Don't you love how I proclaim my inability to be quiet and then go
silent for almost two months? Yeah, me too.
January has been a pretty busy month for me. I feel kind of behind,
because I didn't really sit down to think about my goals for the year
as I usually do, but I did choose a word (or maybe it chose
me?) and I hope to be able to share about that sometime soon! (I
guess maybe choosing a word kind of eliminates the need to make a
huge list of goals. It is the filter through which every decision can
be made as it comes. Kind of a nice change!) It's actually working
out nicely for me, and I keep seeing God reveal this chosen theme in
different areas. He is so good!
Here's a hint at what my word might be: I've joined this 2,014 in 2014 challenge where you get rid of 2,014 items in (you guessed it)
2014. I've just grown so tired of being disorganized and cluttered
and weighed down by all the unnecessary items in our (tiny)
home. I've been so drawn to the idea of minimalism- especially since
my brain tends to get overwhelmed with too many choices. I mean, why
do we really need so much stuff? I think it gives the illusion
of prosperity, but it's a lie. You can't be prosperous when your
stuff is sucking the life out of your home. When you don't have space
to create or relax or whatever it is you do with your space...when
your stuff is not contributing to your well being...in the instance
of hanging on to items that don't work, or that don't work for you
(I'm looking at YOU, pre-motherhood clothes!)
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| A box of items that no longer live here. Yay! |
Anyway, that decluttering journey has begun. I've started to donate
items to a local women's center, as well as hauling stuff to
Goodwill. And some stuff (you know, like trash) is just going in the
trash. That counts too.
Books- Well, I have
turned into quite the slow reader. (It may have something to do with
a busy toddler I know...hmm.) I am still reading Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids. Matter of fact, I renewed it from the library twice, and
then checked it out again. That's how quickly I'm getting through it.
It's a great book, and I'm getting a lot of good tips from it and
gaining understanding about my own behavior as well as that of my
children. I just can't seem to get through it with any speed. I might
read more quickly if I could read more than five minutes every three
days or so. Ah well. I will finish it. Eventually.
Want to Read- I cracked
open Teach Your Own (try as I might to commit to reading one book at
a time!), and so far that's pretty interesting. I really love reading
books about homeschooling. It's so eye opening- especially being that
my husband and I both attended public school- and we literally knew
two families who homeschooled before embarking on our own journey
with our children!
Television- Ah...well
Downton Abbey is BACK! I have church on Sunday night, so I don't get
to be home to watch it when it airs, but God bless PBS. They stream
it for free online, meaning I am able to watch it the next day. And I
can pause it too! I think we all know why that comes in handy. I've
never been so sucked into a television show as I have with DA. It's
so not my style to be obsessed with a television show, but I love
following the lives of these fictional people. And then? Then once
I've finished an episode, I have to follow it up with reading
someone's commentary on the episode. I can quit when I want to. ;-)
Films- Akeelah and the Bee is streaming on Netflix now. That was such a great movie! I love
watching stories about unlikely-seeming people with a gift who
triumph over their circumstances. It helps that I LOVE words. I
shared this quote from it on my Facebook page a while back: "Our
deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that
we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness
that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You
are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people
won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as
children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is
within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we
let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our
presence automatically liberates others.” ~Marianne Williamson
So inspiring!
I also watched a documentary called The
Cartel- about the school system in New Jersey. Umm...scary! Films
like this make me so glad we chose the homeschooling route- not
saying schools are necessarily like this everywhere (I know they're
not- at least not to that extent), but to think that there could
be that kind of corruption lurking in a place where we send our
children to learn? No, thanks. We were warned. The love of money is
the root of all evil. It's even more terrible when people can't
resist the temptation when precious children are involved.
In My
Kitchen- Bread! Lovely bread. Baked by yours truly. I've been
using this recipe as a guide, and trust me when I say, it's
delicious! (I've tweaked it a bit, using bread flour instead of whole
wheat- actually the last few batches I've baked, I've used about a
cup of whole wheat flour and it's really good. The time I used all
whole wheat flour, no one was really impressed.) I'm still soaking
it to release the nutrients, and that seems to be a good thing.
Everyone seems to be tolerating it well. (If you have read for long,
you might remember that I had to eliminate wheat from my diet when I
was nursing my daughter- well I did the same with my newest addition-
now going on 20 months old- and I introduced soaked bread with no
issues. He even eats it just fine.)
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| Not bad for my very first bread attempt! Was delicious! |
Anyway, this bread
reminds me of the fresh bread that is served at some restaurants. Only
better. Mmm...bread!
Also? Helpers! Why
didn't I get on this bandwagon sooner? I had read an article recently
and one of my take-aways from it was the importance of allowing
children to learn to do things that benefit their family. Learning to
do things for themselves and how it builds their confidence. Genius!
Ha. I know I've had the tendency to simply do things because I
want it done a certain way (not thinking about how I might be
hindering their growth) and it's "easier" to just do it
myself. But I've been so blessed by my children's willingness to help
out and how it actually frees me up somewhat. (And it helps them, of
course!)
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| My little workin' man! |
What I'm
Looking Forward to Next Month- My husband is celebrating a
birthday! That's exciting. Not sure what we will do to celebrate just
yet. I will have to come up with something. Also, my oldest boy will
begin taking karate classes. Super exciting!
So tell me, what are YOU
into this month?
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