The blessings of teens

I just want to take a little time to give some props to my two oldest daughters.They are such blessings to me. Not just because they help around the house, because truth be told, with one of them I have get a cattle prod after her to get her to help at times. It is the relationship that we have that is a blessing. It is watching them blossoming into the young ladies that they are now that is a blessing. It is the honor that they bring to our family that is the blessing.

Many times over the years i'd get nervous thinking about parenting during the teenage years. I didn't exactly have the best relationship with my own parents as a teen. They still claim that I am the one that gave them gray hairs. Now I wasn't THAT bad, but it was rough for quite a few years.

With our own children, we have always been told that we have great kids in one sentence, just to be warned in the next that one day they'd be teenagers. Of course every teenager rebels and gives their parents trouble, right? At least it seems that many people think this way.

Scott and I have stayed up many a night talking about this, praying for our children and the wisdom to do what was right in raising them. We wanted it to be different in our family, (what family doesn't)? Not that we don't ever expect them to make a mistake. We just want to maintain a strong enough relationship to guide them through these years that lead to adulthood.

Although we are not all the way through the teen years and we still have many teens left to raise, I just wanted to say that I am really enjoying these years. All the years of training and teaching are really starting to show through.

One of the greatest moments was when I heard one of them repeating something that i'd taught them years ago to the little ones. I immediately thought, "Thankyou, Jesus. They actually were listening!" I am blessed indeed.

I just wanted to share a picture of my family. It is from Mother's day. I am hugely pregnant with Anna still in this picture, but it is all of us.

A few precious pictures of Anna Sophia to share

I know you've probably heard enough of my sweet baby, but I just had to share a few pictures of her. I'm excited since this is one of the first we've gotten of her since getting home. She has no wires and she actually has clothes on too!

Here's one from when she was in NICU still. Nice change, isn't it?

We're finally home!!

Thanks to everyone for their prayers and well wishes. We are finally home from the hospital. I wanted to give a quick rundown of what happened this week so I am just going to copy and paste what I wrote on my momys board about Anna's stay at the hospital.

It was an amazingly easy birth and I felt great afterwards. Anna did well too, they just told me that she had quite a bit of facial bruising. As an old NICU nurse I wasn't concerned because it happens alot but her face was really purple from the bruising.

About 8 hours later the pediatrician came and checked her out and said that she was perfectly healthy and that the bruising would go away in a few days. Side note: It turns out that it wasn't facial bruising at all.

About 10 minutes after she came in to talk to me she came back, but with another doctor. I didn't recognize him, but it turns out he was a new NICU doc. She then told me that while she was in here that Anna coded and had to be resuscitated. Usually they start resuscitation efforts on newborns well before they have no heartrate, but when they found her in the crib she had no heartrate and of course was not breathing. After working on her awhile they were able to get her heartrate back up to normal and she was breathing on her own. Of course she was immediately transferred to NICU.

I was told that she had a seizure but they weren't sure why. They suspected that she either had a heart defect, that she had bled into her brain or that she had an infection. They ran quite a few tests but all came back normal. The problem was that she kept turning blue. She hasn't had another episode since Monday night. They never have figured out what was causing them, except for some transitional issues, but decided to let her come home.

We possibly still have to go do a 2-D echo of the heart and are going to ask to be set up with an apnea monitor, but we are hoping that everything has resolved. We are thanking God that she is ok and that we got to bring her home. The doctors don't expect there to be any permanent damage, but we of course just have to wait and see. Right now she is acting as if nothing ever went wrong.

The nurses that resuscitated her told me that it was a miracle that they happened to walk by her when they did. Neither of them were supposed to be in there at that time. Another minute later and we might not be holding her right now.

So needless to say I am enjoying my sweet baby girl. I might be MIA for a few more days while I recoup from this week, but i'll be back soon. Again, thanks so much!

Summer family project time!

This week is a themed week for Works for me Wednesday. It is the "Mom, i'm bored" edition. This is something that we all dread hearing. After a long summer break i'm sure it's bound to happen at some time. I used to hear it all the time. Of course I always loved coming up with creative ways to make the children stop telling me every five minutes that they were bored. I could always help them not be so bored by scrubbing out the trashcans or by dusting the baseboards. You get the point. It still got to be tiring though, so we changed things up a bit for them.

First thing I want to say is that we homeschool. It is a bit different for us since we don't follow the typical schoolyear schedule. We take off one whole month in the summer (this year we are taking off the month of June), and we take off the whole month of December. I have found that just having a shorter summer break cuts down some on the "Mom, i'm bored" cries.

Now you know it would be too easy if that's all it took, but of course I still used to hear it pretty often. That's when we took it a step further and implemented a few summer changes around here. It has made a huge difference and it's actually quite fun.

First thing to go is the TV. We turn it off every summer, for the whole summer. There is nothing on but reruns anyway, but I find that the kids whine about being bored more if they sit in front of the TV everyday. So, off it goes.

Every year the children also attend one camp. The last three years it has been a music day camp at one of the local churches. It's fun for the kids and it takes care of one week. Plus it's free!

The big thing we do though that has made the most difference is complete a family project together every summer. Last year we built a chicken coop together. If you want to read more about our chickens, you can do so here. This year we have been working on checking off Mom's nesting list. Baby should come at any time now so it's got to get done. We have painted a few rooms in the house, built a loft bed, and we are about to start expanding the chicken run.

Including the children is something we love doing and we never hear, "I'm bored!" It also helps them build skills that will help them later on in life. Most importantly, it helps build our relationship with our kids and it makes great memories. If you don't have any big projects to do, do something small. Build a birdhouse, plant a flower garden. Lets the kids pick. It works for us!

To get more great ideas on how to keep the kids entertained this summer, visit Rocks in my Dryer.

Natural products to keep in your medicine cabinet

Since I get a few questions on how we afford medical care for our large family I thought this would be a great post for Works for me Wednesday.

Now, I love my children's pediatrician. She is a wonderful doctor. We used to be in her office every other week but now we hardly ever have to see her and that's the way I like it. With 6 children, it would cost me a fortune if they were sick all the time. Because of that, there are a few things I like to keep on hand to try first in my medicine cabinet before we head to pay the doctor a visit.

These are the things I would never be without:

1. Tea Tree Oil

There are many uses for tea tree oil. First, it is an antiseptic. It is great to put a diluted amount on scrapes, cuts, and rashes. It's also great for you cloth diapering moms to add to the diaper pail or when you wash the diapers.

2. Aloe

Of course most of us know to use this on burns. It is very soothing.

3. Ipecac

Those of us who have small children should keep this on hand in case of accidental poisoning. It induces vomiting. Of course, be sure to call the poison control center first. They will let you know whether or not to induce vomiting.

4. Echinacea

Great for cold and flu season. They have a brand that I really like that is made for children. It is called Herbs for Kids. That way I know i'm not overdosing them.

5. Olive Leaf Extract

This is probably one of my favorite natural products to use. It is used during cold and flu season. It is also wonderful for seasonal allergies. It is an antiviral and an immune builder. The brand I use is by Seagate. It is actually a nasal spray. When I have to use it, it works pretty fast.

6. Mullein and garlic oil

This is great for earaches. It helps soothe the pain. Note, if the eardrum is perforated then do not use it.

Of course this is not a complete list of things I have on hand. It is just what we use the most. Ok maybe not the Ipecac, thank the Lord for that, but the others we do. There are so many natural treatments out there that it's hard to know which ones to use for what ailment and to know if they are safe or not. I try, for now, to stick to ones that I know will be safe.

This is just something that I wanted to share that works for our family. For more Works for Me Wednesday topics, head over to Rocks in my dryer.

Happy Mother's Day!

I know that I have been slacking just a bit with posting, but we are still busy preparing for baby to come in a few weeks. We have painted two rooms, built a loft bed for one of our daughter's, and went through all of the children's clothes. Now this weekend we are still checking off Mom's nesting list by cleaning out toys and bedrooms.



I am working on my next series of posts on how I made my transition from the working world to stay at home mom. I have had many women ask me to write something about this. It can seem an like impossible thing to do, but it isn't! I am hoping that it will encourage and inspire all of you who have that huge desire to come home. I am hoping to get them up this week, so stay tuned!

I did want to write to tell all you Moms out there, "Happy Mother's Day!" I want to encourage you, as mothers, to enjoy your children. I know it's easy to get overwhelmed and exhausted. Remember though, that God has blessed you with those precious children. "Lo, children are a heritage of The Lord; and the fruit of the womb is His reward." Psalms 127:3

I want to share this video I found. Now, I am not a fan of country music, but I thought that this video serves as a nice reminder to cherish the children we have since there are many who would love the chance to be where we're at. Have a great weekend and make sure you give lots of hugs and kisses to them babies!

"Family" Oriented

When you hear the words, "family oriented," what do you think about? I have really wondered what people's perception of these words are. It's just one of those things that I ponder about as I lay in my bed wide awake at night.

A few months ago at my church we had a small group expo that I worked. As I sat behind my couponing booth ready to sell myself, I started looking at all of the other booths there. There, to my right, was the "movie" group. In front of me was the "young married" group and the "middle married" group. To the left of me was the "men's" group and the "women's" group.

As I looked at all 25 of the booths there, something hit me. There was not one small group booth for families. I mean, they had something for men, women, and couples....but nothing for families to do together.

My church is what most people would consider a family oriented church. I mean we have a huge children's and youth ministry, a thriving men's and women's ministry. You name it, we have it. Everywhere you look, you see families there, but what about the family as a whole?

I have asked why there isn't something designed for the whole family to participate in together. The response I have gotten is that there isn't enough interest, or that it would be too much work to put together. I say it will never be too much work to encourage and build up the family unit. It is the backbone of our society.

In a world today where both mom and dad work, and the children have a ton of outside commitments, family time has become almost non-existent. Each individual family member has their own interests, with the occasional "family" night thrown in there. The family today has morphed into something that resembles the drive thru lane at McDonald's.

Is the church taking the same direction? Are we catering to each individual piece of the family without ever really ministering to the family as a whole? Is all we are doing as a church body, taking even more time away from the family? Are we encouraging even more outside activities that include parts of the family, but never the family unit as a whole? How can the church encourage family relationships? How can they encourage families to serve together?

Many people that I talk to about families in the church have never given thought to this. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

How do you afford all those children? - Part 2

When I am asked how we afford all of the children we have, I always point out how important it is to build up a great relationship with your children rather than buying them everything. I know that sounds like an answer you give when you are struggling to provide for your family. But before you think that my poor children are deprived of anything that would enrich their lives, that's not true. We do selectively let them participate in activities that we feel will be good for them.

Just as I covered the value of relationship within the family last time, I will try to cover a few of the actual logistics of how we can afford a big family on one income. You can read part 1 here. By all means, you do not have to do everything that we do. We try to make living a frugal life fun for our family, not a burden we must carry. We never want to feel as if we are missing out on anything. That is no example to anyone just how wonderful a large family can be.

Lately I have written a few posts on some of the frugal things we do as a family. The first thing I do is to plan a food budget, menu plan, and cook from scratch as often as possible. I have a $300 a month grocery budget but I have coming under that lately. Here are some of the posts that I have written about how we make that $300 work for us. You can also read my grocery budget series here.

1.We have a vegetable garden that we get many seasonal vegetables out of. We do a summer and fall garden. This is a great family project that the children love to help plan and do. You can read my post about our garden here.

2.From the excess in our garden we preserve what we can. We preserve by freezing and canning. It's much easier than you think. Of course I have lots of willing helping hands that make the work lighter. Sometimes I have too many helping hands, if you know what I mean. You can read my post about preserving food here.

3.We have our own chickens that give us eggs and meat. We do not get enough meat to last us the year though although we plan to do more next year. They are so much better tasting than store bought chicken, and way cheaper than what you'd pay for free range, hormone free at the store. This is another great family project. Even the little one loves to go and get eggs for Mommy. You can read my post about our girls here. This was a post that generated alot of response. Have fun reading it.

4. We make our own laundry detergent. Now I was getting my Tide He at CVS for nothing, but my youngest daughter has very sensitive skin and reacts to many different detergents. I found out that people actually made their own detergent so I had to try it. I was pleased that it worked so well and was easy to do. I have tried both the liquid and the powder version. You can read my post for my tutorial on the powdered kind here. I have also had quite a people ask me to post my recipe for my liquid version as well, so I did that.

The next thing we have done is started paying down bills. When I was working it wasn't really necessary to pay down anything. Now that I am home we have made it a goal to have all our extra debt paid off by the end of the year. We are well on our way to doing that. It is much easier to live with less debt. Once we pay off the debt, we will start saving for a house with more land.

Scott has been taking small side jobs painting since I have quit. It was to pay for all the extras and to pay down debt. Now he has actually become quite busy with it. God has blessed him so much, he now has a waiting list. Maybe one day this will become his full time profession, although he does have a great job right now.

There are some good resources out there for paying down debt. Dave Ramsey is the first one that comes to mind. Debt is a ball and chain for many people. With the economy the way it is, it is even more important to get out of debt.

I want to mention here that we live within our means. People are always buying more and more things, or bigger houses, or new cars. Yes, we could go and buy that big country house now, or we could get my husband the truck he's like to have, but would it make us happier? No, because we would have the extra debt that comes with it. Extra debt adds stress. Even if we could manage higher payments now, doesn't mean that we always will be able to. We might have to wait a few years, but those things will come. We are content with what we have right now. Contentment is a good lesson for anyone to learn.

Now, next on the list is clothing. Many people don't see how I can afford clothing for all of my children. Well, to be honest I really don't have to spend much here. We are given clothes from people on it seems a regular basis. Sometimes it is too much, so I pass the blessing on to other people who need it. I think we are first on people's minds when it comes to giving away clothes since we have a large family. People figure that someone in the house will fit in the clothes.

Usually I just have to fill in the gaps seasonally with what we're missing. For my older girls it helps to have young aunts that pass on nice clothes. For my younger girls I sew lots of their clothes and they are given quite a bit. I do sew some of the older girls skirts too. Even my younger son gets clothes passed on to him, thanks Carlie! It's usually my 10 yo son that I have to buy for the most. It seems as if most 10 yo boys are pretty hard on their clothes so nothing is really worth passing on after they're done with them.

Next thing that comes to mind is staying home. We stay home more than the average family. That means I save on gas, I save on food, I save because we're not involved in everything under the sun. Our home is the center of everything. Yes, we go out, but like I said we are home much more than anyone else I know. We manage to stay pretty busy here. Being home most of the time is something foreign to many people. It is a simpler life than most are used to, but it is a full life.

Last thing i'd like to talk about is activities. Our children do participate in a few select activities. They are involved in 4-H, which they all love. We participate in our local homeschool group by going on field trips, playdates, and PE. They are on their puppet team at church. They also participate in Awana. The two oldest girls will also be starting piano lessons in the fall. They are trading out babysitting two hours a week for free lessons. It works out wonderfully. All of these activities are low in cost and either teach the children or give them a chance to serve. The best thing is that it's not overwhelming.

At times it takes a different way of thinking and doing things to make it work in a large family. I can't always explain it well. We are a team. We need everyone on our team. Without one member we just wouldn't function as well. Even the youngest has her part. She is learning to work along side of us in our family. She is only two now, but in a few years even she will participate much more in our daily family life.

One last thought. I have spoken once before on the provision of God in our lives. Sometimes there is no other explanation except that God provides for us and meets all of our needs. While we work hard to make our family run well, we know that He gave us these children to raise so He will meet all of our needs according to His riches and glory.

Graphics courtesy of Allposters.com

Making your food last by preserving it

Last time I posted I talked about our garden and how it really was worth the time involved. You can read about it here. Now i'd like to talk about preserving food.

So you plant a garden and it does well. It does REALLY well. What do you do with the abundance of vegetables out of your garden that you get? The quick answer is to preserve them so that you can enjoy your garden all year long!

Preserving food is a lost art. It sounds so old-fashioned. I remember my watching my grandmother canning food as a young girl. It brings back fond memories of staying the summer with her. Eventhough I loved to help her, I still never learned to do it myself until recently. It was one of those things that I tucked away in my mind that I loved about Grandma's house, but never ever would do myself. Why should I, when I could go and pick it up already canned for me?

While it may be rather old-fashioned, it really is a great skill to learn for the here and now. We, as homemakers in the 21st century, in the age of rising grocery prices, faced with looming recession, and tainted food are having to look long and hard at the way we are doing things. Maybe our grandmothers and great grandmothers had it right. They faced many ups and downs, but they still fed their families affordable nutritious meals. We like to think that we've been freed from the chains of homemaking, but we've just traded it for a new set of chains.

There are a few different ways you can preserve your food. You can freeze, dry, pickle, or can your extras. Freezing is the cheapest way to preserve food and many times the healthiest, since it doesn't destroy any of the nutrients. With freezing you just blanch your vegetables first and then put them in a freezer bag and pop them in the freezer. To learn how to blanch your vegetables, read here. This is super easy and doesn't take much time at all. It is well worth it though.

I will not get into drying or pickling here since I don't do them. I do plan on making my own pickles one day, so i'll let you know how it goes.

The last way is canning. Initially, canning can get a bit costly if you let it. You need jars, a water bather, and pressure canner for many vegetables. You can find inexpensive jars at goodwill, garage sales, or off of your local freecycle. Since I do not have a pressure canner I stick to more acidic foods that are sufficent in a water bath. I will tell you though, I have canned many jars of preserves without any of these things, except the jars of course. You just have to make sure that you submerge your jars entirely as you give them a water bath.

This is a picture of a canning water bath.

If you would like to learn how to can there are many resoures out there. You can start with the Ball website. I also recommend the Ball Book of Preserving . I thought about giving a step by step tutorial on the canning process but there are so many online resources that you can look up that will get you started.

Of course, if any of you live near me, we could have a get together after we harvest a bit. We do this every year with my friend, Carlie. We pick our figs and then get together to start the process of canning strawberry fig preserves. I do enough to last us a whole year. Both of our familes look forward to this every year. I'm sure our children will remember this for a long time to come.

Since I do not have my own fruit orchard, I am limited to either buying or fruit or picking it locally. Many times you can find fruit to pick locally cheaper or even free. See my post here for more information on how to find free produce. To find local places to pick I always start with looking at this website. It lists places to pick according to state and it has information on canning, including recipes. I just love this site, but I have found other u pick farms around me that are not listed here, so always be on the lookout.

While preserving food seems like alot of work, it is beneficial to learn. I found it makes it nicer to include my children and my friends. Good company makes the work seem lighter. If you've read anything i've written, you will know that I love to do things that will make great and lasting memories. I love my simple life.

How do you afford all those children? - Part 1

The first thing i'd like to say is that I will be writing this in two parts. The first part will be a background of sorts that has nothing to do with the financial side of raising children, but is just as important to say. The second part will cover the practical how to's that we apply in our family to be able to afford raising our children. So let me get started.

How in the world do you afford to feed and clothe all those children? Your husband must make really good money. I hear it all the time. I will say this, that while we are not living below the poverty line, we are by no means rich either.

I was just reading an article today that quoted the latest Dept of Agriculture's figures on how much money it takes to raise a child. They say that each American child costs an average of $204,060 to house, clothe, educate and entertain until the age of 18. I'm sure that does not include the cost of college either. That means it take $11,337.00 per year to raise one child.

If that were always true, then that means I would be spending $68,022.00 a year on my six children. I can definitely tell you that I am not spending that much. Does that mean I am depriving them? I think not.

The questions I get on how we actually make it work are legitimate concerns for most people. They just don't see how in the world I can really give all my children what they need. While this is not a post telling you to have a big family, I do want to show people that raising children can be done for less than what you think. Without making your children feel deprived, of course.

What do your children really need? Of course a home to live in that keeps the cold and the heat out, good food to eat, clean clothes that fit. That about covers the basic material needs for survival. Anything else we give them materially just adds comfort. Then, most importantly, they need need love, nurture, safety, support, guidance, relationship, training, and discipline. These are not written in any particular order, of course.

So then, why is it so expensive to have children? Is it really the rising costs of living? Let me share with you something I looked up. In 2006 the median family income was $48,201.00. By comparison, in 1955 the median family earned $4,919 (worth about $35,857 in 2006 dollars). That is less than what we make now, on average. Also, the average family size back then was 3.7 children. I think it is hovering right over 2 now.

Yes, things do cost more. I really think though, what has changed the most is our perception of what is needed. There is a difference between what we need to raise our children and what we want to give them.

It's completely natural to want to provide for, and give things to your children. It's what a loving parent wants to do, but don't let the things you give them be how you show them love. That's where it gets confusing for most of us.

I know that when I became pregnant with my first baby I told my husband that I wanted to give her everything that I didn't have. Now mind you, I wasn't neglected, but at a younger age I wasn't able to be involved in many things nor did I receive many of the things I asked for. I resented that.

As we added more children to our family we had to step back and evaluate how we were doing things. I felt that if I didn't let them be involved in more activities or give them more things, that my children would resent me too, like I did my own mother. I think it was at that moment that I realized that it wasn't the lack of involvement or the lack of things that I resented. It was the lack of relationship.

After that my priorities became clearer. I understood what my responsibilities as a parent were. Yes, I still give my children things. Yes, they are still involved in some extracurricular activities, but it is the relationship that I have with them that matters more than anything.

One thing I want to share with you is that we set goals for our children. A few of these goals are to:

*Raise our children to love the Lord

*Raise our children to become productive citizens. We want them to know how to run a household, how to have a good work ethic, etc..There are obviously more goals that we have for them, but I just wanted to share a quick glimpse with you.

So, what do we have to do as parents to help our children reach these goals? This is how we approach things when making decisions about what we give them or what they're involved in. It makes it much easier.

The responsibilities that we, as parents, have are those I listed at the beginning of this post. Besides the basics of providing them with food, clothing, and shelter. We are to give them love, nurture, safety, support, guidance, relationship, training, and discipline. When we apply these things, it's puts perspective on what's important and maybe not so important for our children.

Like I said, what I have written tonight isn't exactly the practical how to's that i'm known for, but this was just as important to say. It gives value to things that aren't material and encourages family relationships.

The Family Dinner Table: Making Memories

We all have memories of our childhood, whether good or bad, they are they engrained in our minds. As far as I can think back, I remember sitting on the couch eating dinner on tv trays in front of the tv. Mom was great at cooking dinner every night. As soon as it was done though, we all rushed to grab our food and eat in front of the tv. I can't even tell you what we were in such a hurry to watch.

Think about it. What are your memories of dinner time from when you were a child? I'm sure some of you have very fond memories and then others, not so fond.

Early in my marriage I continued the tradition my parents had started. Neither my husband or myself felt that it was necessary to eat at the table, so in front of the tv we ate. Eating dinner at the table was only for special occasions, like Thanksgiving and Christmas.

We continued to eat like this for many years until Scott and I started working opposite schedules. I worked nights and he worked days so we never saw eachother. We decided to start eating dinner at the table so that all of us could at least see eachother every day.

It was ok. We enjoyed it, but as I started cutting back hours at work I was home more. We slowly started reverting back to our old ways of doing things. It was the children who brought up eating together as a family again. We didn't realize it had made such an impact on them. They had never told us how much they loved it and how special it was to them.

At that point we talked it over together and decided to make it a point to eat together at least at dinner time. We did this initially for our children, but we have found that we love it as much as they do.

Is it always a wonderful experience where no one bickers and we have great, meaningful conversations? Not with 6 children! At first we had to train them, especially the littles ones, how to sit and wait for their food, to say grace, and then not to get up until they were given permission. I can guarantee that while it is not always picture perfect, most of the time things are great. It is actually quite humerous. We just enjoy being with eachother.

So you say, "What's the big deal about eating together at the table and not in the livingroom instead? Aren't we still eating together?" Yes, you are eating together, but you're missing the point. The point is to foster togetherness while building healthy relationships within the family. Your focus is on eachother and not the tv.

I have 5 great reasons why I think it's important to eat together as a family:

1. I've already mentioned this one earlier. It builds healthy relationships in the family. Are you to just sit at the table and eat in silence? No, of course not! Talk, laugh, be quiet at times. Just enjoy eachother.

2. It makes lasting memories that you and your children will be able to look back on with fondness. Hopefully, they will pass on this wonderful tradition to their familes too.

3. It forces you to slow down for just a bit. We all have such busy lives nowadays. This forces you to sit back and relax with your family for awhile.

4. It's a great time to have family devotions. It further opens the door for communication and gives spiritual training at the same time. Our children have felt more comfortable asking questions that they might be too embarrassed to ask in church. It's really wonderful to see a spiritual truth "click".

5. I had to throw this in, being frugal like I am. It usually means mom will have dinner planned, and cooked rather than eating out. Now it's not always the case, and even we order out at times. As a general rule though, you do plan meals and cook more.

Now, Scott works late at least a few days a week. God has blessed him with extra work, but it does make him late at times. On those days that I know he will be late, I serve snacks late and then we all eat together. I have little helpers that set the table and the olders are in charge, with mom's oversight of course, of making the table look pretty. After a hard day's work it sure is nice to sit down to a tastefully decorated table along with a hot cooked meal.

Can we always eat every meal together every day? No, sometimes we have something that comes up. We busy ourselves far too much at times. After seeing the benefits of eating together though, I have purposed in my heart to eat together at least once a day. We're making memories one meal at a time.

Tell me, do you find eating together as a family at the table important? Are there any special mealtime traditions that you do as a family?