Do not lose heart!

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:16-18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Our two oldest daughters changed schools mid-year recently, for very good reasons, and while they have been thriving, I’ve been struggling with my schedule. I feel like I’ve been going through a period of hills and valleys. I’ve had weeks that are fabulous, and other days/weeks that I’ve wondered how I’m going to get through the craziness.

Can you relate? I think until you go through something yourself, it’s hard to understand the anxiety that accompanies changes and uncertainty. In the midst of changes, I feel like it’s hardest for me when I don’t get ‘me time’, but then I feel selfish sometimes for wanting that.

Compared to many other trials in life, changing schools isn’t that hard or scary, but changes, no matter what they are, can catch us off guard. I’m thankful that these have drawn me closer to God, made me ask others more for help, and encouraged me to declutter my schedule.

This Valentine’s Day I’m going to try to focus on finding joy from the things that matter, and not lose heart. Isn’t Valentine’s Day all about heart? 🙂 Spend time with those you love and let the things that don’t matter, fade away.

KonMari with Kids!

Do you long to declutter? Does it seem impossible with kids? There’s a Facebook group called KonMari with kids that I’ve found to be super helpful – check it out!

Marie Kondo has been popular for a while but recently her popularity has soared with her new Netflix series! Before having baby girl #3, I Kon-Maried my house from top to bottom – mostly between the hours of 2-4am when I couldn’t sleep (all my kids were real active in the womb)! Also – just like Marie Kondo, I’m super into going paperless (I have another webpage devoted to that and my e-pamphlet ). I have a lifestyle of promptly throwing out, shredding or scanning papers – I HARDLY HAVE ANY PAPER IN THE HOUSE. It’s wonderful! I feel like it’s a huge stress reliever.

Anyway yet again we decided to KonMari our kids toys this past weekend. Here’s how we are organizing them:

You can see how each bin is labeled (LOL dolls, Hatchimals, Shopkins, Barbies, etc.). Very few toys live outside these bins and it’s been very helpful to teach the girls to clean up. Still, usually every Christmas or early winter we KonMari our house once again. Maybe we need to take a year off from getting Christmas presents (or something)! Still getting new gifts gives us a chance to share our used ones with someone in need.

Let me know your thoughts on kids and clutter in the comments below!

Kristen

Embracing Change

Yesterday we had a National Day of Mourning for George H. W. Bush. This change brought tears to many, but I would venture to say that it brought joy to celebrate the life of a man who was respected by many. Pictures like this one below flooded Facebook – celebrating a couple that many remember fondly.

Do we celebrate life and embrace change? Or do we often get stuck, afraid of what lies in the future? The Bushes had a lot of difficult changes in their marriage – one of which was the death of their daughter at age 3 to leukemia. George W. Bush, his son, spoke at the memorial service of how his father prayed everyday to God Almighty when he dealt with this very difficult, very sad event. This was a change that no one wanted, but it obviously made George H. W. Bush and his family members into the people that they are.

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On a lighter note, the changing of the seasons is upon us – it’s COLD here in great state of Pennsylvania! Although it was pleasantly 60+ degrees this past Sunday! We haven’t had much snow but my daughters love every snow flake that falls. They dance and spin around in the driveway with the slightest wind and snow that comes down, playing with the leaves and snow dusting. They LOVE the seasons.

I would say that as much as we try to keep our kids comfortable, they thrive on change. Starting elementary school…making new friends…visiting a new museum or amusement park… They are sponges and they are learning and growing. Let’s not stifle them out of fear or selfishness. I want to keep my kids the way they are right now – I have a hard time imagining my 4 year-old in kindergarten. I want to enjoy spending time with my 7 year-old when she comes home from school, rather than setup play dates. BUT I’m trying to embrace these changes. I challenge you – and I challenge myself – to embrace change and ENJOY the season we find ourselves in.

5 Tips to Start Planning Your Disney Trip!

Hello! We’re already planning our Disney trip for next year – because that’s how it works! It’s never too early to plan! Here are 5 helpful tips to plan your Disney trip! Read to the end to see my gift card tips!

photo credit: Disney Photopass

#1 GET A DISNEY PLANNER – The first time we went to Disney World with children I thought I could handle it myself – I had booked a non-Disney resort and thought I got a good deal, but then my friend who works for Disney introduced me to a Disney planner who got me on Disney property with meals for about the same price! I also got free monogrammed minnie mouse backpacks for the kids and autograph books as part of the package! Here’s my Disney planner is you’re looking for one!: http://uponastartravel.com/, or ask around – there is no cost, Disney pays them directly for helping you!

#2 TIMING – Most people recommend that you book the resort one year before going, the character dining six months out, and the FastPass rides 60 days out. Disney planners can do all of this for you which saves you staying up until midnight, etc. Certain times a year like February, September and November are less crowded and cheaper. In my opinion there’s something of value to going to Disney that makes it ok to take the kids out of school (especially since my school district is super supportive of it) and get a better experience with less crowds!

#3 DISNEY DINING – Part of the Disney experience is dining with Disney characters. The Disney dining package makes it easy and more affordable to book places like Cinderella’s table, Be Our Guest and other dining experiences. Certain times of the year Disney offers a discount and even free dining. Our Disney planner takes care of the reservations, and one time when we had to wait longer than 30 minutes for our reservation, we got extra FastPasses to rides which was awesome! Disney knows how to please customers.

#4 DISNEY CREDIT CARD – I highly recommend getting a Chase Disney credit card – there’s a no annual fee option, but the annual fee option gives you twice the points and there’s a statement credit that makes up for the annual fee. I usually accumulate a couple hundred dollars a year in Disney bucks, which helps to pay for a vacation! The Disney credit card also allows you to get special discounts on Disney travel packages, and a number of other perks. The Disney credit card also offers 0% financing for promotional periods of time on Disney trips. Although I don’t endorse credit card debt, this is an option to be aware of.

#5 GIFT CARDS – Sam’s Club and other wholesale clubs have discounts on Disney gift cards which you can use to pay for your vacation! I save on average 7% by buying the gift cards from Sam’s Club. In November/December look for Target’s gift card sale – you can get 20% off of Target gift cards. I then turn around and use them to buy Disney gift cards. In the end, between gift cards and Disney redemption bucks from my credit card, I save hundreds of (more like a thousand) dollars on the Disney trip!

Hope this helps!

– Kristen

Fearless 9-1-1

Hello! Thankfully I’ve only called 9-1-1 a couple times related to emergencies with my kids – one time I had hardly any cell reception, so I wanted to help educate people on the texting 9-1-1 option and let you know I’ve gone through some scary situations with my kids and am striving to be fearless – hope to encourage you to do the same! Finding joy through my faith in God and being thankful has helped me through so much, but to be honest I still struggle with anxiety related to my children. I am thankful that my strength and peace continue to be renewed even despite certain situations.

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CALLING 9-1-1. When my oldest daughter was four months old I was busy learning to be a mom, working part time, while at the same time trying to be a good wife too. One day while nursing her, I was on the computer, not fulling focusing on the nursing, and she scratched her cornea. She went limp.

I tried CPR repeatedly, with no response. She wasn’t breathing. It felt like forever before she took a breath again – in the meantime I called 9-1-1. Thankfully we have police that patrol our town 24-7, as well as an ambulance service right in town, so they came very quickly. By the time that they came, thankfully she had started breathing again. The event lit up the neighborhood – one of my neighbors gently said to me aftewards ‘it looked like you had quite a scare’. On the ambulance ride to the hospital, the situation happened again. Thankfully the ambulance crew put an oxygen mask on my daughter right away but it was still scary! There were other details to this experience but the bottom line – I had to keep praying and trusting God, relying on his good plans and love for me. He gave me the faith to leave her in day care after this instance, have two more kids, etc. Also a PSA: clip those young babies’ nails! Also try to not multi-task while nursing! Over the next weeks this situation repeated itself – one time at day care – I had to learn to not overreact. I’m so thankful that she’s out of that phase!

TEXTING 9-1-1. I wish I had known this a year ago when my three young girls and I got stuck in an elevator late one evening at church after an event. Here they are in this professional picture taken shortly after the incident.

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Anyway, here’s the story…the power went out in the church – it was about 8:30pm, so no staff was around, and the elevator got stuck underground in such a way that I had intermittent cell reception. Thankfully a text to my husband went through after about 10 minutes of waiting. The call to 9-1-1 didn’t go so well, as they couldn’t hear me, but the call eventually got pinged so the police came. But, if I had know about texting 9-1-1, I would have done that first thing! My daughters and I prayed – it had been about 15 minutes, and it was getting very hot in the elevator. My middle daughter (then 3) said that she saw an angel in the elevator, and shortly there after, a woman who had been cleaning up after the event called through the walls “is anyone in there?” She said that she had heard a voice. She was the ONLY person in the building and she happened to walk by! Total God thing, but also a PSA: text 911 in the “To” field for text messaging. Send a short message with no photos. Include the location of the emergency, municipality and type of help needed before sending. This is especially good when cell reception is bad, or you’re in a situation where you cannot easily talk (i.e. intruder).

These are things that aren’t fun to talk about, but I hope this info helps someone out there!

– Kristen

Chronic (Back) Pain – 5 Steps for Relief

A month ago I threw out my back and then proceeded to pull my piriformis muscle. I was pretty out of commission for at least a week. I thought about blogging about this a couple weeks ago, but didn’t want to have a blog downer, and also didn’t want to focus too much on it. I’m a month out from the incident that caused this pain, and I’m still struggling with pain and stiffness, especially in the morning. If anyone reads this who struggles with chronic pain, I definitely can sympathize. Please feel free to message me or put something in the comments and I will pray for you!

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A couple things have helped me, which aren’t rocket science, but in case they help someone out there – especially those who have thrown out their back:

1). RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation) – it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel at the beginning of an injury, but following this acronym definitely helps! It may take a couple weeks with some injuries, but be patient – the back is pretty sensitive, as are the core muscles, if they are injured.

2). Stretches – every morning now I do core exercises and stretches – both out of necessity and discipline. I do six stretches every morning – they help with general stiffness in my legs as well as managing my sciatica by stretching the piriformis muscle.

3). Core exercises (i.e. Yoga) – I wish someone had told me during each of my three pregnancies how important core exercises are (i.e. planks). The Cobra Yoga pose has been my friend with lower back pain, and also has been recommended by my chiropractor. The core affects SO MUCH in our bodies, and each pregnancy it can easily become weaker.

4). Regular chiropractic visits. I should have started going while pregnant (prevention is important!) but now am finding so much relief, learning so much about my body holistically and my kids love going too!

5). Avoid heavy lifting if at all possible!

Hope this helps someone! I think prevention is the way to go, but if you ever get into a chronic pain rut, I hope that you find relief! It takes effort sometimes but it many times relief is possible with patience and discipline.

My scoop on carbs + insight into cauliflower

Hello! Do you need to watch your carbs, or are curious about the magic of cauliflower? Read further! I had to watch my carbs when I had gestational diabetes with two out of my three pregnancies. I was so confused when they told me to eat 30 g or less of carbs at each meal – I always thought it was the sugar count that mattered. Sugars matter, especially refined sugars, but I was surprised to see how my blood sugar levels were affected by carbohydrates, even when the sugar count was low.

Nowadays, my blood sugar levels are pretty good, but my PCP still says it’s good to keep the carbs low, especially those derived from refined sugars. Rice is such a staple, and that’s one area that I’ve targeted. Have you tried cauliflower rice? It’s been fabulous! Check it out – here below is an option that our family (including our three daughters) has loved!

The nutritional content is great… DVs: 25% Vitamin A, 60% Vitamin C, 20% Vitamin K, 10% Folic Acid.

I also substitute cauliflower pizza dough crust when able. A lot of pizza places have that option now – amazing!!

Cauliflower is also high in WATER content! It’s so important to have water rich foods, especially in the summer months.

I can’t believe that cauliflower has only recently become a staple food for me – and I hope you consider it if you’re looking to reduce your carbs in popular dishes, or just looking for a change! Vegetables are always a good thing in my opinion!

The BEST water bottle and other summertime picks

Hello there! This blog is longer than my other ones – bare with me though, I think it’s worth the read!

Are you stumped about how to plan your summer, with kids home from school? Even if you don’t have kids, have you been looking for new summertime ideas? I’ve compiled just a couple items that have been so helpful to make my summer more enjoyable, and I hope that they help you too.

Water

Water is essential to (LIFE and) battle the summer heat!! I finally found water bottles for the kids and for me that I LOVE.

For Adults: it took me years to find a super well-insulated, dishwasher safe bottle – this is a winner!! (It’s too heavy for kids FYI):

For babies/young kids: it took me so long to figure out the right bottle for this age group – the one I’m sharing here is great for them developmentally/orthodontically as well as easy to clean in the dishwasher. There is a handle and no handle option, and two different sizes – a couple colors, and virtually spill-proof:

For toddlers: this is completely dishwasher safe!, and super cute and easy for them to carry:

For elementary school kids: my daughter loves this water bottle – she likes the size and it stays well insulated:

Snacks

Fruit: fresh fruit from the farmer’s market, or what’s in season, is so delicious! Kids love it too! I’m always surprised at how much kids (and I) love fruit! It’s good to take advantage of it during the spring/summertime. I try to overload on the fruit and less on the other stuff. The water in fruit is good to stay hydrated too.

Energy bites: my kids are hooked on these, and so am I – five simple ingredients, mixed together plus either a dash of vanilla or my favorite almond extract. The five ingredients: oats (1 cup), peanut butter (1/2 cup), flaxseed (1/2 cup), honey (1/3 cup) and semi sweet chocolate chips (1/2 cup). Roll them into small balls and freeze for one hour before eating.

Activities

Summer Camps: There are so many great summer activities! The YMCA has some good camps with themed weeks. In our area of Pennsylvania there are a lot of Vacation Bible School/Summer Day Camps – our kids could go almost all June and July to them! A lot of them go from 9am-3pm – works great for working parents, and some have after hours care too.

Summer binder: A friend of mine from my MOPS group told me about this one – it’s for school age kids for the summer. Pinterest has a lot of options but my basic one consists of a cover page with activities planned for the summer, and boxes to check off. My daughter journaled in hers about every week of her summer. Then I scanned it all in at the end of the summer to keep the memories, and tossed the pages – will reuse the binder next year.

Pool: A pool membership, or in our case, belonging to the Y has been so essential to keep cool during the summer, teach the kids how to swim and get energy out! A lot of friends from church and school show up there, so it’s good for socializing too!

Play dates: Impromptu play dates are always fun, and this summer I’m scheduling a couple play dates out in advance. A bunch of friends and I are doing the Jesus Storybook Bible curriculum, complete with crafts for the kids. My 7 year-old always tells me that church (and life in general) is boring without crafts – something about the age group – I’ve finally gotten the message!

Vacations: We don’t always do big vacations in the summertime – most trips are to spend time with family. I say if vacations, especially to warmer climates, can be done during the school year, go for it, as the tourists are usually fewer. This coming summer though we’re visiting family and going on vacation with family. Don’t know that it will work out every year but we’re looking forward to it!

I wish that I had read this blog post years ago – I wouldn’t have wasted time and money with alternatives! “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Luke 6:31, right? 🙂 Enjoy your summer!

Be Still

With the warm weather arriving there’s more to enjoy outside! We are often on-the-go to our newest favorite park. Our kids are learning to ride bikes and my oldest daughter and I are getting ready for the kids marathon, so we keep busy at the park. Pool season will soon be upon us soon, so the focus will then shift to swim lessons and such – looking forward to it!

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With the beautiful weather it’s easy to get busy outdoors – which can be a good thing. At Bible Study today I was reminded of the need to be still. Be still in the midst of the draw of the outdoors. Sometimes all of this activity is taking the place of something deeper, and although it’s wonderful, it won’t satisfy. Activity, pride, etc. can cheat us of God’s best. As Beth Moore puts it:

It can cheat us of contentment..because you “deserve better than this.”

…cheat you of knowledge…because you already know it all.

…cheat you of healing…because you’re too full of pride to forgive.

…cheat you of genuine friendship…because nobody’s going to know the real you.

…cheat you of love…because real romance demands sacrifice.

…cheat you of God’s glory…because pride convinces you to seek your own.

Hope you have warm weather where you live, and a great Spring. I hope you find time to be still. Let me know in the comments what time of day/week works best for you to find quiet.

Letting Wonder Woman Go

Has someone ever challenged you to give up the status quo? Are you a wonder woman or super mom that feels pressure to do it all? Then this blog post is for you. If this isn’t you, but you’re still reading, I hope it helps the perfectionist in you…

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For me, not that I was exactly wonder woman, it was when I got pregnant with my third child that I realized that the career that I was chasing was not what I really wanted or more importantly not what my family needed. My husband would remind me that I was part-time, so I shouldn’t expect huge promotions, but I chased them anyway. I had it all – I was part-time, had a great job and great family, but I was tired. I also wanted more down time with my kids. In the end, I left my job, not realizing that I’d have a profitable business a year or so later, for a fraction of the time.

Every situation is different, but I came to terms with the fact that I shouldn’t ‘have it all’ because that meant there was inevitably something that was missing. Many times at the root of perfectionism is fear. God wants to redeem it all. I suppose the starting point is realizing that we need God, and that our relationship with Him is broken without Jesus.

This may just be a season…with our children this may be just a phase…but we don’t want to miss that phase right? This looks different for everyone but I want MORE time with my kids and LESS distractions.