So thankful for our little man

I was just thinking today how thankful I am that God has blessed us with Thomas. His middle name is my husband's father's name, Delwin, which means "a godly friend". I can already see this trait growing in him, and I pray that the Lord would help it to continue to grow and grow. He is a very affectionate little guy, and loves people. He is so happy to see all of the men at church, who are so welcoming to him all of the time. We love that he has these godly friends to look up to and learn from.

It has been such a joy having him as part of our family for the past 2-2 1/2 years. Our little man is a huge blessing to us!

Here he is with Noel's father's hat on from when he was a little boy.

 

 He loves his Daddy.

  

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More essential oils that have helped us with recurrent pneumonia...

Frankincense.

It was our second cold after getting through the whooping cough, and Thomas was having a hard time. It is pretty common with the whooping cough to get colds easier afterwards. The body's immune system is weaker, and the lungs haven't totally healed yet. He had a fever for 4 to 5 days that I was keeping low using the peppermint/lavender mix. I check his lungs a lot when he has a cold/cough because of his history of recurrent pneumonia, and it was no longer just congestion that could be worked out. I heard that dreadful sound of wheezing.

Before using the oils, this always meant that no matter what I tried, including both natural and steroids with Albuterol, he would end up on an antibiotic. That was the only thing that would clear up his lungs. Thankfully, after using oils like Eucalyptus, Thieves, R.C., and Peppermint, his lungs would be cleared without the antibiotic. 

We had been using all of those for about 2 months since getting the whooping cough when he started with this long fever and wheezing. This seemed like infection settling in, so I thought maybe he needed something more...or even something new at this point. I did some research and learned that Frankincense is supposed to be great for lung infections. I started putting it on his chest 3 times a day. I noticed a difference within the first 24 hours. His fever was gone, along with most of the wheezing. In another 24 hours, he was back to just the congestion that could be worked out. For him, it is really helpful to get him to cough it out so it doesn't settle and "get stuck". What a blessing for him to be 2 and be able to tell him to cough!

I also started using the Breathe Again roll-on blend 1-2 times a day along with his normal regimen, and that seemed to help too.

Hopefully this is a help to anyone who deals with the issue of recurrent pneumonia. (Thomas had gotten pneumonia 5 times in his first 18 months after contracting RSV/Bronchiolitis at 5 months, which really weakens the lungs). I can't tell you how thankful I am for these oils from our Creator.

Thomas is thankful, too!

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A Sweet Little Story..."My Brother"

Part of the children's schooling includes going through these wonderful readers that precious friends have lent us. They are called the Christian Life Readers by Keepers of the Faith. They are sweet little stories that introduce new vocabulary words, teach a lesson, include a Bible verse, and have comprehension and application questions at the end. We have so enjoyed these! The stories are character building and filled with positive messages. Here is one that Julianna read recently that I really enjoyed. It's called "My Brother".

Who often with me kindly played,
And all my little trinkets made,
My kite and ball--though still unpaid?
          My brother.

Who made a sled when winter came,
With little ropes to draw the same,
And on its sides carved out my name?
          My brother.

And who was it that taught to me
The way to read my A, B, C,
And marked them on the slate for me?
          My brother.

Who gathered apples from the tree,
Chestnuts and walnuts too, for me:
Who cheerfully did all this? Thee,
          My brother.

Pictured to the left is a drawing of two brothers, both holding brooms, the younger one taking a bite of an apple, the older one with his arm proudly around his younger brother, which such a loving smile on his face.

We talked about how the older brother wasn't off doing his own thing, trying to get his little brother out of his hair, but rather, he gladly took on the role of being his big brother. Loving him through helping him, making things for him, and teaching him with such a thankfulness to have this younger brother. He didn't go and just get an apple from the tree for himself, but thought of his brother and got one for him too.

We talked about ways in which we see these acts of love in our family, and ways in which we see them not loving one another with frustration, pride and selfishness. Even as a mother, it challenged me...there are times when I don't always appreciate motherhood with this same attitude. To be just so thankful that God has given me these children to raise, to forget myself and not get frustrated with them not doing things on my terms because they messed with my routine or my current job/project. It was a wonderful thing, reading this sweet little story. It challenged all of us and reminded us of the importance of true love in a family.

What a blessing when so many more popular children's books glorify sibling rivalry and promote division amongst siblings. We try to be vigilant in not allowing that type of interaction between our children. I pray that the Lord would so knit their hearts together, that they would look fondly at one another when they're grown, with their arms around one another and say "My Brother" or "My Sister".

Here is the verse that was at the end of this story:
"He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him." 1 John 2:10

Here is Rebecca teaching Thomas how to read his A, B, C. :-)

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"Get Wisdom"

In planning our schooling for the week, I found that our next character trait to study is Wisdom. I have been using www.characterjournal.com as a help with our character studies. For each character trait they have definitions, Bible verses, famous quotes, Bible stories and stories from history. It has been a wonderful resource. Usually, I print out what they have for each character trait and then highlight what I would like to focus on with the children. As I was printing out Wisdom, I didn't understand at first why there were so many pages printing. When I checked to make sure that I hadn't clicked print 3 times by accident, which I have done before, I realized that it was all of the Bible verses pertaining to Wisdom. 

Our Lord, Jesus Christ, is this Wisdom. What a precious gift...

This verse stood out to me today and encouraged my soul:

Psalms 19:7 The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

and another one:
Psalm 51:6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

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A Fun Homeschool Project: Learning Anatomy

The last time I was at our local homeschool store, a sweet woman who works there recommended an idea for teaching anatomy of the human body. I was happy to have been given this idea because after we learned about cells, the next part of our Science lessons was going to be focusing on the human body.

So, we went to the hardware store and picked up a roll of the brown paper that contractors use on the floor, otherwise known as builder's paper. :-) http://www.homedepot.com/buy/trimaco-35-in-x-140-ft-brown-builder-s-paper-35140.html#.UOhCZKzNnTo

Next, we rolled out the paper and I had each child lay down on it so I could trace their bodies. 

(Thank you to Julianna, my photographer.)

Then, I cut out their bodies, and we taped them up on the wall.

Obviously, these are not perfect by any means, but the goal isn't perfection, rather that they learn about the human body in a fun and practical way.

Then, we started adding on bones as we are learning about the skeletal system. (We'll have to come back and finish with some of the bones after we do the other systems). But, so far we have our femur, patella, tibia and fibula bones! :-) You can use anatomy books or the internet to find diagrams of the body to help you along.

We added Annabelle to the wall, which is neat because they can see how much they have grown...and she was feeling rather neglected. ;-)

I look forward to finishing this project and referring back to it. I hope this was helpful!

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Our Master Bedroom and Baby Girl's Crib Area

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we usually keep our babies in our room with us for the first 4-8 months, depending on how soon the baby is sleeping through the night. I am so thankful to even be writing this, that God has blessed us with another little one to spend those sweet moments of nursing in the middle of the night. (Note to self: come back and read this post when I am ridiculously tired in those first few weeks) :-)

The crib bedding is so special to me because my cousin Michelle sewed it for my first little girl. She did such a wonderful job...(Thank you again, Michelle!) It has been used for my first two girls and now Annabelle will be using it. I had painted the hanging letters for Julianna to match the fabric, so I was happy to have the "Anna" already for Annabelle. All I had to do was add the canvas underneath...which I am still undecided if that needs something more on the bottom. Let me know your thoughts if you have any suggestions. 

We found the tri-fold wooden mirror at a thrift store for only $1.50 after our 50% off coupon! I thought it went nicely with everything, so that was a nice find. The frames and drawer pulls on the shelf were painted when I was pregnant with Julianna to match the set. It just so happens that our bedding matches so nicely with those autumn colors.

I had a lot of fun putting another room together! We're pretty much ready for this little girl, and I'm only 21 weeks along. Yes, I think I am a little excited about her. :-)

I don't have it on the letter page in the store, but if you would like me to paint any wooden letters to match any bedding, I would be happy to do so. Just let me know, and we can come up with a plan.

Thanks for taking a look! Have a wonderful day!

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Bringing in the New Year with a New Room for my girls and New Products!

I am very excited to share with you what we did to make over our daughters' room! My inspirations...some scrapbook paper, my friend's homes filled with sweet feminine elegance, two paintings I had painted and some wonderful verses of scripture.

Their room is now filled with a vintage floral theme, along with a shabby chic feel and it oozes femininity!

This is one of those projects that turned out just as I had envisioned it, and I love it even more than I thought I would. I am also excited because I created some of the new products I had in mind but hadn't been able to offer with examples, like custom painted closet doors, cornices, Scripture paintings, and name meaning paintings.

Here are some pictures to start with:

Our 3rd little girl expected to arrive in May, will have her crib under the sage crib painting in that little nook. Yet, we usually keep our babies in our room with us until 5-8 months, so for now a pack and play will go there. I'm finishing up her spot in our room soon, so I'll post some pictures of that soon, too.

We picked the scriptures that we did to focus on God's love for them, their love for God and their love for one another. Here are some close-ups of the canvas Scripture painting: (Deuteronomy 30:20)

I will be offering Scripture canvases in any size you would prefer with any Scripture, and you also will be able to pick the background pattern, colors, and font. I will be finishing that page soon, but let me know if you'd like to design your own Scripture canvas in the meantime.

The next products I would like to focus on are the custom painted wood cornices and closet doors. The cornices are completely custom, so you tell me the dimensions, and we can have your cornice made for that size. I can paint anything you would like on the cornices...for example, a Scripture verse or quote, a decorative finish, painting that matches a fabric you love, etc. We can do a small mural, too. It really is up to you. I will also be completing that page soon, too, but would be happy to get started with you on your own custom painted wood cornice in the meantime. You don't have to be local to the Raleigh area, either. If you are willing to pay for the extra shipping, you can send me color samples, fabric samples, sketches, etc.

As you can see, custom painted closet doors are a unique way to decorate a room! Some advantages to using painted closet doors as decor are that you are using space that is often wasted, you can freely decorate a large part of the room even if you are renting your apartment or home, and it is often less expensive than having an artist come to your home to painting on your wall. Also, if you were to move unexpectedly, which I have seen clients have to do so, you can take your mural with you. Let me know if you would like to design some closet doors for a room in your house.

Here are some close-ups of the cornices and closet doors:

The last new product is the name meaning signs. I'll be offering this along with my name plaques and monogram sets. It was so much fun to make these...especially with having just picked out our newest little girl's name!

And here are some other fun little touches...

Thank you for letting me share with you! Perhaps it has offered a little bit of decorating inspiration to you. Remember, with custom artwork and decor items, don't forget to think outside of the box. There aren't too many limitations-it is how you would like to design it, which is what makes it so much fun!

Happy New Year to you all! May the Lord bless you and yours in this upcoming year.

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