. 
Let's look beyond a sympathy card, because I'm hoping you still send those without being prompted. 

It's so easy to give a well wish through the internet.  But as easy as it is to give, it's also easy to forget.  Especially when you've gotten 63 other birthday greetings {notifications} before noon.

I got a simple letter in the mail yesterday from a sweet older lady I met 9 years ago.  She knows my oldest daughter has dyslexia and sent a note to tell me to check out Henry Winkler’s books.  Henry Winkler was “the Fonz” on Happy Days.  He has a great story about how when he found out his child had dyslexia,he realized he had it too!  He has written books for children with dyslexia.  She just wanted me to know. The note was literally on a small piece of paper about the size of my hand, tri-folded and put in an envelope.  It made my day just seeing her name on the return address.  I felt so thankful that she thought of us and took the time to mail a note telling about the books. 

Challenge:
My challenge to you is to write a letter to someone this week.  It doesn't need to be a long over thought masterpiece.  But it does need to be real.  Real pen, real paper, real words.  And REALLY mail, or deliver it.

If you'd like to, take a picture sometime during the process and add it to your favorite social media site.  I personally am falling in love with Instagram.  Add hash tag #ASlightlyBetterWife 

Valentine's Day: When Mama Ain't Happy

During my bi-annual dental cleaning my hygienist and I were talking and she said "ya know, if the wife ain't happy" and we both laughed a little.  We are both wives and moms. We know how funny, and true the quote "When mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" really is. 

I've heard this time and time again.  but something about the way she said it, and what we were talking about really got me to look further into those words.


When I was doing a little research I came across this Tracy Byrd song with the same name" When mama ain't happy".













It's light hearted and fun. It'll only take up about 4 minutes of your day, go ahead and give it a listen. 

Men: Maybe you don't have the means to have a limo waitin' and you didn't think to make dinner reservations.  That doesn't mean you can't make mama happy
tonight. 

Women: I'm going to make this simple.  DO NOT FREAK OUT AND THROW A PITY PARTY if your man doesn't impress you the way you wanted him to on Valentine's Day.  Get.over.it.  Like, right now, before it even happens.

Girls, I'm going to give it to you straight:  We set the tone.  So, be thankful in all things, not just the good things.  Your good disposition and cheerfulness will overflow to your spouse.  Any way you look at it, life is good.

Homeschool: Weekly Planner Spreadsheet

CLICK HERE to view the planner sheet

For those of you needing a little help with organizing your homeschool week, I came up with a silly little spreadsheet. 

This is just the basics.  Some weeks we do WAY more than this, other weeks we get just this done and not an ounce more.  I feel pretty strongly that children learn well when they aren’t in a stressed environment.  We try to keep things calm and not get too worked up over assignments that didn’t get done before daddy came home from work.  We find time after supper or on the weekend to be sure everything was accomplished that needed to be.

When things don't get done because of attitude, lack of effort, or that sort of thing, they end up doing double the next day (the assignments they missed, plus the ones that were already scheduled).  No one likes this, so usually their work gets done on time.  Sometimes we miss work because we have company over, or we were out of the house.  For those times we just do what we can with the hours that are left in the day and move on.

You can look at THIS POST to see what we are using for curriculum.  I love that with most of our subjects once we finish a page or a lesson we just go on to the next one.  Almost everything we do is in order.  It’s easy to stick a bookmark where we left off and pick it up again the next day. 

This sample week is a pretty simple one. We have the 100^th day of school and Valentine’s Day this week.  I used Pinterest to find & print activities for each of those days. 

My 5^th grader LOVES writing in cursive.  I found some Advent handwriting pages online, so she is working through those.  Before you go to check the date of this post and lose your place, yes it is February.  December was just too busy to remember to set worksheets in her handwriting drawer.  Okay it wasn’t THAT busy, but it was busy.  With these sheets I love that she’s not only working on her handwriting, but also learning Bible verses at the same time!  When she’s not doing these she works in her Handwriting Without Tears book and enjoys that too. 

The Kindergartner loves to learn and picks up more than you’d think.  The problem is he has a stereotypical male attention span (did I just say that?  yeah, the truth hurts, huh?)  So we do school in “chunks”.  When one subject is done he needs a break to eat something, drink something, or go to the bathroom. Sometimes he just needs a break to lie on the floor for a few minutes.  I just go with it and call him back when I think he’s ready again. 

If you notice that the kids have some of the same assignments.  Even though they are the same I have different expectations for each of them, based on their level of skill and ability. 

This works for us. Maybe it’ll work for you, maybe not.  If you need something to keep you on track try it out.  If it doesn’t work, just ditch it and try something new. 

If you are curious, the prompts for their Thankful Journals came from Ann Voskamp's Joy Dare Challenge.  Some days I use what she suggests, other days I pull from the previous month and use one we haven't done yet.

In The Kitchen: Thanks A Lot Girl Scout Cookie S'mores

 Here is a quick How-To using the Girl Scout Cookie "Thanks A Lot" to make indoor S'mores. 

Here in Iowa we can handle the cold temps we've been given lately.  We'd be just fine with pulling out our fire pit and roasting marshmallows, because we're tough like that.

Alright, please don't make me prove it.  It's actually too cold for any of that business! 

 But in our house, we have children.  Children who had us running to different activities every day this week.  Children who went to bed late last night, leaving mom and dad purely exhausted. 

So, what are two lovebirds to do after their littles have gone to bed?  Eat dessert (No worries- This is not code for anything.. we really just ate dessert)! 

Start with Thanks A Lot Cookies, Marshmallows (whatever you have on hand). and an oven safe pan of any sort. 

Put the cookies, topped with marshmallows in your pan. 

I did put parchment paper in the bottom of my pan, so I wouldn't have to wash the dish, but I ended up not needing it at all.   

I just hit the "broil" button, because it was handy and I was hungry. 

If you're the patient type, you can cook yours at a lower temp for more time. 

When the chocolate starts melting and the marshmallows just start to puff, take them out.

Squish another cookie on top 

Stick back in the oven for about 10-20 more seconds. 

Dirty a dish for the sake of taking a picture for your blog. Enjoy! 

Thanks to the mom at the Girl Scouts meeting who told me how great these cookies are for s'mores!  I'll be stashing a box (or two, or ten) to use for REAL s'mores this summer. 

Now, before you decide this looks like too much work, I want you to know one thing: YOU CAN ALSO JUST MICROWAVE THESE BAD BOYS. 

Being the awkwardly crunchy folks that we are, we don't actually own a microwave.. hence all the extra steps. I don't mind though, I greatly love my time in the kitchen.

Facebook Feedback: How to STOP being CRANKY

I asked this question on my Facebook page “Last week we talked about what makes us crabby. Now the question is, what can we do about it? Really, I want you to pause for a minute and think about it. How can you STOP being cranky with your spouse, kids, or even yourself when you're in those high trigger situations?”
There are some good answers there, go see for yourself.

Notice the IKEA ANRIK Coffee Press on the counter.  I LOVE that thing! 

Here is my answer:

One way I've found to stop being cranky with my kids is by choosing to be silly instead.  I can yell that they left their socks shoved in the couch (again!), or I can be goofy and put their socks on my ears while I say something ridiculously funny.  They prefer the funny, and I do to.  I mean discipline has its place, but sometimes we moms just need to lighten up.  WARNING:  My kids are not teenagers yet, so I don’t know, this trick may not work for everyone.  Try it, & let me know how it goes over.

As far as how to quit being cranky with my husband?  I kinda like to impress him. ;)  This is a new thing.  For some time I really didn't care.  I mean REALLLLLLY didn’t care.  I knew he’d be there each night when we went to bed, and he’d be there when I woke up in the morning.  And during the in between hours he’d surely be doing something to tick me off (he really wasn’t, I was just way too particular.  Me: “Honey, did you put the carrots on the 3^rd shelf again?  You know they go on the second shelf, all the way to the right so they don’t get too cold being by the freezer”). 

I figured we're married; we love each other, so why even try?  But now I have decided that I really DO want to earn his love and attention.  My husband is a VERY laid back, forgiving guy.  At first it was hard to tell if my actions made a difference, but after a while it was clear to see he smiled more, made more jokes, and get this, he was more confident! 

It’s not cool to think about how much I was tearing him down without even trying.  Not trying- is a problem. 

One more thing.  I'm hosting a giveaway on my Facebook Page for all the locals.  If you're a local, go check it out! 

A Quick Cover Photo How To & An Invitation To Visit Me On Facebook

I just wanted to share that I've created a Facebook page to stir up more dialogue, encouragement and support. 
The web-address is www.Facebook.com/ASlightlyBetterWife
 
I think my goal all along has been to encourage moms, and encourage myself to do better in the motherhood department.  I'm realizing that busy moms don't always think to check a blog, but they DO check their Facebook (and click blog links from there).  The reality of it is, sometimes Facebook is the only social interaction we get during the day (outside of our children, of course)!

Lets be honest here, I am NOT designer savvy.  Today I tried to create a cover photo.  It's not catch or beautiful, but it does describe what my blog is all about.  I'd love to design my blog and cover photo similar to Confessions of a Homeschooler's  But I just don't have the time to learn how to do that right now.


I did find this website to help me to make the right size Facebook cover photo.  I used Paint, went to "properties" and put in the Width and Height.  Am I the only one who still uses Paint?  Probably.  :)

I'd love to have you over to my Facebook page where {hopefully} there are fun and meaningful conversations to come!