We Are Family!

My kids know the song! It is so important to keep our family together but it is sooooo hard! I think last night was the first night all week that we sat around the table together for dinner and even that was at 7:30 pm! Can you believe it?! Poor family! But I am still glad that we made time to sit down together.

I wanted to let you in on a neat thing that we do to keep manners a priority for our kids, and even for us as parents, at the dinner table. The idea came from Family Fun Magazine but we have elaborated on it. We light a 4 wick candle at the beginning of dinner. If anyone loses or "forgets" their manners at dinner then they have to blow out a candle. We even have a bonus candle and that means that we are just really out of this world with our manners. If all 4 wicks are still lit at the end of dinner then we get to have dessert. Dessert to us is hot chocolate or popcorn or whatever we can rustle up. . . just an extra treat!

As parents, we love the idea because it keeps the table focused but my kids like the benefit. If we forget to light the candles then they make sure to remind us.

Food for thought: What does your family do to stay unified? How did you stay a family growing up? What are some creative ways that you have found to keep manners a priority at your table? For you non-posters, make sure you chime on this one . . .ie Katherine Kramer!!!! :)

Peace for your Soul?

I felt a post coming on when I woke up this morning! It has been a tough couple of days for me. For one, the time change has wreaked havoc on my body. Right now I am struggling to keep myself from going to take a nap. Yesterday, I succumbed to the urge to take a nap and today I am trying to fight the good fight.

Another reason why I having a hard time is that I am struggling with work. I am sure that everyone struggles with work to some degree so this is not abnormal, just tiring. My good friend, Meryal would say this is just an opportunity to grow! You either grow or wither up and die-that's my take on it.

I also realized this morning that I forgot to pay a bill. I think, if I remember correctly from someone's website, is that today is National Clean Your Home Office Day and mine really needs it. I am a terrible "stacker". Yes, I suffer from this awful stacking disease. It is a generational stacking disorder. When people are coming over I just go through the kitchen and living room and frantically stack all of the papers together and then stick them in some remote corner of the house. Later, I find the stack with everything from kids artwork, to bills, to homework that Caleb was supposed to do. I should sticking them somewhere that I could find them easier like the microwave or something.

Anyway, the point to this post is that all day I have been looking for ways to console my soul. I just feel this yucky, antsy feeling all over. My natural inclination is to worry and go take a nap to get rid of that awful feeling. That's called denial for those of you who are reading into this! Sometimes the nap part helps, but I never really get to the bottom of the heart issue. What I am wondering is what do you do when you get that yucky feeling that things are out of control and you are not coping well?

Do you eat? I do sometimes. Do you just worry yourself to death? I do a lot. Do you listen to music? Do you read the Word and shake the Word until something falls down from Heaven to help you? Do you read a book on the topic that is bothering you? What do you do to console yourself and to really help you deal with the heart issue? I would love to hear from you.