Videos of Late {December & January}

Strong and Kind by Korie Robertson {A Book Review}

Strong and Kind and other Important Character Traits Your Child Needs to Succeed by Korie Robertson and Chrys Howard was an amazing book!!! I will be honest that I thought it may be a bit surface level but after reading, in less than 4 days I might add, I have to disagree with my original thought. 

I have only seen a handful of episodes of Duck Dynasty but I follow several of the family members on social media and I went to graduate school in North Louisiana so I feel like I have just a little bit of a connection to them. 

Anyway, I love the premise of this book--establishing character traits in your children that can help them grow into Godly adults. Korie talks about how she was once asked about what two character traits she wanted to foster in her children and she thought about it and decided those main traits for her children were "strong" and "kind". She shares about how they foster these character traits in their five children. 

Further in the book, she discusses various other character traits and encourages the reader to think and pray about what character traits we would like to foster in our own child(ren). Obviously, as parents, we want to establish plenty of excellent character traits but she asks you to find what is most important, at least in this season of life. 

I chose self-control and compassion. We live in a world of where there are very few boundaries. I believe it is incredibly important for our children to learn self-control. As for compassion, we want our children to learn the importance of caring for others. Those in need, those different than us, those next door to us. 

Other important traits are honesty, patience, joy, loyalty, etc. 

I love the way Korie shares each character trait and the incorporation of their own family stories. For most chapters, Willie Robertson shares a brief word about what each chapter discusses and I thought it was nice to hear the mother's and father's perspective. Parenting is a team sport and sometimes it's hard to remember that! 

Thanks, Korie, for writing a practical book that can help us parent our children into adulthood! 

                                      

**Thank you for sending me this book for free in exchange for my review!**

Snow Days {January 2016}

Well, we got some snow!! And we got some ice...that part wasn't as exciting for us! 

We were expecting it and we woke up Friday and this was our front and back yard. 

This was one of our friend's backyards. They live about 15 minutes from us. Crazy the difference. 

This was another friend's driveway. She lives about 15 minutes in the opposite direction. I was cracking up at how much of a difference it was! 

Since we were stuck inside, we enjoyed some TV time watching a quick morning show. 

And cookie time! Please note, this snack took place at 9:00 a.m. Yes, I'm pregnant and Mason doesn't mind one bit!!! :)

We pulled out all of the cars and Mason lined them up. I was so impressed with this. He put the trains together; fire trucks together, etc. 

Meanwhile, Matt was at work and they brought in steaks. I mean, seriously??? I was a bit jealous! 

Mason and I had measly ole' cheese quesadillas for lunch with veggie straws and fruit. Ha! Oh, and a mini cupcake. :)

After lunch, Mason snuggled in his cars chair that the Sody's gave him and watched Cars, his current favorite since he received it for Christmas. 

The finished steak. This was HALF of one. 

A few minutes before the movie finished, I heard a loud boom and ran outside the find some damage. I immediately called Matt for him to come home since we lost power. 

See those lines down on the left? 

And the pole on the left is broken completely off...

Damage to the other side of the duplex...

More lines down...

Hi, transformer!

And the culprit! Once I realized it was not a car hitting the pole I was relieved. It still wasn't fun to lose electricity but I was glad no one was hurt. 

Once Matt got home and we realized it would be a long while before electricity returned, we loaded up our whole house and went to Grandmom and Granddad's house. We were so glad they took us in without hesitation. Mason LOVES their apartment and the box of toys there, too. 

He got some gooood time with Granddad and Grandmom, too. 

The next morning, light snow was falling and Matt and Mason headed out. I had planned to go but I was up most of the night coughing and felt pretty blah so I watched them play for the most part. 

I snuck out for a few make-up-less pictures. :)

Mason made a snowball and brought it inside to eat. :)

More love. :)

See? The best box of toys ever. 

We got electricity back Saturday afternoon, so we were able to head home We are still dealing with making sure everything is in working order (as of Monday mid-day) but we were happy to be home. 

Sunday morning, we strung some twine and played with it for hours! 

(car wash) 

Pure relaxation...

When we laid Mason down for nap, we made a blanket fort! He didn't quite get the full concept but in the end, he enjoyed it. We will make one again soon! 

We enjoyed a few days of extra quiet around our house and Grandmom and Granddad's (although I'm certain it was noisier for them!!!) We enjoyed the snow but are totally fine when it goes away. :)