Thirty Devotions for Mothers

Friendships with Other Mothers
Read Luke 1:39-45
Sharing the childhood and adolescent years of our children's lives bonds women as friends for the rest of our lives. There is something about those consultations (often over the phone) about sleep patterns, temper tantrums, school activities, discipline issues, and teenage trauma that builds a kind of special trust. Perhaps sometimes it's simply not knowing--together. 

Mothers need good friends. We need the connection, the sense of being part of a web that is the world of other women who understand what it is like to live in the years of maintaining a personal identity and personal interests when most hours of our days are devoted to others. A primary characteristic of those friendships is mutuality. Much of the time, what we need is not solutions but a listening ear and empathy.

Help me, O God, to be an encouraging friend to another mother, Amen.

Blessing this Sunday,
Jenna

Thirty Devotion for Mothers

Letting Your Light Shine                                                                 

My children will not go to bed unless their night-light is on. It doesn't put out much light, but in my children's eyes, that night-light makes a very dark, frightening room a cozy safe place to sleep.

That night-light has changed the way I see my role as a Christian. I used to hear Christ's words about "letting my light shine" and feel really overwhelmed, thinking I would have to be a really outstanding Christian to even be seen in this dark world of ours. But now I realize that although I may not be the best Christian in the world (my gift of salvation was free), my light may be all someone needs to feel safe and cozy in this scary, dark world. So I'll just keep on shining!

God, let you light shine through me, bringing comfort and hope to others, Amen.
-Leanne Ciampa Hadley

As I grow as a women, mom, wife, I find it very helpful to pray into life the wise verses of the Bible and also take the positive thoughts and prayers of women who have gone before me. I enjoy reading their stories, praying their prayers, and uses their advice for encouragement in my own journey. I hope it's affirming for you as well!

Grace to You,
Jenna

Juggling Life with Homeschooling

I spent my entire first year of homeschooling working nights and teaching during the day.
People ask me what is your method for homeschooling and how did you balance the two? Well as of yet I haven't pinned down a specific method like other homeschool families I know. But I do have a general schedule and when we follow it our days go pretty smoothly. *This are just the way my family does it with a few simple recommendations ;)

The three main things I recommend are:

1. Have a curriculum lined out with a general pre-planned schedule to use on a daily basis.  Tweak, run with it, re-tweak, and repeat.

What I mean by this is know what you want to teach and the pace you want to teach it at that's appropriate for your kids. Is your schedule so advanced that if you miss a "school-day" the whole thing falls apart? Or conversely are you scrambling to get things together while your kids 'patiently' wait at the table while you run around looking for the art supplies you need? Find balance by planning for your school day but be ready for life's unexpected-because hey it is going to happen. I almost always try to prep everything the day before or in the afternoon when the kids are done for the day.

Here's our schedule:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
LifePAC/ Reading	Saxon Math	LifePac/ All About Spell	Saxon Math	LifePAC/Writing
Saxon Math Snack Time	All About  Spelling/ Writing Snack Time	Saxon Math Snack Time	All About Spelling/Read Snack Time	Math Review or a Math game Snack Time
LifePAC Bible/ Awanas	Awanas	LifePAC Bible/ Awanas	Awanas	Bible Story Reading
Geography/History LifePAC	Science	Science	Science	Geography/History LifePAC
Unit Study	Unit Study	Unit Study	Unit Study
Music-Famous Composers	Art Activity	Music-Famous Composers	Art-Meet the Masters	Music-Piano free play Computer composers
Health	P.E.	Library	Health	P.E.
Nighttime homework (opt.)	Nighttime Homework	Nighttime Homework	Nighttime Homework	Nighttime Homework

As you can see there is no time attached to this schedule because we don't always start at 8:30am. Sometimes its 9am or if we have morning plans then its noon. I don't follow the clock I follow my kids. The first two subjects are always Language Arts and Math because at this young age those are the most important and I find its better to get them done and out of the way otherwise if we wait until the end of the day it doesn't happen. With a special needs child some things take longer then others. Sometimes we zip right through activities while other times we slow down and really focus on mastery of a topic. This is a general schedule to keep things interesting.

2.  Take time out for your toddler and blanket time.

I do not expect my toddler to entertain herself for an entire day minus snack time, lunch time, and naps. My ultimate goal is to keep my older boys doing something while my youngest is also doing something safe, close to me-still in eye shot or ear shot distance (her room is right next to our homeschool room). Again, its a balancing act. Not every subject requires me sitting next to my oldest walking him through each subject-this is when I get my tummy-time in with Sweet Pea. We read, sit and do puzzles, whatever. Sometimes she even sits right on my lap while I oversee what the boys are doing.

3. Offer incentives for a job well done.
My kids love watching TV and using the computer. For every subject they complete and/or every work-box they complete I give them a token which they put into a mini-mason jar and tally up for the end of the day. Each token is worth 5 minutes of TV or computer time. On a daily basis they can go through seven work-boxes at the most totaling 35min. This is free-time however I DO oversee what they will watch and use the microwave timer to keep track of the time. Also this does not include their use of the computer or tv as part of their curriculum. For example we might watch a film or video on the computer about the topic we're learning for the week such a Little Einstein video about a famous artist and/or composer.  

Using this general schedule and being organized always make homeschooling easier. On the days when workboxes are pre-set we can save so much time and honestly my kids prefer things to be ready rather than a flustered mom ;) Happy Homeschooling!

Grace to You,
Jenna
 

Thirty Devotions for Mothers

Welcome! Because I am a young budding homeschooling mom I feel its nice to share encouraging things  with you. BUT I haven't been doing this: mothering, schooling, wife-ing long enough to share my own advice. Therefore, I think it more wise to share positive things with you (and with myself) to remind myself to rely on women who have, the proverbial, 'been there, done that.' Here are thirty devotions all of which I really like and am truly encouraged by them.

Mother kissing her child

1. Motherhood: A Rigorous Training Ground

What an awesome responsibility mothers have to their children. Cultural stereotypes promote the idea that giving birth miraculously endows a women with kindness, compassion, and goodness. But we all know better. Many of us can witness that we are made more aware of our weaknesses and impatience after becoming mothers than we were before. Godliness and generosity are not prerequisites of giving birth; they are characteristics that God hones and whittles into our characters over time. Motherhood provides a rigorous training ground where we can daily practice and model the disciplines of love, honesty, and compassion before our children.

Dear God, help me to teach my child what it means to be a Christian by my example every day. Amen.
---Rebecca Laird

Grace to You,
Jenna

Sewing Skirts!

Once every so often I get the DIY itch for some kind of craft. This time around I decided to try and make some skirts for the my little Sweet Pea. Fall is coming and skirts with leggings are what she likes to wear. Is this cost effective, I don't actually know but it was fun! Plus I figure if she's going to play with cars all day then why not do it wearing a skirt ;)

Step 1: Pick out fabric, measure, and cut.

22" at the top by 12" right angle by 34" bottom.

Step 2: Fold, iron, pin, repeat. 

Fold your bottom (at 1/2" double fold) and top (1/4" first fold, 3/4" second fold, then iron to hold the folds).

Tip: Iron the sides down to one side so when folding the top and bottom seams it is a cleaner fold.

Tip: Double fold the top and bottom to avoid fraying of the edges. Then iron to folds down for neat sewing. Don't worry about the extra fabric because once you add the elastic waist it gives you little girl extra tummy room to breathe ;)

Close up look the the ironed fabric before sewing.

Tip: Make sure to leave an opening for a spot to add the elastic band, button, and/or ribbon waist bands.

  Step 3: Once you have everything folded, neatly ironed, and pinned start sewing.

Tip: Sew as close as you can to the edge to leave room for the elastic band. For bottom hem I use a zig- zag sew line.

 

Tip: When you get to the corners fold one side under and over to get a rounded edge rather then a square edge.

Step 4: Add elastic and/or ribbon to waist band then sew it.

Tip: I used a safety pin to wiggle the elastic band through, and used a 1/2" thick elastic band.

Over pull the elastic through for plenty of sewing room. My daughters' measurement was 19.5"of elastic for a 22" diameter waste. Over measure everything for "mistake room."

 

  Step 5: Add ribbon or bow if desired. Then dress up your cutie-pa-tootie!

Happy Sewing!

Jenna