It’s the Little Things that Matter Most...

2012-02-04T19:21:00.000-06:00

Lavender is an oil I think everyone should have in their home. Not only does it help with burns, dry skin, insomnia, and settling down a little one on a rough day, but it works great for the emotions that come along with a woman’s menstrual cycle!!

In my past, I rarely ever noticed high emotions during my time of the month. However, a few months ago, I began experiencing emotional lows before my period that bothered me. I would burst into tears whether or not there was a reason. I would get easily frustrated. And, sometimes, I wouldn’t even know why I was crying or distressed.

When I am emotionally upset and frustrated, the whole household is too. Therefore, it doesn’t make for a very peaceful atmosphere – and I hate that I seem to be the cause.

This past Christmas, while visiting my family, I had become very emotional, and found myself upset at almost every little thing. I would cry too easily at things that frustrated me, whether or not it was reasonable. Thankfully, my mom recognized it, and knew exactly what I needed! Not only did she give me Dragon Time for the cramps that were bothering me, but she also gave me a blend called Lady Sclareol for the seemingly uncontrollable emotions. Both of these worked right away, and I was able to regain control of my emotions.

After coming home, I found myself lost again, as my time of the month hit and I didn’t have any Lady Sclareol. I suddenly remembered that Lavender helps my little Joshua when he is having a hard day, so I thought I would give it a try. I put Lavender on my temples and on the back of my neck. Instantly, I found some relief. I felt calm, relaxed, and, within thirty minutes, I was better equipped to control my emotions. Our house was at peace once again!

youngliving.org
Member Number: 1290618

Attention: This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Di-Gize Essential Oil

2012-01-15T23:35:00.001-06:00

Our family has fallen in love with therapeutic grade essential oils! We no longer go anywhere without them. My new favorite oil is Di-Gize. It has made a huge difference in our lives! Di-Gize not only helps with nausea, stomach viruses, morning sickness, and diarrhea, it helps with other digestive problems too…like constipation!

My young son, Joshua, has had a constipation issue since birth. He would sometimes go longer than a week without a bowel movement. I had tried everything I could think of. We modified his diet, tried popular medications, nothing worked. I was so tired of seeing him so uncomfortable.

We had been having such great success with our essential oils that I decided to find out if there was one that would help Joshua. While visiting my mom, I borrowed her Di-Gize and used it on Joshua before bedtime (after a long unproductive visit to the bathroom). In the morning, before eating breakfast, Joshua had a bowel movement! Not only that, but he went on to having another one later on that day! Applying Di-Gize has become a night time routine for Joshua, and he is now having healthy bowel movements!

I also have similar issues. One night, I wasn’t able to sleep due to painful cramping. I applied Di-Gize and within five minutes, the cramping was completely gone. Then, when I woke up in the morning, everything came out okay!

youngliving.com
Member Number: 1290618

Attention: This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Young Living Oils!

2011-12-29T13:32:00.004-06:00

After seeing how Young Living Oils have helped our family, we have become Young Living Distributors!! God has giving us these oils to help naturally heal our bodies instead of taking over the counter medicine!!

Look for us at learningthejoysoflife.blogspot.com. We will put up posts as we learn more on how helpful these oils are.

Life Full of God's Riches Part 2...

2011-08-05T01:36:00.009-05:00

The month of May, was a joyous month.

My (Christa) parents came from Illinois to California for the Annual Presbytery of the CPC Churches. Daniel, Joshua and I were able to attend this year, because it was almost in our backyard. Joshua and I were also able to stay a couple days more to spend time with my family and enjoy the hospitality of the Hector family (Tiffany's In-laws), and they took the time to take us to see Yosemite. Sadly, I have no pictures of Presbytery or the couple of days we spent with the Hector's, but I was able to get some pictures of Yosemite!

My Beautiful Parents, James and Stacy McDonald

My dream when I was younger, and once I had children, was that my parents would be involved in my child's life. This picture put a big smile on my face, and now holds a deep memory in my heart.

Aunts, Uncle, and Nephew all hanging out on a log

June came along and Cars 2 came out. If you know Joshua, you know his favorite movie is Cars. So, the morning after it came out, we surprised Joshua and went to see it. He was thrilled! :)

Not only did we go see a movie, but we did a lot of shopping for clothes and took lots of Mommy and Joshua photos.

We have a friend that works at Universal Studios, so she was able to get us some tickets for a REALLY good price. Joshua enjoyed seeing one of his favorite characters...Curious George.

Our 4th of July was spent with my sister, Tiffany, her husband, Ben, and their beautiful daughter, Lilyana. I would post more pictures, but I am still waiting to get some more from my sister! :)

Our first part of August has started off really busy. Daniel is working around the clock. Many late nights, some night shifts, and working almost every weekend. So, Joshua and I are trying to keep ourselves busy and distracted while Daniel is gone. When Daniel is home, we try to soak up every minute with him, thus meaning, no chores are done. :) This is just the first part of August. Joshua and I leave in two and a half weeks for Texas to go back for a special wedding.

Joshua's John Deere tractor that he made with some help from Mommy

The Many Faces of Joshua....

Goodbye for now!! :)

Children Are a Gift

2011-06-22T13:35:00.002-05:00

Children Are a Gift

By Christa Blanchard

"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD,

The fruit of the womb is a reward." Psalm 127:3

As young ladies in our father's homes, we are taught that children are a blessing and a gift from the Lord. He alone determines the size of our families. It is certainly a blessing to have a peaceful heart knowing that God is in control of our lives. In the following verses we see that the Hebrews regarded children as a blessing from the Lord (see Gen. 13:16; Ruth 4:13-16; 1 Sam. 1:11). They are a reward and heritage, bringing joy to their parents. Rearing a child is a sacred responsibility, and parents must depend on the Lord to help them guide their children.

We see them as a blessing, but do we see them as a gift? Do you enter marriage expecting to have children right away? Or do you plan on waiting a few years or months and then "try"? Are our children born in our timing or God's timing?

The beginning of this verse tells us that "children are a gift from the Lord". If children are truly a gift from the Lord, should we expect to get pregnant in our timing? Should we expect to be pregnant at all? Do you expect a gift from family and friends when your birthday rolls around? Or are you surprised and grateful by the gift they blessed you with?

As women, God puts the longing in our hearts to bear children--to raise children up to the glory of God and to fulfill the mission that God has given to mankind, to be fruitful and multiply. Even though as women we are called to bear children, we still should not expect to be pregnant or even to obtain the number of children we desire.

I am the daughter to two wonderful parents, James and Stacy McDonald, who have ten children and raised me up to love and cherish little ones. I had dreams of having a large family. As a mother of one child, a three-year-old boy, I have struggled for the past two years trying to get pregnant with a second child. I know my husband and I had a hard time getting pregnant with our first, but it did not take this long. We have been to a doctor to see "why" it has taken us so long to conceive another child, and after many doctor visits, the doctor finally told us that we might not get pregnant again.

My husband and I want more children, especially since both of us come from large families, and we know that God opens and closes the womb. We are happy and thankful for the son God has given us, but we did not dream that we would be the parents of only one child.

After struggling for months with being discontent, I found myself missing out on life with my husband and three-year-old because of my obsession with "getting pregnant." Eventually, the Lord brought me to a resting place in Him.

It was this verse that gave me peace: "Children are a gift from the Lord." Children are God's gift, and He either withholds them or grants them to us for His own purpose and glory. Bearing children, as with any gift, is not a blessing to expect or demand. My God is in control!

Life Full of God's Riches...

2011-06-01T23:32:00.007-05:00

Where has the last five months gone? So much has happened with our family in the last five months. But, with every change, God has lead our family through every happy moment and every trial.

February,

Thankful we celebrated Joshua's 3rd birthday early. We were blessed with my Grandparents coming in to town and blessed to have such wonderful friends to celebrate with us the birth of our son, who was born three years ago.

This years theme was "Toy Story".

Grandma Blanchard, Aunt Kelly, and Aunt Faith also have birthdays in February, so we went to "Medieval Times" to celebrate all the birthdays.

Daniel bought his first truck at the beginning of the month...which he also sold at the end of the month.

Daniel and I were able to have a get-away weekend for just the two of us. We had a wonderful time at Shiloh Morning Inn in Oklahoma, our first Bed and Breakfast.

March,

March brought a lot of confusion, frustration, and tired nights. Daniel's company told us the first of the month that we were moving to California. The company sent Daniel out to California the first week. Which left Joshua and myself to pack up our house, and have everything done by the 9th of March, so we could start our journey to California on the 10th.

Joshua's last night in our home before we left for California

All our belongings went to storage and we only brought our clothes and a couple of toys for Joshua that would fit into our Prius.

Some of the beautiful scenery that we saw on the way to California.

We live petty close to the beach, and have come to enjoy it during the day, or we like to take a stroll in the evening.

Our new Family Photo...

We also live pretty close to this place too...

April,

April brought on a busy month as we learned to adjust to California life. Finding where everything was, was a little bit as a challenge, as I waited for Daniel to get home from work so I could find my way around, because I did not like the way some of the people drive here. It took me about a week to get the nerve to drive. :) Not only were we learning to live a different way of life, we traveled up to my parents place to watch and rejoice with my brother, James, as he went from being a single man to a married man. A couple days before James' wedding, my sister, Tiffany, gave birth to her first child. She had a beautiful girl. Joshua has take quite a liking to her! :)

Dad, getting ready for the wedding

William and Joshua were ring bearers in James and Jill's wedding. This was their second wedding in a year to be ring bearers, and to do it together. I think they did a better job the second time...

Tiffany and Ben's baby girl, Lilyana Shapirta Hector

This post is becoming a long post, so I think it best to stop here. The month of May was a busy and fun month for us. It is full of pictures that would not fit into this post. So, come back soon to see our month of May!!

Our Family 2010 Newsletter!

2011-01-07T23:27:00.001-06:00

This past year has been a blessing to our family. We have all grown closer together as we trusted God through our easy and difficult times. Please join us as we look back on 2010, and thank God where He has lead us.

Daniel started his 4th year with Hunt Construction in February. Although he has had some good months and some stressful months, God has carried him and our family through on a daily basis. Daniel continues to remain a wonderful Husband, Father, and Provider. This past year, Joshua has wanted Daniel more than he has wanted Mommy, and it has been such a delight to see the two boys rolling around on the floor and giggling really hard. Daniel has helped his Dad with numerous projects this year, and we have been able to see his family at least twice a month. Besides taking out the garbage, Daniel likes to keep his garage cleaned and organized!

Christa continues to do a wonderful job taking care of our home and caring for our son. In February, we moved into our first home, and it has been such a delight to watch her care for the affairs of our home. She has started some schooling with Joshua, and it is wonderful to see how both she and Joshua light up when Joshua says the "correct" answer! Besides being a Bride in her own wedding, Christa was blessed to be in her first wedding as the Matron of Honor in her sister Tiffany and Ben Hector's wedding in May. Christa still gets a little upset when I walk on her freshly vacuumed floor, but she is doing much better than when we were first married!

On November 24th, we celebrated 4 years of marriage! Yes, we have had our rough patches, but God has sought to take those times and draw us closer together. We are still madly in love! :)

Joshua turned 2 on February 28th, and it has been such a delight to us both to watch our son grow. We pray to the Lord each day, that He would bless our son. He has been and remains a joy to our family. This past year he started out liking "Cars" and "Thomas the Train", and now has moved on to "Toy Story", but still likes to play with his cars and trains. He counts 1-20 on his own, and sings his ABC's. He loves singing "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow", "O Worship the King", "Silent Night", and "Holy, Holy, Holy". He is memorizing the "Children's Shorter Catechism" and it puts a big smile on your faces when he answers the question in a goofy mood, but he loves being asked. He reminds Daddy and Mommy to ask him. He prays on his own, and sometimes, it is hard not to laugh when he says something funny in his prayers! Joshua was a ring bearer for the first time in Aunt Tiffany and Uncle Ben's wedding, and he looks forward to being a ring bearer again in his Uncle James and soon-to-be Aunt Jill's wedding in April. We have been blessed to visit with Christa's family more than twice this year. We have such a wonderful time being with them, that it is hard to leave them when we have to go back home.

Although, we do not know what is in store for our family in 2011, we are still eager to see what God has for us! May God richly bless your family in 2011!

Blessings,
Daniel, Christa, and Joshua Blanchard

The Happenings of August

2010-09-11T14:19:00.007-05:00

August brought a busy yet fabulous month!! Here is a peek into our past month...

This is Mrs. Rabbit. She loves to visit us in our backyard on a daily basis! In January she had a liter of four little bunnies, but they did not survive the 12 inches of snow that we had. We were thrilled when she had another liter!

Now, we get to see one of the babies hopping around! Joshua loves sitting and watching the bunnies. This one he had tried to reach for, but the bunny was fast and Joshua could not catch it!

Daniel showing off his new grill! He has been enjoying learning how to become a grill expert! Here he was practicing for our cook out with friends. Below are pictures of our event. I wish I had taken more...

Regular hamburger and Coca Cola Burgers

Fabulous guacamole made by Amanda and Rachel!!

A delicious dessert made by Amanda

Kyle

Amanda

Rachel and Wesley (and Miss Anna)

Dara (Miss Anna's Mom) and Rachel

We soaked up the rest of the month swimming with Joshua since they were closing the pool soon. Joshua just loves to swim and jumps in by his self now.

Joshua loves jumping off his Daddy' hands and going under the water

Swimming all by himself!!

Joshua loves floating on his back!!

Daniel and I along with Grandpa and Grandma Blanchard took Joshua to his first museum trip!! He enjoyed leaning all of the things around him.

Riding a horse game with Daddy

Daniel teaching Joshua how to dig for dinosaur bones...

Joshua digging on his own

I think he liked digging in the dirt more than digging for dinosaur bones!! By the time we got him in the car after a good day a museum, he fell right to sleep!!

The Lord's Blessings...

2010-07-01T22:49:00.009-05:00

Traveling is starting to slow down for us, and it has been so nice to be one happy little family again!! We have certainly missed the family quality time together!! You really realize the meaning of family and how important each member is to you. Even though the traveling has slowed down, life has not. We remain just as busy, and yet, thankful to God for all that He is doing in our lives.

Daniel has been working very hard and having early mornings and some late nights. He has 26 more days on this job, and we are still awaiting were we are going next. Daniel is a wonderful provider for this family, and we are certain grateful for his hard work.

I am not only busy taking care of our home and Joshua, but doing some piano teaching on the side. It has been a joy to see my students go from not knowing any music to playing easy songs on the piano!

Joshua is getting bigger each day. He is also adding more words to his vocabulary! :) And, he is a joy to listen to and also to try figuring out what he is asking when he asks you a question. He really makes your day brighter when you are feeling down. He sits for hours just playing with his tunka trucks and his legos. He also helps with the chores around here! He unloads his dishes and the tuber ware out of the dishwasher, and he puts all his toys away after he plays with them (with some encouraging help from Mommy and Daddy). This past month, Joshua transitioned into a toddler bed, which he thoroughly enjoys! He now walks himself to bed and after we are done praying, he falls asleep on his own. Sometimes we are blessed and he comes up to us and asks "choo choo?", which is our saying for night night. For the most part he stays in his bed when he is down for the night until morning!