Rooms of the House: Playroom

If you have little girls with lots of dress up clothes that are very disorganized, then you will be able to relate to this post. I racked my brain trying to figure out a way to hang my daughter's clothes up on the wall without posing a hazard to poking out eyes.  Also, we needed something that would hang lots of dress up clothes.  I didn't want to take up room in our garage where the overflow of dress up clothes were. 

FINALLY, I came across this little metalware at Hobby Lobby. It was a little over $10, and metalware just happened to be on sale for 50% that day.  As soon as my eyes laid hold of this gadet, I knew it would be perfect. It was JUST what I was looking for.

What's soo cool is that there are three hooks per metal "arm," and there are I think five arms per "rack". I bought three "racks". Think of how many articles of clothing this will hold for a very small space! I really don't know what to call these things, so bear with me please as I talk about these features.  Another super cool feature is that each "arm" is able to move or pivot, so when the girls are looking through what they want to put on, they can move the "arms" aside until they find the dress, hat or scarf they want.

Since the lowest hook is the smallest hook and is somewhat under the umbrella of the larger hooks, I felt that this was very safe for the eyes. This is also hanging beside a bookshelf and beside the side of a door, so there's no running directly beside this.

Since they were metalware and very heavy, I handed the task over to my husband to figure out how to hang them on the wall. He went to Home Depot and bought a beautiful piece of red oak to screw the racks into the wood. He could have gotten a cheaper wood, but knew if he bought a nice slice of wood, he wouldn't have to paint it.

Once he screwed the racks into the wood, we plugged up the hole with wood plugs. He pre-drilled just the right depth of hole for the plug to fit in snugly.

I wanted something that wasn't too tall to where my girls and their friends could clean up after themselves.

I am so pleased with how this came out.

Giving Thanks!

Hello, faithful readers!

When we made the schedule, we overlooked the Thanksgiving holiday and scheduled this as a regular week. We are all going to be traveling and very busy this week, so we're taking a week off the schedule. We'll bump the weeks up so we'll still do "Rooms of the House" next week. In the meantime, I think there may be a few random posts coming this week, but nothing planned!

We hope you enjoy giving thanks with your families this week. In our house, we're thankful for the blessing of another baby!

Shower for Baby Lima Bean

A few months ago, I had the chance to throw a baby shower for my sister in law, Lauren. She's having her first baby in about a month! Though its grandchild #7 in my husband's family, we wanted her and baby "lima bean" to feel special.

I didn't have a theme other than the colors green and brown. Not knowing the baby's gender, I knew she would like those two colors. (Who doesn't!?) We incorporated those colors with paper products, flowers and fabric. You can see the food table above has a brown polka dot runner. It was simply fabric cut with pinking shears. No sewing involved and it added a nice touch to the table!

The invitations were designed by a friend who does graphic design. They were also green and brown. The invitations also included a poem for Lauren. The Gainors love to write poems and/or songs for all occassions; weddings, retirement, birthday, babies, etc. For this poem, I included my other sister in law that currently lives overseas. She wrote the poem for me and it was just a sweet to include her own little touch to the shower preparations.

We had guests write their own nametags with the color of the gender they believed the baby to be. This was a fun little "game" that didn't take much prep or involvement. In the end, it was a landslide win for GIRL! All but one lady thought baby lima bean is a girl.

We played a shower game where guests had to identify the favorite characters of Lauren's nieces and nephews. I made up a sheet with color pictures of about 20 different characters that are the Gainor kid favorites. It was really fun!

The food was simple. We made cupcakes (my first icing from scratch!), fruit salad, chocolate covered pretzels, ham biscuits, cheese ball w/ strawberry jam along with some simple punch. Let's just say that we wasted a lot of chocolate while learning how to make chocolate covered pretzels! It's not as easy as you'd think to melt chocolate.

You'll see a picture in the slideshow of this, but we also played a game and guessed the number of lima beans in a jar. Andy and Lauren have been calling the baby "Lima Bean" so I thought this would be fun. This would be easy to change based on the nickname the expectant parents had given baby. Peanut is a common name!

 

(I hope Lauren doesn't mind me posting her picture on Prayer of Hannah!)

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I made Lauren a pennant banner for the shower in the colors we used for the shower. Mainly green and brown - but with some blue too. I love the colors and fabrics of this banner. It hung over my mother in law's large windows in the kitchen. I also made a small one to hang over the fireplace in the living room. The small one can be attached the larger one later.

Here are the rest of the pictures! (They are not very good, my camera was acting up. I had some setting off and I'm not sure what it was.)

Seeing Stars--baby shower ideas

Last fall, I hosted a baby shower for a dear friend of mine (I can't believe it's already been a year!). Below are pictures of the shower along with ideas that anyone can incorporate into a baby shower/birthday party/event for friends.

1). Work with a theme

My friend's nursery theme was purple and stars, so we used that throughout the shower decorations, invitations, and more. It was a simple, basic idea that was fun to incorporate into various elements of the shower.




2). Decorate with items from your house, or with items that can be used in the baby's nursery later

For instance, I painted these wooden stars and hung them on ribbon to decorate my door. My friend Em took them home and hung them in her baby's room.




Another friend made a starry mobile that we hung from the chandelier over the food table--another decoration that was later put in the baby's nursery!


On a side table I used a bowl of shower favors (purple and pink star-shaped lollipops) for decoration, with a baby quilt of my daughter's underneath it that coordinated perfectly!


3). Divide the workload!
I hosted the shower at my home, and as such handled a lot of the shower items. BUT I was able to reduce my stress and workload by asking many friends for help. I had a friend who made the mobile that decorated the dining room, others who made food items and donated their serving trays/dishes for the food, a friend who provided the party favors, and yet another lady made name tags for the group. It made for a beautiful, fun shower that I didn't have to slave over!




4). Use nametags if the ladies will not know each other. Sometimes everyone knows everyone at a baby shower. At other times, the shower is a combination of multiple groups of people. In either case, having attendees wear cute, shower themed name tags cuts back on the stress of remembering everyone's name!


5). Try to take a group picture. If you have time and ability, it is great to get a picture of the honoree with each attendee, but sometimes that is impossible. If nothing else, aim for a group shot that can be a 'record' of who attends. Note--it may take one or two tries:-)
Take 1-

Take 2-



6). Provide an activity that will be a permanent record for the day. At Em's baby shower, we decorated a large pillowcase/small laundry bag by sewing on small star shaped buttons and signing our name by the star. A friend had painted a Bible verse and sky scene on the pillowcase, so the stars were the 'finishing touch'. When my friend uses it for her baby's laundry, or for decoration in the room, she has a concrete record of the friends who love and support her.

7). End with a time of prayer. To facilitate this, we printed Bible verses on index cards and handed them out to the ladies in attendance. After an opening prayer, we simply went around the room and prayed the Scripture verses over the baby. The attendees could take the cards home to remind them to be praying for the baby, and the mom could take the extra cards to see what people would be praying for her and her family. Having a guided time of prayer involved everyone in the group, but did not put anyone on the spot since they had something written in front of them to read.

These are just a few of the ideas that worked for a baby shower, but we would love to hear your ideas. Please share them with us!!

Baby Shower Ideas

I recently hosted a baby shower for a friend. Here are a few pointers that I picked up along the way...


1. Use Evite. I have never done this before and it made inviting people so much easier. I have found that with traditional paper invitations, people would never RSVP and I'd have no idea how many folks to expect. Not with Evite! A few of the invited guests didn't have email address. I was able to print off a copy of the Evite and put it in the snail mail for them. I also printed off a copy for the mom-to-be to use in her scrapbook.

2. Choose a simple theme and use it! I picked a little bird theme. For a decoration, I made this mobile that the mom-to-be took home with her. This isn't the best photo, but I bought a bouquet of baby's breath (get it?!) and stuck scrapbook paper birds on floral picks in it.We had plates and napkins that matched, and candles lit to create a festive atmosphere. You can change up these ideas to suit whatever theme you choose, or purchase ready made theme kits at party supply stores.

3. Ask the mom what she needs. The mom I hosted for really wanted to take donations to put towards a stroller. So, I politely asked guests to contribute in lieu of bringing gifts. This might work best for a second time mom.

4. Play a few games, but keep them short. I've found that most people just want to socialize and/or swap their own pregnancy and labor stories. Too many games can get in the way.

5. Provide store bought or handmade thank you notes as a gift for the mom and have guests address their own envelope at the shower. This was done for me once and I was amazed how much easier it made writing the thank you notes.

6. Give the mom a blank, lined journal as a simple gift. Have guests write blessings to the mom and baby in it, and record what gifts were given. Later the mom can use it record baby's milestones or funny things the child says as he or she grows. A friend also did this for me and I'm still using the journal four years later. I've found that my daughter's baby book didn't have enough room to write all Iwanted to in it. I love having the journal and the extra space it provides to detail memories. I liked it so much that I've purchased one for each of my kids.

Please feel free to share additional baby shower ideas in the comments section. We love to hear from you!

Ministry Involvement Pre and Post Children

I don't know about you, but lots of things in our life changed after having kids! One of those was our ministry involvement within our local church. We weren't able to serve in all the ways we had prior to having kids, but found new ways that worked better as a young family. I think Leah F. touched on this, but I wanted to share what my involvement has been pre and post kids.

Before having kids, my involvement was mainly with the youth at our church. I led a small group during the week and was a counselor at our summer camp. We even traveled to central asia with our church to be counselors for the youth at a conference for those serving overseas. (I was actually 10 weeks pregnant with my first during that trip! So technically we had a child. :) We also served occasionally as subs in the children's ministry on Sunday mornings. If I could go back, I would spend more time serving with the children before we had our own.

After having kids, our time was simply more limited. I worked full time and my husband was in school full time and working almost full time as well. Taking a week away from our son wasn't an option, especially when he was still nursing. Weeknights were much more difficult to coordinate. So I took a year off from leading a small group.

The next year, we both led again but this time my mother in law watched Will every Wednesday evening for us. This was do-able with one child, but once our second came along I have not done youth ministry since. Without my in-laws help serving us, we wouldn't have been able to serve in that way during that time.

In the years since our second was born, I have sort of phased out of youth ministry and learned that in this season of life shorter term committments are best for me. Serving on Sunday mornings is a better option with kids as we are already there and they have somewhere to be - their own class. Weeknight committments are just more difficult (but not impossible) when you have small children. We spent one year teaching my son's 2 year old class and that was a blast. Since then, we have substituted a few times on Sunday mornings and I have also subbed at AWANA (that Will already attends) as well.

I think that maybe it is natural for us to progress in the areas we serve based on the ages of our children. My husband's parents led his Sunday School class from about 7th grade through 12th grade. I would love to do that some day and really know the children my kids will grow up with! So someday we may return to youth ministry! For now, we'll stick with the preschoolers. :)

I've also enjoyed having a once a year involvement in a specific Women's Ministry event called Holidays Fit for the King. It just took place this year and is a morning event where we serve breakfast, have a speaker and attend seminars all geared towards preparing our hearts for holidays. I have loved serving in this way because it is so flexible! All of my work in registration was done at home, when I had time. Aside from that there was a little prep time at church before the event and then the day of. One of the event's highlights is the decorated tables. They are each decorated by a different (and very talented) lady. Because I know you will enjoy seeing them, here is a slideshow of all the tables from this year! :)

(Thanks to my friend, Rockie for the slideshow! I forgot my camera and she shared her pics with me.)

Leah F's Local Church Involvement

This week on Prayer of Hannah we are discussing our “outside of the home” ministries, specifically focusing on our involvement in our local church.

Let me first say that if you are a wife and mother, your primary ministry responsibility is in your home. God has created you to be a helpmate to your spouse, and mother to your children. It is a job that you alone can do, and God has developed special gifts and abilities in your life for you to serve in your home. As a mother of small children, God has given me this time to train them and teach them and point them to Christ. It is my biggest ministry! For further development of this idea, please see this article (I linked to it before, but it fits so perfectly with this discussion I had to link it again).

However, as believers in Christ, we are also called to be a part of a church body, and to exercise our part in that body to the best of our ability. With small children, it is hard to be greatly involved in the daily life of your church without your home life suffering. However, there are still many ministries that are perfectly suited to wives and mothers, and it is our hope that by sharing what we do, you will find inspiration for ministry opportunities in your life and your church body.

Nathan and I are members of First Baptist Church, Durham, NC. It is my personal opinion that my pastor is the best expositional preacher around, but of course if I didn’t think that, we probably wouldn’t be attending there! We have been members for over five years now, and have had many different areas of service. I currently have three main areas of ministry opportunities in my church.

1--substitute teacher for the one year old Bible For Life class (our Sunday School equivalent)--I am the permanent sub for the one year old BFL class. That means if any one of the teachers is out of town or sick, I am the person they call first. There are three teachers in this classroom, and I spend about one third of my time Sunday mornings in the one year old class, and two thirds of my time in my adult BFL class. This responsibility requires no preparation--this class does not have regular lessons, so I do not have to review anything before working in the class. It is just an hour and a half of playing with kids, one of whom is my son, so it is a great job!

2--coordinator of the new baby meals for the church body. Several weeks ago we discussed ministry to new moms, and I talked about MealBaby.com and how I use it at my church. I have a list of ladies who are willing and available to make meals for families in need, and I simply pull together a MealBaby calendar and send the link out to my email list. This is something I am easily able to do from home in less than an hour. The glories of the internet and MealBaby.com allow me to work on it even if I am away from home traveling. Secretly, I am actually looking forward to planning my own MealBaby calendar in a few short weeks--there is no reason I cannot set it up and email it out once I know my schedule after Finnling #3 arrives.

3--hosting a small group (called Home Fellowships at FBCD) in our home once a week. This task is both the easiest and hardest one that I do. It is easy because the small group meets in my home, on my turf, under my terms and conditions. I can put my kids in their pajamas before people come over if I want, or I slip away to put them to bed if needed. I love opening my home to others and sharing our family life with people. However, that means that I need to keep my house clean and ready for company. That is not always easy to do! Quite frankly, I just don’t enjoy cleaning (never have), but I don’t like for people to see my house dirty either. Usually what happens is that once a week my downstairs living area gets a good cleaning or at least a surface pick up, and my upstairs bedrooms/bathrooms are neglected for weeks on end. I am not recommending that route, just sharing what happens around here! This third ministry is the area in which my children are most involved. By opening our home to church members each week, we are modeling hospitality, grace and unconditional love to our children. We are inviting our brothers and sisters in Christ to walk with us, to see us at our best and worst, and to become real family members to my kids. We are attempting to teach our children to love others, to display good manners, and to be gracious hosts (they need a lot of work in these areas--but don’t we all?).

There are a few other things that I occasionally do to serve my church body (such as taking the roll in my husband’s Bible for Life class and serving in extended session nursery), but the above three things are what I consider my ministry at FBCD. Note that one thing I DO NOT do is teach any kind of class. I am not opposed to doing that at some point, but this season in my life is not the right time for that. I have served as a children’s teacher before, but with two small children and another on the way, preparing a weekly lesson is not the best commitment for me.

Please take the time to share with us how you are involved in your local church, and how you balance your ministry at home and at church. We would love to hear from you!

25 tips for getting over sickness naturally

As you might have noticed, all of the POH authors have been super busy this week and haven't posted anything. Sorry about that! We decided to save the "Creative Playdate" topic for a week when more of us could share and let this week be a free for all. So I decided to share some tips that I recently posted on my family blog for getting over over sickness naturally. I'm sure you've heard of some of them before, but I hope you will find them as a helpful reminder. It seems that everyone I know is fighting a bad cold or virus, so I thought it was a good time to share these :)

1. Oregano oil -- Personally, I think this is THE MOST EFFECTIVE natural remedy available! If you don't do anything else, please stock up on oregano oil. It is simple and effective. If I start taking it at first notice of a scratchy throat, I can pretty much avoid a bad cold because most symptoms are gone within 24 hours. If I don't start it right away, it might not go away as quickly, but it will still help a ton! I put a few drops in an empty pill capsule and take about 3 times a day. For children, just rub it on the bottom of their feet. Oregano oil is a hot herb and kills bacteria and viruses, very much like an antibiotic but without the dangerous chemicals. Make sure you read the label, though, and buy some that is not watered down with olive oil.

2. A tsp. of raw honey with 1/4 tsp. of good quality cinnamon. Both of these have great anti-bacterial, antiviral, and anti-fungal properties. If I'm feeling sick, I will mix up a bowl full of honey and cinnamon and take a spoonful 3-4 times a day. It soothes a sore throat tremendously, helps fight your sickness, and tastes great, too! For even stronger honey for medicinal purposes, purchase raw Manuka Honey.

3. Gargle with hydrogen peroxide or put drops in your kids ear.

4. Garlic -- If you google garlic you will be amazed at how effective this anti-bacterial natural remedy is. You can simply cut it up into pill-sized bites, or (if you are like me and don't like swallowing those pointy edges :) chop up finely and put in an empty pill capsule. For my girls, I slice it and just rub it on their feet. Their feet are very porous and absorb it very well. I also try to make meals that contain large a mounts of garlic when we are sick. For instance, I will make a pot of our favorite cheesy potato cheddar chowder and add a whole bulb of chopped garlic to the recipe. Or you can generously spread Donielle's "Cold Kicking Garlic Herb Spread" on your favorite bread or crackers :)

5. Probiotics -- These are so important for replenishing your good bacteria! You want to take them on an empty stomach if at all possible.

6. Collodial Silver -- Another super effective way to fight bacteria and viruses. You have to make sure you have a good source, but it really works! I take a mouthful about 4 times a day when I am sick.

7. Unpasturized Apple Cider Vinegar -- If you can, taking a mixture of 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar with honey and plenty of cayenne pepper really works well. Take it 3-4 times a day. I can't do the pepper, but I just pour a little ACV in my water or tea and drink it throughout the day.

8. Steam Pot for chest/broncial/mucus issues. -- boil water on the stove in a glass pot – if you don't have a glass pot, boil the water in a tea pot and then pour into a glass bowl. When the water is boiling hard, remove from heat and add three shakes of Euchalyptus, lavendar, and pine oils into the hot water. The oil effectiveness lasts about 15-20 seconds so move quickly to get yourself over the steam. Breathe in through your nose, turn your head to the side and breathe out through your mouth. Continue this process until the scents aren't as strong. Be sure to close your eyes. With children, place a washcloth over their eyes as it can burn. You could also make a tent over the top with a towel for really young infants, but if they can get the concept of breathing through their nose, then it will get deeper into their lungs. You're doing it right if it just about takes your breath away or make you cough!

9. Grapefruit Seed Extract -- I add it to my smoothies, tea, or juice all year long just to boost our immune system. When I am sick, I take it in a capsule with my oregano oil.

10. Elderberries -- anti-viral, contains high levels of flavonoids and antioxidants, has cell-protecting components, soothes sore throats, and supports the immune system and respiratory system. I add some dried ones to my morning tea or make a simple elderberry syrup for the girls when they are sick. Lindsey gives a great little video of how to make your own on THIS post.

11. Kombucha -- it cleanses the body from toxins and aids in digestion and metabolism. Click HERE to see my review of it and some links explaining why I love this drink and how to make it yourself. My toddler and I drink this regularly (I'm still working on my husband :), and I was amazed that my baby would even take sips of it when she was sick! When I make it, I usually try to leave a small jar of it fermenting for several weeks so that it will be even more potent for killing off illness.

12. Mullein for chest/cold issues -- Take mullein capsules – The amount taken depends on the size of the capsule. The larger 0 sizes can be 1-2 capsules 3x per day. The small 000 capsules can be 3 capsules 3x per day. This is not a hard science, can take larger doses if the lung infection is bad or persistent. Mullein is a safe herb. You can also make a tea for kids who can not swallow pills. Or add a small amount to applesauce or yoghurt and have them take it that way. I add it to bone broth through out the winter.

13. Home-made Chicken Stock -- Your grandma was right to tell you to eat chicken soup when you are sick because it is chock full of immune-boosting nutrients! But don't buy the store-bought kind full of chemicals, bad salt, and MSG. It is so simple to make your own with nourishing sea salt and immune-building herbs. Every time I cook a chicken, I make stock for soups. Any time a soup recipe calls for water, I use my stock instead and it adds tons of flavor and nutrients! And anytime we are sick, I reach for my chicken stock!

14. Home-made ear drops -- these are helpful even if the sickness is not an ear infection, because it helps to get garlic and GSE into the body which fight infection. Click HERE for 2 different home-made ear drops, one that you can use right away and one that you can make ahead of time and store.

15. Cod liver oil -- Vitamin D is so important for your immune system and I prefer to take real food rather than just a vitamin D supplement that my body might have a hard time digesting and utilizing. I take it every day but take extra when I am fighting an illness. Don't be deterred by the gross-sounding name -- it comes in pill form so you don't have to taste it :)

16. Herbal Teas -- so healing! Click HERE for a list of which herbs help different ailments.

17. Stay away from sugar and white flour!!! This is so important, because they inhibit the natural workings of your immune system.

18. Let the fever run its course -- (That means NO Tylenol!) This is probably the hardest, yet most important thing for me to do when my girls are sick. God made our bodies to have a fever because the high temp. kills the virus or bacteria. Using Tylenol ruins this natural process and makes the body unable to fight the disease. It can also cause a fever convulsion by bringing the fever down too quickly. Without Tylenol, your fever will naturally break when it gets too high, then climbs back up and breaks again, etc, until it has killed the infection. So I just try to make my girls as comfortable as possible and if utterly miserable, I give THIS special bath for helping with the fever. The main thing you have to watch out for with a high fever is dehydration, but I will write about that soon...

19. Coconut water -- This is truly nature's Gatorade or Pedialyte without all the added flavorings and sugar! I get in the organic section at Kroger or buy when on sale at Amazon and always keep it on hand for any time we are sick. Coconut Water is rich in many vital minerals, vitamins, and proteins, not just the basic "electrolyte essentials" found in a lab-formulated drink. And believe it or not, the natural electrolyte & pH balance of coconut water even make it suitable for a rehydrating IV solution! And my girls love it! Smart Water/ Trinity Mineral Water is also a good option for dehydration because it has a lot of electrolytes, but my favorite is coconut water.

20. Lemons -- high in vitamin C, which is important when sick. Once again, I'd rather take real food than a processed pill, so I add a ridiculous amount of fresh lemons to my tea or water all day long when I am sick.

21. Chiropractor! The relief a chiropractor can bring during illness is simply amazing. I can see immediate relief in my girls' eyes once the chiro has finished. And the amount of drainage that immediately is released is even more proof :) A chiro is particularly useful if you think your child has an ear infection and can bring immediate relief to the pain. Our family chiro has a lot of medical training and gave me much encouragement and more advice on beating sickness naturally. If you live in my area, I can recommend a fabulous Christian chiro who charges a reasonable rate and doesn't even deal with insurance. I just love her! I take my girls to a chiropractor before I even think about taking them to a doctor.

22. Coconut oil -- Filled with anti-viral and anti-biotic properties -- I eat a few spoonfuls or spread it on toast or mix in my tea. But make sure you buy the raw, cold-pressed kind.

23. Smoothies with coconut milk, coconut oil, frozen fruit, raw honey, and grapefruit seed extract --The best tasting medicine ever! It is really the only thing I can get my girls to eat when they are absolutely miserable. It is dairy-free so it won't add to drainage, has tons of vitamin C from the fruit, contains bacteria fighting GSE and coconut oil, all the nutrients of coconut milk, and the honey is soothing and has many other benefits. We actually eat these all the time to try to boost our immune system. My husband likes them so much that he was willing to give up his nightly ice cream treat for them (and if you know my husband, that is saying A LOT!)

24. "Remedies" from my Christian Holistic Doctor -- I know not everyone has this resource available but I wanted to include it because if you live in my area, I can refer you to the BEST natural doctor ever. She can pinpoint any illnesses/ allergies without invasive treatment and makes remedies based on your body's particular needs. She has such a heart for helping others and I just love her!

25. Homeopathic remedies -- I've recently started trying out Homeopathic options like teething tablets and allergy tablets. I've used the Hyland's and Boiron brand and they both seem to work well. I plan to try out the cold remedy next time any of us get sick and I have the flu remedy in my medicine cabinet just in case! Homeopathy seems to be very safe and effective. It treats the individual with highly diluted substances given in mainly tablet form, which triggers the body’s natural system of healing. The idea is that by giving a small dose of the very thing that could trigger the types of symptoms that a person is experiencing, you can actually bring about a natural healing response that will help to relieve those symptoms! Pretty neat!

If you have any other natural remedies that have worked for your family, I'd love to hear them!!