Summer School

Growing up when someone said they were doing summer school I assumed they were dumb.  You know what I am talking about!  You thought the same thing!  Kids did summer school to make sure they passed to next grade!  Then, we moved to college and those who were super motivated did summer school.  You know the people I am talking about....I never fit into either of those categories.  However, for the second summer in a row I find myself doing school!  AND, for the first time I find myself, and my kids, in a position where they will be doing school too.  One of the things I love about homeschooling is the flexibility of your schedule.  I love that we can take family time when needed and focus on other things when needed.  However, this year we had lots of "family" things to tend to.  We have been out of town a lot, taken care of parents and grandparents, and had our fair share of sickness.  Needless to say, I find myself sitting her at the beginning of June hating myself for my kids needing to complete their books still. So, the Skinkle family, minus a few weeks of break time, will be schooling it this summer!  Hopefully this is the first and last time this will happen! 

My Part

Earlier I posted about my kids desire to help with the building fund.  If you missed that post you can read it here.

They really challenged me to look outside the box for ideas on ways I too can give.  As a SAHHM money is tight in the family budget and there is little "extra" that can go other places.  So creative had to be the key!  I have been praying for several weeks now that God would show me a way I could give.  This morning in my time with Him, He confirmed to me that He had already given me a way, I just needed to use it.

Last year I started Ribbon Head Bows.  I did this more as an outlet for myself than anything.  It allowed me to have a hobby and a little extra spending money.  Then I started back to school....and to be honest I haven't done much with it since.  So, this morning I made the decision to give Ribbon Head Bows to HIM.  That's right, it is His now!  All bows, headbands, crafts, etc, will go to HIM.  I am back with a purpose!  All profits from Ribbon Head Bows will be given away.  For now the money will go to the building fund at my church.  So, shop away and know that for everything you purchase and I make we work together to bring more families to the Lord, through a new building, more space for discipleship, at a my home church. 

The Kitchen

If we are all honest, we all have a favorite room in our house.  For some it's the living room.  Others might have an office or hobby room.  There is another group who love their kitchen.  I am NOT one of those!  HAHAHA!  To be honest, I very much dislike my kitchen.  Don't get me wrong, I love how my kitchen looks when it is clean.  The problem is, it's rarely clean!  Not, because I don't clean it, but because we are home all day, and that is the room most used, so it stays in this state of "needing to be cleaned".  That is the main reason I dislike my kitchen.  However, I have another reason....and it is somewhat tied to the cleaning part.....I do not enjoy cooking...most of the time.  If my kitchen is clean and I have the knowledge that someone else will clean when I am done, then I love to cook.  However, cooking just makes a mess, that I have to clean, and I hate cleaning the kitchen!  However, because I am a stay at home mom, I have to cook....so, one of my challenges this year was to search for some "easy" "low mess" recipes that would spice up my recipe box and hopefully aid in my love of cooking.  I have decided as I find family favorites, I will share them.  Here are the first two!

NEW FAMILY FAVORITE BBQ SANDWICH

I found this recipe here, but modified it a small amount. 

Put 2-3 lbs of pork tenderloin in your crockpot

Cover the pork with Root Beer (I use Diet A&W Root Beer)

Cook on LOW for 7-10 hours (I cook for about 8)

 Drain Root Beer 

Mix Meat with your favorite BBQ Sauce (I use Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce)

 Serve on your favorite Bread or Buns (you could also put on a baked potato)

NEW FAVORITE FRUIT SMOOTHIE

I found this recipe on Pinterest

Blend the following together:

1 Cup Diet 7UP

1 Cup Ice

1 Cup Strawberries

1 Cup Bananas

Screamers!

I am not sure about all the moms of little girls (and big girls) who read my blog, my princess is a screamer, sometimes squealer! I have learned to how to read screams so that I know if something is really an emergency or not.  One thing I know is that my princess has this one scream, it is more like a squeal, that comes out of her mouth when she is scared or hurt.  It is my signal to drop what I am doing and run!

Today, I got both kids settled doing this and hopped in the shower (this is a wonderful thing I can do now that they are older).  I was finishing my shower when I heard "The Scream"!  I heard, "MOMMY!" and my heart began to pound!  I was in the shower!  What was wrong? Was someone in my house? Was she hurt?  I began to scream back, "I am coming! Are you okay? Tori!  Are you okay?".  As I am screaming back I am racing to get the soap off and rush out of my bathroom.  If there was some one in my house, I was going to scare them, because they were going to see me naked!  As I am racing, my heart about to come out of my chest, because I knew something serious was wrong, I hear this little voice scream back...and you will never believe what I heard....I heard this...

"Mommy I can't find any pants to wear!"

WHAT?!?!?!  She used her "I am dying" scream because she can't find pants!!!  My heart was still beating fast, but I was no longer scared, I was mad!  I couldn't believe it!  I rushed my shower for that!  UGH!!  This girl drama is going to kill me!

Of course I can laugh about it and share it.  I hope I am not the only one who has been fooled by their princess.  I would love to hear your stories.  Share them in the comments!

Drum Roll Please....

A few weeks ago I blogged about my kids going through their clothes and sending them to ThredUp!  Read about here! The money they earned from this project they decided to give to the church to help with the new building!  Last week we mailed the bag.....

On Tuesday of this week we were notified that ThredUp had received the bag!  And TODAY we found what items they bought from us and what our total was!

So, DRUMROLL PLEASE!!!

TORI - $23.50

JOHNATHAN - $11.50

TOTAL - $35!!!

I am so proud of my little givers!!  And thankful that God blessed their effort tremendously!

BTW - ThredUP is now beginning to take WOMEN'S clothing and we will definitely be sending another bag soon!

Seasons

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens" Ecclesiastes 3:1

Most everyone is familiar with the phrase, "there is season for everything".  Those familiar with God's Word know that this is a very Biblical phrase, because it is in the Bible.  In Ecclesiastes it talks about there being a season for everything, laughing, crying, joy, and sorrow.  We all go through seasons in life, and in our walk with the Lord.  God has used this passage over the past few weeks to remind me of things I already know.  I mentioned in a past blog about battling over comparing myself to others, and even to the picture I have in my mind of what I should look like.  God has called me to a life that I cannot live on my own, in my own power and that is scary for me sometimes.  

Over the past month or so, I have been really trying to focus on being who God wants to be and do only what He has called me to do.  This has meant giving up things, and moving my schedule around.  I am afraid to admit that in the process I have stepped on some toes.  I have friends who have been indirectly affected my decision lately and I never meant for that to happen.  I have made decisions they don't understand and don't agree with and it has put some distance between us.  

Last night as laid in bed praying for God to help my mind quit thinking and allow me to sleep, He reminded me of these verses.  Most of my decisions are not lifetime commitments.  They are decisions I am making for this season in my life.  I have diligently prayed over each one and I have genuine peace about every decision I have made.  I do not feel in any way that I am going against the Word of God.  I am thankful that I serve a God who cares about me enough to reach down during a hard time in my life and remind me that He is in control and His plan for my life is just that.  HIS PLAN FOR MY LIFE! I am not to living His plan for anyone except the one He has for me.  And, when I begin to try living for others or living like them, I pull away from the plan I need to be living.  

I as moms, we need to always remember that God is a God of seasons.  There is a season for everything.  When you have young kids there is the season of diapers and bottles.  Then it moves to season of attitudes, and then before you know you are in the season of saying bye.  God has a plan for each of our families, and for each of us moms, and it is different! Let's embrace it!  Let's allow God to work in our families, despite us and our judgemental minds!

Twinkies

I believe as a Christian that there are things that are black and white (ex: ONE WAY TO HEAVEN!) and there are things that must be decided for your family based on much prayer because the Bible does not speak directly to these topics, or the topic is dependent on the person and their situation.  Growing up my mom would called these things "twinkie" things.  They might not actually aid in your spiritual growth but if used all the time or without care, they can be harmful.  Twinkies are not bad if eaten every once in while, but if you depend on the twinkie to live then you will have problems.  I have picked out a few topics that I have been seeing a lot of talk about on Facebook or within the Christian community.  **Please remember these are my opinions and how I feel God has led our family.**

Princess VS Not Princess

Earlier today I read a blog from someone I knew talking about their opinion on whether or not to let their daughter play with princesses and princess stuff.  This particular person was not against it but brought up the point that some people are, because it brings an unrealistic view of life to a girl, by making them feel they have to look a certain way and that they must wait for a prince to sweep them off their feet on a white horse, taking away their independence and making them rely on a man.  I agree there is a fairy tale that goes along with princesses.  Chances are most of us girls will never look like Cinderella and our husbands will most likely not be perfect like Prince Charming.  However, in my opinion I think all girls should feel like a princess.  They should feel loved and special.  They should want to wait for the one God has for them, and in my opinion, if they wait, they will look at him and see their Prince Charming.  I also see nothing wrong with teach a girl that she must depend on someone.  I agree that girls need to be able to do things for themselves, but there is nothing wrong with them depending on a husband to protect and provide for them.  I do!  Also, we must remember that marriage is a picture of Christ and His Church.  His church has to depend on Him to live.  So, in my opinion I see nothing wrong with allowing girls to be princesses and look up to Cinderella and Belle.  However, like the twinkie, if they are drawing their self worth from these fictional characters and not for what God has for them, we might want to rethink.  In our family we focus on our princess being a child of THE KING, and that does make her a princess!

Stay Home VS Working

I believe this will always be a battle among women.  There was a time when women were expected to stay home and take care of the kids.  They were not respected as equal to men and were not given a chance at working outside the home.  However, we must also keep in mind that during this time, they also were in charge of not only cooking and cleaning, but actually harvesting the food, preparing it to be cooked, and then washing everything by hand when done.  They had to sew their kids clothes and then hand wash all clothes, as well has hang dry everything.  It was HARD WORK!  I do not believe that the Bible say, "Women must stay home with their children".  I do believe that the Bible is very clear about the job of the women, that is take care of her family.  This looks different in every family, and even differs from season to season.  There was season in our family's life that to be helpmate God called me to be and to help take care of my family, I needed to work full time outside of the home, so I did.  It was hard, but I did it.  Now, God has led our family to a season where I am home full time, homeschooling our children and it is also hard.  My sister-in-law is such an awesome mom to my niece and nephew, but God has called her to be a school counselor. The calling she has is the same as mine.  She loves and takes care of her family and is obedient to God.  He has given her what she needs to do what He has called her to do, just like He has given me what I need to do what He has called me to do.  As women we must stop judging each other!  Every family dynamic is different and "taking care" of your family WILL look different than what it looks like to take care of my family.  However, I do think that when a women's job is more important that taking care of her family, then a line has been crossed.  I believe this type of women is the one who is working to get away from her family, or working to have MORE and she might want to pray about what it is God would like her to do to make things right.  Again, just my opinion.   

Home school VS Public or Private School

This is a huge debate right now.  There is one group who says "you MUST home school if you love your children, because public (or private) schools are bad and will ruin your children."  There is another group that says, "home school families are weird and they are neglecting the social aspect of school and life."  In my opinion BOTH are WRONG!  Where your child goes to school is between you and God.  In fact, I say, "If God has not called you to home school your children, DON'T!"  I believe there are tons of positives to homeschooling when compared to "regular school".  However, I also believe that there needs to be a Christian influence in school too.  I know God has called me to home school my children for now.  Will this change?  It might!  If God tells me to put my kids in a regular school setting, I will.  If He tells me to home school through high school, I might fight it, but I will.  Again, we need to pray for each other.  Moms, if you do not home school, pray for us that do.  It's HARD!  And, us moms that home school, we need to pray for moms who put their babies on a bus, or drop them up at a public or private school.  They have their struggles too! 

Santa VS No Santa

This is my favorite debate!  Every year around Christmas, which is my favorite time of the year by the way, I get asked from at least one person, "So, do ya'll do santa?"  LOL!  YES!!  We do Santa!  Before my kids were born, my husband and I decided that we would never make Santa bigger than God and that we would never lie about Santa.  We also promised each other that if Santa came between our children and their walk with the Lord we would nix it.  Needless to say, Santa is a well-loved man at our house, but my kids know that Santa is dad and that the only person who knows everything they think and do is God.  They also know that we give because God gave to us. Santa is just a fun way for Lee and I to give to them, but the best gift at Christmas is the one God gave us, Jesus.  I believe that if Santa is the center of Christmas, then He needs to go.  However, I also believe that there is nothing wrong with Santa either.

Thred Up!

My husband and I try very hard to teach our children the importance of giving to others, since everything we have is really God's! He loans it to us to use for His Glory!  Our church has started building a new building, and this past Sunday the kids had a special lesson on how they can play a very important part in the new building, which is ultimately for them! My princess came home with grand ideas of jewelry she could make and painting she could do to sell and earn money to give back.  Knowing that my precious 6 year old could not make anything worth paying for....I began to think of other ideas...and then it hit me!  A few months ago a friend told me about this site...ThredUp!  I LOVE this site!  It is an online consignment. You can find great deals on clothing for your children, BUT the best part is that you can request a bag be sent to you.  You fill the bag with gently used clothing (there is a detailed list on their site of what they accept) and send it back to them (the bag has a prepaid postage stamp on them).  They go through your clothes and pay you!  You can use the money to buy things from their site, or cash it out!  SO, tonight, my kids went through their closet and filled a bag.  I will put the bag in the mail Monday and then we wait....Once, I receive word on how much money our clothes are worth, then I will give that amount to the kids so that they can give!  It is the easiest garage sale ever!  I am excited to see how God uses the little we are doing to bring Glory to His Name!

Also, if you decide to use ThredUp please click here, so that I get credit for sending you!  ;)

Trying Something(s) New

For several months now I have been trying to figure out how we could give our children an allowance but make them earn it at the same time. We have tried several systems in the past but it never worked. During my research of ideas I came across this blog post.  Her system seemed like it would work for us!  So, I made my own modifications...and we will start week 1 tomorrow!

I made these charts.....framed so that we can use dry erase to change the last chore each week and reuse the charts!  They will mark a square when the task is completed with a good attitude!  If they fill in all squares they will earn $5 (25 cents per square).  If they miss more than 1 then it will drop to $2.50 and if they miss 3 or more then they will not receive their allowance.  I know this sounds harsh but, I think it will work....I will post an update once we have tried it for a few weeks! 

Another thing we are putting into place is laundry day!  Both of my kids have mastered the art of laundry, so beginning this week, they are responsible for their own clothes...washing, drying, folding, and putting away! They will no longer be able to blame me for the lack of clean clothes!!!  My other hope is that the princess will began to grasp the importance of only putting dirty clothes in the dirty clothes basket....we shall see. 

Secret Weapons

You know in those Bond movies they always have secret weapons hidden everywhere.  Gun, knives, and even hidden getaway transportation. Well, I have decided that as a SAHHM I must also have secret weapons.  You know tools I can whip out to keep me sane and get me through the day.  I have 3 secret weapons.....and I am going to list them in order of importance!

1. GOD!  Without Him in my life I would not have the life that I have.  He has blessed me so much and given me the wonderful opportunity to be a SAHHM.  On days when I feel I just can't make it anymore, I remember how great He is to me and that He is the one who called me to do what I am doing and so HE WILL take care of me!  In fact, my other 2 weapons were given to me by HIM! Without Him I would be and have NOTHING!

2. My Husband!  Yes, I have the best husband in the world!  Is he perfect? NO!  But, he is AMAZING!  He is my number one encourager, prayer worrier, and relief!  He is incredible about giving me time away from kids when I need it and doing whatever he can to support me and the calling God has placed on my life. 

3. Medicine!  Most people joke when they talk about being on medicine to survive the chaos, but I am personally thankful that God allowed certain events to play out in my life, and placing people in my life at the right, and for doctors who have been able to create medicine to help those like me, who need a little extra boost.  I used to be ashamed of the fact that I take an anti-depressant, but now I just am thankful that it is available for me to take.  I am a much better person with it and my relationships, including my one with Christ, have grown so much since I have been on it.  The big thing that has changed is my ability to handle stress.  I still get stressed and things still bother me, but I am able deal with them better and in a way that brings Glory to God.

Battles

As a SAHHM I have many battles.  Battles over school work, house work, clothing, play time, attitudes, lunch menu......I could keep going but I think you get the point.  One thing I have become great at is picking my battles.....well maybe not great but a lot better than even a year ago.  There are times when my princess goes to the grocery store in an outfit that I never in a million years thought I would ever let any child of mine be seen in public in....but it's not the battle I want to fight that day....it's just not worth it any more. 

The battle I have yet to conquer is the one inside of me!  If you are mom at all you know what I am talking about....you know that battle to be the mom you think everyone wants you to be....if you don't battle with this....well good for you!  HAHAHA! I struggle daily with my role as mom, wife, teacher, student, daughter, and even child of God.  I want to be the best in every area and it seems like no matter what I do I fall flat on my face in some area, if not all areas, at some point and I convince myself, well Satan convinces me, that I am a horrible person.  It is amazing how he can have that power.  He uses even my friends sometimes to attack me, just to get me down.

Well, tonight that battle was going on and I could not sleep.  I was laying in bed just crying out to God.  Asking Him, no begging Him, to show me what it meant to be the mom, wife, student, and everything else He has called me to be.  I truly just want to be who HE wants me to be and nothing else.  Then I just stopped and listened.  This is a hard thing for me, but I wanted an answer and to get an answer you have have to listen. And this is what He said..."Amanda, remember David?  Remember when I sent Samuel to find the King I had for Israel?  Remember when I showed up and made it clear that David, the one son of Jesse least likely to be King, would be the next King of Israel?  Remember that I look at the heart.  Man looks on the outside but I look within!" 

As moms, and Christians lets be honest we are the worst, we tend to make the picture of the mom who has it all together in our heads.  You know what I am talking about!  We have this visual of super mom and what that should look like.  Christians, we have the a similar picture of the super christian.  Be honest!  You know we do!  The problem is, that picture is very comparable to picture the Israelites had in their minds of the next King.  Our picture is not always God's picture.  Our picture of what moms, wives, and others in general is not always accurate.  And the truth is, every mom should look different, because we have different kids.  Every Christian, while there are some similarities that must be there, will look different, because that the beauty of being a part of the family of God.  If we all looked and acted the same that would be boring and less work for God's kingdom could be done.

All of this is easier said than done I realize, but it is my goal to work very hard to put my focus on my heart and what God desires from me and not on what others think or what I think I should be doing to let others know I "have it together".   My focus should be on being a Child of God and not all the other stuff, because the other stuff will fall into place if I am focused on HIM.  Instead of spending two hours at the gym because I feel like I am expected to be in shape to be a good mom and wife, I should be in God's Word.  Instead of stressing out over what my kids are wearing in public, I need to be in God's Word.  Instead of focusing on being super mom, wonder wife, and A+ student, I need to focus on HIM and allow HIM to be all that through me. 

If you read this and know me personally, please remind me of this the next time you hear me comparing myself to someone else, or comparing someone else to me. 

If you don't know me, or don't know me well enough to do the above, then pray for me and others like me that struggle in this area.  Pray that Christian moms all over the world will rely on HIM more and less on themselves and what they feel the world expects of them.  Oh and share this blog if it ministered to you!

First Day Back

I have been planning for several weeks now to start back to school today.  In fact, while I was sick I wrote lesson plans for the next three weeks.  (GO ME!) We took most of December off and so I knew that we would have to hit it hard once we started back so that we are not doing school during summer time.  However, due to being sick over the holiday, and sleep cycles being way off track, we got a late start this morning.  I knew I probably should have put off starting til tomorrow, but I was so determined to get school done today.  So, after lunch we sat at the table...and I realized pretty quick it was not going to be fun! You would have seriously thought my kids had not spent a day of their life in school! They had forgotten everything they knew and did not want to relearn it!  BUT I WAS DETERMINED TO FINISH!!  By the end both kids had cried at some point, I am pretty sure a chunk of my hair fell out, the boy told me his arm was going to fall off so he couldn't work anymore, broke 2 pencils, and the girl had fallen out of her chair more than once!  Needless to say, as painful as it was (and it was literally painful at some points).....we had our first day back and I am praying tomorrow is better!

The Minivan Problem

Okay all you other moms, stay at home or not, please back me up on this...no matter how hard I try my minivan stays messy! My husband thinks that it stays messy because I don't care! It seems that no matter how hard I try I can't convince him otherwise. But, this stay at home mom thinks it impossible to keep my van clean! I mean I live in that thing some days....you know? I love trying to find ways to keep it organized and clean, but no matter how hard I try I can't succeed. Anyone else have this problem? Or is it just me?

First Things First

Well it's a new year and with it comes new goals and ideas.  So, what did I do?  That's right!  Sit on the couch and create a new blog to share my thoughts, goals, and even struggles.  My prayer is that God will use this blog to help me grow in my walk with Him, while also being a blessing to other moms.  There are so many thoughts and ideas that a mom is supposed to something close to a super hero.  We focus so much on what we are supposed to look like and how the world should see us that we forget what our main job is...at least I know I do.  So, this year my prayer that when you read my blog you not see a super mom, but a mom that is striving to grow in her walk with the Lord and allow Him to guide her steps and decisions, even during the hard times, and loving life...and the humor life brings...at the same time.