Tip #69 From Mrs. Sunny

Continuing a previous post..."Make a prayer table at home!"

I finally finished our table by finding an old piano bench at St. Vinny's here in town. I put it in the corner by the kids' rooms. I love how the top opens, so I can store things inside for different seasons if I wish as well.

I found the picture of "laughing Jesus" a few weeks ago and I love it. What a great way to see Jesus every morning when the kids get out of bed! You can add anything to the table that you want that corresponds to your religion or beliefs.



I recently read a little about children and their relationship with God. They're born with this love for God and they just need their parent's help to bring out this relationship in their daily lives. One way to do this is by setting up a prayer table for them to express their thoughts and feelings about God. It's like giving them the tools to grow closer to God on their own.

Hope this is an inspiration for you all! It's amazing watching my kids "play" at the table. I teach them it's sacred and they know to keep everything at the table...a great lesson!

Tip #68 From Mrs. Sunny

"Always remember you're better at the 'parenting thing' than you think!"

So the Sundstrom family was at Olive Garden a few nights ago, because when Mrs. Sunny is pregnant, we go out-t0-eat a lot more often (And no one complains either!)

From our standpoint it was a lot of work keeping the kids occupied and polite...Kathryne had to keep eating ice cubes and when she didn't have one we heard, and Kristofer needed constant reminders to sit on his butt and almost tipped his chair backwards.

As the couple next to us were leaving, they stopped and said, "We wanted to commend you on how well your two boys (yes, they thought my hairless daughter in a pink shirt was a boy...) are behaving and eating their meals!"

Wow, we thought. That was nice of them to say. Although as parents we all know it takes a lot of work keeping kids under control at a restaurant, know that you're better at the parenting thing than you think!
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I wanted to add the recent craft my kids made for Halloween. We made hand print trees and pumpkin sponge prints...Kristofer loved this and added his own leaves with markers.




I must say that I am not an organized mother when it comes to things like this, and I know I'm not going to be the most organized homeschool mother either. That's not to say they aren't going to learn! I'm more of a spur-of-the-moment type of parent and teacher. I was standing in the kitchen, found a sponge and came up with the craft. Just know that what ever type of parent you are, you are doing an amazing job!

Tip #67 From Mrs. Sunny

"Make homemade fruit smoothies!"

So I'm not finding out what this baby is, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's a boy. I am having a hard time eating fruits and veggies which is how I was with Kristofer. I would rather have salty chips or pizza, honestly. But I decided I needed to start doing something about eating those fruits and veggies. I remembered eating a lot of smoothies with Kristofer, so I'm starting it again!

All I put in the blender is the following:

Frozen apples (Every summer I cut and freeze apples for the year from my brother's apple tree and trees my dad finds around the country-side...this is a great filler for me because the apples didn't cost me a thing!)

Frozen berries including strawberries, raspberries and blueberries (I buy these all in frozen bulk at the store...these can be pricey but Sam's is a great place to buy them!)

Then I add a little juice for the sweetness without adding sugar and water until it's the right consistency

No need to add ice cubes if you're using frozen fruits! You obviously can add any fruit you want and it's a great way to use up fruit before it goes bad and I know adding yogurt is great in them as well!

***Enjoy those frozen fruit smoothies - they're oh-s0-good for you! It's the only way I can choke down those fruits these days!***

Tip #66 From Mrs. Sunny

"Cherish the younger years of your children!"

Wow, have my kids grown up fast! I realized I never posted about Kathryne or Kristofer's birthdays. Kathryne turned 1 in May and Kristofer just turned 3 in September!


Kathryne didn't like her cake. I think she was teething and not feeling very at her party, though. So much for cute messy birthday cake pictures!




Kristofer loved his Hawkeye Train cake that I made him and wore his Hawkeye outfit for days...




He couldn't even take off the helmet for nap time...adorable...



I hope to have time to post more about my two beautiful kids, but for now here are some adorable pictures we just took this weekend for Kristofer's 3 year-old pictures!

Tip #65 From Mrs. Sunny - Sunny's Sunday Select

"Eat ice-cream and chocolate cake for supper"

The past few days I have finally felt the agony of "morning sickness" or "all day sickness". I never had this with either of the other kids, so Sunny is not used to me complaining during a pregnancy. But I feel sick and hungry at the same time, which makes it hard to find something that sounds edible to me. I'll be halfway through a hamburger when it's just not appetizing anymore.

What I've eaten today...eggs, hash browns, toast, cereal, fruit bar, egg rolls, corn, chicken noodle soup, and I opted for ice-cream and a chocolate cake that Sunny brought home after work today for supper (bless his soul!) The picture doesn't do it justice, it was amazing.




Needless to say, you can see my house is seeing the brunt of how I feel:

This too shall pass...

Tip #64 From Mrs. Sunny

"As parents, sometimes our kids need a little nudge..."

Remember my blog a while back saying I was trying to get Kathryne in her own room. I caved. I was not getting any sleep. For one, she just knew I wasn't in the same room and secondly, she kept rolling into the side of the crib and waking up!

So she's back in the pack n' play in our room, which I honestly don't mind. Normally she would sleep well until 5:30, then she would sleep in our bed until about 7:00. But this past week, she has been waking up every time that darn pacifier fell out of her mouth! I know, I know, my goal was to get rid of it at the age of one...she seemed too young then and I wanted my sleep.

Kristofer never really used one, and I always wished he had, because he screamed all the time in the car. But it was nice not having to take it away. When Kathryne turned one I only gave it to her when she was sleeping or in the jeep.

But now she's not sleeping well anymore and I think the pacifier is starting to hold her back. From 1:30-3:00 last night she woke up 3 times because it fell out of her mouth and I had had it. I took it away and she wasn't very happy. She calmed down as soon as we went downstairs because she doesn't associate downstairs with going to sleep. She let me hold her and ended up falling asleep at 5:00 watching Little House on the Prairie with me. So it took 2 hours and a few tears, but I had to do it sometime.

And she just barreled out of bed now at 8:30 happy as a pea. I confess when Kristofer woke up at 6:30, I put in a movie and went back to bed. Being pregnant and missing 2 hours of sleep just doesn't mix well.

We'll see how the nap and this evening goes with no pacifier...wish me luck and few prayers!