Uncategorized Archives - Home With The Boys

Reading, Writing, & Summer Bucket Lists!

May 14, 2013 By Erin 1 Comment

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I sat down to write and my mind was pretty much blank, mostly from being tired in all the good ways that involve playing and sunshine and long runs and family and much more!

But that also means at this very moment I don’t have a lot to say. I have a lot swirling around in my mind and I know it will come out at some point, but right now, I’m good with letting it process while I get attacked by light-sabers and toddler slobber!

Don’t worry – I’m not sitting in front of a computer frustrated! I’ve been keeping plenty busy, especially with these two things:

1. Summer Bucket Lists

The Hubby challenged each of us – minus Double J, obviously – to make up “summer bucket lists” with all the fun things we want to do this summer. The boys made lists of 50+ items each {including building a Lego city with all of their Lego sets as seen above}! The Hubby and I have 100+ on each of our lists. They involve travel and games and food and dates and all sorts of other things! A lot of fun ideas for the boys’ lists came from KidVentures and Fifteen Minutes Outside: 365 Ways to Get Out of the House and Connect with Your Kids. Mine also includes some projects I want to do around the house and a whole lot of this…

2. Reading

I pretty much just want to sit on the deck and read all day long. I have SO many good books waiting to be read on my Kindle! This past weekend I finished 24/6: A Prescription for a Healthier, Happier Life {which is only $2.99 for Kindle!}. It’s about the importance of a Sabbath and I found it very refreshing and inspiring! I’m over halfway done with Start by Jon Acuff, the first book I’ve read by him. I now must read everything else he has ever written because he is freaking hilarious AND motivating. I have a bajillion other books I want to read this summer as well, so I’m sneaking in reading time whenever I can! I’ll keep you updated as I check them off my list!

One other thing has kept me a little distracted from writing this week and that would be the little old half-marathon I’m running this weekend. No big deal. But since we’re talking about it, would you please say a few prayers for me and all others running, for the weather to cooperate {storms in the forecast}, and for the fundraising I’m doing for Team Samaritan’s Purse and Operation Christmas Child?!

Team Samaritan's Purse OCC

We only have a few days left and we still need over $300 to reach our goal! I would so appreciate if you can donate any amount and any help you provide in spreading word about our fundraiser!

There you go! A little update on life here at Home with the Boys!

What’s happening in your neck of the woods? What things are keeping you the busiest these days?

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Filed Under: family, priorities, reading, summer, Uncategorized

Favorite Family Easter Books {Old & New}

March 20, 2013 By Erin 9 Comments

Christmas is such an easy time to get the kids excited about Jesus. We celebrate His birth with much happiness and fanfare. The books and activities are full of joy and hope and wonder. It’s not hard to gather the family around to talk about such beautiful things.

Easter is a different story. It involves death. A really ugly, horrible death. The story also includes hate and betrayal and many other hard subjects for us as parents to explain and for kids to understand.

But as hard as it may be, the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus is the most important story we will ever tell to our children. And while the Easter season gets cluttered with candy, bunnies, eggs, and all sorts of other harmless fun, there are plenty of resources for making Jesus central to this holiday.

Easter Books

We have some old and new favorite family Easter books to help us do just that…

The Tale of Three Trees by Angela E. Hunt

I just keep this book out year-round because it applies to Easter, Christmas, and any time! I’ve read it many, many times, but I still got all choked up reading it to the boys yesterday! The thing I love the most about this book is that the dreams of each tree turn out differently than they imagined, but so much more wonderful because they happened with God and to glorify Him. Talk about God-sized dreams, right?!

The Easter Story for Children by Max Lucado

This goes along with The Story, which we are reading as a family this year. I feel like the illustrations in this book capture a lot of intense emotion not shown in other children’s books about Jesus’s death and resurrection. I found it very powerful.

Jesus Enters Jerusalem and He Is Risen: The Beginner’s Bible Easter Flip Book

This book tells the story of Jesus’s last days on one side, then the story of His resurrection when you flip it over, all in the style of The Beginner’s Bible. The book also includes stickers that represent each part of the story. I think this would be a great sequence activity with kids – cut out the stickers and have them line them up on paper in the correct order of the story! Great discussion opportunity! {The teacher in me never stops thinking!}

The Story of Easter

This is a new board book from Tommy Nelson this year and it is SO cute! The bright illustrations and little handle have our one-year-old carrying it around as he goes! The story is short and rhyming – great for keeping his attention – but it also covers the key parts of the Easter message. It’s never too early to help our children know of the love Jesus had for us when He died on the cross.

The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

{As I’m writing this, the Kindle versionis only $1.99! These prices change without notice, so please check before buying! And you don’t have to have a Kindle to read it! There are Kindle apps for all devices and computers!}

Well, you already know how much I love this Bible and how we read through the first 24 stories leading up to Christmas, but the New Testament portion is just as wonderful and powerful. If you’re reading in the week leading up to Easter, start with “The Servant King” on Wednesday, “A dark night in the garden” on Thursday, and “The sun stops shining” on Friday. Take Saturday to reflect, and then wake up bright and early Sunday morning to read “God’s wonderful surprise” together! And bring your Kleenex. This story Bible makes me cry EVERY. TIME.

I learned of Resurrection Eggs at our MOPS group a few years back, but only last year did I learn of a book to go along with them! And this year, another Resurrection Eggs book was released. If you’re looking for a book to use as a guide, check out these two:

Lily’s Easter Party: The Story of the Resurrection Eggs by Crystal Bowman

Benjamin’s Box: The Story of the Resurrection Eggs by Melody Carlson

I also wanted to let you know about a wonderful new Easter family devotion ebook written by my friend, Katie Orr!

Find More Jesus: How to Make Easter All about Jesus is an 8-day devotional for keeping Christ at the center of the holiday. You can also do all of the activities together on Easter morning – it is very adaptable! Katie’s heart for helping children see the real meaning of Easter shines through in this easy-to-read, easy-to-use book for the whole family.

Katie includes a supply list, Scripture readings for each day, a personal focus to emphasize with each activity, and discussion ideas. I think this is the PERFECT book for families, especially those with young children just starting to learn of Easter and those who want to change the way they have normally celebrated the Easter holiday.

I look forward to starting this with our boys on Sunday and you can join us! The ebook is only $2.99 both for PDF and on Kindle!

And you could win one of five copies TODAY ONLY! Enter below to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*I was provided review copies of some of these books, but was not compensated in any way for their inclusion in this post. They were included simply because our family enjoys them! All opinions are 100% my own!

**This post contains affiliate links.

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Filed Under: book review, children's book, Easter, giveaway, kiddos, Uncategorized

What I Wore: Mercy House Kenya

March 13, 2013 By Erin 15 Comments

New awesome shirt. New fabulous bag. One great cause.

Love Mercy Full Love Mercy Me and Bag

My heart has been with Mercy House Kenya since Kristen and her family shared their vision a few years ago. The Mercy House is a maternity home that rescues pregnant girls who are without hope, and often without homes. There currently eight girls and their eight miracle babies living in the Rehema House. Following the Welch family’s vision come to life and seeing pregnant girls rescued one by one has brought tears to my eyes and hope to my soul more times than I can count.

The Mercy House shop is one of the ways the maternity home is supported. There are beautiful items handmade by the girls living in the home, as well as t-shirts and bags bearing the “Love Mercy” message, found in Micah 6:8.

I’m totally digging this new shirt…

Love Mercy Shirt

This Heart & Wings shirt is stinking cool. I love it so much, and I love the opportunity to people about Mercy House when I wear it! As an FYI, the ladies’ shirts run a little small – I usually wear a small in shirts and the medium is just right for me.

Being the Welch family is from Texas, I had to pull this outfit together with cowboy boots, of course!

Love Mercy Boots

Sorry, those aren’t from Mercy House. Just good ol’ Target. And so are the pants.

But this awesome Freeset bag is!

Love Mercy Bag

It has become my “writing night” bag to take with me to the coffee shop! Freeset bags are so sturdy and each one is handmade and unique!

These products and more, like jewelry and ornaments, are such wonderful ways to bless your friends and family AND support an amazing ministry at the same time! Great gift ideas for Easter, Mother’s Day, and more! Please go check out the site and store for more information and to get involved with the Mercy House!

Love Mercy Giveaway

For fun, we get to give away a t-shirt and bag set to one of you! Just enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Filed Under: fashion, giveaway, mercy house, Uncategorized, what i wore

Motherhood, Community, & Lions

January 28, 2013 By Erin 27 Comments

What do you think? Do you like the new digs? {If you’re reading this in your email or feed, you might want to click on over to check it out!} I hope you find this space fresh, fun, and easier to locate exactly what you’re looking for when you visit Home with the Boys! Thanks for being a part of our little home here! Now, on with today’s post…

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The boys and I took a little field trip to check out five newborn lion cubs at our local zoo.

Lion Cubs

Oh boy, we they ever cute! They were sleeping the whole time, two snuggled together in a corner, and three more piled on top of each other snoozing away.

At less than a few weeks postpartum, the mama lion was also resting in the same enclosure as her cubs alongside a fellow female lion. We stepped over to the zookeeper to ask which one was the mother, and at that moment I overheard an interesting conversation.

The zookeeper informed those of us listening that the two female lions were sisters. In the world of lions, the female of the species are very social and do most things together. In the wild, they are able to time the births of their cubs within their pride so they can take care of and even nurse one another’s little ones.

These female lions are the perfect picture of what a community of mothers – yes, us human mothers – can look like. Well, except for the whole “nursing each other’s children” part…

Community of Lions

Find your “pride.”

This might be family members if you live near one another, but for many of us, our family is far away so we need to find our own local “pride” of mama friends. For me, it’s my Bible study girls. It might be a MOPS group or a few other moms in your neighborhood. There are advantages to a “pride” of mixed ages, where older mamas can help mentor younger ones, but having children of similar ages can bring about great camaraderie as well!

Don’t leave a new mama all alone.

I don’t care how many babies a woman has had, she always deserves some post-partum help. For the mama lion, she had her sister helping care for the cubs. A meal, a nap, an adult conversation – anything you can provide for that new mama in your life will be a breath of fresh air for her! And don’t forget about her a few months down the road when she is worn down from many sleepless nights and most people have stopped providing help. The mother of a three-month old will appreciate a meal just as much as the mother or a newborn! If you ARE a new mama, let others come alongside you!

Do life together.

Female lions raise children together, hunt together, do life together. Doing everyday things with other mamas makes me feel like my life is normal. I feel united with them when we play date or field trip or cook or eat together. Feeling normal and united is a good thing for every mama. Even just talking about the ups and downs of your day with another mom will be uplifting when you are able to laugh together and spur one another on!

It’s amazing what you can learn about the importance of community for moms from a day at the zoo!

What does community look like for you as a mom? Who is in your pride?

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Filed Under: family, motherhood, Uncategorized, women

Boys in Motion {Link-Up!}

October 29, 2010 By Erin 5 Comments

It’s Friday which means time to share your favorite photograph of your boy (or boys) in motion! Celebrate that non-stop energy – if you can’t beat ‘em, take a picture and enjoy it!

So do you have your action shot ready to go?

*****

Here are my boys in motion this week…

Climbing on a train – does it really get any better for a boy?

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And now it’s your turn!

How to participate: Just write a blog post with a favorite boy action shot (just picture is ok but a description is always fun!), link back to this post and then add your post URL (not home page URL) to the linky below! Then have some fun checking out all of the fabulous pictures!

If you don’t have a blog, head over to our Facebook page and upload your favorite pic on to our wall to join in! Please do not link to blog posts on the Facebook page – this is only for those without blogs!

Lights…Camera…Action!

Would you be interested in sponsoring this link-up or donating prizes for it? Please e-mail me at erin {at} homewiththeboys {dot} net for more info!

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Filed Under: boys, boys in motion, photography, Uncategorized

Not Me! Monday

September 13, 2010 By Erin 9 Comments

A little background before the “Not Me!” fun begins: I started watching a precious little baby this week. She is with us three times a week. I was a little worried about what it would do to our daily routine and how the boys would react.

I shouldn’t have been. The boys LOVE her and our days are actually calmer when she is around. They are so helpful and sweet – smiling at her, watching her sleep, throwing away diapers, even feeding her!

And now for confession time…

It was NOT me who completely fell in love with idea of having another child this week. I did NOT look back at the days when the boys were itty bitty and suddenly miss the tiny diapers, the breastfeeding and even the bouncing them to sleep. No, I did NOT totally glorify the whole newborn stage in my mind.

And it was NOT my children who proceeded to be the loudest, rudest, most disrespectful children on the entire planet this weekend WHILE. I. WAS. NOT. FEELING. WELL. Nope, they were perfect angels ALL weekend. And I would NEVER exaggerate in a situation like this – EVER.

No, Big J did NOT tackle his little brother into my brand new computer while we attempted to skype with Grandma and Grandpa on Grandparents’ Day.

No, they did NOT end a rough tackling session with a chin-to-forehead collision.

No, I did NOT hear from Little J all weekend, in a wonderfully whiny voice, “I hold you. I hold you.”

Nope, this was not just a part of the weekend at our house.

And of course, it was NOT me, who, at the end of said weekend, said to the hubby “Snip, snip!” Nope, I would NEVER make a major life decision like that based on one weekend.

And it would NOT be me who, just guessing, will probably go back and forth about wanting another wee one about a million times unless God steps in and just lets us know His plan.

Nope, NONE of this would EVER happen to me.

I’m sure NOTHING like this has ever happened to you either, right?

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Not Me! AND Not My Child! Monday

August 2, 2010 By Erin 9 Comments

This post just completely wrote itself at the end of last week.

Part 1:

It was NOT me who started an afternoon of baking last week only to discover a BUG. IN. THE. FLOUR. And it was NOT me who freaked out a bit and threw out every bit of flour in the house.

And it was NOT me who continued the baking extravaganza with items that did not require flour of any sort only to run out of brown sugar in the middle of a cookie recipe. And no, it was NOT me who got really giddy when I discovered a way to substitute the brown sugar I was missing with things I already at home! No, no excitement over baking ingredients here.

And to continue the baking escapades, it was NOT my earring that dropped into the completed cookie dough – just to top off the whole experience.

Part 2: (it’s been quite a week when you have a two-part Not Me! post)

So, it was NOT my child who decided he needed to wear underwear under his shorts.and over his shorts.and on his head.all at the same time. And it was NOT my child who wanted to dress his brother in the same manner AND leave the house that way. And of course it was NOT me who squelched his plan and creativity by keeping the underwear monster at home.

And it was NOT my child who taught his younger brother to say “stupid” – a forbidden word in our house. No, this did NOT end in the younger brother uttering the phrase “Stupid Mommy” over and over again in the car. Nope, my children know much better than that.

Finally, it was NOT my child who was having a wonderful time at the park, running and playing and PEEING IN FRONT OF A FAMILY ON A PICNIC, all while holding an open bag of cheese crackers in the other hand. And it was NOT me who was oblivious until one of the dads we were with brought it to my attention.

Yes. My name is Erin and I am a mother of boys.

What did NOT happen to you this week? Let’s have a good laugh over the not-so-perfect moments in life!

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A Big Grid Giveaway!

July 30, 2010 By Erin 51 Comments

Since my last post was about selling things I love, I thought I would share something else I love!

I’ve told you about my love for Amy Knapp Family Organizers in the past, but now she has something new out and I’m digging it too!

I have tried lots and lots of calendars out there and this one is fitting all of my needs right now!

What’s so great about the Big Grid Family Organizer?

First of all, just like the title says, it is a BIG GRID calendar and I do NOT like squishing things together on my calendar!

Secondly, there are awesome reminders at the top of each month that I would NEVER think of but NEED to! Planning way ahead is not my strong suit, but Amy just did it for me!

Thirdly, there is a spot at the bottom of each day specifically for the dinner menu – I don’t have to put it on a separate calendar or sheet of paper!

And lastly, there are lots of great extras like tear-off menu-planning and grocery lists and cute and colorful stickers to mark important dates.

The ONLY thing I did not LOVE about this calendar is the lack of magnet to put it on my fridge – but with the pre-drilled holes and a couple of heavy duty magnetic hooks, I made it work!

Since this calendar is an August 2010-December 2011 calendar, I thought it only fitting that Amy and I give away a couple of these babies as we move into August!

So here is YOUR chance to win one of two I am giving away!

All you have to do is.

Tell me how you would fill one of the big daily grids on this calendar! School, trips, errands, date night – you name it!

And I’ll give you a few extra entries this time if you.

*Like Home with the Boys on Facebook

AND/OR

*Follow Home with the Boys on Twitter

Just be sure to enter a separate comment for each entry!

This giveaway ends Wednesday, August 4th at 9 p.m. CST!

Thanks so much to Amy for providing the review and giveaway calendars – love your stuff!

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A Little Relevant Fun (And My First Vlog!)

June 3, 2010 By Erin 13 Comments

My Relevant Sponsor Shoutout! from Erin M. on Vimeo.

You can check out more here:

Seeds Family Worship

Igniter Media

Gather Inspirit – head over to here now to see my Road 2 Relevant post!

And don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win the Seeds Worship Tracks: The Power of Encouragement DVD from Igniter Media, a $49.98 value! Giveaway ends Monday at 9:00 p.m. CST!

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The M.O.B. Society: Tonight’s the Night!

May 31, 2010 By Erin 4 Comments

Wow. What a ride! And now the time is here!

The official launch of the M.O.B. Society is tomorrow and to celebrate, tonight is our INCREDIBLE Twitter party!

The party starts at 8:30 CST (9:30 EST) and only lasts an hour, so don’t be late! Just follow and tweet along with the #mobsociety hashtag to join in the fun!

We have an unbelievable group of giveaways that you will NOT want to miss, including prizes from The Vintage Pearl, Tommy Nelson, Tyndale House, Our Daily Chocolate, Stitches by Sara, and more!

Oh, did I forget to mention the grand prize?!

That’s right – an EXCLUSIVE M.O.B. Society necklace, designed by fabulous mother of boys Lisa Leonard!

I. AM. IN. LOVE.

Not on Twitter? That’s ok! We’ll miss you at the party, but we have a prize opportunity for you too! Head on over to our Facebook page to find out how!

And whatever you do, please head over to the new site tomorrow to catch the first official post! You won’t be disappointed!

So who’s joining me tonight?!

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