Eternal Encouragement Party!

Who LOVES to party?  I do!  I especially LOVE Facebook parties.  The discussions, prizes, making of new friends is so much fun!  Well I wanted to invite all my readers to join Eternal Encouragement for their upcoming Facebook Party!  :)  To Yell or Not To Yell: That is the question in Parenting is being hosted by Eternal Encouragement.  It is Tuesday July 24th at 2pm.  Join us as we discuss parenting without yelling and also find out the details for Lorrie Flems first Kindle Book!  Yelling: The Cause, The Casualty and The Cure.  This is her 1st e-book that will be available on the Kindle format!  WOOHOO!!  :)  I should also say that on July 24th the book will be FREE!  Yes, you heard me right!  A FREE e-book!  WOOHOO!!!  (can you tell I Love free??)  It is only FREE on July 24th.  So don't forget to stop by!  :)
Lorrie is a wonderful woman with a heart for ministering to mothers.  She is honest, funny, kind and uses God's word to help us through our challenges.  So join us on July 24th for what I am sure is going to be a great party!  :) Read More

Mom, what's for dinner?!?

Mom! What's for dinner?!?  I can't tell you how many times I hear that in a day.  It starts early too.  Right after breakfast one of my 3 boys will ask me what I am planning for dinner.  Typically I tell them "I don't know" or "I'll be deciding that soon".  It gets frustrating not having something planned or prepared for the evening meal.  (or even have a plan for lunch)

So, this month, I got to review Lorrie Flem's book, "What's For Dinner, Mom?".  There are 2 parts to the book.  Part 1 gives several different ways to cook in bulk and freeze it.  How to get organized and not feel overwhelmed. Lorrie describes what has worked for her & what hasn't worked for her, but leaves it so you can choose the best option for you because we are all different and like different things.  She also has a great sense of humor and personality that shows in her writing.  I really enjoyed part 1 because of how helpful it was to see that I am not alone in being slightly intimidated by the thought of preparing 1 months worth of meals.  It was good to read how it can be implemented to save time and can help make things smoother in the evenings.  I am actually excited to give this a try!

Part 2 is probably the best part.  You may wonder why, or you may know.  The recipes!  She has meatless, chicken, beef, pork and many other recipes.  Not all are freezer meals, but are relatively easy to cook.  And I love to cook.  My mom gave me that love early.  I also love to make up my own concoctions.  It's something I enjoy a lot.

So why haven't I tackled once a month cooking before?  Probably the fear of making so many meals.  I have several books about it, but the thought can be overwhelming.  Lorrie definitely helps with her tips, thoughts and recipes.  Even the tips from the moms who tried out the recipes were good to have.  I love that she had friends help her out in this book writing adventure.  It's good to see others advice. 

I must say that while I am still somewhat nervous about cooking for a whole month, I do feel better equipped to do so. 

You can get this book one of 2 ways.
#1 visit the Eternal Encouragement store.  It is nearly 200 pages and is $12.97.
#2 comment on this blog and leave your e-mail address for a chance to win this helpful book!  :)  The winner will be chosen on June 23rd. 

 ** I was given this product in exchange for my honest review of the product and was not compensated in any other way. Read More

A Journey to Clean

Hello to my readers.  You may have noticed I have been away for a while.  I took some time off to have our 4th child.  Cordelia Abigail graced our lives in the middle of May.  She has been a true blessing to our family.  Her brothers are SO protective of her and so loving toward her.  That said, I didn't get to blog about the product I was given for May before the end of the month. 

You may be wondering about the title of my post.  How many of you struggle with keeping up with everything that needs to be done around the house?  I know I do.  I have 3 wonderful boys, but they can turn a clean room into what looks like an F5 tornado ripped through it.  It is absolutely amazing how quickly it happens.  Then the moment I ask them to clean up their mess, they disappear!  It's like magic!  Who knew boys (and girls) could vanish so quickly.  ;)

I struggle day to day with keeping up with 4 children (ages ranging from 10yrs to 1month) and the day to day chores.  I am a perfectionist at heart, but my house doesn't show it.  In fact, it often times looks more like a war zone than something out of Martha Stewart Living.  But as the magnet my sister and I got my mom says, "Martha Stewart doesn't live here." 

I was given the opportunity to choose which bundle from Eternal Encouragement I would like to review.  Because I often lament about my out of control house, I chose the Chores bundle.  Chores: Many Hands Make Light Work has 2 E-Books, an E-Booklet, and 4 mp3 audios.

In reading Neat & Tidy, I came across the section called first-born overload.  This section alone was of great value to me.  My oldest son, Jonathan, often complains about how he is "always" cleaning up after his brothers.  We have tried to explain it as good as we can but really never get through to him.  Lorrie's story of how she explained to her oldest son that God intentionally puts people in the role of the first-born was a blessing to me.  I am hoping that when my husband, Darren, and I share this with him as well as go through the Bible with him with scripture to back it up, this will help him realize how important he is to our family and that he is put in this position by God.

I am so glad that in the E-Book "Turn Housework into Fun & Games" Lorrie reminds us that consistency is key to teaching our children.  Whether it is homeschooling or chores, we need to be consistent.  I don't need to tell you how hard it is to be consistent.  I do know that being consistent when training your children works and is worth all the blood (figuratively), sweat, and tears.  She also reminds us that deadlines and consequences are necessary when training our children.  There is a creative idea for creating excitement to do chores that is also rewarding for the child but also used in helping our children understand deadlines and consequences for not completing chores.  The Marble Method (actually mentioned in Neat & Tidy) is something that I am going to implement in our household.  With 3 boys (10, 5, 2) I know this will work wonders in our house.  I am EXCITED to be able to see the results.  :)

Lorrie then gives some great advice for cleaning with less toxins.  This section was great to read.  I have actually been doing many of these things already and the things I didn't know I am planning on trying. 

The 4 MP3's are great to listen to.  I uploaded them to my iPod and listened to them while walking, nursing the baby, doing laundry and other tasks.  I got so much encouragement and tips.  So many tips in fact that I can't even begin to list them all.  But I will say that they have helped me to start saving time, get organized and feel less stressed.  It may right now be only 5 minutes, but that 5 minutes can be spent with my kids.  :)

So now for some info about the Chores Bundle.  It includes the following:

• Audios
  • God Blesses This House, But He Doesn't Clean It
  • God Blesses This House, But He Doesn't Organize It
  • 12 Super Simple Time-Saving Tips
  • Cheerful Children and Challenging Chores

• E-Books
  • Neat and Tidy Tried and True Organization Tips
  • Turn Housework Into Fun and Games!

• E-Booklet
  • Keep It Clean and Toxin-Free

It retails for $24.97 but the value is worth much more than that! 
Head over to Eternal Encouragment for this and many other books, mp3's, bundles to encourage you on your walk of being a mom, wife, woman, teacher and daughter of God.

** I was given this product in exchange for my honest review of the product and was not compensated in any other way.

Read More

Mothers Day Party!

In honor of Mother's Day, Eternal Encouragement is hosting a Facebook Party!  Monday May 14th from 3pm to 5pm EST.  This is something you don't want to miss.  We will have a good dose of Mom Motivation prepared just for you as well as door prizes and goodies galore. In fact, in honor of you, for this party we have a free gift that every mom would love to have for each attendee - you'll have to be there to see how to get yours.  :)  Click on the invitation or here to go to the FB invite and join us!  We would love to see you there!

Read More

Eternal Encouragement Magazine Review

I love getting mail.  It's kind of like the highlight of my day.  (yes, even if there are bills, it's still mail)  So, Saturday, March 10th, we were leaving the house and I checked the mail before we left.  And to my surprise (mainly because I wasn't due to receive the magazine yet) was my copy of the Eternal Encouragement magazine for March's review!  I nearly jumped out of my seat in the car.  My husband can verify this as he was shocked how quickly I moved for being 30wks pregnant at the time.  :)

So as you can understand, I was quite thrilled to get a copy of the Eternal Encouragement in my hands.  That said, it took me about a week to get the time to read the magazine.  Joys of motherhood.  ;)

In reading the magazine, I will say that it was quite time appropriate for me as it dealt with the keeping of your home.  Something I try so hard to do, but always come up quite short.  Right now I am pregnant with our 4th child.  I homeschool our boys as well.  I try to save money wherever I can, which includes making my own laundry detergent, cloth diaper our youngest (as well as the new little one when she arrives), try to make meals that do not have a lot of processed foods, cut coupons when I can and also keep the house in running order.  It's no short task that mothers have!  Whether you are able to stay at home or you work outside the home (which I did do for several years).  It is not an easy thing to do.

Each different article in the EE magazine had a different point of view.  But each one in their own way was refreshing to me!  Especially in knowing that I am not the only one who struggles with this dilemma.  The suggestions that were offered were given out of love and a desire to help others.  They have all been where I am at one point or another.  Being able to relate to the authors of the articles is a great help to me.  


Some things that I Love about this magazine:
~ Each authors perspective on the subject of the magazine (This particular magazine was about keeping the home)
~ It's small enough to take with me in my purse so I can get some reading in while waiting at the bus stop, Taekwondo classes, co-op for the kids, doctors office, etc.
~ You can get it in a digital subscription!  (for those of you who like less paper floating around your house)
~ The people who write it are REAL and they truly do care about women.  (awesome to know that)
~ It keeps God first!  (this is the biggie right here!)
~ I love that I can go back to each article and re-read it.  (very important for the forgetful pregnant lady right now) 
~ The pictures and artwork are just beautiful for this magazine. 


The EE Magazine is published 4 times a year in a compact but beautiful magazine.  

The Digital subscription it is published 8 times a year.  Plus there are publishing full magazine articles online for you to read with a variety of topics!  :)  And, right now on the subscription page you get the following:

• The CURRENT Issue* as an electronic download, so you can start reading right away!
• An instant download of our E-Book "King of our Castle"
• All 2 year subscriptions also include Our popular "Family Fun Night" Mini Bundle

Print Subscriptions start at $19.97 and Electronic Subscriptions start at $12.97. 

Click here to subscribe!

** I was given this product in exchange for my honest review of the product and was not compensated in any other way. Read More

The Pearl Necklace

The Pearl Necklace Story

The cheerful girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them: a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.
"Oh please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please!"
Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face.
"A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00. If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday's only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma."
As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents.
On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.
Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere--Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.
Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night when he finished the story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?"
"Oh yes, Daddy. You know that I love you."
"Then give me your pearls."
"Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess--the white horse from my collection. The one with the pink tail. Remember, Daddy? The one you gave me. She's my favorite."
"That's okay, Honey. Daddy loves you. Good night." And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.
About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again, "Do you love me?"
"Daddy, you know I love you."
"Then give me your pearls."
"Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my babydoll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is so beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."
"That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you." And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.
A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian-style. As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.
"What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?"
Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver,she finally said, "Here, Daddy. It's for you."
With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's kind daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime-store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny.
He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her genuine treasure.
What are you hanging on to?
--- Author Unknown Read More

Daily Treasures Review

What do you think about when you see or hear the word "treasure"?  If you look at the definition of the word treasure it is something that you accumulate and store up.  It is also something that is hoarded.  Do you realize that you have that treasure?  Well you do!

Lorrie said four things in her audio "Daily Treasures" that definitely struck a chord in regards to our treasures.

1. Sometimes we have a treasure but we don’t recognize it as treasure.

2. Sometimes we have a treasure, forget about the treasure and then it’s lost treasure.

3. A lot of times there is something keeping us from enjoying our treasure, typically ourselves.

4. A lot of times we hate or resent our treasure, instead of treasuring our treasure.

So what is our treasure?  It is our children.  It doesn't matter if you have 1, 4, 7, or 20.  They are our treasures.  They were given to us by our Heavenly Father.  

Now I know it's not easy being a mom.  I currently have 3 children, soon to be 4.  And believe me, there are days that I just want to go in my room and cry.  It's not easy being a mom.  But something else that Lorrie said really hit me.  My feelings toward my treasures (children) is totally dependent on ME.  I set the attitude in my home.   However, I don't think I realized that till recently.

Our children are changing every minute of the day.  Each child also changes at a different rate than the other.  One might grow bigger sooner, one may talk later than the others, while one may crawl at 4 months it takes another 9 months to crawl.  I have seen it in each of my 3 boys and I am sure I will see it with our daughter.

Do we take the time to cherish our children?  Each little thing is unique.  From what they say to what they do.  Lorrie offers some great suggestions on how to savor and keep each of these little moments.  I really appreciated her suggestions and plan on implementing some of them into our family.  From pictures, doing hand-prints, to journaling the funny and cute things they say.  Those are just a few of the suggestions.  

Then Lorrie really got my attention.  She told the story of the little girl and her pearls.  Now if you haven't heard this story, I highly recommend it.  It took me back to a time when my mom would tell me the story as a little girl.  This is the part where I started to tear up.  It made me realize that I had been holding onto things that weren't really my treasures.  It really makes you think about what is most important in life.

I think that we place so much value on material things that we forget that those won't be with us always.  It's the relationships we build with our children.  The little things they do, whether it's the attempt at making breakfast or the painting that wound up all over the table, walls and floor, or when they come up, give you the biggest hug in the world and say "I love you mom".  It is all worth it.    

Thank you Lorrie for your gentle but yet important reminders of what we should really value.

Daily Treasures is available on CD and in MP3 format at the Eternal Encouragement store.  (MP3 $6.97 - CD $9.97)  It is about an hour long and I highly recommend it to any mom!

** I was given this product in exchange for my honest review of the product and was not compensated in any other way.

Read More