Family Dinners... Are they really worth it?

Okay, so I am at my wits end. Food has always been an issue around here when it comes to George. He is just not an eater. Actually thats not true, he loves to eat... sandwiches, crackers, muffins, pancakes, french toast and pretty much any other breakfast food you can think off. Plus he will pretty much eat with no questions asked at any point in the day... Any point in the day that is except dinner time. Nope dinner time is a complete nightmare around here and has been since about the time George started to talk. That was right about the time that we started expecting him to eat whatever we were eating and right about the time he realized that he didnt have to if he didnt want to and that there was pretty much nothing we could do to make him. We have tried many different approaches to his picking eating habits. I've made him take a "thank you" bite of foods, I've given him smaller portions, tried cooking only things I know he likes (that got old really fast) and just given in at times and given him something that he will eat instead... I am losing it. At this point I have no idea what to do anymore. Part of me just wants to believe that he wont spend the rest of his life eating pb&j and part of me wants to think, "well maybe he will" I just dont want him growing up remembering family dinners as a battle zone. I want him to cherish the memories that we make by making a point to always sit down as a family to eat. I want him to look forward to dinner, not dread it all day long. What is it about dinner that makes him act this way. I dont have this problem with any other meal. Granted breakfast and lunch are always pretty much stuff that he really likes, but he gets up to the table eats it all and then goes and plays. I'm in crisis mode here people. At this point I'm willing to try anything and I'm about to give up... HELP

To quote a smart man...

One of my fav blogs is Stuff Christians Like. It is hugely popular and Jon is a genius. Today he wrote a post that I just had to share with everyone. I am posting part of it here, but please check out his blog, it is amazing to read on a daily basis. He is a blogging rock star.

So here is my shout out to Jonathan Acuff:

I pretended I had boxes.

I tricked myself into believing that sin can be placed neatly inside one part of my life. That it won’t trickle out of the box and spill into every area of my heart and mind. I pretended that I possessed the fortitude to compartmentalize. Surely what I do in my personal life won’t impact my professional life. I can act out in this sector of my mind, but keep things together in these other three.

But I couldn’t and neither can you and neither could Tiger Woods.

I don’t want to go into details of what’s been alleged about his extramarital affairs. There are far smarter people than me that have already covered it.

But what I do want to address is what my friends keep asking me about Tiger Woods:

“How could he have done that?”

“How could he have been so stupid to leave hundreds of text messages and voice mails?”

“Did he think he was going to be the first celebrity who didn’t get caught? Bill Clinton, David Letterman, Frank Gifford, Kobe Bryant, they all got caught. Was he expecting to break the mold and never get found out? What was he thinking?”

What kills me about those questions is the idea that in the middle of an affair you could make smart decisions. As if, in the middle of cheating on someone you would have the intelligence and rational to make wise decisions about how many text messages you should send. As if only part of you would be broken and wounded, but the rest of your life would continue moving along perfectly.

But sin doesn’t work that way.

There’s no such thing as a “smart affair.” Or a smart burglary or a smart lie. Every decision made in that moment is dumb on some level. I think it’s because sin is like a drop of poison in water. You wouldn’t put a little cyanide in a water bottle and then say, “Only the top is poisoned, I’ll drink from the bottom.” Not at all. You’d put the bottle down because the whole thing was poisoned.

I used to think I could hide. I used to think that I could keep secrets like my lies and my porn problems and my other issues in a box under my bed. And maybe if I kept the lid on tight enough, they’d never impact any other issue of my life. But that was a lie. Ask my family. Ask the people that told me to go home from work.

They’ll tell you.

But the good news, the wild truth that proves the point of how corrosive sin is, is also the same hope we can trust in. Simply put, God makes us new. This verse has been rocking me lately and I’ve already written about it, but it’s too big to just cover once or twice.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

I’m convinced that God doesn’t make us better, because better wouldn’t be enough. Improved wouldn’t cut it. There’s poison in the water. New is the only way to get fresh and that’s what he offers.

To me. To you. To Tiger Woods.

Because we can’t box up sin. And when we pretend we can, things get really messy, really quickly.

Milk... a random thought

Today I want to talk about milk.... I know this is a totally random post, but milk seems to be one of our major issues still to this day. Some of you may know this already, but our youngest, Laney, will be 3 years old in February and she is still on Allimentum. Milk has always been a thorn in our side with Laney. She cant have cows milk, soy milk, rice milk or any other kind of formula. She gets crazy sick and has numerous nasty diapers all day long. Which as a Mom (or dad) you will know always leads to horrible bouts of diaper rash. That's right I am willing to admit that we havent even started the potty training process with Laney, but thats a whole nother post.

On top of not being able to drink the stuff, she wont even try most stuff. She loves her stinky, nasty, way to expensive formula and has for the past 2.5 years. But today we are trying something different (again)... I found hemp milk at the store and its even vanilla flavored. I figured now was the best time to try it, since we have a full stock of formula and the rule of thumb of course is when you dont need it to work, it will. But back to what I was going to say in the first place (stupid ADD)... There are so many milks out there!!!! None of which sound very good to me, but somebody loves them because they're out there. I mean really.... who knew you could milk an almond? And is it just me or does giving Laney "Hemp" milk sound a tiny bit illegal to you? So for now... if you talk to me, dont even bother to ask if shes potty trained lol we cant even get her off formula.

Christmas Photos... the not so greats

Okay everyone! I want to see your WORST Christmas pictures. It will be my second giveaway ever and I am SOOOOOO very excited about it. I love giving things away and I love getting stuff from y'all, so a giveaway right at Christmas time!!!!

So here is how its gonna go. You send me your worst Christmas photos with a cute little caption or a short background story on the pic and everyone will vote for their favorite. I compile the votes and declare a winner on Dec 30th. That way you have plenty of time to get your (not so great) photos from this year in too!

Cant wait to see what you come up with! Good Luck!!!!

Btw... I havent decided what I will be giving away yet, but You can be sure it will be awesome! Just another chance for me to find something super cool! I love shopping!!!! I will update this post as soon as I decide.

Update: I have chosen the prize!!!! There is a great artist on Etsy.com that makes these really cool Christmas Ornaments and I think that every mom needs one. Check her out at: www.etsy.com/shop/picardcreative Here is a pic of the ornament that I thought was just perfect for this Christmas! Enjoy and SEND THOSE PICTURES!!!!

These are my struggles

As most of you have noticed I haven't been blogging much lately. When I have its be just a bit here or there to update you about important information that I mostly want to get out to family and friends, but nothing really fun or entertaining. I'm sorry about that, I have really missed it. It truly is a release for me. Like I'm so sure it is for all of you.

But I have been under what I consider an attack. Mentally, physically and emotionally... I am a very spiritual person and feel like Satan has been doing his best to take everything I love from me. Including my love for blogging, reading and spending time with my family. Some of you already know that my marriage almost came to an end in the past six months. We are not very public people and have kept our troubles quiet. I dont plan on going into the details here now. I'm not ready for that, but I happy to say that things are getting so much better. We are stronger and our relationship with our Lord is also growing. Its weird when you can actually sit back and see the things that are destroying the relationships that are the most important to you and you're helpless to change things. I struggle with depression, anxiety and ADD daily and it now looks like I have Fibromyalgia. All of which are so much harder to deal with under mass amounts of stress. I am trying my best right now to deal with the stresses that come and go daily and not let them affect me like they have been in past months. My first thought was to run away from it all. To end any connection I had and start all over again, which has always been my way of dealing with things that seemed to overwhelm me. I get a "tape" in my head telling me how things are ruined and there is nothing I can do to fix them. That "tape" I'm now learning is Satan feeding me lies in an attempt to destroy all that I love.

Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You're not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It's the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won't last forever. It won't be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.

1Peter 5:8

Top Ten Thursday..

This is my first time participating in Sara's top ten Thursday. But here goes! Today mine is the top ten things I meant to do today and didnt. 1. I did not brush my kids teeth before school this morning... oops 2. I did not finish those three huge loads of laundry in the laundry room. 3. I did not pay my rent on time... oops 4. I did not spend two hours on the computer looking for Old Navy boots for my daughter for Christmas this year. (Okay thats just a flat out lie, I totally did that) 5. I did not finish unpacking all the boxes in my house. 6. I did not skip lunch (even though I promised myself I would) 7. I did not call that gym that I have been meaning to call for the past week. 8. I did not take ten people off my Christmas card list because I didnt order enough cards this year. (again a lie) 9. I did not consider driving 30 miles for no other reason then just to check my mail in a different city just so the kids would be strapped into the car for all that time and not driving me crazy.... (wow I really have to get this lying thing under control) 10. And the number 10 thing I did not do today is... I did not spend a half an hour looking for a new Christmas wallpaper for my Iphone. (ok thats the last lie I swear, at least for today lol) Well there you go.... all the things I "didnt" do. You should try it some time!

Okay I wont keep you waiting any longer

Well as some of you have seen on our facebook page, Ben and I have made a huge decision lately and we couldnt wait to share it with all of you. Actually, Ben doesnt think waiting would be such a bad idea. But I am not a patient person and I just couldnt wait to share our new family news. Now I know what your thinking... The Martin's are pregnant again. Nope, we're not. We will not be "having" anymore babies, I can promise you that. But our family will be getting a little bit bigger some time in the next year or two (hopefully). Ben and I have decided to adopt. We are have been talking about this for years and finally feel like we are ready to start the process. We are still looking into what country we will be adopting from or if adopting stateside would be best for us. Like I said we are in the very beginning stages of the process and for now, we are taking baby steps. But I just couldnt wait to share the new with all of you and ask for all your prayers during this new journey in our lives. Lots of Love!!!!