Iain {8 days}

My nephew joined our family three weeks ago!  He's perfect and sweet, and I can't wait for my kiddos to get to meet him!

I couldn't get Claire placed right next to Iain and then get back behind my camera before she was up again. So this is what I got, and ya know what, I kinda like it too. I'm all about real

 And some quiet time with just Iain. He did sooo good for me!

our grandmother made this bunny so I made sure to include it

I'd been dying to use this bucket, and it didn't work out in my last photoshoot. yay for this time!

Rebalancing

Sorry if I've been disappearing from the blog quite a bit lately.  I've been changing a few things around here lately, and now I need to rebalance.  Adding in exercise/chit-chat with friends, adding in more reading time with the kids, and now the house is starting to suffer and free time is limited.  It's been good, really good actually, but it's sooo hard to ever have it ALL under control.  Just popping in for a quick hello!  I'll be back soon with some adorable newborn pics of my new nephew!  =)

Baby Jackson {10 days}

It's pictures season!!  Two newborn photoshoots lately and senior pictures tomorrow!  Meet Baby Jackson!!

Blender solutions!

Kevin came home with this idea he got from one of the sites he browses (no, it's not Pinterest but it  could be from there!): For making single servings, fit a mason jar right on the blender, instead of using the big pitcher.  It's smaller and easier to wash, AND you can drink right from the jar itself!  

I make smoothies all the time, so I'm pretty ecstatic about this easy solution for something I didn't even realize was a problem!  lol

Awakened.

yogurt cups
string cheese
applesauce cups
applesauce squeezies
fruit cups
cookie packs
granola bars
single-serving chips
capri sun pouches
juice boxes
plastic baggies

read: packaging, packaging, packaging

That is the norm of a packed lunch box. We think we're doing better by sending kids with healthy foods, but the truth is it's all processed packaged foods that's killing our world to make and still has junk in it with ingredients we can't pronounce.

I finished reading the book 7:an experimental mutiny against excess and my soul has been awakened. To the realities of our life and the world around us, the social norms, the thoughtless habits we do on a daily basis.  It's disgusting, it's careless, and I want to change. In 7 major areas:

FOOD

.

.

.

 CLOTHES

.

.

.

 POSESSIONS

.

.

.

 MEDIA

.

.

.

WASTE

.

.

.

SPENDING

.

.

.

STRESS

I'm lending out the book right now to friends who are sort of starting a book club with me, so this won't be a full book review including all my favorite quotes I underlined.  But just some thoughts of ways I'm going to try to change...

* This school year I want to stop buying single-serving anything and find a small tackle box sort of thing for serving up lunch food into one container. If I can't find that then we'll try several small bowls and sandwich boxes but no more packaged foods and baggies.

* I hate recycling here but I'm going to try again. With everything. And maybe even read about composting.

* I want to switch to cloth napkins for family use.

* I want to start eating clean and not processed things, that even means cereal. 

* I'm trying the Pinterest trick and turned our clothes hangers backward in the closet so I can tell what things get worn and what things have stayed put for months. We will then purge the extras.

* I want to fast from spending and start living by this rule: If you think you want something, wait a month. One of three things will happen if you follow this sage advice. One: you will forget. Two: you will no longer need it. or Three: you will need it more. Most often numbers one and two will happen.

"Just because I can have it doesn't mean I should." This applies to more than just spending, it applies to food too. As Americans we are impulsive and do things without thought because we live in such bounty. 

"There are a limited number of resources in this world, and when we take more than we need, we are stealing from others."

* I want to search for ways to directly serve the poor. It's sooo not as easy here in small-town Nebraska as it may be in Austin, TX in the heart of a huge city. But "...the great tragedy in the church is not that rich Christians do not care about the poor but that rich Christians do not know the poor." It's so much easier to dump off our things at Goodwill and let them sort it all out and leave feeling good about ourselves only so we can go home and buy more things to fill the space.  Surely, there are ways we can still GIVE and actually SERVE, to bridge the gap between us and "them".  The church is so busy holding Bible studies, women's groups, family events, etc etc etc,  and blessing the blessed what do we do to actually live the gospel by serving the least of us?

* I want to, especially on Sabbath, observe the calls to prayer 7 times a day. Such sweet time with the Lord, "an oasis to remember the sacredness of life, who we are, how to offer God the incredible gift of our lives, and learning to be in the midst of so much doing."

Ahhh so much going on inside of me. I am awakened.

{Photo Challenge} Day 18

Day 18: Shoes

My new running shoes. Actually called Go Run by Sketchers.

Comfortable and light and bendy. 

And surprisingly fine on gravel. I wasn't so sure how they'd do with big rocks underfoot.

But I really really like them.  

They came all black, so I got hot pink laces to feminize them. 

Just right.

Coming next: 

Day 19: Something orange

Just popping in

Where has time gone?  Life has been changing in a lot of good ways lately.  Just small things that make big differences.  

The downgrade of my cell phone, going from a smartphone with Facebook always always at my fingertips, to a simple phone with hardly any memory space, a crappy camera, odd quirks, but an actual texting keyboard.  I love it, and I LOVE this change.  No more restlessness of "NEEDING" to check messages. I can simply BE where I am in the moment.  I'm still home, still with Internet access several times a day, but not every MINUTE. It's nice.  It's good for all of us.

A lot of things these days have been pointing me toward a more simplified life. It probably started with the Little House episodes, then coming across this fabulous blog called Finding Joy where Rachel shares the importance of finding beauty in the everyday moments. And now I'm currently reading the book 7: an experimental mutiny against excess which, as the title suggests, is about going against cultural norm and  paring down in key areas of life like food, clothing, media, possessions, etc. The American life, it's all just so MUCH!

I've been trying Pinterest ideas here and there, making things homemade. Eye makeup remover, carpet spray, cleaning the microwave, healthier recipes. And then using re-usable grocery bags. There's something so GOOD feeling about choosing the simpler way.

School started again on Wednesday. Fall activities haven't yet resumed, so I suppose it's allowing us to gradually find routine. Or something like that.  I miss Eli. We'd just gotten started reading classic chapter books from lists I'd found on Pinterest. And now, though we'll continue that, our time will be limited. Eli LOVES first grade though, and he LOVES his teacher, and he's beaming with excitement. And we have a good quieter calmer routine here at home during school hours. It's nice too. And I love that this is an opportunity to serve those in our community in quiet ways. It's such a nice balance in life and with others. 

I'm starting running again. I simply must get that darn scale down some and get rid of this extra pudginess.

Lots of little changes. Making life better.

{Photo Challenge} Day 17

Day 17: Technology

The messy jumble of cords hidden behind the desk or shelves.

Technology.

Coming next:
Day 18: Shoes

Monday Meanderings - July 30

Bible Study... I was doing SO WELL at the beginning of the summer. Getting up early each morning eager to do my Bible reading. And then, it just stopped. I've been sleeping in and other than reading verses for child training I haven't read really anything in awhile!

Memory Verse... Hebrews 12:14

"Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord."

Husband Encouragement...
♥ House cleaning
♥ Lunches for work. And prepare a breakfast for him when he wakes up in the afternoon.
♥ Schedule a date night/day for sometime soonish??

Train Them Up...

* Back to routines... post-dinner kitchen cleanup. I LOVE when we work together to get everything put away and wiped down, and the kids are great helpers!  I need to work to get Carter involved too, because he can easily carry hot pads to the kitchen or containers to the fridge.
* Also need to keep to our weekly cleaning schedule and let the kids help with their tasks.
* I've been more frequently skipping the big kids' naps lately so I can read chapter books with them in the afternoon. I'm more than realizing how little summer is left and how I'm going to miss this time together! But I'm looking forward to other things as well, it'll just take some transition.
* Now that he's a reader, Eli received his very own real Bible for his birthday this year. So I've been teaching him how to find the books of the Bible and the chapters and verses. He's getting the hang of it, and it's such a joy to see him participate and get excited about it.
* Intentional potty training with Carter. He does great when I remember to take him to the potty!

Personal Goals...

* My friend Nikki and I are really working on our weigh-loss goals together. I've been back to the treadmill again for the first time in FOREVER, and ran 4x last week!!  Along with keeping track of calorie intake. So far there hasn't been ANY weight change, but I think it's also a bad time in my month. So we'll keep plugging away!

New Habit of the Month...  {august}
* We recently started a new family Bible study/devotional. So we'll be doing this each morning or evening. For now we mostly read it in the morning but once school starts it'll probably be evening.

MUST Do... 

* car maintenance Friday?
* call my Moppet workers!!
* bills
* research cell phone plans

Zone(s)... Basement. Working on fixin up the treadmill room so the kids can potentially play down there while I run instead of me having to wait til naptime or put on a movie.

Menu - TBD

M - salad and sandwiches

T - 

W - 

Th - 
F -

S - 

Su - 

FUN THINGS!

* this morning the kids and I had a mini Olympics party at a friends' house. We don't have cable TV to watch anything so my friend Kayleigh invited us over. So fun!
* Tomorrow the kids and I are hosting an ice cream party as their reward for completing their 100 books this summer!
* Wednesday we're going to Omaha to see the Lorax movie with my SIL and Claire. $2 movie!
* Dinner out with church friends Thursday evening.
* Possibly another girls night with other friends Saturday night!

3 things I'm thankful for today...

1. relaxing morning. Even though we still went out, it was a fun morning just chatting with friends.

2. encouraging friends and accountability partner. It helps so much to go through things TOGETHER.

3. family. we just had all the family here over the weekend for Eli's birthday party, and it's always such a blessing to be able to do that.  =)

{Photo Challenge} Day 16

Sorry, as you probably noticed, I got hung up on the photo challenge! A week of busy VBS plus lack of inspiration. Here I am though, moving forward...

Day 16: Long exposure

(Insert mini photo lesson) That means slow shutter speed. (numbers like 1/10 to 1/125. When that bottom number gets higher, the shutter gets faster. For humans try not to set that bottom number less than 125.) Creates drag when there is motion. When you have moving children, you don't WANT drag, you want them in focus. But instances when drag is desired would be waterfalls, city traffic lights, writing with a glow stick or sparkler, and other creative purposes I can't really think of right now. =)  

Having no access to any of those things mentioned above, I chose the motion of a pinwheel. 

 Exciting stuff, let me tell ya!

Coming next:

Day 17: Technology

Note: to see previous posts for photo challenge click the Photography category on my sidebar