Protecting Your Marriage

Insurance...we all have it. We insure our cars, our houses, and even our health. Yet we often don't take the time to insure one of our most valuable commodities. Our marriage. The truth is that there is an urgent need to take up arms and secure ourselves against the enemy who is trying any way he can to make us stumble and fall. One of the areas he loves to attack is marriage. “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” 1 Peter 5:8

I think that the first step to protecting marriage is to invite Christ to be the center of your union. When this relationship is given over to Him and decisions are made based on His will, it builds a strong foundation for the marriage to stand on.

Secondly, we need to guard our marriages. This means being careful about what you take in with your eyes. Temptation is everywhere these days and it is so easy to fall into the mindset that "just a little bit" is okay. That is a lie that Satan wants you to believe so that he can lead you into deeper areas of temptation and sin. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11)

It also means protecting your special relationship with your spouse by not trying to recreate it with another person. When we begin to share intimate details about ourselves and our marriage with a person of the opposite sex we are sharing a piece of ourselves that is only intended for our spouse. This can lead to an emotional affair which is often just as damaging as a physical affair. Another important aspect of guarding our marriage is through regular intimacy with our spouse. I have talked about this subject several times before, but I think it is worth repeating. God has created us to be intimate with our spouses. Men especially are designed to be sexual beings and one of the best ways to protect them from the temptations that bombard them daily is to make sex a regular and important part of your marriage.

Finally, stick to your commitment. Do not let divorce have a place in your vocabulary. Sadly so many people enter marriage with divorce as a back up plan. That day that you stood before your friends and family to take your vows you also stood before God and promised to love and honor "until death do you part." Too often people have translated that last part to be "until things get rough" or "until it doesn't feel good anymore." The truth is that it isn't always going to be easy and it isn't always going to feel like it did in the beginning. The true test is working through those low points. This is done through prayer, through counsel from other Christian couples who are further in their marriage and their walk with God, and choosing to do your part. The turning point for me in our marriage was realizing that it wasn't all about what he could do for me. When we both focused on meeting the other persons needs we found that we were both getting what we wanted and were happier for it. That's the way it is intended to be!

Let me close by urging you all to invest in insurance for your marriage. The cost is hard work and diligence now but the payoff is priceless in the end.

Re-purposing formula cans into centerpieces

After nursing for 8 months straight our little guy up and  refused to nurse anymore so we have entered back into the world of formula. I can't help but think every time we finish a can that there is something more I could do with it than put it in the trash. When Nathan was a baby I made noise makers out of his formula cans but I wanted to do something more decorative this time around. So I searched around for a little bit of inspiration and found some at deWolde Daily and ISLY. Combining these two ideas I came up with a cute spring looking centerpiece. Those flowers may not be blooming outside yet but I sure can pretend spring is around the corner inside my house!

Here's what you need:

* Formula can (or other food/coffee can)
* Paper - I used wrapping paper but wallpaper, construction, scrapbook paper would work as well
* Mod Podge (or glue or tape)
* Wooden skewers
* Ribbon
* ruler
* scissors
* hot glue
* buttons

Ready to get started? Let me loosely walk you through it:

1. Remove label from can and clean out the inside.

2. Measure can and cut paper to match:

3. Stick paper to can using your preferred method. Let me say that Mod Podge on wrapping paper didn't work out as well as I hoped. It wasn't a totally smooth finished project. So a little tape or dab of hot glue on the ends might work best:

4. Now for the flowers, I didn't do a step by step so check out deWolde Daily for detailed instructions. I will say that I used a skewer instead of pipe cleaner and ribbon instead of paper. I didn't have to punch holes ahead of time because the pointy end of the skewer went right through the ribbon. I used hot glue to attach the button to the top of the flower (I still need to cut the little points off, I was waiting for them to dry completely):

5. Now you could stop here and plop them in the can but my can was pretty tall and I didn't want them resting against the edge so I used the empty ribbon spools, stacked them on top of each other and poked the skewer through the paper to create a stand:

6. Place the flowers and make shift stand into the can and you have a lovely centerpiece! I am planning to probably add 2 more flowers but I am trying to use only items I have on hand so I need to dig around for some more ribbon:

Don't be surprised if formula cans make several appearances in future craft projects...we've got a few more months of formula to go and I like to use what I've got!

My new favorite crocheting project:

I am loving these cute little headbands! They only take about 2 hours to churn out which means on my lazy nights I can put in a movie and most likely be complete by the end. I started this one last year with the intention of giving it to my niece for her birthday, but being hugely pregnant and therefore somewhat unmotivated, I didn't finish. The original plan was to have a full head band but when I was finishing this project the other day I decided to make it adjustable with a tie. This not only shortened my crocheting time but made this more versatile to different head sizes. I think I would like to try adding some cute ribbon instead of the yarn for a nicer touch. Since finishing this one I have made 2 more for other cute little girls in my life. I am thinking about making some smaller versions for my second niece who is still cooking so she can match her big sister.

Here is how I did it:
* Crocheted the headband to desired length (about 24 rows) and then added some yarn at the end to tie with:

This was a pretty basic, repetitive pattern. I will add it to this post if anyone is interested in making their own.

* I then sewed a button about a third of the way onto the headband:

* I had some leftover flowers from a diaper cake someone made for one of my showers so I just cut the stem off and hot glued it to the button:

* Seeing as I only have boys, they are coerced lucky to be my models:

These quick little projects are right up my alley as I love something that I can start and finish in one night. I like the idea of a big project but often lose interest midway through, so I usually stick to something simple.  If you have a little girl and I know where you live don't be surprised if one of these show up on your doorstop or in your mailbox!

Pass on the Thanks Challenge

This last week I was inspired by a fellow blogger's idea to do a Thank You Card Week. She is spending 4 days giving a tutorial on several easy homemade thank you cards. I love this because so many people are intimidated by making their own cards when it really doesn't have to be difficult or complex. I really think that the act of sending thank you cards is dying out and that saddens me. I for one know how much I love receiving something in the mail other than bills. It is even more special when that something is a nice sentiment from a family member, friend, or acquaintance.

This led me to come up with the Pass on the Thanks Challenge. The first part of this challenge is to think up 3 people who make your life better or easier. Can you do more than 3? Of course! The more thanks the better.  I encourage you all to get creative when brainstorming who to send this to. Whether it be a barista who makes your day better by preparing your daily latte with a smile or a co-worker who does more than their share and makes your job easier. The possibilities are really limitless. The second part involves finding or making some thank you cards. I really do love homemade cards, and you can get some great ideas all week at Small Fry & Co, but the important part of all of this is the sentiment. So whether it is store bought, homemade or written on a spare piece of paper the important part is that you do it. The third part of this is encouraging those you are sending the cards to to do the same. So somewhere in your card hand write or print off something like this:

Pass on the Thanks Challenge

If you received this card and it brightened your day,

I would challenge you to come up with 3 people who make your life better 

and send them each a thank you card. It doesn't have to be fancy, it's the thought that counts.

Before sending the cards make sure to tell them about this challenge. Let's see how far this can go!

Want to share your experience? Visit http://chrystal-lewis.blogspot.com and tell your story.

That last part goes for all of you as well! I would love for you to come back and share pictures of your cards and stories about how this challenge effected you and those who you chose to pass it on to. I would love to feature your stories in some upcoming posts. A little thanks can go a long way, let's see how far this can go!

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Here are the cards I made (this took me maybe 45 minutes total...but I also like to browse the dollar section at places like Michael's for packs of cheap cards so you are not alone if you choose to go that route:)

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What we had for dinner (and lunch!)

Last night's dinner was so good that we had no leftovers so I just HAD to make it again for lunch today. Plus, it gave me the chance to get some pictures so I could share it with you all!

Western Style Turkey Burgers
Ingredients:
* 1.25 lbs ground turkey
* 1/2 cup spinach or broccoli (or veggie of your choice - I used puree since I had it on hand)
* 1/2 cup quick cooking oatmeal
* 1/2 cup salsa
* 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
* Cheese (whatever you like or have on hand, I used cheddar)
* Hamburger buns
* lettuce
* Crispy Onions (I used garlic pepper flavor)
* BBQ sauce
* 16 oz sour cream
* 1 packet taco seasoning

Directions:
1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl and mix together using your hands:

2. Form 6 to 8 equal size patties and cook using preferred method. When making homemade burgers I really like to use my griddle but you can also do them on the stove top or on a grill (with foil underneath or they will fall through the slats). Sometimes we cook up all the burgers so that we have lunch the next day, sometimes I freeze 4 of the uncooked patties for dinner on a different day:

3. While the burgers are cooking, mix the sour cream and taco seasoning together. There will be a bunch leftover, it makes a great dip for tortilla chips or homemade potato fries! Also cut the cheese and prep the buns - on the bottom bun layer lettuce, onion crisps and BBQ sauce, spread the taco seasoned sour cream on the top bun.

4. Once the burger is cooked to your liking, add the cheese and continue cooking until melted. I put a foil tent over them so it melts faster. We paired our burgers with homemade potato salad for a delicious dinner (and an equally delicious lunch the next day!):

Money Management Ideas for Munchkins

One of our main goals as parents, after raising our children to love and follow Christ, is to give them the tools they need to be successful, productive, generous adults. We want them to have a solid foundation that makes the challenges that are bound to arise later in life more manageable. One of the largest areas of difficulty for many adults is managing their finances. There are so many ways to go wrong and when given the wrong information, or no information, people can make some horrible decisions regarding money. We know that we have, and continue to, struggle with properly managing our finances. We do not want the boys to start out their adult lives with the same struggles we have had, so while we are first working on ourselves (afterall, living by example speaks volumes over what we actually say to them) we are also trying to plant some early money management seeds in our youngsters.

I have to give a lot of the credit to Laura from Happily Ever After as it was her post about teaching her young daughter how to begin being wise with her money that sparked the idea to do the same in our home. I had always planned on being intentional in teaching the boys about money but never gave it a thought to start so young. But I realized, that just like everything else in parenting, you give them what they can handle at each stage. For our 3 and 4 year old that is an "allowance" of a dollar a week. They earn this by doing their part to contribute around the house. That includes keeping their rooms tidy, clearing their own plates at meal time, picking up toys around the house, etc. We give them this dollar in the form of 10 dimes (thanks again Laura, you are too smart!) as this makes it easier to show them how to split up the money. 1 dime goes in their God jar for tithing, 4 dimes go in their spending jar and are available to them to spend as they see fit, 5 dimes go in their piggy banks which are for saving and can't be touched. I can't tell you how much they love this and we are seeing good things developing because of it. They are learning about the value of money, counting, fractions as well as responsibility and being a good steward of their money.

Today they actually got their first chance to spend some of that well-earned money. We made a trip to the dollar store last week and they saw some light-up batons that they loved and continued to talk about all week. So I told them that when they got their allowance this week we could count up what they had in their spending jar and if there was enough they could chose whether or not to go buy the batons. They each had two dollars which we told them was enough for just one thing at the dollar store (darn tax!) and they both chose to spend it. You should have seen their little faces as they marched into that store, chose their batons carefully, waited in line and handed the cashier their money. I think they were happy with their decision:

I would love to hear the things you are doing in your family to help your kids learn the value of money...feel free to share all your great ideas!

No really, I'm getting around to it!

Awhile back I told you all to get ready, that I was going to be dazzling you with some amazing chicken recipes to use up that 40 lbs of chicken we got from Zaycon Foods. I then realized that I hadn't even begun to look for said recipes. Being a woman of my word I decided to get on that and came up with a fabulous solution that was both quick and easy for me and I hope, beneficial to you all. After making those yummy stuffed mushrooms the other night and revisiting the same site to try a chicken spaghetti recipe for tonight, I decided that I would dedicate this box of chicken to The Pioneer Woman's amazing chicken recipes. She has tons of them all ready for me to try and she has yet to disappoint. As I cook through some of these recipes I will be sure to come back and fill you all in on how it goes. So while I am going to end this with another "stay tuned", I promise not to leave you hanging!