early to bed early to rise

A wise writer says, "I look with wonder on that old time, and ask myself how it is that most of the things I suppose my father and mother built on, especially to mold me to a right manhood are forgotten and lost out of my life. But the things they hardly ever thought of—the shadow of blessing cast by the home, the tender, unspoken love, the sacrifices made and never thought of, it was so natural to make them—ten thousand little things so simple as to attract no notice—and yet so sublime as I look back at them—they fill my heart still and always, with tenderness when I remember them and my eyes with tears." - J.R. Miller Home-Making

My bed where she usually ends up in the late morning.

One of my biggest yearnings is for our home to be cozy and inviting. A place of refuge and comfort. A place that gives the children when they are grown a memory and feeling of warmth and safety. Perhaps they will also yearn to be back there some time and make it a goal to give this to their children.

One of my favorite moments is being in a cozy bed with a dim light on reading a book. Some how bedtime in our home has become quite the opposite of warm and cozy. Somewhere along the road we got completely off course and bedtime got later and later and became a mad dash to get the kids in bed. I've known for a long time that it was a mess but some how every night it was way too late again and we were rushing to get everyone in bed. Rushing around and bedtime do not go well together.

Recently we went a week with getting to bed on time and it was glorious! But it was still summer time and somehow we ended up getting back to a late bedtime. A late bedtime (9 or usually later) for our 3 and 5 year old never really mattered because they could sleep in until later. We weren't usually up early for anything so the kids always got plenty of sleep. But I have always secretly wished for a little more down time before I have to go to bed. The plan is if they go down earlier then I will too without feeling like I haven't had a wind down time.

Psalm 73:26 “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

With the new school year quickly approaching and a new commitment of needing to be somewhere before 9 am Monday through Friday I've vowed to get us on a better schedule. We have a little over a month to whip our bottoms into shape and by ours I mean my husband and I. Because let's face it we're the ones not sticking to our guns. Tonight was the first night of many nights ahead of wrapping up the evening in a calm blanket and slowly moving towards the bedrooms. 

With more time to get to bed things are much more calm. We do not do baths every night and sometimes they are during the day so we start our down time usually with a show (usually Caillou or Berenstein Bears). We like this because it gives the kids one last thing to enjoy, a wind down time and it's easy to see when it ends it's time to brush teeth, the kids understand it and they can't argue.

Then it's pj time, diaper changing, singing songs ( always "You Are My Sunshine" and "Jesus Loves Me"), then story time, prayers, kisses ( always counted for her and usually 19 and sometimes 5 extra), drinks of water and then night night. For the most part they stay in bed even though it is now 2 hours after we put them to bed and he is still awake. We all have to adjust.

Mama is looking forward to an earlier bedtime and getting up earlier. The plan is to get up earlier and get some Bible time in with a real Bible not laying in bed and doing devotions on my phone, which isn't a bad thing I just want to start journaling and making more of an effort, especially with the fall approaching. I'm just really looking forward to coffee, lit candles, pen, paper, Bible and time with my Teacher. Praying we keep this up!

Wishing for all of you a warm evening, sweet rest and refreshed soul.

Five Friday Faves: September's Instagrams

Welcome to Five Friday Faves! 

It's been a long time since I've done a series like this but I think I'm ready to start again. Each Friday I want to share pictures of some things that I am loving at the moment. This week includes my five favorite Instagrams from September and why I love them.

Our first day of homeschool preschool started off with great success. I woke up early, ran on the treadmill, showered and got completely ready for the day and had my some Bible time and coffee all before the kids woke up. Yeah, well that was the only morning all of that happened. Each day after that I got up later and later and low and behold I was getting sick. I had a horrible cough so I wasn't able to run for 3 weeks. It's now October and I still haven't started the routine again. But it's a dream of mine. This picture is a reminder of that blissful morning. I guess it would help if I got to bed before 11!

This picture will forever remind me of the excitement we both had for her first day of pre-k. What a special time in our lives.

Our first week of pre-k included a homeschool mama meet-up. We got to take some professional pictures but mama had to get some of her own. My candid cuties.

Another exciting event that took place in September is that Hannah is now an official Awana Cubbie. I remember going to Awanas when I was about her age and I remember how fun it was. She is having a blast learning scripture, playing games, doing crafts and meeting new friends. I'm so proud of her!

This picture is very special to me. I haven't talked much about it on the blog but Danny attends physical therapy and speech therapy for his delays from being 6 weeks early and Hannah attends occupational therapy for what we've recently discovered is Sensory Processing Disorder. We go to therapy every Tuesday for an hour and 45 min. But this day Hannah's therapist wasn't able to make it in so we got to have a special mommy daughter date while Danny did his therapy. We ran an errand, I got a Starbucks coffee and she got a cake pop and then we headed to Goodwill for some vintage thrifting, a favorite hobby of mine. I was unsuccessful that morning but she made out great, she ended up with a pink Barbie car, 2 books and a cute shirt from Crazy8. It was so fun to spend time with my special girl.

 

Transition Foods

 The hardest part about incorporating a new lifestyle is how to blend your old life with your new life, especially when you have a family that isn't interested in your new lifestyle. It's so difficult because I have all of these new convictions, new knowledge, and dedication to do this for my and my families health. But when they, mainly my husband is not on board that can make things tricky. I knew that the kids wouldn't be that difficult to transition because they naturally do not like meat, well real meat anyways, they love chicken nuggets and hot dogs but I do not consider those real meat and haven't for a long time. But my husband on the other hand was another story. But he wanted to start eating healthier which I was happy about, at least he was taking that step forward with me in my journey.

 Image via Veggieboards.com

But, I made the classic mistake of going too far too fast. After my initial introduction of no red meat and meatless Monday went over well I was feeling great about it. I took that part slow. But then once I decided that I was going vegan for the first time I wanted to make all of our meals plant-based. This was a bit trickier because I went against my instinct to take it slow. I was smart enough not to clear out the pantry and fridge and start over with all new plant-based options, I knew that would be too much even for me, not to mention way too expensive. So I replaced things as they ran out with new plant-based items. Since I make all of the meals and do all of the shopping for our family this was easy to control. But then I made a mistake I wasn't into the idea of making a meal for them and a different for me especially wanting them to give up animal products like I did. So I just stopped buying certain products hoping that my husband would just forget about them, mainly milk. I'm laughing as I write this now because I had high hopes that would soon be dashed. I quickly learned that he would not forget and after a couple of heated discussions I soon realized that my new lifestyle changes were not worth ruining my marriage over. It never got to that point but it wasn't worth arguing over. It wasn't my place to make those decisions for him especially since I'm the one who decided to change years into our marriage. It makes me sad knowing that he still eats mostly the same way but he has accepted some new changes and I'm happy with that. I have managed to keep the dinners that I cook plant-based but I do still buy animal products that he can add to the meals to make it like he likes, mainly cheese. Some meals he will do this to and others he will leave all plant-based. I feel this is a good compromise, the main part of the meal is plant-based and healthy so that is a step in the right direction for him. He also is willing to give things a try which is great but he will quickly speak up if he doesn't like it.

Some of the easiest food changes I've made are mayonnaise, margarine, chicken nuggets and baking. Vegenaise is a great eggless mayo replacement. I can find it a my local grocery store and even found a large jar at Costco. Earth Balance is my new favorite margarine replacement, we were big Country Crock fans and I find this to taste the same, with no casein or whey. Baking has been easy too, I've made a ton of vegan cookies and even Duncan Hines cupcakes. For Duncan Hines just check the ingredients but most of their cake mixes and frostings are animal product free. I'm still working on the perfect egg replacer that actually keeps the cake together better but the taste is spot on and using a fork to eat the cupcakes fixes the crumbly problem. Gardein's crispy tenders and Madarin orange crispy chick'n nuggets have been a yummy addition to our meals. The first time I made the the orange chick'n with a stir-fry my husband kept asking me why I was eating meat. All I could do was giggle. He was shocked at how yummy they were, I even turned my in-laws onto them. Costco has them available in a large bag, so these have become a staple. Last week I put them on top of a salad with the orange sauce as a dressing and it was amazing!

Image via namelymarly.com

Other products that I love and my family will eat are Gardein's beefless grounds, burger patties and Life Lite Smart Dogs. These aren't their favorites but they will eat them. I know these products aren't the healthiest way to eat and some might call these vegan junk foods but they are great and much healthier when trying to incorporate the whole family in a plant-based life style. There are many other brands of beelfless grounds and "meat" products that I've tried and that work but the brands listed above are my favorites. It is so easy these days to go plant-based. There are countless products and tons of information out there, it really is much easier than you might think.

However I will not lie, vegan cheese just doesn't do it for any of us. That is the one thing that I just cannot seem to get on board with. It makes me sad to say that but I'm not going to lie about it. I love the taste of animals products and I try not to compare them to their vegan counterparts because I know they will not be the same but I just cannot do cheese. Luckily I've finally gotten to the point where I can just eat things without cheese or a cheese substitute. This has been very freeing. I'm not a slave to cheese anymore. There is only one cheese product that I have been able to tolerate so far and that is the Daiya Havarti Style Wedge. But I do not use it much at all. 

Milk has been a super easy item to replace because I already liked almond milk and rice milk. I do not like soy or hemp milk though. But to each their own. My favorite almond milk is Silk Unsweetened Original Almond Milk which is Non GMO Project Verified and my favorite rice milk is Costco's Kirkland Organic Rice Milk. I don't exactly drink these by the glass full but they are great in cereal, baking and cooking. I've also completely replaced Daniel's bottles of cows milk with these.

I know there are many more products that I've purchased and used but these are some of the staples that have helped me and my family transition to a healthier way of eating without changing our weekly meals too much. So my advice is take it slowly. Replace items as needed when transitioning. Do not go cold turkey especially if you have a family that isn't on board. We still have a freezer full of meat because I used to stock up on marked down meat. I still occassionally make a meal that has meat as the main dish and I just eat the side dishes and a big salad usually. I still buy dairy, eggs and meat for my husband. I don't like to but I do because I love him and respect his wishes.

Sorry if this was kind of a boring post but I wanted to share the things that have helped us transition and keep transitioning as a family. I feel it's very important to be honest and real. It's hasn't been the easiest transition for us but it's been easier than I thought it would in the beginning. It is so worth it for long term health.
 

Tot School / Letter B & More Creation Story

We used another couple of weeks to go over the letter B activities and books. The activities that Hannah worked on this week were counting bears, a magnetic 3D puzzle that I picked up a yard sale for $1 (this is something that she won't really understand for a while but she still enjoys playing with the shapes), a color blue Crayola puzzle that I picked up at the Dollar Store (again she can't put the puzzle together but it's fun to help her and then name all of the blue things in the picture), then I printed her the Brown Bear, Brown Bear Tot Pack from 1+1+1=1. She really enjoys the different activities in these packs. 

This was the first time that I tried graphing with her and she didn't understand it at all. So I just kept having her roll the die and we waited to see which animal would reach the top of the graph first, Bear won! She also filled in some of the dots, but I did most.

 

  One of the activities she loved the most and asked to do it all week was the Alphabet Art book from All Our Days. The letter B project was a band-aid page. Hannah is already obsessed with band-aids so she was sad that I only let her have 6 band-aids and one page. But she was able to unwrap them all and stick them on all by herself. She is a pro considering every time she hurts herself she runs to get a band-aid bleeding or not.

 The picture below is one of the most exciting moments of the week when out of the blue she can all of a sudden trace lines. These are not straight by any means but the fact that she finally saw the dotted line and made the connection is super exciting and satisfying to me. These are the moments I have glimpses of the future and think we'll be ok during this homeschool journey.

Danny helped with the markers, including marking all over one of our couch slipcovers in black. And of all of the markers Hannah uses these are not washable. It washed out a little, but that kind of stuff is going to happen during these years and probably forever so I really wasn't upset. Which I'm surprised at myself for.

Again I didn't get any pictures of the books we read, I am determined to remember that! But they include, The Jesus Storybook Bible, Do your ABC's, Little brown bear, Brown Bear (Suzi Eszterhas), If I were a ballerina, Ballerina Rosie, Ballerina! (Peter Sis), Scare a bear, Big brown bear's birthday surprise and Brown bear, brown bear.


In our Family Connections class at church we had the pleasure of hearing one of our main pastors speak to us about bible read throughs. He spoke of a new or rediscovered trend going around called Orality or Storying. The basis is; you read a story out loud and then have the people listening tell it back and have others fill in the blanks that the person telling it back missed. It is a way to memorize the story, make it your own and hopefully comprehend it better. It reminds me of what the Native-Americans or other ancient people did while sitting around the camp fire and telling stories of their ancestors. It really is a way to captivate an audience and bring them into the story. It is especially beneficial to people or children who cannot yet read or write. So our pastor suggested doing that with your children as a way to read through the bible. I was really happy when he brought this up because it's pretty much what we are doing when we are reading these Bible stories to our children. Having them tell it back to us or explain what happened is an awesome way for them to comprehend the story and memorize it more. The week before our pastor spoke on this Hannah was actually doing this with me with the Creation story. It was really exciting, she was recapping the story and finishing it for me. She even ran to get her Creation crafts to illustrate the sky that God created. This was another moment that I knew I was doing something right.


((linking up with Tot School Gathering Place at 1+1+1=1))

Tot School / Letter A - Creation Story

((Hannah is 41 months))

((Danny is 16 months))

And here it is, another couple of weeks have passed. This might or might not become a regular occurrence. I'm not just behind in blogging tot school but we actually ended up doing the letter A for two weeks. The night I was supposed to order the letter B books from the library I forgot and then remembered later in the week. But I didn't let that stress me out and just rolled with it. So what, we're going to cover the same letter two weeks in a row and my "school plan" is off now. It's really no big deal, Sissy already knows the letter A and all of the alphabet for that matter. But sticking to a letter of the week plan just gives me some structure. We might even deviate to a certain book, movie or character of the week here an there. But the letter of the week will be my fall back plan. We may or may not get through the whole alphabet.

Now, let me show what we did for the letter A. We're working on an Alphabet Art Book. We'll see if we get all 26 letters. But Sissy had so much fun stamping with the apples from our apple trees. A couple of days ago I saw someone did this with a stamp pad instead of paint and you could see the apples more clearly but this still worked.

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The biggest accomplishment of the week is that baby guy is always on his knees. He's been able to discover a whole new world. It's so amazing to see him catch up so quickly. In July he wasn't even really sitting up on his own, now he sits up all by himself, army crawls everywhere and starting to crawl on hands and knees. 

Then...later in the week he started to pull himself up to standing. You can see that he's so proud. He so desperately wants to do what Sissy does. This is still a very rare thing for him, but it's just amazing to see him accomplish in weeks what others do in months.

We had lots of reading time, with Alligator Shoes, Oliver and his alligator, Apples by Jacqueline Farmer, Zack's alligator goes to school, Ten apples up on top! and Apples by Gail Gibbons. We also went over the whole creation story again and Sissy was finishing the story for me.

Then lots of play time.

One of his favorite toys, Bubba's light saber.

Tot/Life School Past Two Weeks

Where are these weeks going? I don't know if it's the time of year or just me but these weeks are flying by. I think "oh I'm going to post about Tot School" and then when I sit down to write I realize that I have to blog about two weeks. Crazy!

The week before last was Sleep or Rest theme based on the seventh day of Creation. But of course I didn't get any pictures of the wonderful books that we read. We read Little Hoot, The Napping House, A Book of Sleep,  and Russell the Sheep. None of them pertained to Creation but they were still good.

 I couldn't really think of or find any good "rest" activities other than napping so that's what we focused on. It was wonderful. I had been pretty lax lately with naps and our schedule and house was unsettled because of it so I took this week to really figure out a good time for Sissy to nap and made sure she went down whether she slept or not. If she didn't want to sleep she could stay in bed and look at books or play with one of her "quiet time boxes". This has been wonderful and has really relaxed our house again.

The next week was our break from Tot school week and planning for the upcoming "school" year. Of course you really can't take a break from tot school because the kids are going to play and learn anyways. Which is another reason why I love doing tot school. It's so effortless if you want it to be. You can make it as structured or unstructured as you want. I want to relish in how laid back things can be right now because I know as we continue on this homeschool journey things will get a little more demanding.

I did however manage to get some unedited photos of what was going on last week. Baby Guy is getting better and better at climbing, so he was practicing on his Sissy.

They are in love with this tunnel.

And this tent. Sissy decided all on her own to put pillow and blankets in it and read some books. My heart melted.

Cannot seem to break this habit. If I'm not on her every minute they sneak their way in. Even if I put them out of reach she'll steal her brother's. I want to remember this though, even though she is getting bigger, she is still my baby.

Baby Guy so proud of himself. He started sitting up all by himself on 8/25/13. Another moment I want to remember. He's 16 months old and it has taken him a long time to get to this point. He moves at his own pace but is doing new things all of the time.

A finger painting  master peice.

Note to self: do not use shaving cream on surfaces you will eat off of or with kitchen utensils you will use with food. It takes a while for the fragrance to come off completely after washes. But she had a blast anyway. Weird seeing her in the high chair this is Baby Guy's throne now.

Being Remade

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Working at Resting

 She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Proverbs 31:27

Lately, I've been really struggling with my priorities. Just like right now I should be cleaning or doing something important but I really feel the need to post this. Thanks to @nataliecreates over on Instagram with her Question of the Day: How do you prioritize self-care? or her blog Natalie Creates I really felt the need to talk about this.

I feel like I'm always trying to get my priorities in check or in balance. I know what they are and what order they come in but actually keeping it balanced all the time is a struggle. I don't think I am alone in this but in my mind I feel like I am. I feel like I'm the only one who doesn't have it together, no where near together. But thanks to Natalie's post I am reminded once more that most people don't have it together and if you think they do, there are probably other areas you don't see that they struggle with.

The older I get though the more comfortable I am getting with "things just are the way they are". I'm doing the best I can, to keep my family happy, me happy and sane. The house is just always going to be in a perpetual mess as long as I have a 3 year old and 16 month old trashing it. That's the way it's supposed to be right? Messy house means happy kids or so I'm told. There are days when I wake up and once diapers are changed and breakfast is doled out, usually whatever self-feeding food we have around I will just start cleaning. I won't shower or usually even change my clothes. I just clean clean clean, then the afternoon comes and I realize I stink, look horrible and feel horrible and the house still isn't the way I would like it and the areas that are nice won't be like that in a couple of hours. There are days when I feel like not even trying. The only area I really work on daily is the kitchen and without a dishwasher and no help it really is a chore. How did they do it back in the day? I realize they didn't have several electronics and blogs pulling them this way and that but I've tried days with no phone, computer or TV and it's still a huge struggle. The Greatest Generation is my favorite generation though I'm not a part of it but sometimes they make me feel bad. Not their fault and I'm sure there were plenty of families back then that didn't have it all together, you just don't see that on TV or in photos.

This post isn't about giving up though or feeling bad about things. It's just about sharing the truth and stating that I'm not giving up but I'm also not striving for perfection. It's about the fact that I can rest in Him and He doesn't care if my house is messy. He's that best friend that will come over for coffee amongst all of the mess and really talk about real things. He will rest my soul and remind me that all I need to focus on is Him and all else will fall into place.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest".  Matthew 11:28


 

Daring paths

End of summer reading.
Heavy thoughts.
Following new paths.
Trying to change old habits.
Thankful for new beginnings.
Knowing that the path will be long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excited for new views, new ideas.
New ways to show love to her and him. Realizing how I probably screwed up with the first, but also realizing how wonderful he is despite my lack of intention.

He's here!

Hi Everybody,

I know it's been forever since I've last blogged but it has been for a good reason. My newest son Daniel Joseph is here! He arrived on April 27 and was six weeks early. He weighed 4 lbs 9 oz. and was 17 inches long. He had no complications other than he was six weeks early and little. He stayed 9 days in the NICU just to get his weight up and fight off some Jaundice.

He's two months old now and time is flying by. But as you can see I don't have much time for blogging or crafting for that matter. I do really want to get back to doing somethings but right now it's just too much. Hopefully in the fall I can start getting back to my hobbies. But in the meantime I'm enjoying being a mother to my three babies even though one of them is 12 now!

Here are some pictures of the little guy. He has gained weight like crazy since he's been home and is doing great.

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Please Pray for baby Ella Rae

My new little niece was born yesterday 3 months before her due date. We were just at the baby shower Sunday so this was quite a surprise for the whole family. It started with signs of preeclampsia and then we found out that the amniotic fluid was low and the baby was struggling with oxygen.

But she is alive and fighting a strong fight. Please join me in prayer for strength and courage for mom and dad, that Ella Rae continues to grow strong without any major problems and that mom heals quickly so that she can concentrate on baby. They would appreciate everyones love and support.

Thank you.