Our Weekly Rhythm

So, I had mentioned I was starting to implement some new routines around here. I've attempted to weekly chore routines over the years with varied success, but have found now that Nora's older and I'm juggling two kids plus housework, my routines needed to be revamped. Not only do I need to make sure we have clean underwear and dinner on the table, but I'm wanting to include some regular learning activities to do with Nora. These are daily cues that help me plan for the week and work on age-appropriate skills.

Here it is:

("missional community" is our church small group and time at Oma's is with my mom, Nora's grandma)

Honestly, right now, we are doing maybe one or two days of activities a week and I've been okay with that. We are trying to squeeze every last drop out of the pleasant fall weather we've been having, enjoying playdates and Nora is taking a basketball class right now (how cute is that?!). But as the weather grows colder and life slows down a bit, I am planning on being home more and making more use of this routine. Generally we are doing these activities in the morning during Silas' naptime or during that awkward after-nap, before dinner time. We've also started to focus on a letter a week (or two).

Making applesauce during the letter "A" week.

I am not trying to be rigid about these activities but want it to be fun for Nora and something she can look forward to. I'm a firm believer that at this age, the most important thing I can be doing to encourage her to be a life-long learner is to incite her curiosity and creativity. There is so much to discover in this amazing world!

More than anything, I'm realizing my priority needs to be spending intentional time with my girl. She will only be this little for so long and I want to seize each day with her! This is such a time of wonder and giggles, excitement and a pure spirit of play. It's funny to think I need to make a plan to make sure I don't miss it, but it's true, I do.

And, I have a lot to learn from her too. Just the other day, I asked her to help me hang laundry on the line in the backyard - she is my clothespin "dispenser". My thinking was "good opportunity for her to learn about keeping a home and how to serve others". Once we got outside, Nora dutifully helped me for a few minutes before the 6 inch deep golden leaves from our maple tree were just too tempting. She exclaimed "Mommy! Mommy! Let's make a pile of leafs so I can jump in them! And when Silas wakes up, he can jump in them too!" No, it wasn't part of "the plan", but frolicking and laughing while throwing leaves in the air and in our hair ended up being the best part of my week.

Do you have any kind of a weekly routine? How do you make sure to spend intentional time with your kids?

The Rhythm of Our Home

Photo credit

You hear time and again how much children thrive on routine. Well, I'm going to say mommy's do too. At least this mommy does...and when I am out of one, life feels chaotic, confusing and overwhelming. I know this just comes with the territory of having little ones underfoot. There will always be interruptions, minor emergencies (like "Mommy, I just pooped"...heard coming from my daughter's bedroom a few minutes ago)...ever heard of Tyranny of the Urgent?!

During much of my pregnancy with Silas and the first half of this year, our family has definitely been out-of-rhythm, with little routine and a lot of fly-by-the-seat of your pants. This can be a good thing, in small doses, but we are well overdue to get back into some good, intentional rhythms. As wife, mom and homekeeper of our family, I think I have a particular responsibility to have dominion over the rhythms of our home. Not only for my kids' and husband's sanity, but for my own! When I have a good routine, toilets get scrubbed, meals actually get on the dinner table before 8:00 pm and we are all better rested and freed up to play, enjoy one another and serve others.

At the beginning of the year, instead of making New Year's resolutions (which for me last about, oh, 72 hours), I asked God what He wanted to impress on me most. One of the words He gave me was Rhythm.

Rhythm [rith-uhm] - noun
1. movement or procedure with uniform or patterned recurrence of a beat, accent, or the like.
2. measured movement, as in dancing.
3. the regular recurrence of an action or function, as of the beat of the heart.
4. procedure marked by the regular recurrence of particular elements, phases, etc.: the rhythm of the seasons.

In thinking through the importance of routine and rhythm, I have been struck by how God's rhythms in creation reflect His orderly nature: in the orbit and rotation of the Earth, in the days and seasons. Yes, there are changes (out my front window I see the leaves just beginning to turn from green to gold), but just as we parents create routines for our toddlers, our Heavenly Father has also created this order so we know what comes next, we know how to prepare.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (ESV)

Photo credit

Even our own bodies run by rhythms: when we don't follow our body's circadian rhythm, by staying up way too late, sleeping too much during the day, eating in the middle-of-the-night (all of which I did way too much of in graduate school), we get sick. When our hearts get out-of-rhythm (aka "arhythmia"), it's pretty catastrophic.

So, I've been doing some planning to get us back on track. Practically, I consulted a few of my favorite blogs to find out from other moms what their routines looked like as I set about developing ours. Here are some helpful reads:

5 Tips for Creating Family Routines and Establishing Rhythm in Your Home :: Simple Kids
Rhythms and Routines: The Flow of the Week :: Simple Kids
A New Rhythm :: Simplicity Parenting

I'm eager to share the routines we are starting to implement, both weekly and daily, in the hopes it will help you if this is an area you need improvement on too. I hate starting from scratch, so my routines have all begun as a copy-cat of others' routines, then I've just changed them up to fit our needs. (Also, if I the more I share the habits I am trying to get into, I am much more likely to follow through...so this is partially my way of holding myself accountable!)

Are routines something you fall into naturally, or do you have to work at them, like me?

"Real food" resources

We've made a lot of changes to the way we eat around here over the past year-and-a-half after doing a lot of reading on health, nutrition and food production. While I've always tried to eat on the healthier side, since becoming a full-time homemaker, I've been able to move towards a more "real food" diet, aka less processed foods and more homemade/whole foods. Don't get me wrong, we eat our fair share of pre-made stuff (Nora and I enjoyed some Costco frozen egg rolls for lunch today...YUM!). But, I've had a few friends ask me about our changes and our food sources, so thought I'd compile the info. in one place.

Some of the major changes we've made:

Skim milk to whole milk (preferably non-homogenized if we can find it) and we're even transitioning to half-and-half

Low-fat dairy to full-fat diary (yogurt, sour cream, cheeses, etc.)

Cooking and baking with vegetable oils (i.e. canola) and shortening to coconut oil and butter

Factory-farm raised eggs to local, free-range eggs (when we can get them)

Factory-farm raised chicken to local, hormone/antibiotic-free, free-range chickens

Conventionally-raised beef to hormone/antibiotic-free, grassfed beef (indeed, this former vegetarian just filled our deep freeze with 1/4 of a cow...I love me some steak!)

White flour to fresh-milled, whole-wheat flour (when I can get it, otherwise, I'll use prepackaged whole wheat flour)

White sugar to honey, Grade B maple syrup and Sucanut (a less-processed sugar)

Ok, reading this list sounds overwhelming even to me. It's been a slow process making these changes, but you'll still find white flour and sugar in our pantry (cause they just work better in some recipes). We're not super strict about this stuff, just trying to eat this way when we can.

Some of the books that influenced my decisions to make these changes (including returning to omnivore status after 16 years as a vegetarian):

The Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin

Real Food: What to Eat and Why by Nina Planck

Real Food for Mother and Baby by Nina Planck

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan

The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice and Sustainability by Lierre Keith

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon (a cookbook, but also packed with nutritional info.)

I quickly realized once we decided to make some of these changes, that finding whole foods is sometimes not as easy (or cheap) as conventional foods. It took a bit of searching around the web and asking friends to find the most frugal sources I could. So, here is what I've found so far:

Unrefined, organic coconut oil at Soaper's Choice - Although this company markets their products for soapmakers, their coconut oil and many other oils are food grade. I can get a 7 lb. bottle for $27.30, the cheapest I've found yet.

Pastured chickens and eggs from Hayden Farm in Mondamin, Iowa. I like to buy 3 or 4 whole chickens several times a year to keep in our deep freeze. And, their eggs are amazing, the yolks are nearly flourescent orange they are so chock-full of Omega-3's! When I asked Mr. Hayden what they eat, he said "oh, you know, bugs, seeds, whatever they find in the pasture" - just like chickens are meant to eat! The Haydens make trips to Omaha about once-a-month, so I call to find out when they'll be coming through and then meet them to pick up my loot. I found this farm through a site called Local Harvest which is a great source for finding local farmers in your area that you can buy directly from.

Hormone/antibiotic-free grassfed beef from Sobotka Farm in Inman, Nebraska. They also make monthly drops in Omaha and often have fresh produce and other products as well. We've only ordered the beef from them, I haven't price checked on their chicken and eggs. I found these folks by word-of-mouth, but another great source for finding grass-fed beef and more natural animal products is a site called Eat Wild.

Natural cheeses, whole grains and other bulk natural foods from Azure Standard. This company is based in Oregon and makes semi-truck deliveries across the country once a month. While some things are cheaper to buy locally, I've been buying 5 lb. packages of raw cheddar cheese and 25 lb. bags of organic oats and black beans from this company and have saved a ton. I shred the cheese and freeze it in smaller portions and keep the grains and beans in big buckets in our basement.

Fresh-milled whole-wheat flour - I was pleasantly surprised to find a grain milling station at my local Hy-Vee (76th & Cass location only). I don't usually shop at this store, but I'll make a special trip when I need to. I put the flour in my freezer as soon as I get home to preserve as much of the nutrients as possible and to keep it from going rancid. In fact, this reminds me I really need to stock up! I aspire someday to have my own grain mill, but boy are those puppies expensive!

I buy the bulk of our weekly groceries from Whole Foods and Costco. We just recently joined Costco and I was super-pleasantly surprised to see a large selection of organic foods - frozen broccolli, salads, milk, butter, bread, etc. We also just recently got a Trader Joe's here in Omaha and I can't wait to check them out as I've heard they are less pricey than Whole Foods.

I hope these resources are helpful! I am always looking for cheaper options to eat healthy...so if you have any suggestions or better resources, send them my way!

Finding Breathing Room

As of late, I have felt a bit overwhelmed, overscheduled and all-around exhausted. I really blame no one but myself for not carving out margin in my days and saying "yes" to a few too many things. It is hard as a mom to ever feel like your job is done, because the "to-do" list never ends. But, that doesn't mean we should never slow down, rest or even just stop to smell the roses. I have a hard time slowing down - Sundays are often filled with "catching up" on chores or errands, and most evenings, instead of cuddling up next to my hubby to watch a good movie, I sit next to him on the couch writing to-do lists, reading books on health or nutrition or checking Facebook.

This Fall, our family has dealt with more than it's fair share of illness. Since late September, we've had 5 or 6 cases of yuckies make their rounds in our household - right now, Thang and I are fighting a mean virus. During our 3rd round of sickness, this one a stomach bug, I was forced to lay on the couch all day long as any slight movement caused my stomach to turn. Although I had been sick just a week before, and a week before that, this was the first that I had actually stopped to take care of myself. My wise husband made the comment that maybe this was the only way God could convince me to rest. Hmmmm.

It caused me to reflect on rest and to remember that we are COMMANDED to rest. I even went back and read the creation account to understand the beginnings of this idea of "rest".

"By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." Genesis 2: 2-3

That's right, the God of the universe, the Creator of everything that is, the author of history, RESTED. So, who do I think I am not to rest? It seems I'm not alone. A few of the blogs I follow have had some great posts about finding breathing room as a mom, wife and homemaker, as well as someone who wants to serve those outside our household.


Put Bookends on Your Day
Take the Day Off (Moms Too)
Taking a Weekly Planning & Prayer Retreat
Balance Requires Sacrifice
Busy at Home


Thang told me recently to take some time away as a kind of spiritual retreat - to reflect, to pray and to plan. So, I have a day set-aside soon to do just that. I also recently got the idea to log the way I spend my time during the day for 2 weeks. I am thinking I will start this next Monday - I'm sure it will be eye-opening and very convicting. I got the idea after listening to this podcast of a Women's Training Day at Mars Hill Church, if you have some time, take a listen (also some great info on couponing!) .




Another resource I plan on referencing is Shopping for Time: How to Do It All and NOT Be Overwhelmed, by the ladies over at Girl Talk. I read through this right after I quit working to stay home with Nora. It was extremely helpful to me in thinking through what matters most...and I'm thinking it is time for a refresher! I already have an idea where the "fat" is that can be trimmed back in my life. But, it will be good to spend an extended amount of time really reflecting on what is most important and finding clarification on where God would have me spending my time wisely. With the Christmas season upon us, I do not want the next month filled with so much busy-ness that I can't reflect on the Greatest Gift I will ever receive and enjoying the people God has put in my life.


And, since no blog post should really be complete without a cute kid pic:

Miss Nora, at rest.

(I just love how she puts her arms behind her head, pure relaxation)

Real life.

After my last post, I was convicted, then I read a friend's blog post and was VERY convicted.

So often, when I read the blogs of friends and strangers, I get a picture in my mind of what their lives must be like...

* filled with well-prepared, nutritious and perfectly-presented meals,

* kids who are always smiling and well-behaved,

* homes that never have dust-bunnies, refrigerator science experiments or "what is that SMELL coming from the garbage?!"

* hours of nightly family Bible studies, deep, insightful, life-changing dinner-table discussions...

...you get the picture. And, it's easy for me to compare, get down on myself and think "Gosh, I am falling so short." After posting about my bread-baking, I thought, if I was reading that on someone else's blog, I would probably think "yeah, right, like I have time for THAT!" The truth is, I have been wanting to bake bread like that for several months, and it probably won't happen again any time soon!

But truly, blog life is just glimpses of our real lives - what we want the outside world to see (and let's be honest, with a blog the outside world could be anybody). Maybe it is also how we want to remember our lives when we look back in a year or more. Some folks just show pieces of their lives - cooking, home remodeling projects, crafting, theology. Others are brutally transparent and are an open book. I know for me, this blog is a way to record life, motivate me in many areas, but also to find beauty and joy in the mundane things I do from day-to-day.

I was recently inspired by a lady who humbly posted a picture of her dirty, in-need-of-scrubbing toilet on Facebook just to show the world that she didn't have it all together and that was ok. I often say that I feel more comfortable in people's homes when there are dirty dishes in the sink - it just feels more homey, real, like we are part of the family. So, here goes, some real life...

What my floors look like most days. No one warned me, before I became a mom, of the insidiousness of Cheerios (I find them, quite literally, EVERYWHERE in our house).

Unfortunately, more of this has been happening at our house than I'd like to admit. I wish I could say that my daughter never saw a television screen before the age of two, but Baby Einstein seems to be the only way to keep Nora from wanting to play in the garbage or empty the pantry while I'm making dinner!

Folks, this is about as bad as it gets.

Yes, that is my lower half. Yes, those are wool hiking socks, 15-year old Birkenstocks and some workout capries covered in flour. This is what my hubby came home to the day I made bread. Thankfully, I recently found this website. P.S. Please, don't nominate me for "What Not to Wear".

So, there you have it. A little bit of my daily dirt to balance out my last Suzy Homemaker post. Such a reminder of how abundantly gracious God is. He is teaching me how to better mother my daughter, but forgives me for the occasional mind-numbing, t.v.-babysitting session. He daily romances me despite my dirty workout wear, Birkenstocks and what you couldn't see in the picture. And, though my floors may be covered in cereal dust, He is slowly, but surely, cleaning and polishing my heart just for Himself.

Menu Plan Monday.

If any of my readers are mommy bloggers or mommy-/homemaking blog readers, you are probably familiar with "Menu Plan Mondays". Started at one of my favorite blogs, Organizing Junkie, this blog "carnival" is intended to help the cook in the family plan ahead so that we aren't scrambling to figure out dinner every night, give up and just head for the Taco Bell drive-thru (because this neeeeeeever happens at our house).

Menu planning has, by far, been one of the best ways to pinch pennies with our budget and has really cut down on the panic I used to feel at 4:00 when I would think "OH NO! What in the world should I make for dinner tonight?!". Hence the Taco Bell runs.

So here's this week's menu:

Monday: cheese ravioli w/pumpkin sage sauce, salad

Tuesday: marinated tuna steak, root vegetable medley, sourdough bread

Wednesday: black bean chilaquile, salad

Thursday: calzones, salad

Friday: peppered steak, oven-roasted asiago cauliflower, creamy spinach, chocolate pudding cake

Saturday: leftovers/eat out

Sunday: spicy rapid roast chicken, summer squash casserole, herbed oven potatoes, broccolli

In recent months, I've started doing a monthly menu plan that I repeat for the season (i.e. summer menu, fall menu). Making a menu plan each week was WAY STRESSFUL for me, so instead I make up the plan for a month and repeat it several times. This has worked really well and allows me to double up on some recipes and freeze half, cutting down on cooking for the next month.

I eat this stuff up, so hopefully it will spark some menu planning in your households!

Now, it's just a matter of sticking to it!!!

Swiffer Wetjet Hack

....aaaaaaaaand, I'm back.

It is ridiculous how excited I have been to share this on here.

If you've known me for 5 minutes, you probably know I'm pretty cheap frugal. What can I say, living off of one income and trying (very slowly) to get completely out of debt makes it hard to part with any extra money. So, all that to say, I was super-stoked to find this tutorial on how to "hack" your Swiffer Wetjet. I bought one a few months ago after using it at my mom's. For a house almost entirely of wood floors and a toddler, having clean floors can be a constant chore.

Of course, Swiffer wants you to buy their refills, but it gets very pricey when you use them at the rate we do around here. Plus, the cleaner is far from the non-toxic stuff we prefer to use. So, without further ado, check this out:

How to get the top off a Swiffer Wetjet bottle

I was almost literally jumping up-and-down when I found this. I refilled the bottle with a little castile soap and some water and *ta-da* clean wood floors on the cheap!

Happy homemaking.

In December I resigned from my job as a city planner to come home to raise our daughter full-time. I can't tell you how much joy this has brought me and how grateful I am for this season. Being home has reduced the stress in our family, big time, has allowed me to experience so many of Nora's firsts that I would have missed out on and has given me the time to explore some ways to make income from home (more on that to come). However, while I wouldn't change my life for anything, being home all day, being your own boss and having a to-do list that never seems to end can be overwhelming.

Below is a repost from a blog I have been following for sometime. It has been SO HELPFUL to me in figuring out my daily priorities and to help create a peaceful and joyful home, although I have a loooong way to go. But in the words of a wise man, "baby steps, baby steps...".

Here's a summary of Lindsay's "Tips for Maintaining a Simple Home":

1. Keep your relationship with the Lord first and rise early.

May the Joy of the Lord be your strength! (Nehemiah 8:9-12).

Eliminate physical clutter. More importantly, eliminate spiritual clutter. ~D.H. Mondfleur

2. Keep your priorities in the right place. Maintain regular date nights & family nights.

This helps keeps priorities in the right place. Relationships are first! When I keep this in balance, by Gods grace, everything else falls into place.

3. Take time to rest.

Acknowledge Sunday as the Lord’s appointed day of rest. Take time to be a family and enjoy each other’s company! If you can take regular prayer retreats to just get away for a few hours, or a whole day, it does wonders for maintaining a God-centered perspective in your calling.

4. Maintain a right perspective of the home.

What is the purpose of your home? My purpose is to maintain a peaceful restful home. I want it to be a haven for my family and those I welcome in hospitality. This provides me good Biblical motivation to keep it maintained in an orderly fashion. Simplifying allows for more time to focus on relationships with your family and others.

A good home must be made, not bought.
Joyce Maynard

5. Have an annual/bi-annual re-haul of your home.

When my home is organized and simple, there is peace. My goal is to have a place for everything and everything in its place as much as possible. More stuff means more things to maintain, clean, organize, break and replace! At the beginning of every year, I progressively work through each room in our home and thoroughly de-clutter. Be thorough! Be aggressive! Once you do this, each following year becomes easier!

6. Complete a daily to-do list (but keep it flexible!).

Every night before I retire, I try to compile a brief list of tasks for the next day. This helps me plan in advance and get a good start on the next day. Writing it down helps me sleep better! My list is never more than five items in length. Keep it manageable, especially if you have children around.

7. Hold a weekly family planning meeting.

This was a habit developed when I was growing up. Every Sunday evening, our family would gather in the living room to discuss our schedules for the weeks, transportation needs, etc. Now, we and I take a few moments each Sunday evening and sync our schedules for the week. Helps keep us organized and communicating well.

8. Develop Morning & Evening routines.

Having a simple list of morning responsibilities helps kick start the day. My list includes: Prepare breakfast, think ahead and make dinner preparations, fill up water bottle, clean kitchen, etc. After dinner I complete the following tasks: clean up kitchen, quick house pick up, make quick meal preparations for the next day (pull out anything from the freezer, soak something, etc), and finally make a to-do list for the next day.

9. Make a regular schedule for cleaning/house maintenance.

How can you peacefully maintain housecleaning? Map out a simple schedule for your home maintenance. One load of laundry a day, bathrooms on Tuesday, Kitchen on Wednesday, or whatever method suits you. Write it out and place it in a visible spot that you view most frequently.

10. Work quickly.

It seems basic but it is important to set your mind to a task and stick to it! Whatever you hand finds to do, do it with all your might! (Eccl. 9:10)

11. Conquer your distraction.

We all have them. Too much of anything can be a bad thing. Too much computer, phone, email or even reading. My weakness is too much computer time and God graciously is working on me by removing my computer all together. Ephesians 5:16 says, “Make the most of your time for the days are evil.”

12. Make a simple schedule for your days activities.

Having a simple schedule is very beneficial but not completely necessary. Rather than mapping out hour by hour how your day will transpire, work around a model of “themes” focuses for each day of the week. This gives more freedom to not get overly consumed with my to-do list as it is much more simplified.

For example:

Mondays: Organizing for the week, Finish laundry (if necessary)
Wednesdays: Housecleaning
Thursdays: Baking Day.
Fridays: Errands.
Saturdays: Laundry day.

I hope this is helpful. I know it has been a great list to revisit when life seems out of balance or when I'm taking on more than God has given me the grace to do. Happy homemaking!