At Home With Dot

Guest Blog Post By: Jolie Klassen I'm so excited to introduce to you one of my good friends! She has so much creativity and loves sharing her gifts over on her blog www.outoftherightbrain.blogspot.com . Today she is guest posting on my blog all about her recent DIY project! With summer quickly approaching I though this was a perfect "get your kids outside" activity! Come take a look and be sure to visit her blog for more fun!!! Once upon a time ago my littles were much smaller and were easily entertained.  I used to buy one of those wading pools (actually, we still do. . . we have to cool off somehow) and fill it with floating boats, cups and bowls.  The kids would just sit there and pour from one thing to another and then run around like crazy.  It was a nice way to spend our summer mornings.  As they got older and more daring, they slowly added the slide and the cups turned into water fights and well. . . now, my littles aren't so little and I wante

I woke up this morning feeling really downcast. I don't really know why. I just felt defeated and tired and sad before the day even began. I spent some time in the Word and prayer. Still sad. I wanted to crawl back into bed and sleep away the sorrow. In my mind I know I need to give care and attention to my family but there are days I don't feel like it. There are days when knowing it will not move me. So, I must move past my feelings and that is difficult. There are little people that depend on me to love them, feed them and participate in activities with them. Truth be told there are days when I don't want to spend time with my kids let alone plan activities for them. The days are long and hard and not every moment is enjoyable. Don't get me wrong, I love many moments with my children but some moments are so, so, so very difficult. Like when you're outside together and you realize your two and three year old have yanked 10 plus hydrangea buds that were abo

He pounded down the hallway straight to the toy shelves we keep in the front room. Hands grab at the nearest container and everything is dumped out on the floor. The truck was pushed around briefly and then thrown onto the pillow nearby. My 3 year old then proceeded to dump the rest of the neatly organized activities I had set out the night before. While I know all this dumping and tossing is a part of the learning and exploration; It does not erase the fact that it irritates me. IT IRRITATES ME ALOT!!! At times it has made me want to just give up on planning activities all together! However, in those moments when I see focused exploration and long attentions spans, I know my efforts are well worth it.  In my experience as an Early Childhood Specialist and now a Mom to four I have some fabulous ideas to support focused play. At some point in my education journey I learned that a child's attention span is typically their age plus or minus a minute. That attention span chan

                                We carry many responsibilities as parents and one of them is making sure our household runs smoothly! As a mom of four kids, I've developed some "tricks" that have decreased the weight of this responsibility. I'm all about making everyday tasks and chores easier! How about you? Come take a look as I highlight my favorite ones! Cleaning:   Have A Daily Cleaning List You Follow:   In our house with kids, there will always be something that needs cleaning. However, I don't want to feel like I spent my whole life cleaning. So, we follow a days of the week cleaning method. For example, Tuesdays are Tubs and Toilets in our house! We work together as a team to get that accomplished! Click  Kids and Cleaning method to find out how we accomplish this task. Clean As You Move: If I'm already moving around the house caring for the kids; I'll grab items that need to be put away as I move from one room to anoth

The Lord has designed a unique path for each of us to follow. Sometimes  we will face battles that steer us away from that unique path. I'm not talking about the squabble between your 2 and 3 year old this morning or the morning struggle to get out the door. I'm talking about the battles that happen deep within ourselves. One battle in particular that I'm thinking of is the feeling of inadequacy. There are lies that fester saying "I'm not doing enough." or "look at what they do with their kids." Sandwich inadequacy between envy and discontent and you have a full on war within you. This war will continue until we give up those lies and open up our eyes to the unique gifts the Lord has cultivated in us. "In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well..." Romans 12:6. Did you catch that? We are given different gifts!!! I challenge you to put that inadequacy, envy and discontent sandwich in the trash and come a