Living with intentionality and an update on my goals.

This last weekend, we completed our second successful road trip!  We've taken others with the littles, but the travel time was not so ...."successful". Our magic button this time was the DVD player gifted to us by friends, that kept them calm for our 6 hours in the car Saturday.  My husband and I actually got to.....(gasp) talk!  This gives hope for future road trips. :-)  

One of the things we discussed is how our baby will soon be too big for her bassinet, and need to move in with her siblings. How can my baby be this big already? I wish the house would just clean itself so I could snuggle the littles all day everyday as they grow way too fast!

The problem with her growing so fast is we currently don't have room for another bed. We have two small rooms for the two kiddos which also function as the office and nursery. So some creative arraigning and downsizing must happen within a month or two. Eeek! This is definitely my area to grow in! I'm not good at letting go of things. It also means I must be focused with how I spend time, as daily life must be juggled with preparing for this next stage. 

I love this verse from our Bible study this week 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." A sound mind refers to a secure, sound, disciplined, calm, self-controlled, prioritized mind. Definitely what I need with these littles and preparing for each stage of their development!  Did you also notice that it says "God has not given us a spirit of fear"? Remember, my word this year is courage, courage to act or speak what is right without fear of approval. I 'waded into the waters' with speaking at our last mom's group, and next week I'll take another step as I share the devotional to start our meeting. I'm excited and nervous this group is still new to me.  God is so faithful to bless those steps when we obey. Last week at our co-op, I got to pray with a mama who was doing some medical testing the next day.  Life is too short to live quietly, without making deep connections with those around us. 

Here's an update on my goals this year:

1. Read 12 books this year (honestly if I can make it to 10, I’ll consider it a win)

Update: I finished Cozy Minimalist Home and Peter Pan. 

I’m currently reading Sacred Holidays by Becky Kiser.  It definitely makes you think about holiday expectations, and living intentionally and with grace. I need to read faster though! There's three books in route to me that I couldn't resist!

2. Explore the alphabet with my preschooler: our “preschool” takes different forms through the seasons. Sometimes we do letters, but through the holiday season we’ve read a ton of books.  

Update: We've been working through our letters with practice sheets, videos and games. Today we were working on letter I. 

3. Identify 5 plants/tracks: I think it would be amazing to be able to go on our nature hikes and …..gasp….name what I’m looking at. But, alas! I have no idea. So I ordered this book based on a recommendation from a friend.

Update: Now, the trick to being able to identify things is… I have to read the books. (sigh, there’s never enough time to read all the books I want) Hopefully this summer I can practice identifying plants/animal prints.

4. Get rid of 50 things: 

Update: I have a box in my closet where I stick things to donate.  It has a couple items in there. 

5. Learn to make more things from scratch.

Update: So far I’m learned to make yogurt, bread in the dutch oven, homemade cream of chicken soup, and my husband has made pretzels.  I’ll have to share those photos in another post.

6. Prepare for secret project

7. Blog/writing (I have ideas…but life seems to take all my time)

Update: At least I'm writing each week...mostly. It definitely is life giving to be able to write. 

8. Finish 2nd kids baby book and do the 3rd kid’s book

9. Clean out freezer and use up pantry (you know all those unmarked surprise dishes you find in the back of your freezer? yah….)

Update: I've been using up containers from the freezer, and tossed some things out today.  My husband has been watching YouTube videos of a British chef which has inspired us to be more creative with our meal plans. 

10. Do 10 projects with the little ones. 

Update: We haven't done anything big yet, besides our 'school time", nature journals, and birthday/Valentines day cards. 

How about you?  Where have you used courage lately?  Have you made progress on a goal? I'd love to hear! Please comment below!

Sojourning together,

Felicia

2nd book of the year and breath your own oxygen first.

I'm feeling hopeful for completing my reading goal this year. Especially, since I just downloaded our library's reading apps which give you access to tons of e books and audio-books that you can "check out" without even leaving your house! I just finished reading/listening to Peter Pan, the original version. It is sooooo not like the Disney version!

I was surprised by the violence in the book, and honestly read parts of it very fast hoping my preschooler would miss those details. We are doing a book study for our co-op, and have some fun activities planned to celebrate reading the book as a group.  (ideas for character costumes anyone?)  But us moms learned a lesson: Review the book before choosing it for our group book. I ended up listening to the rest of it, then telling my kiddo a summery of each chapter. I think we'll watch the movie before the party to gain a better picture of the whole story, without the violence and extensive details. The original version is very, very, very detailed and can get kind of long to read especially in the first couple chapters. That being said, it was interesting to note some things about human nature: most all of the characters longed for a mother to care for them (even if they were tough), we long to be needed, our pride gets in the way of good decisions, and we love adventures.


I've been trying to be more disciplined with reading my own books.  Otherwise, I get to the end of a week and realize I'm still on the same page I was last week! :-) Life....it has a way of sneaking past us!  One of the many habits I need to develop is taking a few moments each day for something life giving. In the Charlotte Mason educational philosophy world, it's called 'mother culture'.   It's the idea of reading books, participating in hobbies, etc to feed your mind/heart.

On an airplane, the emergency instructions remind us to put on our own oxygen mask first before assisting others with theirs. If we don't have that supply going, we won't last long to help others.  Admittedly, I have not done well in this area. It's so easy to run around busy, caring for everyone's needs while neglecting my own. Then I get to the end of the day, and feel wiped out and cranky. I have nothing left for them, because I spent it all without receiving any input. It's been so cold here, that I went outside to run my van for 10 minutes so the battery wouldn't die. When I came in, I commented to my husband that those 10 minutes were the most alone time I had experienced all day. :-)

Here's some life giving habits I'm trying to develop:
1. Read Bible/prayer time in morning: this habit has been my daily routine for years.  But as my oldest likes to start the day between 6:30 and 7:15, I'm reminded that this must be FIRST in my day if I hope to have it be a quiet time (without preschool chatter in the background).
2. Drink more water: I'm not good at this. Do you have any tips for me? Today I'm trying out my new fruit infuser water bottle and hoping it's more motivating.
3. SIT DOWN to eat lunch with my kiddos, instead of snacking while I continue house projects. This calms my mind (pausing for a moment) and feeds my belly.
4. Choose something 'life-giving' as soon as the 3rd kiddo goes to sleep. The margin of time between getting the last kiddo to lay down for a nap, and when the 1st kiddo wakes up from their nap (also known as the 'magic hour'), can be short. So if I want to do anything 'life-giving' (write, read, organizational project, etc), I must be intentional with that time.

How about you?  What personal habits or boundaries do you have to make sure you are not running on empty? Please share!

Sojourning together,
Felicia

Making "all the things" : yogurt and dutch oven bread

Since one of my goals this year was to learn to make "all the things", I wanted to share a couple of things I've been learning this year. There's so many diets, food plans, 'magic tricks', and promises of this or that out there.  It's all confusing and sometimes contradictory to each other. I decided my food goal is to to eat real food. You know, the kind that you can grow or raise.  The kind that God made, not the kind grown in a factory and that has a really long unpronounceable name. :-) 

One thing I'm super excited about is learning to make my own yogurt! And it's super simple.
Tools:
Pressure Cooker with yogurt function
Thermometer

Ingredients:
1 gallon of milk
4 tablespoons of starter (plain yogurt with active cultures) (I use the leftover whey from the previous batch for mine, so I use more)

Dump the milk into the pressure cooker. Press the yogurt button to it turns to boil mode. When it beeps, check the temperature to make sure it reaches 180 degrees. (I use the saute function afterwards to help it reach 180 since my boil mode doesn't go that hot). Then remove the lid and let it cool down to about 110 degrees. This will take around an hour. Whisk in the starter, put the lid on, and press the yogurt button. 

Walk away and come back in 8 hours for yogurt.  If you want greek style yogurt, then you can strain it with a dishtowel or cheese cloth to separate the yogurt and the whey.  Pureed fruit makes great toppings for homemade yogurt!

A gallon of yogurt costs me $2 and I can pronounce all the ingredients!

(pictured: homemade yogurt and dutch oven bread)

If you want easy bread that doesn't require any kneading or a bread machine, then dutch oven bread is for you. It reminds me of the bread from those Italian restaurants that you dip in the olive oil mixture. It has a tougher crusty texture, perfect for dipping in sauces. 

This recipe came from A Mindful Mom, but you could probably google many different variations of it. 

Tools: 

Dutch Oven 

Mixing Bowl

Ingredients:

2 cups of warm water

2 teaspoons of salt

1 teaspoon of yeast

3 3/4 cups of whole wheat flour

Mix all the ingredients together and let it sit in a covered bowl overnight for 12-18 hours. In the morning, preheat your oven to 450 degrees and place the dutch oven inside to preheat. Dump the dough on a floured surface, and shape into a ball. When your oven and dutch oven are preheated, drop the dough in the center of the dutch oven, and place it in the oven. Bake covered for 30 minutes, then uncovered for 20 more minutes. Remove from the oven, and let cool before serving. 

The most magical part of cooking and baking is seeing your little ones enjoy your creation. Last night, my son was dunking his dutch oven bread in his homemade chicken dumpling soup. :-)  

How about you? What are you experimenting with in the kitchen? Or what new food did you try at a restaurant this week? 

Comment below and let me know!  

The way to big things is little steps

The way to big things is little steps....but oh, how those steps are tiresome!  I'm sure I've written about it before, but it's been on my mind again. I want big things!  No, I don't have dreams of climbing mountains (though the view would be amazing) or founding my own corporation.  My goals are a little more.....plain.

Honestly, the biggest goal each day is to survive with all the littles and pets in a healthy condition, and to not have the house torn apart when my husband gets home. And then if I have time for something extra, I'll attempt something from the goal list for the week. But survival...that is the basic goal. :-) 

This last week, it was so cold in our house due to below zero weather, that we were baking, cooking, pressure cooking etc to warm things up.  My kiddos love "helping" me bake, so I had a step stool and kid seat situated so they could be up at the counter. Dumping in ingredients and mixing it up are their favorite parts. This time I let them put muffin batter "into" the muffin pans. Notice that I said "into"...because when you give a two year old a spoon and tell him to put the batter "into" the pan....it will go everywhere on  the pan in his attempt to get it into the pan! All the while he'll keep telling you in his sweet little voice..."Make! Make!" 

Honestly, my husband questioned (and the thought crossed my mind) if it was worth it to let the kids help make the muffins due to all the mess that ensued. But the way to big things is little steps. If I want my kiddos to be capable helpers in the kitchen as they get older, then it starts with learning basic steps now. Stir gently, put the batter in the pan, pour slowly, and lots of waiting.

We all want to be the big ones, the ones people write stories about. But do we ever stop to think about how much little is in the big?  How many stones had David practiced throwing since he was a little boy, before his famous stone hit the big giant?  How much time did Mozart or Bach practice before anyone knew who they were? How many normal, everyday people impacted the lives of George Washington, Martin  Luther King Jr., and Billy Graham over the course of their lives to help them achieve great things?

The way to big things is through little steps. 

If I want my little ones to be able to care for their own homes someday, then I let my toddler drag the kid size broom around "sweeping".  I have them help put away the kid dishes, set the table, put away laundry, etc. Clearly, it's much faster, neater, quieter, and less stressful if I do it myself. But if I don't allow for the time consuming little steps to happen, the big goals will never be achieved. 

If I want to finish 10-12 books this year, I need to read this page today. If I want to lose the postpartum weight, then today I'll eat some vegetables. If I want to grow in knowing God more, then today I'll read my Bible. If I want follow Jesus' path for my life, then today I'll ask Him what He wants me to do. 

When I taught school, we celebrated each small bit of growth as a big accomplishment. There's a lot of little steps between counting to ten, and double-digit division. We had to break it down into small steps, that built on each other until you reached the big goal. Each small accomplishment meant you were further down the track to where you needed to be. 

Life's greatest achievements are broken into a series of little steps and small acts combined with perseverance. So often I feel overwhelmed looking at the big picture and wondering how I'll ever get there. But the secret isn't some magical program you can buy off the shopping channel.  It's in small steps combined with great perseverance.  It's in faithfully doing the mundane. 

PS. Those muffins turned out great!  So I'm hoping that the kids' character will turn out just as wonderful with time. ;-)  Little steps, guys....little steps.