Welcome to the 31 Day Journey of Parenting Tweens & Teens

Thanks for sharing in my 31 Day Journey of Parenting Tweens and Teens.

For Day 1 scroll down to see!

Here I'll link to each day so you can pop over when they go live!

Day 2 - Straightening Arrows
Day 3 - Resources for Parents of T&T's
Day 4 - A Tween Girl & A Momma's Heart
Day 5 - Weekend Break - Marching Band, Raider Competitions, and all sorts of family stuff!
Day 6 - Weekend Break - Getting those household stuff, cooking, grocery shopping completed! Yes, it had to be done!
Day 7 - Monday Break
Day 8 - Tuesday Break
Day 9 - Getting a Glimpse
Day 10 - Dealing with a picky Eater
Day 11 - Creating an Appetite for Discipline
Day 12 - Creating Margin
Day 13 - Weekend Break
Day 14 - Standing Firm
Day15-21 - Illness struck the Boswell family! Yuck..finally recovering! Thanks for your understanding!

Day 21 - How 2Build Stronger Marriages for our Kids


DAY 1

Here we go!
31 Day Journey of Parenting Tweens and Teens!

Your Parent Card

I really thought it would be great to share about the season of life that I'm in right now. Smack dab in the middle of parenting a Teenager and a Tween-ager or Tween-er (if there is such a word, my spell check doesn't like it). I'll caveat this with the fact that we have one out of the nest who is married and they have a sweet little girl of their own. We are a blended family, two boys first and then a girl. They are all about seven years apart and I haven't yet figured out if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Here is just a few things I've learned:

1. Parenting is hard work.
2. Nobody tells you how hard it will be.
3. Parenting is hard work.
4. You don't have to dread these years.
5. Parenting is hard work.

If you are anywhere on the parenting spectrum, I'm sure by now you have figured out 1, 3, and 5. I hope that you will journey along with me as I share how parenting has changed me in ways I have yet to fully grasp. It is only by the GRACE of GOD that I can journey into these areas with my children with confidence.

I'll share some helpful resources, and journey through some helpful ideas. I was sharing with a friend whose children are much younger and told me she wasn't ready for this season. I replied, "Neither am I!" I don't know if you're ever ready, it just sort of sneaks up on you and you face it day by day. Puberty, relationships, school, sports, sharing what God's best for their life might look like and the most important, and I say this with a conviction from the very deepest part of my soul, that Jesus becomes so real to them they, without a shadow of a doubt realize the call on their life and decide to wholeheartedly follow Jesus. The other stuff, is just icing on the cake!

It's called the PARENT CARD. From here on out, each of you, are getting your Parent Card back. If you are in a space or place where you feel defeated, run over by the culture of our world, fear not! It is ok to be the parent. Do not be their friend. You'll have plenty of time for that later. They need a parent TODAY! We must equip and prepare ourselves for this journey.

2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work." (NLT)

I'm so excited to share with you some hard stuff and some great stuff! Come along for the journey and I would love to hear where you are in your season of parenting!

Sherry

For more blogs check out The Nester.

I Heart Discipine? Really?

I came across this sticker--and truly laughed! Are you serious---I don't love discipline. It is hard to get, hard to learn, hard to keep, hard, harD, haRD, hARD, HARD!

One of the themes that God keeps bringing me back to is Discipline. Becoming a woman of discipline seems to filter through whatever I'm reading, whomever I'm chatting with and what I seem to be studying. It causes the goose-pimples on my arm to come to attention....it seems to be everywhere. Do you find this word constantly creeping into your world?

God loves us so much and desires full devotion in every area. When we are truly real with ourselves, you know, in those moments that God is speaking right to the very core of your being, we realize just how much we are lacking discipline in our lives.

Let's break it down into a few areas.

Time: Do you take advantage of your time? Do you use it or waste it?

Money: Do you use the resources God has given you to the fullest? Do you use it wisely or spend foolishly?

Relationships: Are you intentional with those persons God has placed in your path? Do you lower your relationship walls in order to let others in? Do you seek God daily-investing in the most important relationship of all?

Physical: Do you pay attention to what you put into your body? Do you fully realize it is a temple given unto us from our Creator? Do we take care our health or do we foolishly think our good health is everlasting?

Discipline is hard. Anything worth having is hard. The more I study and follow Christ-the more I understand that apart from Christ-I am nothing-I can do nothing-I can't have discipline without HIM!

Amazingly-I don't have to be. I know that with Christ--I can be disciplined in all these areas. I can ask for His help and I can continue to lean upon His guidance in all these areas.

Daily, I am dying to my flesh; who wants to keep me from being disciplined. Daily, I remind myself that God is bigger than my flesh. Daily, I can call upon the Lord for his mercy and grace.

Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.

“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. (John 17:17-21,NIV)

Jesus knows that discipline is good for us. Is there an area of your life that you have failed to let God have, because you know He will ask you to be more disciplined in this area? I do. I struggle...then I beat myself up over it.

Today is a new day. Keep God the focus, pray about these areas and ask God to show you how to be more disciplined.

Be blessed-Less Stressed-and repeat after me---I heart Discipline!

Caramel Apple Ice Cream Topping

Yes, can we all agree its time for Fall? Yes fall with a capital F! You can't walk into any store these days without being overwhelmed with Christmas decor already on the shelves. Yikes! So, with that I feel it is perfectly within my rights to begin all the Fall Activities! Although in Florida, you have to look a little closer, dig a little deeper and Google a little more to find Fall things to do. I myself love a good hayride, apple picking and looking around for a good place to pick some pumpkins. I love sitting on my back porch in the mornings with my pumpkin coffee laced with pumpkin spiced creamer. In the evenings, I'm always looking for a quick dessert. And when I mean quick, I mean, "I am hungry for something a little sweet and won't totally make a mess in the kitchen." In addition, something that won't totally wreck my healthy eating streak...you know the one that we are all in. wink...wink...

Here is my favorite way to whip up a dessert in a hurry. Chances are you have everything right now in your pantry to head right to your kitchen and make a batch. Believe me, the oohs and ahhhs from the family are worth every bit of the trouble! Ok, you get to eat some too!

Here is what you'll need
3-4 Granny Smith Apples
1 Cup Brown Sugar
3 Tbsp Butter
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbs Fresh squeezed lemon juice (optional, but I think it really adds a little zip and freshness to the dish)
Vanilla Frozen Yogurt (or your favorite vanilla ice cream)

Start with washing and peeling the granny smith apples and cutting into small slices. While you are slicing, get a pan ready on the stove under medium heat. Slide the butter and brown sugar into the pan and allow to melt just a little. Add in the apples and cinnamon. Continue stirring while mixture comes to a full boil. This will only take about 3-5 minutes. You will start to see the apples soften and the caramel mixture turn a little dark amber to brown. Squeeze the lemon juice at this point and turn off the heat.

Scoop up a few pretty scoops of low-fat frozen yogurt (my favorite is from Publix) and place in a pretty bowl or cup. Pour hot apple mixture over the apples and ooh la la, you have yourself one tasty and quick dessert. I literally took this into the hubbster and he thoroughly enjoyed every last bite and even went back for seconds. This was a great way to end a hectic evening while dreaming of the upcoming Fall season. Oh how I love me some Fall..and apples...and pumpkin...and leaves...and pumpkin....and apples....yum yum!

I'd love to hear about how this turned out for you, or share a quick dessert in the comments below. Don't forget to head over to Facebook and give my page a like! Thanks sweet friends!! Enjoy!

Caramel Apple Ice Cream Topping

Easy Pumpkin Craft for Fall

I came across these fun pumpkins that the kids and I crafted a few years back and wanted to share them again. How fun! I'm always looking for ways to make the pumpkins last longer without cutting into them. This is a great way to make that happen and get the kids involved. Bonus: It won't make a huge mess! This is a great way to get started early and place these out on your front entrance with some other Fall goodies!

I bought Felt that had adhesive on the back. I used bamboo skewers to stick the felt to for the spiders legs. As you can see, the combination is endless. Cut out your design and if you have a white or silver marker you can make dotted lines on the felt. This is a super easy craft to do with your children after you go to the pumpkin patch!

Items needed
Pumpkins
1-black felt with adhesive
1-white felt with adhesive
2-10 bamboo skewers
1 white tipped paint pen
1 silver tipped paint pen

Cut your pattern out of regular printer paper and then place on felt. This allows you to make adjustments on your pumpkin before you begin cutting the felt. Don't ask me how I know this...but trust me! Place the pattern on the pumpkins to make sure you have the right dimensions. Then, cut out your pattern. Make any lines or drawings with your paint pen and let dry. For those parts that need skewers, cut double. You will stick the two parts together placing the skewer between the felt. I made spider legs and the pirates hat with the skewers. Once the parts are all cut, start to stick your pattern pieces on the pumpkin. Then add the skewers, carefully pushing deep into the pumpkin. Stand back in awe of your creation and be sure to post a picture for all to see! Your options are endless! Have fun!

I might be pushing the Fall button a little too soon, but I love getting into all things PUMPKIN!!


Previous post!

 We actually got these done on Halloween Day.  Kennedy helped me cut the felt and helped stick them on the pumpkins.  These aren't your ordinary pumpkins, I might add.  They came all the way from my dad's first ever pumpkin patch in Missouri.  They were able to visit the week prior to Halloween and we had a grand time at Disney.  I thought they turned out great and it was much less messier then cutting them open.  It was also cheaper than the PB version online.