Living Whole, Living Healthy With Nicole Field & podcast

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Market Day in Oxford was a favorite pastime each week. There were stalls of fresh veggies, fruit, cheeses, eggs, bread, olives, hummus, everything one could want for filling up kitchen cupboards. Vibrancy of color, multi-textured goodies filled me with excitement. “I wonder what I will bring home to eat today.”

Walking kept me healthy, (5-7 miles a day) but also eating well, eating “fresh” and living an overall whole life.

Now, under times of great stress, keeping healthy will keep us better emotionally, spiritually and physically.I think we can all agree that these last several weeks have added a layer of stress to our body, mind and spirit that none of us have experienced before. Stress affects the brain and body and then we could go into ways of caring for ourselves in this time to help process and manage the stress we are feeling. 

A year ago, my wonderful friend, Nicole, NPT, created a program called "30 Days of Whole Living". I know that stress is slowing me down in my own ideals and practices. I thought it would be encouraging to all of us to talk about a healthy lifestyle today. Nicole has a plan, "7 Days of Whole Living", that helps women make a plan that fits into their lives for healthy rhythms and practices..

Today, we talked about her plan for whole living and what we both do to try to keep ourselves as healthy and strong as possible as a rhythm of life, all the time, every day. The purpose of her own program is to help women and moms, especially, learn different practices of self-care or what both of us call, “Whole. Living”

I think you will love this podcast and I hope our conversation gives you great ideas and just encourages you in your own goals and rhythms—as many as your life allows you to practice.

If you would like to know more about what Nicole has offered in her course for support for you at home, go to her website below. These are some of the areas we discussed and what are foundations to a healthy, whole life.

1. Acknowledging our emotions and how we feel

2. Moving our bodies to release stress

3. Being in nature 

4. Gratitude Journaling

5. Prayer/Meditation

6. Setting Boundaries

7. Digital Detox

More Resources:

Find Nicole Field, NPT, and more about her classes and plan @

nicole@wholelivingpilates.com

wholelivingpilates.com

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Chasing Wisdom: Looking All Around For the Fingerprints of God, Daniel Grothe & Podcast

This year, I made it my goal to look for the fingerprints of God by noticing light in my days and pondering His wisdom in my world. Wisdom has been a new focus for me this year after teaching a unit on Proverbs.

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“He who walks with the wise will be wise.”

We become what we pursue. I learned many years ago to copy wise people. Anyone who knows me well knows that I try to read books, find authors and speakers who grant me Biblical wisdom in my life. Those that cause me to grow, to stretch, that make me want to love and serve God more, that transform my heart to have hope and faith are my focus. Years ago, I had the opportunity to be in a private conference with one such hero authors, Eugene Peterson. I had actually met him and his wife in a dorm cafeteria in Santa Fe as a conference for writers, artists and musicians and hoped for another opportunity to be under his teaching..

A couple of years later, Clay and I had the opportunity to attend a very small, private conference where he spoke. We soaked up every word and scribbled notes to be sure we did not forget anything he said. It happened that my seat at a table was next to another man who was as attentive as we were, excited about what it looked like to be mentored by someone who had invested their lives in becoming wise. .

His name of Daniel Grothe, a pastor from a church we attended. Fast forward over ten years later, and you will find me taking notes and being inspired by what Daniel is now teaching and writing. His story is quite fascinating, filled with tales of mentoring from Eugene Peterson as well as convictions from his own life.

Daniel’s book, Chasing Wisdom, explains the Bible's blueprint for becoming the kind of person who can deal with all of life's challenges.

He explains:”Some people have learned how to live. They can handle all that life brings. They are composed. They radiate strength. They are whole, with lives worth emulating, and when they speak people listen. They are, in a word, wise. How did these people get wisdom? And perhaps more importantly, how can we?”

I recently taught a study in my membership, Life With Sally, about the book of Proverbs, which led me into a renewed appreciation of how important wisdom is to duding each step of our lives. In his book, Daniel shows us how to get wisdom for ourselves by examining what the Bible has to say about it and by providing practical steps for acquiring it, among them:

• learning to ask for help

•  loving Scripture

•  going to Church

•  living quietly

• and, above all, seeking those who are themselves wise.

Drawing upon Scripture and upon his own experience learning from his friend and mentor Eugene Peterson, Grothe shows how our lives can be secured by the resource that will keep us from collapsing under the onslaught of the difficulties of life. Wisdom is available to us. It takes work to pursue it. Chasing Wisdom reveals how.

We had a grand time in our interview and I was so very encouraged. I know you will be so inspired by his message.

Books Referenced in this Podcast:

More Resources:

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• Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!

Coping With A Sense of Loss: Compassion. for This Time With Holly Pakiam & PodcastI

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“I’m not sure what’s wrong with me. I just feel sad inside,” I answered Clay.

I am well fed, have a warm bed, plenty to do, but deep dark feelings seems to emerge on this Saturday morning and I knew I needed to look at them to figure out where they were coming from.

Covid Virus has left all of us with disappointments, disturbances to our normal schedules, and left us with big question marks. When will this end? What will life be like when it is over? How long will we have to social distance? What is the economy going to be like.

As I was sharing some of these feelings, I realized that this was the first time in 36 years when I had lived without one or some of my adult children for more than 5 days. They are much of my community, my best friends, my confidants, my spiritual inspires. I realized I had been stuffing my lonesomeness for them and just for people and friends. So often, we do stuff our feelings and just carry on faithfully.

I shared some of this with my dear friend,Holly Packiam, who is a ministry leader in her church and teaches women’s and parenting ministry groups. Holly is also a trained counselor and so we thought it might be helpful to talk about some of the ways to cope with the sense of loss that many of us are feeling.

I remember a how I felt in another time of deep isolation, Holly shares. Her 4 kids were 7 and under and it felt impossible to go anywhere, get anything done, or see anyone outside of her family.

She recalls: “It felt hard to take care of myself and at moments I truly thought I was going to lose my mind.

I remember thinking: I can’t do this...I can’t get anything done and I can’t be the mother to the kids they need. I needed to talk to a friend-- any adult!

I needed conversation to stimulate my mind. I wanted to hear from others and to be listened to.

I felt alone being the only adult in the house.

I felt anxiety growing in my stomach by the day.”

Maybe this season isn’t much different for some of you. These feelings of loneliness, anxiety, depression, frustration, and anger have been residing in your heart for a long time and this season hasn’t changed that. Or perhaps the fact that you literally can’t leave your house or that there is actually nowhere to go has magnified those difficult feelings.

Jesus showed us that part of being truly and fully human is to bring our sadness and anguish, our heaviness and loneliness, to the Father in prayer. In fact, the people of God have a long tradition of bringing their laments to God. We see this in the Psalms.

Today, we look at what a lament is, and how Godly lament helps us in naming and coping with loss. We will talk through Psalm 13-- a classic lament psalm, with protest, petition, and praise found within in it. We also offer helpful ways to process what you’re feeling in this season.

Sweet friends, I think about you so often and pray for all of you. Holly and I prayed for you.

May God’s peace and comfort meet you today, sweet friend and may you know you are not alone. .

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• Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!

The Very Long Walk of Motherhood ...

Hiking and climbing on the mountain trails near our home has brought many adventures to our family. One such picnic into the woods, years ago, turned into a 7 1/2 hour perilous calamity where the kids and I and our beloved golden retriever had to be rescued. I thought we would take a nice little walk, but it turned out to be wrought with paths that led us astray, coyotes barking at us, getting lost, darkness settling in and exhaustion amongst us all.

Sometimes motherhood is such a journey. I thought it would be easier and more friendly, but at times, it has also been fraught with unplanned hazards. (You will have to read this true story in the book to find out what happened!)

It's often said that motherhood is a marathon, not a sprint. Yet I wonder if it's not something else entirely, more of an endless hike alongside God, who teaches and encourages and sometimes carries us as we go along our way with eternal lessons hidden at each curve of the trail. Surely there are heights and valleys, easy stretches and those that are more challenging, times we sink in the sand and times we could run we feel so light and free. I wrote about it in The Mom Walk ... 

"As a young woman, I looked ahead to the adventure of having my own precious brood of children and idealized all the love, fun, and joy we would share as a family. I even pictured myself as the happy mother of joyful, well-adjusted children. My life as a mom has created countless moments of joy, love shared, deep fulfillment and wonderful memories.

Yet I also have had times of dark depression, loneliness, and feelings that I couldn't keep going. I have often felt inadequate to know just how to discipline and train my children. Choices about their lives have often been a mystery amid so much parenting advice. What movies are acceptable? What is the best way to educate my children? How do I help them handle peer pressure? How is it possible to build godly character into the very fabric of my children's souls? Why is my child resisting me so much? Does my child need more attention or more discipline? And on and on my questions go.

However, I also found I was unprepared for the road, unaware of the obstacles and dangers I would find strewn on my pathway, and I felt often alone in the midst of the difficulties, and more weary than I had ever dreamed I would be. I felt so many times that I needed a guide, a map, the right resources to make the journey, and help along the way. I needed a companion to walk the road with me and to strengthen and encourage me when I felt so alone and forlorn. Often, though, I didn't feel I knew anyone I could turn to for help ...

The more I have studied Scripture, the more I have realized the God designed the role of mother to be one of the most important relationships a child will ever have. How I walk my path as a mother will greatly determine the outcome of my children's souls, relationships, vision for life, and success in their own walk with God. He is the one with the map, the hidden treasures along the way, and the ultimate guide. But without His word and His wisdom, I was sure to become lost on this journey."

The Mom Walk: Keeping in Step with God's Heart for Motherhood

By Clarkson, Sally

Creating A Lifegiving Home, Preparing a Lifegiving Table & Podcast

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I had so much fun doing a podcast today about how vital your role as a conductor of beauty and life in your home and table will make to the long term legacy of love that you leave. One of the wonderful things about being a parent of adult children is that they remember home. with fondness and warmness, and they remember the. ways you created life, while wondering if they were paying attention or listening.

Sarah wrote this and it warmed my heart:

“But my parents understood that the world that they made within the walls of our house was what constituted home. So I grew up in spaces framed by art and color, filled with candlelight, marked by beauty. I grew up within a rhythm of time made sacred by family devotions in the morning and long conversations in the evening. I grew up with the sense of our daily life as a feast and delight; a soup-and-bread dinner by the fire, Celtic music lilting in the shadows, and the laughter of my siblings gave me a sense of the blessedness of love, of God's life made tangible in the food and touch and air of our home.”

“It was a fight for my parents, I know. Every day was a battle to bring order to mess, peace to stressful situations, beauty to the chaos wrought by four young children. But that's the reality of incarnation as it invades a fallen world....What my parents-bless them-knew...is that to make a home right in the midst of the fallen world is to craft out a space of human flesh and existence in which eternity rises up in time, in which the kingdom comes, in which we may taste and see the goodness of God.” 
― Sally Clarkson, The Lifegiving Home: Creating a Place of Belonging and Becoming

As we look to this very difficult time, people dieing, storms devastating cities, people being killed, it can almost seem frivolous to celebrate. Yet, it is own keeping the candle burning, the light glowing in the darkness that we write beautiful messages on the hearts of our loved ones.

Joy wrote this in my book, the Lifegiving Table:

“Sometimes celebrating, enjoying, and laughing seem almost inappropriate in a world as broken as ours. We look around and see panic on the faces of everyone we see. Tragedies become ordinary. How, in good conscience, can we laugh and celebrate and eat pizza? I believe we must celebrate - because celebration is one of the most effective weapons we have against the darkness of our day. The real grief of the state of our world is the pervasive fear that settles in our hearts.” 

― Sally Clarkson, The Lifegiving Table: Nurturing Faith Through Feasting, One Meal at a Time

I hope you will enjoy the podcast today. Greatness is shaped in the hidden moments of life, the repeated rhythms over and over again that shape a life of memories and values in the hearts and minds of our children.

Printable:

Books Referenced in this Podcast:

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FOR MORE

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• Leave an iTunes Review These are so important as they help our podcast reach more women with messages of encouragement.

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• Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

• Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!

Finding Peace in the Midst of Stressful Times; Podcast with Kristen and Misty

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Today I asked my friends, Misty and Kristen, each who are surrounded by a bundle of smaller people in their homes: What does it look like to find peace in stressful times? (Also, these two little ones are Misty’s grandchildren — aren’t they the cutest?)

What a season this has been. Some days are more naturally peaceful than others. I haven’t had many of those days lately!

Toward the beginning of this Ordeal, my attitude was pretty upbeat. It was sortof, “Let’s all chin up! Buck up! We’ve got this! This is fine!”

Then came about the tenth day, and my upbeat attitude was, well, beat.

All of us are challenged when we are in a situation where we cannot control the outcome, nor the input. As a mother, it feels very shaky under my feet somedays.

And yet, as Kristen and I discuss on today’s podcast, the truth is that our foundation is secure. We are both finding peace in reminding ourselves that it is impossible for us to be alone; Christ, who is Peace, is always with us. As we are reminded in Romans 8:38-39, we can never be alone, regardless of the situation … “I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” What a wonder!

This is not the first difficult situation any of us have faced, and it will, unfortunately, certainly not be the last. Settling our hearts on where we will draw our stability is imperative for ourselves as well as our children.

There is so much comfort to be found in Psalm 91:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

I hope you’ll enjoy our podcast today, as we discuss ways to find peace in the midst of stressful times!

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• Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!

Mothers Are the Best! & Podcast

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As I was walking to the top of the hill, my mind pondered the hundreds of times I had walked this with one or all of my children, giggling, talking about everything in the world, sharing secrets, inspiring one another with a book read, a dream shared. One of the rewards of my familiar mountain walks is this sparkling lake, a view of the mountains and our beloved bench that looks over it all.

We would sit together on our bench, a reward after the long hill, and relish our mutual friendships. Making time to walk as a habit meant that there was space for our relationship to stay strong as we lived the rhythm of making time for one another every week, all seasons. I know, from experience, that one of the most profound ways a mama can reach a heart with the messages on her heart, is to build intentional time slots that provide undistracted time to grow close as friends, to stay close for a lifetime.

Seeing my little blue lake, clouded skies, purple mountains lead me to deep thoughts stored about how profoundly important mothers are to the shaping of great souls, deep faith, engaged minds and strong character. People do not become fully developed and life-strong by accident. The shaping and nurturing of great souls happens by intentionality. If only we could see from heaven’s eyes the consequences of life determined by a specic moment in time, a conversation, a moment of encouragement when doubts threaten to overcome, a challenge to live into capacity when one is tempted to quit an important commitment in life, a word of compassion and grace for the one who is feeling friendless or alone.

Mothers are the keepers of lives entrusted by God in every generation. This week, I’ll celebrate Mother’s day with some personal thoughts and some special book giveaways that I hope will further inspire you.

As we converse with our children, seek to enrich them with our words of love and our voice of truth, we realize our children, don't need sweet platitudes of faith that will momentarily placate their emotions. They need the authentic strength that comes from the true foundation of a biblical worlveiw and a proper understanding of the real Christ who is worthy of their worship. They need an unwavering, internal moral and spiritual compass that will help them weather today's storms and tomorrow's and will guide them for the rest of their lives. They also need to see what real faith looks like when lived day in, day out; so they will have a pattern to follow.

The process of providing such gifts to my children is what I've come to think of as the ministry of motherhood. I believe it's central to the calling of anyone God has privileged to bring children into this world.

If you are a mother, it's your ministry too." ~from The Ministry of Motherhood

This ministry happens over a lifetime, over sacrificing. our personal moments to give back one more time. Motherhood requires every ounce of our self-control, our generosity, our wisdom, our faith, and leaves us exhausted in the pouring out of ourselves. over countless days and endless years. Yet, the child fortunate enough to. have a mother who has a vision of the long term consequences of such investment, and understands it is her service of worship to Christ for His generosity, is blessed indeed. This child will deeply feel the comfort of a place to belong, a purposeful community to together lives into their divine destiny, a sweet home where comfort, pleasure, joy and deep satisfaction is felt endlessly through the years.

Never forget that when a wise women works diligently to build this kind of legacy, she will find that the commitment of. working towards these goals, will eventually fulfill her own heart’s desire for intimacy and best friends, for understanding she is truly a part of God’s Devine purpose for her through her days on the earth. She will discover that the very design of God for the role of mothers was profoundly calling her to her best self and fulfilling a. deep sense of living a purposeful life.

May God bless. you this mother’s coming day with this knowledge and a sense of His beloved companionship, His wisdom, His grace and His deep love for you.

Don’t forget to get a copy of Nathan’s new book, Good Man, out today!

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• Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

• Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!

How Mamas Shape Their Boys into Good Men & Giveaway & Nathan Clarkson podcast

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Mama’s are my heroes who God uses to shape the destinies of little boys who become men. When a boy thinks his mama is for him, his mama sees a hero in his heart, prays for him, enjoys him, the messages last for life. Nathan, my son, is releasing a new book today that I think will help recapture the imagination of men all over the world to live into their capacity to become Good Men. But I think that mamas can be such an important part to working forward in creating this desire in the heart of her men.

One look at our cultural moment and it's easy to tell that men and their identities are in crisis. Though lost and fractured, men face the pressure to be perfect. Our reactionary society is quick to condemn and slow to forgive, leaving men more confused than ever about how to live and who to be. Yet in Scripture, we continually find God choosing to work in and through flawed, imperfect, and broken individuals. Men who had massive character flaws and significant moral failings, but who also shared one important characteristic: the desire to follow the call of their Creator. 

With engaging personal stories and insight into biblical truths, Nathan Clarkson declares to today's man that he is more than what the culture is telling him he is--angry, selfish, predatory, violent, and bored. Instead, still on the journey himself, Nathan calls today's man to find his identity in the One who created him on purpose, for a purpose, and encourages him to live an honest, authentic life marked by a winsome combination of confidence and humility.
I hope you will get your own copy of this book and share it with your own men. I hope our stories encourage you today and give you hope for what is possible.

Books Referenced in this Podcast:

Nathan is giving away a $50 gift certificate to one person from Barnes and Noble. To enter, go to my instagram and follow me and leave a comment, tagging a friend and go to Nathan’s instagram and follow him and tag a friend. The more times you comment and tag a new friend, the more times you will be entered. Tne contest closes at midnight on Friday.

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• Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

• Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!

Being Grace-Filled Means Intentionality, Not Passivity

I adore beautiful gardens, and especially roses. To see an prolific antique rose bush in its glory is amazing. In Vienna, near the Hoffburg Palace and also the summer palace where Marie Antoinette was raised, there are rows and rows of abundantly full rose bushes which speak of His divine touch and craftsmanship.

However, the grace and beauty of such a garden are not instantaneous; each comes through much cultivation, planning and sacrifice of time. The bushes must be fed with the best of fertilizer, the ground must be weeded, and they must be watered constantly to maintain proper growth.

Roses are especially vulnerable to mold and aphids and so the outside forces that would destroy them must be monitored and dealt with constantly. An eye of protection must look for any evidence of such pests. The more quickly the threats are dealt with, the less damage the bushes incur.

In winter, the branches are cut back so far as to make the bushes appear dead, at times seeming to have destroyed the very life inside. Yet, the cutting back and training of the branches allows the roots to grow deep and provides for a healthier long term plant.

The blooms are the fruit and glory of the cultivation of the plant. Yet, even the beautiful blooms are temporary and must be trimmed so that others may grow in their place.

The care of such a garden and particularly of the rose bushes is given because of the love the gardener has for cultivating such beauty. All the acts of cultivating and grooming the garden occurs in order that it may grow.

So it is with the discipline of children. Grace-based parenting is not just passively letting children go and overlooking their missteps. Leniency and ill attention is also unacceptable. To raise and cultivate a lovely legacy of children requires so much time, attention, intentional discipline, and training.

I have received interesting letters and been in the presence of women whose children are a nightmare to be with, because the mamas thought grace-based parenting meant not ever getting in the way of their children's will or saying no to them or making them wait. Once, a woman told me her 3-year-old spit on her husband and kicked him when he walked in the room! Then she said, "He just doesn't understand grace based parenting, and he is getting upset with my way of applying these principles." No wonder!

I would never, never allow such behavior in a child for one second unless I knew the child had a disorder of some kind that prevented more mature behavior. All children must be trained and taught and shaped in order to reach their full potential. But anger and harshness need not be the prevailing attitude. Strength can be exhibited by firmness with gentleness, consistency, and guidance, with love and self-control as the base attitude of the parent.

Because I knew my children were going to be in a tough world, where their needs and whims would not be swiftly met, I knew that they had to grow strong inside and learn to develop an inner sense of strength and self-control.

So, it starts with the great soil of love, warm and tender affection, words of life and affirmation and acceptance--even if a baby is challenging and difficult.

Then, we feed our children daily on the truth of God's word, modeling and training their little natures to have character. Saying prayers of gratefulness while shaping their little hands in a form of prayer to God every meal, snatching their little hands if they ever hit or grab a toy, saying, "No, you may never hit a child, you may never grab a toy." Separating them when they misbehave, teaching them to have self-control by waiting the tiniest bit for mommy, not interrupting, not demanding. Encouraging them to share, to give, to help siblings, to serve others by giving them real live things to do.

True grace-based parenting means training children by giving them consequences that tug at their heart, causing them to choose to obey the next time. Telling our children ahead of time what is expected of them. "We need to stop playing and clean up the den. I am telling you five minutes ahead of time so that you can finish what you are doing and then we will all work together. Do you understand? Tell me what I said. "

Shaping their little appetites for life with beauty, peace, and self-giving serving of others. We are to be God's instrument in their lives of turning them away from their own self-wills. We cut out the offending pests that would deplete the emotional, moral or spiritual health of our children--it means we must confront sinful attitudes, create consequences, train truth, and memorize scripture and train from that scripture! We must also create and allow difficulties to have their course in our children's lives so that they may become strong and deepen their roots. If we guard them overly, keeping them away from all that is bad or unfair, then they will never be able to stand on their own in a world at war with God's principles.

It is a life of nurturing, cultivating, protecting, allowing to bloom, cutting back and shaping. It is an active life of constant attention and work. But the product is one of beauty, grace, and indeed has the divine touch of God's handprint on it.

The work of the gardener of souls is never finished, goes through many seasons, and wards off many pests. But the end result--a godly heritage— is more beautiful and sweeter to behold than I ever knew. The fruit of the planting and gardening produces more fruit and satisfaction that I would have understood.

Passivity is not allowed for us as parents, but the grace of life-giving, always. It is the glory of the gardener to see the fruit of labor well-done, beautiful and in full bloom.

Tiny Breaks All Day that Bring a Little Bit of Joy: What We Do to Keep Happy & Podcast!

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Every night, after we have had dinner and washed the dishes, I look forward to a secret, delectable treat, all for me—4 large salted dark chocolate almonds. Trying not to gain weight but it is my secret reward at the end of the day. As a matter of fact, I have fun little habits I sprinkle through my whole week.

The last day before everyone had to sequester in their homes, I returned from a wonderful long weekend in Asheville with my team of leaders. We have zoom chats all the time. We giggled and had lots of fun talking about the escapes each of us have taken—books on tape, chocolate, and so much more.

I thought at this point, it would be fun to talk a bit about something light— what we like to do, when we need to blow off steam! And so our team gathered to record this for you over Zoom this weekend to share some ideas.

Our podcast is about what we’d do as women who need tiny breaks to have fun for ourselves, but here are some ideas for what to do when your kids need to have fun, too! It is what I counted on when I needed a break.

Here are some of my fun Ideas that I used in our family.

• Bubbles, of course, always made fun when we had not used them for a while.

• Sidewalk chalk and give each child 5 pieces and have a mural contest.

• Buy the little whirly sticks that blow in the wind. This kept Joy busy for hours when she was little.

• Rousing game of capture the flag—or playing Roxaboxin!

• Sticker books

• Water in many different forms—bath tub and bubbles, floating little boats or army men or tea cups in a big pot of water outside—sprinklers, squirt guns, water water water.

• I have a basket of wooden Easter eggs and I would use them all year round inside our home to hide for the kids when they needed something fun to do. Painting wooden eggs is also fun, and they never break. Toddlers love to roll them on the floor, and my children loved hiding them in the house for many years! Our wooden eggs came from from my missionary years in Poland, where I bought them for 10 cents apiece. They have lasted us all these years!

• Tents under dining tables or card tables. Once we pulled a bunch of tables into our hallway and had a whole network through 2 rooms of our house! Each child had his own table, and they visited each other all day long, and of course ate snacks and lunch under the tables!

• Camping out on your own porch.  It is a lot easier than camping out for real and especially when there was a meteor shower.

• Having a picnic dinner anytime outside, by the fireplace, in a bedroom, wherever we could pretend an adventure. And of course, we didn't have to make a real meal--just finger sandwiches, and fruit was enough to have fun. (they always tasted better when they were in shapes of hearts or logs or stars--I used big cookie cutters)

• Going for a ride in the middle of the day with a rousing book on tape or Odyssey and ending up at the frozen yoghurt shop.

These are just a few things I would do when I needed a break. Maybe some of my ideas can help you.

What about you? What would you do?

Books Referenced in this Podcast:

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