Conversation Starters

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Walking What We Preach

The Way

The Way is only learned by walking it. Here are the steps I recommend:

§  Greet your child each morning with a smile, a hug, a loving Good Morning! This is how we would all like to be greeted each day.

§  Teach your child to make her own breakfast. This starts for most children at around the age of 3 or 4. Teach them progressively to brush their teeth, bathe themselves, clean up their rooms, put away clothes, wash their dishes, make lunch, wash their own clothes, sweep and clean, etc.

§  Teaching these skills takes patience. Kids suck at them at first, so you have to show them about a hundred times, but let them try it, correct them, and let them make mistakes. They will gradually learn independence as you will gradually have less work to do caring for them.

§  Know that when you screw up as a parent, everything will be fine. Forgive yourself. Apologize. Learn from that screw up. In other words, model the behavior you’d like your child to learn whenever he screws up.

§  Older children can help younger children — it’s good for them to learn responsibility, it helps the younger children learn from the older ones, and it takes some of the stress off you.

§  Read to them often. It’s a wonderful way to bond, to educate, to explore imaginary worlds.

§  Build forts with them. Play hide and seek. Shoot each other with Nerf dart guns. Have tea together. Squeeze lemons and make lemonade. Play, often, as play is the essence of childhood.Don’t try to force them to stop playing.

§  When your child asks for your attention, grant it.

§  Parents need alone time, though. Set certain traditions so that you’ll have time to work on your own, or have mommy and daddy time in the evening, when your child can do things on her own.

§  When your child is upset, put yourself in his shoes. Don’t just judge the behavior (yes, crying and screaming isn't ideal), but the needs behind the behavior. Does he need a hug, or attention, or maybe he’s just tired?

§  Model the behavior you want your child to learn. Don’t yell at the child because he was screaming. Don’t get angry at a child for losing his temper. Don’t get mad at a kid who wants to play video games all the time if you’re always on your laptop. Be calm, smile, be kind, go outdoors and be active.

§  When a stressful time arises (and it will), learn to deal with it with a smile.Make a joke, turn it into a game, laugh … you’ll teach your child not to take things so seriously, and that life is to be enjoyed. Breathe, walk away if you've lost your temper, and come back when you can smile.

§  Remember that your child is a gift. She won’t be a child for long, and so your time with her is fleeting. Every moment you can spend with her is a miracle, and you should savor it. Enjoy it to the fullest, and be grateful for that moment.

§  Let your child share your interests. Bake cookies together. Sew together. Exercise together. Read together. Work on a website together. Write a blog together.

§  Patiently teach your child the boundaries of behavior. There should be boundaries — what’s acceptable and what’s not. It’s not OK to do things that might harm yourself or others. We should treat each other with kindness and respect. Those aren't things the child learns immediately, so have patience, but set the boundaries. Within those boundaries, allow lots of freedom.

§  Give your child some space. Parents too often over schedule their child’s life, with classes and sports and play dates and music and clubs and the like, but it’s a constant source of stress for both child and parent to keep this schedule going. Let the child go outside and play. Free time is necessary. You don’t always have to be by her side either — she needs alone time just as much as you do.

§  Exercise to cope with stress. A run in solitude is a lovely thing. Get a massage now and then.

§  It helps tremendously to be a parenting team — one parent can take over when the other gets stressed. When one parent starts to lose his temper, the other should be a calming force.

§  Mom and dad need a date night every week or so. Get a babysitter, or better yet, teach the older kids to babysit.

§  Sing and dance together.

§  Take every opportunity to teach kindness and love. It’s the best lesson.

§  Kiss your child goodnight. And give thanks for another amazing day with your beautiful, unique, crazy child.

Nature Walk/ Scavenger hunt

Our Nature Trail/scavenger hunt was awesome today. Since our Family Movie was "A Bug's Life", I decided to take the boys to the park to fins some bugs along with other cool and unique items. i really enjoyed myself as well!!!

Boys were excited to start our journey!

Mom, Where are the BUGS??!!

Caught a lightening bug.

Putting ants and leaves in his bug container

This guy wanted to see how clean/dirty the water was.

Snails, Ants, & a Rollie Pollie 

Snails Anyone?

Happy to have found 4 snails.

Loving the waterfall

He was skidding rocks. Did way better than mommy.

A Bug's Life

Tonight's Movie Night was A bug's Life. 

Add a book for fun:)

A Movie night is not a movie night to my sons without these tickets.

My handsome lil men

Chocolate Pudding, Oreos and Gummy Worms 

Raisins on Mash potatoes:)

Family Dinner Book Club

My youngest child has not yet found his love for reading. Math is his favorite at the moment. So, being the mom & Pinterest fanatic that I am, I came across this idea & have decided to start using/doing it in our home. Next week I will introduce the boys to FAMILY DINNER BOOK CLUB, which will become another tradition in our home and will easily connect with our Family Movie Nights. We already use dinner time to talk and connect as a family, so why not encourage reading in a fun way in the process.
Feel free to make this idea your own, because I sure am:o)

Teaching Children To GIVE Back!

I have been giving a lot of  focus this year to making sure my family know the importance of giving and being a blessing to others. At least once a month, I let them pick an activity to do in the community that consist of giving back. This particular one was at St. James Church at a event they hold every weekend called "The Gathering", where they feed over 300 people. The boys prepared Blessing Bags that contained care items and snacks to give to out. It was so awesome to see them give and be happy to do it. They used their manners and were so polite. This is one we will definitely do again!

The Blessing Bags the boys put together.

On their way to pass out the bags at St. James Church.

My young men of God ready o serve!

One of the organizers of The Gathering!

The boys in action helping make care bags at the church.

Disconnect to Reconnect: Take the Pledge!

Our world is so fast-paced. Our days are literally gogogo. Work, school, church, basketball, grocery store, post office, doctor’s offices, and so on. Not to mention the electronics. You barely see more than people’s foreheads these days! People are entranced by their smartphones and tablets and video games! It would do everyone so much good to stop and really focus on one another.

One of our favorite ways to do this and one of our favorite things to do together as a family is to share a meal. It doesn't have to be fancy. It can be as simple as sitting at the kitchen table or a picnic at the park or at one of our favorite local restaurants.

It really isn't about where; it’s about who we’re with. It’s about disconnecting from the computer, iPhones, iPads…the crazy outside world and reconnecting with the people I love.

It’s during these meal times that I am able to hear about my family’s day. The Children tells us about what they learned at school. The fun things they played on the playground with their friends.

It’s honestly our daily exhale.

That’s why I love the Disconnect to Reconnect initiative, which is challenging families to take the pledge and put the electronics away during meal times and focus on one another for at least one meal per week. Disconnect to Reconnect!

Create Fake Airline Tickets for Parties and Date nights

omatic.musicairport.co

Concert Ticket Fun

http://www.says-it.com/concertticket/

Bounce Milwaukee

Pure Family Fun!

http://www.bouncemilwaukee.com/

Free and Inexpensive Fun on a Budget

Free and inexpensive Fun on a Budget activities are easier to find than you think. The local newspaper will be your friend when you’re looking for things to enjoy.

In nearly every paper there are listings of upcoming community events and activities. Nearly every day there will be some kind of street festival, movie night, parade, or other free activities for the kids in your surrounding neighborhood. Take advantage of these events. Not only are they fun they can expand your exposure to different music and cultures. You can also pick up local magazines (especially kid centered ones) and do searches on Google, such as “Free Things to do in ____________________ (fill in your city)”.

One thing to remember: food at these types of events can be expensive so make sure to bring your own brown bag lunches, as long as it’s allowed.

And don’t forget picnics in local parks and walks along the beach to hunt for shells aren't advertised and are often forgotten forms of entertainment. So are quiet strolls around hiking trails or a day at a nature preserve or animal sanctuary.

All of these kinds of activities can be very rewarding for just about everyone in your family, and they can get you thinking about other activities you’d like to try. You could even wrap up your adventure by planning the next one.

Now you might live in a small or rural area, but don’t give up on finding fun things to do on a budget. You can camp out in your backyard or have a movie night where you rent some movies (or watch on Netflix) and make popcorn with some fancy new toppings. Plus, there are always family get-togethers, day-trips, board games, and other fun activities to keep you busy.

Truly, the most important thing is that you spend some time having fun with the people you love. It won’t matter how little money you spend, but the memories  and relationship building will be cherished your whole life.

$10 Date Night

It was a BEAUTIFUL day yesterday & it was also Date Night! On a $10 budget & some gas in the tank, we had a phenomenal, if not one of the best dates ever.
My husband & I toured some of the city's beautiful spots, enjoyed  a romantic picnic & cooled off with Ice Cream... 
We refused to complain about what we could not do & enjoy the things we could.

Looking Fabulous for the hubby as we head on our journey for the day:)

Walking on Lake Dr. Claiming our future home:)

One of the many Beautiful homes we saw. Talked to some of the homeowners & they were really friendly.

He was enjoying the beautiful view while I'm snapping pictures lol

Our footprints in the sand. He thought it was corny, I think it's cool:)

Couple doing yoga at the lake. I thought it was pretty cool.

The simple things in Life

Picnic in the Park

He loved my little creation

Our awesome lunch. It was so delicious!

Ist activity on our picnic was to write down 3 things we want our spouse to do that they are not or that we want them to do more of. Very interesting yet fun.

2nd activity was called Love Quest. We learned more about each other & had an awesome conversation.

Somebody didn't want to be in the picture

Who doesn't LOVE Ice Cream:)

Ended our outings at Klutch Park enjoying the waterfall. One of our favorite hideouts.