Author: Jenny Irvine

February Challenge “Family”

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February is well upon us and it is time for my “12 months of bliss” challenge update!! In January my New Years challenge was “focus”….and Im happy to say that is just what I did!! 🙂 At times it was not easy and life has its way of taking over…

One of the things I focused most on was my “time” and how it was spent. Whom do I spend the most time with? What is important to me? When life got crazy it was like a breath of fresh air to “focus” on the here and now…rather than the whats to come. Sometimes, we get so caught up in the what would of should of been we virtually lose the here and now!

Bring me to my “February challenge” 🙂 Family!!! Whether you are married, single, have 1 child or 20….we all have one “family”!! I am choosing to focus solely on my immediate family at this time…mainly my husband and children. I do not come from a large family nor does my husband but “family” is something I hold very near and dear to my heart. God chose the family we have for us…they make us laugh..they make us cry…they make us just plain crazy at times!! The fact is that it was the one chosen for you so make the best of it!!

In choosing to focus on my little family I do this not to exclude Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins but simply to make the foundation of our home stronger. As wonderful as families can be they are also unintentionally the center of many disagreements. When a husband and wife marry it is then that “one officially leaves the nest” so to speak….this does not mean you abandon those who raised you simply put “you start a new”. You look to those who raised you for continued guidance, love, and support…but in a new light!!

Bringing me to why a solid foundation is crucial in building your family. You only get one shot!!! Do it right!!

Who do you want your children to turn to when they are grown?

Who do you want your children to associate with now? In the future?

How can you best see that your children find comfort in coming to you?

The best gift to a child is a good marriage….so don’t forget that husband 🙂 show appreciation, love, support, communicate, communicate, communicate, and see that each others spiritual, sexual, and social needs are being met. You will never hear me refer to my husband as my child…he is not!! I am not responsible for him…we are simply coaches for a great team!! A team that has 2 sweet little girls and a little bouncing baby boy coming in June!! We coach together and with one great vision…a solid foundation!!!

1st Day…back to homeschool!!

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O’wow!!! What a road it has been over here the past few months!! However, I am so excited to say that Pumpkin is officially done with preschool!! You are probably thinking…what? Well, after a good month of battles off and on about her not wanting to go …it was officially decided “she was done!” and I was even more DONE!! 🙂 For the remainder of this school year and at least next she will be homeschooled for prek and Kindergarten. The school thing is just not for her and quite frankly after trying it 2x’s in 2 years Im not so sure it is for our family.
Pumpkin (4), KBear(18mo), and Peaches (8mo) loved their “First Day of Homeschool” and so did I!! Complete with circle time, tot-trays…lesson plans..O’my!! I have been busy I have lots to share 🙂

Below are a few pics. of some of the recent homemade things that we have done not in any particular order..K.Bear enjoyed painting with ice (good clean fun).
Pumpkin LoVeS letters and sounds so I recently made a file folder game using an alphabet strip from the dollar store. I simply cut the strip apart and glued the uppercase letters to the folder. I then laminated the lowercase letters so that she could match them again and again.

One of K.Bears favorite things to do is put pop-cycle sticks in the coffee mug she can sit for the longest time doing this (shocking!!!) she is one busy little girl!!

and life would not be complete without some pudding painting over here…we practiced writing our letters in the chocolate and then maybe she licked her a fingers a few times too!!!

Hope you enjoyed some of the inexpensive things that we have done recently and Im looking forward to sharing many, many more of the fun things that we have been up to lately!!

Reflections of Haiti …

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Since Christmas we have had many conversations in our home about those less fortunate than ourselves. Pumpkin has asked many questions…ok….many, many, many!!! Where do poor people sleep? What do they eat? What do kids play with if they do not have any toys? The list goes on. As a parent and as a mother we often “think” of those less fortunate, but the depth to which some people are poor can truly be unimaginable.

10 years ago I was blessed with the opportunity to go to Haiti on a mission trip. I feel Haiti is truly one of the most unlucky countries in the world. If it is not one thing it is another!

My heart physically aches for those poor people. When on my mission trip I virtually came home with nothing I brought; other than the clothes on back. I gave away everything!!! When you look in a childs’ face and they are happy to have a water bottle to fill a leaky hole in their house…one can certainly not turn their back. So many of the Haitian people were in such need of help before this terrible earthquake that something of this magnitude is sure to leave the entire country shaken for many years to come. Haiti will never be the same as it once was… or what it someday might have been!!!

What I admire most about the Haitians is although they have nothing, and came from virtually nothing….two things hold true; their faith and love of family!!! Shaken, distraught, and in complete despair….searching for loved ones, and trying to help those in need with truly no resources at hand. Can you imagine? What do you hold onto at times like that…well we have seen it on TV by now and read it in papers “Faith”. I love that a country so torn to shambles can sing praises, worship, and come together!!! I witnessed it 10 years ago watching children sing in school, worshiping on Sunday, and singing in the streets all day/everyday. Walking miles to the river singing with buckets on their heads…could you do the same?

Although Haiti is not lucky…they are rich beyond words in Faith. What a gift to the rest of the world to watch a country with so little come together. I pray that someday the Haitian people will find rest and reap great reward for all that they have accomplished just “living” their lives!! A part of me will forever remain in Haiti and with all of the wonderful people I met along the way!!!