15 Oct 2017

Lavish Hospitality 14

by Kimberly | posted in: 31days, lavish hospitality, mothering | 0

One of the deals with motherhood is that you tend to get interrupted. Whether you need to change a diaper in the middle of a church service, breast feed in the middle of the night, calm an anxious heart in the wee hours of the morning, get out of bed before your alarm clock goes off because a preschooler wants some juice. It might be to miss out on something you want to attend because you have a teenager who needs to get somewhere.

Interruptions come. That’s just a fact of life. The life of a mother, that is.

And I’ve learned that it usually doesn’t make me smile when I get interrupted. I like to do what I’m doing and that’s that. Whether its making dinner, working on a blog, or running errands, I want to do them how I want to do them.

I need God our gracious Father to show up in my heart and mouth and face when my little boys interrupt me. I need to be ready to color with them, read with them, talk with them about the same topic I’ve already talked about for 4 hours that day, sing one of their songs for the 30th time, and watch the same kids movie with them that they know by heart.

Thanks to Sandra for writing this blog post where I pulled this quote.

27 Oct 2014

Fall Bucket List with Toddlers

by Kimberly | posted in: Uncategorized | 0

I feel like my life as a SAHM of two little toddler boys is always crazy. Whether we are sliding down slides, playing in mall play yards, eating junior frosties, donuts, or mandarin oranges, or anxiously awaiting Daddy’s arrival from work each day – every day holds smiles, tears (of course), and hand holding.

The Fall, being that it is my favorite season, holds more planned activities for my littles. So, I’ve wanted to come up with a bucket list. Some of which we have already done, some which we will save for when Oma and Granddad arrive around Thanksgiving, and some which we might not get to get this year.

Savor every moment.

Bake Pumpkin Cookies or muffins or cake – just bake with pumpkin!

Pick apples (and eat them). This year we won’t get to an apple orchard, but it is a fun activity and I’m sure the boys will love it in years to come. They do love to eat the apples we get from Trader Joes.

Paint pumpkins (or other fall vegetables)

Play in piles of raked leaves (we don’t really have a yard, so this may have to wait until another year or two as well)

Take Pumpkin photos

Watch It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. A must! (Which first aired today in 1966, shortly after my Mom graduated high school)

Make Thanksgiving garland (we started this last year – adding a leaf a day in November)

Send TY notes to the pastors of your church (October is Pastor Appreciation month)

Watch Luther (ok, this may not happen for a while, but they need to learn about this great man of God and what he did for all of Christianity in the 1500s.

Go on a hayride. We did this with Elijah during his first fall and missed our opportunity by mere minutes this year, but will certainly aim to do it again in later years.

Boo at the Zoo. This was incredibly packed but also fun. Our family doesn’t really participate in Halloween, but it was fun to go see all the cute costumes and get their first Halloween candy this year. No costume needed and completely safe. And this is held at most zoos.

What is a part of your Fall Bucket List for your little ones?

20 Oct 2014

31 Days of Hymns: For the Beauty of the Earth

by Kimberly | posted in: 31days, hymns | 0

I took a little break in Little Rock, unplugged except for my phone, and didn’t have time to pre-write all the hymn blogs before I left – we had a lot of celebrating going on!

One of the reasons I love this hymn is because of the movie Little Women. You know the scene where they are all dancing around the canopy at the wedding – singing this song. Then my Mister includes it on his cd and I love that version too.

So, the reason I include it in this month is because I love FALL (really, who doesn’t?). I love the crisp weather, all the fun stuff you can do in the kitchen, and football, birthdays, our anniversary, and the colors!

When I read one of the stanzas, I’m also reminded of how much we live by our calendars and our phones – instead of just putting everything down and running through leaves. Most of us don’t tend to be “lazy” we tend to be too busy. But then we are too busy with the least important things. I’m guilty of this too.

But, if we can just take more minutes of our days to play in the earth that God gave us!

30 Oct 2013

Arkansas Frontier – Quitman

by Kimberly | posted in: Arkansas, Events | 0

Are you looking for a family outing this fall? In October (and Nov 1 this year due to the weather), Quitman (small town outside of Little Rock) is host to the Arkansas Frontier. This wonderful family adventure, perfect for families that have preschool or school age children, fills up a huge acreage with all sorts of fun activities for children of all ages.

We were highly taken by the hospitality of every employee present. From the ticket givers to the men and women that ran each “exhibit”, they were friendly, knowledgeable, funny, and very willing to help or answer any questions we might have had.

Our son, who is almost 13 months old loved the animals (goats, rabbits, mini horses, pigs, chickens, etc) and also was really enthralled by the pumpkins and hay bales. He enjoyed hanging out with daddy and oma for the morning too (a special treat).
This October fun place is not only FUN but also educational, perfect for school trips or homeschool outings. They teach you about how school “worked” in the earlier days. There was a mining exhibit that kids actually got to “Swish” and pan for minerals, but they also learned about the minerals they found and about the history of mining. There were teepees and a history lesson of Indians. For really fun times, there was a hay ride, wagons that parents could pull little children in, and duck races.

Families often have trouble finding positive outings to do together nowadays. Quitman has the answer – the Arkansas Frontier is that answer. Especially if you like pumpkins and all things fall – then head on over there (FRIDAY!) Your family will enjoy the day – just as mine did today! I have 2 sleeping boys to prove the fun was more than they could handle.

*My family received free admission into Arkansas Frontier in exchange for this blog, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

pumpkins

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