Harms Family News

hey all, If you don't mind, head on over to Goodblogs and tell them my post is good or make a comment! When Mommy Gets Sick . Thanks! Hoping I feel much better very soon.

I was recently given the chance to review a free copy of This Little Prayer of Mine by Anthony DeStefano and illustrated by Mark Elliott. The book, which was endorsed by the National Day of Prayer, was sent to me to review by WaterBrook Press. You can get your own copy here . The book is basically a child's prayer. It begins: I know you're up in heaven, God, and can hear my voice from there. I'm just a little child. Will you answer my short prayer?" I felt the book did a good job of addressing the various things that small children would and should pray for, like fears, making right decisions, feeling alone, being naughty, and being sad. It also takes time to thank God for blessings, seasons, friends, and other things. The book reminds children to ask God to help them do right things, love and help others, and be unselfish. All in all I thought it was a sweet book, but my kids didn't really seem to be attached to it. They haven't asked to read it again, but ...

I am trying out a new blogging platform that could actually be income earning. My first post is called But I Wanted My Baby - Would you please check it out and click on the "it's good" button? Thanks!

This is the first chapter summary/review of Parenting with Wisdom by Debi Pryde. I love this book and would encourage you to consider purchasing a copy! Chapter 1 dissects the difference between good secular parenting and Christian parenting. Have you ever thought about the difference between Christian parents and secular parents? Have you ever considered what defines failure and success as a Christian parent? These are the two questions discussed in this chapter. Perhaps you think the primary difference is that Christians use corporal punishment, and others do not. If you are a Christian parent and think that is the primary or only difference, you are much mistaken. The difference is not in the methods, although those will likely be different. The difference is in the goal. The goal of Christian parenting is different than the goal of secular parenting. Here it is according to Mrs. Pryde: The goal of Christian parenting is the goal of our Lord Jesus Christ – to train our children in s...

My littlest one loves to eat. She loves to eat and isn't too picky either. She is highly motivated by food. She will pick candy over any other treat or prize. When we go to chuck-e-cheese, she could have 300 tickets and she will spend them all on candy, not a single other thing. But, the "experts" all say not to use food as a reward. Now, I am not one to follow what the "experts" say on everything, but I am one who struggles with her weight, so my kids are going to be prone to that too, and I will do what I can to help them not have those struggles. We limit candy in this house (they get one piece per day as their dessert, and occasional treats when given by others like at school or the doctor), mostly because my oldest gets sick if she eats too much. But here is the dilemma. The little one will do just about anything for a candy. Sometimes, when discipline does not work with her, offering her a reward of an M&M for good behavior does. Nothing but candy trea...

Ok, so I have only had one person say they were interested in the book review/study, but to give you a heads up, I am going to try to have my first post ready on Wednesday, and then do a post every Wednesday until I finish the book. Please note, if you are curious about this book, it is biblical, which means it does discuss the form of discipline mentioned in Proverbs 22:15. That said, it is full of grace and mercy as well, something that, to me, has been missing in many parenting books I have read with a biblical stand. If you are not sure what book I am referring to, please see this post . The book is only available through Ironwood Camp, and I am not being compensated in any way for this. I just want the accountability to get it finished and also the discipline of writing down my thoughts, which helps solidify them in my mind.

My dream home. Chances we will ever be able to move into it are probably zilch - it will be gone long before our debts are paid and we can move. But here it is: My Dream Home Sure, it needs new paint and definitely needs to be rid of some nasty walpaper, but look at the character! I LOVE the staircase. New roof too. Fenced in yard. BIG windows. I love it. I love the little town it is in - I have always wanted to live there. It would be midway between church and Tim's work. It says it has a dining room and plumbing for a second bathroom - those are the two things that make this little house difficult for us right now. Even with just two kids, having just one potty often creates a challenge. At this price, we wouldn't even be increasing our mortgage payemnt, at least not by much. The biggest problem: We cannot put our home on the market until we take care of some very big issues it has. Houses just aren't moving quickly right now. Too many foreclosures at basement prices. We ...

This morning when Miss N woke up, she said, "Mommy, I was praying." I asked her what she was praying about. "I was praying that if no one wants to play with me, I will be OK because I am a Christian so I will be ok." I am still not sure what she meant by being a Christian made it ok. I tried to probe a little but didn't get any real answers, other than that sometimes her friends want to play something she doesn't want to play and don't want to play horses. We talked about strategies she could use to ask them to play or join in what she was playing, and what she could do if she didn't want to play what they were. That made me think, though, about how often she describes a little girl as her "best friend." This has become rather consistent, and as far as I can tell there is no problem, but I realize that at five years old, it is time to talk about making good friend choices. Even in her class at a great little Christian school, there are some...

In about two weeks, we are having Miss N's birthday party. outside. We had Miss M's birthday party outside (at the same park) in July. It was not only almost rained out, it was almost flooded. We were able to have it, but it was pretty muddy and Tim had to run out to the park to make sure it wasn't flooded before we went. Miss N is REALLY looking forward to her party. And winter just returned to the midwest, complete with snow. This morning I told her we need to pray for the weather. I heard her say, "I really want to have nice weather for my birthday party, AMEN!" I'm scared. I admit it. I know, "Oh me of little faith." But I am scared that the weather will be bad, she won't have a party (and we won't get our money back so having it another day at the park will be a big expense), and then she will wonder why God didn't answer her prayer. Yet, I know God loves children and finds them even more precious than we do, so I know He wants to he...

Most of the time when we are in the car, I have Christian music playing. However, sometimes one of the children will request a quiet ride, and usually I oblige. This usually means the other child will beg for music, so we have been taking turns choosing - one chooses on the way to the destination, and the other choosing on the way home. Tonight on the way to church we were having a quiet ride. Miss N decided to burst out into song. First she sang "Jesus Loves Me" and "I'm in the Lord's Army." Then she started making up some songs of her own. I wish I had a tape recorder: Lord, I love you, you are my sa-a-vior. You love me because you told me soooooooo. I am going to Heaven with You. You will baptize me and I will live forever. Pardon the improper theology there. We are working on that :) You died for me to save my soul. I love you Lord. And you love meeeeeee. I can't help but smile during my drive while listening to that. Then she says, "Mommy, are ...

I had the opportunity to review an adorable children's picture book called "God Gave Us You!" by Lisa Tawn Bergren and illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. Little polar bear asks the question every parent expects but dreads "Mommy, where did I come from?" In this sweet story full of a parent's love for her child, Mommy Polar Bear answers the question in a very age appropriate way. I felt the authors of this book understood the preschool set. There were a lot of "why?" questions that are common for little kids to ask. For instance, Mommy Polar Bear says, "I felt something different one day. You wanted out!" "I did!" Little Cub asked. "How did you know?" "God gives mama bears special signals. We raced to the hospital." I thought that was a very truthful, but very age appropriate answer. Actually, I was wishing I had had this book on my shelf when Miss N, my five-year-old, was asking some very similar questions that...

"Mommy, can we print color pages?" she asks in eager anticipation. Inwardly, I sigh. I don't feel like doing color pages for the umpteenth time. I am running out of places to post these masterpieces when they are finished. Yet, her hopeful eyes brim with excitement. Reluctantly, I say, "Yes." and we gather around the computer to find pictures of horses, unicorns, donkeys, cows, and hippos that have not been colored already before. Then the little one awakes and wants pictures of Minnie, Daisey, Barney, and Elmo. We print. We wait. We collect them off of the printer tray. The entire process takes about 20 minutes. Then we dig out the box of crayons and markers. I make a mental note that our "next house" will have a place to do art rather than the kitchen table. We spread out our things, throw away the markers that didn't get their caps put back on, and they start working, asking for help with cutting and gluing from time to time, but for the most p...

I mentioned in this post that I have been reading an excellent book about parenting with wisdom. One of the things I have taken from this book is that we need to get to the motivation behind our children's behavior, rather than reacting to and/or disciplining the behavior alone. I think this is very wise. If a child is just being, well, childish, it is not a sinful action and is not something that requires parental attention, other than perhaps redirection. I have been praying even before reading this book about the naptime battle I blogged about a while ago. It was not getting better. I had discussed with a friend about it and one suggestion she made was wondering whether or not Miss M was getting enough "mommy time." I thought about this for a while and decided that was part of the problem, so I have been making a concerted effort to give her more of this. Yet, it was not helping. So, the other day when we were in the midst of a fit I was praying and thinking. Suddenly...