SaveMore.com : Free Nail Polish!

If you have not signed up at SaveMore.com before, here is a great deal for you! Sign up for a free account, and receive $10.00 credited to your account. You can then buy this voucher for nail polish for $7.50, and shipping is free. So your total comes to nothing! They will mail you the code to use on the nail polish website in a few days, and you get to go pick out the color you want. I was glad I figured that out, because there's no way I would use blue polish. ;)

You do have to enter your credit card (or debit card) when checking out, but you are not charged anything.

I'm not crazy about painting my fingernails, I never like how it looks. But I love to paint my toenails during sandal weather! Free polish sounds great to me!

Thanks Money Saving Mom!

Girls Are Like Apple Trees....

Credit

Love this! So many times virtuous young ladies look around wondering what in the world is wrong with them. Why isn't there a young man interested in them? There is absolutely nothing wrong with them, they are lovely and beautiful to behold! Their ideals just scare men off, until a true man of valor comes along.

Mother's, encourage your daughters to keep waiting! It is so worth it.

Courtship Series Part 1: It all begins...

Photo Credit

We all want better for our children. I hear so many parents say they want to raise their children to be better than themselves. One issue of great importance that many parents want their children to have a better experience with is how they met and married their spouse. The multiple heartaches that came before getting married, and in some cases the sad event of losing their virginity before marriage, is grievous to many Christian parents today and they do not want the same grief and guilt for their children. I'm thankful that this wake up call has come to many within the Christian community. For my family, it came years ago when I was a young child.

I wanted to begin a series on courtship so that I might share my courtship story with you as well in the hopes that it might encourage or perhaps give you a different perspective on this very important issue. When I'm done, my older sister will have her story written out as well so I can share it on the blog. Our stories are very different, yet I consider both to be filled with the tokens of the leadings of God's hand. The main reason I wanted to share our experiences with you is because they do not make for the typical textbook courtship story. We were not blessed to have four parents mutually involved, and that especially applied to our fathers. For that reason, our stories have been criticized as not being true courtship stories. However, standing at the other end of my own courtship some 8 years later, I can honestly say that the best definition of courtship is waiting emotionally and physically for the one man/woman that God has for you, and not dating around before hand just to test the waters. When you enter a relationship, Lord willing, that will be the person you marry. Mistakes always happen, and courtships do end, but the main goal of any courtship is ultimately marriage, hence, the very great care that must be employed when entering into courtship.

In case you are not familiar with what courtship is, here is a good definition found from Wikipedia that defines what Biblical Courtship is:

Biblical courtship, also known as Christian courtship, is a term used to denote a particular response to secular dating culture within various American Christiancommunities, c. 1985 to present. Motivated by concern for the need of Christian values in contrast to secular dating practices, conservative Christians identified what they saw as key Biblical principles for courtship and romance, and began to disseminate them in the 1980s.

The movement gained widespread exposure^{[citation needed]} following the best-selling response to I Kissed Dating Goodbye, a popular contemporary treatment of Christian courtship by homeschool student Joshua Harris. Keynote speaker and author Dr. S.M. Davis has developed a unique stand on this philosophy, and his materials have been popular with the homeschool culture since the early 1990s. Proponents of the courtship movement say that it is identified by Biblical principles, rather than particular methods or behavioral practices. These principles have been summarized in Leave Dating Behind: a Road Map to Marriage by Christina Rogers within the acronym CARE

• Commitment to marriage
• Accountability
• Rejection of the secular dating philosophy
• Establishing physical boundaries

A more detailed list of courting ideals include:

• The guardianship responsibility of fathers over single daughters.
• The responsibility of parents to prepare their children for marriage in all respects, and for youths to be prepared in terms of talents, education, vocation and finances prior to seeking a courtship relationship.
• The mentoring role of parents or other suitable "accountability couples" in a given courtship.
• Supervision of courtships to mitigate temptations or abuse, whether of a sexual, emotional or financial nature.
• Emphasis of the importance of marriage as an opportunity for Christian service rather than a selfish endeavor.
• Emphasis of the importance of singleness before marriage as a time for greater Christian service in the community, rather than a time to be employed in selfish pursuits.
• Emphasis of the importance of counsel and evaluation by family and friends as a relationship progresses.
• Emphasis of the importance of honesty and getting to know one another as real people in "normal life" during courtship (as contrasted with the dating habit of meeting during special events and entertainment while on one's best behavior.)
• The maintenance of sexual purity.

Each courtship is unique insofar as the methods used to honor these principles will be unique in every given situation.

Let me start at the beginning, where I share what life was like back in the early 90's when courtship was becoming more prevalent in the homeschool community. When I was 11 we attended a Jonathan Lindvall seminar on courtship/betrothal. There were many good things to learn from that seminar, but I left feeling like there was no way my courtship would ever take place in the manner which he described. Besides not believing in betrothal, (where basically the parents pick out the bride for the bridegroom), I had one other little problem. My father did not attend that seminar, and furthermore, showed no interest in ever being deeply involved in the process of ensuring that his children would be equally yoked in their selection of a spouse . To many within the conservative Christian community, an uninvolved Father is supposed to be the Achilles heel of the whole courtship process, effectively reducing it sanctified dating. I would beg to differ, and I believe my courtship story bears this out.

As the years went on my Mom talked to us children about courtship, but mainly about keeping our hearts pure and saving it for the one person the Lord would have us to marry. We didn't know how it would happen, but I was sure that the Lord would still allow me to have a courtship with a young man even though my father was going to have little involvement.

As a teenager, I read books on courtship by the Barth family, Eric and Leslie Ludy, Elisabeth Elliot, and Joshua Harris. I enjoyed all of them, and it helped me in waiting for my husband. I can't say I was never interested in another young man growing up. I did notice a number of young men but tried hard to just let any thoughts of interest go, and wait to see who the Lord would bring.

Having grown up as a home schooler since pre-school, and being raised around lots of other homeschooling families, I only ever assumed that I would marry someone who was raised just like I was - a sober, conservative young man who had never kissed a girl before, and had prayed for me all of his life just like I was praying for him. The thought of marrying someone who had been public schooled never really entered my mind; after all didn't every guy who went to public school think I was strange for being home schooled and wearing dresses all the time?

Our family went through several very difficult experiences when I was between the ages of 13- 16. Loss of close friends and betrayal, taking care of our dying great-grandpa, my mom almost dying once with her Lupus, and the most painful experience of my brother walking away from the Lord and abandoning his godly upbringing. We finally moved about 45 minutes away from where we were living, buying a house in the country. In one way it felt like a fresh start for our family. After all that we had been through the past few years, it was nice to be somewhere peaceful. The only problem is that we knew no one. After a while my sister and I started getting a little lonely. Its not like we had to constantly be flooded with friends, but we were basically completely alone where we were at!

My older sister was invited to start attending a college scripture study at a college town about 25 minutes away. We knew several of the young people there, and so after talking it over with our mom, she decided to go, which was very uncharacteristic for my normally shy and quiet sister. After attending one or two meetings, she told my mom that several people had invited me to attend also, even though I was still in high school. I didn't really think that my mom would let me attend, and I wasn't even sure I wanted to go. After all, I was only 16, and these were all college age people! How would I ever survive? : )

Amazingly, my mom decided it was fine, and my dad gave his ok as well. Their only concern was that it was on a street that was filled with bars all around the study house, and I think they preferred having both of us together instead of just my sister down there at night. After attending several of the meetings, we both started to enjoy it a lot. There were several girls in particular that we grew to be close friends with.

We were not attending the study to find husbands. That was the last thing on my mind especially. But I do remember one night after leaving the study my sister and I both confided to each other that we were certain we would not be finding our husbands at this college study. We didn't connect with any of the young men there in anything other than a friendly passing hello. We looked different than the average girl, always coming in a dress or skirt, and we were quiet. I don't think the guys at the study knew what to do with us, so most of them just left us alone, (for which we were grateful!) The normal friendly camaraderie that goes on between college youth was not normal or comfortable for my sister and I.

The summer break came and before we knew it the fall semester had started again. We faithfully headed back down to the scripture study, thinking it would be just like the previous semester. When we got there they announced that we were going to split everyone up into small groups this year. There would be a young man leading each small group of about 6-8 people, and you were supposed to get together before the main meeting for study, prayer, etc. We all stood in a circle and called out numbers splitting us into a group. I remember being extremely nervous, hoping I would get to stay with my sister in her group. But that was not to be. I walked over to my group, glancing almost in a panic at my sister as she walked away to hers.

Little did I know that this small group study was going to change my life forever!

To be continued...

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Flashmaster Review - a great replacement for flashcards!

My oldest son has gone through the Math U See Primer and Alpha math books. At the end of Alpha, I realized he just does not have his addition and subtraction facts down very well, and becomes easily frustrated with them. I knew we needed to do a lot of drilling, but I was looking for a product that would assist me so I wouldn't have to sit and do flash cards every day with him. Let's face it - there *is* only so much a mama can do in 24 hours! Anything that will assist me in making our homeschooling easier is a blessing to me!

I started doing lots of research online, and came across the Flashmaster. I had seen this product for the first time at the Sonlight table at our local homeschool conference. When I looked on the website, I was intrigued even more.

Flashmaster is basically a little handheld computer that is used for reviewing and drilling math facts. You have many choices in how you want to use this product. There are timed practices, timed tests, timed flashcards, tables, which you can do in order or mix them up. You can do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems.

Flashmaster was gracious enough to send me one to review. I have been thrilled with how my seven year old son has taken to this. He loves to use it to practice his drills now, and will pick it up on his own and use it throughout the day. I've seen his math improve in the one week time we've had it, and I love seeing how excited he is when he gets 100% right on a drill!

I think this would be a valuable tool for any family, whether they homeschool or not. We use this in the car, at the table, sitting on the couch for quiet time, basically it's portable and easy to take wherever you need it.

You can buy the Flashmaster on their website or on Amazon for $49.95.

(Please note, I was sent this product to review free of charge. All thoughts are strictly my own.)

48 hour back to school sale at Vision Forum, plus free shipping!

Some of you may have already bought your curriculum months ago, and are happily settled in school right now. Others {like me} thought they bought all they needed, but I keep running up against having the wrong edition of the teacher's manual, oops, I forgot a geography program, etc. :)

If you are still looking for homeschooling resources, Vision Forum is having a 48 hour back to school sale! Everything is 25-50% off. You can browse through all the sale items here. Plus, they are offering FREE SHIPPING!! A few exclusion apply, anything marked "drop shipping" and the G.A. Henty set does not apply.

They don't just have school items on sale, they also have some toys, and inspirational books for the family on sale also!

Some of my favorite items on sale are:

Providential Battles by William Potter. My 7 and 5 year old sons love to listen to these history CD's! It's 45% off, making it $13.75.

Created For Work by Bob Schultz. I've read most of this out loud to my two young sons, and we will read it several more times over the years. Excellent and extremely well written book, this should inspire your young men to develop good work habits!

Sebastian Bach: The Boy from Thuringia We are doing this for music this semester, and I can't say enough good things about this series! I intend to purchase the whole set at some point.

The Family Treasure Coloring Book If you need something for your young children to do while you are busy with the older ones, this is perfect! My three year old daughter loves this coloring book, and sits at the table while we do school coloring beautiful pictures in this sweet book.

Large Family Logistics- I've written about this book several times on the blog. If you don't own it, you need to! It's the best homemaking book I have read yet, and it's inspiring for mom's with just one child on up to 12!

How tight should our dresses be?

I tend to agree with this comment. I've seen teenage girls walk around with clothes that are so baggy, and hair cuts that are so short I had a hard time figuring out if they were a girl or a boy.

I by no means think you should wear skin tight clothing, but I also don't think we should be totally paranoid about showing some sort of figure when we wear a dress.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this! Please answer with loving words, even if you disagree!

Simple, Free Projects To Make For Boys!

I've been loving Pinterest! I have a folder called Children where I compile projects I would like to do one day. Here are some neat ideas I've saved for things to make for boys. A few of these would be great {cheap} Christmas gift ideas!

A File Folder Parking Garage! We don't watch the movie "Cars" so this would just be a generic parking garage for my boys. I think it's such a cute idea!

Easy Fabric Roads. Denim and some yellow paint! Anyone can do this project.

What a creative idea! A marble racetrack made out of swimming noodles! This looks so easy to do.

I'm going to do this as a gift sometime for my boys. It's a Lego book of instructions. My boys love their legos, but they also like following directions in building the legos. This would be easy enough for them to follow. Unlike a 40 page book of instructions telling you how to build a castle...but I digress. :)

I know this isn't a toy for boys, but think how much your son would love having a safe place to store his lego creations! I fell in love with this shelf as soon as I saw it! The website does not give directions in building it, but I think anyone handy with tools could easily build this.

Homemade Play Dough! My five year old son loves play dough, and he would love to actually make some also!

Finally, if you need some inspiration on raising boys, read this article written by Laura over at Heavenly Homemakers. Even though I have two boys and two girls, this was a blessing to read!

Boba Baby Carriers 40% off!

I consider a baby carrier to be high priority on my must have baby list! If I had to choose a nice carrier over a stroller, I think I would go with the carrier! I use my Ergo a lot when I have a baby, and I'm excited to use my new Beco carrier with this baby that I won in a blog giveaway a few months back!

Today at Zulily they have the Boba baby carriers 40% off, making them $59.99-$89.99. Most of them run $69.99 instead of $100.00 normally. I've used a Boba carrier before also, and what I liked about it is that it comes up higher than the Ergo, making me feel more secure and safe with the baby in it. This deal will end August 25th.

Zulily is daily deals place for mom's and babies, and all they ask for is your email address when you first sign up to see all the deals.

Good Moms Have Sticky Floors...

I thought this was a good quote to remember as I start my week. :)

Amazon.com: Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese for $1.76 per container!

I know I don't normally post grocery deals on The Modest Mom blog, but I was so disappointed that I missed this deal last time, and wanted to share it all with you!

Right now on Amazon they have the 8 ounce containers of Kraft Parmesan Cheese on sale for $1.76 a container! That's better than any sale in the grocery stores around here. You have to buy 12 containers to get that price, but my sister and I were going to split the case. I'm sure you can freeze Parmesan Cheese also, which is what I was going to do with some of mine.

You need to choose the Subscribe and Save option to get that price, it's found on the right hand side. Shipping is free! Be sure and cancel your subscription once your order ships.

This deal sold out really fast last time it was available, so hurry and get it if you want it!

Thanks Money Saving Mom!

Gather Your Children While They Bloom

I have missed my children this past week. I miss cuddling them, reading to them, doing school with them, and just talking to them.

You might think by the above statement that we have been separated for the past week. Oh, I've still had them in the house with me. I've seen them at meal times, etc.

My "baby" boy is almost eight years old! The time is flying.

But I've been incredibly busy and distracted :(

It hit me yesterday - how we can just co-exist together in the same house. Day after day, breathing the same air and sitting at the same table together, yet being so detached from one another.

Israel showing me his pride and joy - he never leaves home without it :)

As mothers we have such a short window of time to grab our children's hearts. There are so many needful things to do, but I am learning that there will always be dishes to wash, clothes to clean, and floors to sweep. Our children will not always be here with us.

Carrianna is wearing her baby sister's hat, off on an adventure with her brother!

My mother in law came over a few days ago to watch the children for me while I was busy with my projects. By the end of the day, I admit I was envious. She didn't have the household responsibilities pressing on her like I do, and simply sat and played with the children all day and talked with them.

Our sweet Olivia! She only has a few more months to be the baby of the house!

I want that.

I want my children to remember me for the tickle times, the tea parties, the spontaneous trips to the park on a whim. Jumping on the trampoline together (when I'm not pregnant!), making cookies together and eating spoonfuls of dough :)

Taking time to stop and smell the roses together, because roses fade away.

My wonderful brother in law delivered roses to my sister yesterday for her birthday!

Enjoying life.

Because it goes so fast.

And you never know what the day brings. It may bring sunshine and smiles, or it may bring agony and goodbyes. We just never know what the Lord will choose. Our children are not our own. They are the Lord's, and we are privileged stewards of them.

You may wonder what I have been busy doing. This week has found me feeling frumpy and frazzled and thankful my blog readers don't pop over to my house! My clothes have been the oldest and yuckiest maternity clothes I could find; my hair has been a mess. I've been busy painting this:

and this:

We are putting our house on the market Saturday, and there is a whole list of projects we needed to get done in order to have it ready to show. Today is my last work day, and my mother in law is coming over again to help get it all done. Some flooring needs grout, some new trim needs stained, more painting outside, and the whole house needs cleaned for a birthday party for my dad and sister that I'm hosting here tomorrow!

Oh yes, and crescent rolls, pumpkin pie, and a cheesecake to make for tomorrow, plus a trip to the store, and lots of orders to ship out today for The Modest Mom. Someone point me to my bed. I AM pregnant and needing rest, right?!

Rest will come next week, cuddled up on the couch with a good book and my children all around me. :)

**The Modest Mom is giving away a Rainbow Denim Skirt over at Heavenly Homemakers! Make sure you go over and enter to win!**

New Modest Shells in Stock!

I just got an order of new shells, so almost every size is available! We are also carrying a new color, which is cream! After using these shells myself, I realized how much I would love a cream tan so I decided to start carrying that color as well!

Here is what a recent customer wrote to me about the shells:

"I got the shell today and I LOVE IT!!! I need like 10 more! This is such a great solution to the neckline issue with off the rack clothes today! It was cool and comfortable. I love it, thank you!"

I also have a coupon code that will help with shipping! To save $2.00 off of shipping costs, put in the code modestshell when checking out! This expires the end of August.

To order a Shell go here.

Teach Love

Photo Credit

I love this sign! I should print it off and hang it up around my sink, or the table where we do homeschool. Somewhere to remind me to teach love and patience, and not cross and frustrated words to my children.

How To Market And Sell Your Ebook

eBooks seem to be popping up all over the place! And for good reason, they are cheaper to produce, and bring instant reading to the buyer. For people who blog, eBooks are an excellent source of bringing in some extra income. The only problem is finding the time! I have several eBook ideas that I hope to do, but alas, everyday life seems to keep getting in the way. :)

Sarah Mae is well known for her blog, Like A Warm Cup Of Coffee, and for her eBook "31 Days To Clean." I was thrilled when I saw she was writing an eBook on how to write and market an eBook! She did a phenomenal job of marketing the "31 Days To Clean" book, so I knew she would have some great ideas!

Here is what one person said when they reviewed her book.

“As the author of a successful eBook, I found myself wondering if I would really benefit from reading a book about ePublishing. But I’ve been following Sarah Mae for over a year now, making some of her marketing efforts my own, and knew her insight would be fresh, invigorating and full of integrity. She didn’t disappoint. How to Market and Sell Your eBook is full of practical wisdom, and loaded with useful resources for anyone in the ePublishing business, newbie or veteran. I found myself needing to pause frequently during the reading of this book so that I could immediately implement her ideas! Sarah Mae takes the reader step-by-step through not only the best marketing secrets out there, but also behind-the-scenes ways to make your eBook successful before it ever hits the virtual shelf. And at just $4.99, everyone can afford to get it.”

Brooke McGlothlin, Author of Warrior Prayers and Notes to Aspiring Writers

If you have any dreams of writing an eBook, for $4.99 you should read this book and be inspired in how to do it successfully!

I have one eBook to giveaway! To enter, follow the instructions on the Punchtag below (you gain more entries that way) or just leave a comment below with an email address.

This giveaway will end August 23rd.

Diaper Deals at Amazon

There is a new $2 off coupon for Huggies Snug and Dry Diapers! You can get a package of size 1-2 diapers for only 10 cents a diaper! That makes a box of 192 diapers shipped to your door for $19.45!

To purchase the diapers at this great price you need to follow these steps:

1. Make sure you are a member of Amazon Mom.

2. Go over to the Huggies size 1-2 Diapers.

3. Scroll down and click on the $2 off coupon (make sure you are signed in to see the coupon).

4. Order through subscribe and save.

The coupon is good on other size Huggies diapers as well! Make sure to unsubscribe from more diapers being delivered later if you do not want them.

Thanks Motherhood On A Dime!

Titus 2 Series: Being Chaste In Marriage

Today, six friends and I are writing a series based on the biblical principles taken from Titus 2:3-5. We pray that the topics discussed will inspire and encourage you to draw closer to God and His plan for womanhood. This is my small part of the conversation, being chaste in marriage.

Chaste: 1. Pure from all unlawful commerce of sexes. Applied to persons before marriage, it signifies pure from all sexual commerce, undefiled; applied to married persons, true to the marriage bed.

2. Free from obscenity. While they behold your chaste conversation.

3. In language, pure; genuine; uncorrupt; free from barbarous words and phrases, and from quaint, affected, extravagant expressions.

Definition from Websters 1828 Dictionary.

For married ladies, being chaste is probably not something you think much about. The focus in the Christian (and non Christian community to an extent) is staying sexually pure before marriage. After marriage you find books and messages on keeping your marriage strong and divorce proof, which of course always includes sections on affairs and such. Normally the road leading to an affair is step by step, one little thing at a time.

Titus 2 talks about teaching the young woman to love their husbands, and to be chaste. I find it interesting that we actually need to be taught about these things. While we profess to be madly in love with our husbands when we marry them, as time goes on, love becomes more of a choice, and being chaste in our marriage does as well.

I'm sure many of us would never dream of being unfaithful in our marriage. But what about the little things? How many of us struggle with day dreams, bitterness, wondering eyes, etc?

In order to make and keep a marriage strong, you need to make conscious decisions about how you are going to accomplish that. Here are some ways I work on staying chaste in my marriage.

1. I shield my eyes from other men. Much is written about how men constantly are bombarded and tempted by pictures and beautiful women that walk by. But women are not above being tempted by a handsome man! My mother taught me from my youth up to look away if a man is walking by with his shirt off. A young, handsome, buff man can most certainly be a temptation to a woman struggling in her marriage or in her thought life. When shopping for my husband in department stores, I avoid the large posters of men dressed in nothing but underwear, the same way my husband avoids walking by the lingerie section. We just can't be too careful.

2. Don't fantasize about movie stars, popular singers, etc. Much can be said about the TV and music we watch and listen to. That is a whole different post in itself! We are very conservative in our taste of movies and music. My husband and I both enjoy watching Jane Austin movies together (yes, I'm blessed to have a husband who will watch "chic flicks" with me!). But I don't go around daydreaming about Colin Firth, looking up his pictures online, or putting movie stars on my Pinterest page. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging that a man or woman is handsome or beautiful. But that is where it needs to start and stop. Fantasizing about a man is not staying chaste in your marriage.

3. Don't become too familiar with other men. While my husband and I have very close friends at church, you won't find me having long, heart to heart discussions with other men at church, no matter how close I am to their families. Nothing connects a woman closer to a man than having a listening ear from him. Keep your intimate and personal talks for your husband alone.

4. I avoid hugging of any form with a man. I know some Christians are in favor of the "Holy Kiss" practice, but I am firmly opposed to physical contact with men other than my husband. It easily leads to problems - I feel especially on the man's part. There are certain men that my sister and I have discerned throughout the years that we need to just avoid, and generally we have never been proven wrong in those feelings.

5. Most importantly, pray fervently if you are feeling tempted, or just bitter and weary in your marriage. The last few years has brought trials for our family, including the divorce of my husband's parents. Going through that trial with my husband and in-laws has shown me that you cannot be too careful with keeping chastity strong in your marriage. I have prayed for my marriage like I never have before, as I don't want temptations to enter in either of our hearts. Thankfully I have a wonderful husband and we have a strong, loving marriage.

In closing, I would just encourage you to keep your eyes on Jesus, and your heart securely nestled close to your husband! Cleave to the both of them with all of your heart!

Please join the following ladies as they share their heart with you on each individual "Titus 2" topic.

A Wise Woman Builds Her House - Being Sober

Far Above Rubies - Keeper at Home

Raising Mighty Arrows - Being Discreet

Cultivating Home - Loving Your Children

The Legacy of Home - Being Obedient to Your Husband

Simple Country Life - Loving Your Husbands

Modest Maternity and Girl Clothes on Zulily!

It's rare you find the sweet, girly vintage look for little girls these days. Zulily has the Kayce Hughes brand up for sale today, with these two dresses on sale. I have a happy sigh when I saw them. SO sweet!! I can just picture sweet little girls with their hair braided wearing these dresses!

When you spend $30.00 at Zulily, you can save 10% off of your order with the coupon code: COUPCAB855 upon checking out. I used the code this morning and it worked for me.

If you click on the Women and Maternity section of Zulily, they actually have a long maternity skirt on sale! This pin striped skirt goes up to size X-Large. It is under the Juliet Dream brand.

This coral wrap sweater is the ultimate look of femininity! Very pretty.

Seventh Generation Wipes: $0.02 each!!

I decided to start posting some online diaper deals each week, as I know I'm not the only Mom who likes to buy diapers and wipes online from Amazon. At this point in my life I use primarily disposable diapers.

Seventh Generation Chlorine Free baby wipes are on sale this week at Amazon! When you use the subscribe and save option (located on the right hand side) you can get a package of 350 wipes for only $8.32.

That makes each wipe to be $0.02 each, which is really good for wipes, and these are all natural!

Teaching Our Children About What Is More Important Than Modesty

Photo Credit

Several months ago my children were outside playing in our backyard, jumping on our trampoline. Also outside on this particular day was our only neighbor child who often walks up to the chain link fence that divides our properties to talk to my children. She's a little girl a year or two older than my oldest son, who is seven. She was also outside jumping on her trampoline when one of our sons started a little chant about how immodest she was (she was in her bikini swimsuit jumping). He didn't just say it softly to his brother and sister - he yelled it loudly over and over again to where she could hear it. To make matters much worse, her Dad happened to be outside.

This is no one's idea of what a good Christian witness looks like.

My husband was in our kitchen when his ears picked up on the chant. He swiftly ran to the window to see what it was all about and saw this little girl and her father outside. Disturbed before, now he was horrified. He immediately brought our son inside and had a serious talk with him. He told him that until he personally apologized to this little girl for saying mean things to her, that he would not be allowed to jump on the trampoline or listen to story tapes (both treasured privileges to our boys.)

Like I said, this was several months ago. :)

We have tried several times to get him to apologize when she has been outside, but it has always resulted in him breaking down in tears and refusing to do it because he was so scared. Finally, he did it a few days ago with my husband standing by his side talking him through it for fifteen minutes. It was like pulling teeth, but he was finally able to eek the apology out. The little girl didn't even fully understand what the apology was all about, but after all was said and done, my son and this little girl stood at the fence talking for close to an hour like they were the greatest friends in the world! He gave her some army soldiers and a cannon (a true gift for my little boy who adores his little army soldiers) and I could tell he came in very happy it was all over.

The next day, she reciprocated and brought over some toys for the boys, and even brought over a toy for our youngest little girl as well! They again stood at the fence and talked, ironically, while she was in a bikini once again.

My three year old daughter picked up on the fact that she wasn't dressed modestly and said something about it (I guess outside even, *sigh*). I quickly realized that while I have every opportunity I need to teach them what is and is not modest (every shopping trip could produce a lesson if I choose!) we have few opportunities to teach them how to treat other people who are not like them with respect and Christ like love. In this instance, it was more important to me for my children to learn to be kind and visit with this neighbor girl, than it was to shield them from her immodest bikini.

Why?

Because their hearts need to be softened.

They have no trouble going around acting like the pharisees and judging on outward appearance. But loving someone when they don't look like we do, or act like we do comes very hard for them. Letting them actually have time to demonstrate that they could care for someone who is not like them, is so much more important than once again giving them the talk of "some people just do bad things."

Don't get me wrong, I'm not about ready to throw my children out to the world, and bring them to all sorts of places where they will be exposed to indecency on purpose. But if I want to raise my children (my boys especially) to want to go into the world one day and spread the good news of the gospel, they will need to be trained to look past the outward and try to reach a person's heart.

Modesty is so very important. Being a good Christian witness is also. And, as I'm learning the hard way, being a parent involves making difficult decisions on what is to be emphasized in any given situation.

In our homeschool this week, our lessons are focused on kindness and doing to others as they would want other to do to them. It is far more difficult to instill these virtues in my children (and more worthy) than simply instructing them to slip on a modest dress and yes, modest clothes for my boys as well.

May God give us strength as parents to use discernment in how we raise our children! Let there be no hypocrites or pharisees among us. Rather, let us shine forth the true love of God to our children and to the world.

Supplements I take While Pregnant

Normally I am not very good at taking supplements. I research what is good for me to take, buy the bottles, and then they end up sitting on my counter. :( This pregnancy I have been much more diligent about taking my supplements, mainly because I'm struggling through this pregnancy with having little energy, lots of low blood pressure and dizziness, etc. At my last midwife apt. we found out I was pretty anemic, so I'm on supplements right now to help the anemia also. I'm so glad we tested to see as my iron levels are so low I couldn't have a home birth if we were close to the end. Thankfully we have plenty of time to get my levels raised before the baby is due.

Here is a list of what I am currently taking during this pregnancy.

Prenatal Vitamin - A good prenatal vitamin should be a standard supplement taken. For many of us who have lots of babies close together, it's wise to just stay on a prenatal while nursing, as you never know when a new blessing is going to appear! I highly respect Shonda Parker, and she recommends taking Integrative Therapeutics Prenatal Forte Supplement for pregnancy. The first midwife I used also recommends that supplement and sold it in her office. Besides all the usual vitamins that you need, I love all the extra herbs that are in it that help to support a healthy pregnancy. It has Alfalfa, Raspberry leaf, Yellow Dock Root, Cranberry, Dandelion, Papaya, and Stinging Nettle added to it, all of which are herbs excellent to take while pregnant. You do have to take six a day, but if I remember to take four a day I'm happy. :)

Pregnancy Tea - I am not faithful about drinking this every day, but I do the best I can. This tea tastes the best I have ever tried, and that's saying a lot since I don't like tea! I ordered it from the Bulk Herb Store, it's called the Mama's Red Raspberry Brew. You get quite a bit in a bag!

Varicose Veins - Every pregnancy my varicose veins in my right leg and ankle get worse. This pregnancy I'm taking Veno-Care, and while I'm still in a lot of pain, it still seems to be a little bit better than my last pregnancy. The swelling looks the same, but the pain is slightly better.

Fish Oil - Taking a prenatal fish oil is highly recommended by almost every Dr. these days! I am taking mine for all the good benefits for the baby, but also to help avoid any sort of post-partum depression. I've only struggled with that slightly with one baby, but it was enough that I don't want it again! I have been taking the Garden of Life Oceans Mom Prenatal DHA supplement.

Iron - For my anemia I started taking Floridix, which is a natural iron supplement. Thankfully it does not cause constipation, as iron supplements are notoriously known for. Right now I'm taking the maximum dose allowed of 2 times per day, but once my iron levels rise I'll probably just do once a day. I'm also taking Bifera, which is a supplement I found at Walgreen's. During my last pregnancy I became really anemic at the end as well, and this helped to quickly raise it along with the Floridix. So my midwife has me taking both right now.