Raising Children... it's hard!

Mothering is exhausting, frustrating, guilt-inducing, but it is also, wonderful, funny, energizing, and joyful. I have only been a mother for just under three years and I have been challenged in ways I would never have imagined. But I have found that one of the hardest parts about being a mother is the doubt that creeps in from unwanted comments on my parenting or my own unrealistic expectations of what a mother is. I make mistakes everyday, but I am learning and growing and my children love me. Below is my digest of something I read somewhere... I cannot recall where.

God has a unique life plan for each of His children and He needs a variety of parents to raise them. He perfectly matches children to their parents. Therefore, it is important for me to not compare myself to other mothers or my children to other children. I believe it is important to not become a slave to a parenting style, method, or ideology. It is important for me to gather as much information I can, sift if through biblical truth, do what works for our children and our family, and look to God for the final answer.



Although we may not be able to reap all of the rewards from our diligence in parenting, it is nice to have moments were one can see it is all worth it.

The Kid Loves Tomatoes!

We picked our first tomatoes from our garden a few days ago and Radley can't get enough. He eats them faster than we can pick them. Yesterday he picked three cherry tomatoes and eat them all before we could get them in the fridge. I am very thankful that he loves to eat foods that are good for him. It just is not a struggle with him. Now we have our share of struggles and challenges raising this little guy, but eating is just not one of them.

Radley at 9.5 months. pulled a tomato out of the vegetable drawer and started to eat it like it was an apple!

We be Jammin

Summer berries... yum!
So we made jam. We made Mixed berry Jam (strawberry, raspberry, & blueberry),
Blueberry Jam (Robert's favorite), and Pineapple-Strawberry Daiquiri Jam. For those of you who have not made jam, it calls for 1 cup of sugar for 1 cup of berries! So we used unsweetened white grape juice (you can also use apple juice), agave nectar, and Stevia to sweeten our jam. It came out wonderful!

Mexican Celebration!

Here we are out for lunch to celebrate Robert's move to his new shop. It was really, really good food.

Robert and Radley entertaining themselves while we wait for our meals

Izabelle and Maraliese

Mom

Good stuff, eh?