Testing this momma's patience

Katie and Owen have successfully dumped out a LARGE container of dirt on the deck...now they are making something "fantastic" out if it by sweeping it up with my inside broom.

I thought letting them play on the deck outside while I did dishes was smart.  Ummmm, no.

Working on letting them be creative and it is testing my patience.

God has a sense of humor - he sure uses my kids to refine my character!

Any 'Amen's' out there?   :)

He is not even safe in his own room

Owen and Katie are having room time so I can clean and they can have, 'yes' toys.  Pretty much their rooms are all for them.

But...

Owen, threw a wooden book end on the floor-just because he wanted to, and it broke.

Then he knocked over his metal lamp and took it apart and I finally got it working again.

Finally he was jumping off a tote that I have clothes in and it was caving in the middle.  I told him to stay off it so it didn't break and he said, "why, why?  I need to to jump."

Seriously.

Oh and he took a gray marker and drew on the kitchen wall, right in front of me.

Owen's interests

Besides the fact that Owen is interested in everything right now...here are a few things he loves.  He LOVES construction trucks.  He LOVES Bob the Builder.  He LOVES to wear glasses to work in.  He LOVES to tinker. And he LOVES to play!

 oh and he seems to like to 'fix' his plastic animals with tools...

 Clifford is the best dog to have around while building stuff...

Fashionista and her treasures

 Katie dressed herself and thought her outfit looked lovely!  I have to agree.  :)  Then she showed me her treasures from playing outside.  4.5 years old-loving this stage!

Katie wants to be a cheerleader

"Go Jayhawk, K-State Rams"

"Go Jayhawk, K-State Rams"

Katie thinks they are all one school...A bit confused I think :)  

Thankful

We have been trying.  Oh we have been trying to do mornings better at our house.  It. Has. Been. Hard.  It's been difficult for the past 4.5 years.  BUT there are moments of break through.  Moments of joyful mornings!  Owen shows us one in his joyful photo!

For a few months now we have been trying to help Owen do a better job in the mornings.  He wakes up awfully early and he is cranky.  But not much anymore!  Praise the Lord!  He now wakes up, goes potty, takes a drink and then goes back and read his books for a few minutes until we have breakfast done.  Doesn't he look great?

Now Katie and Owen both read in the mornings-wahoo!  (disclaimer, there are still plenty of mornings that are challenging...lest you think we have arrived at perfect parenting)

Wisdom from Momma 2

Another Momma graciously answered my questions.  Below are her thoughts and they have again, encouraged me to love my husband and kids more.  Thank you Momma Friend 2!

1-What traits or verses have you prayed that God would instill in your kids?

   On a practical note, I would say selflessness.  Colossians 3:23 stayed on our refrigerator for a very long time.  I wanted them to understand that no matter what they do, do it as if they were doing it for Christ alone.
   Whether it be cleaning their room, doing their schoolwork, or playing, they could make a difference in our home and in others lives by doing it with a pure/right heart.

   On a bigger scale, I would say love the Lord with all your being.  Matthew 22:37 and Mark 12:30 say it best.

2-What is one lesson you are glad you trained your children in at an early age?

   Take everything to God...fears, anxieties, joy, questions.  Journaling is another great tool when they are old enough to do that.  Trust me, my kids are much better at this than I am these days.

3-How do you balance time between your husband/kids and your own need of personal quiet time?

   It's varied over the years, but I guess I would say making time for the Lord before the activities get going in the morning has been most beneficial for a personal quiet time.  And I really feel as if God adds time to my
   day when I do.  It doesn't make sense, but that''s how it seems to work.

   Kiddos...homeschooling has allowed lots of time with the girls, but I wish we would've made more of an effort to spend one-on-one time with each of them on a regular basis.  We did mommy/daughter,
   daddy/daughter dates sporadically but I think they would've appreciated it being more often.

   Hubby...we truly have to be very purposeful about date nights.  Especially when they were little.  Dr. Dobson once said "The most valuable gift parents can give their children is to love each other."  Sometimes our
   dates were simply snuggling on the couch to watch a movie, but even those could be blown off depending on the day we had.  My husband admitted to me years later that he felt as if he had taken a back seat when the
   children came into the picture.  He didn't resent it, he thought that's just how it was.  I needed to realize that when I started investing in our children that didn't mean hubby got put "on hold" until they were
   grown.

4-Is there something you wish you would have done more of with your kids?

   Play...and maybe worked through a book or two on character traits.

5-Any book make an impact on your family life?

   Besides the obvious (God's Word), I would say books by James Dobson played a big role.  I listened to him on the radio as well as often as I could.  Very encouraging to me as a young mom.

6-How have you dealt with fear/anxiety and the what ifs of life?

   Probably just remembering that God is already there in my future and that everything has to go through Him before it gets to me.  And that nobody loves me more than Him.

7-What is one trait you would like your children to remember about your family life?

   Unconditional love and that home is a safe place for them to talk about anything.  (sorry...that was two things)

8-Is there one place or experience you and your husband are thankful you took your children to visit or experience?

   We really debated about doing it, but we took a 2 week road trip when they were about 10-8-6.  We visited Ohio Amish, friends in NY, Niagra Falls, Ben and Jerry's in Vermont, and back down into NYC, then to DC.
   Honestly, we thought we had probably lost our minds even thinking of asking them to ride that much.  They still talk about that trip to this day.  Camping was also another favorite of theirs.

9-If there was one thing or one word you could encourage me when raising young kids, what would it be?

   Live a life worthy of your calling to the best of your ability, ask your kid's for forgiveness when you fall short, show yourself some grace (what a gift God gave us in that!), and leave the outcome to God.  I read
   once (Search for Significance) that if we did everything right in parenting and produced perfect kids then they would never have a need for a Savior.  For some reason, that was so comforting to me.

10-As your kids have gotten older what are one or two things I could be thinking about to instill in them personal devotions-to make their faith their own and not to live on the faith of their parents?

   Wow, still learning that one myself.  I guess maybe to allow them to pray and make decisions for themselves (age appropriate decisions, of course) and to encourage godly counsel not just from us, but from   others that God allows to be a part of their lives.

Happy Valentines Day!

What a day.... :)

I was reminded of this song tonight as I was singing to Katie.

"How a bookcase helped me eat better (and the results of the sugar cleanse)-The Nourishing Gourmet

I found this article over on The Nourishing Gourmet helpful and encouraging (especially the first part about a bookcase).  

Take a chance to read it if you can. 

How a bookcase helped me eat better (and the results of the sugar cleanse)

by KIMIHARRIS on FEBRUARY 13, 2012

I am going to talk about bookshelves and how bookshelves really are related to how well I eat and the sugar cleanse. You’ll see the connection, I promise!

I bought the above bookshelves from a friend who is moving across country. We are in need of more bookshelf space right now, and in a couple months we are moving and leaving behind built in bookshelves, so we will have even more need of them. We set them up in our living room, and I finally had a place to store the books that were crowded into a tiny little bookshelf. I also found room in the closed cupboard below the bookshelf to store all of Elena’s schoolbooks that were crowded on our kitchen table and behind the couch. Alongside them, went her craft supplies that were overflowing in the office. That lead my husband and I to clean through the office, taking out bags of old mail to be shredded or burned, and trash too. Then, I found a place for some books from an upstairs bookcase in our new bookcase. The old bookcase was refitted into our music studio bookshelf so that we could finally find music a bit more easily. (Actually, Joel somehow always knew were to find the music, but I couldn’t find things easily at all). Those simple transformations were enough to inspire me to more change.

I’ve found in my own life that personal success breeds success, no matter how small the success was. Unfortunately, failure can also discourage me, which leads to more failure. I think that is true for getting our eating habits in order too. But our eating habits aren’t isolated, but can be very affected by the order of the rest of our lives.

What I mean is this, when our lives are so hectic and stressful, it can be really hard to put time and energy into making a simple, healthy dinner at home. When your life is out of control, sometimes your eating habits go out of control too. When the house seems turned upside down and out of order, I personally can find it hard to have my meal planning, shopping and cooking in order as well. One facet of life is not unrelated to the rest of your life. One part of your life in disarray can lead to other parts of your life in disarray too.

The last two weeks I have fallen behind in some of my chores around the house, as well as some of my writing projects. When you are faced with miles of writing to do, mountains of laundry and a sticky kitchen flour, it can make you want to sit down and look at pictures on Pinterest. (Okay, at least it does for me).

However, when my husband and I got the bookshelves in order, which freed up a lot of other disorderly areas of my house, I got so encouraged that I was able to start making good progress again.

Yesterday, I finally found a place to put all of the new supplements my daughter is on, cleared the counters, and got the kitchen back in order, so that when dinner time came rolling around, it truly wasn’t a big deal to throw together a simple soup. When I have my kitchen organized and running smoothly, I can make meals more easily, and resist foods that I really don’t want to feed my family or myself.

I still have my work cut out for me, but at least I see that I am making good progress again in the house, my writing, and back on track with my meal planning.

Yes, buying a bookshelf did all this for me and more. I think I could become a salesman for bookshelves!

But it also works the other way. Sometimes if you can get your meal planning, shopping, and meal preparation in order, you get so encouraged by your success, you start to get inspired to push through in other areas in your life.

For those of you on the sugar cleanse, which is now, officially at least, rolling to an end, you’ve probably found that if you didn’t plan your meals ahead, have healthy snacks, and a satisfied tummy, it was way harder to resist treats.

You know, I don’t have a simple solution to my, or anyone else’s scheduling, energy, or other roadblocks to a healthy lifestyle. But I can say this from my own experience, seeking to have a simpler lifestyle (which for us is including getting rid of extra stuff we just don’t need), pushing through to find success in one area (so that I get encouraged to seek success in another area), and intentionally planning out my life is all helpful in having a better balanced life. That better-balanced life helps me cook a better balanced diet too.

I am still getting there myself, and it’s just a very busy time for us, but I am hopeful that once I get over a couple of “roadblocks” in the form of laundry, sorting through stuff, and setting up better writing schedules, I will be well on my way to a simpler, less stressful lifestyle.

My personal results on the sugar cleanse: 
During this time of reflecting on my life, seeing progress, but still needing to do a lot, it was really helpful to be doing the sugar cleanse. While there were many times when I would have normally put a dab of maple syrup in my coffee, tried a sample of gourmet dessert or chocolate at the store, or had another type of naturally sweetened dessert at home, that sense of denying myself of something helped me regain better self-control.

I’ve always found that if I have better self-control over eating food when I am not hungry or when I just don’t need the extra sugar, that self-control reaches over and gives me strength to have better self-control in how I use my time too. It’s a funny thing how that happens. It must be how each part of our life is interconnected with every other part of our lives.

For those who struggled:
Now, I know that some of you had a really difficult time with the cleanse. If you found that you just couldn’t stay away from sugar, I ask that you not feel that you were a failure. Feeling condemnation from this two week fast of sugar is not the point. My piano teacher always told me when I had a memory blank out when playing for her that I had “struck gold”. That mistake showed me an area in my music where I was weak and needed to work extra hard. In the same way, if you found it impossible to resist refined sugar during this cleanse, then perhaps you also “struck gold”. Perhaps the reason you had a hard time isn’t simply an issue of self-control (though it could be), but perhaps it’s a sign that the rest of you life is so hectic, you don’t have time to eat well. Perhaps your lifestyle is what needs to be balanced out, and then a balanced diet will follow. Or perhaps your body is addicted to sugar, unknown to you, and you “struck gold” in finding that out through trying to do the sugar fast. Now you need to dig deeper and look at your health with a broader viewpoint in healing.

I found that I was fine without dessert, except when I was tired. It made me realize how I liked to eat something sweet to keep me going. My problem was simply not having self-control to resist that second serving of yummy dessert, it was a problem of fatigue. Getting better rest and rebuilding my energy stores is in order (which will then make it easier to resist too many sweets). I also had such great energy when I was writing my salad cookbook, that I think I will start incorporating more raw salad greens into my diet.

For those who had success:
Others of you had great success on the sugar cleanse and found that you lost weight, gained energy, and a clearer mind. I’d encourage you to use that success to continue to breed success! The more you eat a certain way, the more second nature it becomes. Let that success spill over into other facets of your life, which should be easier now that you are more energetic and have a quicker mind.

Others mentioned to me that while it was easy to stay away from sweets, you were surprised not to feel any more energy. I can relate. Fatigue is certainly not always linked to sugar consumption. For me, removing foods that bother me (dairy), getting a lot of sleep (which feels very hard right now with my littlest one), and seeing a naturopath for help has been crucial for boosting my energy.

I am not claiming any simple answers to either finding success, or overcoming health issues. I am on a journey myself. But whether you had success taking out refined sugar from your diet, or not, I hope that this cleanse was helpful to you in either encouraging you in your success, or helping you “strike gold” in the sense of discovering something in your life that needs to be dug down deeper to remove.

Greatest Show on Earth

We took the kids to the circus yesterday.  It was such a treat!  I can't remember when I last went, but I know it was a kid.  Mom, do you remember?   And Justin went within the last 10 years, but can't recall when.

Anyway it was a last minute decision at 10 pm on Friday night to buy tickets.  :) We all really enjoyed it.  It lasted two hours-Katie was enthralled the whole time and Owen was entertained until the last 40 minutes or so. 

 Katie's favorite part were some clowns doing a skit with ladders and a lightbulb and the spinning dancers, mine were the tumblers that flipped forever, Justin's were the amazing elephants and Owen loved the tiny ponies.  

I don't think we would go back for a handful of years, but overall it was really fun!

Thats what men are supposed to do,

Serve women!!!  You will grow up to be wise, gentle and good Owen.  Aren't you glad we are serving each other?  You are a gentleman Owen to be serving me so much! You've brought me my pj's, hung up my towel and taken my bowl away.

Owen, that is not what a gentleman supposed to do...don't hit me, be gentle.

And yes, women serve men too, like mommy making us all dinner!

Please read this with very dramatic inflections in your voice like our 4 year old is doing.

*As I am typing this...Katie is having the above conversation with Owen.  :)

Owen put a sticker up my nose.

Really Katie, REALLY KATIE?

yes, while I was over there Owen stuck a sticker up my nose with an 'M' on it.

hummm......

you can't leave him alone

Yes, it is true.  He is 2 years and 4 months and into EVERYTHING.  He has watched us do so much around the house, is a second kid and a boy and so he feels the need to tinker with it all.  I have caught him drawling on the walls, the computer screen, dumping out full glasses of water on beds and floors, using the green step stool to 'help' me in the kitchen-empty salt into the bowl or thoroughly lick the bread dough.  He can throw an amazing amount of dirt on his sister in a short time, hit her with a stick repeatedly, sit on the table, lock all the doors, throw a temper tantrum, stick out his bottom lip and pout all in the span of 30 seconds.

I repeat.  Owen should not be left alone.  He is always up to something. :)  Like this photo above...he took everything out of our closet where it is stored and we are trying to decide what to do since needs rebuilt.  He set it up in our room and decided he was going to write an email to Daddy within the time it took me to finish the lunch dishes.  He is fast-and strong!

On the other side...he gives the best bear hugs, loves to give kisses, yes on the lips, will serve us with a happy heart, goes at everything full speed, can breakdance, laugh with us and is a delight to have around!

We love all the sides of Owen!

Art

Our library trips have been getting better. By better I mean lately our choice of books have been fun, creative and full of ideas that we can try at home.  One such book is Bridget's Beret by Tom Lichtenheld.  Super cute and a great story to get kids involved in art. I loved the last pages that describe some famous artists and what their passion was to paint/cut/dot/draw.  I would highly recommend it!  Another book that is cute about art is Willow by Denise Nelson and Rosemary Brennan-Katie said tonight that she loves the Willow book. :)  

Katie, I love your desire to learn something and then immediately put it into action.  Way to go sweet girl!

Hello little Monet!  

Katie walked around the house until she found the perfect flower to draw. A red rose that Justin had given me last week.  :)

 studying the rose...look at the concentration.  And the glasses, got to have glasses to be a true artist! 

oh, cutie pie-we love you.

 the brown scribbles are Owens.  :)

 Ta Da!  She titled this, "Flowers make all the difference". 

 Owen's happy art work!

 The back of the book that teaches about famous artists.

 Another masterpiece

 ...and one more!

When Should a Kid Start Kindergarten?

I read this article in time New York Times Magazine-When Should a Kid Start Kindergarten-and it has given me a lot to chew on in reference to when we start Katie in 'school'.  She is a very creative girl, never has gone to preschool (though I am not opposed to it), explored museums, done classes like gymnastics, swimming and dance, had many playdates, weekly trips to the library, etc...we have done lots of things that would be related to learning from an 'unschooling' approach thus far.  Though she loves the workbooks I've picked up or family have sent as presents too.

She is still just 4 1/2 years old and I think needs to learn within the midst of playing and the areas she is drawn to.  For example, we can learn about how things grow when we plant our garden.  Or we are learning about a few artists since she loves to paint.  We have talked about how God has created us and this world when we explore the walking path while exercising.  We've allowed her to interact with adults (the college girls living with us) teaching rich vocabulary and good question asking skills. I am not saying that 'unschooling' is for us long term, but it has been great to see her LOVE learning, playing, being creative and grow in awe of the world around us.

Oh and I love the ideas in Montessori education.  I value the foundation that classical ed brings. I appreciate the structure that traditional schooling provides.  etc. etc. etc.  Oh, the choices!  Then there is public, private, charter, homeschooling...  whew!

Katie will be 5 in May and we originally thought we would start her in Kindergarten this August.  But I am struggling with her being 'young' in her classes.  I would much rather see her grow more in her maturity, confidence, ability to grasp ideas...before 4-6 hours are spent specifically doing a curriculum. I think.

We are learning how to read and it is in 10-20 minutes a day.  She LOVES it.  So I know she would love to keep doing school or go to school...that will only keep me on my toes to plan and research things to expose the kiddos too.

So many options and so many things to consider.  We don't know what we will do yet (start her or keep her out one more year)...but at least there are plenty of things to read giving us food for thought and this article being one.  Not to mention the many hours still to pray and seek His direction for our oldest sweet girl.

Praying for wisdom, humility and listening ears.

Journaling-something about a song

I've been singing through songs that 'spoke' to me at certain times in my life.  A few are below from college.  I am amazed at how strongly these songs take me back to those fun or challenging times.  I can tell you many minute details about where/when/how long I listened to each music.  I am thankful to the Lord of Heaven and Earth that HE chose to give us the gift of sound and music.

Do any of these songs bring back memories for you?

This one is one that even Justin says reminds him of me.  I listened to this countless times while I lived in CA nannying for two little kiddos (my cousins).  It was a growing time to be sure.  I still love this song and I am praying daily to fall in live with Jesus.

Love Song for a Savior-Jars of Clay



I can remember driving down to Virgil KS with the windows down, my friend Tiffany in the seat next to me singing this song at the top of my lungs.  I didn't really car of Rick Mullins, but when Tiffany because a Christian it played nonstop in our ADPI room.  The countryside out there in KS was wide open spaces and warm sunshine.  I can remember thinking....hold on to this song.  The words are life-giving.

Creed-Rich Mullens


Again when I lived in CA I struggled with not knowing what to do next in my life.  These words gave me the hope that things would continue to change and that yes, a bright shiny day will come after the rain. It may be a long stretch of sunshine or a brief glimpse through the clouds, but God WILL be faithful to lead me through. (and yes, I know this rap :)

After the Rain -K2S


ADPI.  Running.  Rafiki.  English accents.  Dr. Pepper.  Sunshine.  Windows rolled down.  100 degree days.  Playing and replaying this song until we knew every word by heart.  Katie, this time was precious to me, the fact that you wanted to hang out with me and run together until the souls of our shoes practically fell off after our 1/2 marathon!

Down by the Riverside-Kirk Franklin


I chose to rush at KSU so that I could somehow get in with the 'cool' fashionable girls.  It changed my life.  The LORD used that time in so many ways. He challenged me to live out my faith, to have fun no matter what others think of you, to be comfortable in a house full of girls... I can remember my freshman year and wanting to quite about every week, but Amy, you stayed by me and hang out listening to my every thought encouraging me to stay at it.  And then having some of the best roomies like Libby to create late night memories-always up late at night.  Or getting up to study the Bible/pray with Kristen, but falling asleep on the couches downstairs.  Or crazy date night costumes. Or Jae trying to teach me to sing.  Or smiling for days on end through rush again.  Or my classes freshman retreat and driving through a blizzard, almost killing ourselves.  Or being able to welcome in a new class of freshman by the time I was a senior and say, I love being in a sorority.  Or being sung to at my wedding surrounded by girls, or, or, or...I could go on and on and on.  I still LOVE my 'sisters'. Seriously.

Love Can Build A Bridge


Then there were songs by Will Smith, Mariah, Christina A, Destiny's Child, Boyz II Men, Celine D...  :)  Oh so many memories!