Don't you just love them? I can't help but kiss them every time I see them. Sammy loves them too, but he doesn't kiss them...he says "tickle, tickle, tickle." I love my boys and I LOVE knowing that Sammy loves his little brother. In this picture Sammy wanted to hold the baby. When Daniel started crying, Sammy said "Baby cry" (sounds more like baby eye). The kids are so in love that the girls are already praying "God, please give mommy another baby in her tummy today." Guess they don't feel like taking turns holding him and want a baby for each of them. ;)
As you've probably guessed by my lack of posting, I've been keeping pretty busy these days. When I'm not cuddling Daniel (which is most of the time), I'm helping my husband prepare for furlough. I kept putting off working on the presentation saying "After the baby comes I'll have plenty of time since I'll mostly be resting with the baby." Hmmm...well, now I'm wishing I hadn't put it off. I haven't had as much free time as I thought I would have. Finally, the presentation is finished. Now to start packing. I have no clue how we're going to squeeze everything into the van. We have already had 2 meetings and have 2 more here in Maine before we head down to VA. I would LOVE any tips you have on traveling with kids. Any suggestions on meals on the road? I'm not too excited about the kids having chicken nugget happy meals all of the time.
One of my top goals before we return to our home in Ukraine was to get some books. Since we've been home I've been the winner of two blog book giveaways! This book I recently won and it sounds excellent and just what I need; and this book, which my husband stole before I got a chance to finish it. And for Christmas, my husband bought me a book I've been wanting called Training Your Children to Turn Out Right by David Sorenson. I've only read 2 chapters, but it is EXCELLENT so far. Here are a few quotes from the book...
"God's goal for our children is not just for them to stay out of trouble. Rather, the emphasis throughout the Word of God is to train our children from their infancy to serve the Lord..."
"The one thing that will give them (our children, and us) clear victory is the Word of God."
I can't wait to read the rest! It makes so much sense and already seems like one of the best child training books. It's not a "list"of things you can do to help your children turn out right, but ONLY the Word of God.
I had so much more I wanted to share, but sleep is calling to me...hopefully it calls to Daniel as well. ;)
One missionary wife I know packed their clothes in a plastic drawer system and put that in the back of their van. She would just get out the clothes they would need for that night and the next day, and it saved them hauling big suitcases in and out of hotel rooms all of the time. And everything stayed pretty organized that way too.
ReplyDeleteDon't know what to do about healthy meals. We ate a lot of McD's on deputation, but whenever we could, we would stop at Cracker Barrel for supper. Did you know that you can call in your order and take it to go? We did that sometimes and ate it in the car on the way. Might be a challenge with small kids though.
Daniel is so cute. I am loving having an infant again. I am with you about the whole sleep thing though! It sure is a blessing when they sleep! Brina does pretty well at night but I still get up 3 times to feed her.
Oh, and we kept a snack bucket in our van too with nuts, raisins, etc. Healthy food in a pinch!
ReplyDeleteLove those little baby feet! My favorite part of a baby are those rolls on the backs of their legs...
ReplyDeleteOur favorite "go-to" meal when traveling with kids in the states is Quesadillas from Taco Bell, minus the hot sauce. They are very clean to eat and somewhat healthy, not to mention that the kids love 'em!
Another thing we do is, keep the suitcases small. (MUCH easier to keep organized, and little hands can help pull small suitcases.) Each person gets their own "carry-on size" suitcase and that is all they are allowed. These only hold clothes, though. Everyone's shoes are kept in a, what we call "shoe bag." This keeps all of the foot odors together, away from the clothes, and we found that we only had to take it out whenever we were getting ready for church. We also kept a "Bible bag" that went in to church with us and was packed at the end of meetings, ensuring no one left their Bible in a Sunday School classroom that we wouldn't be returning to!
So precious! I LOVE baby feet =).
ReplyDeletePraying for you with all that needs to be done.
One thing we did was to give each child a plastic box that fit under the seat or under their feet. It contained colouring books, small toys, books, paper dolls. It was their box so they could keep the treasures they collected during travels in it as well. We also had, I don't know how we got it, a little cooler that fit between the front seat and it plugged into the lighter. We kept drinks in it, sandwich fixings and fruit. I think yogart as well. We have preferred to stopping at Flying J's. They usually have a family style restaurant which is very inexpensive and a nice collection of goodies to add to the cooler.
ReplyDeleteI traveled like this with 4 children 8 years to 2 months. We enjoyed it.
Thank you for sharing from Sorenson's book. It does sound good.
love the pictures!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear from you. I was going to write to you and see how you were doing. Did you get my email I sent recently?
Taveling with four little ones....difficult, but God will give you the grace to do what He has asked of you.
Organization tips: Love the ideas that Jess and Jolene gave. I have been trying to come up with some better ways to pack and travel on this furlough too. Glad to hear the travel size suitcase works good. Ron and I had just talked today about trying that. As my kids getting bigger (much bigger) their clothes take up more room too. Oh, and all the shoes are so much bigger too. At least I don't carry diapers for several little ones anymore :)
I'm with Jolene on the Quesadillas from Taco Bell. A favorite with our kids too. We also have a bucket or bag for snacks - Cheez Its, peanutbutter crackers, gold fish, and pretzels are great for in the car.
Happy Traveling!!!