Being Present

Our Motley Crew

   The other night after the kids were in bed and I was winding down for the evening I had a moment of clarity.  Do you ever have those? Those times when a message comes through so loudly and clearly that it seems somewhat divine.  For me, it's usually evening or night when the rhythm of our house has slowed and is less chaotic. Call it the Holy Spirit, a guardian angel, intuition, or the 60 year old-wiser me speaking to the sometimes frazzled 36 year old self.  I don't know, I just know these messages get my attention. They're like manna in the wilderness.
  The message that came to me the other evening was related to really being present.  Being present has a new Age ring to it. In the Buddhist context, being present or being mindful often refers to becoming aware of the world around us while also understanding what is occuring in our internal world.  This awareness or mindfullness is often achieved through exercises in meditation.
   I'm not writing this to advocate Buddhism. Rather the need we all have in this loud, mean world we live in to turn down the volume. I grew up in a house where I always had access to television.  That didn't mean I was zoned out in front of it, but it was a comfort to me.  Like meatloaf and macaroni and cheese. When I grew up and lived alone, sometimes I just had it on in the background as a comfort.  The older I get, the more I seek quiet. In those quiet moments, sometimes we receive a message we need to hear.
   Be present.
   In these days when you can't even go to the bathroom without hearing, 'Ma-ma!" uttered ten times; or the endless laundry; or Happy Meal toys littering the living room, or whatever annoyance of parenthood you find yourself- Be present. Get off Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and play a game with your kids.  Turn off that edited version of someone else's reality, and have a conversation with your daughter or son before their lives get too busy to talk with mom. Be present.  Today, some women have a craft room and their spouse has a man cave. Leave your separate corners of the house and reconnect.  Be present.
  Somedays I feel like I'm just going through mindless motions of my daily routine of cleaning, cooking, waiting in a car line, and refilling glasses of juice and milk.  I take for granted how quickly this season of my life will change as my kids age. It won't be the big trip or the expensive toy they just have to have that will stand out in their minds, it will be the sweet (seemingly insignificant) moments in which we bond with and nuture one another.
   

Circle Art

As part of our continuing study of circles, we had fun making circle art today.  Keeping things simple, we used 3 colors- red, blue, and green. Quinn dipped the end of her toilet paper roll in paint and transferred the stamp to her paper.

      

            Making Circles

Success!

Spanish Color Matching Cards

    I was beginning to feel guilty that I wasn't providing Quinn with enough "structured" learning time.  Play is great and essential to learning, but I felt like I needed to insert a few minutes of purposeful instruction time. "Mommy"-school.  I thought we'd start with colors, and the circle shape.

   I printed the .pdf file for "Spanish Color and Matching Cards" by Homeschool Creations that I found through a search on Pinterest.  (A side note, I love Pinterest! It is a wonderful site that I allows me to collect ideas floating around the blogosphere. Things that are of interest to me and my family. Be warned, it's also incredibly addictive!)

                            Since young minds are like sponges, why not insert a little Spanish?

                                    Blue/Azul, Yellow/Amarillo, Verde/Green....You get the picture.

                                          She loved it! It's great to see her excited about learning.

                   
We are blessed to have great parks in our town.  This one is just down the road from our house.  It has a pond with a dock on the premises.  The calendar says spring, but it the thermometer is stuck in winter. Brrr!

  

I Work Owww-T!

    You've seen the late night infomercials. A muscular African-American fitness instructor telling the participants of his cardio class set in a gymnasium to dig deeper. Telling them to jump higher, go faster, push themselves further.  Then cut to the actual customers who have seen amazing results over the last 60 days.  You watch them as the do the DVDs in their home.  It's called Insanity. And because my husband and I were tired of just talking about what we should be doing, we bit the bullet and purchased the exercise program.
    Since I am still recovering from surgery to repair a fractured fibula, I'm modifying the heck out of it.  I do very little jumping.  I tried jumping during the first week, but after I took my shoe off after every workout my ankle was pretty sore and I just figured it was just too much.  The workouts are very plyometric making it tough on the joints. Although I'm not doing the powerful jumps, I'm pushing it as far as I can.
    Even if I could emulate Shaun T. with each step, exercise isn't enough. As impressive as the circuit training is, exercise is only part of the equation. Cleaning up your diet is step one. It's takes discipline to move from highly processed foods to whole, natural foods in the form of fruits, veggies, whole grains and lean protein. I am determined to avoid the path of diabetes and heart disease that I was previously heading down. As the Ann Wigmore quote states, "the food you eat can either be the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison." Developing discipline is challenging in this fast food world we live in.
    I will celebrate each step I'm taking in the right direction.
                                                                                           When I drink more water.
                                                                                For making a healthy choice in what I eat.
                                                                        When I kick myself off the couch and into a workout.
                                                                      In believing that I deserve to be the best me that I can be.

@ 2:25 a.m...

It's almost 2:25 a.m.
Sigh.
      Why am I awake? There's just so much going on in my mind. Maybe it's the endless to-do list, the possibility of starting an Etsy business, or the cup of coffee I had after 8 p.m. Whatever the culprit, my mind is turned on like the "Hot n' Now" light at a Krispy Kreme.  What I wouldn't give to close tired eyes and turn off my mind.
       I am reminded of  the first two verses of the 61st Psalm. "My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken." What solace we have from our heavenly father who is our rock. Rest assured we can cling to him in times of trouble.
       As I close my eyes, I claim this promise. I pray,  Lord, you know the concerns and anxieties running though my mind. I trust in you to calm my mind. Provide me the sleep that is so elusive to me now. May I receive the rest to accomplish the tasks of the coming day. A-men.