Katydid diapers

Until I had the chance to review Katydid diapers, I thought snap diapers were all about the same. I have been proven wrong! This pocket diaper is the softest diaper inside that I have ever felt! I use a name brand pocket diaper for both of my girls, and I've really had no complaints. But when I felt the Katydid diaper I was amazed over the soft micro-fleece lining. And the inserts, oh my! They are so much thicker than my inserts, and you even get TWO microfiber inserts, a newborn one and a regular one for older children.

The Katydid is a one size diaper, but it is a trim, nice fitting diaper that doesn't add a lot of bulk to my 7 month old. I tried it out on my 2 year old also, and it fit her nicely. The diaper fits babies from 8-35 lbs. It snaps shut, which is my favorite type of diaper! The snaps are tight and secure, and I don't see any issues of snaps coming off like I've had with other diapers. The diaper is priced at $17.95, which I feel is an excellent price since you are getting two thick inserts.

Washing this diaper was very easy. I threw it in the washer with my other diapers, and I did the standard cold wash, hot wash, cold wash. When I have a toddler in diapers I have to do that to keep the smell out of the diapers. This diaper came out nice and fluffy, and it doesn't seem to retain stains, which is nice.

I liked this diaper so much that I ordered another one when I recently placed an order for some cloth diapers.

Buy It!
You can buy a Katydid Diaper for $17.95.


Win It!

We are excited to be able to give away a Katydid diaper to one of our readers! To enter, go to the Katydid Website and tell me which color you would choose if you won!

EXTRA ENTRIES!
You can do any of these things for an extra entry. Make sure to leave a separate comment for EACH thing you do.


1- Subscribe to our blog via email.


2. Follow us on our blog using Google Friend connect!


3. Follow us on Facebook and leave a comment letting us know.


4. Follow us on Twitter and leave a comment letting us know you follow!

5. Blog about this giveaway and leave the link.-2 extra entries (leave two comments saying you did this).

6- Place our Modest Mom button on your blog.

PLEASE leave a separate comment each time you do one of the above. The comments are closed on this post, just use the form below to enter. We never share your email addresses with anyone, which is why we use the form to keep them private!

This giveaway will end Saturday, August 7th at midnight. We will notify the winner and they will have 36 hours to respond!

The Beauty of Chastity: What Is Biblical Beauty? Part 2

After reading Part 2 of Stacy McDonald's post I was thankful for the two sides of the story she gave in the excess we can go to as women in the name of beauty. On one hand there are Christian ladies who feel the freedom to dress however they please, even to the harm of others. Then there are other Christian ladies who go the opposite extreme and reject any kind of beauty as ungodly and believe they are holy as a result. May our hearts be set in the place where God would have us be, not in the vain imaginations of our own minds.



What is biblical beauty?

In Part 1, we discussed what it means to be chaste, and how even married women are called to chastity (Titus 2:5, 1 Peter 3:2). Today, we will discuss biblical beauty (what it means and what it does not mean).

Biblical beauty and how it pertains to chastity is often misunderstood. We seem to see one extreme attitude or the other. While one side appears to obsess over outward beauty, vainly (and often, carelessly) taking pride in this withering flesh (1 Pet. 1:24), the other side sometimes rejects beauty altogether, attempting to avoid sin through fleshly means (and sometimes taking pride in the attempt).

Have you ever heard the term, "Beauty is as beauty does?" It's a good saying, but I have a better one: "Beauty is when the beauty's His." The beauty of the Lord in us is what makes us beautiful."

And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work of our hands." (Psalm 90:17, NKJV)If you are His child, the beauty of the Lord is within you, and it should certainly be evident by the way you treat others and avoid sin; but, it should also be reflected in the way you speak, carry yourself, behave, and, yes, even by the way you dress.

Go Here to read the rest of the post where Stacy McDonald shares about Hillary Hotstuff and Fanny McFrump.

The Beauty of Chastity: Honoring Marriage Part 1

I ran across a three part series on Chastity by Stacy McDonald, the co-author of Passionate Housewives Desperate for God. After reading that excellent book I have a respect for the women who wrote it. This series makes a point about modesty that I whole heartily agree with; that being modesty is first an issue of the heart. From Jennifer Allen


The Beauty of Chastity: Honoring Marriage Part 1 by Stacy McDonald

Because of my own sinful past, as well as the fact that sexual sin introduced so many sorrows into my life (even before I was born), I learned early in my Christian walk that purity meant more than simply avoiding sex outside of marriage. Sexual purity, like all virtues, begins in the heart.

The Bible calls it chastity, which doesn’t always mean “sexual abstinence.” After all, even married women are called to be chaste (Titus 2:5, 1 Peter 3:2). Being chaste is more than a physical state of being; it is an active virtue that consistently demonstrates sexual purity—in thought, word, and deed.

Chastity requires me to honor the estate of marriage and to respect the marriage bed. It goes well beyond simply avoiding sexual activity outside of marriage. In fact, it’s far more active, since it includes loving my brother enough to help protect his chastity (Galatians 5:14). Whether I am single or married; whether it is my marriage or the marriage of my neighbor, I am called to honor marriage. Because "marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge." (Hebrews 13:4)

A Reflection of Mom

As moms, we have a huge responsibility. Our daughters are looking to us to find out how to grow into godly women. If a daughter sees her mother dressing in provocative clothes that reveal or accentuate her private areas, or donning clothes that are skin tight and obviously cut to allure the opposite sex, then that is what she is likely to emulate.

Moms, these precious little girls want to be "just like us!" What an honor! Now, let's see to it that we are pointing them to Christ:

"Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1)

Please Go Here to read the rest of this excellent post.

New Winners!

Because of our lack of absence, our latest two giveaways have been waiting to have winners drawn for longer than usual! We hope that the winners will really enjoy these great products!

The winner of the flo giveaway is: Carra (Carralenne@)

The winner of the Robby Wash Ball is: Kristen (krisanne.meyers@)

Congratulations!

Coming up the whole month of August is a super huge Back to Homeschool Bash! We will be having guest posts from other homeschooling Moms, Lots of reviews and giveaways from companies you are sure to recognize from the homeschool world! Make sure you spread the word, we will be having lots of giveaways every week! If you are dreading the thought of pulling the books back out again, maybe this will help encourage you a little!

A death in the family...

Right before she got so sick..holding Carrianna, my third child.

You may have noticed that the blog has been quite for the past two weeks. Our beloved Mother passed away on July 16th. She was only 54 years old. We knew that the day would be coming that she would pass, as she was on Hospice, but it hasn't made the day much easier now that it has come. My sister, Mom and I were each other's best friends, and we miss her so very much.

I have always looked up to my Mom. She started homeschooling us back in the 80's when homeschooling was whispered about, and you hardly knew anyone else that did such a thing. My Mom had a vision, and clung to that vision all through my childhood. When I was 11 she was diagnosed with Lupus, and it left her in bed so sick and fatigued many days. But she still held onto her vision, and home schooled me all through high school. She clung to the Lord for her strength, and I will never forget her example of being cheerful and full of joy in the midst of much pain and sorrow. Truly, the Lord was the light of her life.

Mammay reading to her precious grandchildren

Two years ago, the Lupus went into her brain. It is very rare for that to happen. We could only find one Dr. in all of Kansas City Mo to treat her for it. Nothing seemed to work, and we slowly had to accept the fact that we would be losing her much sooner than we had planned. My Mom had always dreamed of helping me to homeschool my own children, come clean my house for me when I was busy with the children, babysit for me so I could go on a date with my husband, and just be a support system for me as I raised my own children. I'm grateful that I carry the same vision as my own Mother, and her legacy will be carried on in my own children. Our school year will start in August, and I know I will carry my Mother with me in my heart everyday as I teach my own children. Praise the Lord for knowing she is at peace in Heaven, and that we will see her again one day.

Jennifer, my Mom and I (Caroline) The last picture taken of us together.

The Banana Breads Marathon

When I did my grocery shopping this week I stopped at Aldi's. They had these bananas on sale for .25 a pound. They were perfect for banana bread. I went over to the Tasty Kitchen to find three different banana bread recipes.

Here I found the recipes and divided the bananas. Two of the recipes I was going to double.

After I was finished with this marathon baking I had seven loaves of banana bread. Yes, I did say seven. I'm excite to share these with family, bring to our church potluck, and still have a few in the freezer.

We had a taste testing of the recipes when all the loaves were cool. Here are the recipes I used:

Banana Apple Bread

The Moistest Banana Bread….Ever!

Grandma Betty’s All Whole Wheat Banana Bread

And the winner was...The Moistest Banana Bread....Ever! This is the best banana bread I have ever had. This recipe has two stars, awesome!, and a smiley face on the recipe. Needless to say, we liked it. :-)

The runner up was Grandma Betty's recipe. With the Banana Apple bread I was trying to use up my whole wheat stone ground flour. It is a very heavy course wheat flour and I think it was just too heavy for the recipe. That bread turned out dry. All in all it was a very successful banana bread marathon. I had fun and we have plenty of yummy bread to share.

From Jennifer Allen

Frugality: Cut Your Husband and Son's Hair

One great way to reduce cost in your family’s budget is to learn how to cut your husband and son’s hair. Instead of paying the barber learn to do it yourself! If your husband and son’s need a hair cut every 8 weeks figure up how much you spend on a trip to the barber per year.

Depending on how many people you have in your family it is possible you could save even $500 a year with the do it yourself approach.

My mother-in-law had always cut her husband and son’s hair with clippers. She is really good at it and has other family members who have come to her for their haircuts. Before my husband and I got married my mother-in-law taught me how to cut my husband’s hair. She taught me how to use the clippers and the different sizes of blade guards. She always used scissors around the ears. I was worried at first that I would mess up my husband’s hair. I have had some issues with one spot not sticking down as it should, but with water and comb it turns out fine. My husband insist I am doing fine and he is very happy with the money we are saving.


You may not have the luxury of an experienced teacher showing you what to do in person. However, I have found several places on the web that talk about different hair styles you can cut on men with clippers.


This site has videos about how to cut hair with clippers

More videos and articles about cutting men and boy's hair with clippers

This is on boy's haircuts.

For a bridal shower gift my mother-in-law gave us a Remington HC-8017B 22 Piece Haircut Kit. The blades never need oiling, has a low noise motor and all the blades you could need. It also comes with a how-to style guide that is surprisingly quite helpful to me. The kit also comes with the scissors you will need for trimming around the eras and a plastic cape. I would highly recommend this kit. I love it!

You can take a look on Amazon for this kit: Remington HC-8017B 22 Piece Haircut kit

I was able to see this clipper kit starting at $12.99.


Here is a website that tells you about different types of hair clippers and how to use them.


I want to leave you with this tip. If you make a mistake and can’t fix it just grab the shortest clipper guard and go for a crew cut. After all they are guys, it will grow back.


From Jennifer Allen

Robby Wash Ball Review and Giveaway

What mother does not have piles of laundry waiting to be washed? Laundry can be a huge source of frustration to a mother, so I'm always curious to hear of new ideas, or new ways to wash clothes! I recently was introduced to the Robby Wash Ball, and was excited to be able to review one. The Robby Wash Ball is full of macomolecule pellets. You simply leave the laundry ball in your washer, throw your clothes in and push your start button. That's it! You don't have to add any other detergent, just your wash ball.

The Robby Wash Ball comes with a stain stick remover. So how does it remove stains? I was delighted when I threw a load of yucky towels that had sat for a while in the washer, and they came out looking perfect! My only complaint at this point is that stains don't come out of my boys jeans as well as I would like. You really have to use the stain stick remover they send on heavy stains.

I did test the Robby Wash Ball out on my cloth diapers. I contacted the company and they said it was fine to use. The diapers came out looking clean and not smelly, I was impressed with that!

The Robby Wash Ball lasts on average for a whole year without having to buy any more replacement pellets! That is a big savings on laundry detergent!

Here is what the website has to say about how it works:

How it works: The Robby Wash ball uses a unique and patented worldwide technology to clean your laundry even better than the powder laundry detergents it was independently tested against. Its activated macromolecules are gradually released through the wash, dissolving dried-in stains by generating ions which activate the water molecules. This increase in the pH enables the activated molecules to penetrate deep into the fabrics and attach themselves to the stains. As the motion of the drum agitates the clothes, the stains come away easily from the fabric and dissolve in the water. Of all the systems on the market, Robby Wash's effectiveness is tested, proven and guaranteed.

I'm excited to not have to worry about buying or making laundry detergent for a year. That is one less thing this Mama doesn't have to think about!

Buy It!
You can buy a Robby Wash Ball for $32.95.


Win It!

We are excited to be able to give away a Robby Wash ball to one of our readers! To enter, go to the Robby Wash ball website and tell me one interesting thing about it.

EXTRA ENTRIES!
You can do any of these things for an extra entry. Make sure to leave a separate comment for EACH thing you do.


1- Subscribe to our blog via email.


2. Follow us on our blog using Google Friend connect!


3. Follow us on Facebook and leave a comment letting us know.


4. Follow us on Twitter and leave a comment letting us know you follow!

5. Blog about this giveaway and leave the link.-2 extra entries (leave two comments saying you did this).

6- Place our Modest Mom button on your blog.

PLEASE leave a separate comment each time you do one of the above. The comments are closed on this post, just use the form below to enter. We never share your email addresses with anyone, which is why we use the form to keep them private!

This giveaway will end Wednesday, July 21th at midnight. We will notify the winner and they will have 36 hours to respond!

Review and giveaway of flo

This is my latest and greatest find to share with you all! Flo is a innovative product created by Boon company that helps make bath time for children SO much easier. I don't know about you, but we have struggled with taking baths in our house for several years now. My children despise getting water in their eyes, and cry and scream when they do. I admit to being sceptical that using flo would change anything, but it has turned our whole bath time into something much more pleasant and enjoyable than it used to be! While this would be a luxury in our house, it is now something I know I don't want to be without!

The flo attaches easily to the bathtub faucet with a spring-activated grip. It requires no special instillation, just squeeze with your hand and it's on! The water then turns into a stream affect, making a little waterfall perfect for washing the soapsuds right out of your little child's hair! It also functions as a bubble dispenser, you simply push the button and out comes bubbles.

Happy child=happy mama!

Buy It!
You can buy a flo for $14.99 from the Boon website.


Win It!

Boon is giving away a flo of your color choice to one winner! To enter, go to the boon website and pick which color your would like.


EXTRA ENTRIES!
You can do any of these things for an extra entry. Make sure to leave a separate comment for EACH thing you do.


1- Subscribe to our blog via email.


2. Follow us on our blog using Google Friend connect!


3. Follow us on Facebook and leave a comment letting us know.


4. Follow us on Twitter and leave a comment letting us know you follow!


5. Blog about this giveaway and leave the link.-2 extra entries (leave two comments saying you did this).

6- Place our Modest Mom button on your blog.

7. Follow Boon's blog through Google Friend Connect.

8. Follow Boon on Facebook.

9. Follow Boon on Twitter.

PLEASE leave a separate comment each time you do one of the above. The comments are closed on this post, just use the form below to enter. We never share your email addresses with anyone, which is why we use the form to keep them private!

This giveaway will end Monday, July 19th at midnight, and a winner. We will notify the winner and they will have 36 hours to respond!

Review of Homeschool Planners

Whether home school Moms want to admit it or not, it is the time of year to be planning the next school year! Some home school moms I know have already started the next school year, but a lot of moms are taking a break this month to regroup, and plan the next year. Here are a two different reviews of planners that might assist you in planning your next school year!

The Ultimate Home Schooling Mom's Planner

For those of you looking for an experienced home school mom to come along side you and give you wonderful tips and ideas, this would be the planner for you! Wendy Young has been a home schooling mother for over 13 years. In this planner she has included information on how they home school, tips for keeping toddlers busy while you home school, a vision for raising boys, and lot's more on top of the regular planning sheets included. There are over 130 templates for you to use, which include forms to help you in areas like:

Daily, weekly, monthly and annual planners

Family vision planner

Family fitness ideas

Personal Goals

Homemaking help

Cooking and meal planning

Housekeeping including cleaning tips

Children’s Chore Charts

School planning – from preschool to highschool

The planner is a one time purchase of $12.95, and when you purchase it you will receive a free bonus of a 36 page booklet that will help you and your children with chore time. You can go to Home School Curriculum For Life to purchase.

The 2010 Schoolhouse Planner

The old schoolhouse planner is the deluxe planner for the home school mom. They have included every form possible, such as home school help, menu planning help, record keeping, help, chore time, weight loss help, Gardening, Bible, Budget, Gift giving, Household forms, Alphabet practice forms, and many, many more! This e-book planner is 612 pages long!

Included in this e-book are monthly helps such as articles to encourage you, recipes for the months, fun activities for the month, and much more! The old schoolhouse has put a lot of thought into this, and buying this planner could very easily be the last planner you ever need to purchase! It could easily be a homeschool planner, and a homemaking planner.

For those of you looking for the ultimate planner, I would suggest buying this one!

You can purchase the 2010 schoolhouse planner at the Old Schoolhouse website for $39.00.

Our new winners!

The winner of the slow and savory cookbook is:

Angie dangiebrady@

The winner of the Expressiva gift card is: Kristen krisanne.myers@

The winners will be receiving an email shortly!

Fun Group Picnic Games

For some reason right now when I’m thinking of playing outside with children water automatically comes to mind. It could be the heat. Then again..yep, it’s the heat.

Here are some ideas for fun group picnic games. Invite some friends to a shelter house at a local park. Ask everyone to come for a potluck lunch. Make sure you are near a playground, large field area, and most important on a hot summer day, by a water spicket. While the children are playing on the playground the adults can be filling water balloons, preparing for the games, and getting the meat grilled. Let the fun begin!

Game #1: Wheel Barrel Race
This first game is the wheel barrel race. There are 2 teams of 6 men. Cones are lined up at the opposite end of the field. At "go!" four young children were placed in the wheel barrel and a guy raced down the field with children, around the cone, and back to his team and unloads his four children. The next guy in line grabs the wheel barrel loads another four children and off he goes. The guys had it perfected the first time. "Unload children", "Load children", Go! The team that finished with their four children wheel barrel runs in the fasted time won.

Game #2: Board Pull
Another game is like musical chairs. Ten wooden boards are placed on one side of a field and ten boards are placed on the other. The boards are large enough to stand on so you can have 20 people playing. One person is assigned behind the line of boards on each side of the field. When someone yells go you have to run from your side of the field and try to stand on a board on the opposite side of the field. The person behind the boards pulls one board away for each time you run across until there is only 1 board standing on each side. The two people left are the winners.

Game #3: Capture the Flag
Read this article for good instructions on how to play Capture the Flag.Game #4: Capture the Flag-Water Style Capture the Flag Water style is great fun! You have the two teams as normal on the field. Behind the flags on each side you position two more teams. These are the water balloon teams. Each of the water teams has a balloon launcher and their goal was to hit a player on the field with a balloon. So you have to watch for those strategic aims as well as tags by the opposite team.

Game #5: Water Softball
This is a version of water softball for the young children. First base is a bucket of water you have to stand in. Second base is a chair with a water balloon you have to sit on and pop. Third base is a swimming pool you sit in. The slide into home base is a well watered heavy duty plastic tarp doubling as a slip in slide. This game creates great excitement in children as they run from one base to another!

So invite a bunch of friends and family, head out to a park and have a great day. The children will love the games, you should too!

From Jennifer Allen

A lovely list for Home school Moms!

~ Principles of Happy Moms Who Home Educate ~

I thought that this list was just excellent! I will be printing this out and putting on my bulletin board to remind myself of many of these thoughts during our school year.

* God is in control of our family’s home education.

* Home education is a portion of my full vocation as wife and mother. Keep it proportionate.

* Home education, when done from love and humility, is a steady path to sanctity and heaven.

* Home education is primarily a way of life, not an alternative to school.

* My husband is objectively the spiritual head of our household, the spiritual director of our home education.

* All home education decisions are prudential between husband, wife, and God. Leave the neighbors out of it.

* Homeschooling is mostly joyful and right. It is also hard work worth doing and involves purposeful suffering.

* Anxiety and worry are not an inevitable part of home education or an outward sign of hard work. They are signs to re-group.

* Burn-out is preventable.

* There is no perfect curriculum (self-designed or prepackaged.) Perfect is the enemy of the good. Be content with good enough. (Good enough does not justify sloth which is not good enough. Know when to realize that any additional effort toward improvement would result in a negligible improvement, especially in comparison to the effort required to gain it.)

* Plan primarily based on the truth about Mom, playing to my strengths, secondarily on the needs of the family as a whole, thirdly on the individual needs of each child, playing to their strengths.

* Emphasize character formation for all, especially formation that increases family harmony and independent decision-making.

* Academic achievement is over-rated.

* Focus on today.

* Progress is not linear and best gauged over time.

* We’re never behind. We’re exactly where God wants us. We entrust the past to God’s Divine Mercy and the future to His Divine Providence.

* Saints do not compare themselves to their neighbors because they keep their eyes fixed upon God.

* Delegate out of humility.

* Know when to take a break to refresh and renew.

* Know what I need to feel comfortable in my home. Prioritize maintaining a basic level of order.

* Discussion counts as an invaluable learning and teaching tool.

* Mastery takes time, for student and educator.

* Laughter is good, even when it needs to be redirected.

* Academic standards are arbitrary.

* Time spent on curriculum planning is time not spent on other things.

* Money spent on curriculum is money not spent on other things.

* A sense of humor lightens our load.

* Enthusiasm is contagious.

* Enthusiasm enhances motivation and engagement.

* Engagement and practice increases retention.

Menu Plan for Week of July 5th

I spent some time looking through my pantry and freezer a few days back. My goal was to revamp our menus to healthier habits but at the same time still use the food we already have in our home. I knew we needed to switch to using whole wheat grains for everything we eat. That would include our pasta, burrito shells, muffins, and more. We need to eat more fresh fruits and veggies, cut out so much dairy, yet get in all the protein we need. Besides all this the meals need to taste good so my husband won't want to bolt from the dinner table in protest. Is this possible?

I think I came up with a good starting menu for us. The meals that have a page number from them are from the Naturally Healthy Cuisine book by Shonda Parker and Vickilynn Haycraft. I am eating things like blueberries and a walnut mix for snacks, instead of a starch. Oh, I love starch! I have a green drink or a smoothie each day and get in my eight glasses of water. I can already tell a difference in how I feel. It really is a blessing!

Breakfast

Whole Wheat pancakes, hashbrowns, blueberries

Oatmeal, Breakfast Parfaits pg. 112

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Toast Cake pg 111, fruit, scrambled eggs

Whole grain cereal, milk

Cantaloupe, whole wheat toast, peanut butter, non-fat yogurt

Cranberry Cornmeal pancakes, almond butter, fruit salad

Scrambled eggs, whole wheat toast, peanut butter, fruit

Lunch

PB&J sandwich, fruit, veggies

Red Pepper & Tomato Soup, salad, fruit

Salad w Garbanzo beans, Cottage Cheese, fruit

Baked chicken wraps, fruit

Leftovers

Salad w black beans, fruit

Visiting

Supper

Grilled cheese Sandwich, Tomato Soup, fruit, carrots, Green Smoothie

Taco Bake pg 115, Salad, fruit

Whole Wheat mac N Cheese w Tuna pg 114, White pearl onions and peas, carrots, fruit

Broiled Fish, Broccoli Brown Rice Pilaf, fruit, green beans

Whole Wheat Bean Burritos, veggies, fruit, Pumpkin Muffins

Visiting

Hamburgers, Salad, mixed veggies, fruit

Snacks

Apple

Celery w peanut butter

Walnut Mix

Blueberries

Bananas