Sons

So MOB Society readers, welcome to Reviving Motherhood!

I’m Stephanie. I have two sons—9 and 1 ½ (and three daughters too.)

I’m joyfully married, and I’m a homeschool grad who now homeschools my own 5.

I LOVE to learn from wise older women who have successfully raised great kids, and to pass that knowledge on to others. I want to be just like them when I grow up! I just started Mentor Mondays on my blog, where I publish guest posts and quotes from godly older women we younger ladies can learn from.

You might enjoy this week’s Mentor Mondays post, 4 Ways to Raise Your Children With Honesty and Good Communication, by my friend Debbie Wilson from Marriage Matters Now.

Debbie says this: “The most influential person in your child’s life is the parent of the opposite sex.” Read the whole post for her wise words about raising kids!

"The most influential person in your child’s life is the parent of the opposite sex."- Debbie Wilson bit.ly/Myheuw
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Reviving Motherhood (@RevivingM) July 16, 2012

Another passion is fearless mothering. It can feel like there are so many things for moms to fear! As a young mom, God helped me to overcome persistent, crippling fear and learn to walk in faith and freedom.

In fact, I’m now writing an e-book about fearless mothering (especially appropriate for those of us with wild and crazy boys, yes?) that should be available for purchase this fall. I’ll be giving away lots of copies, so watch this space! Feel free to like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter to get updates.

The theme of this year’s blog hop is games. My boys’ favorite games differ because of their age differences. I have found that old-fashioned fun still trumps everything else. My older one loves sports and whooping me at checkers, and the baby loves balls, blocks, and music.

I’m so proud of my sons, and I love being a boy mom, as well as a girl mom.

New here? Here are a few more links to get you started.

For pregnant moms and moms of babies, check out what I’ve written on babies and birth. These categories include posts about preparing for birth, breastfeeding, nurturing your tiny ones, and my favorite baby products.

Thinking about homeschooling? Start here.

I bet I am not the only mom who has food sensitivities in the house. Here’s a favorite summer recipe for dairy free ice cream.

Thanks for visiting, friends! Please come back and see me again!

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Again, please feel free to like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter! I would be thrilled!

December 1, 2011
by Stephanie Stevens Leave a comment

Read-Aloud Thursday: Bomba the Jungle Boy

For someone who loves books and reading, I’ve historically been terrible at reading to my kids.

More recently I have had them each choose a book to read to me (the 1^st and 3^rd graders) and one for me to read them (all 3 of my middles). Even if we only hit 5 days a week, that is 60 books (or chapters) a month. Not too shabby!

My favorite read-aloud this week has been Bomba the Jungle Boy. My 8 year old son picked it out. It’s not one I would have pulled off the shelf for sure, but I’m glad he did!

The Bomba books were written in the 1920’s. Ever chapter leaves you on the edge of your seat as Bomba faces some new jungle danger. The vocabulary is challenging, even for an adult—but my guy seems to have a good understanding of the words in context.

My boy has so not been a fan of reading, but he will listen indefinitely while I read to him about Bomba. When we are done he begs for “Just a little more, Mom, we are just getting to the good part!” And his reading ability has increased markedly since we started this book. Coincidence? I think not.

These books are hard to find for a reasonable price, apparently, but I found a few on Amazon for a couple dollars. Bomba the Jungle Boy at Moving Mountain is on its way!

Linking up!

July 11, 2009
by Stephanie Stevens Leave a comment

Simple Fun for Kids

children under tree

I found this great post at an Australian “simple living” blog that gives ideas for activities for little boys. Be sure to read the comments! They are chock full of creative ideas!

And we don’t want to leave our girls out, do we (although most of the boy ideas are good for girls as well)? Here’s a link to some adorable printable paper dolls.

September 18, 2008
by Stephanie Stevens 1 Comment

Frugal Decorating

If you’ve ever been to my house, I’m sure you’re laughing by now. I really should have enlisted the services of a guest blogger for this one. Or I could just say, “Watch Design on a Dime.” I’m about as qualified to write a post with “decorating” in the title as I am to write a post with the words “fitness,” “organization,” “spotless home,” or “gourmet cooking” in the title. In other words, not.

But I’ll give it a shot and show you some pictures of Silas’s room from our last house. (Here in the new house I haven’t really figured it out yet.) I ended up being pretty pleased with how it turned out, all things considered, and it was frugal.

He loves to sleep with his army sleeping bag, which is just fine, but it didn’t look very inviting, or very neat. I’ve been wanting to buy him a spread, but for now I simply asked, “What Do I Have in My Hand?” I dug around in the cedar chest, looking for something, anything, to put on his bed, and found this pretty afghan that Billy’s great-aunt made us when we got married. I had forgotten all about it. It was just right. No money spent.

The bed itself came from a garage sale. I am not sure; it might have even been free.

The big middle picture is a signed pen and ink print that we got at a garage sale. I got the other pictures from an outdated calendar I bummed off my brothers, and framed them in frames people had given us. Total cost for this little arrangement: $1.

These beautiful signed lab prints belong to Billy. I believe he got both of them as gifts. They went perfectly on the big wall opposite the bed.

This kid-sized gun rack came from a garage sale, too. I think Billy got it for $2 or $3.

The thing about “What do I have in my hand?” decorating is that you can’t be too much of a perfectionist. I think it boils down to contentment. Silas’ room does not look like a designer room, although if I had the time and went to the effort I could do that for a reasonable cost as well. But I’m happy with it the way it is. He is too, and that’s what matters. Thrifty decorating also means patience. Most of the time, if you want to save, you don’t just go out and buy the whole ensemble at once. You have to wait for those good deals to come along. But I don’t mind. I guess I’m strange, but it brings me a great deal of satisfaction to have made my little guy a cozy space so frugally.

July 14, 2008
by Stephanie Stevens 3 Comments

I have 3 daughters and 1 son. It’s hard to raise girls in today’s twisted culture, but it’s equally challenging to raise boys. Consequently, Billy and I are on a quest to find out what it takes to raise a strong and godly man of character. Here are a few resources that I’ve found helpful (not all Christian, but all insightful).

The Bible book of Proverbs. Many chapters of Proverbs are written to young people, specifically giving counsel to young men. If every Christian boy knows Proverbs backward and forward by the time he’s a teenager, I believe that he’ll have an amazing foundation in godly character. If you’re looking for a good Bible to read with your son, The Life Application Study Bible in the New Living Translation is an excellent choice.

Bringing Up Boys by Dr. James Dobson. It’s been awhile since I read this and it’s time for a refresher. Nevertheless, it’s an excellent manual for raising sons. Dr. Dobson candidly points out the strikes our boys have against them, while at the same time giving parents tools to raise godly sons. I can’t find my copy at the moment, so that’s all I’ll say for now.

Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men by Leonard Sax, M.D., Ph.D. This is a secular book, and I can’t advocate its every word 100%, but Dr. Sax has great common sense. I found it a fascinating read. Dr. Sax contends that five major things are contributing to the epidemic of unmotivated boys in our culture. They are: video games, which disengage boys from the real world; modern teaching methods, which unintentionally turn a lot of boys against learning and school; the overuse of ADHD medications; endocrine disruptors in our environment which may lower boys’ testosterone levels; and the devaluation of masculinity in our society, which has caused many boys to not have a solid understanding of manhood. Although apparently not a Christian, Dr. Sax is a gender traditionalist in many ways, and this strongly flavors his book. I appreciated that although his theories and findings go against the societal flow, he manages to present his case fairly and in a well-researched manner, without coming across as an alarmist Chicken Little. Use discernment as you read, but I think you’ll find this book very insightful.

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The Dangerous Book for Boys. I’m not a boy, but I love this book! (A mini aside: The Daring Book for Girls, a companion book but by different authors, was a great disappointment.) It’s like an old-fashioned manual for all kinds of adventures, like building a tree house, making a bow and arrow, great paper airplanes, knot tying, how to play soccer, and even how to treat girls. I’ll let this video speak for itself: