Let the music lead you

This last couple of weeks we have hit up our local(tiny!) library and August found a set of books that he loves. They are a bit longer than picture books, but not chapter books either. Each book is about a different person from History and talks about their life and some kind of character trait.

Today we read about Beethoven and giving. Many people invested in his life and music and when he felt like giving up, he persevered and gave back, with his beautiful music. 

Afterward I got on youtube and found a couple songs and I said to lay down, close your eyes and dream about what the music is saying. 

Well, there was no lying down, but there was plenty of imagining! Zade rushed over to me and said, "Mom, I thought of a new word! Musimovie!" They started creating a story of a man in the desert with a turban, sneaking up to a princess' window and trying to capture her. They went in and out of character and multiple characters throughout the music(about 30) minutes, and came up with a pretty good story! Princess, ballroom dancing, sword fights, poison, the antidote, good guy, bad guy, etc. 

I wrote it down as they performed and they loved that even more! I read it back to them and then they chose a couple other symphonies and made up new plots and stories. 

The only input I gave them was to try to think of a completely different story and characters from the one before. 

It was such a fun hour! We haven't delved into Shakespeare yet, but I hope when we do, they will want to reenact the plays! 

We finished our read aloud today also. Ralph Moody's, Little Britches. We all really enjoyed it. There was a lot of great lines from Father to son that I hope sunk into their heads and hearts. 

For the summer we kept things really simple. We wrote out 1, 2, 3 John and the kids read 2 chapter books. Zade read Sign of the Beaver and a magic tree house book and Grace read May B. and the same magic tree house book, Dolphins at Daybreak. I wanted to challenge them to read something a little harder or longer than they have been, but in the end we made a compromise of one hard and one easy. Their reward was a date night with mama. Zade and I saw TMNT, and Grace are going bowling tonight. 

Other learning happened through planting our first garden and reaping the benefits of that. Also, having a garage sale and making change, lots of life lessons and many late nights with great conversations and movie watching. 

We are moving in a week so we haven't started the traditional school year yet. We will move and get settled, spend a good week with long nature walks exploring our new area and then get back to the books. I am looking forward to every part of it! 

I will share more as we get into September what books we will be going through, but for now I just wanted to journal a little of what our summer has consisted of. 


Enjoying the last of it, for soon enough we will be snuggled up with hot chocolate and tea and gazing at the leaves changing and the snow falling. 

You will be jolly

Micheal comes home happy pretty much always (one of the many reasons I love the man!), but tonight I could tell a load had been lifted. 

He was at the bread depot after a long days work and one of the guys he works with told him to not even bother putting his truck up for sale, he would buy it.    !!!!!!!  

This has been one of the harder things we have been trying to figure out. He needs the truck until his last day of delivering, but we can't afford it after we sell the business, nor do we want a vehicle payment in general, but there won't be any more than a week to try and sell it before we move. What to do? What to do? 

He came home and told us all the news and we couldn't help but send praises up to God and thank Him for this small (but really big!) miracle! With the kids looking at us with huge smiles, we shared with them the joy of praising God when He does the unexpected, the amazing, the miraculous. 

"Every day you will see things and you have the choice to give praise to whom it is due, or not be moved and think it no big matter. But the more you see and realize that God is moving and working things out all the time and always making the sun rise and set, always giving us air to breathe, always making beautiful things, you will be jolly!" 

We both feel completely over our heads with this life. We don't have all the answers. We don't have all the money. We don't have all the connections. 

But we have life, because of Christ. We have the answers we need when we need them because of our God. We have all the money we need when we need it and not a moment before then, because of the provision of our Lord. We have all the connections we need, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. 

So we rest and know that all things will work out, in His timing and in His way. 

And we rejoice when God moves in our lives! 

How fun is it to live this life with Jesus?!! 

It's the best kind of fun I know!

I heard a hushed voice

...... "that God was waiting in the depths of my being to speak to me if I would only be still enough to hear His voice."  - Streams in the Desert, pg. 255, A.B. Simpson

Do you hear Him?

Close your eyes and try to concentrate.

Drown out the sounds of dogs barking and machines whizzing.

Do you hear Him?

Tell yourself to shush. Don't worry about the bill needing to be paid, the laundry crumpled in the corner.

Spill your heart out to Him if it helps to calm you. Then be still. Know God. He is there and wants to whisper sweet words of life to you. 

Let Him overwhelm you. Let Him share His heart with you. Let Him reveal the answer to your problem or encourage your heart to just wait a wee bit longer, the answer will be coming shortly. 

Open up the dialogue with God and He will keep the conversation going quite wonderfully.  

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It was a hectic night of a cranky baby. An early morning of challenging myself with a new photography shoot. A nice visit with a couple of my girl friends. Coming home to extra kids and making lunch. All blessed things, just busy. Late this afternoon I was washing fruit and staring at my wilting roses and decided to take a few pictures. Then I laid down, rested and talked to God. The down time wasn't long but I found myself thinking over what God and I had talked about the rest of the evening. I was comforted and sent out again to finish the day. 

And so the story continues........ what will He say next? How will I respond? It's a conversation that will never end and never be boring or irrelevant. It's a conversation I long for more and more. 

Share the washi tape

My older sister seems to know everything. I don't know how she does it. Maybe it's a first born thing. Maybe after you are born, God pulls you aside for just a sec and says, "Now, looky here. You are the first born of this little family and soon enough you will have sisters and brothers and they will all look up to you so you're going to need a little extra something. A bit of knowledge to pass on. So here you go," at which He supernaturally, because we are talking about God, puts some great stuff there into that firstborn's mind. 

You see, awhile ago, my sister was on the phone with a friend and her friend is telling her all about this awesome stuff called washi tape. "You can use it for just about anything", she says. And at that, my sister says, who don't forget is the first born, "Oh yeah. I've been using it for years! It's great!" Her friend at hearing this, is a little disappointed. She says, "Why didn't you ever tell me about it?" Hmmm. You see, my sister, Michelle is her name, never thought to tell others because she thought others knew about it already. I find myself in conversation sometimes, feeling a bit shy when I talk of something because I think surely they have heard this all before. But that is just not the case all the time. 

So I am here to share something new (to me) in hopes that if you have never heard of, in this case an author (did I lose ya?), then you can join the party!! 

Does the name G.K Chesterton ring a bell? 

If you are like me, you may have heard the name or seen a quote at some point and that is about as far as it went. Can I encourage you to grab one of his books? I have only read this one and it's free! This guy is a great story teller! I bet you can't read it without smiling. I hope you do read it and smile. 

Next on the list, will be Orthodoxy and then The Complete Father Brown Series. 

Chesterton has a bunch of books and rightly so. He is an interesting cat. 

And that my friends is all I wanted to share with you today. 

Share your knowledge! The world needs to know about washi tape and Chesterton. 

What have you recently found out about that you want to share? 

Being frugal: a post for my Mom

My Mom is the most frugal gal I know. She sticks to thrift stores and garage sales and rarely buys anything that is not on sale. While in my first 29 years I hadn't been so good with our money, these past couple years she must finally be rubbing off on me.  

For our garden,  we wanted affordable and tasty mixed with a pleasing aesthetic. Bluejeans and Pearls style, you know? 

I think we are there. 

We bought our heirloom seeds from Baker Creek , a few bags of soil and a roll of twine. That's it! Luckily we had the rest. 

Our lilac in the front yard needed a bit of trimming, so we -and when I say we I mean Micheal- whacked off a few branches and used them to support our 'maters. Have you seen how expensive tomato cages are? No thank you! 

Our boards for the raised beds were saved from when we ripped out our back deck last summer. 

Our potatoes were going bad so instead of tossing them, we stuck them in the ground. They weren't in the original plan for our garden. 

Bring on the frugal and beautiful!

Mom, I hope you are proud! 

 

Feeding your imagination

If you know me or have read this blog even just a few times, you will know that I am a simple girl. I don't write about grand things. Well, that's not true. I write about the grand things of life in a non-grandiose kind of way. :) I mean isn't all of life grand in some way or another?

I dream of using a large vocabulary and knowing how to put the words together just so and making them sound beautiful at the same time. I am not there, yet. Semi colons; they still get me! But I like to read and that is a great way to learn. This blog is a fun way for me to grow in those areas also. 

And, oh the reading!  I just finished this fantastic book called Paradise Lost. Have you heard of it? I have to laugh a little writing that question out because  I am sure most of you have, but to be honest I hadn't until just a few weeks ago. Kind of funny because it has been around since the 17th century! It's a good one. It is the first classic I have read!

Have you ever heard people talk about going to Israel and how when you go and actually see what it looks like, smell the smells and walk through the towns where Jesus walked, the Bible comes to life? 

This book does that for me! I won't be going back in time to the fall of man and I can't go into heaven to see what all goes on up there(not yet!), but Mr. John Milton uses words in such a descriptive way, I feel like I am right there in the story. 

It paints a detailed picture of "Paradise Lost". Mainly the fall of Satan and the angels that decided to follow suit, the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve and what their days could have been like, and the anguish of Adam and Eve when they ate the forbidden fruit.  There are beautiful conversations between God and Jesus and between Adam and Eve and saddening/maddening conversations between the devil and the rest of the fallen angels plotting against God's treasured humans. 

Paradise Lost has been a wonderful book for me. The vivid pictures it has painted helps me envision what happened. It has given me the experience of "going there." That's what a good book will do for you! It has helped me think through creation and how it must have been for our ancient parents to have gone through what they did. It reminded me of God's grace and mercy and His decision to give us freewill.  It is a book that will stick with me for a long time. 
I wish everyone would read it! 

Just this last week, I have realized that I do not learn well by listening. I am definitely a visual and kinesthetic learner. Although I will say that being a Christian and going to church for 22 years, I have learned things from sitting quietly and listening, so all those years of church going have not been in vain. 
It's been an interesting week with this newfound knowledge. I have known my children's learning styles but for some reason have never thought about my own. All this to say, I have really enjoyed reading this year and I feel like the combination of reading and writing things down as I go, AKA journaling and keeping the dictionary close by, helps to concrete the info in my ever forgetful brain. 


What have you been reading? What have you been learning about yourself? 

Things learned in May

1. You have to be very careful when transplanting tomatoes. Their roots are super sensitive. Broccoli and cabbage need to go in earlier than the middle of May. It's getting hot and they don't fair so well in the heat. Potatoes are easy to grow. We do live in Idaho. 

Oh, please survive. I want to eat your fruit so bad!

2. Kids love to do it (whatever *it* may be) themselves if at all possible. Don't step on their toes. Let them fail and learn from it. But sometimes even when they know how, they love Mom to do it for them. Like making breakfast. One day they are all empowered on knowing how to make their own food and the next morning they are wanting to sit on the couch and have their mama serve them. It's all good. 

3. Yerbe Mate Chocolatte doesn't make great ICED tea. Keep that one HOT. 

4. Archimedes was born in Syracuse and Paul the Apostle traveled through Syracuse during his missionary travels. Random books coming together. I love when that happens! Archimedes and the Door of Science and the book of Acts from the Bible. 

5. There is a tender and important balance between taking photos to remember an experience and just letting it be experienced for the goodness of what it is and not having any hard evidence that it happened. I have not mastered this but am attempting to find that balance and enjoy the moments for what they are without having to run and get the camera. 


Chatting at the Sky has a link up. I read Emily's book, Million Little Ways early this year and found it very inspiring. Her blog is just the same. 

What have you learned in May? 

For the love of words

I keep seeing book lists for the summer.  I don't have the slightest idea what I will be reading a month from now, as I am more of a free spirit, live by the moment kind of gal, but these are the hopefuls to finish by the end of June.

A bit random. Ministry of Motherhood I have read before. I am into Paradise Lost by just 2 chapters. Messenger is in The Giver series, and an easy and quick read. I have started A Tale of Two Cities about 3 times and have never gotten into it. I am hoping it will be different this time. The Light Between Oceans has to do with water and a baby lost and wanted and will probably make me cry. 

Happy reading! 

Trust the process

Last Spring I started to think toward the next "school year" and therefore was contemplating, more than anything, what curriculum to buy and use. 

The Lord prompted me to pray about it, so I did. 

He ended up leading us in a completely different direction than I had anticipated and what a great year it has been! 

First off, I didn't buy a curriculum. What??!! Yep, you read that right. We didn't follow someone else's idea of what to do in a year of school. We did our own thing. 

Next, the Lord quietly spoke that we were not to do any extras. No sports. No gymnastics. No music class. No co op. Nothing that put me behind the wheel, driving the kids to and fro to this and that activity.  

It has been a quiet year at home with my children. We continued in our studies of U.S. History; presidents, events, wars, people, states, capitols, etc. 

I found that I kept coming across unschooling or life learning articles and books to read. I especially loved the book, Free to Learn by Peter Gray. There were times that I felt the kids had more freedom than the regular idea of school permits and that I was alright with in the past, but I saw and kept track by journaling that they were indeed reading books, studying numbers and by all accounts.... learning!! I have felt the need to continue in my own learning more and more too. Not only for the fact that it is just fun to learn, but I want to have more wisdom and thoughts to share with them too! 

We have gone to a couple of plays, with another one this month. Culture is good! We have gone swimming and skating and to the movies all as a family. We have enjoyed time at home building, cooking, baking, cleaning, organizing, playing music, taking pictures (kids and me), gardening, and being free to play how we all wanted. The kids are in our van right now, playing that that is their home. I have mentioned I would like to sell it so they are getting as much time playing in it as they can!

We have read books aloud and read alone in bed at night. The kids have stayed up late some nights with an idea of a restaurant, cooking and making signs and menus. They have stayed up late watching movies and whispering to each other.  Most of us are night owls and it has worked out well for us to "do school" later in the evening when they have all their wiggles out and the cooking and cleaning are done and baby is asleep. 

All this to say..... trust the process. I see my kids reading, interested in numbers and life and how things work. They are not "broken". We have learned and enjoyed ourselves immensely. We have grown. We have seen new things. Met new people. Learned new concepts. Figured out new ways of doing life. And we are all the better for it! 

It has been a fantastic year! 

Now, I realize that the traditional school year is not over but I feel a transition in our own home right now.  We are out and about more. Going on field trips. Thinking about signing up for t-ball or soccer. Serving in ministries. And it all feels right. I see that we are moving out of one season of life and right into a new one. God is like that. It is not always BIG transitions but small ones that keep life moving along. 

I have been praying that God would show us what this new season or school year will look like. Do I buy a curriculum? Do we sign up for activities? Do we keep going with what we were doing last year? 

I feel like He wants to do something new this year. Something different than last year. I feel a push to really be apart of our community and serve others. I feel a need for a little more structure for our studies. I feel a need to get my kids into activities that will encourage and stretch them. To have them learn from others. To get outside of their comfort zones. To get me out of my comfort zone! 

But in all this, I know that whatever it is that God guides us to and through, it will be good, because He is good and desires more for us. More love. More living in His Spirit. More service. More growth. So much MORE! 

God says that He came that we may have life, and that we may have it more abundantly! Well, by golly I want some abundant life! 

I pray we all take some time to search and know what it is that God is calling and leading us into. 

Staying with what He has been doing through you? Moving you onto something new? Something challenging? Something you may not want to do? Something you have been itchin' to do for ages now?! 

Lean into God. He will direct you. It may look different than what you have planned but trust Him and in that process of learning to trust Him you will have grown and who doesn't want a little growth in their life? He will give you peace with what He calls you to. 

I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry.
.... and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth - Praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the LORD. Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust.... 

~ Psalm 40: 2-4a 


I have learned that although I love hearing from other people; their opinions and experiences, the most guidance and peace I have received for my own circumstances have come from God.  He loves when we ask of Him! He loves to share His wisdom and ways with us! We just need to go to Him....

Yes Lord, yes Lord, yes, yes Lord

Alright, so I'm thirty now and learning all sorts of new things about myself. A new thing this week revealed is that I'm pretty darn good at saying no. 

I almost have no problem saying no if I don't want to do something. Or even if I do but am nervous about it. It seems for all the articles I have read and people's comments that most have the exact opposite problem. Saying yes to too much. Anyone else on board with my side of the problem? 

One of my favorite verses is: 

 1 Thessalonians 4:11 ... that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands...

A lot has changed since having children. I am quite content to stay at home most days. Adding to that is the fact that taking four children out and about is fairly difficult, even when they are well behaved! Add in another factor of a husband's hectic work schedule and it just makes sense to stay home and not overcommit. 

But the flip side.....

we miss out on beauty, fun, community, learning. 

 We have a full day planned today and not much time planned as a complete family, let alone some one on one time with my husband. There was a field trip planned to go to a local greenhouse. I almost said no. I'm so glad we went! 

It was beautiful and fun and informative. I learned of another local business to support and how it is in the fourth generation of family owners!! The kids loved it. 

We have been blessed with a fantastic group of families in our lives in the last few months who we really connect with and love. And we get to do life together! I love the time we spend together, getting to know each other and letting the kids be kids. 

It was just the two oldest which made it so much easier on me and this is where I still feel like saying no is alright. I have young children. A baby that still wakes up in the middle of the night and has a hard time being still when he is awake. My mind just can't handle the chaos of 4 children by myself in a new place as well as some Moms can. I realize my limits and instead of stressing out about going we just usually stay home. 

All this to say, I am trying to find a balance of yes and no. Stay and go. What is really good and worth while and what we could miss and be just fine about. It was lovely taking the older ones today and leaving the littles at home. A nice change of pace.

It was lovely saying yes.