This is our latest family pic taken at Babyland Hospital in Cleveland, GA. We're all wearing the shirts that shout the reason why we moved, and taking in the beautiful mountains of North Georgia! LOVING our new life with God, as always, leading the way!
This post will hopefully inspire you as moms and dads to find simple ways to help make parenting and caring for your children, well, a bit easier...anyone will take easy, right?!? Listed below are 5 tips that we have either found or borrowed from other inspiring parents:
1. Removing stains the cheap way...
--cover the stain with dish detergent and cold water, then scrub and wash.
2. When your kids won't eat their fruits and veggies...
--Bake cupcakes that contain fruits and veggies (these are actually muffins, but when
cooked in a cupcake holder, the little ones do not know the difference)...lots of
recipes on Pinterest.
--Our little guy has a texture issue with fruits and veggies, so he eats the fruit pouches.
One way we have discovered to get him to eat at least one fruit pouch a day, is when
he gets hiccups--he thinks the fruit makes his hiccups go away...and they actually do!
3. Saying "Good-bye" to sickness...
--Organic, organic, organic....yes, organic foods have absolutely kept our kids out of the
doctor, and us too!! Take a look at the ingredients in everyday store bought foods vs.
organic labeled foods, and the difference is remarkable! Don't put ingredients in
your body that you can't even pronounce.
4. Thrift Shop...and the choir sang, "Hallelujah!"
--Up until recently, we have saved an enormous amount of money shopping at
consignment stores for seasonal clothes. I say "recently," because the girls are
getting into bigger sizes that are typically too "worn" in thrift stores. When they
were smaller, I would participate in a local consignment sale that only occurred a
certain weekend out of the year, and since I consigned their old clothes, I was able to
shop a day before the public. What would've cost $600-$700 in stores, I
bought for around $250, for both girls combined!!
5. Prevent raising a "Messy Marvin"
--I admit that I have a problem, "I am a cleanaholic, neataholic, maybe a tiny big OCD-
aholic." However, I believe kids should be taught to clean up after themselves. As a
teacher, I expect my students to put away what belongs to them or what they decide
to work/play with; this lesson begins at home!
--Solution: A couple of weeks ago, I noticed my girls beginning to slack on putting
away their dirty clothes, bathroom items, hanging up their towels, leaving shoes
outside beside the trampoline, etc. So...I set a new rule in place: For every item left
out of place, they would be grounded from picking out their school clothes one day
per item. Needless to say, Carsey has really stepped up her game...and she was my
Messy Marvin. Connie...well, she is grounded right now, but she is learning a valuable
lesson.
--This rule currently does not apply to Canaan; he just has to clean his mess before he
can play outside.
Hopefully you have gathered some ideas and tricks that you can use in your own family. Don't forget to visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel Diapers2Dates, as our daughters are now vlogging some gymnastics routines and other interesting videos that only kids could think up:)
Thanks for reading!!
This post will hopefully inspire you as moms and dads to find simple ways to help make parenting and caring for your children, well, a bit easier...anyone will take easy, right?!? Listed below are 5 tips that we have either found or borrowed from other inspiring parents:
1. Removing stains the cheap way...
--cover the stain with dish detergent and cold water, then scrub and wash.
2. When your kids won't eat their fruits and veggies...
--Bake cupcakes that contain fruits and veggies (these are actually muffins, but when
cooked in a cupcake holder, the little ones do not know the difference)...lots of
recipes on Pinterest.
--Our little guy has a texture issue with fruits and veggies, so he eats the fruit pouches.
One way we have discovered to get him to eat at least one fruit pouch a day, is when
he gets hiccups--he thinks the fruit makes his hiccups go away...and they actually do!
3. Saying "Good-bye" to sickness...
--Organic, organic, organic....yes, organic foods have absolutely kept our kids out of the
doctor, and us too!! Take a look at the ingredients in everyday store bought foods vs.
organic labeled foods, and the difference is remarkable! Don't put ingredients in
your body that you can't even pronounce.
4. Thrift Shop...and the choir sang, "Hallelujah!"
--Up until recently, we have saved an enormous amount of money shopping at
consignment stores for seasonal clothes. I say "recently," because the girls are
getting into bigger sizes that are typically too "worn" in thrift stores. When they
were smaller, I would participate in a local consignment sale that only occurred a
certain weekend out of the year, and since I consigned their old clothes, I was able to
shop a day before the public. What would've cost $600-$700 in stores, I
bought for around $250, for both girls combined!!
5. Prevent raising a "Messy Marvin"
--I admit that I have a problem, "I am a cleanaholic, neataholic, maybe a tiny big OCD-
aholic." However, I believe kids should be taught to clean up after themselves. As a
teacher, I expect my students to put away what belongs to them or what they decide
to work/play with; this lesson begins at home!
--Solution: A couple of weeks ago, I noticed my girls beginning to slack on putting
away their dirty clothes, bathroom items, hanging up their towels, leaving shoes
outside beside the trampoline, etc. So...I set a new rule in place: For every item left
out of place, they would be grounded from picking out their school clothes one day
per item. Needless to say, Carsey has really stepped up her game...and she was my
Messy Marvin. Connie...well, she is grounded right now, but she is learning a valuable
lesson.
--This rule currently does not apply to Canaan; he just has to clean his mess before he
can play outside.
Hopefully you have gathered some ideas and tricks that you can use in your own family. Don't forget to visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel Diapers2Dates, as our daughters are now vlogging some gymnastics routines and other interesting videos that only kids could think up:)
Thanks for reading!!