Mother4Jesus

Expectations.  What do you think when you hear that word?  Dictionary.com   has a few different meanings for that word.  The underlying meaning is, "To expect something.".  This one word has been the killer of many relationships. Uncommunicated expectations are the silent killer of friendships, relationships, marriages, work environments, and many more. Too many to list. I'm sure many of you could add to that list.  Some expectations are reasonable and cause growth. Proper expectations help us to grow, and our children to mature. Even our relationship with the Lord has expectations. Some expectations are also needed for our education, to work, and marriage.  What makes for healthy expectations??  That is the million-dollar question.  For me, expressing, explaining, and thoroughly laying out one's expectations is essential.  I'm not always good at this, and it's something that I continue to work on.  ...

I had to threaten David with losing video games to get this photo. #TruthBomb See this picture above? I love this photo. This photo can give you the illusion that my children are well behaved and love each other..... ALL THE TIME.  Nope. Not even close. David loves to ruin my photos. Right before I took this photo I said to him, "If you ruin this picture with your jokes, you will lose all video games for a week!!"  I didn't say it as nicely as typing it out makes me look. Just being honest. We've all been there?? right?? or is it just me? It's just me. My kids are the worst!  ********************************************************* There is nothing worse than looking at your child's behavior and thinking, "My child is the worst one here."  The fact is, we've all thought that at times. As an older mom, I've been through it. I have two adult children and also two younger children.  What wisdom has that gained me??  N...

It's been dreary and rainy here in NC. Time to share something colorful!!!  I think this is my favorite attendance sheet and Goal Card ever!!! Mermaid!! it's so pretty!!!  My daughter is too old for this, but I thought someone else might enjoy it!!!  It's bold , it's bright... I love it!!  You can download this for free!!! No need to Join my blog, or even follow me. I would appreciate if you did follow me. You can also follow me on Instagram. #Mother4Jesus Print out the matching goal card and laminate them together for the year!!!  I print these out on cardstock. Laminate and fill in the dates with a sharpie. At the end of the year, make a copy and file away. Clean off with alcohol and reuse for the following year.  Your student will have a great time marking off her school days and her daily work.  Don't forget to celebrate your 100th Day!!! **Please do NOT share this file with anyone. Send them here to downloa...

I love planners... All kinds of planners. For me carrying around a planner didn't work. I don't know why? I find that I put my appointments in my ICalendar. I have an iphone, Ipad and a Mac desktop, so they all sync up. Do you know what doesn't sync up?? The rest of my family. For some reason, my husband, who is an Applications Specialist, doesn't look at the Calendar. So our daily conversations start out with, "What are your plans for today?"  😏 I was trying to find a way to have our weekly and monthly plans out in the open for EVERYONE!!!. A one-Stop place for ALL Plans, appointments and agendas to be written down. A visual masterpiece for all to see!! An organizational dream !!!! Ok, so that's a bit dramatic. 😂 I wanted a calendar that I could leave out. I didn't want it on the fridge. I don't like a cluttered fridge.  I wanted something I could put in a frame or laminate.  I came up with these.  A two -page Calendar that ca...

Yay!!! You're pregnant!! Now the choices come and along with that , the mommy guilt.  Here's what I have to say to that...... Natural birth? Medication?? Home birth??? Wine ??  **Go with your gut!! Formula?? Breast feeding?? Chocolate?? **Go with  your gut!!! To vaccinate, or NOT to vaccinate??  **Go with your gut!! Cloth diapers?? Disposables?? Naked??  **Go with your gut!! When to start solids?? Extended nursing???  **Go with your gut!!!! (See where I'm going with this?? )  Oh the list goes on... it gets better.  Co-Sleeping?? Crib?? Floor??  **Go with your gut!!! Gentle parenting?? Positive Parenting?? Figure it out as you go??  **Go with your gut!!! When to Potty train?? 2? 3? 24??   **Go with your gut!!! Binki?? No Binki??  **Go with  your gut!! Organic?? Non-Organic?? Dirt??   **Go with your gut!!  Preschool?? No Preschool?? Co...

There are so many "Chore Cleaning" Systems out there...how does one choose?? While I love everything that has to do with organizing, chore charts and systems have really eluded me. My children clean with me. We homeschool, they're with me all the time. We usually are working side-by-side. So chore charts aren't really needed. I only have 2 of my 4 at home with me, so those elaborate systems aren't necessary. Chore charts where you check off the work doesn't fit for us. Simply telling my 5 y/o , "Go clean your bedroom" doesn't work. Many times they don't know where to start or they're not really capable of listing in their own minds what to do first, next, etc. The Zone cleaning looked good but a bit too complicated. While I love the idea of itemizing what they had to do in each room/zone, the flip chart was annoying and the the days of the week on each card wasn't necessary. Again, we work side-by-side. What was I looking f...

There are so many "Chore Cleaning" Systems out there...how does one choose?? While I love everything that has to do with organizing, chore charts and systems have really eluded me. My children clean with me. We homeschool, they're with me all the time. We usually are working side-by-side. So chore charts aren't really needed. I only have 2 of my 4 at home with me, so those elaborate systems aren't necessary. Chore charts where you check off the work doesn't fit for us. Simply telling my 5 y/o , "Go clean your bedroom" doesn't work. Many times they don't know where to start or they're not really capable of listing in their own minds what to do first, next, etc. The Zone cleaning looked good but a bit too complicated. While I love the idea of itemizing what they had to do in each room/zone, the flip chart was annoying and the the days of the week on each card wasn't necessary. Again, we work side-by-side. What was I looking f...

Here we are again, another school year. Every year I feel more and more blessed to be able to homeschool my children. I don't have an over abundance of patience, I'm not "Super mom", I'm not even close to perfect. Some how the Lord uses all of my imperfections and theirs to make up our imperfect , but lovable home.  I look forward to our mornings together. I look forward to when David pretends not to know something but really does. He loves to see the look of shock on my face when I realize that he knew it. I love when Sarah reads something and says, "Hey ma! Did you know that..."  All of it brings joy to me. Watching them learn something new, watching them play about what they're learning. Watching them becoming more and more independent, asking more questions. It all fits together so perfectly. Even with the spilled milk, markers all over, beads I slip on and toy cars in every crevice , I love it.  This year we're using ACE ,...

This is probably going to be one of the most honest blogs i'll ever write. I'm not really an open person. Over the years i've mastered the art of having an entire conversation without really revealing anything deep or private. I'm a guarded person but for the first time...the veil (Pun intended) is coming down. My heart breaks when I see moms so passionately putting others down for not breast feeding or for vaccinating, or NOT Vaccinating. We see memes and even commercials trying to bridge these gaps and I for one love those!! I breast fed, I bottle fed, I home birthed, I had a c-section, I vaccinated, I don't vaccinate.....I "Cried it out", I co-slept.... and I can tell you that I did ALL THESE THINGS...having had two sets of kids, I can say that I had a "Do-over". God is good!!! Did my decisions make much of a difference?? Sure..some did , some didn't but I don't think my way is the ONLY Way, or the right way. Why?? Because paren...

I know my title may upset many but there are times where homeschooling isn't a good choice. There...I said it. When I had my younger two children, there was no doubt that i'd be homeschooling. I had already homeschooled my older two through high school and I simply love doing it. My reasons for homeschooling my younger two is that I simply love being with them and teaching them. This however, is VERY different than the reasons I homeschooled my older two. With my older two, I was going to give the a better education, more God-centered. I was going instill in them the biblical and moral values I felt were important and more importantly , I was keeping the government from instilling their political and social morals to my children. This is what I would tell people....Now, here are some of the reasons in my heart. *I was going to be a perfect parent. *I was going to keep them from making the same mistakes I made *I was going to have perfect teens who never rebelled. I...