Screen time is a hot topic with loads of opinions, research, and ideas. For me it as been a long developing journey. I’ll spare the details of how we got to where we are and tell you where we are at right now with just a teeny tiny bit of background. For the longest time…
Intentional
Circle of Concern vs. Circle of Influence
The last few months I’ve struggled with discouragement. There’s plenty of rough things about having a mom and and wife who is lying down the majority of the time in a 24 hour period and completely reliant on others for much needed food. I’ve had loads of time to think myself into dark places: about…
How Maria Montessori, Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf), Charlotte Mason, and Essentialism are Shaping My Role as a Mom
I struggle with the open-endedness of motherhood. Diaper changes, feeding, cleaning, and sleep take up a good portion of the day. But there are at least six unstructured hours of time to fill. I often default to just sitting on the floor with the kids. My mind is wandering or stressing about what I want/need/should…
Jackson Family Theme 2017
I spent the month of December reflecting on the past year and planning for the year ahead. Each member of our family is working on establishing small but significant habits this coming year. Some we are excited about doing, and others we are more excited about the results of future discipline. On Saturday as we…
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
In November I studied gratitude using the study guide from the Small Seed. It primed my heart in unexpected ways for this Christmas season. I am deeply grateful for the Savior, my family, and our circumstances. On Monday we spent the evening setting up our Christmas tree with Celtic Women Holiday playing on Pandora. Nathan…
A Season to Organize
When I was watching the Mom Conference in October I came across a free webinar on the Power of Moms all about organization. The tagline read, “Are you ready to tame your task list and get things done in a stress-free and efficient way WHILE prioritizing motherhood?”. YES YES YES! I dedicated 50 minutes of…
Nature Fridays
In an attempt to slow down and connect with my kids, we’ve instituted Nature Fridays. We’ve been leaving mid-morning and heading to the celery bog nature area for some adventuring and a picnic lunch. The first week we ate lunch, played a few games (red light, green light; duck duck goose), and then went on…
Newspaper Printing Press
At the end of August I set up a tour of the Journal and Courier, the local newspaper in Lafayette. We invited all our friends and had a really fun experience seeing the ginormous printing press at work. We learned that they not only print our towns newspaper, but newspapers and ads for many of…
“Princess Ballerina of the World” with Fairy Wings
Emily is going through a pretty big princess phase right now. Usually pink princess, and more often than not a ballerina princess too. This last week she found a large rubber band that she puts on as her crown and exclaims, “I’m the princess ballerina of the world!” followed by asking me to dance with…
Three Minute Volcano
Yesterday while I was making a late morning snack to sustain us through errand running, Emily was on the verge of a meltdown and Nathan was yelling. One of my coping tactics to tantrums is to become rather silly and my “I love you’s” evolved into “lava yous” which brought up volcanos. Emily didn’t know…