Kendra

I am a stay-at-home homeschooling mom of four rowdy boys, and have been married to my high-school sweetheart for the last 13 years. When I'm not playing teacher, nurse, cook or maid, I love to read and write.

Only one thing is needed

Heavenly Habits 6 Responses »

Mar 062012

I didn’t think I had anything to post today. I’ve been a bit soul-sick lately. Heavy-hearted. Mind overflowing with questions and unknowns and doubts and fears. I was just about to send a note to my fellow Habits authors to let them know I wouldn’t have a post ready. Then I heard that voice tugging at my heart again:

Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.

Am I ever going to learn?

I don’t have a lot to say today, but I wanted to share the oh-so-familiar verses from Philippians 4 that God pointed me to this afternoon. Maybe somebody else is going through a rough patch and needs a little encouragement.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

And don’t miss the rest of it. I’ve given it to God, abandoned the anxiety, now what? How do I keep myself from dwelling on it?

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

It’s that time of year…

Feb 072012

Every year around this time, I find myself trying to refocus on my marriage. Valentine’s Day is around the corner and our anniversary follows in March, so I guess it is natural that our marriage tugs a little harder on my heart. Here are a few things I’ve been thinking and doing… would you join me in some of these?

I’m planning a little redo of our love nest, courtesy of Pinterest. I’ve found several easy and fun diy projects, like this one.

I don’t know when we’ll do the remodel, but the planning sure is fun! I’m collecting soothing color schemes and decor ideas and pinning them to my Sanctuary board.

And speaking of Pinterest (sorry, I know Pinterest week was last week, but I just can’t help myself!) isn’t this a cute idea? It is technically a Father’s Day gift, but it could definitely work for a fun Valentine’s surprise.

On a more spiritual note, today I ordered The Power of a Praying Wife. Can you believe I’ve never read it? It was just one of those things I never got around to doing. No time like the present.

And here’s a free and easy way to pray for your husband – 31 Days of Praying for your Husband from Revive Our Hearts.

And remember Kerri’s idea about the journal to your husband? I loved that idea then, but I procrastinate. Starting it now.

And I’m still reminding myself daily to bring him good when the alarm goes off and it is so early and I’d really rather stay in bed than get up to make him some breakfast. Or when I just don’t want to do anything with my hair and it is easier NOT to put on make up. Or when I see that pile of clutter on our dresser. So many opportunities to love him throughout the day.

Gourmet Grilled Cheese and other Deliciousness

Recipe Box 3 Responses »

Jan 302012

It’s Pinterest week again. And here I am, sharing food finds. Again. I really wanted to do something different and share some fun crafty ideas. I have a vast collection of them in my boards, but I haven’t gotten around to trying many of them. See, those are all things to do someday. But feeding my family is something I have to do every day. Pinterest really is my favorite place to find cooking inspiration. I mean, a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

The last time we had a Pinterest week, I shared a recipe I found for Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese. Well, it was so yummy and different, I started exploring other gourmet grilled cheese options. First we tried Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese. But, since I had leftover Buffalo chicken filling from another pinterest find, Buffalo Chicken Bites, I just used that in my sandwiches. YUM!

But my family’s favorite in the line of gourmet grilled cheese was the one with Tomato, Mozzarella and Pesto. Oh. My. Goodness. I’ve made these twice now. The first time I splurged and bought nice fresh mozzarella to make them. The next time I just used a regular brick-o-mozzarella. Maybe I don’t have the most sophisticated palate, but I didn’t notice a difference. I used the Spinach Basil Pesto that I already had in the freezer. They are super quick and so, so good.

And speaking of pesto, here’s another great use for it, Pesto Baked Chicken.Doesn’t that look fantastic? I haven’t made this one yet, but it is on my menu this week.

And while we’re talking food, I’d like to share another new favorite site for mealtime inspiration. Another Pinterest find I pinned recently was Chicken Parmesan Bake. It turns out this recipe comes from the talented and funny Chef John of Food Wishes. The part I love most- all his recipes are presented in video form! It’s like Food Network without the commercials. I must warn you though, the videos are heavy on the sarcasm (think Alton Brown). And there is the occasional drinking reference thrown in. But don’t let that deter you. This really is a great resource for new and easy dinner possibilities. And the Chicken Parm Bake was fantastic. A huge hit with everyone in the family!

2012 Thoughts

Habits for Happy Kids, Holiday Habits 3 Responses »

Jan 032012

Happy New Year from Habits for a Happy Home! I hope your New Year has started well. Our home is officially “undecorated”. The tree has been hauled off and the needles vacuumed. School is back in session. My mind is a jumble of to-dos (and I’m sure yours is too), so I don’t have a well-thought and structured post for you today, but I do have a few lingering thoughts I wanted to share.

First, there has been a lot of discussion here and everywhere lately about what to do about Santa Claus, so I wanted to share our family’s experience. If you’d like some background on this story, you can read here about when Santa first became an issue for us, back in 2007. Last Christmas (2010) in an answer to much prayer, the boys came to us and asked to know the truth about Santa. We told them the story about the real St. Nick, but we didn’t change much about our traditions. They still sat on Santa’s lap. We still left cookies for Santa and they still had Santa presents under the tree. This year was the first Christmas that we left Santa out of our Christmas completely. We focused instead on doing special things for others. Christmas morning the kids had 3 presents to open (one from Mom, one from Dad, and one from a sibling). We were thrilled to discover that our oldest two had made some surprise presents for us and for each other and tucked them under the tree. I worried that Christmas would be less magical without Santa. But in reality, it was more magical. Seeing the joy on their faces when they gave gifts to others from their hearts made this the most magical Christmas our family has ever experienced. No one was sad or disappointed Christmas morning. And when I asked our 9 year old if he thought Christmas was less fun without Santa, he said “not at all!”

I also wanted to report on our experience with Light ‘Em Up. We didn’t get to do as many of them as I hoped. One a day was a little unrealistic for us. Two or three a week was closer to reality. But we had so much fun doing what we could. Many of the people we surprised with kindness did something kind for us in return. They got a kick out of watching the UPS guys sit in front of our house eating their cookies. And then a couple days later UPS delivered a package for us with a note from them written on the box. Not that recognition is the reason to do it, but it was nice that the kids could see that what they were doing was making an impact. And we learned that bringing unexpected joy to another person is unbelievably addicting! We’re planning to continue with this throughout the year. People need to feel the love of Jesus all year long, not just at Christmas. Thanks again Courtney for the idea!

One last little completely unrelated thing to start your New Year… A wise friend from church told us something brilliant that they do at the start of each year, and I wanted to share it with all of you. At the beginning of the year (as in right now) go through your closet and turn all your hangars around so they are hanging backwards. After you wear something, hang it back up the right direction. At the end of the year, any hangars that are still backwards are clothes that you should donate. Isn’t that brilliant? Turning my hangars around right now…

Give a Little Love

Holiday Habits 4 Responses »

Dec 062011

Mom, it seems like people just take Christmas too far.

These were the words of my 10 year old in the car the other day when It’s Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas was playing on the radio. I asked what he meant and he told me that he was frustrated that everyone was so focused on presents and shopping. “A pair of hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots is the wish of Barney and Ben…” I tried to explain that it is okay to have fun and enjoy Christmas, as long as your heart is in the right place. I could see he wasn’t convinced. “Take a look at the five and ten, glistening once again, with candy canes and silver lanes aglow…” It is a conflict that I would guess is on the hearts of many this time of year. It is the same question that Charlie Brown asked so many years ago, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?”

I really think that a lot of kids want Christmas to be about more than getting stuff. They aren’t blind. They hear us tell them that Christmas is about Jesus, but sometimes that idea is hard to put into practice. They are bombarded with commercials and catalogs until they are sick with wantitis. But what if we filled their minds with something else? What would Jesus want us to do to celebrate His birthday? Jesus said in Matthew 22:

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

There are so many ways to help kids practice loving their neighbors. Put together a shoebox for Samaritan’s Purse. Volunteer for an organization that serves the needy. Gather toys and clothes to donate to a local charity. Find a less-fortunate family in the area and do something special for them. Every Christmas I look for new ways to help our kids have generous, giving hearts. This year I was so excited when Angie told me about Light ‘Em Up, from Courtney at Lil Light O’ Mine. The idea is to do one random act of kindness each day until Christmas. If you have an advent calendar that you use already, you can tuck one of these ideas in there for each day (that’s what we did). Or try one of the fun ideas Courtney suggests on her site. I encourage you, if you haven’t already, give this a try. My guys are loving it already!

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