Around Here

Around here ... we had a great VBS week last week. It was the boy's first year to participate so all four kids were able to involved this year. The weather was great and we had a great group of kids turn out each night. I taught the 3-5 year old Bible study portion and had a blast ... and was wiped by Friday night. But so worth it.



Around here ... we have had a couple of munchkins down with what I've affectionately dubbed the VBS virus. Ergo, there have been quite a few Star Wars movies the last few days.



Around here ... so many legos.



Around here ... I'm pulling the next book off my summer stack and getting ready to dive in. If the book is as good as the two page preface that I read this afternoon, it will be fabulous.



Around here ... we have driven around like crazy people this week running errands. They have been troupers and earned a donut stop one morning.



Around here ... I'm finishing up the study of the book of Ruth along with #shereadstruth. Such as good study on waiting on the Lord and then waiting some more.



Around here ... filling out lots o' paperwork for our homestudy. Slowly and steadily making progress.



Around here ... summer is slipping by way too fast. So thankful for these sunny days.

Summer Bucket List :: 2014

We are thisclose to being done with school for the year. I have plans for a few things that we are going to do scholastically over the summer, but for the most part, we are going to shelve the books until mid-July and take a nice long breather. I have my eye on several projects around the house and some things I want to study and read up on and I know the girls are going to try and see how many consecutive days they can talk me into taking them to the swimming pool.

With that in mind, we put together a VERY SIMPLE summer bucket list. I know myself. If I don't have some game plan at the beginning of summer, this might be the third year in a row that I forget to take the kids blueberry picking. As I'm sure I've mentioned before, planning is my strong point; my weakness is follow-through. : )

If you get on pinterest and google summer bucket list, you can definitely find quite a variety. I wanted a way to display some of our ideas that didn't cost me anything and I was able to use supplies I had around the house to put it together. I actually started with this pretty picture on Instagram. (Her whole feed is full of gorgeous ideas of things that she does with her kids).





Washi tape + post-its.



The post-its weren't staying up on the wall on their own so I added some extra tape to keep them up.(We have a ceiling fan right over where this is on the wall and when it's on, it creates quite a breeze in the kitchen). I did most of the writing on the notes, but you can see (below) where someone has added an idea or two of her own.



I think she's a little optimistic about how much time it will take to watch all those movies!

Ideally, as we do each activity, I'd like to replace each post-it with a photo from us doing the outing / activity. Then, even more ideally, I might put those in some sort of mini-book at the end of the summer. We'll see how that pans out.



On the list this summer:

• blueberry picking
• exploring Burgess Falls
• watch Anne of Green Gables with the girls
• visit Radnor Lake
• trolley ride
• the zoo!
• How to Train Your Dragon 2 in the theater
• bowling
• science center
• Warner Park Nature Center
• Children's Discovery Center
• hiking and exploring trails at the local parks around us
• visit the Nashville Public Library downtown and take in one of their puppet shows
• kids make dinner on their own (a.k.a. mama's night off)
• visit Narrows of the Harpeth
• telescope night at Dyer Observatory (probably a big kid activity with Daddy)
• make liquid chalk paint
• finally do this crayon melting art project
• sponge war
• swim (including swimming lessons for B)
• VBS
• Classical Conversations Practicum
• bake through our Cookie Friday cookbook
• memorize Psalm 1 and 19
• drive in theater
• park and pool days with our CC friends
• summer reading program with the library
• lots and lots of reading aloud together!

I'm sure some activities will get added as the summer goes along and some will get dropped altogether. All-in-all, it's shaping up to be a pretty fun summer regardless!

40 Days

I need Lent this year.

There has been a lot of complaining. (You probably have not heard it but it's there).

There has been stewing over situations and letting frustrations fester.

There has been the trying-to-do-all-the-stuff to the point that none of the stuff gets done.

40 days. I need this season. A season that isn't talked about much in the circles that I generally run in, but one that I want to learn more about and benefit from. I do not, under any circumstances, profess to be an expert on Lent. But a season of reflection in the 40 days until Easter, to think about the sacrifice that Jesus faced on the cross for me and the victory that He won. And to think about why he made that sacrifice.

Me. My sin. My shame.

Time to reflect on what he has done for me when I was so underserving.

Resources / books that I'm gathering:
Lent Journal from Naptime Diaries
Journey to the Cross Devotional from The Gospel Coalition
Keep a Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliott

Thoughts from a Blue Bike

Last fall was a wild one for us. We kicked off September with a retreat at a nearby family camp and it seemed that the next time we blinked, it was Christmas. There was a one-day a week homeschool tutorial, a one morning per week Bible study, and three girls playing sports (which equaled three to four weekly practices and games between them). There was a husband with a full time job and a decent part (to sometimes seeming more like full) job leading music on Sunday mornings and starting up a church youth band. There was a mama who spent her days homeschooling three girls, doing laundry for an army, wearing out a busy boy, planning and cooking meals, tutoring at the homeschool coop, and working part time for her church. And doing quite a bit of chauffeuring and calendar management to make sure it all fit in. I’m guessing our fall was not so different from many of yours. Busy.

As I’m pondering a year of living intentionally, I have been very thankful that 2014 has started off with a much different look to it. While we can’t say no to work responsibilities because the house payment does need to be made, we have worked on paring down a few of our extra-curriculars for the next few months to give us a little breathing room. So far, it’s been a good thing.

I just finished reading through Tsh Oxenreider’s new book Notes from a Blue Bike: The Art of Living Intentionally in a Chaotic World. While her book feels like a memoir of sorts as she weaves tales of her family’s time living internationally throughout the text, her passionate message for living simply jumps off the pages. She shares choices that her family has made for intentional living in several areas such educational choices for their kids, media and entertainment choices for their family, the decision to eat mostly local and/or fair trade food, and many others. She’s passionate about the decisions that her family has made in these areas and enthusiastically shares them in the book.

But the thing I really like about her book?

She encourages the reader to find their own passion. Slow down. Make room in your days, weeks, months to think and pray about your dreams and goals for your family and what direction you want to be heading. And then, she says, “living with intention requires a blueprint.” (p. 197) Put pen to paper (or fingers to a keyboard) and scratch out a game plan on getting from point A to point B.

I’m a planner and a die-hard list maker. I love to look forward to events, plan celebrations, and anticipate holidays. But where I want to be in the next five years? Or ten? I could stand to spend a little more time on that. And those passions of mine that keep getting pushed to the back while I’m struggling to stay ahead of the laundry monster and the homeschooling beast? Write those down too. Give breath to them and acknowledge that one day, when my kids don’t demand quite so much of me and I have a little more room to breathe, there are some wonderful things that I want to do that I believe God has placed in me. Don’t hear that I’m wishing away the now. I’m not. I signed up for this parenting ride of sleepless nights and sippy cups. But in the quiet moments where I have an extra fifteen minutes, an extra half hour, an evening where a window of time opens, pull that blueprint out and pick one small thing that I can do to step towards that goal.

Intention means an act or plan, so living with intention actually means living with a plan. Making your days, choices, and relationships count toward something ultimately doesn’t matter if you don’t know what that something is. (p. 197)

Thank you, Tsh, for sending me a copy of your book and for encouraging me to keep on with what I’m doing. Slowing down, breathing in life now, and encouraging me as I look to the future to do so with a plan in mind.

This post is part of the Blue Bike Blog Tour, which I’m thrilled to be part of, second only to coffee with Tsh and getting to know her in person! To learn more about the tour and join us, head here. Notes From a Blue Bike is written by Tsh Oxenreider, founder and main voice of The Art of Simple. Even though it sometimes feels like you are swimming upstream, you and I DO have the freedom to creatively change the everyday little things in our lives so that our path better aligns with our values and passions. Grab your copy of her book here.

Sunday Quotes

As an adult, my struggle isn’t recognizing the value behind the little things—it’s intentionally setting aside time, energy, and focus to breathe them in, deeply. Sucking the marrow out of life requires that I sit down in the silence, un-entertained. (p. 187)

A more intentional life purposely slows down enough to enjoy the very process of living more intentionally ... Do whatever it takes to increase your sensitivity to the little things in life you wouldn’t otherwise notice, much less savor, if your autopilot setting is hurry. (p. 206)

-- Notes from a Blue Bike, The Art of Living Intentionally in a Chaotic World by Tsh Oxenreider

Photos: from Saturday morning. Sunshine, coffee, grocery lists and more Skip-Bo. What Saturday morning is made of.

Sunday Quotes: a quote from something I read that I marked in a book, worthy of remembering and sharing.

Sunday Quotes

Vision, values, character, and disciplines developed in the spring-time of life serve even into winter. Whatever the age, it is not too soon to prepare for the rest of life. Looking ahead, giving thought, pondering what I know of God, His will and ways, taking appropriate actions as a result, strengthens me rather than fosters dread.

-- Pursue the Intentional Life by Jean Fleming

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 

-- Hebrews 2:1-3

Photos: from my first 5K which I ran yesterday.

Sunday Quotes: a quote from something I read that I marked in a book, worthy of remembering and sharing.

Chasing Sunlight

It has been so bitterly cold here. I have loved these days of cozying up inside, justifying that I can drink as much coffee and hot water with lemon as I want to because my hands will not stay warm. Folding the laundry fresh from the dryer isn't a drudgery right now because the clothes are hot on my hands.

But I'm missing the sunlight! The light has been there (off and on - we've haven't had too many truly grey days), but even when I'm in the light, it is still so cold outside! The last couple days I've been mindful as I've walked around the house with my camera and tried to pin down the sunlight and soak in that little bit of warmth that is coming through our windows.

Light across a face in the schoolroom.

Light across the well-used recipe book on the counter.

Light across the pile of potato peelings in a bowl.

Light across lunch spread out in the sunniest seat in the kitchen.

In my prayer book, there is a verse that is titled the refrain and it's repeated three times during the course of the morning reading. This morning's verse was so timely for me:

For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6

While I'm searching for literal sunlight to get through these long winter days of homeschooling my three girls (and chasing down that one boy) I am wanting that temporal fix. If I get out of the house, if I change my circumstances, if I can get just one minute alone! While the sunlight is good and needed, it's not the light that is going to sustain me long-term. That will keep my from snapping at my kids and losing my temper. Jesus is the light (John 9:5) that I want shining through me, spurring me on to obedience. Steadfastness. Faithfulness in my daily tasks. Being intentional in the words that I speak to those I live with and cross today's path. When I am worried or tired or just plain overwhelmed with all that is on my plate, I need to remind myself to look to the light from Jesus for the grace I need for my day. That's the light I want to be steeping myself in and living off of throughout the day.

Morning Prayer

Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought me in safety to this new day: Preserve me with your mighty power, that I may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all I do direct me to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen

-- from The Divine Hours, Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime

Sunday Quotes*

Every room in it meant something ... had some vital message for her. It had the look that houses wear when they have been loved for years. It was a house where nobody ever seemed to be in a hurry ... a house from which nobody ever went away without feeling better in some way ... a house in which there was always laughter. There had been so much laughter at Silver Bush that the very walls seemed soaked in it. It was a house where you felt welcome the moment you stepped into it. It took you in ... rested you. The very chairs clamoured to be sat upon, so hospitable was it!

-- Mistress Pat, L.M. Montgomery

*Sunday Quotes: a quote from something I read this week that I marked in a book, worthy of remembering and sharing.

It's Not the Holidays Anymore

January brings with it the return to a regular schedule of sorts. It also brought extremely cold temperatures this week. Like many, we have had uncharacteristically cold days (single digit temperatures) that have made it hard to return to the books. Not like the normal snow days where there is the cry to play outside with the neighbors and build snowmen - no, it's been far too cold for that. Even when bundled as tightly as possible the girls were only able to manage a few minutes outside before coming back in for hot chocolate. Myself, I have spent the last few days trying to stay warm and drinking unheard of amounts of hot coffee and hot tea.

We are slowly returning to our school day schedule. Yesterday there was quite a bit of reading aloud to get us in the right frame of mind. We finally finished book 1 in Little Women - our pre-Christmas read-aloud - and will be taking a breather before starting book 2. Today saw the return of math for everyone (always a sign that school is in session) and a library trip to pick up holds and replenish our reading shelf.

I am also trying to get back into a "it is not the holidays anymore" frame of mind in many different areas. The carbs have disappeared off my plate for the most part and lots of winter veggies are being roasted in the oven. Today's lunch looked so pretty in the sunlight on the table that I had to take a picture. (I admit it. I like to photograph my food. I can't help myself). : ) Early morning outings to get my running in before little people awake are back on the schedule. Social media check-ins are dwindling down each day as the time wasted spent is now being redeemed in other areas. (I'm planning an extended break from Facebook for the next several months - I find it's hard to be intentional about relationships there and it generally leaves me feeling ruffled and not at all like I've caught up with anyone. I'm learning that my introverted self, the one that avoids conflict like the plague, doesn't handle it well. Instagram is by and large my favorite place for capturing moments and memories and if you are inclined, you can find me there.)

I'm looking forward to a January filled with some returning activities as well as some intentional pauses to hibernate and rest during this winter season. Winter may be my favorite time of all for just that very reason.

January Intentions

Yesterday I shared my One LIttle Word for 2014 - intention{al}. One way that I will keep this to the forefront is to make monthly goals for myself so that my word (and the action I want to take) is kept front and center. Hopefully this will help me be mindful of what I'm aiming for as well as breaking down those big projects into smaller, more manageable bites. I'm also going to have several different categories that I'll be focusing on each month. I recently listened to a video on goal setting by Elise Cripe and she made the good point that if you spend all your energy focusing on just one area, you will be burnt out pretty quickly. As an aside, I think that was part of my lack of ... much of anything ... in 2013. I was very focused on physical health which was a very good thing, but being SO focused on that made everything else fade way far into the background. (I have hopes of a post (or two or three) on that one of these days).

Here's what I'm being intention{al} about for January:

Spiritually: diligence in my Bible study in John and continue to count gifts and journal (hopefully with more frequency). I also started using the book The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime and lost steam on it over the holidays. I loved this addition of some liturgy to my mornings and want to add that back in post haste.

Physically: run a 5K this month. (Yikes). It's on the calendar so now I need to be diligent in preparation.

Relationship: quality over quantity is what I'm going for here. My girls and have a date on the calendar to see a young friend's debut theater performance in High School Musical and we are very excited about that. Looking beyond just mama/child relationship, we also have a date on the calendar to take Grandma (my mom) out to lunch to celebrate her retirement this week!

Routine: re-establish my routine of early morning runs and earlier bedtimes. November and December were full of LATE nights which I do not function well with. Time to regroup for sure in this area.

Creatively: Learn to use my big camera just a little bit better. I won a spot in Ashley Ann's SNAPSHOP DSLR course and can't wait to start it. I still love my iPhone for convenience, but I would love to know a little bit more what I'm doing with my "good" camera!

Job: 100% of me when we are doing schoolwork. Better planning and preparation on my part as well, whether that means getting my act together on Sunday night before our week starts, reading a homeschooling book to inspire, or working through N1's Classical Conversations work ahead of her so that I understand how to diagram a sentence as well as she does!

Baby steps. And lots of them. : )

2014: The Year of Intention{al}

This year's word found me a few weeks ago. It's one that I'm excited to dive into over the next year, but also a little scared about. I have a feeling it's going to ask much of me. My word is intention{al}. (Why the funny little {al} at the end? Because when I read the definitions of both intention and intentional, aspects of both words jumped out at me, so this is my way of including both.) : )

This past year I felt like I floundered in several areas. I floundered in several parenting areas due to being unprepared and backing down in areas when I should have been gearing up toward the more intense seasons of parenting that are here. Our homeschool floundered because I didn't do as diligent of a job in planning and preparing. My natural abilities in organization helped us get by, but that's where it stopped. Just at getting by. These are just a couple examples of areas that I'm going to mention, but overall, it was just my lack of not trying and working as hard as I could. Hard to say, but there it is.

When I looked up these two words in the dictionary (because that's where I always try to start) I found some eye-opening definitions:

intention:

- a thing intended, an aim or a plan. A determination to act a certain way.
- the healing process of a wound.
- the object for which a prayer, mass or pious act is offered.

intentional

- done in a way that was planned or intended.
- synonyms that caught my eye: purposeful, conscious, voluntary, deliberate

This year, I'm tightening the reins on myself and putting my nose to the grindstone (to throw in a few very well known and possibly overused cliches). : ) I want to be very intentional in how I spend my time over the next 12 months and I have some very intentional plans that I want to pursue. What does this look like?

:: This means I am going to be making plans and then actually break them down into how I am going to accomplish them. As opposed to making pretty plans and lists and then conveniently forgetting about them.
:: It means that I'm going to be very specific about what I do plan to do. Pam at Everyday Snapshots had a great post on this in regards to making goals (specifically homeschool ones) that you can accomplish. For example: less "read great books" and more "spend a year reading at least six books by C.S. Lewis."
:: This means there will be a lot less time wasted. How much time was spent this year endlessly following clicks on different pages or aimlessly checking social media because I didn't do what needed to be done. An embarrassing amount. I'm done with that nonsense.
:: Quality time with Travis, the kids, in what I choose to read as opposed to quantity. I spend lots of time with my kids (and Travis), but I'm encouraged and reminded that I still need to be very deliberate about quality time with them, as a group and individually.
:: Being intentionally and 100% present in our schooling. And encouraging myself to learn along with the kids.
:: There is going to be some healing involved over this year. What does this mean? With some of the choices that I made over the last 12 months to skim in some areas, there will need to be some retraining, correction, and new habits set. Things like this are rarely easy and I'm anticipating it will mean "cleaning out" of the old (wound) so that there is healing and new habits set in. I absolutely loved this word picture.
:: Prayer!! Without this, and laying my ideas and thoughts before God, I don't figure that all the planning in the world will produce much fruit.

This is just skimming the surface - I have so many thoughts bubbling in my head and am very, very excited (nervous!) about this year. I want to be 365 days from now and look back and say that I faced each day wisely and focused on what the Lord wanted me to accomplish in that place.

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

2014. Bring it on.

You can read more about the One Little Word idea here. This is where I heard of it several years ago.

Previous year's words:
2013: Abide
2012: Here
2011: Serve
2009: Joy