Homeschooling...yeah right!

I've come to learn that God laughs when I give him my agenda.

Me: "I'm going to marry an accountant, have 2 kids and live in Colorado."
God: "heeeheehheee"

Me: "I will never own a minivan."
God: HA HA HA

Me: "I will never homeschool. There is NO WAY I could ever do that".
God: "heheheheeeeeeeeee"

....I'm sure you've never experienced that.

I've never considered myself to be one who would homeschool my kids. In fact, the entire idea petrified me. My younger siblings were homeschooled for a period of time growing up, so I knew some of what it entailed.



I wasn't interested. I classified homeschooling families as denim-wearing, goat-milking, unsocialized kids and I certainly wasn't going to inflict THAT on my children.


But I'm certain that we will be picking eggs, milking goats and churning our own butter in the near future. Don't worry, I'll take a few photos.


A friend once told me "Homeschooling isn't bringing school home, it's leaarning at home, and it doesn't have to look like school". I'm thankful that there are so many opportunities and cirriculums out there to choose from. I'm thankful for a husband who is completely on board with this and is excited about it. I know that just being in another country will give our kids an amazing learning enviornment.

......and I live in Minnesota and yes, I do have a minivan. He is wrecking me one step at a time. It's so uncomfortable but it's been the most amazing ride!!


{If you currently are homeschooling or have in the past, would you please share with me your experiences? Any advice is much appreciated as we bound over this hurdle as we make our way across the big pond!}

In a culture of "doing", remember this....

"We are human BEINGS, not human DOINGS".

Remember to rest in Him today.


I heard this during yesterday's church service yesterday and it resonated with me. We are in a culture of 'doing' and 'going' and business that we (or I) often forget to sit at His feet and just BE.

I hope this encourages you today!!

Shaklee for Sprouts

I recently became a Shaklee Independent Distributor. I was attracted to the corporate responsibility the company takes to use minimal waste in producing and packaging their product. I also love the fact that it is a non-toxic formula and I can still get the same clean results that the other store brands give me without exposing my family to the harsh chemicals.

I've recently started using some of Shaklee's supplements and have found them to be amazing. Typically, taking vitamins has given me a stomach ache and I have found that Shaklee's vitamins, for me, have not done that. I have also found product that kick my head colds to the curb in 48 hours, similar to what products like Airbore claim to do.

I'm hooked.

I'd love for you to consider taking ONE of Shaklee's products and trying it. The product is called Basic H.




This product contains a concentrate that makes 48 gallons of cleaning product. Think of the plastic that saves our enviornment. Not only that, but think of the gallons of fumes you won't have to inhale.

Basic H cleans my kitchen, my bathroom, my windows, my walls, my floors, and our toys for our kids.

My goal is to get a ton of this product out to Sprouts. Not only that, but the profit that I make from my Shaklee business website goes to fund the monthly operating costs of Sprouts. 100% of my profit. My goal is also for Sprouts to be cleaned with Shaklee products and to be able to afford to have the babies on supplements as soon as they can.

Please consider taking this ONE product into your home and giving it a try. If you are not satisfied, Shaklee will give you your money back, no questions asked. There is nothing to lose.

Your purchase of Shaklee ---> fills your home with awesomeness ----> supports Sprouts' monthly operating costs. WINNING!!!

*If you are interested in donating a bottle of this to Sprouts for us to take with us, please email me.

The Sprouts Store is here!

Update!

Congrats Teri! You've won the book!!!!

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Here we go! A fun day! I've created an Amazon store that allows you to go and shop for items we have hand-picked for the baby house. All you have to do is click on the store link in the right column and shop away!!! All of the product will be delivered to my town and will be stored until it is shipped on a cargo container overseas the end of June.



We.are.so.excited!!!!

Categories include: clothing, feeding, diapering, toys, etc.

Oh, did I mention that by you shopping by clicking that specific link on my blog gives Sprouts baby home a percentage back of what you paid? So, it's a win-win. You fill our home with awesome gifts AND we receive a cash donation!!

You will see many products are eco-friendly. Remember my goal is to keep all products in the baby home as 'green' as possible. Not all fit that category, but my goal is to have it 100% green in 5 years ;) We'll see.

Now, go shop!

I have another giveaway! Please do not forget about the one happening here!

Today you have an opportunity to enter to win a copy of Anne Voskamp's book "One Thousand Gifts". It has been a blessing to me in so many ways, and I'm hoping it will be an encouragement to you, too. It also makes a great gift!

Both winners for the necklace and today's giveaway will be announced tomorrow morning. Both winners will be picked at random.

Here are the rules to enter:

You get one entry for doing each of the following....

1. Tell me your favorite baby product
2. Post about this baby shower on your Facebook
3. Blog about the baby shower and link back to my blog
4. Tweet about it!

So, you have up to 4 entries you can submit for helping me spread the word.

Thank you thank you thank you for ALL you have done this week. There is no too small of a gift. I can't wait to see what you all pick out!!!

Lindz

Poopsie Whoopsie!!!

My goal with Sprouts from the get-go has been to keep it as eco-friendly as possible. When discussing how we are going to handle the diapering 'situation' that babies tend to have, it brought on quite the challenge.

Currently, I cloth diaper my daughter. Initially, it wasn't because it was the "green" thing to do. It was way more about saving money for us. Going down to one income and adding one more child made our budget tighter. At first it was a love-hate relationship for me.

Now, I wouldn't do it any other way. If you are diapering your baby now, the Bumgenius Flip system is as easy as using pampers...for real!!! I would seriously consider it. I wouldn't have said that a year ago.

When looking at Sprouts, we quickly realized that we were going to be throwing away a minimum of 500 diapers a WEEK!! Kenya doesn't exactely have a great landfill system, and the landfill they do have has already said "no" to diapers coming into it.

That means, 500-700 diapers a week would be thrown into the streets of beautiful Kenya.

It's a no-brainer, don't you think?

Sprouts will use ALL cloth and biodegradeable liners/inserts. This also means that we are trusting that YOU will help us keep our closet full of fresh diaper inserts.

We are still giving a lot of care and research about this because we want to be a good steward of your dollars and be efficient and eco-friendly in how we dispose of the...ahem "waste".

Currently, I am considering using the gDiapers and the Bumgenius Flip system. Both we can get at wholesale cost. Both have biodegradeable liners. Both have cloth options. Hmmmmm....

The wipes situation I'm still trying to wrap my head around. 2 wipes per diaper change x 8 changes a day x 50 babies. OYE!!

Please consider donating towards a diaper fund. I really want to preserve Kenya's beauty and not pollute it with disposable diapers. I'm sure when you come out to rock the babes you will want the same thing, too.

$10 gifts us with 1 diaper cover. Our goal is to have 500 covers in stock.
$5 gifts us with a package of approx 18 biodegradeable inserts for the diapers
$8 gifts us with one cloth insert for a diaper.

Have you checked out the giveaway going on? Winner announced Friday morning!!

There will also be one more giveaway sometime today. I'm giving away a copy of Anne Voskamp's book "One-Thousand Gifts". It will knock your socks off!

Giveaway

Giveaway Winners Update!

and we have a winner for the paperbead necklace!! Congrats #12 Jody! Please email me at mattawsprouts@yahoo.com to collect your loot.

...and because I love you and because I am completely in awe of what God has done this week....and because I can....I'M PICKING ANOTHER WINNER!

Congrats #1 ERIN! again, please email me at mattawsprouts@yahoo.com to collect YOUR loot!

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Okay, I cannot take it anymore.

I need to do a giveaway. You guys just rock. The gifts and encouragements you have given all of us this week has been overwhelming. Sprouts is going to be one rockin' baby house.

Ally is a 13 yr old girl that came to Kenya with a team I led last summer. Her heart was wrecked for a little boy at Mattaw Childrens Village named baby Georgie.



She came home from our 2 week trip and learned on her own how to make paper beads and since has been selling them on her etsy shop. She started to sell them with the goal to raise enough monthly support for baby Georgie to help raise him at Mattaw.



It first started as this....



Turned into this.....



...and now, has turned into many, many artistic designs, like this.




You are never too young, or too old to start making change. Ally is proof of that. She is an inspiration to me.

So, to honor her and to continue to support baby Georgie, I am giving away one of her "mixitup" necklaces pictured above.

To enter, all you need to do is go to her Twirling Trees etsy shop and tell me which creation of hers is your favorite.

Winners will be chosen at random sometime Friday morning!

Hush little baby......

Your $5, $50, $120 donations are doing something about the orphan crisis. It's allowing us to provide tangible resources for these babies that otherwise would be left to die.

Again, thank you so much for your encouraging words through Facebook, email, Twitter, and phone calls yesterday!!! Thank you for those of you who donated towards highchairs for the precious home we will be bringing these babes into.

I was thinking last night how some of these babies are, right now, a twinkle in God's eye right now-the PLANS He has for them already. Incredible how Sovereign our God is.

Okay!!! Bring on more baby stuff!

Like yesterday, continue to donate through the Paypal 'donate' button or on the ChipIn button. Please always indicate what you are donating for: a specific item or for just the "Sprouts" general fund.

I've heard the best dreams start from being rocked in one of these.

Or, perhaps one of these

...and soothing bedtime stories? A must.

All cuddled, warm in their jammies.

James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world".

Thank you for looking after them....