ten on ten - October 2013 and how our day relates to 7 - day 10

We use the phrase "this too shall pass" a lot in our family.  My grandma, Sweetie, has taught us all it's wisdom.  I usually have thought of it as something to dwell on when you are hoping to get out of whatever situation you're in.  

A while ago I read Ashley Ann's take on it and I'm so glad I did!  On a sign she made to display in her home she put the phrase "this too shall pass" and included an extra little phrase "be present".  

That changed my perspective so much.  

Today we've had a second round of pink eye, canceling plans, crazy disinfecting mama, water heater out of commission since last Saturday, house a mess sort of a day.  

But I wanted to still do ten on ten today and while I didn't feel I had the energy or time to try to record stunning photographs of the glimpses of beauty in this messy day, I did think about "this too shall pass" and also "be present" and I wanted to try to capture some of that.  

Running out of wipes mid poopy diaper change 

Not gonna last forever

but then neither will teeny tiny baby jeans that need to be rolled up and have the most adorable bows on the waist line

*and* I am so thankful for a son who is not only big enough to help but who came running when I called him and was able to get that refill package of wipes out of the closet for me

sad, gunky, red eyes and snotty noses and faces that need to be cleaned of grape jelly will not last forever 

little hands that like to fill dump trucks in the backyard won't either

fussy faced babies and those super pink cheeks that look awfully similar to the ones her brother used to get when we discovered his dairy allergy :( :( :(  

won't last forever

but neither will shoulder cuddles 

piles of baby laundry waiting to be put away will not last forever

and neither will teensy fingers at play

and teeny tiny baby toes

making messes when you'd rather them not will not last forever but neither will imaginations ready to poor jingle bells down a toilet paper tube and tell you that they are going down the water slide and splashing into the pool

He's taken to calling me "Tiger" and he of course is "Kipper" and if you know me, you know I'm really not a dog person so being called one is not the most exciting thing to a tired mama on a long day but one day I will miss being his favorite playmate and special pal.  

He wanted to sleep in his basket for nap and I let him as long as he was resting and he chilled out in there for over an hour in his room and everytime he heard or saw me coming to check on him he would snap his eyes shut so he wouldn't get moved to his bed.  :)

Also, tonight after bath when I was lysol wiping his family of rubber duckies he asked me what I was doing.  I jokingly said that I was cleaning the germs off so they wouldn't get pink eye and he commented that their eyes are only pretend.  Smartie!  Then he told me that he would only take a bath with his tugboat tomorrow since it didn't have eyes only the front windows were kind of eyes!  Oh his imagination and understanding of the world!

I am really glad I did this today because I am getting all sentimental writing this post but in the moments I still was not feeling that way for the most part.  It still took a lot of mental effort and relying on God to get through today with a somewhat cheerful attitude.  Just being real.  

And some things to be thankful for:  

farmers market carrots to roast for dinner that were SUPER yum and come in so many fun colors!  

And do you see the "hugging carrots"?  

Carrot tops to fry in butter for dinner tomorrow night!! YUM YUM!

an amazing and wonderful husband who fixed our water heater tonight when the replacement part finally came in the mail!

a new fall tablecloth from my mother-in-law and fun pumpkin gifts from my husband for a centerpiece

So, what about 7?

well, I used quite a few paper towels today which is not very "green" but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do

it takes time to go through your possessions and decrease them (we are in the middle of "possessions month", have I mentioned that?) and sometimes you just have to live life and not worry about the projects

when sickness strikes and you don't have hot water to wash you're glad that although you did just great for well over a month with a stash of 7 towels, 7 washcloths, 7 hand towels, 7 dish towels and 7 dish cloths that you had been "experimenting" with whether or not this was a good number and still had a huge bag hidden away in the closet filled with the surplus to dip into

Now to figure out how many a good number really is to even accommodate times like this . . . 

So, hope you had a good day and I'll see you tomorrow!  A hot bath is awaiting me!!! 

Kelly

October 2010

October 2011

October 2012

linking up to Rebekah

Real life application - day 9

He wanted to pretend he was Kipper today.  

Having an empty laundry basket made that possible.  

Hooray for less laundry! 

Kelly

God is GOOD to us! - day eight

I forgot to include this photo in Cora's six month post.  First time to sit in a high chair!!  Biggest girl!

Thank you to all of you who have been chiming in in the comments, via e-mail or text, etc.!  It is so nice to share and process together and hear what you think.  A blessing, indeed.  Thanks.

Today I wanted to speak to this part of Rachel's comment:

"I have to admit that most often my desires to simplify do not come from altruistic motives, but rather, wanting to make life easier on myself. Ugh. I should pray about that."  

I have felt exactly the same way at times through this process and then I had a big realization.  

You know the book Leviticus?  

ALL those RULES . . . ??????????

Do you know *why* God gave the Israelites all of those rules?  

They were all in their best interest!!

They saved their lives, kept them healthy, made their lives easier, gave them gifts, grace upon grace!

The Sabbath?

That is *for us*!!!

It is a gift that God gives us that I know I, as well as most of you, I'm guessing, don't really even unwrap almost every week of every year. 

Toward the end of 7 Jen writes:

"Hear this: I don't think God wants you to be at war with yourself.

He sent the Prince of Peace to soothe those tumultuous waters already. Self-deprecation is a cruel response to Jesus, who died to make us righteous. Guilt is not Jesus' medium."

So, yes, for me, I spent a lot of time thinking that all this sorting of clothes might just be worth it because laundry would be easier *for me* (I think all the Flylady e-mails I'd read in the past were reminding me that she says this and that nothing I've tried that she's suggested had ever led me astray but I'd never before been willing to reduce my clothes) and I felt some guilt over if I was "doing this for the right reasons" and then I had that big realization.  

God is FOR me!

Is laundry somehow part of the curse?  Does God want me chained to my washer and dryer?  This is ludicrous!  

Does God want me loving on people including my husband, kids, family and friends?  Yes!  If I am not spending so much time doing laundry will that free me up to love on people and for goodness sake, just relax and recharge and renew?  Yes!  Are those all absolutely good things *including* the being still, enjoying myself and relaxing???  YES!  

So, what I discovered about my laundry process in doing this is that I needed to be pretty strict about doing laundry twice a week BUT I always knew where to put things, it was WAY easier somehow mentally to do the laundry because I always ended up with an empty hamper to show for it and things all had a place and a purpose of getting worn again SOON and it all felt much more satisfying than the nebulous process of laundry when there are just PILES all around of clean, dirty, waiting to be put away, etc., etc., etc.  

I would love to hear if you give any version of reducing your wardrobe or your kids' wardrobe, etc. a try and how it affects you.

Kelly

the thing that stressed me out the most - day 7

Okay, so I told you that I would share what stressed me out the most in all of this . . . 

scroll down to see

Cora's clothes!

Isn't that crazy???

This is a picture of her closet before she was even born.  We have been HUGELY blessed with clothes for her.  Hand me downs brought to church, mailed from Texas and Alaska, vintage items pulled out of storage from both my mom and my sister-in-law's mom's house on loan, gifts from wonderful, thoughtful friends and family, things I picked out and bought because it is fun to get to shop for your very own little girl, things I bought before I was ever even pregnant hoping I would have a little girl one day.  (Am I the only one who has done that???  Please tell me I am not alone!)

When I began to consider doing a "clothing fast" and narrowing down each of our closets to seven items, I decided not to include Cora's.

The most practical reason was that between diaper blowouts, spit up, etc., babies can go through a lot of clothing.

Another reason was that she had *so* many outfits in the 3-6 month size range (at one point I counted 60!) that she could hardly wear them all if she wore a new outfit every single day.  

Also, I just plain didn't want to because this is my chance to dress a baby girl and I wanted to indulge in all of the cuteness I possibly could.

And you know what?  Before, during and after "clothes month" I have felt stress over Cora's closet at times.  It is not that I have not enjoyed dressing her and being blessed by all of these things at all because I certainly have but at the same time there have been multiple times that I have stressed out that she might not "be able" to wear everything before she outgrew it or the weather turned cold.  I felt bad if someone gave us something and I didn't get it on her.  I have felt stress in my being over these sorts of things.  

What sense does this make???

A quote from Ann Voskamp:

“Stress isn't only a joy stealer. The way we respond to it can be sin.”

― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

I don't need any joy stealers in my life, do you?  I don't need things that help to tug and pull my gaze off of God.  

I am not quite ready to chuck everything in her closet out.  I am so, so very thankful for all that we have.

I did take a stricter inventory of what she already had before I went on my bi-annual fun girls' night/shopping trip with my sister-in-law to the Just Between Friends kids' consignment sale and tried to stick to reduced numbers of things (I still bought two more pair of pajamas than I had written down that I thought she "needed" for the winter because they were cute and I wanted them but I did underbuy in a few other categories - to be honest, not virtuously but because I didn't find something at the sale in those categories) but it's at least about acknowledging and taking baby steps, right?

And, all of this is changing the way I look at the things we are done with.  I guess at least one perk of her having so many things is that they are very gently worn!

It was a joy to go through the things she has already outgrown recently and to sort them into piles for hand me downs, for the pregnancy center, for babies in Zambia - it was awfully fun for me to imagine little African babies wearing some of her things - very few things to save sentimentally, things to return to their owners, etc.

I am not saying this to say "look at me, see what good things I'm doing".  I am just learning, taking baby steps into this whole thing.

I do not know the answers but I would love to process some together in the comments.  

First, do please tell me that I am not the only one who has bought clothing for children not even yet conceived.  :)

Also, is there an area in your life where you are blessed with excess but that it stresses you out?  How do you deal with it?  

What other thoughts does this post bring up?

How do you decide what is "enough" in various areas of your life?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks for reading my gut level honest here.

Kelly

Happy Half-Birthday Sweet Cora!!!

Cora, you are a joy!  We are enjoying you so, so much!  

You have shown a big interest in toys this month.  You really like to be engaged and have something to play with.  You tolerate being on your tummy but you still don't roll over very much although you can roll both ways.  I mostly find you on your tummy when you wake up!  

Helping Daddy with his work!

You love your Daddy and give him lots of smiles especially when he makes kissing noises at you from across the room.  When you're eating you will sometimes just stop and look across the room at him and wait for him to look up and notice you looking at him.  You definitely like your Daddy's attention.  

You started snuggling more this month too and we both *love* it so, so much!!

Brother likes to turn this musical mat on for you and you like mashing around on it to make sounds.  It is one of the ways you tolerate tummy time the longest.

We squeezed the most we could out of summer and picnicked some more.  You are showing soo much interest in "big people" food!!  Not long, my sweet one!  

I asked your brother what should be the first food we feed you when you get to eat food with us and he thought a minute and said, "tic tacs!!" very enthusiastically!

You're wearing brother's jammies here from when he was a baby.  I just couldn't resist seeing you in these polka dots too and they are soo soft!  

You rarely lay down anymore. You like to sit up and play.  You are such a big girl!!

You got to go on two trips this month.  The first was to NYC with Mama and Daddy to celebrate our fifth anniversary.  Here you are enjoying the big bed in our nice hotel room.  You slept in the crib at night and I don't think you enjoyed that *quite* as much as nighttimes were kind of rough being off our schedule and not in your own bed.  We were very thankful they gave us a corner room away from all the other rooms so we didn't have to worry so much about your crying.  

In the daytime though you were such a trooper.  We went all over and you were just a joy!   

You enjoyed snuggling in the ergo

and sitting on park benches

and getting ahold of Mama's empty water cup! 

I love seeing you in these pretty vintage dresses and you wore the pearls to church that Aunt Terry gave you!  

You have started to really love chewing on socks and washcloths and things or your dress or sleeves if you can get them to your mouth.  It is really cute and funny the faces you make.  You have also learned to "pat, pat, pat" with your left arm usually and your elbow straight and you will beat with that hand on your tray and chew and snarl ferociously!!  It is soo funny!!

You wore your first tights and your cute dress from Great-Granny all the way from England!

Your second trip was to California to visit our family there.  We went while Daddy was out of town for work and Ducca took us with him.  He is a great sport to travel with our craziness!

"Gammy" fixed up a pretty crib for you and you got to wear your swimsuit for the first time!  I couldn't get over how cute you look in it!!

You enjoyed the beach and so did brother and Ducca and Mama!

You enjoyed digging in the sand.  

and being held by Gammy

At Gammy's house you got lots of good swing time with Ducca and Mama and Aunt Carol.  

Back home and you are chewing on EVERYTHING you can get your hands on!

I have already found paper, napkin and sand in your diaper.  :)  

Pretty, pretty girl on your six month birthday!!

We love you soo much!  You are a light in our lives and so much fun to be around.  You continue to delight us every day!  We are so thankful to have you, Cora girl!

And then it was time for a little half birthday celebration.  We are starting solids with you the same as we did with brother, doing Baby-led Weaning and skipping the purees and starting with table food.  

The table is set.  

Your food is ready.  Grilled chicken, breadsick, roast carrot, steamed broccoli and raw carrot.  

We thought you would like it but we were all completely delighted when you *dove* in and didn't stop grabbing things and taking them to your mouth and gnawing on them (and even getting some down the hatch as evidenced by your diaper the next day!) for a good half hour or more.  

We love you so much, Cora Baby!  

Happy Six Months!!

Mama

clothes - day 6

August 15, 2009

I guess I tend to keep clothes for a long time.  

This pair of black capri yoga pants is one of the items of clothing I chose for 7 clothes month around our house.  

This photo is from when I was newly pregnant with David.  They've lasted through two pregnancies and lots of mothering - spit up, crawling on the floor building train set layouts, etc.

I wondered if I would get tired of wearing the same 7 tops and bottoms over and over for a month but for the most part I really didn't.  That was an interesting thing for me to discover.  

Also, in case you didn't see Kori's comment from yesterday's post, I think this is very well said:

"I totally agree with this. I haven't read the book. But I think the purpose is 2 main points - to realize and appreciate our blessings (which allows us to automatically share more of those blessings as God commanded us and keeps us from taking things for granted) and also to live purposefully (not allowing things to happen because they happen but to make sure we are living life to God's plan, in His intent and serving Him - not just slipping through our to do list and schedule). I believe to do either of those things we must plan to do them because in our sinful human nature they don't happen automatically!"

I like my to do list and my routine and my normal and taking steps to try to step out of it in different little ways at a time is good for me.  

Right now, my house feels overwhelmed with possessions and I have company coming tomorrow - I'm writing this Saturday night - so I'm off to clean up and maybe, just maybe I'll see a thing or two I don't need and can get rid of along the way.  

We'll see.  

Have a wonderful Lord's Day.  I am looking forward to spending it with family and relaxing.  

Blessings!

Kelly

your questions - day five

Sarah had a good question. 

"Was there some kind of catalyst event that brought this experiment of her's on? Did she have a goal at the beginning - or just do something and see how it changed her?"

As she explains it in the book, taking in victims of Hurricane Katrina and having a child comment on how "rich" her family was when they considered themselves "normal" middle class gave her a jolt to look at the excessive/consumptive lives we tend to live in America.  

I feel like the point is not to necessarily decide to quit media all together or to forever only own 7 outfits or whatever but by taking a limited amount of time to see what life is like when you do alter your "norm" you can begin to let go of things being your status quo.  

For instance, I am far happier with less clothes than I ever thought possible before this challenge.  That doesn't mean that every season of my life will look exactly the same regarding clothes, food, media, possessions, etc. but it is good to know that "how I've always been" doesn't necessarily have to be "how I'll always be".  We all have choices and it is easier to actively decide what choices you want to make when you step out of doing what you do out of habit.  

I also think about what I want these two (in their funny hats) to take away from their time in our home.  

Hope you're having a good weekend!  

Kelly

Five Years!

photo by Rachel Debell Photography

Fasting? - day four

So I told you that my friend in Texas asked me if we were going to do any of the "giving ups" like Jen Hatmaker and her family did as she was writing the book 7.  

So, what would be the point anyway?  

For me the main take away from what Jen was getting at in her book about why experiment with giving things up is to disrupt our routine, to make room in our lives for us to actually think instead of being on automatic pilot, to allow room and headspace for God to speak to us about whatever he wants to.  

Here is a quote from Jen herself:  

“If a fast doesn't include any sacrifices, then it's not a fast. The discomfort is where the magic happens. Life zips along, unchecked and automatic. We default to our lifestyles, enjoying our privileges tra la la, but a fast interrupts that rote trajectory. Jesus gets a fresh platform in the empty space where indulgence resided.” 

― Jen Hatmaker, 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess

So beginning August 20th and continuing through September 19th, our friends in Texas and we had "clothes month".  

We each had our own way of going about it and that was good.  The point is not to follow some sort of regimen prescribed by someone else but the point is to allow yourself to step out of your normal and leave room for God to speak and to just explore change.

For our family 7 clothes month looked like narrowing down Adrian, David's and my wardrobes to 7 outfits.  7 tops, 7 bottoms, the occasional layering piece if it was part of the "outfit".  No accessories or jewelry for me though (the guys plainly don't wear accessories to begin with).  :)  

7 pair of undies, 7 things in the pj drawer, 7 pair of socks.  I narrowed myself down to four pair of shoes.  

I will say here that there is nothing especially magical about 7 of everything.  It is mostly just a number to have a number.  Does that make any sense?  Not too big, not too small . . . 

So here is my sock drawer before I narrowed it down to 7 pair.  Now granted, it was still flip flop weather and I didn't even wear all 7 of my chosen pairs during our clothing month but still there is a big difference between 7 pairs of socks and this!!

I guess I have a thing for socks.  I really like these socks.  But seriously, I didn't count how many pairs I have but there are easily more than 30 meaning even in the winter months when I wear socks daily, I have more socks than I can wear in a month if I wear a different pair every day!  And the truth is if my smartwools are clean I do gravitate toward them.  Oh and of course this is not counting my Christmas socks which get pulled out at the beginning of December.  

hmmmm . . . .

So the advantages of just having less socks would be:

1. not having to shove the clean ones in and barely shut the drawer when putting away the laundry

2. I can see what I actually have

3.  I could give some of these socks away to people who really could use them

4.  I could have less socks to let pile up and then have to match and fold (probably my least favorite part of doing laundry)

more to come tomorrow . . . 

in the meantime, here are two more bloggers who have linked up to The Nester's 31 day challenge who are writing on topics that I feel kind of go along with what I am pondering here

Check them out:

Life In Grace

and 

The Learner Observer

Processing 7 by Jen Hatmaker - day 3

This picture has nothing to do with this post really but I couldn't help but share a cutie pic of my boy drawing on his face (and the chalkboard) with yellow chalk - his favorite color.

Our library's check out period is three weeks and it took me the three full weeks to make it through Jen Hatmaker's book 7.  

In fact, I was "cramming" the last night that I had it checked out trying to finish. 

One thing I meant to say yesterday is that Jen doesn't "preach" in her book.  

It is definitely her account of what having an "experimental mutiny against excess" meant in her life.  She doesn't tell other people what to do.  She's all nice that way.  :)  

I think it was just a whole lot for me to process and thus slow reading at times even though the writing style makes for a "quick read".  Obviously I'm still processing and choosing to write a 31 day series about my thoughts on the book and it's been since June so it has impacted me a lot.

July was a busy month for us with travel and family in town and although I thought about the book some it took a bit of a backseat in my thoughts which is fine of course.  Then I found that I kind of wanted to stop processing largely on my own and talk to some other people who'd read it.  Two friends, one local and one back in Texas had read it and we chatted over dinner and on the phone.  My friend in Texas asked me if Adrian and I were doing any of the "giving ups".  

Hmmm . . . no.  

It is actually the sort of thing I like to "experiment" in practical ways but talking my husband into it and adding one more thing when I have a little baby . . . hmmm.

I/we decided to join she and her husband though in putting some of these ideas into practice in our lives in some way.  

I will openly admit here that I was glad they were already in the middle of their "food month" when we started talking about this and it was "too late" for us to join in.  Well, more accurately we just skipped that part.  I'm not saying it probably wouldn't be enlightening and a growing experience for us to modify our eating habits for a season to realize the absolute bounty of good food that we have.  It would.  I just didn't want to and that's the honest truth.

So that gave me a good two weeks to contemplate how I wanted to tackle clothes month which was coming up next.

Oh and for those of you who haven't read the book, Jen's 7 areas that she experimentally mutinies against excess in her life and that of her family are food, clothes, possessions, waste, media, spending and stress.  

Okey dokey.

I would really like to dialogue with you guys as we go along so if you have thoughts, questions about anything, etc. please, please share in the comments!

Processing 7 by Jen Hatmaker - day 2

So I told you yesterday that I was WAY down on the library hold list for the book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker.  

I would log on to my account every once in a while and watch the number climb downwards.  

11, 9, 5, 4, 1

Finally I got an e-mail notice that the book was mine!

It was the beginning of June and we would be going near the library that night on the way to VBS at our church so we stopped to pick it up then.  I was so excited to read it that I was cracking it up in the parking lot on my way to my car.  

I joked with Adrian that I might have to smuggle it in with me to read instead of listening to the speaker.  :)  

I didn't but did start reading it that night when we got home.  

Jen is a very funny writer and I would laugh out loud at parts. 

On one hand it is a very easy read and on the other hand, the further I got into it, the more I did feel convicted about things and feel like I needed time to process through what she was saying.  

Here is a quote from the book:

“Sometimes the best way to bring good news to the poor is to bring actual good news to the poor. It appears a good way to bring relief to the oppressed is to bring real relief to the oppressed. It's almost like Jesus meant what He said. When you're desperate, usually the best news you can receive is food, water, shelter. These provisions communicate God's presence infinitely more than a tract or Christian performance in the local park. They convey, "God loves you so dearly, He sent people to your rescue.” 
― Jen Hatmaker, 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess

You see, Jen wasn't just saying "think nice thoughts about this stuff" she is pointing out how much our actions *really* do count!

I really do believe this and so the tricky part is figuring out what actions to spend your time and energy on.  

That is what I am in the middle of processing through and plan to be talking about on the old blog these 31 days.  

If you are coming over from Nesting Place, welcome!  I would love for you to "introduce" yourself.

Thanks!  

Kelly