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I Am More Than A Mom

October 26, 2011 in Minimalist Parenting

This past sunday the kids went to play at grandma’s for the day and Bryon and I wandered kid-less for a few hours downtown.  These are some of the pictures he took.

I want to start off by saying that in no way am I saying that anyone needs to be more than a mom to be fulfilled.  I am a stay-at-home mom.  I am also not saying that being a mom isn’t super important to me.  It is my biggest responsibility and my greatest job.

That being said, I am more than a mom. 

Becoming a mom is the single largest identity change.  Graduating from college, getting married, getting the corner office, none of these are close to the social change that comes from becoming a mother.  (probably the biggest personal and physical change too)

I was someone before I had kids, and I will be someone after they leave home.  I want my life and how I see myself as well as others and society to remember that identity. 

I am not talking about doing, this isn’t a post about working or non-working mom’s, I am talking about who I am.

I am:

  1. A strange combination of shy and bossy
  2. Outdoorsy, especially live for hiking
  3. Not a kid person
  4. Always cold
  5. A people pleaser
  6. Type A with a mix of hippy
  7. Spontaneous because I am such a planner that if I have the chance and time to plan it tires me out
  8. Loud guitar player (not good, but I love loud)
  9. Mostly vegan
  10. Concerned about the environment but more concerned about helping the people it is affecting now
  11. Concerned about animal rights but more concerned about child prostitution
  12. … wish I had dreads, but don’t have all the guts to pull it off yet
  13. Love non-fiction reading – positive, informative stuff
  14. Proud of my kids
  15. Sure the world is going to end, but convinced I need to trust God and enjoy life, only dealing with what can make a difference and not stressing about what I can’t change… or packing cans in the basement.   … this isn’t a problem we can work out or plan for beyond staying close to Jesus.
  16. Accepting of others but unsure how to culturally meet several
  17. Live life in fast/happy or slow/sad swing
  18. Don’t watch TV or movies much, I get too emotionally drained
  19. Don’t watch or read the news (see #15)
  20. Believe that most of life is what we create, how we respond and what glasses we choose to look through
  21. Not near as strong or healthy as I wish I was, but determined to keep working on it
  22. I don’t spell very whell
  23. Have been in 7 countries and really hope to multiply that by 10 or so if I get the chance
  24. Love my life
  25. In love with my husband more than when we were married

 Really this is a post about stereotypes (motherhood is just the big one I see everyday). It is hard with human nature to look beyond them.  But, I am learning the joy of taking the time to look past the outside and obvious parts of a person and finding some of their true self.  Often, even though the outside/obvious person doesn’t seem similar or have ‘friend potential’, the inside has pieces identical to mine. 

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Simply Books

October 23, 2011 in Simple Living Book Club

Reading is hugely important.  It is therapy (think chocolate) and growth. On days when it just seems like the dishes never go away or I am only around for clean up and drinks of water, they are my escape. 

Want to join me?  Textual chocolate all around. 

The trouble with book clubs is that we are all different.  We may be interested in reading some books or not others or have access to some books and not others. 

So here is what I am proposing.  I will let you know what I have read in the past month that I would recommend AND I will let you know what I am planning on reading this coming month.

You are welcome to join me with the books I am reading and let me know what you think at the end of November, or you can recommend books you have recently read, or you can let me know what is on your reading list for this month. 

Reading is just important, and it is more fun to do it with others.

Last month I read-Out of Control : Finding Peace for the Physically Exhausted and Spiritually Strung Out  Loved the book. Solid biblical advice and practical tools.  I would recommend to anyone who is a Christian… and is living in this fast paced society.

November I plan on reading Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids and Spiritual Parenting: An Awakening for Today’s Families… kinda on a parenting kick this month I guess.

What are you reading this month?  What books would you recommend?

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Featured Blog #1-Life As Mom

October 16, 2011 in Simple Living Blogs

(my hubby took this last year, I don’t like black and white for scenery that much, but this one is cool as it leads through the picture)

Since I am a little blog I wanted to feature some of the other blogs I have found that I really like.  (these aren’t people who have asked me to feature them or paid in any way…. I am a little blog)

The first one I wanted to feature is  http://lifeasmom.com

This lady is awesome and has lots of great stuff on her blog … can’t tell it all to you.  Check it out!

 I really liked this article of hers “The Grass Is Always Greener Where you Water it”.   Two great concepts that I loved:

1.  Be content with what you’ve got. 

2.  If it isn’t as ‘green’ as you want it… maybe water it a bit where you want it to grow.  This isn’t always possible or always going to work, but it can also make a world of difference. 

“Most opportunities in life are not achievable in life without initiative”–my brilliant hubby Bryon said yesterday and I thought it fit in great.

Also ‘The Tasmanian Minimalist did an interview with me today which was super cool!  Click on the link to take a look at it.

I would love to hear of other great blogs.  Feel free to share your own if you would like too, BUT if you share your own also share your favorite that is not your own :)   With the blog give a snippet (sentence or two) of who would benefit from reading it.

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Overlooked Perks of Home School Part 2

October 14, 2011 in Simple Home School

(love this pic, we got it on the way to the library on monday.  I just love the way the sun shoots through the pic and leave lots of spots… this was a lucky shot… I am not good enough to figure out how to find this otherwise)

This is Part 2 of ‘Overlooked Perks of Home School.  See Part 1

S=Sunlight

This might be something where home school is better at avoiding. We try and stay out of the sun between 10 and 2 and then get outside time in the afternoon. Most outdoor periods at schools are during the middle of the day when the sunlight is the most dangerous to the skin.

T=Temperance

This is using good stuff wisely and avoiding the bad stuff. At the age of my kids I don’t think/hope that they would be dealing with drinking, drugs or cigarettes, but they do deal a lot with sugar. Sugar is everywhere for kids, free cookies at the store, suckers at the bank, treats from friends, bags of candy …. from seemingly everywhere. Sugar is also a main ingredient in most processed snacks that kids end up taking and eating in school (see nutrition in part 1). Sugar is unhealthy, addictive and makes it hard for kids to sit still and concentrate. These are all bad things for a learning environment. Sure, sugar is great, and we eat our share of deserts, but we can limit it at home much easier. … out of sight out of mind kind of idea.

(Really this is just a shot with Lily’s eyes closed, but I thought it looked like she was enjoying the air:))

A=Air

Do you know that most schools now can’t open the windows? My husband has worked on several schools and school remodels (he does construction) and most of the windows now are made not to open or to only open a crack. My first thought is fire safety, but fresh air is also super important for health as well as airing and cleaning out the germy air. As long as it isn’t crazy cold we have the windows open at least a crack all the time. Depending on the whether they are open early or late or both, but there is almost always air available.  I love the smell of fresh air!

R=Rest

This is another big one! Kids are kids, they have crazy days and they go through growth spurts. Sleep is not only important for health, but also for a properly functioning mind. Most of the time my kids wake up before 6:30 on their own…. I would prefer to stay in bed till 8 :) , but there are days when one or both of them sleeps in. With home school I never have to wake them up. If they miss some of the earlier classes, we can just catch up later in the day. It is way easier to teach a rested kid later than a tired zoned out one ‘on schedule’. We also have rest period in the afternoon. The kids don’t usually sleep (sometimes I get lucky and Ian falls asleep) but they have a quiet rest on their bed reading. … and I have a quiet house for a few minutes which is great for my sanity and health.

(Ian loves the monkey bars, but he isn’t quite big enough.  Here he wanted me to lift him up and let him hang for a while…. he loves ‘dropping’ into the sand below)

T=Trust in God

Often overlooked, this is super important to our physical health. Not only to learn about the Bible in school, but learn about how to incorporate Trust In God into our lives. It is something I am still learning, but it is an amazing key to health to let go of what we can’t control and trust God to handle it. … that right there can probably add more years to my/your life than any one of the other things in this list. Not sure if we are doing a better job at home school than a Christian school, but we are doing our best.

There you have it. Not saying that school is terrible or parents who send their kids to school are being unhealthy, just saying it is amazing how much easier most of these points are at home without even putting much time or effort into it. 

This is exciting to me. It is exciting when I see learning, social, and health benefits all coming from the same direction. … makes it easier to continue pressing on and makes me glad I made the decision to try home school.

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Said ‘No’ and Got Our Time Back

October 3, 2011 in Minimalist Tips

Not new to us, but a crazy concept to most people is that we don’t watch TV.  In fact, we don’t even have one hooked up now.  We have a little TV and DVD player for school movies and some kids movies, but the actual TV wasn’t on since my husband watched a basketball game this spring. 

What is crazy to me is that the average American spends 4 hours and 49 minutes a day watching TV and the average household spends 8 hours and 21 minutes (source). 

I read a book last year called The Other 8 Hours

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My Son Rocks!

September 23, 2011 in Simple Home School

Since we did the movie of Lily a few weeks ago I promised Ian he could do a movie as well.  To round it off I wanted to do a post of our simple homeschooling plan for Ian.  Ian is 4 but loves learning.  I would say we are doing a kindergarten/grade 1 combo for him as he is able.  I didn’t think he would stick to it as well as he has for the last month but he is really getting in the grove.  

Where did the title come from?  Somehow I must say ‘Rock’ with him because he picked up on it.  Whenever he answers or does something with his work he says “Did I rock it?”.  With this age they learn and grow so quickly.  He is always surprising me with the concepts he is able to grasp.  So yes Ian, “You Rock!”

Here is a photo journey of his ‘grove’. 

Ian’s first major subject is at 8:30 with Math.  (Lily starts at 7:15 but Ian can choose to be involved or not with the first subjects).  He started Primary Mathematics 1A this year and is enjoying it.  I love Primary Mathematics because it moves so quick through things.  When the kids need more time on a concept we just make our own sheets.  He has learned numbers up to 20 and is adding and subtracting them.   We are doing some extra sheets to review this concept before going on farther in the book. 

While Lily does writing, Ian works on a writing or reading project.  He finished a phonics book a few weeks ago and has spent this time lately on www. starfall.com.  It is a great website that teaches reading and he is super good about getting around the internet.  (we also do www.spellingcity.com to practice spelling words occasionally)

The big man with his spelling test.

I tried to mess with this pic a bit. … not sure if I made it better or worse.   He is just such a cuttie!  This is spelling class.  This is a picture of his 3rd spelling test.  We make a big deal of spelling tests because they are the only tests I give the kids.   Most of learning is learning and I don’t want to add pressure with tests quite yet.  Spelling is one thing I can’t see without tests.  Spelling was my worst class so I try to make it as fun and encouraging as possible.  Ian got perfect on his first too tests but had trouble on this test with ‘jar’.   

From 10:30 to 11:30 we do our KONOS unit study curriculum.  Our unit this fall is on honor and respect and over the next few weeks we are studying cultures.  Today was Japan day.  While Lily wrote a Haiku and learned origami Ian painted the Japanese flag and practiced finding it on the map. 

After lunch and some play time we do reading at 1:00.  I am using ‘The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading’ by Jessie Wise and Sara Buffington.   I love the book.  It is simple and interactive.  It starts on lesson 1 learning the sound of ‘A’ and it finishes on lesson 231 reading worlds like ‘extraterrestirial’, ‘telecommunication’ and ‘unsatisfactory’.

Lily learned reading on her own, and I didn’t know how to help her back then.  It has been so fun to work with Ian and watch him learn and get better day by day.  He is super excited about reading!   Here is his movie of reading.  There is two short stories.  The first about a tank that got stuck and the second about a doll on a bed.

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Making a Big Difference…. Simply.

September 20, 2011 in Simple Compassion

Welcome to my simple living blog!  Thanks for reading.  Take a look around and feel free to comment or e-mail me. 

I want to share a simple way that my family has been involved in making a powerful difference.  For the last 3ish years we have sponserd 2 children through World Vision.

First off I have a huge burden for those in 3rd world countries.  There are evils and poverty in our country, but here there are programs everywhere for food and medical.  Clean water and education are amazingly easy to come by no matter who you are or where you are.  In other countries it isn’t this way.   Lack of clean water, food and basic medical attention kill millions of people.  The education that could help pull them out of the cycle is often something they can’t get, don’t have time to get, or are too weak to get.  We did nothing to deserve where we were born and they did nothing to deserve where they were born.  In the world, we are all family and we should do all we can to help each other. 

What is neat about world vision is the connection.  We picked 2 children, matching ages and genders with our own as close as we could and have been able to write back and forth and learn about how they are benefiting from our support.  We know that these children will grow up to get the education that can give lasting help to their community. 

Let me introduce you to our kids:

Juster(below)-Juster is a 7-year-old girl in Malawi.  She seems shy, but likes to draw us pictures and is doing well in school.  Her aunt writes us letters because she isn’t old enough to write yet.  As she does more school I am looking forward to seeing letters from her.  Last Christmas we sent extra money and she was able to get several things including a metal storage container to keep the bugs from destroying her blankets, cloths and a goat.  We send $35 for Juster every month and a world vision worker checks on her everyday because she is high risk.  She is a Hope Child.

Phochland(seen at the top of the post)-Phochland is a little 4-year-old boy with lots of older siblings living in northeast India.  Still to old to do school or write he has done a few simple drawings or colorings for us and we send him lots of stickers.  He loves playing ball and is very healthy.  Last Christmas, with some extra money we sent, world vision purchased a bike for his dad.  We send $30 a month for Phochland and the world vision worker checks on him every week. 

Sponsor a Child

These are my additional kids.  It has been a great experience for our whole family.  Lily and Ian both write letters and pick out stickers and treats to send.  We would love to visit them someday. 

In this world we can’t fix all the problems, and it seems overwhelming when we hear all the terrible struggles people face.  I love that I can do something for someone.  These kids, their families and their communities benefit from a small amount that is automatically withdrawn out of my account each month. 

Will you help too?  Will you find a kid to help?  It is super easy, pick and kid and set up automatic withdrawal and they take it from there.  If you have time, when you remember, you can send a note, but your money is working even when you don’t think about it.

My reason for writing this article is two-fold.   First, I think all kids deserve a chance no matter where they are born, and I believe World Vision does a great job of offering sustainable help to communities.

Second, if I can convince 5 of you to sign up by the end of Sep to sponsor a child I get entered in a drawing for a trip to Peru.  So, if you sign up, send me an e-mail with your name and your sponsored childs ID number :)  I would also love to hear how it is going as you sponsor your child. 

This is such a great opportunity.  As much as I would love to fly over to some of these countries and try to help, I can’t figure out a good way now.  What my small contribution does every month provides the practical, educated, lasting help that I can’t physically give.  It is a blessing to be involved, simple to , and a bargain! 

Will you sponsor?  Sponsor Now! 

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