Family Night!

The end of the week is here and it's time to wind down and relax with the family.  It's so important to laugh, have fun, watch movies, play games and eat good food, especially when the week has been challenging.  The kids have been rambuncious, your body is sore from all the hustle and bustle so it's time to end the week with some good old fashioned quality time with the family.  Selecting a movie fit for the entire family is important.  If you have a wide range of ages you don't want to choose a movie inappropriate for the younger ones.  See my Kids Movie Reviews page for some suggestions on family viewing.

One of my favorite Family Night foods is the Nacho Bell Grande Supreme (shown below).  You can make it in under 30-minutes and it can be made with healthier ingredients.  Check out my Recipe Page to get this and other quick recipes.




NACHO BELL GRANDE



Make Eating Healthy Easy For Kids

Let's be honest, if we leave it up to our children to choose healthier snacks for themselves, most will prefer sugary and salty over healthy ones. With so many products on the market today with the appearance of being healthy we as parents have to decipher and make eating right easy for our children. Buying a fruit basket and filling it with assorted fruit   is good but sometimes you have to get creative with it. There have been many occasions where I spent precious time and money at the grocery store picking out a nice variety of fruit only to watch it wither and mold right before my eyes. If there are cookies in the cabinet most kids are going to walk right pass the fruit basket and go straight for the goodies.

Breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day so why are so many people skipping it? Studies have shown that eating breakfast jump starts your day, gives you energy and even helps kids to focus better at school. It's time to entice their taste buds by making fruit look more attractive. Here are some suggestions on how to do it successfully and attract not only the kids but yourself as well.

Assorted Fruit Cups

fresh fruit cups

Its much more healthier to cut up fresh fruit in season and store tightly in plastic cups in the fridge than buying store bought fruit cocktails with extra additives and preservatives. The great thing about doing it this way is your kids can easily grab a cup for a light after school snack or top with yogurt and granola in the morning for a delicious breakfast parfait. You'll feel better because they are eating healthier and they'll feel great because it actually tastes great. For healthy dinner recipes, check out my recipe page @ My recipe page  for quick and easy meals throughout the week.

Where's The Instruction Manual For Raising Kids?

Raising kids is no joke! When I was younger, parenting never seemed like such a big deal to me. It seemed automatic. Parents had children and children were supposed to listen to parents and when they didn't, you received a warning not to do it again. If you did it again then you would suffer the consequences for it. Simple right? Wrong.

Okay Wake up call!!

Now that I am a mother raising four children I'm realizing that I should have approached parenting like I approached getting a college education. Always learning and constantly learning even more. There is so much information out there to educate parents on how to be exceptional. We just have to be willing to swallow our pride and admit that we don't know everything there is to know about producing highly functional adults in society. Plus we owe it to our children to raise them to be the very best they can be.

My first recommendation for raising young children starts off with a manual that goes back to the beginning of time, The Holy Bible. God is Love and love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). The bible shows us countless examples of how God is patient, long suffering towards his children and gave the ultimate sacrifice for us, his son Jesus Christ. This love that God has shown to his children is called “Agape”. Agape is an unconditional love, a selfless love that esteems others above oneself. A love that is not based on what someone has done for you and how you are wanting to return the favor. A love that stands alone and is not predicated upon the beloved. The type of love that loves even when the person is acting unlovable or doesn’t deserve it.

Other recommendations include books and articles on how to be an effective communicator utilizing “I messages” vs “you messages”. Learning how to respond in ways that do not trigger arguments or anxiety. I will touch more on these subjects a little later but for now be encouraged because help has arrived.