Friday Funnies

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Earlier in the day, Micah asked me what "blind" meant. Jaden overheard us, and later in the day he was throwing a huge tantrum. He was mad at Martin and I and shouted through tears, "You're going to be blind and not be able to see!" (It was hard not to laugh) :)

Jaden was coloring a picture of Jesus and said, "Jesus has a mustache just like Obi Won Kanobi!"

Micah wanted to watch cartoons after dinner and said, "Daddy, you let us watch Dora, and we'll pay you money." Love those early bargaining skills.

I excitedly asked the boys, "Do you guys want to go see Cars 2?!!"  Micah replied, "No, I want to wait until it's on Netflix."

I told the boys that they had to clean up a mess on the floor.  Micah said, "It's Jaden's mess! I'm not his maid!"  I told him he had to help anyway, and he retorted, "Nuh-uh! The President said there are no more maids!"

Micah came in from playing in the (little) pool we have outside and said, "I baptized myself!"

Thoughts on Casey Anthony

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Murderer.

At least that's what everyone says.  Yet in a court of law, found innocent.  It seems so unfair, so unjust, that a baby was left in the woods, with duct tape on her mouth, and someone got away with murder.  Her defense attorney never even tried to convince the jury she didn't do it.  He just tried to convince them that she was a messed up person, and so couldn't help it if she didn't report her daughter missing (or even killed her).

Last night one of the jurors stepped out into the spotlight on ABC News.  She said since nobody can prove it, why should she sentence this woman to die?  That is a heavy burden to bear.  Should killing be the answer to killing?

I've been thinking about the death penalty again.  I examined and re-examined my position in college, and now I am re-thinking it all over.  If I was a juror, would I want to sentence someone to die, if there really was no hard evidence (just circumstantial) that she did it?

Here's are my thoughts:

-I shouldn't be happy if anyone dies.  Nope, not even Osama Bin Laden.  Not even a baby killer.  Killing is never good, because it degrades the value of human life.   The person who is killed is one less person who will get the chance to turn to Jesus.

- If we believe abortion is murder, then should we kill all women who have had abortions?  I hope not, because I have some friends who had abortions in their pasts, and I would not want them dead.

- Does God rate sins?  Because in my book, murder is right up there at the top, and a murderer should deserve to be killed, right?  But then again I read verses like, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell."  (Matthew 5:21-22)  So, if someone who murders is equivalent to someone who is angry and doesn't deal with it, doesn't that mean I deserve to die, too?

We have to be careful, as Christians, how we respond in situations like this. Do we spew hatred and vengeance out of our mouths and call it "justice"?  Because that is not a godly justice.  Justice is showing love, and believing that vengeance belongs only to God.

Carlos Whittaker wrote a post about this today, too, in which he asks, "What if Casey Anthony showed up at your church today?"  How would you respond?   He says, "Horrendous sin is already in our pews."  And we are among the sinners.  If the church cannot show love to even someone like her, then what will they think of Jesus?  We are the representation of Him on this earth.


So, am I saying to just forget what she did, pretend it never happened, and forgive her?  Well, not exactly.  But what I am saying is that Jesus forgave murderers, did he not?  I don't forgive her, I admit it.  Not yet.  But I want to let God change my heart so that I can forgive even a murderer.   For my sins deserve death just as much as hers.

Romans 12:17-21

New International Version (NIV)

 ¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”^[a] says the Lord. ²⁰ On the contrary:
   “If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
   if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”^[b]
 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

What are your thoughts?

July Birthdays

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It's not easy sharing a birthday with America.  As in, the U. S. of A.

I mean, America gets fireworks, BBQ's, days off, sparklers, races, and colored clothing.

July birthdays get leftover striped cake with a few candles, and call it a day.

I'm just kidding, of course.  At least we don't have birthdays in December, because who can compete with Jesus' birthday??!

This year I turn 35.  Apparently this is a "big one," as everyone keeps asking what I am doing for the "big day."  I pretty much stopped planning birthday parties for myself somewhere in my early 20's, opting to spend that money on highlights for my hair and facial cream instead. Nothing is planned, but I will be happy to spend time with my family and friends at various lunches and dinners over the next month.  Honestly, that is what I love the most - just time with family and friends.

Just for fun, I thought I'd share with you all the similarities between myself and the USA, in honor of both of our birthdays:

-We are both wide
-The U.S was born in 1776; I was born in 1976.
-Um, that's about it. ;)

Writing is Therapy

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You might remember my recent post "A Longing to Influence," where I wrote about my dozens of passions for numerous causes, and not really knowing where to start.  Through writing that article, because writing is therapy for me, I discovered that I need to just start with what is right in front of me - the people who are already in my circle of influence.  For the past two weeks I have been praying daily, "God, help me to narrow my passions. Show me what I am supposed to focus on."

Only one word came to mind every time I prayed that prayer:  write.

I have never really considered myself a writer, although other people have mentioned that I am.  "You're a writer!" they say, yet I just laugh it off.  I'm not published, I have no real evidence that I'm a writer, other than this little blog that I update a few times a week. Because for me, writing is therapy.  When I sit down to write, the words come fast, and I often hit "publish" without even proof-reading it.  At the end, I feel all tingly, like I just exerted a large amount of energy and then I need a nap. I love it.

I wrote about my passion for words here.  I started a worksheet for myself of all the articles I want to write.  In about 5 minutes I came up with 20 ideas and started writing - in the last 24 hours I have written 4 of those articles and submitted them to 2 different magazines.  I honestly don't know if anything will ever happen, but it's okay, because for me, writing is therapy.

This morning I hopped online to Godaddy.com to look at some domain names. I don't know why; it just peaked my curiosity.  I ended up buying my own name as a domain and paid my $5.99 for the year.  Within 5 minutes, I found out that I had won two review copies of Sarah Mae's "How to Market and Sell Your ebook."  Coincidence?  I'm not sure yet.  What I do know is that I am devouring her book and cannot wait to write up my review and possibly do a giveaway of her book.

So, with that, I am going to start writing.  I do have a book in process that I hope to turn into an ebook someday soon.  We will see.  For now, I'm greatly enjoying reading about the process and writing, because writing is therapy!

Healthy Breakfast for Kids

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Last year I went on The Belly Fat Cure and learned a ton of helpful information about sugar addiction, and how much sugar we are feeding ourselves on a regular basis.  As I read the book, I was struck at how I have tried to keep my kids from too much sugar, yet was unknowingly setting them up to be addicted to sugar as adults (like I am).  For instance, our typical morning breakfast looked something like:

1 cup of milk or juice
1 small bowl of cereal
1/2 banana
pancakes with a tiny amt. of syrup
scrambled eggs

Doesn't look too bad, right? Breakfast has always been the biggest meal in our house, and we thought this type of breakfast looked healthy. But upon learning how many sugar grams were in each item, this is what I found:

1 cup of milk or juice - (milk: 14 g of sugar/ juice: 28 g of sugar)

1 small bowl of cereal (14 g of sugar)

1/2 banana (7 g of sugar / 14 in a whole one)

pancakes with a tiny amt. of syrup (30 g of sugar)

scrambled eggs (0 g of sugar)

Total = 65-80 grams of sugar!

The Belly Fat Cure seeks to reduce our sugar consumption and recommends only 15 grams of sugar for an entire day.  Jorge Cruise also teaches that our body processes sugar the same way, no matter the source (natural sugar, milk sugar, or processed sugar).  All of it raises our insulin levels and makes us crave more.

Sparkpeople.com also has a chart that lists what the American Heart Association recommends should be our maximum sugar intake.  For a 1200 calorie diet, they recommend no more than 21 grams a day.  Our children are likely consuming 1200 calories a day or less, yet we are feeding them upwards of 100-200 grams of sugar a day from snacks like gummies, trail mix, fruit juice, ice cream, soda, etc.  Even seemingly healthy snacks are loaded with sugar, like yogurt, raisins, and peanut butter & jelly sandwiches.

This has led me to hunt for lower sugar cereals, since my kids love cereal and we eat it every day.  At Costco recently I found this Fiber Plus Cereal from Kelloggs that tastes just like Cinnamon Cheerios, at only 7 grams of sugar per serving vs. 10 grams for Honey Nut Cheerios.  The standard "kids" cereal ranges anywhere from 9-15 grams of sugar per serving, and many kids have more than one serving.

My food choices for my kids have radically changed since learning all of this information.  I now look at the sugar content of everything I put into their mouths.  They are allowed to have juice or treats at birthday parties, of course, but on a regular basis I no longer keep any sugary items in the house.  I don't look down on others who feed their kids those things, because I used to be one of them.  In fact, I think many moms would choose differently if they just had more information.  

Here are some more healthy, low sugar snacks I have found:

Old Choice	New Choice
Yoplait Trix Yogurt for Kids – 14 g.	Simply Go-gurt, cut in half – 5 g.
Raisins, 1 small box – 25 g.	Apple Crisps (from Costco) – 6 g.
Capri Sun  (wild cherry) – 28 g.	Honest Kids Berry Good Lemonade – 10 g.
Trail Mix (varies)- 10-30 g.	Trader Joe’s Trek Mix – 7 g.
Nutrigrain Bar – 12 g.	Homemade Nutrigrain Bar (see recipe here)
Chocolate Chip Granola Bar – 13 g.	Nature Valley Granola Thins- 6 g.

WebMD has an excellent article on "Foods Surprisingly High in Sugar" that everyone should read.

Among them: pudding cups with 20 grams of sugar, diced pears in light syrup with 17 grams of sugar, instant oatmeal, 14 grams of sugar, etc...  

I believe if we make a few changes, we'll not only start seeing healthier kids, but kids with less mood swings from sugar consumption.  How many meltdowns could have been avoided if we had just not fed them 60 grams of sugar for breakfast?  Their little bodies just can't handle that.  Even if we don't see any big behavior changes, it is likely just that our kids have gotten used to the high sugar content, and they might already be addicted to sugar.  These are just a few things I have found that I hope will be helpful to you, too.  

What other low-sugar snacks do you recommend?

Micah Turns 6

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This week we celebrated our oldest son Micah who turned 6 on Friday.  I am so proud of him, thriving in his first year of Kindergarten.  From last year to this year he made BIG strides.  For instance, he....

-finally stopped using the potty seat (you know, the ones you put on the big potty?) I'm sure he would just love me sharing that info. with you.
-he grew from a size 5 to size 6, becoming even taller and leaner.
-he started and finished kindergarten, doing better than we had even hoped for.
-he learned to read!  We're still working on it, of course, but we're surprised every day by how much he can already read.
-he went on his first field trip on a real bus!
-he started eating more vegetables. Phew!
-he has become more social and friendly, overcoming his shyness (most of the time).
-he has overcome most of his temper tantrums that we dealt with during years 3-5 (with the help of these books, I might add).

We are so proud of the little boy he is becoming.  He is a great big brother, playing with Jaden and teaching him everything he knows.  Here are a few of his favorite things:

-Show:  Believe it or not, he is really into Wonder Pets on Netflix right now.  We have no idea why, since it's aimed for ages 2 and under, but he and Jaden request this show every single day! :)
-Food:  Spaghetti and Meatballs, hold the sauce
-Vegetable:  Tomatoes.  I can pack small tomatoes in his lunch and he will eat them like candy!
-Toy: Star Wars Legos. Totally obsessed.
-Hobby: Playing Lego.com on the computer (which we limit to Sat. and Sundays only now). He also loves camping and being outdoors.
-Sport: Baseball
-Friend: His friend Frankie lives down the street and they just love each other!
-Color: Red
-Shoes:  Sketchers, because "they make me run fast."

Micah has a few "quirks" which drive us crazy but make us smile: He thrives on routine and does not really want to do anything new.  We have to gently break him in to any new activity or place we are going to.  He does NOT want to go to the movie theater, under any circumstance, and prefers to wait until it's on Netflix.  (Cars 2? Not this boy, who told me, "Let's just wait till it's on Netflix, mom.") He told us it's too loud, and we think it has something to do with the fact he still has a tube in one ear.  He also has never wanted sauce on anything until last week, when he informed us he wanted ketchup and mustard on his hamburger "in a happy face" and ate it all up.  Ooookay!

If you know about personality types, Micah is a classic Melancholy-Choleric.  He is a perfectionist and gets frustrated easily when things just are not right.  This will be interesting as we head into 1st grade.  Micah has a knack for building and designing things. We are absolutely amazed at what he creates with Legos. He plays with them for hours and builds complete cities.  This boy could definitely be an engineer one day.

He is a very deep thinker and asks questions about every song we listen to.  "Dad, why does it say 'you broke my heart'?"  He asked me about every line of "Rock A Bye, Baby":  "Why are they in a tree top? Why did the bow break?  Why did the baby fall?"

Micah is still a bit shy in new situations but warms up pretty fast and loves to make new friends.  He thinks he knows everything and continually quotes "Beau" - a kid from his kindergarten class.  All day long I hear things like, "Beau said!" or "You don't know, mom. Beau told me."  Micah wants to be in charge of everything and everyone.  He wants to WIN every game.  He likes to boss Jaden around. I overheard him say during a basketball game between the two of them, "My court, my rules!" Um, seriously?!  He said it was another thing Beau said.  Micah is influenced by other kids and what they think a lot, which concerns me a bit.  I pray for him daily that God would give him wisdom and help him make right choices.

We thank God for our Micah, and that we've made it through a few rough years of health issues and behavior issues.  We love what he brings to our family and we love watching him grow.

Age 1

Age 2

Age 3

Age 4

Age 5

(Almost) 6

    

Blah.

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There are a few days where I just can't handle being around myself.   Like when:

-my legs are hairy
-my clothes are too tight
-I need my highlights done
-I find a new varicose vein
-new hairs pop up on my neck
-I'm all sweaty

And I feel just gross.

Then I go into the living room, slip off my tennis shoes, and a cute 4 year old comes up and screams, "Mommy! I like your socks!"

and the world is alright again.