Everyday talk- book review

                                                               
Everyday Talk By John A Younts

Another book crossed off my monthly reading plan! This is a short read (and yet still took me about 2 weeks to read!) only 150 pages, but very good. It really made me think about how I talk directly and indirectly to my girls and even my husband. I truly want to be different how how I talk to/ teach my children. The first few chapters I had a lot of underlining going on! That means I was having many "aha moments". This is how the book starts and explains the significance of 'everyday talk' to your children:
"Everyday talk is talk that happens in the unplanned moments. It happens in casual, unguarded moments. It happens when you are distracted or irritated and would rather not be talking at all." 


This book shows you how to do just that. By knowing that your children are watching/ learning/ listening to every remark (good and bad) you have to say about big things like "What's Heaven like?" and "Do I know Jesus?" and little things like "Why does it have to rain today?" and "Why can't I run in the house?" You as a parent have to know God's commands for yourself and let them overflow from your heart out of your mouth.Use these little moments to talk about big things with them. Teach them to obey you not because of the consequences that may follow but simply because God put you in charge. You cannot yell at a child for running in the house only when something bad happens. If that was the rule to start with, he must be disciplined no matter what happens in the end. By only correcting him when something bad happens (or when you have time to deal with it)- you are showing a inconsistent model of discipline as well as classifying sins as big and small when in fact it is all a sin.

There was a disturbing statistic in the book. It said that according the the Indexes of Leading Cultural Indicators- teens talk to their fathers a mere 35 min week and watch 21 hrs of television a week! Preschoolers watch up to 4 hrs day! With all that garbage going in their minds, You know that you are going to have to counteract all that is going in. Satan is all over this world! When you speak to your children in a calm, patient and cheerful attitude it will give you a better chance of having them want to listen. Instead of always nagging them or lecturing them about something; Show a real interest in who they are and what they are talking about.

Chapter 3 was speaking directly to me- "It is hard to be a good listener!!" Yes, I hear what my kids are saying but sometimes it is really hard to take a break from what I'm doing and really listen to them and not brush them off. I just want to say something to make them stop talking for a minute! I think it must get harder for a parent of a teen because as noted previously, they only speak to you a few minutes each day- you want to make it count. You want them to know that you do care about them and what they have to say. For me right now, I know that Isabella will just keep repeating it till I really acknowledge her. Honestly even when I don't give her that minute that age is just so precious because they just love you so much and you are their world. They will just come back in 2 minutes! The teen years are harder because they might not come back....

I am really working on not brushing them off, (especially for silly things like Facebook and Pinterest!) and when I am on, to explain in a patient way that I need a minute and will be with them soon. I truly want to enjoy every moment I have with them. Every mom I meet tells me how fast it goes. I can tell already because it seems as though we just brought Isabella home to our little apt and didn't know what the heck we were doing! Now God has blessed us with two precious girls that fill us with joy every day!

Other chapters in this book included how to talk to your children about the world's deception, music, and sex. Those were interesting, but not of particular use for me currently. I will keep them in my mind for future reference though- I know it's coming up quicker than I'd like! I would highly recommend this book to any parent that really wants to make a difference in the way they parent. Someone who wants to show that Christ reigns supremely in their household.

Hmm... (P)interesting!

So as you may know, I have a love affair with Pinterest! Here's some ideas that I've found and how they went "in the real world"..Now I must add a disclaimer. All these pictures on the post are mine. If you are going to re-post, please include the whole blog address. I recently read an article that made me second guess having a Pinterest account! Here it is: http://directmatchmedia.com/pinterest-copyright.php


So now I am being more careful and not just pining every little thing that is in the remotest way cute or I might try, I look at the original site first. If it has a "pin it" button, then I re-pin. Otherwise I just "like" it or save the link somewhere else. I could not bear to just throw all these great, fun, inspirational ideas away! This article gave me the ideas: http://bloggingwithamy.com/pinterest-legal/

I tried to find the original links in the following ideas, but some were just a picture; and if you just read the above article, it is not mine to redistribute! So, here they are. Sorry these posts took me a while to finally get up. Once you see all the pictures and links, you'll know why! I feel little hypocritical yelling at my daughter to go away so I can write/ think, while I'm writing/ thinking/ pinning ideas to do with her!;)

 

Shaving cream with food coloring- This was very easy to do. Isabella had fun with it. She put on the tile up the bath wall. Olivia just wanted to eat it! You can't really "paint" any particular thing, but for younger kids it's fun to just smear it around. To do this, I just sprayed a little bunch in each cupcake holder spot and put 2-3 drop of food coloring in each spot for a different color and mix it up. I did leave it out on the counter when she was done with it. It kinda just disappeared or got crusty on the sides.. So I don't know if it would be able to save if you put wrap or foil over it.

 Chocolate Chip Lava Cookies-  I made these for valentine's day. These were very good, but I didn't put enough chocolate in the middle. So they ended up just being a really good chocolate chip cookie muffin! Here's the link to this recipe: http://www.kevinandamanda.com/whatsnew/new-recipes/chocolate-chip-lava-cookies.html




Chocolate chip cookies, molded into cups- Didn't work at all! I made quite a (tasty!) mess. It was hard to put over the bottoms of the muffin tin and then when it was cooking it seemed to grow! I ended up scratching off all of it with a knife and eating lots of little bits of cookie. I used a new recipe, and that did work out well. Next time I make just plain chocolate chip cookies, I'll definitely make them again. Here's the recipe: http://kelseysappleaday.blogspot.com/2011/08/best-ever-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies.html

Pipe cleaners in the strainer- Bella didn't seem to like this. I just saw a quick picture on Pinterest, so all I know is it's suppose to be fun and help their fine motor skills...

Sight word  with clothes pins Great idea! Bella likes it, but it is hard for her to squeeze the pins and get them on the paper over the right letter. She can find the letter and match it up though.. Definitely something to use more in a few months. Here's the very long link! http://www.imperfecthomemaking.com/2011/11/while-backi-whipped-up-little-game-for.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ImperfectHomemaking+%28The+Complete+Guide+to+Imperfect+Homemaking%29

Bathroom mirror frames- One word: LOVE! I already wrote up a a whole post on this, so you can just read that for more info:) http://thedelgadofam.blogspot.com/2012/02/bathroom-mirror-frames.html

 
Paint in a bag Easy and fun. I taped it on the window and Bella and Livi both liked it. I think this only seems to work for keeping their attention for short term though..

Pantry organizing/ labels-I got in a organizing mood sometime in January. Y'know when that "new year bug" gets you all inspired to be things you never were!;) I need to make up a few more labels now, but so far it's looking pretty nice. I had to reorganize once already. Thankfully it was right before my mom came to visit. Ha! So I look like I'm all organized! The black canisters labels I made with white contact paper and my silhouette.
 http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/free-printables-148497?utm_campaign=Feed%3A+apartmenttherapy%2Fmain+%28Main%29&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner

foot print butterfly- I would recommend painting your child's feet instead of just sticking in a pile of paint. You only get one chance on your canvas! Here's how they turned out.

No bake energy bites- Easy review here: delicious and easy to make. Isabella liked them. Guess I didn't take a picture! http://smashedpeasandcarrots.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-bake-energy-bites-recipe.html

Choc pb pretzels Yummy!! A little tedious with all the little sandwich making, but worth it! This is a good dessert to have your kids help you with. Only problem is they go so fast!
http://17andbaking.com/2011/03/25/peanut-butter-pretzel-bites-dipped-in-chocolate/

pretty much the whole hungry caterpillar party theme-http://thedelgadofam.blogspot.com/2012/01/happy-2012-new-beginning.html

Gods and Kings: Book Review

This is suppose to be my February book review. I finished (finally!) Gods and Kings by Lynn Austin. This was a interested idea for a story. It was a fictional story based on Hezekiah in the Bible. I did not know anything about him and little about this time period ( it is based on 2 Kings 17-21, 2 Chronicles 28-32 and some parts of Isaiah ). It was interesting to get in their head to understand what they might have been thinking as well as hear what might have been some dialogue they might have had. I started the book in December ( I think) and would read for a while and then forget about it for a few weeks, therefore it took me forever to finish it!
The story starts with Hezekiah as a young boy pulled out of bed along with his brother. His brother is sacrificed to the god Molech, burned alive! Hezekiah watches this horrid scene. Obviously, he is very upset and had nightmares and wants to stay by his mother, who is a believer of Yahweh. The story goes along following him growing up and learning about God's ways from his grandfather, Zechariah. Hezekiah is the next in line to be king of Assyria. His father, King Ahaz worships many idols and has turned the country upside down. He does not let him help in leading the country nor tell him anything. There are some parts that talk about Isaiah the prophet going out into the town to warn the people and to repent from their disobedience and idol worship. Obviously, there are many twists and turns involving these Biblical characters.
To follow in my husband's (book reviewing) footsteps, I would give this a 3 our of 5 stars. Like I said, the book was an interesting idea, but it didn't seem to keep my attention for long amounts of time. However I seem read more of  fictional books ( and even that has to be just perfect conditions for me to stick with it!); So if you like historical fiction genre, this would be right up your alley!