Are You A Complainer?

pos·i·tiv·i·ty [poz-i-tiv-i-tee]
–noun
1. the state of being positive: accepting the world as it is.

I have been participating in a study called "Cultivating Contentment" by Thomas Nelson. This is a great book that talks about how you can be more content with your life.  Last week the topic was "complaining" and as I talked with the group, we all agreed that for the most part people seem to either be "positive people" or "complainers".  The chapter that we read discussed reasons why people complain- as a form of small talk, because they compare themselves to others, because they lose sight what is really important in life. The book suggested everyone take home a package of Sweet Tarts and to eat one whenever we catch ourselves complaining this week.  The Sweet Tarts were to remind us to be sweet and not tart!  I consider myself to be a pretty positive person, and thought that this would be a good experiment to see how often I complain.  I caught myself only twice- once was a really big complaint!
The ways the book suggested and that our group came up with to be more positive were, first, to not compare yourself to others.  I once read that when you compare yourself to someone else, you could be comparing yourself on your worst day to them on their best day, besides you never know what someone else is going through! Second, whenever you feel like things are not going your way, instead of opening up your mouth to complain, count your blessings!  When you think about how much you are blessed with, it makes it hard to complain.  And third, things are not always perfect in this imperfect world- have a sense of humor and know that you will have good times and bad times, and hopefully in the end, we will all be in a perfect place with only perfect times!
How do you stay positive?

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6 word Saturday

Only 1 more vacation this summer!

Can you guess where we are going?

Can you describe your life in just 6 words?

UGH, my mom's trying to teach me!

The number one reason why kids struggle with math is because they do not know their times tables. Next year, my daughter is going into the third grade, and you know what that means???  She will learn her times tables and cursive writing this year.  I usually try to leave my daughter alone as far as schoolwork goes- she does her own homework and I stay out of it as long as she is doing a good job.  I am not one of those moms who feels the need to teach my kid to read at 3, but teaching her the times tables is very important to me, because I see what a difference it makes!  

 Remember the magnetic chalkboard wall that I slaved over?  I have been putting it to good use.


Also, I printed out multiplication flashcards and each day I give my daughter a new set of them to write the answers on, color and add on to a clip.


I found some fun worksheets for her to work on.


I also recommend the games from www.multiplication.com for practice.


Kids love it when you quiz them in the car! (Actually, they don't, but do it anyway!)

I also have a shake it up egg carton multiplication game, and a ball with problems on it that you catch and then shout out the answer where your thumb lands.

 Do you have any other creative ideas for teaching times tables?

Wordless Wednesday

Delicious Onion Recipe

Even though I have been known to complain about my daughter being a picky eater, I have to confess that I can be a picky eater too!  I am not a fan of onions, although I do like the flavor of foods cooked in onions.  I have even been known to order french onion soup and scoop around all of the onions!  Whether you are a fan of onions or not, you will love these!  We call them "Camping Onions" because they are fun to make over a campfire, but you can cook them in the oven too. These onions are so soft and flavorful, I can't believe I ate an entire onion yesterday!  


"Camping Onions"
Cut a sweet onion or Vidalia onion in half.  Peel off the skin.
Use a melon baller or spoon to hollow out a small hole in the middle of the onion

 Place 1 beef bullion cube and a tiny bit of butter in the hole, wrap up in foil and cook for 30-45 minutes!

 

Delicious when served with bread!  Enjoy!