Still Alive Here

It has almost been a month since my last post. I often wonder why I have a blog. (I've probably already said this before.) But I go through spurts of wanting to write about lots of things to not wanting to write about anything. I don't need to post all of my projects, kids accomplishments, all holidays, my many opinions, etc. For some reason it feels wrong to only blog once in awhile too. Like keeping a journal! I do it the same way and sometimes I wonder what the point is on periodically writing down facts. I want to write something worth writing. I am trying that with journaling now. I haven't decided about the blog.

I started this blog to "keep in touch" with people. I know some people read it and don't communicate with me otherwise. What do you/they want to know? What do you/they want me to say? I have a busy life with 4 (ALMOST 5) kiddles! I could write a lot of things if I really wanted and had the time. But what is worth my time? Is even writing this worth it?

Pictures are more entertaining. . .

We're all doing good. We're happy. 50 days left til my due date of the next cutie van Zwol! In the mean time we keep living life. If you want to know more maybe you should visit. ; )

Projects

My life the last few years seems to be comprised of projects. One of the latest was a mobile. We were given some free crib bedding and while it is not girly we are going with saving money and using it. So the kids and I made a matching mobile. They had fun making them and I'm even impressed my older two caught on quickly to the blanket stitch to put the pieces together.

I'm a fan of ladybugs and saw a "taggie" toy on Pinterest that I thought was cute. The kids have had fun making some with me for gifts for other babies.

All these projects are mostly with scraps so they haven't cost me hardly anything! I have had the donation of black embroidery floss from a friend and plastic canvas from an Aunt. I did spend $.25 on this pink frame I got at a yard sale. With a little digging around for scraps and hot glue Emilia and I put together this earring holder for her earrings that she'll be able to change out in 4 more weeks.

While I was transferring pictures from my camera to the computer to do this blog post I realized I hadn't done anything with other pictures from the last few weeks. And looking at them got me thinking. . .We had Erik's Mom and sister come for a weekend visit (it was fun!) and we went to the Tulip Festival. I remember it was a bit cold and breezy and Coralie wanted to stop and smell every other flower. Toward the end I remember being too cold and wanting everyone to keep walking and STOP smelling all the flowers!

Now looking at the pictures I feel bad. They had it all right.

Why rush around? Why have to be busy?

The flowers will not always be in bloom.

Our times together don't always last long.
Why not make the most of them with happiness?

What is most important?

My children know.

I have to frequently be reminded.

Hopefully I'll get it into my head so when they grow up and maybe forget I can help them remember.

Projects are great and all. It's not like I'll be giving them up. I just have to continuously remind myself to re-evaluate what I am doing and make sure I have the right priorities. Smell the flowers while they are in bloom!

Easter

Yes I understand Easter was a few days ago.
We have only ever bought one piece of art work. The story of the painting is this:

"Three days after the Savior´s death, two of His disciples walked the dusty road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. As they spoke, they were joined by a traveler who asked about their conversation. The disciples replied, "Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem...they have crucified [Jesus]. But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel."
Then the stranger said, "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?" He then opened the scriptures to them, showing how all of the prophets had testified that Christ would be crucified and rise on the third day. As night fell the disciples asked the traveler to join them for a meal. Sitting together the stranger, "...took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew...[it was Jesus]." - Luke 24:17-32"

We are often like the disciples. We let the worries of the day keep us from recognizing that the Savior is walking alongside us. We are quick to treat our trials as curses, instead of trusting that with God´s perspective our "curses" may actually be blessings. May we be more willing to wait upon the Lord, and may we see things as they really are as we walk our own roads to Emmaus.

It baffles me that people who knew the Savior or knew of all the prophesies of His coming did not then recognize Him. I want to know Him and be able to recognize Him. As I have been trying to improve my spiritual self and cut out more of the secular things that took up more of my time I have seen more blessings and recognized how happier we are when we are focused on the good and the right. Pray I never forget!

Okay now most of you reading my blog do it for the family updates and pictures. I KNOW! So here are my cute children on Easter in their wonderful Easter clothes from Aunt Gwen. They love them and my girls especially loved their "pink" and twirling and Coralie calls hers a "princess dress."

I did not do too great getting full shots of their clothes. It was at 8 in the morning before church!

Good thing I did it then too because Miss Coralie tripped and fell on the cement after church and got a fat lip. :(

My boys don't have many "regular" pictures. I think it is a boy thing. This was the closest to "normal" I could get.

We had a simple Happy Easter! Life is good! I'm very blessed and very grateful!

Pinterest Relationship

As people who are fairly close to me know. . .I tried to stay away from Pinterest! I didn't need another website sucking me in a taking up my time. But then again, many people were telling me great things they found on the site. After perusing the site I made the decision to join with restrictions on myself: 1. I wouldn't follow a million people just because I know them. (I'd spend more time looking through unnecessary stuff.) 2. I would only pin things that were most important to me or things I really was going to do or make.

Here are my results from the short time I've been on:

Growing romaine lettuce from the stump you already harvested the lettuce off of: FAIL. So far at least I have 3 different stumps, from 3 different times and none have produced anything.

Meatloaf made in a muffin pan to reduce cooking time: FAIL. I tried this last night and it still look as long to cook as a regular loaf for me. I rather make the loaf if it's not going to drastically change the baking time. Although it could be handy for individual portions for husband's lunches if he'd like that.

Portable Art Studio: SUCCESS! It cost $7 to get a bucket organizer at Home Depot. If you don't already have a bucket the orange ones there are a little under $3 there. This helped me drastically reduce my huge art bin I had for the kids. I decided what they really use and what they can use without me so they can now take the bucket on their own and don't have to ask me for every little thing they want to use.

General Conference bags: EXPENSIVE, but I am sure SUCCESS. Since conference is not yet I guess I can't give it a success yet, but I don't really see anywhere this can go wrong. However, I did run into the fact that the cost of it can add up. The snack part seems expensive because I usually don't buy snack like foods and I am not a fan of tiny cheap toys that will end up scattered all over my floor and in the garbage. Okay it will be cheaper if you have a smaller family too.

No Sew Valance: NEUTRAL. I tried this using the camouflage fabric that my boys already had as a curtain in their room. I followed the length the directions the blog gave me and it was ridiculously short once tied on the rod. I doubled the length and they look much better now. They are alright, but not as cute as I originally thought when seeing the picture. I probably won't do it ever again.

Crocheted Baby Hat w/ bear ears: Partial SUCCESS. I mean it's pretty good that I have the yarn and pattern and everything out. I was going to start it last night and got too tired. I am planning on making it a success though.

Still planning to try:
Everything on my "Food Fun!" board.

Emilia and I are going to learn to make the double sided headband. She wants to make one for her friend's birthday next month.

The baby blanket/toy things that have the ribbons around it. It is a great idea for my leftover fabric pieces and ribbon pieces. . .and ribbon since I am slacking in the bow making department.

Conclusion:
Pinterest is fun overall! I can see where a lot of time could be wasted but if I stick to my few rules and use it as a tool I think it'll be good! It is a great time saver when looking for something specific verses "googling" it and looking through many blogs or sites.

There you have it! Whether you wanted my review on it or not!

A Journey Together

In most recent weeks I have again revisited the reality that I don't know very much. I have read a great deal, listened to the more educated, and learned a lot but there is still so much out there to learn. I ask myself what stops me from progressing? Then I ask, what do I believe are the most important things in life?

I have come to the conclusion that I have been making life way too complicated!

I have read innumerable resources on diet, exercise, health, aspergers, teaching, homeschooling, curriculums, history, religion, music, science, sewing, quilting, etc. There are many opinions and sides and "facts" to all subjects that I could read forever and to what end? For what purpose? I want to be educated and I want to teach my children, but be educated in what and teach them what?

I have faith in God and in Jesus Christ. The more I have read the words of men in history, many of their lives were their religion. The times we live in now our culture is flipped. Yes we have to have jobs and provide for our families, but if I look even back to the basic 10 commandments we should be putting God in the forefront. Then all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. The love of the Lord will govern the claims for our affection, the demands of our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities. Anything that wastefully dominates our time, compromises our loyalty, or confuses our priorities so that God and his work become second is not worth our time.

So where does that leave me? Moving on and growing up. Reading scriptures and praying every day. Not sending my children off to do things by themselves, but doing things with them that I can teach them and that we can enjoy life together. Taking proper time to educate myself that I can better influence my children and better fulfill my life's mission.

Life is a process and a journey. I feel like now I am just becoming confident in who I am and in what I believe I should be doing with my life. I recognize that the women that I truly look up to, are inspired by and want to be like are the god fearing women. And I think I am now up to task of putting into action what I know I should have been doing for a long time now.

Now as I continue my journey of life may I spend more time with my nose in the scriptures, more time on my knees, and more time next to other children of God that I have been privileged to be given to help them also realize what is important in life. And we'll all be happier for it!

(Hey thanks for reading. I don't often share things very personal, but this just might be part of a new me. :)

Dash Speeds into being 6!

Last week dear Dashiell turned 6 years old! CRAZY!

He has only wanted drums for a long while so he got. . .DRUMS!

And awesome blue sticks from his Grandma!

Some people thought this was a crazy idea.

It is worth the financial budgeting and the loss of any quietness

to give your child something they desire to be good at.

He already plays a few rhythms (after he gets over being shy). 

For dinner he got his choice of homemade macaroni and cheese and buffalo wings. Dessert was a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate ice cream!  Not to mention the excellent company of the Gowers during dessert too. No mind that Dan had just got off work, the kids wanted to wear him out I think! Ah the joys of giggling children.

That's the short of an awesome Dash birthday for an awesome kid who is growing up fast. WAY too fast!

Indoctrination

Recently I've been thinking about the word “indoctrination.” Several people have mentioned this word when talking to me about health, home school, and religion. I thought it was interesting this repetition of word in my life in conversations so close together and always used in a negative way. If you look up other words to replace it you come up with: instruction, programming, propaganda, brainwashing, training, teaching, coaching . . . . anyone else see that some of those words are not usually used in a negative way but they can replace a word that usually is used negatively?

I'm not trying to start an argument – PROMISE! I am practicing my practice of looking at things in a positive way. To indoctrinate is basically to teach to accept a set of beliefs uncritically. So here's how indoctrination can be looked at:

Health: Have we not become slaves to well baby check-ups and immunizations and Doctors know better than us about everything? I'm not saying these things are bad but do we question them at all or just do them? We tell our children to eat fruits and vegetables because they are good for them and do they question us or do we let them?

Schooling: Who says my kid has to learn to read or do math at age 5 or 6, why not 3 or 8? Why can't I choose what books they read and what they learn and when? What makes public school better than me? Again, not saying it's bad, but do we question what could be best for our children or just do what we have grown up with?

Religion: I would think most people question what they grow up with religiously and I don't think the parents want them not to question it. But teaching children what you believe is truth while they are young is it wrong? To give them a reason and path for life?

If we never questioned anything indoctrination would be detrimental, but if we question everything then there is confusion and chaos and seemingly no truth. But there is truth! Fruits and vegtables are good for us, learning is a natural thing everyone does and has to do, and if religion has no truth then at least it is true that they can produce very good  and happy people and give many people hope. And what's wrong with that?

This is obviously very brief on the word. But do we need to make it more complicated? You choose how to look at things. . .I look at it this way, for me. . .my children will grow up knowing fruits are vegetables are good for them. They will be part of the choices we make to gain and maintain good health and they will learn whys and hows. Will they choose to eat things not good for them? Sure they will! But I will have given them basic truths they will know indefinitely for themselves one day.

They will draw and write and read when they have the desire to - no matter how young or old. In the mean time I will teach them how to do basic things to live life and enjoy the outdoors. They will see me loving to read and learn and I will read to them books where good overcomes evil and where there is always hope or a happily ever after. Will they choose to not learn or care? Sure, at times. But I will have laid a foundation for the love of learning and to their minds one day they might remember something I have read to them that will help them.

My children will grow up believing there is a God who loves them and a Savior who gave His life for them. I will let my two year old lay on the baker's rack reading her scriptures because she chooses to and it makes her happy. My children will sing songs and read scriptures of peace and hope and happiness. They will see me living what I know is truth and see the happiness and blessings I get from that. Will they question what they have been taught? I hope they do. One day they will see and know that what I believe is truth and the path I have tried to teach them is what will bring them true and lasting happiness. They will see and know that everything contrary to what they have been taught does not bring lasting happiness. The world will try to confuse them so I indoctrinate them to fortify them because I want the best for them.

Indoctrination. We do it whether consciously or not! If it is given in a loving and purposeful way to help children live a full and happy life it can be a good thing! With no direction where will they go and what will they do? What is right and what is wrong? The world will give them a bunch of answers to every question and if we don't teach them what we believe is truth then how do they choose? We make it harder for them to think critically about anything if there is never a right or wrong answer.

Think about it, that's all. Don't question or argue with me. This is my opinion, you make yours. You indoctrinate how you see fit. Just realize it doesn't have to be seen as a negative thing.