Harms Family News

In reading a friend's blog post the other day, I was challenged to change the way I think about my children. I believe all children have perceived weaknesses or character traits that tend to annoy their parents. For me, it is easy to dwell on these. I find myself doing so on a regular basis. I was challenged to think of them not as weaknesses or problems, but rather as something that God gave to each girl that He wants to use for His glory. So, here is my attempt at categorizing that for my girls and changing my focus. I have one child who is fearful and sensitive. The slightest thing can set her into tears, often to my surprise because I do not think it is a big deal. Sometimes deciphering whether she is having a fit or simply truly saddened by what has happened is difficult, particularly when tears are involved. I tend to think she is having a fit, but I am learning that she is just a sensitive soul. While the sudden outbursts of tears are not convenient and can be frustrating, I...

When I picked Natalie up from "school" (translation: Mom's Day Out at an area church) yesterday, I had a big surprise. Can you tell what it is? That's right, she wrote her name. All by herself! We haven't even been working on little letter! She picks up on things so quickly. I couldn't be more proud!

Megan is a big baby. At 15 months she weighs 30 pounds, just four pounds less than her sister. She has never been on the charts since birth, always registering in the +97 percentile. She is on track growth wise and following her own growth curve, so no one is worried. I have found, however, that there are some unique challenges to caring for a big baby. I thought I would write them down before she turns into a preschooler and I forget. 1. Big babies outgrow everything before they should - the infant carrier, exersaucer, infant backpacks/slings, booster seat/high chair, etc. Before she was big enough to sit in the cart at the store, she had outgrown her infant carrier/carseat thingy. 2. Big babies cannot wear baby clothes - they have to wear toddler clothes even before they are 1. Good luck finding a "baby's first Christmas" onsie in size 24 months or 2t. 3. Big babies have a death wish - Megan can pull over things on herself that a normal sized toddler would not have the ...

Last night we had tacos for dinner. This is not Natalie's favorite meal. She has it in her head that she does not like tortillas. Well, last night I had corn tortillas instead of flour. She saw me giving Megan some tortilla and wanted to know what it was. When I told her it had the same ingredients as a corn chip, she wanted to try it. Apparently, she liked it. The next thing we knew she was making her own corn taco. Here are the ingredients: One scoop of refried beans One scoop of meat One sprinkle of cheese One green bean (yes, we serve her tacos with green beans since she won't eat lettuce or tomatoes, but we never intended them to go ON the taco). Her verdict: "Mmmm, tasty Mommy, very tasty. It's scrum-diddle-y-umptious"

A couple of days ago Natalie was cutting pictures from a magazine and gluing them (a favorite activity). She found some princess pictures, and on the back was a Hannah Montana doll. Hannah Montana is definitely not a roll model I want for my daughter. I didn't say anything since she has no idea who Hannah Montana is. She said, "I don't like those girls, mommy, I like the princesses." I replied, "That's good, Natalie. Mommy doesn't really like those girls either." She, of course, asked why. Hmmmm . How do you explain this to a three year old? I responded, "Well, mommy doesn't like the way they dress. They need to cover up more of their bodies." I didn't think going into the whole I don't approve of pop music's culture, not to mention the whole let's turn Miley Cirus into the next Brittany Spears agenda that I see happening as she gets older, really was needed. She has no clue who Hannah Montana is at her young age. On...

A little girl in Rockford is dying today from a brain tumor. I do not know her or her family, but I know several friends of the family. Hearts are heavy today. Praise the Lord she knows Christ as her Savior and so do her parents, so they will see her again. I stated in last night's post that I often have to stop myself from reading about sick kids. Cancer scares me. It scares me because it sneaks up on you. It's not like you can say, "Well, so and so had the flu and played with her last week, so that's why she's sick." It scares me because kids get it. It scares me because we don't eat organic and in the back of my head I have questions that will probably never be answered. It scares me because my kids do eat some processed foods, some canned foods, and all of the rest that "causes cancer." It scares me because I am overweight which is a risk factor for all sorts of adult cancers. Today I have been battling that fear. It has no rationale. It is n...

Thanks to my wonderful friend Janna over at The Adventure of Motherhood (If you haven't read her blog you really should, you can really tell she loves the mommy life!) I have been awarded a blog award. Thanks Janna! My first one. So here it is: In order to get my prize, I must follow the rules, which are: 1. Must thank the person who gave you the award and list their blog and link it. 2. Share "10 Honest things" about yourself. 3. Present this award to 7 others whose blogs you find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged you. 4. Tell those 7 people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving the award. Ten honest things about myself in no particular order. 1. I'm not a very good stay-at-home mom. Oh, I love being home with my kids, but we don't stay home. We go places. We hit the library for story time, the park for burning energy, the children's museum for education and entertainment. etc. T...