Is it fall already?

 The weather is definitely changing!  It's actually been a little brisk in the mornings, and we haven't turned on the window air conditioning lately. I see people mentioning pumpkin spice on Facebook, and even though I'm a fanatic....I'm not ready to dive into fall just yet. We have one last summer get together at the park this week and we are going through a big transition in our family in the next couple weeks.  But after that....you better believe I've been dreaming of what my husband likes to affectionately call the season where "fall just puked in our house" because there is fall decor everywhere! ;-)

I was surprised when I saw my last goals posting was 2 months ago!  I think it was because I wanted to accomplish a few more things before posting about them.

Goals:

1. Read 12 books this year 

Update: I finished Cozy Minimalist Home, Peter Pan, Sacred Holidays, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle , Farmer Boy, Faith, The Life Giving Parent , The Middle Matters, and The Prairie Homestead Cookbook.

9 books is pretty good for being the end of August! 

In my ''to be read pile' are Mother Culture by Karen Andreola,  It's all Under Control by Jennifer Dukes Lee, and Loving the Little Years by Rachel Jankovic. 

These have been relaxing reads and easy to pick up for a quick moment. Loving the Little Years is written from a mom in the trenches with 5 little ones of her own. She writes of real life stories, and inspires me to shepherd my children's hearts. It's All Under Control reminds us we don't have to keep a tight grip on life and it's ok to breath. :-)

2. Explore the alphabet with my preschooler: Goal completed. 

I've been thinking on how to develop our "Morning Time" or Morning Meeting. Each day during breakfast, the kids and I read the Bible and pray (between cleaning up messes, grabbing more food, telling the kids not to stand in their chairs...you get the picture). On my 'good' days :-) I try to add a bit more to it. Currently we've been reading the Action Bible which is written as a comic book, and a poetry book. We just started some basic reading lessons this week(Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons), so I'm excited to see how it goes!  

3. Identify 5 plants/tracks:

Update: Technically.....my goal is completed. But is learning about nature ever a completed goal? I think not. We've been enjoying the flowers in our yard lately. 

Spiraea

4. Get rid of 50 things: 

Update: Completed!!  The total will be much more than 50, but I stopped counting. 

5. Learn to make more things from scratch.

Update: While I can't think of anything new I've made, I did get some new cookbooks! From Freezer to Table and Love Real Food  My favorite enchilada recipient is from the Love Real Food book and I've heard great things about the Freezer to Table book! 

6. Prepare for secret project: News coming soon!  That's why you haven't heard much from me on Instagram lately. I've been busy preparing for this secret goal. :-)

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: no updates....just wishful thinking.

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: The freezer is significantly emptier!  

10. Do 10 projects with the little ones. 

Update:I feel like our zoo trips, library visits, nature walks, planting the garden, watering the deck plants, riding bikes, visiting the spray park, playing games, and coloring should count for this goal.

Honestly, this "secret project" has taken over our thinking lately, so forgive my lack of goal completion. I promise it is worth it.....and someday we'll get back to 'regular programming' (whatever that looks like). ;-)

Sojourning with you,

 Felicia

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Listening for the music

Part of why I love fall so much is the opportunity to slow down and cozy in. This summer we spent hiking, visiting parks, spray parks, the zoo, and lots of play dates. Summer break for school kids goes so fast, that we try and cram in all the fun with our friends we can before they head back.  At one point, even my social preschooler asked why we were going everywhere all the time (but when asked, she admitted she didn't really want to stay home).  When you think about it, it's only about eight-ish weeks of play-dates.

Jokingly I started saying that my mission this summer was to introduce everyone to nature. :-)  We visited the Arboretum with three different groups of friends along with our own visits just as a family. We also introduced friends to the love of nature hikes. This coming week marks the end of our summer shenanigans as all of our friends are heading back to the regular school rhythms of fall. Which is fine with me as our family is also preparing for a big life change (more news to come in future blog posts).

Often in the busyness of life, the noise hinders us from hearing the music. I know today it's been hard to hear it as my kiddos fight, tempers flare, and babies don't nap. It's hard to remember our purpose, and our "why" for our decisions when the noise fills our ears. But it's still there if we stop and listen closely.

One night as I was cooking dinner, my daughter started dancing and said "When you cook, it makes me bang my feet! It makes a song when you bang it." (mixing up the food)  It made me chuckle, and it made me think.  The music is in the ordinary life. The dramatic notes on high or low days are not what carry the beat, it's the everyday tasks and day in/day out caring for other people. 

Some days I feel my song is lost and I don't remember the words. Some days I just try to make it through the day with everyone safe and the house in order...ish. But when I see my daughter get up early and come down to sit by her daddy on the couch....both of them reading their Bibles side-by-side....my ears catch the notes of my song again. This....this is why we do what we do. The tough choices, the careful spending, the research, the long conversations and prayer over the littles, and the crawling in bed exhausted each night (and sometimes crawling back out at 3 am to feed the baby, then crawling back in again). 

When I see the love for each other in my kids' eyes, when I hear them sing all the songs and verses we've learned together, when they sit and read books quietly.....my song comes back to me. 

What's your why? Do you hear your music playing above the noise of life? Society will try to drag you into so many rabbit trails and mazes to make your head spin and you lose sight of who you are. 

In Max Lucado's book The Song of the King, three knights set out through the forest to reach the castle and win the princess's hand in marriage. Each day the King would play a song on his flute to help them know the way to the castle.  However, creatures of the forest also played flute songs and imitated the Kings's song in an effort to throw the knights off course. Who won the competition? (spoiler alert)  Was it the strongest or bravest?   No, it was the one who asked the King's son to journey with him, so he could memorize the King's song and follow those notes despite all the imitation music that tried to deceive him. 

Let's remember our why, keep our ears in tune with our song, and refuse to let the noise and busyness of life drag us off course. 

Sojourning with you, 

Felicia

Habits are the ribbons that hold our lives together.

After a busy couple of days of end of summer play-dates, visiting the dog groomer, and running errands, it's been nice to be home in our normal routine today. Our family thrives on simple habitual actions through out the day. Each morning, the kids and I meet over breakfast to read our Bible, pray, work on memory work (months, days of week, numbers, verses), read poems/story, etc. The other day I was preparing my breakfast smoothie early, and my daughter exclaimed "But mom you're supposed to have that during Bible time!"  Nap-time involves two stories, prayer and then tucked in bed. After each meal, the kids help clear the table. 

When we return from trips, meeting at the breakfast table for cheerios and "Morning Time" bring a sense of relief as we settle back into our rhythm. Rhythms and routines ground us after being tossed around by the busyness of life. Recently I shared with a dear friend how I want to start reading lessons with my preschooler soon. She suggested that I wait until after our big transition coming soon. But I responded how with all the chaos and uncertainty coming up, my kiddos needed the stability of still meeting each morning to eat, read, and learn together. Sometimes.....I need it more than them.

Recently I listened to this podcast on Habits on the Charlotte Mason Poetry site and it made me think about my daily choices. Raising little ones definitely makes me reevaluate my actions/habits, as I consider what I want to pass on to them.  We all have habits (habitual responses, unconscience decisions, etc) both good and bad that direct our daily lives. Our sub conscience is trained to think, act, and speak certain ways. Without thought (seemingly) we drive to work, greet people, make judgement calls about situations, etc. Sometimes it can feel like we are a 'victim' of our sub conscience or habits, rather than realizing that we (or others) have trained it.

Choosing to develop a new habit is hard. It's like exercising a new muscle and requires intentional thought. At first, it may be awkward, painful, or frustrating, but with time it becomes natural and part of our sub conscience training. The key is intentionally choosing it over a period of TIME. As with exercise, each time we choose it, that muscle grows. Brushing their teeth before bed is an automatic action for my kids. Because they thought it was fun? No, because I intentionally choose it for them each night until it became automatic.

Two of the take away's from the podcast were:
1. Developing/teaching good habits in order to have healthy automatic actions/responses.
2. Developing discernment to recognize when our automatic responses/actions are wrong and what the appropriate replacement habit is.

Remember, you can't eat an elephant in one bite. Personal growth and teaching habits to others needs to be sustainable, and in bite size portions. :-) If it's not doable, we won't do it. :-) 

We're in this together.

Sojourning with you,
Felicia

Wading Through Truth

We just met this morning to map out our school year with our co-op, so my head is spinning with books, classes, nature journals, and hikes. I also just received a copy of the Gentle and Classical Preschool Guide (I won the giveaway!) and am anxious to peruse that to make plans for this fall.  I feel our days go smoother when I have some structured moments mixed in with their imaginary play. And my kiddos love "school time"!  Planners, notebooks, and lists make me happy, so I'm anxiously awaiting a day to look over our Wild and Free group plans and our preschool book so I can get them into my planner.

Speaking of books, I just finished The Life Giving Parent by Clay and Sally Clarkson. Some books you can pick up for easy reading between activities like The Middle Matters, while other books require time to concentrate while having paper and pen handy to take notes. The Life Giving Parent  requires waders as the authors will quickly take you in deep down a river of truth.  Meant to be read alongside The Life Giving Table and The Life Giving Home, this book answers the question of how to live as a 'life giving parent' in order to create a 'life giving home' and have 'life giving' experiences at your family table.  

The topics cover our children's Spirit, Heart, Mind, Will, Faith, Character, and Imagination. The authors discuss the importance of knowing your child's personality to be able to communicate truths specifically to him/her, and emphasize the importance of living out what you expect of your kids as truths/morals are always more easily 'caught' than 'taught'. 

Here are some of my favorite nuggets from the book:

"Parent them with the end in mind....When you begin parenting with the end in mind, you will make the most of the time you have to shape and influence your child's heart and mind for God."

"God doesn't want us to let mediocrity crowd out excellence in our mind; He wants us to train our appetites to appreciate beauty and excellence."

"Our deepest conviction was that the most important learning for our children would not be what happened in a classroom but what transpired in the informal settings of our home."

The end of the book really hit home. While discussing the history of the nation of Israel, they made the statement "the future of Israel is in the hands of it's parents".  They went on to describe Daniel being taken captive, then given a ruling position in a foreign government because of his faithfulness to God and his honorable character. Daniel's parents didn't know what Daniel would have to face in his lifetime. But their diligence to invest in him at home returned great rewards in a foreign court. 

Not knowing what the future will hold for my kiddos, I want to invest what I can now to give them to best possible foundation for their lives. This lesson also applies to any people that cross my path. How can I be a help and not a hindrance to what God is doing in their lives? 

Sojourning with you,

Felicia

PS. This book was given to me for review purposes by the Tyndale Publishing Company, but all opinions are mine.