Last Day for Free BabyLegs!
By Heather Ledeboer | Category: Super Sales | Posted Saturday, February 27, 2010
DON'T FORGET!!
Today is the last day you can get a free pair of BabyLegs with every $30.00 you spend at Mom 4 Life.
Keep Your Tank Full!
By angelagifford | Category: Pursuing God | Posted Saturday, February 27, 2010
"My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?" Psalm 42:2
I
have a bad habit of letting my gas tank get way too low. My mini-van
has one of those handy features of telling me how many miles I have
left on the tank. I've learned the hard way that it isn't too accurate.
Honestly,
I don't know how many times I've needed bailed out. My sister in law
has brought me gas on the side of the road. My brother has brought gas
to my house. Friends have brought me gas at random stores I had to pull
over at. I've even been towed by a stranger to the nearest station.
Sad. I know.
I was trying to figure
out this weekend why that happens to me so much, and the bottom line is
that I'm just not intentional about filling my tank when I can. The
truth is, I'm just too busy on school days to stop for gas. My schedule
is down to the minute in the mornings and at noon when delivering my
prize kindergartner to his afternoon class.
SO….I
need to make sure I'm gassed up on the weekend. Just like I do more
cleaning and more baking and more laundry on the weekends, getting
ready for a new week, I need to make sure my tank is full and ready.
I love this verse because, as a mom, it is my constant question. When can I meet with God?
I'll
be honest, I don't get a consistent time every day with the Lord. It
isn't that I don't try or that I don't want it but kids don't often
read my schedule and pick when to get sick or misbehave or wake up
super early. There are days when my only time with God is just praying
throughout my day or reading a chapter of Psalms to my kids.
Long
before this weekend, when I finally decided when to fill my van's tank,
I learned that I had to be pretty intentional to keep my spiritual tank
filled. My mentor, Santha,
and I were talking not too long ago, and she said something so profound
(which is pretty normal for Santha). She said, "There is a difference
between being intentional and being in control." So often as moms we
feel sabotaged by our lack of control over our schedule and what may
surprise us each day. But we can still be intentional with our
relationship with God. Our time with Him may not happen every morning
like we hope…or even during afternoon nap time, but we can still
carve the time slot out and be ready.
A good friend, Kim,
was just sharing with me this weekend how God has laid on her heart to
get up at a certain time on certain days of the week – not every day,
but certain days. That is how she is going to be intentional.
I've
learned to take my "mom-time" to be with God. When Bill sends me out
for a couple of hours to get away, I often take my Bible and meet God
somewhere. I've learned it helps me more than just about anything else
I need to keep going. This weekend, I'm doing something I've never done
before (at least since I had kids), I'm going away for an entire
weekend – just me and God. I can't wait!
Do you thirst for time with the Lord? Does your soul long for Him? He's waiting for you!
-Angela Gifford, Those With Young
Weekly Giveaway – Pinkies & Piggies
By Heather Ledeboer | Category: Mom 4 Life News & Giveaways | Posted Friday, February 26, 2010
Congratulations to Alexa who won an Undercover Mama in the color and size of her choice. All Undercover Mamas will be 10% off this week (until next Thursday night).
ONLY TWO MORE DAYS!!
Every $30 increment of product purchased will entitle you to one free pair of BabyLegs from this page.
Retail Value: $69.99
One lucky winner will receive a Pinkies & Piggies Complete At Home Impressions Kit. Whitehouse Glass will then produce a handcrafted glass keepsake from the impression!
Each keepsake is handmade from start to finish and etched with the exclusive P&P logo. There's also space to etch baby's name and date of birth or birth weight. If you wish, you may opt to have your keepsake crafted so you can hang your keepsake where you'll enjoy it every day.
Pinkies & Piggies Glass Keepsakes create a memory of your baby that will last forever.
Allergen Alert: Contains Wheat
Note: Impression area is 5 inches in diameter. The hand or foot must not be longer than 5 inches.
How do you win?
We have been busy slashing prices on several items. Check out our Sale Items and tell us your favorite. You can earn two extra entries this week by:
-
Mentioning our Giveaway on Facebook
-
Linking to your favoring sale item on Facebook
Comment for each entry you earn.
The winner will be randomly drawn. You have until Tuesday evening, March 2nd, to enter.
Good luck!
Saying good night, Ledeboer style
By Heather Ledeboer | Category: Family Focus, The Journey of Motherhood | Posted Thursday, February 25, 2010
The following is the typical Ledeboer bedtime routine
(for the kids anyway, this is a G rated blog after all):
-Dinner time:
Usually involving something too healthy for the kids to get excited about but not so disgusting that they won't eat it with the promise of dessert to follow. What they often forget is that I often hide healthy things there too 
.
-The kids start getting ready for bed:
Hunter has a little list on the fridge that has his "to do before bedtime" checklist. He loves lists. Once I realized that I could harness this for my benefit, I became very happy. We now also have an "after school to do list", a "things to do before TV, Computer or Wii time" list. They work like magic with him. Ashlyn, isn't so into lists so she gets a little more personal direction with the bedtime routine.
-Once the PJ's are on, teeth are brushed, faces washed, etc, it's story time:
Hunter and Ashlyn each pick out a bedtime story and cuddle up with dad while I clean up the kitchen from dinner. I love reading to the kids, but equally I love listening to Trent read to them–special times. After their personal stories are read, they get one last story out of The Jesus Storybook Bible. We really like this kid's bible, and as the subtitle suggests (Every Story Whispers His Name) it does a wonderful job of weaving Christ into each story told.
-Next is the "bedtime game" (hands-down the kid's favorite part of the evening):
They pretend to go to bed, gleefully saying good night to every member of the family and obediently trotting off to their rooms. Trent and I exclaim in voices a little too loud to be believable, "what amazingly wonderful children we have that go to bed without a fuss" and start discussing our plans for the evening. All the while the kids are slowly, quietly sneaking out of their beds (gasp!) and crawling back into the living room. Suddenly, they jump up and start running around the room, fully of energy and vigor. At this, a very surprised daddy jumps up from the couch and tries to catch them and tote them back to their beds only to find them escaping again. The length of the game depends on how close it is to bedtime (7:00 PM). Inevitability, Trent will begin the one minute countdown which signals the approaching close to the good night game. At the 10 second mark the kids are frantically trying to get past dad (who is blocking their way) and into their beds. On occasion, I am called upon to use my extreme strength to restrain dad so that the children can pass and reach their beds before time runs out.
-Lastly, kisses, prayers, an occasional song and the following back tickle (with specific motions):
Big X, little x (using your pointer finger, draw out the letter X on their back)
Spider crawling up your back, spider crawling down your back, spider crawling up your back (use two fingertips to 'crawl' up and down the spine)
Bites you on the neck, bites you on the neck (gently 'bite' the back of their neck with your fingers)
Cool breeze (blow gently on their back)
Tight squeeze (gently squeeze their sides)
Now you've got the shiverezze (do a quick fingertip tickle all over the back)
A babysitter taught this tickle to Hunter a few years ago. I am not exactly sure what the appeal of a spider crawling up and down your back before bedtime is, but it became an instant hit.
As much as I love it when the kids are all tucked quietly in their beds, I have a feeling that this routine will be one of the fond memories that I will long for when I am older.
Chocolate Beet Cake
By Heather Ledeboer | Category: Recipes & Kitchen Tips | Posted Wednesday, February 24, 2010
My mother promised me "pink pee" if I ate enough beets as a child. Intrigued, I took her up on the challenge and have loved them ever since.
The rest of my family is not so captivated and strangely, my attempts to lure them with promises of pink pee have proved to be less than successful. I decided to try another tactic to introduce this under appreciated veggie. My mom (once again) came to the rescue by sharing a "chocolate beet cake" recipe with me.
I could tell that this veggie was a stranger to our family by the way I had to describe it to my husband over the phone as he was looking for it at the grocery store (yes I have a husband that shops for groceries and no you cannot borrow him). I have previously only enjoyed beets as a salad topping and until this last week had only ever eaten them out of the can. I had to look up how to cook beets in my Betty Crocker Cookbook and was amazed to discover that you need to boil (or steam) them for 40-50 min (good thing I wasn't planning on serving this cake right away). I went ahead and boiled two beets: one for my cake and one for my salads this week. The water in the pan turned a beautiful pink and I have heard that you can use beet coloring instead of red dye for frosting and egg dye at Easter time (which I would like to try).
The following is the chocolate beet cake recipe that I made. It isn't "the same" as chocolate cake, but we all thought it was good. The kids asked for seconds and were surprised to learn my secret ingredient after the fact. I think it is worth trying for the fun of introducing veggies to your kids. If you try it, let me know what you think and if you experiment with any ingredient variations that you like I would love to hear!
Chocolate Beet Cake:
2 c flour (I used freshly ground whole wheat flour and it worked great)
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/3 c cocoa
3 eggs
1 c sugar (In the future I want to try this again using Stevia)
1 c cooked, grated beets (next time I will try blending them to make a smoother consistency)
1/2 c oil (I used coconut oil but I think you could use any kind)
1/4 c orange juice + 2 t rind (didn't have the rind on hand)
1 t vanilla extract
6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
Powdered Sugar (optional topping)
Combine first 4 ingredients, set aside. Mix eggs and sugar in a large bowl. Add beets, oil, O.J. and rind to sugar mixture. Beat well. Stir in flour mixture and vanilla, mixing well. Stir in c. chips. Pour into greased 9" square pan. Bake at 350 degrees until toothpick comes out clean (40 min). Cool 10 min in pan, remove and cool (if desired, I left mine in the pan). Add powdered sugar.
