A Friday Post

Happy Friday! The hubs returns home after being gone all week so it really IS a happy Friday around here. We sure missed him.

Last night Max and Sophie slept in bed with me. I had bribed encouraged them to be be good all week at bedtime with the promise of sleeping in mom's room as the "big reward". And believe me, they were so excited! Man, I will miss the days when sleeping in bed with mom is no longer a really exciting thing.

Can you guys believe that Thanksgiving is next week? It is so early this year! My mom is having our family over and my mouth is already watering in anticipation of the food. I LOVE Thanksgiving food. I think my favorite is the sweet potatoes... or maybe the green bean casserole... maybe the mashed potatoes. I don't know! How do you decide? Because we all know the true beauty of the Thanksgiving meal is the combination of the delicious flavors.

I also wanted to pass on a few good reads this week from around the internet.

I loved this article by Dr. Peter Gray, "As Children's Freedom Has Declined, So Has Their Creativity". I feel like we are witnessing this first hand and it is such a good encouragement to turn off the TV, stop directing our children's every move and let our children play!

I shared Ruth's post, "Why I Took All of My Kids Toys Away" a few months ago because I loved it so much and it encouraged me on my own journey to simplicity in our home, especially with our kids! She has a new post called, "What I Won't Give my Kids for Christmas". I really enjoyed this follow up article and is great food for thought.

P.S. Although I loved the article I will be giving my kiddos Christmas presents. But, we will be choosing quality toys that fit with what we want our home life to look like and we have a little gift giving system we use with our kiddos that has worked really well for the past few years that I will be sharing next week!

Now, I really have been praying about whether or not to post this last link for awhile now because the subject matter is extremely controversial. I use this blog to talk about happy things and to be an encouragement more than anything else. But, I realized that it is information I really would have appreciated having years ago and so I am putting it on here just for those who want it. I have prayed a lot weather or not to post it because I am not here to start a debate. Anyway, a few years ago I had talked to my OB/GYN about using the Mirena IUD. I had been very open with him about our families beliefs and convictions and when I brought it up my doctor (who is not a Christian himself), said that based on my strong personal beliefs of life beginning at conception, he did not recommend it for me. I came across this booklet not to long ago and just wanted to share it in case anyone would benefit from reading it. You can read the whole thing here.