.Kids of Integrity.

A friend of mine on Facebook posted a link to this amazing website yesterday and I just had to share!  It's such a great resource for parents to use to teach their children different virtues that lead to Godly character.  The site is so fun and very user friendly.  When you click on the lessons tab they have all the virtues on the left with multiple activities/lessons on the right to choose from.  For example, if you choose to teach obedience they give you the resources of a parent's prayer, memory verses, speaking blessings, creative discipline, object lessons, and bible stories.  They even have it set up to where you can download a pdf file for the entire lesson.  They suggest that a week is about the right amount of time to go over each attribute. You can visit their site HERE of their Facebook page HERE.

~Character First~

Okay gals...I can feel summer coming on!!! WooHoo!  While that is exciting...I know that it can be easy to let time get away from things we meant/want to do.  My daughter will begin Kindergarten in the fall....which doesn't seem possible at all!!!  Where did the first 5 years of her life go??!!!  This moment came too soon :(  I have this feeling of needing to teach her more before I send her off to school.  I know if I don't plan out what I want to do/teach it won't happen.  I'm one of those people who has to write down everything so I don't forget.  ...and I love checking off lists ;)  So here's my plan...  I'm going to teach a different character quality each week this summer (or try to!!).  Have you ever heard of Character First?  I used some of their curriculum when I taught 1st grade. You can print off a page of character qualities HERE.  I love this because not only does it give the definition of a quality, it also gives the opposite of that.  For example,

Gratefulness vs. Unthankfulness

Letting others know by my words and actions how they have benefited my life

I like this b/c I can also use it in discipline by asking my children..."are you being grateful or unthankful?  Do you think God wants your heart to be grateful or unthankful?

They also have sample character cards you can print out that list a quality and ways they can demonstrate it. You can view those HERE.

I also plan to use my 'Wild Ideas Newletters' to seek activities that relate to that quality for the week. She gives a free sample here.

Anyone else have any fun ideas?? (Elisabeth Hasselbeck from The View mentioned this week that she was planting veggies in a flower pot to teach her kids patience.)

Titus 2 Website Resource

A wonderful friend of mine, Jen J, suggested a website to me that she found and wanted to share! (Thanks Jen!  That's one of my intentions w/ this blog...for all us gals to share things that will help us as moms!!)  The website is http://www.titus2.com/  The goal of their site is to encourage, equip and exhort families in Jesus Christ.  This site is full of resources!  ...Books. Articles. Recipes. Conferences...  One thing that Jen really liked was the chore charts.  They also give examples of different families chore charts, which is really helpful if you need ideas of what children should be doing at different ages.  I know some of you that read this blog are homeschooling or are considering doing so.  This site also has many helpful resources that deal w/ this subject.

On a side note...I found another wonderful cookbook!  It's called the Six O'Clock Scramble byAviva Goldfarb. This cookbook has gotten rave reviews!!!  I purchased a used one on Amazon for less than $10 smackeroos!  She has the book divided into four sections...summer/fall/winter/spring.  It's a 300 page book and I'm on page 40 and have already dog-earred a ton of EASY recipes that sound deeee-lish!!  They also have a website  http://www.thescramble.com/  On their site you can sign up for a subscription to receive a weekly meal plan plus grocery list and other fun stuff! (it's $19.50 for a 3mo subscription) She also has a Facebook page.

Seeds Worship

My fabulous sister-in-love, Natalie, got my daughters a Seeds Worship CD for their birthdays.  I've never heard of it before. ...now I'm hooked!!!  They simply put scripture verses to music.  And it's not boring, cheesy, or put-me-to-sleep music.  It's catchy and modern and my girls LOVE it!!!  I looked at their WEBSITE and they also have fun family ideas and scripture memory cards to print out!  Take a listen to what is on their CDs HERE.  You can also become a fan of them on facebook. 

(to follow up on my last post...  we had our recipe exchange tonight and it was FABULOUS!  We all brought 5 recipes to share and one prepared dish to eat. There was close to 20 of us, so we each left with almost 100 new recipes to try out!  ...and a full tummy!!!  Why have we not been doing that every couple months??!!

I only had one person leave a recipe on the last post!!!  C'mon girls...spread the love....leave a recipe in the comments section to share, or even a link to a favorite dish!)

On another note, we will be making the move to Oklahoma this weekend!  We're excited to be going back home, but at the same time sad to leave all our fabulous friends we've made here in TX.  It's definitely a bittersweet move.  Please say a prayer for us as we make the transition :)

Growing Character

Hello fabulous mommas!!!  I am so excited to tell you about a valuable resource to use...Wildflowers Character Resources!  My friend, Sarah Holmes, started this amazing ministry to moms a couple years ago.  She emphasizes how we should be intentional about the character training of our children.  Statistics state that 80% of character has already been developed by age 6!  How important it is for us to plan and equip ourselves with solid teaching. 

Part of Sarah's ministry is to provide free email consultation about the character needs of your family. She has a wide range of resources available to address many character traits.  My favorite resource she provides is a monthly WILD IDEAS e-newsletter spotlighting a certain character trait. These are filled with goodies! They are only $1 per month ....and believe me, they are worth a million dollars far more than that!  Sarah has invested an enormous amount of time researching ideas for these different traits.  Her newsletters include:  family traditions, crafts, games and activities, songs, object lessons, conversation starters, stories, book/multimedia resources and scripture training.  How can you pass up this great resource at such a low cost??!!  If you would like to see what an e-newsletter would look like, Sarah has graciously allowed me to show you this month's letter addressing Obedience.  Just click HERE to view.

Sarah will be visiting towards the end of the month to share with other moms encouragement and direct them towards valuable training resources. You will leave feeling encouraged - with new resources and methods under your belt!  Please contact me directly if you would be interested in attending!