The Barefoot Mama

Feminine Friday

Today is the kick-off of Feminine Friday!  For the background on this special new weekly series check out this post and make sure to leave a link in the Mr. Linky below to the post on your blog where you are participating.

To participate in Feminine Friday, each Friday simply blog one of the following:

• An outfit that you own (or a photo of a favorite look) that exhibits your femininity
• A hairstyle, accessory or piece of jewelry that is special and makes you feel beautiful
• Something in your home - can be nonwearable, of course - that represents your femininity (it can be anything!!)
• An inspiring or thought-provoking article, book review or quotation on any topic related to femininity

Feminine Friday is not about being a cookie-cutter.  Share what femininity means to you and how you define modesty, beauty and being a Daughter of the King.

Today we're attending a 4th of July picnic at my in-laws house, which they throw every year.  I have fond memories of going to this since party when Ed and I were dating, which began when we were seventeen years old.  In fact, our first date was on July 4, 1999. :o)  This year we will celebrate nine years of being a couple of July 9 and three years of marriage on July 16 (in addition to both of our birthdays and Grace's...what a month, huh?).

(Not the best pic - but we're in a rush this morning!)

For the picnic, I chose to wear a dress, since it's my favorite type of outfit to wear (pretty, feminine but very easy to chase a toddler around in).  I like to wear an outfit that displays respect for the hosts of the party, which to me means no cut-off shorts, midriff shirts, inappropriate ensembles, speedos (okay, no speedo on this end - or Ed's - but I had to throw that in there, LOL!).  This is a maternity dress of a slate blue light denim with an empire waistline that ties (great when these things are adjustable!).  Most of the clothes that I currently wear aren't maternity yet even though I have a belly, but hooray for Motherhood Maternity's tummy sleeve that makes wearing non-mat things super easy.  I also love this dress because it has sleeves, and I don't always see that on cute summer things.  I'll wear sleeveless dresses and a few sleeveless tops, but I've given up tanks and other things with spaghetti straps.  I feel too exposed.  It's just a personal preference (though camis underneath of certain tops are wonderful, those are definitely some "pasta straps" that I'll always have in my wardrobe!).

My shoes are ADORABLE flip-flip wedges that I picked up at Sears for only $9.00.  In fact my dress was on sale for only $16.00 at Kohl's when I thought that it was really priced down from $40.00 to $20.00.  Gotta love Kohl's.  I can never leave that place without spending less than I intended.  Always a plus! ;o)  Back to the shoes - they're really comfy but still more stylish than my typical sandal flip-flops and have silky leopard bands.  I love to pair shoes with some flair with a more sedate, sophistocated outfit.  You guys all remember my Minnie Mouse shoes, right?  LOL!

I hope that you guys all have a fantastic and very blessed 4th of July, celebrating the freedoms of this God-founded nation and the joy that we can all share in being with friends and family today.  I promise to check in later to visit all of the Feminine Friday participants!

Angel Lush Cake

The perfect summertime treat, and equally as right for a 4th of July party, this Angel Lush cake is sure to please young and old, as well as the happy lady (or doting husband?) who whips it up!  Fast, simple and no-bake (you heard me!), this dessert is fantastic.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 store-bought angel food cake (you can also make your own if you wish)
• 1/2 of a large can of crushed pineapple
• 1 container of Cool Whip
• Large box of JELLO instant vanilla pudding mix
• Strawberries - approximately three large (or however many you want to adorn your cake with)

THE HOW-TO:

In a medium mixing bowl, combine half a can of the crushed pineapple, along with its juice, with the box of vanilla pudding nux

Fold in the cool whip 'til well-combined

Slice the angel food cake into three layers, placing the bottom layer cut-side up on a serving plate

Spread filling mixture over layer, place second layer cut-side up on top, spread on more filling, top with last layer (cut-side down)

Spread filling over the top and decorate with sliced strawberries, though who could resist whole ones, either?

Yuuuuum!

One last note...don't leave to take a picture of your finished cake in the living room (where the light is best) with your daughter alone at the table...

Yep, that's cool whip "styling" Grace's hair, LOL!  Gotta love creativity in the kitchen!  She's definitely more "Sheer Genius" than "Top Chef" at this point. :o)

Pregnancy Tidbits

This picture is just too pricless not to share. :o)  We didn't find out the sex of our baby when pregnant with Grace and don't plan to find out this time, either.  Grace knows that we're having either a Libby (Elizabeth) or Jake (Jacob)...but a few weeks ago she informed me that "a boy, Jake" is in MY belly and "a girl, Libby" is in hers.  Here she is showing off Libby (with no prompting from us, which makes it all the funnier) while Ed was taking a belly pic of me at 13 weeks:

I'm now almost 14 weeks along (it's flying by!) and had an OB appointment last night. Everything looks great! The baby's heartbeat measures 160, which is exactly like Grace's at this time during my pregnancy with her. She thought that it was cool to hear the baby "dancing", LOL. Ed and Grace come to all of the appointments, which I love. There's also a Target nearby, so we stopped there to pick up supplies to make a very easy homemade sandbox which I'll be sharing soon. ;o)

My blood pressure was slightly high but still in the "okay"/normal range. It's typically low for me, and my doctor isn't concerned right now at all about Pre-Eclampsia coming back again. It's always on my mind, but there's no use in worrying about it (which I don't). However, I do need to manage stress better and keep chaos under control. I still tend to wear myself pretty thin. As far as everything else is concerned, my thyroid is enlarged, which is the first that I'd heard about it, and you can actually see it (about as big as a smallish blueberry) when I swallow. Who would've known?! Tonight I go to the lab for bloodwork and have a thyroid ultrasound next Wednesday. Have you guys ever had any thyroid issues or know anything about it?

Just wanted to give this update and say...praise God for this new baby on the way!

Independent Bible time...with children!

...or should it be despite children?

Well, since having our young ones see their parents immersed in God's Word is an important modeling activity for their own faith life, reading the Bible independently with children in your house - and up and about - isn't an activity that any mom should view as neglectful or even, gasp!, difficult.

I don't have the ability to wake up before Grace in the morning.  Right now she sleeps in her toddler bed in our bedroom, sometimes ends up co-sleeping halfway through the night, and she usually wakes between 5:30 and 6:30 each day anyway.  I would read about women reading their Bibles in the morning before their children arose and yearned for that opportunity.  There were times that I used to wake up early when my husband was on his way to work (he used to get up at 3:30 and be out the door at 4), but that wasn't feasible for my schedule.  Plus, Ed blessed us by changing his hours to later in order to spend more time with us instead of having to hit the sack so early.  I needed more time in the Word...but how to do it with a crazy daughter, one on the way and on Mondays and Wednesdays my good friend's two young children here, as well?

I praise God that my daughter loves reading.  When I say that she loves reading, I mean that she seriously would do it all day long if she could.  Grace has to read at least ten books a day with us and then more independently.  She knows all of her letters and all numbers from 1-10, which she basically taught herself.  I never formally taught her letters (she's known them since she was about 21 months old) but reading so many books, especially Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, has provided her with wonderful learning tools.

With her ardent love for reading, I decided to just go ahead and do independent Bible reading time together each day.  There's no set schedule for when it happens but does work best when I see Grace start getting into her books for herself.  We sit in comfy chairs and each have "tea" (mine is decaf french vanilla and hers is, well, water, LOL).  She absolutely thinks this rocks!  She has a few Bibles and is especially into her Sheila Walsh princess Bible for little girls that I picked up at a Women of Faith Conference a few years ago.  Grace explores her Bibles and is also able to read other books of her choosing while Mommy reads the Bible, too.  She likes me to read aloud (and joins in on "reading" aloud from her own texts), which is a great way to allow Scripture to penetrate our hearts and home informally. 

Sometimes we read for ten minutes, sometimes for almost an hour.  The length doesn't matter; the zest in our hearts for God's glorious Word is what's most important.  Having my independent Bible time is critical to me as a wife, mother, Daughter of God. 

The biggest aspect to stress when doing independent Bible reading with your children present is to make a realistic goal of what your reading objective is.  For years I compiled impacting and meaningful Scripture as I read in addition to doing various Bible studies.  Thinking that I needed to keep those things going in order to get the most out of my Bible reading, I found myself continually failing and then not being in the Word as much as I needed and wanted.  I no longer journal on it in a notebook, though I do keep occasional little notes of verses to share with others or ponder further.  My main focus is just on reading the Word of God and allowing it to envelope, energize and renew my heart.  It's simply me in a chair with my Bible - and God behind me.  No notebooks, pens or reference guides.

How do you accomplish your time in the Bible?  What are your reading goals?  Do you have suggestions to share for mothers of children, of all ages, on how to incorporate into their day or refine their reading routine?

It all begins so young...

Of all of the things that concern Grace lately, now that she's just about two years old, her fervent desire to play in the sandbox at the park tops the list.  She talks about it several times throughout the day and I'm pretty sure has nightly dreams involving play shovels and plastic buckets.  I praise God for her innocence.  It's a quality - a precursor and prerequisite to the virtue of purity - that is extremely important to Ed and I as parents.

I just began Wendy Shalit's second book Girls Gone Mild and was eager to share an excerpt from this fantastic piece of work:

In 2002, Abercrombie and Fitch sparked a scandal by marketing thongs to ten-year-old girls (the undies had "eye cany" and "kiss me" printed on the front).  But just five years later, most major retailers carry thongs in the girls' section, and nobody blinks.  One mother told me she felt "in the minority" for not wanting to see "stuff that looks like what you'd see on prostitutes" in a Candies boutique for juniors.  "Conversations with friends reveal me to be an old fogey on this topic," she confessed, and I can see why.  Limited Too, a store catering to preteens, now offers lace and rhinestone low-rise panties to its young customers.  Hot Topic, where twelve-year-olds shop, sells black and red stain bustiers an see-through undies, which make the store's astonishing array of Hello Kitty thongs actually look conservative by comparison.  And so the debate has shifted.  Parents no longer debate the merits of thongs for tweens but instead whether I'M TOO SEXY FOR MY DIAPER is a "healthy" message for an infant girl's onesie. 

Introduction, Girls Gone Mild, Wendy Shalit (2007)

The oversexualization of children makes me ill.  Not only do kids have to contend with a myriad of changing and confusing life circumstances that were not as prevalent years ago, but now they're bombarded by what culture touts as the healthy self-image of "female empowerment" everywhere that they go.  Little girls are supposed to want to flaunt what they've got, right?  No.  Little girls don't have anything to share with the world other than their beautiful purity and the fact that God is their Father.  Let's work to make sure each of our children discloses no more.

P.S.  Download the first chapter for free at Wendy's site, Girls Gone Mild.

Feminine Friday

NEW POSTS BELOW...

Calling all lovers of, well, being a lady!  Feminine Friday is a new special day here at The Barefoot Mama, beginning this Friday, July 4th and continuing each Friday 'til whenever it seems that we're all feminine'd out. :o)

Continually interested in the revival of modesty, in both fashion and attitude, and godly womanhood, I was inspired while reaing Wendy Shalit's latest book Girls Gone Mild (I read her The Return of Modesty a few months ago...another excellent read!) to share more of how my femininity in God is important to me.  Hence, Feminine Friday was unabashedly, but very politely of course ;o), born!

To participate in Feminine Friday, each Friday simply blog one of the following:

• An outfit that you own (or a photo of a favorite look) that exhibits your femininity
• A hairstyle, accessory or piece of jewelry that is special and makes you feel beautiful
• Something in your home - can be nonwearable, of course - that represents your femininity (it can be anything!!)
• An inspiring or thought-provoking article, book review or quotation on any topic related to femininity

Feminine Friday is not about being a cookie-cutter.  Share what femininity means to you and how you define modesty, beauty and being a Daughter of the King.  I look forward so much to seeing what everyone shares!  You'll be able to link from the weekly Feminine Friday posts...hope to "see" everyone then!

"Modesty seldom resides in a breast that is not enriched with nobler virtues."

Oliver Goldsmith

Hot rollers and birthday parties

Nothing makes my day start off brighter than putting on a pretty outfit and having freshened-up, beautiful hair.  Being pregnant and having a very active toddler (okay, just having a very active toddler is enough for any mom!) means that I have very little time to devoteto a beautification ritual in the morning.  Hot rollers are my newest best friend!  My hair is naturally very thick and wavy, so it either has to be constantly layered when long or always pulled back, put up, etc.  Tired of the length of time it took to blow-out or straighten using my straightening iron, I resigned myself to having blah longish hair for the rest of my days (how sorrowful, huh?).  I then remembered the existence of hot rollers, bought some, and have been joyfully bouncing around the house with equally as bouncy hair for a couple of weeks now, LOL!

Oh yeah, someone else has her own velcro rollers that she delights in, too...

Grace is totally into hair, fashion, jewelry, purses, etc.  She has a cute pop-up book at my parents' house called What Hair Do You Wear? and now regularly informs me whether her (or our!) hair is "funky" or "all curls". :o)

(Did ya notice the bracelet above?  A girl can never be seen without her bling!

The finished products...though someone obviously cannot oblige her poor mother's camera too long. ;o)

After getting all dolled up, we headed out to the first birthday party of sweet little Kelsey, who is the daughter of our friends Katie and Benny.  Grace loves her, and has been pretending to be "Baby Kelsey" all week, LOL.

All smiles with Aunt Susie, and showing off that too cute pink bathing suit!

The birthday princess herself in an adorable hat!

Isn't it stinky when you have your camera but don't take many pictures?  Wah, but at least we had a truly wonderful time and got to see lots of great friends!

As to the hot rollers...stay tuned for Feminine Friday starting soon - it'll bring out the beauty addict (or just lover of something pretty) inside all of us!

HAPPY WEEKEND!

The Future

"How we have prayed for a Revival - we did not care whether it was old-fashioned or not - what we asked for was that it should be such that would cleanse and revive His children and set them on fire to win others."

Mary Booth

A new direction

Friends,

I am so blessed to have such great visitors here at The Barefoot Mama.  As some of you guys may have noticed, a combination of preggo hormones and plain ol' spiritual growth has led me to a place where I'm dedicated to refocusing my attentions on the aspects of my life that are the most important.

This blog has been a wonderful place for me to share and grow in a lot of areas - including but not limited to contentment, modesty and beautiful womanhood.  I've been struggling with feeling like I'm split into a thousand different identities (bless the friends who I've talked to about this recently! :o) and have realized that I just need to go with my passions, whatever they may be at the moment.  God has placed certain things on my heart as not only convictions but also areas to grow in.

For these reasons, The Barefoot Mama blog will be taking an opportunity to be refocused on the area that is most extremely dear to my heart: homemaking for Christ.  I've been blogging since 2005 and began with a family blog titled under a different name, but I was then inspired by a host of really fantastic Christian blogs to begin one to encourage other women in the Lord, namely homemakers, mothers and wives.

There's something for every woman here at The Barefoot Mama, and I hope that my dear friends who visit here will enjoy the renewed fervor for which I post on everything home, family and faith - from ideas and experiences to projects and tools to make your lives easier.

Praise God for the beautiful ways that He can transform our lives and renew our hearts,

Kelly

Santa, a long hem, a public school bus and a stay-at-home mom on top!

Well, how do you know?

How do you know how to live?  First, you meet your Greatest Friend that can ever enter your heart - the Lord, our Savior, Jesus Christ, Emmanuel.  After that, your life begins to change.  Scripture is a beautiful manifesto of God's wishes for our lives, ways to serve Him, bring Him joy, allow Him into our lives and bless the next generation through Him.  But the Bible isn't always as clear-cut as we may wish (though I am thankful for that...Jesus is the Great Teacher, so of course lessons are meant to be studied, not merely memorized).  Different churches and groups view Scripture in various ways.  Families and friends live out His Word with contrasting styles. 

The focus of each of their hearts is serving and loving Christ - but people sometimes do it so differently.

Prayer has been my biggest way to discern God's will for me in situations and in terms of beliefs.  Prayer doesn't simply mean that the Big Man raps me on the head, hands me a fortune cookie and I break it apart to see the great, wise answer to my dilemma.  No, prayer leads me to ponder more deeply what is on my heart, and God's experiences and Word help me to figure out how to incorporate His will into that aspect of my life and soul.

Still, though, there are many things - many - that I cannot commit myself 100% in a position on.  I am modest, but I don't go as far as to never wear pants.  I read my daughter Christmas books (cannot pass up 'Twas the Night Before Christmas!) but we do not have a Santa who slides down our chimney.  I am a stay-at-home mother no matter what happens in life, and I will homeschool my child even though I used to be a regular classroom teacher myself.  What happens when some of your "labels" don't meld together or contrast too much to allow you to properly fit into a "group"?  Where are the other mothers and wives who are exactly like me in these areas?  Where are the ones who help me grow in others?

Wait a sec, does it matter?

Does it matter if I wear pants today and a beautiful dress tomorrow (trust me, gals, I love my dresses but just need a pair of pants every once in a while, too)?  No, and I don't care if the lady next door to me wears her dresses 24/7.  We're both modest and both of our hearts are centered on Christ.  Our personalities exhibit our dedication to Him and adherence to His principles in different ways.

Do you ever struggle with the "things" that you do in life?  Do you like to try out new ways of living to see if they work for you, as well?  I've seen so many wonderful blogging women with hearts like mine that yearn for Christ - some of us live similar lives and some of us do not.  There's are varying ways, in my opinion, to respond to the love of Jesus and in how to live for Him if you are truly, totally, unwaveringly dedicated to doing just that.  However, why then is there sometimes dissention among Christian women for not all doing the same "this" or the same "that"?  Why do outward appearances seem to dictate more than a person's heart? 

(These questions were formulated from my own thinking and not directed towards anyone in the grande ol' blogosphere.  I feel so fortunate that blogging exists and that we are able to freely share our thoughts as Christian women to continue our growth in Him during this life :o)