Have you taught your kids any good lessons lately? Do yourself a favor and put your foot down! The best parents are the ones that take care of themselves! My morning was filled with coffee drinking on the front steps instead of refereeing back seat fights. I’ll take it!
Charity Water – Making A Difference in Rwanda
Did you buy a cup of coffee today? What was it, like $6 or $7?
Did you crack open a can of beer over the weekend? How much was that six pack?
Are you drinking a nice cold glass of ice water as you read this? Go ahead, take a sip, relish in it’s ice cold refreshment.
If the answer to any of these questions was yes (and most likely you answered yes to more than one of them!) then would take a moment to watch this?
Chills and tears, yes?
Would you join me in contributing to this cause? You can trust that your money will make a difference.
From the Charity Water website:
of every dollar will fund large-scale water systems in Rulindo District. When the systems are complete, we’ll each one with photos and GPS coordinates.
Ian, a good friend of mine, has already started a campaign called Water from Vermont. If you would like to donate, please do so there! Or start your own campaign and share it with your church, your families, your friends. Your donation counts, no matter what the amount!
Water changes everything. I believe it.
Thanks for believing it too, friends.
We Finally Arrived
Almost fourteen years ago, when Matt and I started our lives together, he worked at the mall. It was a good position in a sports store. Sometimes we think back to those days and wonder how we made it though.
Once we had our first son, things changed. Matt decided it was time to go back to college and start a career. We wanted more for our growing family.
It took a move from New York to Indiana to start us off. Matt worked nights at UPS and maintained a full school work load during the day. There were times in the summer when he also worked construction with my brother. I worked part time while my Mom babysat Chandler.
It was a crazy time for us. There was much debt accumulation. We paid for diapers with our credit cards. We lived in my Mom’s basement for a couple of years. But we kept going. Matt worked his butt off trying to make a better life for us.
Eventually, we were able to buy a house and start a somewhat more normal life for ourselves. We had two more babies. We continued to struggle financially. Matt worked the night shift for several years. We always made it though. We lived very simply for many, many years. I worked part time on and off but then finally stopped once I had all three boys on my hands. At that point, we lived even more simply. How? I have no idea. But we did it.
A few years later, Matt graduated from the University of Louisville with a degree in mechanical engineering. From the time he started there until he graduated, he climbed up at UPS from night time box handler to a position in the engineering department. The money was better but we still struggled. There were debts to be paid and school loans looming overhead. But we kept going.
We moved here to Vermont about ten years later. Matt accepted a some-what temporary contract position on the base in the engineering department. He’s been there a couple of years. Thankfully, his contract had continued to be renewed throughout those two years.
Yesterday, Matt accepted a promotion for a permanent position as Deputy Engineer over the Civil Engineering Department on the base. This is the job he has been hoping and praying for. This is the kind of position that he dreamed of twelve years ago when we started this journey of bettering our lives. This is a huge promotion. A huge step forward in his career. This, for us, is HUGE.
We have struggled and scrimped and scraped by for all of these years. Having babies and living the best life we can all the while. As the years have gone on, things slowly got better for us. It took time and patience to get to where we are.
I wanted to share this part of our story to encourage those of you who are still in the very beginning stages of your journey. Maybe you just registered for college courses and are wondering how you will raise a family and earn your degree. Maybe you have graduated but now stare down the long road of paying off loans and finding that perfect job. Maybe you are still working at the mall and haven’t even taken the first step yet. Here’s what I want you to know:
IT IS WORTH IT.
Keep going. Keep pushing. Keep your expectations for yourself and your family high. Don’t give up! Find every program and scholarship you can. ASK FOR HELP. If we didn’t live with my Mom and Step-Dad for those couple of years, I don’t know what we would have done. Granted, not everyone has the luxury of that kind of situation, but make the best of your situation. Sacrifice. We gave up so much in those years. And now?
I’m sitting in my amazing kitchen staring at appliances that I have only dreamed of having.
I just talked to my husband on my iPhone. (Yes, this is a luxury to me!)
We have cable! Yes, this is the first time we have had cable in…well, I don’t even know how many years.
Our debts have dwindled.
We gave up so much to get to where we are. But hear me:
IT WAS WORTH IT!
We are not rich now or anything. Don’t get me wrong. Maybe my title is a little misleading. There will still be struggle ahead of us. We didn’t win the lottery. But, boy, I sure feel like we did.
Young families, keep hoping, keep dreaming, keep going. I promise you, one day it will all be worth it!
When School Doesn’t Start For A Million Years
I appreciate Summer break. I really do. This time and season for us though has been crazy. We are all ready for some normal. We need school to start again. But we still have a couple of weeks. The boys are tired of each other. They need a break from being home, working on house stuff.
What Parenting with Love and Logic Looks Like
Parenting through this crazy housing situation we have been through has been hard. We’ve tried to be consistent as possible but when your kids don’t even have a bedroom to be sent to, it can be tough.
I have had these tidbits from a Love and Logic email saved for a long time. I like to look back at them now and then to remind myself what my parenting should look like. I thought I’d share them with you and give myself another refresher as well!
- A loving attitude toward the young person. A key principle of the Love and Logic approach is that we preserve the dignity – of the child AND the adult. Does yelling and threatening preserve kids’ dignity? How about ours?
- Shared thinking and control. Adults using Love and Logic techniques resist the urge to come up with all the answers and solve all the problems. Instead, they give kids the gift of thinking about and solving problems. They ask lots of questions and give lots of choices so kids stay in on the action.
- Empathy before consequences and bad news. We are sad for kids and we hurt for them when they struggle. Our sadness (instead of our anger and frustration) helps them own problems and learn from the consequences. None of this works without empathy.
- Relationships are paramount. If we are not preserving or enhancing relationships, we are not really using Love and Logic techniques.
*Not a sponsored post!
Recipe: Tortellini and Veggie Casserole
 |
| Photo Credit: BHG.com |
This casserole is a delicious blend of pasta, chicken and veggies. The recipe is from Better Homes & Gardens. I found it on Pinterest and pinned for later. Well, later came and boy am I glad! It was so delicious!
I pretty much followed the recipe exactly except that I added in zucchini and squash for some extra veggie goodness. My Mom made it once and used sour cream instead of the cream cheese and that was equally delish as well!
Again, here is the link for the recipe: Tortellini and Garden Vegetable Bake from Better Homes & Gardens
Enjoy! And thanks to BHG.com! I seriously love them!