Essential Oils

The last few weeks I have been a little obsessed with learning about essential oils. I have been reading blogs, watching YouTube videos, reading about products on manufacturers websites. It is very interesting to me. I've been learning about how oils like lavender, peppermint, lemon, and so many others can help with so many different things. People use them to relieve stress and help them sleep, to stop headaches and sore throats, to help with asthma and allergies, to protect their families from getting colds and the flu, as air fresheners and for cleaning. The list goes on and on.

After lots of research I found an a starter kit that I really wanted to buy. It included 11 different essential oils, a diffuser to disperse the oils into the air of your home, a big book explaining how to use the oils, and some other goodies. But the cost of the package held me back, as our family doesn't have a lot of extra money laying around. I really wanted to believe that these oils could help me take care of our family better. It sounded like a super fun new hobby while helping us feel better too!

In the last few days my perspective has changed. I realized that along with the financial cost of buying the oils, there might be something else at stake here too. Do I really want to put my faith in a little box of oils to help me relieve my stress and anxiety? And do I want these oils to be the cure for every cut, headache, and bump in the road for our family?

No, I think right now I need to focus on Jesus as the solution to my stress and anxiety. And I need to pray more for my family instead of running to a new product to solve their problems. I'm not saying that using these oils is wrong, or that I won't ever invest in them. But right now, I'm  going to work harder at letting Jesus meet our needs and teaching my children to look to Him.

We Love the Library

I remember going to the library when I was little. I even remember the Children's librarian and her voice reading books to us during story time. Sometimes we would watch movies on a video projector where the film ran from one reel to the other. And of course we always took home lots of books.

As an adult I have always loved the library too. I mostly check out Christian fiction, and sometimes venture into other genres. I have also checked out a lot of movies and tv shows.

And now that I am a mom of 3, I still love the library. I still check out my Christian fiction, but now I also books on parenting and homeschooling. I also check out kids books like Llama Llama Red Pajama or Pinkalicious! And kids shows like Elmo and Curious George. You know, the ones that don't drive me crazy.

Besides checking things out, we also attend story and play times at the library. Our library has toddler story time on Monday and toddler play time on Thursday. My kids love both! Story time includes reading books, singing songs, and other interactive stories. Play time there are a whole bunch of toys to play with, and then singing songs together the last few minutes. We also attend play time on Wednesdays at another nearby library sometimes. We are lucky to live within driving distance of several libraries so whatever day of the week we want to go we can often find something.

All this to say, we are thankful for our public libraries! We have access to so much for free!

TV and Parenting

For the last few months my twins have gone to bed with the TV on. It's not a parenting choice that I am proud of. But it was a choice I made to try to survive this season of life with three young kids.

I remember several year ago, before I had twins, watching an episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8. In the episode the 3 toddler girls were going down for a nap in one room with the TV on, and the 3 toddler boys were going down for a nap in another room also with a TV on. I remember thinking, "Why would you let your kids have the TV on during nap time! How are the kids supposed to sleep?" 

Then I had twins and my husband and I spent months in separate rooms each holding a baby to try to get them to go to sleep. Finally we made the switch to the babies learning to go to sleep in their cribs with the (gasp) TV on. I choose an Elmo video we had as the designated "sleepy time" show. I wasn't totally happy with putting them down twice a day in their cribs with Elmo as their babysitter. But it worked. They went to sleep without being held. And my husband and I finally had a few precious minutes of the day without babies in our arms to try to recapture our sanity.

Now that my twins are almost 2 (yikes!), we decided it was time to turn off the TV at bedtime and nap time. We decided they needed to learn to put themselves to sleep on their own. Since we were taking away their TV, I wanted to give them something in return. I got them each a Pillow Pet Dream Lite, which is a cool kind of night light to sleep with. I also started playing some music for them.

The first night of no Elmo was a little tough. Joel went right to sleep. Alyssa cried for awhile. Finally they were both asleep with their new lights. Here they are that first night.....

Since then, we have not had any TV at bedtime. Just music and night lights. Sometimes they cry a little, but mostly Joel and Alyssa can put themselves to sleep just fine. Thankfully I don't think we did any lasting damage to our children by letting them watch TV for several months at bedtime. It was for a short season of our lives, and now we are onto the next season.

I guess I owe an apology to Jon and Kate for using the TV during nap time, LOL.

And I wonder which parenting change we will need to make next!

Our Favorite Pictures from May

 They love to eat!

They love to read books!

 Eating gummy worms with Daddy

After so many months of carrying Joel and Alyssa up the stairs....
they can do it!

Shhhhh! Joel is sleeping!

Pig tails day

Joel and Alyssa had hand foot and mouth disease. No fun.

She wrote a word on her whiteboard all by herself!

Not real happy when Joel and Alyssa learned to do this.

Playing together

MOPS: Join Now!

I have been involved in MOPS at my church the last 5 years. My first year I worked in the nursery. During that year I found out I was pregnant with our first child, and by the end of the year it was getting pretty hard to play on the floor with the babies as my stomach got bigger and bigger. The next year I joined MOPS as a mom, and my daughter was just 2 months old at my first meeting. My second year attending as a mom I stepped into a leadership role as a table leader. My job was to get to know the 8-10 ladies at my table, help them feel welcome, lead discussions, plan activities, and of course do some administrative work such as phone calls and emails and attend leadership meetings. Near the end of that year I found I was having twins and I decided that I would have to take a step back from leadership the next year. I was really just hoping that I was going to be able to attend the meetings after having twins! So my third year as a mom I had twins at the table with me. Since they were preemies, I couldn't put them in childcare, so they stayed with me the whole year. This last year (if you are keeping track, this was my fourth year as a mom!) I was happy to jump back to leadership and again I was a table leader. I love being involved in hospitality and discipleship, and I also enjoy the administrative side too. This next year I am already planning to be a table leader again.

What I love about MOPS is that it as a place that moms can be real. We don't have to be dressed up or pretend like we have it all together. We all have problems with our kids and we all need friends to walk this journey with us.

I attend MOPS at Alderwood Community Church, and we are currently open for registration for next year. You can find out more information here and register online. Join us!

April in Pictures

I understand I am a little behind in posting pictures! The last week or two I have not been able to upload my pictures from my camera to my computer. Last night I finally called in my tech support (my husband) and he got it done for me. Yay! OK, so here are some memorable moments from April.......

Katilyn LOVES to push her siblings on the swings!

Playing at the park!

Cute sister picture

Joel found Kaitlyn's yogurt

Eating peas and being silly

Feeding each other cheerios

We got a slide!

Did you know my kids are loud?

The Shoreline Indoor Playgound: My Review

The last few months I have been taking my kids to the Shoreline Indoor Playground and we LOVE it. The playtime is held at the Spartan Recreation Center and is held every weekday from 9:30-11:30. In the large gym there are lots of cars to drive around, balls to bounce, a slide, hula hoops, teeter totters, a kitchen and picnic table set, mats to climb on, and lots of room to run around. The great thing for me, is that it is so easy for me to see all my kids. When I go to the park, for example, it is always hard to see my kids when they are behind a slide or other large toy. But in the gym, it's easy to see the whole room. It's also a great place to meet friends as we can stand in one spot and chat about life while we keep an eye on our kids. Of course we get interrupted running after kids, once in awhile, but lately it has been the easiest place to meet up with friends. The cost to play is only $2 per child, and if you a buy a punch card, then it is even cheaper. For our family, this is one of the best places we can go right now to have lots of fun playing while in a safe place. We highly recommend it!