Routine

After waking up super early and having everything ready for the first day of homeschool, the kids had to wake ME on the second. Oops. I guess it's good that they know their mom isn't perfect.

I don't want to jinx things, but our past 2 days of school have been organized, productive and fun. Maybe it's because my youngest is now in first grade and is a bit more independent? All summer she said over and over again that she didn't want to do schoolwork. But the minute she realized that she was doing similar work to her older sisters, she was in 100%.

My goal is to make time for some of the very imortant subjects that were falling by the wayside when we run short on time. I've had quite a journey in my health these past two years and I want to impart some of that knowledge to the kids from the get-go so they don't require a health scare to get it right.

One of those is meditation. Scientific studies now prove what I experienced myself. Tremendous, identifiable benefits from even the quickest meditation routine. I found some great books on meditation and yoga that honor the perspective of a young child who is going to find deep breathing through your diaphragm hysterical.

My favorite is Breathe, Chill - A Handy Book of Games and Techniques Introducing Breathing, Meditation and Relaxation to Kids and Teens by Lisa Roberts. It was very inexpensive on Amazon and well worth it. All my kids love it (ages 6-12).

The other topic is faith. I was raised from birth as a Catholic. My mom was Catholic; my dad a non practicing Episcopalian. We went to church every week and holidays but that was about it. We didn't have family prayer despite the fact that I know my mom had a tremendous faith. It just was not talked about much in our home.

That "holy on Sundays only" was one of the reasons that I left the church from my college years through my 30's. I felt like I should either be Catholic all the time or none. And I also didn't have enough opportunity to develop my own meaningful relationship with God.

Funny how the threat of a severe illness crystalizes your beliefs in a matter of moments. Needless to say, we've been back to the church since 2014 and as my younger self would have wished, we're practicing catholicism all week long.

That being said, we are also starting every day with a quick bit of cathecism. Another good book I found, Totally Catholic by Mary Glavich.

Each chapter touches on a topic: What is faith?, What is the Sacrament of Penance? What is Involved in Honesty?, etc. They also include a scripture link, a couple of quick "Did you know?" facts and a very brief biography of a saint.  It's a great opportunity for the kids to ask questions and discuss and only took about 15 minutes to go through the chapter.

This morning, I got up early enough to have plenty of time to myself prepping for the day. That included some work on Purlsmith (my Etsy shop that sells freshwater pearl and silver stitch markers). I can't tell you how much fun I had playing with pearls and acorn caps. Just enough to make my creative side feel satisfied before I devote the day to the kids.

Time to go work on the schedule in Excel and see if I can find the perfect blend of planned with room for going off on tangents, our specialty.

Have fun
-Becky

One big pompom

All the pretty lacy hats I made this fall are proving pretty but not very warm.

I was excited to see this pattern from Purl Soho for a classic hat with a pompom.

It was quick & easy. I bought a pompom maker to make this enormous one. My daughter absolutely loves the pompom. You can see the size compared to the rest of the hat. Adorable!

Here's a link to my project notes on Ravelry.

But earlier this week, my 4h knitting group and I tried making them with forks & paper tubes. 

Here is a link. They turned out pretty well too. My one recommendation is to make sure that the kids don't wrap so much yarn around that it's too difficult to cinch. Also, make it easy on yourself and use a fork with 4 tines so there is a center to tie the yarn around. You'll understand what that means when you do it.

For reading, we've just started Planting Seeds - Practicing Mindfulness with Children. I have experienced great health & relaxation benefits from meditation this past year. I thought it might be a good idea to try to make it a habit for the kids while they are young. It comes with a cd with lots of different meditation and breathing techniques to try. 

I'm joining in the Yarn Along with Ginny. Here's a link to see many more inspirational projects. 

My New Habit for 2014 - Taking Care of Myself. Item #1 - Meditation

I recently have had a very serious health scare/reality that has shifted my perspective dramatically and immediately. This notion of devoting my whole self to my children & husband has simply got to change. This will not be easy because I love to do it. But for my good and theirs, I will try.

In the past few months, I've had my first experiences with extremely painful headaches. Sleeping through the night seems impossible. So, I searched for guided meditation on itunes and discovered a series which really helps me to relax and fall into a deep sleep. It's on a site called "Meditation Oasis" by Mary & Richard Maddux. Here's the link. Her voice puts me to sleep every time and they have a big catalog of podcasts to subscribe to on iTunes.

Of course, keeping up with something that requires peace, quiet and no interruptions isn't the easiest in a house with little kids. So, I was excited to see a post on Facebook by The Joyful Mother promoting a One- Year Meditation Challenge for mothers. Here's the link.

It's only been a few days, but I encourage you all to give it a go. Seems like it will be just the gentle reminder and direction I need to get this done.

Funny thing is, meditation is not easy. I'm trying to visualize the beautiful white light filling my body but instead a to do list keeps popping in or attention to aches and pains calling out from my back while I attempt to sit with good posture. Luckily, there's an app for that.

A great website called HeadSpace (here's the link) has a "How to Meditate" primer of sorts. The program asks you to commit to 10 minutes a day for 10 days. There are fantastic animated clips that help a visual person like myself understand the goal. The Take 10 Programme is free. If you choose to, you can pay a monthly fee to have access to additional guided meditations. So far, I'm on day 3 and I find it helpful. The man's voice is soothing and I am hoping by the end of the 10 days I'll be able to slow down the internal chatter and meditate.

Oh, I also found that Deepak Chopra has a mediation program online at his Chopra Center but I found it to either not be for me or maybe not just right now. Here's the link.

So, that's the plan. Want to join me? Let me know if you've found any other resources.