When I am present to the here and now, there are no comparisons to make. I am not judging this moment by any other. I'm not bringing other frustrations from earlier or anxieties about later into the equation. It is only this moment. 

In this moment I can feel the firmness of the cushion against my back and my booty. I can feel the cold of my feet as they criss-cross on opposite calves. I can feel the tickle in my ear as my hair hangs loose. I can hear the faint ocean sounds over the monitor as my baby sleeps and the deep breathing of my dog resting nearby. 

I can feel which muscles are a little tight by the pull they give on my ribs as I try to take an extra deep breath. I can feel the cold of my water as it goes down my throat. 

It is a refreshing pace. There is a deep comfort in being in this moment even as my fingers press the keys, clicking on my keyboard. This moment is peaceful. This moment is calm.

While I am still practicing finding the here and now as two kids run around me issuing demands, I will continue to try. Why? Because if I can find it in those moments, I can parent from a whole new level of peace. From this level that is right here in THIS moment. I will keep working toward that but for now, back to this moment, I will just enjoy.

I'm grateful for this beautiful moment. I'm grateful to tune in and feel my body. I'm grateful for the soft, comforting noises of home around me. I'm grateful for the click of my keyboard that seems somehow detached from myself even as I know I am typing it. I'm grateful for this comfortable seat and that my feet are warming against my legs. I'm grateful to focus and feel as the breath comes in and out. I'm grateful for the here and now; it really is the most wonderful place.

Where are you? What sensations do you feel? What is your focus? How do you find ways to be present throughout the day?

May today remind us how beautiful the current moment is when we take the time to be in it. May we celebrate each day, each moment, and each breath as a blessing. Have a beautiful day!

Today my kids and I got around early for our first homeschool field trip. We drove out into the country about thirty minutes to visit the cider mill. It was a blast!

First we stopped in the store and grabbed some apple cider donuts, my favorite! Then we toured how the apples are washed and processed. We talked about all the things that can be made from apples as we nibbled our donuts.

Then we went to the other side of the property for a hay ride, giant slide, mini petting farm, and corn maze. There was so much to do and we had a lot of fun just being out exploring. It was a good change of scenery for all of us.

Getting there early meant that we were one of only three little families out exploring. We had plenty of space to play at the different attractions. By the time we found our way back to the front of the property there were van-loads of people pouring in. It was easy to see why this place was so popular. 

I'm so grateful to get out early so we could have time to play and explore at our own pace. I'm grateful for a good field trip location. I'm grateful for delicious apple cider donuts. I'm grateful for the baby being a trooper and keeping up with her big sister until we got back to the car. I'm grateful for a beautiful day! I'm grateful for the hay ride driver that allowed me to bring the wagon with us. I'm grateful for fun Fall activities. I'm grateful to share these moments with my kids. I'm grateful to see other ways, in hindsight, I could have used other spots as teaching tools; but grateful to have just played all the same.

Did you get to go on field trips as a kid? Where was your favorite field trip? If you could go on an adult field trip, where would you go and what would you learn about?

May today remind us the joys of learning. May we take time to learn in fun and explorative ways no matter what age. Have a beautiful day!

Today was one of those days that plans seemed to get thwarted at each turn. It just wasn't going as I pictured it in my mind. Each redirection seemed to hit its own snag.

Even when I tried to get us outside for a reset we only made it four houses down the street in twenty minutes with one child repeatedly lying down on the sidewalk or refusing to walk, the other one trying to run off ahead, and the dog stopping to poop three times and pee another four. Needless to say when we arrived home I did not feel reset, only annoyed. 

Lunch went well and we had a few minutes of nice playtime. Then it was time for my preschooler and my special time while her sister started her nap. She picked painting only to meltdown multiple times about accidentally putting the wrong colors in the wrong places, but then couldn't even decide which color was in the wrong place. Oy. 

After cuddling up with some books and sending her off to her own quiet time I had to just pause and laugh. No seriously, Laughter Yoga is pretty essential on days like this for my own sanity. After that it was time to let go of what my mind pictured for the day and let my "eye" seek the successes. I have gotten a little rusty at this practice but I'm determined to bring it back and keep positive spirits.

So, what was a success? My daughter's writing practice was beautiful today and she smiled while she practiced. She was so proud of herself! Our egg experiment got the point across, if not as dramatically as I'd hoped. We had a silly time coloring in outlines of the girls on giant paper...and even more fun taping it up for display. (It was the baby's first experience with tape, pretty fun and her big sister tried to show her how to use it.)

Our walk did get us out of the house. The dog's colon is cleaner and healthier than ever it seems. My littlest is finding ways to express herself and gaining new words. 

I got to paint. I love to paint! My colors ended up where I wanted them and the beauty of painting with my daughter is that I'm getting pretty good and letting go of my own perfectionism and just plopping paint wherever I feel like it. Is that a blue leaf? Why yes, because there were already red, orange, yellow, and green leaves...that one felt like it needed some blue. Why not?

Now that I think about it, it was a pretty great day! We got everything done, at least to some degree that I wanted to do and that in itself is a huge success. We still had time to play and paint and read which are staples of joy in our house. Guess my mind didn't get the memo, but in the eye of the beholder this day was exactly how it was meant to be.

I'm grateful to let go of the ideas I created and step into the positive. I'm grateful to take the time to express these positive points to my daughters. I'm grateful to do my best to model being positive and I'm grateful to definitely nail the way I model being human. I'm grateful to admit when I'm wrong, apologize when I'm crabby, and celebrate whole heartedly when we turn it around. I'm grateful to pause the mental dialogue on the "shoulds" and reroute it to all the successes we had. 

How do you turn the day around when it is going awry? How do you move from the mind to the eye?

May today be lived from the heart. May we find the beauty in the moments and the success in the big picture. Have a beautiful day!

It is no secret that I love books. My daughters love books too which makes it an easily accessible way to learn. As we wrap up week three of home school I notice we rely pretty heavily on books and crafts. Moving forward I am scheduling more time for games and science. But when it comes to Math, I prefer going by the book.

No, I don't mean reading about math. I mean there are some cute books that incorporate counting and bigger numbers which are fun. I prefer to use them in a more practical way... the book box. 

Do you have a neighborhood book box? I will admit that ours is a bit lacking in kid material right now. But it provides a fun way to practice some math and gets us out for a nice walk in the process. 

Today we found three books we were willing to part with so loaded them up and headed out. We got to count the books in the book box. Today there were twenty-one, not bad. Only four of those were kid books though and only two books were deemed interesting by my girls. We got to talk about if we had three but only gave two, how many would be left. We talked about how many would be in the box if we were generous and gave three and only took two. 

I will admit it is a bit more educational the days we find a handful of books to give because there is more ways we can divide it up. But it is a practical application all the same. 

On the way back we got to count a few more things along the nature trail and talk about more and less. It is nice to find ways in everything we do to use our math. But my favorite way is with books. 

The library has also been providing a good way for my daughter to count higher numbers. How many books did we check out today? 26? Does that match the number on the receipt? (Of course it does because these days book check out is through a drive-thru window, but good practice all the same.)

I'm grateful for books. I'm grateful my girls love books as much as I do. I'm grateful for all the ways we can apply math to our everyday world, especially with things we love. I'm so grateful for a wonderful library system. I'm grateful our neighborhood put in a book box. I'm grateful for a nature trail that leads to the book box to give us an added get-away feeling. I'm grateful to have learned a lot in the last three weeks and to be flexible in our learning style and techniques. I'm grateful for my daughter's input so I can make school as loved for her as it was for me.

How does math show up in your day? What is your favorite way to learn now? If you could study or learn about anything, what would you choose first?

May today spark our love of learning. May we see ways to incorporate learning into every day no matter our age. Have a beautiful day!

What a great week! Yesterday was World Gratitude Day and today it is officially Autumn! I know 2020 has done a number on us all this year but at least we still have pumpkin spice.

I am loving the cooler mornings and the change in the scents in the air. I am excited to start seeing more oranges, yellows, and reds as the trees begin their Autumnal changes. I'm grateful to have planned a lot more outdoor activities for me and my girls so we can relish these moments before Winter.

While we didn't get to get out much today to celebrate we do have a trip to the park planned for tomorrow. I'm excited to get to see other humans as we go on a socially-distanced group bike ride. 

I'm grateful for this time of year. I'm grateful to look back at Summer and see the beauty it held even within some challenges. I'm grateful to be gaining confidence as we move through this school year at home. I'm grateful for the color orange that always makes me feel energized and happy. I'm grateful for the trees that are abundant in this area and how they will soon begin to change colors. I'm grateful for all the beauty this time of year. I'm grateful to watch the different migrations as the weather changes. I'm grateful for the season of pumpkin spice!

What are you grateful for today? How will you celebrate the change in seasons? What is your favorite thing about Autumn?

May today be a breath of fresh air. May we connect with the cycles of nature and find beauty all around us. May we welcome change with grace and awe. Have a beautiful day!

A little imagination can go a long way... if you add in a dash of delirium it may help too. 

I watch as my preschooler exercises her imagination. (I love using mine but for some reason as a mom my playfulness and imagination have gotten a little rusty in the day to day grind. Time to renew. So I have been taking notes from my daughter.)  She is in a stage right now where everything is "better" than reality. 

The days are filled with, "I wish I were a cat"...pout pout. "I wish I were a purple fish." "I wish I had red hair." "I wish I had Brave's dress." "I wish I had a baby toy." "I wish I were a rock." (literally these words have come out of her mouth...a rock?!) So we do our best to imagine together what it would be like to be these things or have these things, even going by different names and speaking in character voices. 

In some ways it is draining and the tired mom in me wants to scream "You are an amazing person, why would you want to be anything but YOU?!" But alas, that will probably be a lifelong, cyclical lesson and for now all I can do is my best to hear her and meet her where she is while reminding her of her specialness. 

In other ways it is a great exercise for me in expanding my imagination. If I were a rock I would want to be a rainbow colored rock along the edge of the river so the water could brighten my colors and children could be ecstatic to find me. It had never occurred to me before my daughter. Her wishes are also a reminder, not only of the obvious attention she is needing, but of that draw to want something else than what we have right now. 

My husband and I were planning our next trip on the way home from our last. Yet the time at home is important too. It is what does the grit and background work so that when we are on a trip we can relax. If we were on a trip all the time we would have to find ways to do all the laundry, work, etc and then it wouldn't be a vacation anymore.

As I look around at the mounds of laundry built up, clean and ready to be folded, I offer myself a different view. What if I am on a vacation right now? I am in the mountains but rather than hike them, my treat is to get to pull them down into plains...one shirt at a time. It makes me chuckle and that is enough. 

I have always loved the plains of Kansas. For the first time, I question if it is partly the lack of clutter it provides in its sights that I love. Perhaps that will be the new goal of my whole house...to expand the plains. It looks like another carload of donation items are calling me. Time to go.

I'm grateful to be making an effort to invigorate my playful, imaginative nature. I'm grateful for all my daughters' help in this process. I'm grateful to listen to my preschooler's words as she faces so many changes in her world this year. I'm grateful to do my best to hear her and meet her where she is, and find some fun while we explore it. I'm grateful to offer myself the same opportunity to imagine I already have what I seek. I'm grateful to know I can conquer these mountains. I'm grateful for a new insight into the plains I call home and make an effort to make my home more of the plains. 

What do you wish? What would that look like? What areas of your life right now could be "imagined" into that very wish?

May today remind us we have the tools to achieve our wishes. May we take the opportunity to create our reality with a healthy dose of imagination. Have a beautiful day!

Everything happens for a reason. I truly believe this even if I don't always like it. Some things happen from our own actions. Some things happen from our inactions. Some things are co-created through another person. But I believe most things happen as part of a divine plan.

I do not personally believe that our lives are all carved out for us by fate or anything but I do believe that the energy we put into the world and the actions we take set us on fluid paths that continue to change as we make our choices. I also believe that sometimes divine energy pops in to guide us back if we get a little stuck int he mud or wander a little too deep in the weeds. 

I believe that even this pandemic has meaning and message set in the divine. I don't believe it is as punishment but rather to guide us back to a slower life, one hopefully more in touch with nature. I think it is helping us see through some veils and help each of us find the power to explore our own reality. 

Does this belief make it easy? No. Sometimes I want to scream to the heavens "why?!" But most things come to light in due time. Relationships end so that something better can come along. Sometimes opportunities come in the aftermath of what feels like utter destruction. 

These are the things I remind myself when something is out of my control. It's not just that it is happening for a reason but that something positive will come of it, even if I never actually see it. What if that light had stayed green only to have someone run it and crash into you? Would you still complain about another red light? We never know how all the cards are falling and sometimes we never even see it in hindsight.

I like plans. I like lists and preparation. I like having a basic itinerary. I don't want it all spelled out and all the t's crossed but I want the basic layout so I know what to expect. But sometimes the best laid plans get tossed by one small hiccup. 

The hardest part for me is being in limbo. Disappointment is no fun but it is a finality that can be reconstructed in the mind to find some positive in it. The limbo, the not knowing, that is what stresses me. So today I practice finding peace in the knowledge that even if I don't know which way the coin will land, it will land that way for a reason. 

I'm grateful to recognize the familiar clench of anxiety. I'm grateful to observe it. I'm grateful to acknowledge that some of the struggle is compounded by lack of sleep. I'm grateful to focus on trust. I'm grateful to allow all the feelings to float through as I prepare myself for either relief and excitement or disappointment and sadness. I'm also grateful to know that the feelings will pass as I refocus on the positive and rebalance myself. I'm grateful to find meaning and comfort in my beliefs. 

What do you believe? What helps you when obstacles or disappointments arise?

May we trust our own beliefs. May we choose what is best for us. May we find healthy ways of moving forward when plans change. Have a beautiful day!

Tonight I find myself in need of a mental redirect. I am facing a week ahead of lots of to do lists, yes multiple lists of multiple categories of what needs done, and it is easy for me to think that the list items outnumber the hours in the days. 

I recently listened to a podcast about stress and how we react makes all the difference. Some people meet stress with anxiety and compounded stress so that it feels heavy and crippling. Other people find stress as a challenge to conquer and meet it head first with a gusto. 

If I am being honest, most kinds of stress I tend to react in the first way mentioned rather than responding to the challenge. After listening to the podcast I was reminded I have the choice in how I choose to respond...but this is the first real test to that. Time to put it to practice.

I can do this. I can manage my time well and have a very productive week. This is my chance to really dig in and see what all I can do when I use my time intentionally. I also get to use this opportunity to decide which things on the to do lists are important as I cross of the most important things first. And in finding this balance I also get to make sure my priorities are still intact with my family coming first. 

Thankfully I have a lot of help this week as well! My work schedule is light. I have an amazing husband ready to help. My girls have been doing a great job playing together which allows me a few extra minutes here and there to get things done. I have one evening of help from my parents already planned. I have my mother-in-law coming to help too. As a team, we've definitely got this.

I'm grateful to use this blog as a good mental redirect. I'm grateful for the podcast I heard that reminded me of my power to choose how I respond. I'm grateful to put this to practice tonight and all week. I'm grateful for my awesome team and all the help I know I have if/when needed. I'm grateful for the fun week ahead and everything great that will come from all this effort. I'm grateful to trust and remind myself that I've got this.

Which type of response do you tend to have to stress? How do you direct your thoughts to a powerful response instead of reaction? 

May we always seek to claim our personal power and positive perspective. May we meet stress with a gusto and meet the challenge. May we give ourselves grace if it doesn't quite go as planned. Have a beautiful day, you've got this!

Today at lunch I got a fit of the giggles. I went to use the apple corer and slicer tool on a green apple and somehow it went all wrong. It made a wavy cut and left all the pieces a little wacky and curvy. For whatever reason, this was hilarious to me. My family just stared at me like I had lost my mind.

Later on my daughter and I were reading Wacky Wednesday. It is one of her favorite books and we have found all the wacky things on each page to the point of almost having it memorized. Now she likes to talk out why each thing is wacky and has starting coming up with her own.

She decided it was wacky that the stoplights are horizontal instead of vertical. The fact that the refrigerator only had one door (because the book is from the fifties or earlier even) and legs was completely crazy to her. She talked about the way the ladies and babies all had hats and the wacky strollers (buggies). Did you notice the phone had a "string"?!

Seeing the book through her eyes I realized the things that were purposely wacky were just the tip of the iceberg! Other things she talked about were not wacky at all, like the shoe in a tree. "It has a string to tie it up there so someone just put it there. That's not really wacky." The shoe on top of the flag pole, well, some people put an eagle there but some people just like to be different. The child walking an alligator on a leash..."but it is a baby alligator so it is probably nice and since it is on a leash it is just happy to go for a walk. Can I have a baby alligator?"

I got such a giggle hearing about the book from her perspective. It made me think about all the things we might think are wacky that are really just cultural or just our own perception. It was a good reminder that what is wacky to me may be completely normal to you. I might just find myself laughing hysterically at an apple while no one else sees the humor. My recommendation, laugh anyway. 

I'm grateful for lots of opportunities to laugh today. I'm grateful for lots of "tuned in" time with my girls today to capture these special moments. I'm grateful for how good it feels to let loose and laugh until I cry. I'm grateful to see my daughter's perspective. I'm grateful to test my own ability to explain things in a preschool-age way. I'm grateful for these cherished moments and great lessons lived.

What is your wacky? What makes you laugh? What seems crazy that is really quite normal to others?

May today bless us with humor and laughter. May we embrace being the one that looks a little crazy if it brings us joy. May we remember perspective is everything. Have a beautiful day!

Sometimes when an activity is getting ready to end and I know my girls will have a hard time walking away, I sing a little countdown diddy. "Five, four, three, two, one...the water bucket is all done. We'll come back again to play on another beautiful day." The words change a little depending on what we are ending but the countdown and "all done" is the important part. 

Other activities are not fun but sometimes as adults we get stuck in a rut, continuing them even though it isn't fun. Last week I was in a bit of a pity party. I was struggling with some depression and worries. 

The funny thing is, I was reading my older daughter a book about worries and it was saying the best thing to do is talk about it. So I reached out to a few different people to talk about it and got mixed results. The first couple people I talked to I wasn't clear what I was asking for or needing and so what came back to me was unhelpful, through no fault of their own. Finally I managed to express it clearly and the answer surprised me. It hadn't been what I was expecting and yet it was exactly what I needed to hear. 

It showed me, in a kind and gentle way that this beautiful friend has, that I was actually in the midst of a pity party. She helped me see the other side of things and my perspective naturally changed. I'm not saying that stress magically melted away; but it sure did help to get a clearer view. 

This morning I woke with the ditty I sing to my girls in my head. This time I turned it around for myself. "Five, four, three, two, one...this pity party is all done. This is a game I don't want to play, let's go have a beautiful day!" 

I'm grateful to feel my feelings as they came up. I'm grateful to recognize the stress and try to voice what was behind it. I'm grateful for the first participants who were great sounding boards as I tried to put words to my feelings. I'm grateful for the final friend that helped me gain a new perspective. I'm grateful for her kind, gentle words that were still so powerful. I'm grateful for the wonderful blessings in my life. I'm grateful to know that I have a great support network when I get in these funks. I'm grateful to get back to a positive state of mind.

What could be counted down in your life? What are you wanting to end or shift? What are you wanting to begin?

May we remember that endings can be beautiful. May we open our arms to the wonderful blessings that can come from closing a door. Have a beautiful day!