A little watercolor prayer...

I painted this with intention for my sister whose been very sick. And with the events happening in Japan today, it seems to have been a timely intentional painting.

I love:: Continuing the Conversation (22)

Thank you all who commented-- giving amazing and personal answers to our conversation on Lent.  You can read Emily's response in a blog post here. 

To continue the conversation, I'm including here what I gave up. And what I'm bringing on. I tend to go into Lent like it's a new year's resolution. What were mine this year anyway? So I decided to make a life changing group of choices that I will carry the principles out way past Easter.

For lent, I gave up time wasters and I’m bringing on time enrichers.
 

My time wasters:
Facebook, hands down. I love social media, connecting with others and talking with my sisters (and sister-friends). However, it’s a time suck, no?
Internet time. What do I like to do in the evenings, check blogs, write blog post, update fb, find new music... there is so much good out there.
Extra TV, I didn’t give up the Olympics or TV all together but I’m mindful of the time that is wasted while sitting on the couch.

Mindfully Choosing
So now, I mindfully choose something else to occupy that time. Facebook— yep not on it at all during lent. If on the internet, I set a short time limit. TV, I ask myself— is there something else I could be doing that would enrich my time OR is this the place I’m supposed to be? Sitting with my husband unwinding from our day?

Some choices that I now have time for: A good conversation (with voices!) on the old fashioned phone, or in real life. Dinner with friends, sharing the table, sharing experiences— carrying life together.  Knitting like crazy, an extra game of dress Mr. Potato Head or threading beads. Tea parties with Truman— where we eat real food. Tea parties with Izzo— where we eat pretend food from pink cups and plates.

I’m reading a lot more too starting with Simpler Living, Compassionate Life and Freedom of Simplicity.

I am acutely aware that we create most of the stress and busyness in our own lives. Or we sponge it up from other people’s self-made drama-- and I am a terrible "sponger". I am trying to break that cycle in my own life. To be ever present in my community with helping hands, food for the belly and conversations with more listening than talking.  It’s a road that is taking some time to integrate in my everyday, and I am convinced to make it a daily practice.

Another way to practice this in my area is this Thursday. Zestos, Inc is having our end of the month banquet, we eat together, have conversations and make relationships with new people. It's the thing I look forward to every month. Are you in the Orange City area? You should come too. For more information, visit here. 

*You know I never post without a photo-- this is from Eric's valentine pancakes (:  

Grocery Store Gratitude

We were in the grocery store last night, and I was holding Truman. He was whining to me “I want chippies.... I want more bananas.... I want those...”(pointing at the white puffy marshmallows).

After saying, “Not today, honey” about a thousand times. I looked him square in the eye and said, “I don’t want to play the I WANT game. I think we should play the Thank You game.”

Thank you for the milk in the cart. Thank you for buying juice. Thank you for buying bread and eggs. Thank you for feeding me. Thank you for holding me in line, even if I’m almost 40 pounds.

And after a tea-time talk with a dear friend yesterday afternoon. I realized that no matter how well we raise our children (hers in high school, now) they develop a case of the I WANTs. And that case has to be treated and groomed out of them, repeatedly— this is a life long lesson, even as adults. We need a gentle reminding that other people in the world don’t get everything we have. We are not comparatively poor, but comparatively rich to the rest of the nation and the world. And a sense of gratitude, not entitlement should envelop us, but it doesn’t. Not for me anyway.

I want to instill in my kids the gratefulness of heart and gratitude of spirit. How do we go about doing that when— especially around Christmas time— when we’re receiving all kinds of presents and then the season ends. We still have that lingering I WANT hanging around.

What if I started my day with a simple mantra, “Thank You for this day?”

A year ago, Eric and I started to end our days with a question, posed sometimes in darkness right before we turn over to sleep. What is your gratitude for today?

What a centering question. We now bring up instances in our days that made it worth living. Yesterdays was simple for me. A talk with a good friend, while our children played in front of us. His was similar, for his friends and the pervasive sense of belonging and home we have now. Both simple and profound blessings.

What was your gratitude for today, what are you grateful for? Will you join me in turning our I WANTs into Thank Yous?

*Image from The Marquette Educator 

Gratitude Friday.

I’m grateful for these two faces, sweet friend, baby Hazel and Truman. Hanging around on a blanket under the apple tree, playing with their 'toe-toes.'

Today I am grateful for the women in my life, for their friendship and kind words. Those who have gone before us in situations, guide us though the next stages in our life. Help us walk our dog, drink wine at our table, eat, pray, laugh and cry together.

For my children who crack me up. Truman who corrects us when me misunderstand his pronunciations of words. Indignantly, “No, Mama ATside (outside, which also sounds like inside).”

And for Izzo who said last night, “Mom I miss our white chicken, but dinner was SOOOOO good.” (Eric just learned how to butcher chicken, this rooster was HUGE so it was a big job!)

For the adventures the kids love to take and how everything turns into a story. We took Jayne and Lucy on our fairy walk last night.

For sleep (we didn’t get much last night) but it makes you that much more grateful the days you do get it.

I sound like a broken record, but for fresh produce... And for all the salsa it makes. I’ve made salsa for dinner the last 4 nights. Amazing.

For surplus, in so many ways.

Hope your day is filled with gratitude.

Breast Cancer Walk

Hello friends, I know that Christmas is pretty far off, but I just wanted to tell you all about my friend, Rebekah who is doing a Three Day Breast Cancer Walk in her current hometown in Texas. They've been training crazy and working diligently to raise money.

She is walking in remembrance of a few women— but the woman that is closest to my heart is Sharon. Sharon lost her battle with Cancer two Octobers ago. She was a selfless mother of five and grandmother-- she was giving, gracious and made you want to be a better person. Even though, she is in glory, we miss her terribly. So in memory of Sharon, and others, help us raise some money for Rebekah's walk!

This $25 package includes:
1 vintage Christmas hankie
8 hand screen printed Christmas cards and red envelopes
8 red seals
Roll of gold ribbon
--For paper junkies-- this is all paper source/waste-not-paper materials


If you want this particular package, made by me, you can email her at rebekah_elder@yahoo.com.

She has so many other cute aprons, jewelry, candles on her blog. Or just visit her to donate.

Lately... a photoless update...

I thought the week we left for California was one of the busiest to date. Boy, was I wrong. I don’t think our feet have touched the ground since we’ve been home. Lots of commitments and joyful busyness. I thought I’d let you in on a few of the things we’ve been up to.

Zestos, Inc.
Zestos, Inc. is a new non-profit organization that seeks to meet the basic needs of people in our community with food, clothing, shelter and prayer. Eric and I have joined with friends to make this organization a reality. Our friends Rod and Jayne, have had the vision of a place like this for years and we all have a big part to play, it seems as if our roles were divinely laid out for us.

We have a prayer meeting tonight (Thursday, July 30th) at 6:30 p.m. at Alton Reformed Church, this will be about 45 minutes. If you have time and are in the area, come pray with us!

I created the blog and a facebook page. If you want more information you can see this article, that was put out by the N’West Iowa REVIEW. If you wnt to ask specific questions post them on our facebook wall or email ZestosInc[at]gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you.

The Garden
So I’d love to say that we’ve been out there more than once in the last three weeks, but that would be fibbing. However, we have lots of produce coming in, onions, potatoes, beans, carrots, dragon carrots, peas. Tomatoes that are just aching to turn ripe. Sunflowers that are taller than the house (ok so not really but they are HUGE!).


Weddings, Weddings.
We flew to one (in CA) and had the most lovely weekend. What sweet friends these two have been!

And we had one this weekend which I shot pictures at the reception, lots of photo editing in my spare time!

Plus... we’re helping out at wedding in August, lots of planning/meetings involved. But it should be fun!

Goats Milk.
I believe that I scalded the milk while making yogurt, and when it was finished, the ‘yogurt’ looked like runny cottage cheese, and no one really ate it. Better luck next week...

Farmer’s Market.
However this has been my best season yet, I will no longer be baking for the Market. It cuts hours out of my already busy life and though it is a hobby and creative outlet for me, I think that it’s more than I can sanely accomplish.

I am going to start to post some of my tried and true Farmer’s Market recipes (some are already posted). So that you can enjoy them on your own!

New Puppy.
Lucy is a sweet girl and she’s been such a wonderful addition to our family. But she is a puppy, lots of training not to bite, pee in the house, jump.... Funny, we’re trying to get Truman to not pee in the toilet, not bite, and not jump on the bed.

Crafting with Kids

A post about prayer flags on the crafty crow got me thinking about kids and crafts.

This craft has a real purpose, to put a visual representation of a prayer on a piece of cloth and hang it in the wind, much like a Tibetan prayer flag. A tangible way for kids to experience what prayer is. And this gives a great opportunity to open the conversation or just field questions about prayer.

Family collaborative collage is another great activity, to get dirty laugh together and foster communication too.

Flower printing would be a great way to get your little people thinking about nature, botany, environmental science. You could explain all the parts of a flower. That would be so fun! Or make a flower/leaf identification chart for their room, after nature walks, see what you have in your basket!

The family and I are off for an extremely quick trip to California (28 hours to be exact). Until then, I'd love to hear some crafts that you're working on right now!

From our facebook page here are a few comments people made when asked about their childhood summers:

"1) lemonade stand 2) slip and slide 3) pitching the tent in the back yard and camping out at home or just using it during the day to play in"

"sprinklers/hose in the yard or making Popsicles/ice cubes with treasures in them."

"Making forts in the back yard - they usually involved the sprinkler at some point, bike riding, playing in the sand box, filling the sand box up with water and pretending it was a pool...ooo filling the canoe up with water an pretending it was a pool...We loved to swim...LOL!"

Photo from future craft collective.

Put it on your Cal-ender: Carol Decker Auction

Hello Friends,

A few weeks ago a few friends alerted me to Carol Decker's situation thanks to cjane and her post. Carol went in for an emergency c-section and with some unforeseen complications lost one of her arms, her legs and eyesight. Almost a year has past since this tragedy and the blogging community is banding together to auction off some great handmade goods and services for Carol and her family. 

Wendy and I decided we could not sit idle and wanted to donate to her auction. Wendy makes these wonderful felted purses and you can bid on it silent auction style here. 

Look around at everything else they have too, I love these and these. 

You can read about Carol's story here and see an interview here. 

Please join us to help this sweet family!

Thank you, 

Mary and Wendy 

What I am up to...

Instead of blogging here’s what I’ve been doing:


Making and eating chocolate chip pancakes.


Watching the apple tree begin to bloom.


Watch chickens waddle as Eric makes a new coop.


Preparing for the Tulip Festival. I was part of joint project with my beloved Grandma Bonnie. A little designing and printing of placecards. They turned out quite nice. I'll post a photo soon.

Playing outside


Sewing and screen printing. This delicate pink linen bag was for a friend at work, her 30 year anniversary.


Making some wine labels...



Picking up TAMMY! She is back here for graduation and we are very glad to have her back ‘home’. Even if she’s only here a week.


Designing a blog...



It was my birthday this mother’s day. And even though I don’t like a big deal made about my birthday, I do like when I feel known.

This birthday I felt very spoiled. My little family got me a lensbaby. O my goodness I love it. Watch for me at the festival with my camera-- its charging on the counter.


Missy sent an amazing gift box for me full of wonderful trinkets, books, scents and a pair of TOMS have you seen these. Missy got me the vegan variety. O goodness!


Cute and conscious. Ooo and comfy too.

I hope you’re doing as well as I am... I’m hoping for some slow time, but I’m glad I actually like what I’ve been up to!

Support the Local Economy.... o and Lots of Links.

With the economy being what it is, we see more and more smaller stores going out of business. This was clearly evident on our recent trip to California— a once bustling and still small-store front part of town is now rows and rows of empty store fronts.

3/50 project is putting this issue into perspective. Take a look at it here, go sign up and support your local economy. It’s just that easy.

:::::::::

Congratulations are in order. It is the birthday of a dear friend, and a faithful blog reader. So go visit her and give her some birthday love at her NEW etsy store.

Here’s a summer recipe we’ve shared and some links we’ve passed on.

Smoothie Pops
6 large strawberries, washed and hulled
1 banana
4 ice cubes
1 cup yogurt (any fruity flavor)
1/2 cup milk (If you want you can omit this)
1/2 cup fruit juice-- (I’d use orange, you can also use peach nectar...yum!)
Mix all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour into 3 oz. paper cups, cover with plastic wrap, and insert popsicle sticks. Freeze for at least 5 hours. Makes 12.

Other Links:

Love this site, Lisa Hannigan and her video.

And Veggie Trader!

Have you seen this Design Mom photo shoot in central park? I’m now thinking about getting my friend Andrea to make Izzo one of those flowered headbands, you see, she owns this cute little place.

Earth Hour -- update!

Well we did it— mostly. Except that we had two sick kids, so the lights kept going on and off to get to them. They both have a cold/virus of sorts. Lots of barking-seal-like coughing and fevers. We made it through thanks to ice cold lemonade, mommy/daddy snuggling-- the kind where they lean their whole weight and suck the life/energy right out of you and you have to peel them off to even go to the bathroom, or to get more lemonade. Plus, ungodly amounts of Barney.

But, 99 percent of our lights were off the whole time. It felt good to be doing something. We’ve even discussed making earth hour a weekly event. Keeping the lights off as a reminder how much we don’t really need to function.

I took a peek at the flickr group. How awesome to be connected to something bigger.

Wishing you a happy and healthy week!

Help Send a Message

A month or so ago my mother sent me this email about earth hour. What a cool idea. 

Every person in the world who can. Shut off your lights and/or your power for an hour 8:30 p.m. on this saturday night. 

No matter what your view is on the term 'global warming.' This is a great way to conserve energy on a global scale. Hopefully making clear that the treatment of this earth, by us, it's inhabitants could be better. 

Won't you join me in Earth Hour? We are having a very small get together-- just our family and one other. We'll leave the power off at our house as we go to theirs and turn their power off. I think it sends a strong message about what we can all do together, no matter where you live! 

So share with me what you're going to do for Earth Hour! I'd love to hear about it!

Red Letter Festival

If you would indulge me a little. I want to tell you about a festival that I'm really excited about! Friend and fellow blogger, Jim Ellis, has been working diligently for a cause that is close to our community. He’s running all of this grass-roots PR to get the word out, which I so admire. AND he’s running 61.05 miles for the famed red letter run.


The Red Letter Festival is this weekend, it’s goal is to “raise awareness about negative effects of domestic violence, poverty and homelessness in the lives of women and children in Northwest Iowa.”

The actual festival is this weekend, there are lots of ways to participate. You can find the schedule here and donate your time or resources to help The Bridge in Orange City.

* NOTE: Check out Mr. Ellis and his story here and an article about The Bridge here.