My Kids are Teaching Me

As a parent, one of your jobs is to teach your children. You want them to learn as much as possible, grow into responsible adults, and have strong values they can stand up for. But a funny thing happens as you raise your kids, they begin to open your eyes to new things and teach you things that you may not have realized you have been missing.

In an attempt to get my kids out into nature more this summer, they are working toward Junior Ranger park badges. To earn a badge, they must complete a number of nature related activities. The kids are "mildly" interested. LOL

Yesterday, I took them to a local park to complete one of the activities. "Make observations of wildlife." Our park has a lake and I thought this would be the perfect place to observe wildlife. The kids immediately pick a spot on a pier to sit and look at the lake.

Their observations included:
Saw a green dragonfly
Heard crickets chirping
Saw birds flying

Then I pulled out crackers. I had intended to feed the ducks at the lake. However, a huge summer camp was in full swing and the ducks were nowhere to be found. I assume they were hiding from the running, screaming children.

I broke a cracker and threw pieces into the water. I thought maybe a bird would swoop down. Nope. Then my son began eating the crackers. And then...

FISH! Fish come up from the bottom of the lake and grab the floating crackers like they are worms! I didn't know fish would eat crackers?! The kids are excited now and both breaking and throwing pieces of crackers. The brim or crappie fish are swarming us now. So cute.

Eventually we move on and leave the park. I told the kids "You taught me something new today. Fish like crackers!"  But more than that, the kids showed me how just observing nature can be new, exciting, and fascinating.

I had forgotten what it was like to be a child and become entranced at watching a bird soaring high in the sky. Or a dragonfly's beautiful metallic color. Or a squirrel searching for nuts. Or a robin pecking the ground to grab a worm.

Nature can be mesmerizing. And this summer, I hope that we spend more time in it.

Look UP

This post will be a little different. Because I usually don't talk a lot about my faith. Today I had my own epiphany (which I have had several times in my life; life lessons tend to repeat) and wanted to share.

It is very easy to get consumed in daily life, in hard times, in struggles. You start to look at yourself and the people in your life and your circumstances. You start to compare. You start to analyze things. Things could be better. You begin to feel less than. 

During these times, we forget to be grateful. We shift our focus. To all the things gone wrong. To all the "bad". To things we wish were different, better, more. And when we shift our focus, we lose sight of all the good. WHAT YOU FOCUS ON IS WHAT YOU GET. 

With everything wrong in our lives at the forefront of our minds, all that is right, all that is good somehow just gets pushed out of our minds. It disappears. At least from our minds. And now we are consumed by all the things we wish were different.

Where is your focus? WHAT YOU FOCUS ON IS WHAT YOU GET. SO.....FOCUS ON WHAT YOU WANT.

For me, this is where my faith steps in. It calls to me. LOOK UP. When I have been looking "down" or around at all my circumstances, God invites me to look up. At Him. Only then do I remember all the GOOD in my life. Every good thing comes from the Father. 

And I have a lot of GOOD in my life. I have a lot to be grateful for. I am so blessed. Beyond what I deserve. And then my focus shifts again. Whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, good, excellent, worthy, dwell on these things (Phil 4:8). 

Where is your focus? Are you looking down? Around?  Or are you looking up? 

Simplify Your Look

I have been on this journey to simplify my life for about 2 years now. I started in one room of my house and it quickly spread to my closet, my kitchen, and every other part of the house I could de-clutter and minimize stuff. 

Last year, I decided to simplify my face products. I wanted to minimize what I actually use and also use more natural products. 

My first step was to get rid of any products that were old and there were a lot. So lots of make up and cosmetics went into the trash!

Then I assessed what was left. I hated using harsh cleaners on my face with no positive results. My skin still broke out and was dry or oily all the time. I searched for a way to use natural (or few ingredients) products and ended up making 2 products of my own.

The first is a natural cleanser/moisturizer for my face/neck. It's part sugar and tea tree oil with a coconut oil base. It works well to clean my face, moisturizes it, and it doesn't make it oily (I know. Believe it!).

The second is a tinted moisturizer. This is made from Ponds face cream and a little foundation (my shade) mixed in just for some color. Most days, I only wear this on my face. Gone are the days are full face make-up every day. (I save other make-up for going out or special occasions.)

So what make-up did I keep? The list is small: loose powder, eye shadow (2 colors), eye liner (I rarely use this),  and lipstick. 

Just this week, I simplified my HAIR. I love long hair. However, it takes forever to blow dry and once it gets so long, it wraps around me and just weighs on my head. So I went to the salon recently. And now, my hair is short crop style. Nothing fancy. But best of all, easy to wash, dry, and style. Why, oh why, didn't I think of this before? 

How could you simplify your cosmetics routine? What make-up do you own that you never use? Take some time to go through your cosmetic drawer. 

Life is Not Insta-Perfect

As a mom of children ages 8 and 10, they are living in the world of YouTube. YouTube videos of families where they are on perpetual vacations and gamers who always win the battle and never make a mistake. My kids watch all these videos and believe. Oh they believe. These people have perfect lives!

I talk to them about how no one is perfect. I say things like "Practice does NOT make perfect. Practice makes better. We strive for better because no one is perfect." And when it comes to themselves, I think they understand this. But then they watch these videos of other people's lives and it gets mixed up. What are they to think?

This morning I spoke with both of them about videos they have watched recently. How videos are edited. How people "take out" mistakes or the "bad" parts and you only see the "good stuff".

My son understands a little better that gamers edit their videos but pointed out one of his favorite gamers will leave some "fails" in his videos. Yes, he does. But not a lot. Probably edits out 50 fails for every 1 that he leaves in a video.

My daughter gets mad at me. Because this family is FUN! (the little family she watches on YouTube) They go on adventures every day! They have parties all the time! It is REAL Mom! she tells me.

This new Insta, Facebook, YouTube world - where you can edit your life down to the best parts only - worries me. It reminds me of how women's bodies are photo shopped in magazines to unrealistic beauty standards (that no real woman can actually achieve, INCLUDING the model who was actually IN the photo!). 

Be real people. Because no one is perfect. Everyone struggles. Everyone has bed head in the morning and smelly breath before they brush their teeth. Everyone gets mad and acts out and regrets it. Everyone has bad days, bad moods, and bad hair sometimes. No one's life is a constant celebration. Because boring things still happen daily - dishes to be washed, laundry to be done, grass to be mowed.

So in this life of "edited content", I hope that my kids will learn that those videos and those posts and those pics are "not real" or at the very least, not showing the full picture of someone's life. That they don't need to strive to be like those "perfect" people. That they should strive to be REAL.

Be The Change

"Be the change you want to see in the world." Ghandi


I was having my morning coffee, sitting on my deck, and listening to the birds sing this morning. I was thinking of how I wish some things in life were different, better, easier (ha ha), etc. And then this quote popped into my mind. I thought on it for quite a while. And then I grabbed my journal and jotted some thoughts down.

If you want something in your life to change, there is only one person that you can change. And that person is YOU. Not your parents. Not your family. Not your boyfriend. Not your spouse. Not your kids. Just YOU. So BE THE CHANGE.

In my world, I will...

Be more patient.
Be more kind.
Do less.
Relax more.
Be happy.
Be calm.
Be active.
Be healthy.
Spend more time in nature.
Learn more.
Experience more.
Buy less stuff.
Smile more.
Laugh more.
Hug more.
Read more.
Go outside more.
Plan less.
Ditch the screen.
Be more present.


These are things I wish for myself, but also for my kids, my friends, my family, and others around me. But I know. That I can only change myself. So I choose to BE THE CHANGE.

The Summer of...

This summer I only ask one thing: that I enjoy my summer with my kids. Often we rush to fill in the time and spaces and do as much as we can so we don't "miss out" on the fun stuff. Sometimes the most fun stuff is the "in between" times.

This summer is the  Summer of Letting Go. I am letting go of a clean house, routine, perfect behavior, schedules of activities, and plans. I am a planner by heart. So this is difficult. A friend called me the other day. From SCOTLAND! She asked for an immediate favor. Meaning I needed to leave my house on a moment's notice and go complete a task that she couldn't since she was out of the country. Of course I said! Gathered up the kids, jumped in the car, and went and completed said task. That led to my children seeing the pool and asking if they could run home and change into swim suits and go for a swim. My planner mindset screamed "NO! This is not the plan! I have things to do!" But out of my mouth came "Sure!" And off we went. An impromptu swim session in the middle of the day.

This summer is also the Summer of Fun. I want to have as much fun with my kids as possible. I only have 8 more summers with my son and 10 more with my daughter. We are counting down people. They are growing up fast. I want to slow down and breathe in the joy of kids in the summer. No school. No homework. No stress. No getting up early and plenty of going to bed late. My kids want to swim, explore, read books (that no one told them they HAVE to...LOL), play games, binge watch their favorite shows, eat lots of pizza and Popsicles, ride bikes, go camping, and snuggle with me on the couch watching a movie. My daughter is sneaking a book at night when she can't fall asleep and reading by nightlight. My son is drawing pictures in his bed and reading Harry Potter. Fun, fun, fun.

This is also the Summer of Strength. This is a more personal one. I tend to do a lot of yoga and running and very little strength training. So I have deemed this summer to be the perfect time to work on building up my strength. I am doing bodyweight exercises that need no equipment and adding in yoga to stretch out sore tight muscles. By August, I will be a strong woman!

I am so lucky to be able to stay home with my kids during the summer. I get to spend so much time with them. I love to talk to them, laugh with them, and play with them. I get to hear their thoughts on life and what interests them. I get to hear my daughter sing and make up her own songs. I get to listen to them read. I'm with them when they learn something new and accomplish a new feat. (This could also be the summer of flips in the pool...) This time is precious and I pray that I will not waste it on dishes, clean floors, and forced routines.

Yay summertime!