Eat4Today!

I have been reading a blog that is to help with weight loss. Her principles of “Eat4Today” is something we can use in every aspect of our lives. Katie sets goals for herself everyday, but only for that day. As someone who struggles with my weight I especially liked this site. It focuses on one day at the time. “For today, I will drink my water…”, “For today I will walk 1 mile.”

When we are dieting the easiest thing to derail us is the temporary slips that cause us to give up. But making a commitment for a day is something we can all do and it is the starting point to a healthier lifestyle!

I think this could be helpful in every area of our life that we need to conquer. I think I am going to try it…
“For today I will only speak positive words over my family, and my dog who currently drives me crazy.” “For today, I will get on the floor and play with my kids, and not worry so much about the stuff I am not doing.”

I know how nice of me to talk about dieting the day before Thanksgiving, right? Oh well. Have a Happy Thanksgiving, and be safe! See you on Monday!

Setting the Timer

Have you ever heard yourself say “come on, come on, get busy, we have to hurry” Over and over and over? Then you find yourself losing your cool, getting frustrated, because your little one wants to “dilly-dally”. They are so easily distracted, and couldn’t care less about whether or not they get the job done.

An easy tip is setting a timer for your child. Even if he/she can not tell time it will still work. I can tell Emily “Mommy is going to set the timer for 15 minutes, and I want to see your room clean.” I then explain to her the reward for getting it done, and the consequence for not getting it done. This gives her some sense of control, and I do not feel that I am having to push her so much. Of course, because she is only 5 and can not tell time, I do give her a 5 minute warning. She is usually done before that. (However, if I did not set the timer she would be in her room for an hour without getting it done.)

The timer, like for adults, helps keep them on task. It reminds them of the job they have to get done, plus with the reward and consequence they are focused on their goal. This works for getting dressed and ready to go in the mornings as well. Our rule is if she gets dressed, her bed made, and her teeth brushed by the end of the timer, she will be able to watch t.v. until time to go, the consequence is that she simply does not get the reward! (I quickly found that letting her watch t.v. getting dressed was a mistake!)

Remember, we are training them to form good habits. Don’t put unattainable expectations on them. Give them plenty of time to do the job. And have each reward and consequence fit the task.

Welcom Gabriel Darance!

For those of you who don’t know, Kelly Krausse is our newest additon to 1smartmom, she contributes with “Journey’s with Kelly”, an adoptive moms journey. She , along with Hubby David, and Zach and brother Mitchell (not pictured) are excited to announce their newest addition to their family…Gabriel Darance Krausse, (Gabe) 8lbs. 6 oz, and 20 inches long!

Here is another great point to adoption, you look fabulous for the after birth pictures! 🙂
Congratulations Kelly, and David! Welcome Home Gabe!
Newest Krausse! Baby Gabe! Kelly, David (Dad), Zach(Big brother), and Gabe

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, [and] I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Jeremiah 1:5

Thankful Thursday!

Did you know that it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile? Did you know that studies show, just the simple act of smiling can actually cause a chemical reaction in your body? Did you know that movement, dancing being my favorite, releases endorphines and other chemicals that fight depression? Did you know that it is proven that speaking positive over your own life actually changes you physically?


” A study group with unprecedented similarity in lifestyle and social status, supports earlier evidence that expressing happiness, interest, love, and other positive feelings enhances physical health…” say psychologist Deborah D. Danner of the University of Kentucky in Lexington and her colleagues…
“Nuns whose stories contained the most sentences expressing any of 10 positive emotions lived an average of 7 years longer than those whose accounts included the fewest such sentences, the team reports in the May Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The researchers also found that longevity increased by 9-1/2 years for nuns whose life stories contained the most words referring to positive emotions and by 10-1/2 years for nuns who used the greatest number of different positive-emotion words.”

In Chemistry we learn that “In all chemical change, chemical bonds are broken or formed. Energy is required to break a chemical bond (just as energy is required to stretch a spring until it breaks).” it requires energy from you in order to break a pattern over your life. If you are a “naturally negative” person, it is going to require some energy to change that bond. When you exert energy to change your life you will chemically change the way your brain thinks. Dr. Scott Hannen tells us that the brain has memory neurons which become hard wired, what you put in it will be processed to literally make you become what you think. If you want to change your life you have to reprogram your brain, once it has been hard wired to think differently it will come “naturally”. Your thoughts literally make you become who you are.

Thankfulness is not something we should only live for a day, or one month out of the year. It must be a lifestyle we live. Developing Thankfulness in your life can physically change you, your circumstances, and the way you see others. Living a Thankful life can actually cause you to live it longer, and you will enjoy it more along the way.

Even if your life is not going the way you would like it to, now is the time to speak things that are not as though they were. You can find something you are thankful for. “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither [shall] fruit [be] in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and [there shall be] no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” Habbakuk 3:17-18

Live On Purpose

Lisa Welchel had her daughter, Clancy, post a story she had written on Lisa’s blog, Coffee Talk. I thought it was funny enough to pass along with this statement: Live On Purpose! Don’t let fear stop you from doing what You love!

Killed by a Bee
There once was a woman named Genny who ran her own honey making business down in the rural part of Oklahoma. She was a hard working woman, she did everything from taking care of the bees to actually getting and bottling the honey.She had never been scared of bees before until one day she got a frantic call from one of her friends that told her that she would be killed by a bee. At first she didn’t think anything of it, she just politely said, “Okay, well thanks for calling and for your concern” and just counted off her friend as being a little too imaginative.After a few days she forgot about it until she saw on the news a tragic story about how a little boy had been killed by an awful bee sting. This worried her a little bit but not enough to give up her beloved business.

Then she got another call. This time from her friend that had never believed in prophecies. Her friend anxiously told her that she had had a dream early that night and that she truly believed that Genny would be killed by a bee. Well, this just sent Genny over the edge and she became horribly paranoid.

She immediately sold her business and moved down to Las Vegas thinking that there shouldn’t be too many bees down in the city. So, she bought a condo and lived there happily and bee-free for two years.

One day she was walking down the strip and saw that the Belagio Hotel’s dancing fountains were on. She quickly sprayed herself with bee repellent and walked up the sidewalk to watch. When it was over she decided to go inside the hotel to grab a bite to eat. She was about to walk through the front door when there was a sudden earthquake. Thankfully, it was over as quickly as it started.

As she breathed a sigh of relief, she heard a loud, creaking, dreadful sound. Then her life went dark. The next day’s headlines read, “During last night’s earthquake Genny Whelchel was hit by the dislodged letter “B” in the Belagio hotel’s sign. This woman was tragically killed by a B!”

Growing Pains

Yesterday I gave some practical tips on teething. Even if you have never had a teething infant you can imagine that it would be very painful. A sharp object pushing it’s way through the gums in your mouth, the gums swelling and sore to the touch. Worse than a splinter, and not even able to dig it out. It has to come through in it’s own timing.

In the last few days Anna has had a runny nose, and even woke up in the middle of the night crying because she can not breathe and suck her binky at the same time. So I have had to suck out her nose, and I am wiping it constantly. Everytime I do she cries, and screams. I know she would love to punch me if she could. I pick her up when I am done and love her, explaining that “I know it hurts but it is only because mommy loves you that I do it”. See I know what she doesn’t, that if I don’t let it hurt a little bit now, it is going to hurt worse later. When it gets in her lungs and she has pneumonia, or maybe just that she will feel bad longer than necessary.
Or when she has to have shots and she looks at me like “how could you?”, she does not understand that it is because I love her that I allow her, and even subject her, to suffer this pain.

Then I felt like I had a “God-moment”. You know when something you have been mulling over and not able to grasp or understand suddenly is explained in the simplest of terms. Here I am explaining to Anna that I love her so much, and that is the only reason I am doing this, because I can see how the pain now is better than the pain later. I know that even though in her mind she doesn’t understand, and is asking why would you let me go through this, that it is going to help her grow healthier and stronger than if I did not allow her to go through it. And then God says, “hello? Anyone Home?”
Are you getting where I am going with this yet? Do you have pain in your life, a “cutting tooth” (Growing Pain) or maybe you’re physically going through something and wonder “God how could you let me go through this?”. I believe God doesn’t put stuff on us, he does not make you sick, he doesn’t cause marital problems, he does not cause your children to drive you crazy. But he may be allowing you to go through something for a greater purpose! Maybe, just maybe, he is going to show you your weakness through this. Where do you need to grow? What weakness or area of needed growth is He showing you through this circumstance?

You know the sooner we go to the doctor when we are sick, the sooner we receive treatment, the sooner we feel better. When I had strep throat it took one day for me to call the doctor because I knew how painful it was, and that I was not going to get better until I received treatment. Want to know something else? Even after I did start taking the medicine I still had to wait 24 hours before I felt any relief. And it was still 3 or 4 days before I was completely healed. Just remember, sometimes it takes time to get the healing. But why do we wait until we are at deaths door before we go to God for help?

Our Father loves us so much! And even though in our infant minds we don’t understand why we are feeling pain, we may find out down the road it was because the tooth just needed to break through and now we can have solids instead of just milk. Now we are able to have variety and be introduced to so many other things we were never aware of before. Things we would have never known without the pain. Or maybe we are sick, and God is having to hold us down to give us medicine, because we do not understand that ultimately that nasty tasting stuff is going to make me feel better. In our childish minds we did not relate the pain of taking that medication to the relief of the much worse pain.

I hope this helped you as much as it did me!

Teething

If you have an infant and have not already experienced teething, you will soon enough. It is a painful time for both mom and baby because there is not a whole lot that can be done for them. Even the greatest of mothers can become frustrated and realize the helpless feeling in this situation.

Teething can happen earlier, or later, but typically around 5-6 months. Here are some symptoms that your child may be teething:
1)Drooling excessively, their bibs will need to be frequently changed
2)Biting on everything, my daughters own fingers have teeth marks from her biting on them
3)A slight temperature raise, anything over a few degrees is not typically teething
4) Fowl smelling/acidic diapers, sometimes resulting in diaper rash. My advice is from the onset of this begin to put ointment at every diaper change.
5) Slight loss of appetite
6) Clear runny nose, green or yellow is a sign of infection.
7) Fretful, or inappropriate crying. If your child normally sleeps well and is suddenly waking out of that sleep crying, this is because teething hurts. Anna is 20 months and cutting teeth again. She will be whiny for what seems no apparent reason throughout the day.

Some remedies for teething are:
1) Teething rings, putting them in the fridge or freezer can help (it eases the swelling as well as partially numbs it)
2) Tylenol or Motrin. I am conservative when it comes to medicines. However, in this stage there is not much we can do for them, and we are not masking symptoms here. If they are having a really hard time you can “piggy back” Motrin and Tylenol. This means if Motrin is given every 8 hours, it has been 6 and your child is crying out, you can give them Tylenol, which lasts 4 hours. If you need to give them something in that four hour window, you can give them Motrin again, as long as it has been 8 hours since you have given them the Motrin. Dr. recommended to me.
Again, I do not like giving medicines unnecesarily, but I also think it is unnecesary for children to be in more pain than they need to.
3) Herbal teething powders, or Orajel
4) Lots and Lots of TLC! When Anna has that “no apparent reason” whininess all I can do is sit down and hold her, and love on her. Yes your laundry may not get done today. Sorry. This is a time where all we can do is love them through these growing pains.

Proverbs 31 Woman…Are You Kidding Me?

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price [is] far above rubies…Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband [also], and he praiseth her….The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil….Favour [is] deceitful, and beauty [is] vain: [but] a woman [that] feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
(Proverbs 31:10; 28; 30; 29)

Anyone else ever read the whole passage of the Proverbs 31 woman. Apparently she was “SuperWife”. She cooked, and I ain’t talkin’ no microwave dinners; she cleaned, making her own cleaners, they didn’t have any clorox wipes; took care of the children in every way, made their clothes herself, homeschooled them, discipined them, and there was not any t.v. to entertain them (she wouldn’t do that anyway); She was a wise business woman, making lots of money; helped feed the poor, and at the end of the day still had time to “please” her husband. ( OK, I added that last part, but it is insinuated. Come on, Solomon didn’t have 700 concubines for nothing! )

So where am I going with this? Well, I strive to be that Proverbs 31 woman. As I begin to walk out one of these points I go back and read this passage and get something else I need to be working on, it is an evolving process. It is a great plum line to see how we measure up. BUT!…(and I know I am not the only one who has had this revelation) Has anyone considered that Solomon had 1,000 women in his life at one time! There is one of two conclusions I have drawn from this. a) it took 1,000 women to make up the woman described in Proverbs 31, or b) He went through a thousand women looking for the one that fit all of these requirements, went crazy, and wound up in a field eating grass with the sheep. 🙂

I am not saying that we should not strive to be a Proverbs 31 woman. I, like Paul, “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Phl.3:14. However, what I am saying is if there is something in that chapter that you realize you are not doing, only one, and you are striving to hone that characteristic, you are pleasing in God’s sight, and your husbands if he is worth his weight in salt.

Here is my challenge for you: Make a list of the things out of that chapter that you can honestly know you already fulfill, write it out. Then at the bottom pick one or two things (no more) that you would like to see improved in your life. That’s it. (Remember God works on us like an onion, layer by layer.) You can put it where you can see it, to remind you of what you are working on, or put it away if you want. Either way, in 6 months or a year I want you to revisit it, and see what has changed in you. You may be able to add the thing you were working on to the thing you now live. What’s really amazing is seeing what God has changed n you with out you even realizing it.

Here is my list: 1-My husband trusts me. 2-I get up early to prepare for my family 3-I am using most all of my talents and giftings. 4-I do no evil to harm my husband 5- I look well to the matters of my household 6-I fear the Lord. What do I want to see changed?
“She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue [is] the law of kindness.” Proverbs 31:26 I want to only speak good things over anyone or any situation. I want to see others as God sees them, giving me kindness and mercy even to those who hurt me. Control over my tongue, and emotions!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful that children are more forgiving than most. After not being the “smartest mom” yesterday, I am thankful that at the end of the day my kids still say, “I love you mommy.” I am thankful for my children just being in my life; they are my reminders to not take life so seriously. I am thankful for the sound of their laughter, and their ticklish spots. Anna has a very unique cackle, and Emily a very sweet giggle. I am thankful for things that make me laugh, usually inspired by children …

Kim and Jason
By Kim and Jason Kotecki
“Rediscover your childlike spirit”
No matter what kind of day, week, or life you are having there is always something to be thankful for, so I ask
What are you thankful for today?