week 3
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2012 Week TWO
things I don’t do
In an effort to promote transparency, or full-disclosure, or whatever the newest buzzword is for such things, I have composed a list of things that I don’t do, unless absolutely necessary. I am often told “I can’t believe how much you get done” or “wow, you how do you accomplish all you do?” Most times, I respond by saying, “It’s an illusion.” But as schooling the boys, preparing meals or snacks, or other responsibilities have required more time, some chores or pleasures have had to go so I could focus on specific chores or pleasures. So in an effort to keep my sanity, I carefully made this list and discussed it with JD.
1. Iron. Yep, that’s the first thing on the list. I do iron, some. I am fortunate that JD works in a very relaxed environment. He’s found a favorite golf shirt at Kohls. I am thrilled it comes in long and short sleeves. He has them in many colors. Many colors. Throw in a few polos, sweaters or pullovers. When he has to wear a dress shirt, that’s fine because it usually takes about 30 minutes a month to catch up with the ironing. What an improvement from our early years of marriage when he wore dress shirts and slacks every day!
2. Get Up Early/Stay Up Late. I’ve tried both. God has made my body to require nine hours of sleep. I can survive pleasantly on eight. After years of trying to get up before the crack of dawn, trying to be in the 5 a.m. club, I finally asked JD if he liked me trying to get up early so I could have my quiet time, shower, and exercise finished when he and the boys awoke. He said no. Remember, those nine hours I need? It is all a trade-off. If I get up early, I go to bed early. JD didn’t like me going to bed at 9 p.m. every night. I know some who do this but take naps every afternoon, but that just didn’t work for me either! Also, I very, very rarely stay up past 10 p.m. My brain shuts down around 9 p.m. anyway, so unless I am chatting with friends or actively doing something, I’m falling asleep!
3. Formal Exercise. I know, I know, supposedly one can always find time to do what one wants to do. I don’t want to exercise. There, I said it. I do like being active though. The boys and I go to the park with the dog three times a week and walk 1.4 miles around our little local lake. I jog with JD when the weather is good. I am continually going up and down the stairs. Continually. I am outside moving on our 40 acres often. But do I do 45-60 minutes of continual aerobic exercise daily. NOPE.
4. Watch Television/Movies. I used to really love down time with my DVR, after the kids were in bed. But even then, I felt as if I was wasting time. Plus, I would stay up too late, then sleep too late…. you know the cycle. Thus for now, no TV. I don’t miss it. At all. It was easy in the summer when it is light out and we stayed outdoors later. I did think it would be harder in the winter, but it hasn’t been.
5. Talk On The Phone. No one calls me anyway because all my friends are busy homeschooling their little ones, or working at their jobs.
6. Grocery Shop. My mother-in-law lives with us. She grocery shops. I don’t. I do plan the meals and prepare the list, but she shops for a household of nine each week. Eventually this will be too much for her, but by then, the boys will be old enough to stay home alone. Since we live 20 miles from the grocery store, this saves me a great deal of time!
7. Keep Organized Drawers. Well, this one is probably a matter of perspective. I don’t put the boys’ clothes away, so I only look in their drawers every six months when I switch out clothes. I don’t have many clothes, so my drawers can’t be messy! But if you compared my drawers to my hubby’s drawers, you’d understand where I was trying to go with this one. I learned early in our marriage that it is better if I fold the clothes and he puts his own away.
8. Multiple Pleasures. I take photographs. I digi-scrap. I cook. And I do a little knitting now-and-then. But that’s it. I would love to quilt. In fact, you should see the fabrics and patterns I have collected. I would love to write more. I would love to have a milk goat. I would love to attempt about anything on Pinterest. *sigh*
9. Home Improvement Projects. If you visit my home, please don’t let me catch you looking at where the wall-paper is peeling from the wall in the kitchen. Or study.
10. Go. I stay home. It is good for my soul, my children, my gasoline budget. Between Sunday and Thursday, the only time I leave my little forty acres is to go to the park with the boys. Thursday afternoon is errand time, with trips to the library, drum lessons, ASL class, or other stops. I guard this time. Evenings are similar. JD and I limit ourselves to one evening out a week. If I have dinner with a friend, I say no to another opportunity that would take me out another night. This means I have to plan in advance how I spend my time. Some weeks are harder than others. And of course, there are times when we have to be flexible.
What things do you not do?
CY365+1 | Week One
one little word {nourish}
{nourish} verb
1 patients must be well nourished: feed, provide for, sustain, maintain.
2 we nourish the talents of children: encourage, promote, foster, nurture, cultivate, stimulate, boost, advance, assist, help, aid, strengthen, enrich.
3 the hopes Emma nourished: cherish, nurture, foster, harbor, nurse, entertain, maintain, hold, have.
During the year 2012, I will nourish my family, my friends, my soul and my photography. I don’t have it all fleshed out yet, but I have begun a small list of my intentions to see nourish in action.
- my soul– In 2010, I read the chronological Bible. I loved it. I was enthralled with seeing how God revealed Himself through history. In 2011, I didn’t follow a specific plan for being in the Word, and I suffered because of my lack of focus. This year I am reading the M’Cheyne One-Year Reading Plan. Generally, I read one chapter in four different books of the Bible each day. Also, D.A. Carson’s For the Love of God follows this plan, giving me a devotional and commentary with each reading.
- my family– Nourishing my family takes its primary meaning, to feed. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen each day. Since we buy very little processed food, everything we eat must be prepared by me. Plus, as I cook by more traditional methods and only use traditional foods, nourishing my family means I spend more time finding the food.
- my photography– JD has encouraged me to find times to work on my photography. The challenge is to be satisfied with the time I can set aside for this passion and not neglect other responsibilities.
I plan to keep nourish in the front of my mind the entire year, continually asking God who, what, or how He would have me implement this word.
What are your words? Resolutions? Plans?
my photos: the best of 2011
For the year of 2011, I attempted to take a photo everyday.
I didn’t make it.
But, I did take a photo 297 days during the year of 2011. And most of the those days I took more than one photo. A few of those days, everything came together and I captured a special picture. Some are special to me because of the content. I may have captured a silly grin, loving glance, or a special first. Others are special because I captured a beautiful picture SOC (straight-out-of-camera). While I love to play with digital files in photoshop or Lightroom, I am most thrilled when my original photo needs no editing. Finally, some are special to me because they capture the normalness of my life. They may include books I’ve read, recipes I’ve tried or a weather event such as a blizzard.
Here are my favorites of 2011:
Here’s a glimpse of our school day.
Christmas at Silver Dollar City
One of my chickens has an attitude.
The wagon at my parents home.
My sweet Joseph. (To be honest, this is not by favorite picture of Joseph, but JD loves it and wanted it included. )
A trip to the symphony with my boys.
At Pomme de Terre Lake.
Jesse swinging.
To celebrate the closing of 2011, I joined a blog hop, sponsored by Capture Your 365. For most of the year, I have had the pleasure of sharing my life with a group talented photographers. Even though we’ve never met face-to-face, I know their lives and can recognize their children. To me, it is exciting to see their lives captured through their camera. I can experience bitter cold snowstorms in Canada, urban life in Sacramento, a Lake Michigan summer, or the beautiful colors of the Pacific Northwest.
Please join me today by visiting their blogs:
Katrina – Capture Your 365
Gabi – Gabi Rytirova
Janine – The Sweetest Dreams
Kathleen – Taking Pictures, Enjoying Life
Our Family Christmas
December 16, 2011
Foster Family Christmas
Jacob, age 11
Jonah, age, 8
Jesse, age 6
Jeremiah, age 3
Joseph, age 1
*Be very impressed that I posted this from my Flickr account. I have spent most of the afternoon linking various accounts in an attempt to make blogging, photo-sharing, and facebooking a streamlined event!
a lot happens in two years
By the date of my last post, two years have passed since I have blogged. In two years, I have:
- given birth to a fifth son, Joseph. He turned one in November.
- added 25 laying hens to our property.
- said goodbye to our beloved golden retriever Sam. He died last May from stomach cancer. Just this week my third son told me he misses Sam. Me too.
- developed into an amateur (very, very amateur) photographer. Most days you’ll find my Canon 60d wherever I am.
- pursued a hobby with digital arts through photography, scrapbooking, movie-making.
- followed a passion for real, traditional foods.
- continued to grow in my walk with God. He uses every part of my day to show Himself to me and shape me.
- purged our home of many unused and unneeded belongings.
- quit watching television. At first I thought I might miss Psych or NCIS or the History Channel, but I don’t. I read more, talk to JD more, and sleep more.
Life is busy and full. I know, I know, whose life isn’t? I am constantly looking to the future, realizing that someday my responsibilities will fill my day completely from sun-up to sun-down. I’m already close to that now, especially during the school year. And like so many of you, once I do find a few minutes of peace and quiet so that I can flesh out some thoughts, I’m often too tired to accomplish much.
Recently, I told a friend that I am energized by accomplishing something creative, whether it be through cooking, photography, writing, or a simple art project with the kids. But this fall I have been unable to do those things. I have been distracted by a broken toe and pneumonia, sick boys and hurting friends, or homeschooling and piles of laundry. Christmas came and went, and I didn’t make a single gift.
Sigh.
But now its nearly New Year’s right? The time for change? Time for new things? New motivation? So I’m dusting off my blog for the year 2012. Will there be posts daily? Never. Will they change your life? Probably not. But they will reveal little bits of me through my faith, my family, my friends, my food, and my photography.
An open letter to my husband of 15 years
Dearest JD,
On this day when we celebrate 15 years of wedded bliss (plus a few days of maddening disagreements) I want to remind you of 15 things I adore about you. Now I realize, that by posting these glorious qualities about you, I may create some jealousy in other gals who aren’t blessed with a husband as swell as you are, but I will take the risk.
1. Your sense of humor. We laugh together far more than we cry or fight.
2. Your tremendous commitment to fathering our boys in a way that honors God. I see you put the needs of your boys ahead of yourself every day. I watch how much you pour into them when it would be easier to put them in front of a video game or DVD. By your actions you show them how much you love them, even as you discipline and train them.
3. Your unwavering commitment to me. I have always found comfort in your love for me. In 15 years I have never doubted it.
4. Your unwillingness to be manipulated by me. How I hate admitting (in public, no less) how many times I tried to force you into the outcome I wanted. But you would not back down and let me run over you. I am so thankful that you lead our family and I willingly will follow you.
5. That being said, your desire for my input in all things in your life. You value my opinion and viewpoint, even though it often differs from yours.
6. Your love of good food. By the way, I’m arranging for us to eat sushi again in a couple of weeks, ok? I *loved* eating at The Sushi House in Leawood. Yum.
7. Your ability to be flexible. Ok . . . you’ve come a long way here. Remember when if I suggested we take a day trip that day, you’d kinda freak out? I guess having kids will do that to you.
8. Your helpfulness around the house. So you don’t cook . . . oh well. You do help with cleaning, laundry, picking-up, and errand-running on the unusual occasion I can’t keep up with our active boys. Many men just look the other way, but you pull out the vacuum or clean the toilet. Thank you.
9. You are adventurous. I loved hiking with you in Yellowstone and scuba-diving with you in Belize. As the boys grow older, I am looking forward to doing those kind of outings as a family. Maybe that’s why we didn’t get any foo-foo, princessy girls, huh?
10. You stand firm in your convictions, yet you humbly admit mistakes (although you are so swell that you don’t make many mistakes).
11. You get me. Deep down, you really know me more than anyone else. And because you know me, you know how to protect me from over-commitments, lack of sleep, etc.
12. You work hard. So hard. Too hard. Yet, in today’s world where lieing about sick days is norm, your honest work-ethic is one of thing characteristics I treasure.
13. You let me see the real you. I know your faults and weaknesses. I see your frustrations. More importantly, I see how you yearn to let Christ continually change you.
14. You like to cuddle. (And other things.)
15. You love God.
We’ve known each other since we were 14. We’ve grown up together. We’ve spent more years together than apart. We’ve fought each other. We’ve broken each other’s hearts a time or two. We’ve forgiven each other. We’ve laughed together. We’ve had 7 moves and 3 houses. We’ve had 9 pets. We’ve got 4 handsome boys.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
Happy Anniversary.
Closure and a New Beginning
Sweet Cleo.
She came to us from a family who couldn’t afford to care for her. She belonged to us all, not choosing any favorite. She was great with the kids, only occasionally chewing up one of their action heroes. We loved her dearly.
She disappeared on New Year’s Eve day.
We found her body floating in the pond earlier this week.
Somehow, sometime during that day in January she plunged through the ice. We never heard her bark for help. And even though it breaks my heart, part of me is glad we didn’t hear her. We have no boat, no raft, no way to have rescued her. If a 20 pound dog fell through, surely we could not have safely gotten to her. I don’t want to think about it any more.
JD and I buried her near a small pine tree on our back fence row. We shielded the boys from seeing her body, but answered their many questions about life, death, heaven, the goodness of God, the soveriegnty of God, decomposition of bodies, and so on. They continue to have questions. I keep praying for wisdom so I can give honest, accurate, age-appropriate answers.
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Meet Lexi.
My mother-in-law brought Lexi home to our familiy from a wonderful breed-specific rescue, C and E Aussie Rescue. She is an extremely loveable sheltie/border collie mix. Her coat is soft and slightly fluffy, not nearly as full as a pure bred sheltie or border collie. She is calm, gentle, and sweet, loving to the children. Several times I’ve found her curled up on Jeremiah’s blanket, next to him. She loves to be on our laps, her head tucked up against our chin or neck as in the following picture with Jacob.
And then meet Anna.
Anna is an Aussie/cattle dog mix. She’s a bit broader than Lexi, but not much taller, making her around 40 lbs. She has the most beautiful amber-colored eyes. She is an attention hog who is jealous of any attention not directed at her. She loves to swim in the pond, romp with our retriever Sam, and chew on bones. She is especially attached to me, and I must admit, I am especially attached to her. I already love that dog.
And then there is our most beloved Sam.
This is the happiest Sam has been since we lost Cleo. He moped. He slept. He refused to go outside. But he is happy once again.
And so are we.
