Contentment

“Everything that is not written down disappears except for certain imperishable moments, people and scenes.” — James Salter, “The Art of Fiction No. 133,”

Beautiful quote. I just love quotes. Journaling is vital and soothing to the soul. I am not very good at journaling every day. That would be great, but I just haven’t seemed to reach the daily goal, but I do try weekly. That’s pretty good, I think.

I seem to have a few places I journal in. This sweet blog, for one. I must print it out at Blurb. What a great treasure that will be.

I also discovered from a friend the app “Day One”. It’s a simple journal app that makes consistency actually happen with my journaling. You can add a picture to your posts, and you can print out the posts into a PDF. Excellent. It’s $5, but well worth it.

Then, there’s the beauty of the handwritten word. I try to find time to sit down and write. I long for my handwriting to be as beautiful as my relative Cindy’s handwriting. Practice. Above all, I love the idea of a tangible book, with my handwriting, passed down to my generations.

I went to the Power of Moms retreat in town this weekend. It was a lovely workshop for strengthening mothers, and to gain strength and ideas from a group of other devoted mothers. It was such a treat to attend. It was held at a fellow homeschooler friend’s home, which is basically a castle of comfort and wisdom. Amazing home.

Picture used with permission from Tiffany Sowby.

There were many things that I learned, and it will take some time to apply them all, but one thing I really loved was the ‘contentment basket’ idea.

Basically, the vital importance of nurturing the person inside the mom, and to seek for contentment. The need to set aside time in the day to have time to feed your soul.

My friend who spoke on this topic showed us her contentment basket filled with good things; scriptures, a journal, a current book she was reading, exercise stuff, things to create, etc. All things that enrich and uplift. I just loved it.

I put my basket together today of good things. Oh, it was such an idea that resonated with me. Another gentle reminder that it’s so important to take care of myself emotionally and spiritually, so that I can find joy and be the best I can for my family. The goal now is to be consistent with finding my quiet time to seek contentment.

There were many more things I hope to share in future posts. For now, this is a little tidbit of sunshine for you.

The Power of Moms website is a tremendous source of help for all moms everywhere of all denominations. If you haven’t seen it, do check it out. They have great podcasts often that can be heard on itunes or your phone. The blog posts are written by many mothers, and the topics are always spot on with common motherhood trials and themes. It’s just a great place. So blessed that the sweet co creator April Parry made the website five years ago, and is passionate about helping other mothers.

The hair story update

So behind on blog posts, ah! Need to blog about our anniversary date, Power of Moms’ retreat, the fair, whew! Here’s a post long over due for my friend:)

So, it’s been almost a year since the hair revolution I encountered last year. I’ve been meaning to blog about how it’s been going since then. So here we go:)

Last year was the year I fell in love with my hair again. It all started with reading a pin on Pinterest about the ‘no poo’ method of washing your hair. It greatly intrigued me, and I feel into the rabbit hole of learning. I learned about the ‘Curly Girl’ hair topic, the damage that Sodium Laurel Sulfate does to your hair, and how to take better care of my hair. So, I’m not strictly ‘no poo’, but I use different shampoos and conditioners that don’t contain silicones, parabens, and sulfate.

Lorraine Massey is the founder of the Curly Girl method. Basically, if you have wavy or curly hair, embrace it! Try not to blow dry, be gentle in handling your hair, and give it plenty of moisture.

I found a girl on youtube who is devoted to creating great videos on the curly girl method. She’s done a ton of homework on what brands are safe to use, hair care routines, and more. She films them in her college dorm room. I think she’s darling:) Go HERE to see her youtube channel of videos.

Naturallycurly.com is a forum all about hair care. My goodness, there’s a forum for everything out there, isn’t there? Learned a lot about the basic washing routines here.

I learned that the sulfate is in nearly every shampoo. It is a foaming agent, toxic, and cleans the snot out of your hair. Yet, it strips my hair of its natural oils, thus making  it incredibly dry. I used to wash my hair every night with Pantene. I was totally killing my hair, but I just didn’t know.

I learned that I didn’t  have to wash my hair everyday. My hair washing schedule now goes something like this:

I wash my hair with shampoo about twice a week. On other days, I just conditioner wash my hair. Basically, I rub my scalp really well all over with some conditioner that doesn’t have any sulfates or silicones in it. Those are the drying ingredients. Moisture is what I needed to make my curls come back to life. Lots of moisture, and Pantene stripped all moisture away.

I rub some conditioner into my hair, and comb it through with my fingers so it’s completely coated. I scrunch my hair a ton, to encourage the natural curl pattern. At the end of the shower, I try to rinse in cold water, as cold as I can handle it. That closes the cuticles up, and increases shine. Fun.

Sometimes, if I don’t have product in my hair to clean out, I just wash my hair with water, and then use a little conditioner at the end. Scalp rubbing/massaging is key to a good wash.

To dry my hair, I use an old cotton T shirt and gently push it all over my hair to dry. The little fibers in towels increase frizz in your hair. I love using a shirt gently on my hair to dry. I just love taking care of my hair now:)

For the first two weeks I got off regular shampoo, my hair seemed extra oily. I read that’s totally normal for your hair to do. It was getting used to not having the natural oils stripped away, and balancing back to normal.

I learned that you can over condition you hair, and that’s not good. When my hair was too soft and limp, I needed to take a day off from conditioning it after washing my hair.

So, every one has a different head of hair. You must experiment and see what works for you. I did have one of my friend with straight hair try out this method. She said her hair felt softer.

It’s been great fun, and I love my hair again. I always shower at night, and usually have to re wet my hair in the morning to style it. Going to bed with semi wet hair and waking up makes my hair look like Simba. No joke. I usually stick my head under the bath facet, re wet it, and style.

Oh yes! I stopped using a baking soda wash for a shampoo alternative. I read that it is pretty harsh for your hair, but I use a apple cider vinegar rinse 1-2 a week. It basically clarifies. Every time I do that, I seem to have the best hair days. It’s awesome.

I tried to find a random picture of me and my hair. Here’s one.

So, it’s super great to learn how to take better care of your hair! That’s today’s post for ya:)

Beautiful quote

Shaun’s father quietly passed away in his home last week. Now, funeral preparations. Not fun, but here’s a beautiful quote that I came across yesterday. It’s from Joseph F. Smith, a former president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

“I believe we move and have our being in the presence of heavenly messengers and of heavenly beings. We are not separate from them. … We are closely related to our kindred, to our ancestors … who have preceded us into the spirit world. We can not forget them; we do not cease to love them; we always hold them in our hearts, in memory, and thus we are associated and united to them by ties that we can not break. … If this is the case with us in our finite condition, surrounded by our mortal weaknesses, … how much more certain it is … to believe that those who have been faithful, who have gone beyond … can see us better than we can see them; that they know us better than we know them. … We live in their presence, they see us, they are solicitous for our welfare, they love us now more than ever. For now they see the dangers that beset us; … their love for us and their desire for our well being must be greater than that which we feel for ourselves.”

Isn’t that beautiful?

Purging

I’ve been doing a lot of purging lately. Spring cleaning, so to speak. It feels great. I’m constantly realizing that time is so important. There’s only so many hours in the day, and the days fly by.

I’ve been cutting down my Facebook time. As much as I like to catch up on everyone and participate in chatter, I’m finding I just don’t have time. So Facebook has been reduced, and you know what happens when you’re not constantly checking FB? You are free. More time to focus on the big stuff, and see my kids in their cute moments more.

Worked on email inbox. Way too many subscriptions. Too much time trashing emails each day.

Cut down on the amount of Pinterest boards I’m following. Tried to keep it to the things I’m really interested in, and will use. I love Pinterest, because I use so many things I pin. Vital source of activities for teaching the kids, for real food recipes, and photo business stuff. Cannot live without Pinterest, but have to filter the board following.

I have a black garbage bag that is hiding in my closet. It constantly gets filled with crud laying around the house; broken toys, stuff we’re not using, etc. Decluttering saves your home! Wow, to have less makes it much easier to clean the house. Brings peace of mind, too.

So, purging has been going great around here. Now, here’s a beautiful picture of Ethan I was able to capture last weekend.

It’s always been a challenge to take pictures of the boys. They just wiggle and move so much. Boy nature. Even though Ethan may not always look at the camera for me, he always gives me this wonderful, candid shot that turns out more beautiful than I hoped for. I love this. I’m always at a loss about decorating my mantles at home. I now know what to do;  just put framed pictures up of the kiddos. That’s just perfect.

For this picture, I took the kiddos on a nature walk at my favorite photo taking place. It sure doesn’t look like the desert. It’s the most beautiful, peaceful place with a little creek bubbling along. I have some great pictures of Brooke to share next post.  Kevin was too busy exploring to hold still for a pic, of course.

That’s it for today. What purging have you done lately? Get cracking, it feels great:)

Bittersweet

This week has been a busy one. WPPI has come to my city again this year, the big photography conference. I told my boys that this week would be a little busy with them getting shipped to babysitters on the few days I attended some classes, but that I loved them so much. I felt guilty not having as much time with them this week as I like, but it was also a wonderful treat for me to go to the conference.

Here’s a few shots from today. I won’t post a ton, as I already did on my photography account on Instagram, but it was a good day.

First off, I went to a portrait business class on Monday that really opened my eyes on how I could do better for my clients. I was so thankful to go and hear this humble woman share her mistakes and teach us. My friend Celise and I sat together and listened, taking notes. Second year going to this conference with Celise. Fun:)

We walked around the trade show, and I kept seeing photographers who I saw teach online at Creative Live. Big wigs with lots of gear.

Today, this wonderful musician, Mindy Gledhill, performed some music before my class started. She has a beautiful album named “Anchor”, and her songs have been used by many photographers. I got into my class, saw that she was on stage performing, and thought ‘Sweet! Double whammy! “ Two great treats in one class, Mindy, and Sue Bryce teaching us.

Mindy was so kind and approachable. She is heading into the studio next week to record her next CD, which will be out in September. Yea!

Lighting was pretty off in this area, but oh well. It’s a picture:) I’ve been watching and learning from this funny and kind lady, Sue Bryce. She’s a huge portrait photographer from New Zealand. I’ve watched her on Creative Live for the past year. Excellent teaching in posing. I just wanted to meet her in person, and tell her thanks for teaching me how pose, and to direct hands so well. Haven’t mastered it yet, posing hands is insanely hard, but she’s about the only one who teaches posing so clear and direct. So, this was my treat:)

Then, it was time to come back to reality, get the kids, give them big hugs, and try to not forget the education I gained this week. Grateful I could go for a couple of days.

The bittersweet part of today was a phone call with Shaun’s tender Dad, who is battling leukemia cancer. He no longer wants to do chemo, and the nurses say he has about two weeks left here. So hard to think of, and yet, a comfort to know that soon, he will be with his wife, his best friend, Shaun’s wonderful mother, Dixie. Still, it’s sad and emotional.

I called him today, praying that he could answer his phone. He did. Fighting back tears, I told him how sorry we were that we are so far away, and can’t see him in person, but that we love him very much. I thanked him for teaching Shaun how to be a good worker, because Shaun is one of the hardest, most helpful, working people I know. He takes such good care of us.

I thanked him for teaching Shaun how to treat a wife like gold. Shaun learned from his Dad’s example. Shaun spoils me, and constantly is thinking of my welfare first. He saw his Dad do that for his mom. Example is powerful. I am the luckiest girl in the world to be married to Shaun.

I just wanted to thank him so much for the gift of his son, Shaun, to me. I told him how much I love him, and how happy I am to be his wife and friend. I remember being single, and giving up on the idea of someone wanting to spend eternity with me. I had the mindset of being content single for a long time, and then Shaun came, and my life has been forever blessed. It takes a good Dad to raise a good son.

I also told Dad even though this is hard and sad for us, how happy I was for him to be with his wife soon, and to see her again. She’s waiting to greet him, and everything will be ok. How grateful I am to have the knowledge the gospel gives us, that life does not end at death. There is so much more to come, and families are eternal.

Then, I got off the phone, and cried in the car. I’m an emotional basket case.

So, that was my day today. I tried to notice the sky more, and hear the birds chirping in the trees. Life is a precious gift.

Today

Here I am. This month is flying by. I want to blog, but don’t quite know what to blog about today. So, here’s a little post about something.

Lately, I’ve been trying to remember that the kids are not going to be little for long. Kevin will not be so small that I can curl him up in a little ball, and hold him in my arms. Ethan will be taller than me very soon, and will not want to sleep with his stuffed animals forever. Brooke will be out of her adorable toddler stage soon, and on to new chapters.

Whenever I see older kids, I sometimes think, “Oh, yeah. Our kids will be big like that one day.” My greatest fear is that I will regret not savoring the moments of them being little, when that day comes. I know that today is given to me once. I’m so incredibly lucky and blessed to have these three darling, little spirits in our home. This is what I’ve been trying to do more.

Look into their eyes. See the light shining in them, and the excitement as they talk about something they love.

Really care about something the care about. Kevin’s glow stick toy broke. It was from the dollar store. He was pretty bummed about it. I think we’ll swing by the dollar store again today.

Ethan loves being able to do stuff all by himself. I try to give him lots of opportunities. He does his morning chores great. Unloading the dishwasher is becoming very easy for him. I’m trying to teach this kids to work. Each morning, we eat breakfast, and then do some chores. Ethan can do more than Kevin, but it’s a start.

Ethan loves being tickled and wrestled with. The boys love it when I chase them around the house, even if I’m too tired to do it. They just run screaming with joy, and then we collapse and laugh.

Brooke is too cute for words. I love this 16 month old age. She’s so delighted over everything, and is a snuggler. She laughs, plays peek a boo, and hands me food when she’s eating it.

I tried to get up early again to get computer work done, but didn’t make it. Got up around 6:15, and will go jump on the trampoline, but just wanted to blog this. These kids are so precious, and teach me so much. Some days are very physically exhausting, and barely survivable, but life is still good.

My friend recently quit FB, and I’ve been thinking about the good things of that. She has more time, and less distractions. I am trying to be on my phone less, and in the moment with my kids more. Hug them more, and listen to them better. They are my gifts.

A recent trip to the dollar store. We enjoyed the balloons:)

That’s it for today. Time to bounce and feel amazing:)

Daily life

Catching up with some shots of daily life that goes on around here:)

Brooke is really doing great. She’s pulling herself up to a standing position everywhere. She is now cruising along the couch, hanging onto it carefully as she moves around, and crawling up on all fours. The boys never did that. They just did the army crawl. She’s almost 17 months. We love her.

One day while the little kids napped, Ethan and I were ‘organizing’ the shed. We went through a lot of my old stuff. Camping gear that brought back lots of memories of camping with Mom. It was nice to slow down for a moment and remember.

Anytime Shaun is off work, we make pancakes for breakfast, these ones HERE. Made this recipe over and over and over again. So very good.

I have been working on creating some family picture books on Blurb. It’s quite simple, and I love finally doing something with all the pictures I’ve been taking. I ordered this book below, an Instagram pic book. Can’t wait for it to come!

Does this happen in your family? Dada comes home. He tries to get a bite to eat, and the kids are all over him to eat his stuff, even though it’s what they ate for dinner just an hour ago? Crazy, silly kids.

This picture cracks me up, because it shows you just how hard we crash sometimes when we try to pull a late nighter. This was at 7:30! We’ve been trying to have Fridays be Family Fun Nights. We let the kids pick between watching a movie, playing some games, or a sleepover in the tent. Our boys are SO active, for almost all day. They wear Shaun and I out. 4-7pm is the most exhausting time of the day. I am on my feet for the entire time getting dinner ready, outside playing with the kids in front yard, taking care of Brooke, bathing kids, moving and moving. Right now, I can’t imagine these hours of the day not being exhausting. It just simply is. So, when we try to stay up late, (Late at 7:30, ha! I know:), it usually doesn’t work. We are so tired. Which is why when I go to church activities at night, I have to try hard to not sit down in a chair and pass out. I have to be somewhat with it and social, but it just feels so good to sit down and not move for more than 5 minutes, and to visit with grownups after being with kiddos for a long day. We are just so darn tired from these active kids. I wonder if it will ever get physically easier during these hours when they get older. I can’t imagine it right now.

Usually, before 4pm hits, I’ve been getting on my knees and saying a little prayer to help me survive the next few hours. It’s been helping a lot. I try my best to have dinner prepared before these hours, but some days not.

Anyways, this was one of our Friday nights. We were trying to watch a movie. I just had to take a pic:)

Ethan was enjoying playing around with my props for photo sessions. I was getting ready for a fun shoot last week, and he looked so adorable.

Here’s our little group, with my friend’s family for our models. They are always so willing to come help us practice and keep learning photography. A couple of little girls freaked out when they saw our models, and wanted to get pictures with them. They thought they were from America’s Next Top Model. It was fun:)

Ok, time to go get breakfast done. Hope everyone is having a great week!