Tag: name

Choosing Gratitude

December 30, 2020

Choosing Gratitude

Ever feel just overwhelmingly grateful? That often happens to me as I’m contemplating life. It usually starts when I feel discouraged. Everything bad coming at me all at once or someone mentioning some past mistake that helped lead to some poor circumstance I’m in now that waterfalls into my brain assaulting me with every tumbler that went wrong or a misstep that I see instantly and try to recover from… in whatever fashion it starts, it is always a silent attack on my joy coming from my own accusing brain. No one knows I’m fighting this horrid battle inside. No one else can see the pain my heart feels. My own logical brain is my worst accuser. The devil uses the logic from my own brain to try to attack the joy God gives me as His daughter. I have to renew my own mind. I have one plan of attack that always beats the accusing voices down and tramples them into silence:

I start with thanking God for life…

my family members by name…

the time I had with those now gone…

friends He’s placed in my life… time I get to spend with them…

the awesome job He’s provided me…

my coworkers… my boss… my students…

the opportunities my children have… achievements I’ve seen each of them reach… dreams I watch them work so hard to make happen…

There is just so much to be grateful for!

I like to shift my thoughts when I’m feeling discouraged because I always know it is not real. The reality is not in my circumstances, but in the attitude I have during those circumstances. Life is not about what happens to you; it is about how you react to the circumstances presented to you.

Sometimes you own thoughts can focus on troubling things and make you feel discouraged, kick those thoughts out! Start with thanking God for something… the sky, sunrise, oxygen, a rainbow, your sweet doggie, a memory that makes you smile… start there and just see how having an attitude of gratitude will help you see life in a positive light!

Hope this helps!

Type at you next time!

~Nancy Tart

The Off-Brands

Teaching the girls to research to make educated food choices at the grocery store.

January 14, 2019

The Off-Brands

What is in a brand?

Kimberly and Jaquline were discussing how they liked a certain Aldi off-brand snack better than the name brand one.  Christina commented that she didn’t remember how much better she liked said off-brand snack over the original until she’d tasted the original again that day.

Honestly, I love the new Aldi store because most of their off-brand stuff is healthier than the name brand it is replacing; one of their colored cereals actually is colored with natural pigments, has less sugar, and contains more vitamins and minerals per ounce than the name brand we could buy elsewhere.

Because of the arrival of this Aldi store, our healthy options seriously improved without demanding more on our budget.  In most cases, we were leaving with more groceries, healthier choices, and a smaller food bill.  A full cart with more than half of it filled with bargain fruits and vegetables?  Oh yes.

We studied some about brands.  In some cases, the girls discovered that only the outside label is changed!  This was surprising.  For several items they researched, the only change between certain off-brands and their competitive name-brand item was seriously a label.

Jaquline heard an ad on the radio station and said, “there’s another name-brand making us think they are better than the store kind because they pay for advertising.”

She’s nine.

They are convinced there is nothing as good as Oreos brand cookies, but then I think there is nothing as good as Christina’s chocolate chip cookies and Louis’ oatmeal cake cookies.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

Lit and Relit

When big siblings are helping research baby names – sometimes there is silliness!

November 16, 2018

Lit and Relit

I’m sitting with Rebeccah trying to research the meanings of baby names when she slaps her hands and giggles evilly; “Mom, you need to name the baby Lucia Irene Tart so she can be LIT!” (we already had discounted all the L I T names for boys because all she could find was “Lucuis” and we already have “Lucas”)

“I love this name!  Lucia means bringer of light and so does Lucius, I’m going to find a guy whose last name starts with a T so I can have kids who are LIT!”

By now, she was writing names on her old Six Flags pass; using “Tank” as the last name.  Christina heard the boy name of “Lucius Ivan Tank” and exclaims from the barracks, “Becky!  Not Ivan!  All I can think of is Ivan the Terrible; please don’t call my nephew Ivan the terrible!”

So now her Six Flags card holds “Lucius Ivan Tank” and “Lucia Irene Tank” – and Christina is like, “seriously?  You just named your kids so they can have cool initials?”

Other such exclamations from the peanut gallery burst forth:

Jaquline: “You don’t even have a boyfriend, how do you know your end name will start with a T?”

Jillian: “I love Lucia Irene!”

Kimberly: “L I T; awesome, Becky!  But then you’d still be RLT.”

Lucas: “Aaaaahhhhhhh!” (I think his car fell off the train track again.)

Christina: “Yeah, she’d be ‘relit’.”

Rebeccah: “Relit!  I love that!  So I’m relit and my kids will be lit!”  *(Starts a funny sashay walk back into the dining room to put the permanent marker up)*

Just a glimpse into my funny world – and then as I start typing this, Becky shrieks, “Mom!  Are you seriously writing a blog about this??”

(Yes.  What else do I do with funny stuff?)

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Baby Guinea Pig Names

Rebeccah’s creative naming scheme for the cute little Guinea Pig triplets!

September 22, 2018

Baby Guinea Pig Names!

Today we get to introduce our baby Guinea Pigs by name!

Rebeccah decided to use dessert names this time.  Since we won’t have them forever, she gives them “temporary” names that match their color or personalities.  We’re raising them to sell once they are at least six weeks old.  (They will be six weeks old and ready for their forever homes after October 20th.)

So this beauty is “Rocky Road.”  She is the one who looked like a squirrel at birth.  She is a gorgeous mottled brown color.

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This solid tan one is “Custard,” and she follows the dad, TobyMac, all over the run!  She is super cuddly.

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The third one is currently called “Cheesecake.”  He is the only male in the triplets.  He’s a half-and-half mix of Custard and Rocky Road as far as color goes.  He is Jillian’s new baby!

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The girls love being the Guinea Pigs’ caretakers.  They spend a lot of time cuddling and loving on them to make sure they will be just as cuddly and friendly as their parents.  So far, they are thirteen days old and super friendly.

Here is Daddy (TobyMac, big tan blob), and all three triplets!

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Mama (Taylor, big tan/brown/white) takes good care of them!

Near the end of October, we’ll be saying “goodbye” to Rocky Road and Custard as they find loving homes.  One thing I know, these cuddly, snuggly critters will forever leave their tiny pawprints on all of our hearts!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

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