5 Encouraging Things You Should Say To Your Husband Every Day

Marriage is hard work. Busy schedules, children, finances and pure exhaustion can cause stress in any marriage. As a wife our job is to be a helper for our husband and one way we can help them is by encouraging them daily. These 5 simple ways to encourage your husband will have a positive impact on your relationship and marriage. 

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5 Encouraging Things You Should Say to Your Husband Every Single Day

1 - Pray For Your Husband

Ask your spouse regularly what you as his wife can specifically pray for for him. Maybe he has anxiety about your finances or his job has been very stressful lately. Asking him how and what you can pray for him is one of the most important ways you can encourage your husband. Make sure you tell him you will be praying for him. 

I like to pray out loud with my husband for a few minutes each day specifically asking God to give him wisdom, thanking God for my husband's abilities and specifically asking God to help him in the ways he shared with me before I pray for him. 

2 - Tell Him You Love Him

Have you fallen into the habit of saying "love ya" as your husband pecks you on the cheek and rushes out the door to work. This is nice and all but not quite the romantic, look him in the eye kind of "I love you". Finding a minute or two to be alone as husband and wife, even if it's when you are falling into bed exhausted from a hard day of work, looking each other in the eye and saying "I love you____________(insert husband's name in the blank" is a way you can daily encourage your husband. 

Feeling truly loved by your spouse is an encouragement to everyone so make sure to tell him daily how much you love him. 

3 - Thank Him For His Hard Work

Men love to feel appreciated and respected, it is hard wired into their DNA! One way to encourage him is to tell him how much you appreciate the hard work he has done whether it is mowing the lawn, working at his job all day or helping out with the kids. Thanking your husband with a non-sarcastic, genuine tone, expecting nothing in return is a great way to encourage your spouse. 

If he has been slow to tackle some of the chores on the ever-growing "honey do list" don't gripe about how long it took him to get something done, instead just thank him for the work he did do. 

4 - Tell Him He Did A Good Job

Men take pride in their accomplishments and love it when their wife tells them how good of a job they did. Restrain yourself from nit-picking him about a task he just finished but instead tell your guy he did a good job. 

All men love to have someone tell them they did a good job! Taking notice and then saying "good job" is a great way to encourage your husband. Look for opportunities to say "good job" daily!

5 - Tell Him How Much You Appreciate Him

Feeling unappreciated can cause a lot of stress in a relationship especially a marriage. As a wife making sure you tell your husband how much you appreciate him for who he is and his role as a husband is a terrific way to encourage your spouse. 

Saying something like "Honey, I appreciate how well you care for this kids by making sure their bikes are in good condition" is just a simple example of how you can encourage your husband. 

Find something you appreciate about your husband every day and tell him! 

Keep your relationship strong and healthy by doing and saying these words of encouragement daily. Remember you are his helper and your words are powerful and important to him. 

Use a genuine tone that isn't belittling, sarcastic or nagging and don't expect anything (praise or compliments) in return from him. 

Don't Let The Holiday Season Overwhelm You Get Organized With This Amazing Tool

"You better not shout! You better not pout! You better not cry I'm telling you why -  Christmas is just around the CORNER! Yikes!!

It might seem like Christmas is still far off but in a short weeks and another flip of the calendar page it will be just around the corner! Does that scare you? It does me. Fall seems to fly by every year. Maybe because it gets darker out earlier and the shorter daylight hours makes if feel like the days fly by.

Every year I promise myself I am going to be ahead of the game and ready. My goal is always to have most of the Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving and have my Christmas menu sketched out by December First. As hard as I try it just seems like the holiday season is stressful and rushed and frankly I don't like it. It is always busy and when the parties and holiday stress overwhelm me I forget to enjoy the moment. I don't like this feeling and this year I'm going to change it.

How? 

Well with an organized holiday planner of course. I know that if I don't write something down I'm will forget it especially when my to-do list is a mile long with all of the extra Christmas items on it.

Fortunately for me I don't need to even create my own holiday planner. Instead I will be using the ready to go planner from Sunny Day Family.

This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on a link and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclaimer page for more information.

Sunny Day Family Christmas Planner

All I have to do it print it out! Simple and easy especially when I'm already swamped with countless other holiday activities. This festive printable planner will help you organize your holiday schedules, plan your budget, coordinate your holiday parties and dinners. Won't this help you feel more in control and less stressed so you can actually enjoy the holiday season? I know it will be a big help to me!

Christmas Planner from Sunny Day Family

The Christmas Planner has 140 planning pages to organize your entire holiday. Here is a peek at what is included in this awesome planner? 

• Undated Month at a Glance Calendar (start planning anytime!)
• Weekly To Do List (2 page spread)
• To Do Checklist
• Holiday Budget
• Activity and Acts of Kindness Planners
• Christmas Card Planner
• Wish List (for adults or kids)
• Gift Giving Planners (a general checklist and a detailed list by person)
• Shopping List
• Online Shopping Tracker
• Gift Tags
• Letters to Santa (2 versions - a generic letter or a "Something I Want, Something I Need, Something to Wear, & Something to Read" version)
• Decorating Plan & Project Planner
• Party Planning Sheets
• Menu Planner, Baking Planner, & Grocery List
• Recipe Cards
• Baking Labels for Gift Giving

Wow! I think Sunny Day Family covered it all, don't you? Don't wait any longer - go get this printable and start making your holiday season amazing (and less stressful). 

Holiday Traditions

Does your family have a special holiday or Christmas tradition? Our family's holiday tradition is our annual Christmas morning breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls . My kids LOVE this tradition. I can't take credit for starting this though. My mom, years ago started this fun tradition. When my sisters and I grew up, married and moved away she still made sure we had a pan of cinnamon rolls to enjoy on Christmas morning. Now my kids request (ok, demand) that we have cinnamon rolls for breakfast every Christmas morning. 

I have experimented with various cinnamon roll recipes over the years trying to find just the right one. I insist on using my bread machine's dough cycle since this is a time saver for me. All I have to do is dump in the ingredients, turn on the machine and select the dough cycle and let it do it's magic. Once the dough is ready I can roll it out, fill it with the cinnamon sugar mix, roll back into a log, cut it and let the dough rise. It is just that simple. 

Bread machines are the best! I got mine at Walmart and just love it. I use it all of the time. 

click to find at Walmart

Currently my favorite cinnamon roll recipe is the Pioneer Woman's recipe. Following her recipe has never failed and always results in amazing cinnamon rolls. If you haven't read or used any of her cookbooks - what are you waiting for? Her recipes are so good!

click to recipe link

Awesome Gift Ideas for Mother's Day

picture credit

I know all you mamma's out there would love a day of relaxation, reading your favorite book in a clean house after a good meal (not cooked by you). But this isn't the reality for most of us moms. There are no days off! Especially Mother's Day.

My husband is very capable of taking care of our family and making sure all the kids are fed, dressed and clean - and he does a good job, but he just isn't Mom.

"Mom" isn't just a name it is a badge of honor you earned over the years of caring for your dearest little treasures. Kissing boo-boo's, wiping snotty noses, hugging a hurting child or one who just needs a little TLC and whipping up a meal to feed your clan are all duties a mom willing and joyfully accepts.

Daily.

Momming isn't easy. Don't kid yourself, as your littles get less little the momming doesn't get easier, it gets harder, especially when teen hormones kick in. But you love them anyway because you are MOM.

So this Mother's Day let's spoil her rotten! Let's celebrate Mom! Shower her with gifts, do the dishes, make her a meal and give her a relaxing day. Or maybe just maybe let her use the bathroom for once in private - that ought to make her day. It sure would make mine!

Kidding!!

kind of?

I found some great Mother's Day gifts you might want to consider for your mom this year. If you see something you like click on the image and you will be directed to the website you can purchase it from. Super simple!

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Feed Mom's Chocolate Obsession 

Oh, and don't forget mom's love for all things coffee & chocolate! No mom could survive without one of these (or both).

I'm a dark chocolate kind of mom. Apparently the love of chocolate is a genetic trait that can be passed down from one generation to the next. How do I know this you ask? Well each one of my four kids, especially my oldest daughter, LOVES chocolate and would do practically anything to get it.

Click HERE

I'm serious folks - it has become a real problem around here. At least for me it is a problem because they are eating my chocolate!

I have to hide chocolate in my house. I don't mean just tuck it in the corner of a cabinet, that is child's play here and no longer a viable hiding place since they all caught onto this trick long ago. I've had to get really creative and stash bars in all sorts of weird places like the laundry room cupboards, slipped next to books on our bookshelf, under cans of canned goods in the pantry and even in my sock drawer.

Chocolate is a serious obsession around here! Chocolate Trading Co. has a great assortment of chocolate gift boxes and other great chocolate products your mom would love.

Coffee Lovin' Mama!

Blue Bottle Coffee Co.

Coffee is another great gift for mom. A gourmet bag of the finest beans and a cute coffee mug make a good Mother's Day gift for your special mommy. You could even get a plain white coffee mug and let the kids decorate the mug with drawings using special Sharpie Markers. After they are done decorating you just pop the mug into the oven for a bit and the ink becomes permanent.

Popsugar.com has a great tutorial showing how to make your own custom decorated ceramic mug with Sharpie Markers!

Click here for Project Details

I found this cool coffee starter box gift set for mom. Inside this box is everything Mom needs to get started on delicious homemade coffee. Throw in a fresh bouquet of flowers, and there’s no better way to start off a lazy Sunday morning. Find this set at Blue Bottle Coffee.

click HERE Gift Set

No matter how you celebrate Mother's Day I'm sure it will be wonderful! Happy Mother's Day mama - kick your feet up and ignore those dust bunnies collecting under the couch, I guarantee they will be there waiting for you tomorrow.

How to Make Lasting Memories With Your Children and Grandchildren

Recently my grandmother passed away at the age of 95. She lived a long full life, raising 7 kids in the suburbs of Detroit. She is survived by 17 grandchildren and 22 (and counting) great grandchildren! Wow, that is a lot of family and I'm so glad I get to be a part of it.

Reflecting back on the years of memories with my grandmother has reminded me how intentional she was with each of her grandkids. After 7 kids I think she became an expert in making every moment count even with very simple activities or gestures.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure here.

As a parent I hope that the small and big things I do with my kids are all part of the great memories they will cherish as they grow up. Some of my most embarassing moments witnessed by my kids will probably be memories they will have forever (and never let me live down!).

Kids seem to remember our most embarasing moments like it happened yesterday! Know what I mean? So of course one of my favorite memories of my grandma is when she had something embarassing happen to her while spending some time with my sisters and me.

Fun With Grandma

We convinced my grandma to go out on the lake we lived on in a small paddle boat. We wanted to show her how good we were at navigating our little boat and show off the places where we loved to fish. My two sisters and I let grandma sit in the back of the paddle boat while two of us paddled out to the drop off and the big weed beds so we could look for fish.

It was a partly cloudy day, great for spotting fish in the water below. We were all leaning out over the water watching for fish. Suddenly we heard a small splash, followed by a ("#@!!&") angy explitive from grandma!

Knowing my grandpa was on shore watching, my grandma very quietly told us her glasses just fell into the water and sunk to the bottom. Not wanting to alarm grandpa (or even let him know this had happened) she asked that we make a few passes over the spot where they fell hoping to spot them.

We all felt bad for grandma but knew that this was her problem and she would deal with it all on her own (a.k.a don't tell grandpa). When we arrived back on shore and grandpa asked how the boat ride went, my grandma, with a big smile and sparkling eyes complimented my sisters and I on our excellent paddle boating skills and told how much fun it was to spend time with her granddaughters.

We instantly forgot about the glasses basking in the compliments.

Over the years memories of time spent together, cards, gifts and advice have been made leaving me with a full list of memories of my grandma.

My grandma loved to read action and mystery novels (Clive Cussler, Mary Higgins Clark were two of our favorite authors) and she and I would swap books whenever we came to visit her. Our enjoyment of this book genre was something we had in common that none of her other grandkids shared. I think each one of us (all 17) can attest that each shared something special like this with her.

Creating Lasting Family Memories

So how do you go about creating these types of long lasting memories with your kids or grandkids? Spending time with them is the first step but if you are too far to see each other you might have to get creative.

With the advancement of technology there are so many ways to stay in touch - email, Facebook, Skype, Face Time, ect. Don't underestimate the power of technology - use it to your advantage.

Here is a list of five ways you can begin to create lasting memories with your children and /or grandchildren:

1. Scrapbooking 

click HERE

Creating a scrapbook with a collage of pictures of you and your children/grandchildren with their help is a great way to make a memory together. Reminising over pictures is a great way to talk about past adventures or memories all while creating one with them.

2. Pen Pals

Make a simple cardboard mailbox and put it somewhere in the house where you and your children can write letters to each other and put them in the mailbox. Get ready for some super special artwork, letters and notes from your precious children!

If you are a grandparent and don't live close to your grandkids why not become pen pals. Even if you do live close (maybe down the block) getting a letter in the mail from someone special is a treasure to be kept for a long time.

3. Spontaneous Activities

Think trip to the park, fishing, pick-up game of ball or even going to a game together. The fun part is that it is unplanned and anything goes. As kids get older the activities can change to fit their interests. Remember though this is memory making - NOT time for you to be on your cell phone!

4. Make Meals Together

Time spent in the kitchen preparing a meal together is therapeutic and a great way to make memories. I hope my kids remember the first time they made an omelet, cake from scratch or their own mini pizza with homemade dough. If you aren't handy in the kitchen find a simple recipe to try together. Mess-ups = memories!!

Looking for a great chocolate chip cookie recipe? See my recipe here.

5. Start Traditions

One of my favorite memories as a kid are the traditions my parents did with us every year. Most of them revolved around holidays like carving pumpkins, dying eggs for Easter or decorating the Christmas tree together. Even though we did the same activity every year there were always great memories being made. If you don't have some traditions in your family why not start some new ones with your kids or grandkids.

We make homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning breakfast every year. My kids love helping with this and every year we talk about our memories of past preparations - like somone knocking over the flour or the year the rolls were left to rise so long that the oozed out of the pan!

Making memories with your kids and grandkids is so special! These memories will last a lifetime and be cherished when you are gone. Be creative and start making memories with those who are special to you today!