Quick Tip: Take the Itch Out of Mosquito Bites

Did you know that plain old, cheap vinegar will take the itch out of a mosquito bite?  It's our "go to" remedy, and has been for many years.

Simply dab a bit of vinegar on a cotton ball and rub gently on the bite.  For small children, sometimes it can sting, depending on how much they have scratched the bite.  To avoid the possible sting, you can dilute it in a bit of water. 

We give it to our kids straight!  It toughens them up! ; )



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Raising Teens Part 2

You can read Part 1 here.

In Part 1, I shared with you the joys of raising our teen girls.  I think it's important to talk about the joys of teens because often our culture says that the teen years will be difficult and should be feared.  You've heard it before, "Just wait until they're teens!"  So encouraging to new parents, right? 

If you are parents to little ones, don't be afraid!  Pray that God will give you the wisdom to shepherd your children into God-fearing teens, and then adults.  If you're parents to teens already, enjoy them.  Talk with them and pray for them continually!   If you have a teen who has rebelled, pray that God would turn his/her heart around, and trust that He is in control and has a purpose for their lives.

No matter how perfect we may perceive a family to be, we all have the same thing in common.  It's called our sin nature.  None of us are immune to it, so we can expect some tough spots along the way. 

You can find the rest of the article over at The Marathon Mom.

(After reading the full article, if you have any questions pertaining to specific areas, please feel free to contact me, or leave a comment.)

Raising Teens Part 1

I don't often write about raising teens.  My primary focus at Sacred Mommyhood is encouraging moms with littles.  However, I do have two teens (one of whom is married now...she's 19), and would love to share a bit about our journey through 'teen hood'. 

You can read the rest of the article over at The Marathon Mom.

18 Weeks: Almost Half Way

Baby

I had an OB appointment a couple of days ago.  I always enjoy watching my measurements grow, and listening to my baby's incredible heart beat.  We've never found out the gender of any of our babies, and we won't with this one either.  However, we do enjoy trying to guess the gender based on fun old wives' tales.  So far, the whole family is guessing we are having a boy!  This is the first pregnancy with a unanimous vote.  One of my favorite wives' tales is the rate of the heart beat.  If the baby's heart beat is on the fast side, it's supposedly a girl.  If it's on the slow side, it's a boy.  In my last three pregnancies, the heart beats have been right down the middle, so this wives tale didn't help much.  Well, this pregnancy, we have a markedly slooow heart beat.  So it makes our family guess of a boy even more fun.  In addition, the Chinese calendar predicts a boy, too.  It will be quite funny if we end up having a girl!  We will rejoice in whomever this little person is....but it sure is fun to guess!

Mommy

I think it's safe to say that morning sickness is gone.  Over the last few weeks, I've had it sneak up on me, especially at night, but I think that was mainly due to needing a little snack.  Once I began feeling better, I was happy to not have to eat again after dinner.  But turns out, I still need a light snack around 8pm. 

My energy level has been on the low side.  I can still get through my day, but I just don't feel like doing much!  I pray things turn around...or it will be a long pregnancy! :) 

I'm beginning to feel movement, mainly in the evening when I have a chance to sit still.  I love this point in pregnancy, when you feel the reality of this little one growing stronger!

Here is my 18 week belly pic.  I've definitely grown...and not just in my belly.  This is the point where I begin to get a little puffy in the face, and my rings get a little tighter....or maybe it's that I've gained 15 lbs already! ; )  You can compare this to my last pic at 14 weeks, in the same outfit.  (I apologize for the poor quality.  Our flash is out and the lighting was bad.)

(18 weeks)

So what's new in your pregnancy?  How far along?  Any movement?  Even if you're not pregnant, when do you begin getting "puffy"?

How We Celebrate So Many Birthdays

(Jonathan's 3rd Birthday 6-3-12)

The month of May begins our steady string of birthdays.  And a question I am asked quite frequently is, "How do you celebrate birthdays in your large family?"

Since our older two girls were little, we knew we would not plan elaborate parties every year.  And actually began our "method" back then...when we only had two.  The only difference now is that with so many people in the family, it's always a party anyway.

Here's how we do it!

We decided that the BIG parties would be reserved for certain ages...5, 10, 13, 16, and 18.  One, for sanity's sake, and two, for budget purposes.  We chose 5...because they're big enough to enjoy/appreciate a real party, 10...the excitement of turning double digits, 13.....hello teen years, 16.....sweet sixteen, and 18....official adulthood. 

A "big" party means inviting friends, having fun games and party favors, and pizza or a BBQ.  But they also have the option of going to Chuck E Cheese or the like, but only inviting one or two friends.  They always go for the party so they can invite more friends.  Our summer birthday kids always choose a pool party.  We have a nice clubhouse in our neighborhood that accommodates pool parties nicely.  And since we pay association dues, we can use the clubhouse for free!

On the "in between" birthdays, we still want our kids to know how special they are, but we do it with just the family.  Our tradition is that the birthday kid gets to choose what he or she wants to eat for breakfast and dinner.  Meals made at home, but they pick their favorites!  For lunch, the birthday kid gets to choose a place to go with just mom and dad!  Inevitably, our little ones always pick Chick-fil-A, which is a win for the budget.  Our older, smarter teens go for the real restaurants, which is a win for us since we don't go out often! ; )

(Celeste and Seth agreed to have dual parties since we had family in town...it was a packed house! 6/2011)

 

In addition, they also get to choose their birthday cake, which Mommy always makes (though my big girls have saved me a time or two when I was unable).  They pick a theme/colors/flavors and I do my best to create it.  After dinner and cake, they open their presents.  We usually buy each kid 3-4 things depending on what they asked for and the cost of those things.  We take the little ones to the Dollar Store to shop for the birthday sibling so they can afford to buy the gift themselves.  They love it!

So as you can see, each year is special for our children.  Even on the non-party years, the kids enjoy their day and know how thankful we are that they were created!

How do YOU celebrate birthdays in your family?  What are your special traditions?