My Favorite Blogs!

Check out these blogs that I read daily!
Keepin it Real-Has a great give away right now :)
http://www.keepinitreal-gina.com/2012/03/spring-giveaway.html

Becoming a Strong Woman of God
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/becomingastrongwomanofgod

Time Warp Wife
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/timewarpwife

Women Living Well
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/womenlivingwell

Oh my I read a lot of blogs, I don't want to overwhelm anyone!  So I will need to continue adding to this list.  But these ladies have some great stuff for this easter season, be sure to check it out!

Zzzzzzzz-WAKE UP!

My last post was on sleep.  Or I should say, the lack of sleep that I am getting.  The same afternoon that I wrote that post, a friend of mine was in a car accident because she dozed off at the wheel.  She and her children were ok, minor injuries, but a big wake-up call. 

We live in a sleep deprived nation.  We get much stimulation from electronics, television, caffeine and poor diet choices.  Add that to daily stresses, pressures and lack of exercise and we end up exhausted.  Exhaustion can be dangerous.  After her car accident and realizing I had just written about myself having sleep problems I started focusing on my exhaustion and I noticed a few things:

• ·        I’m eating more
• ·        I am making decisions slower
• ·        I am feeling more overwhelmed
• ·        My fuse has been a bit shorter

With these symptoms popping up, I decided to research what other effects I should be watching for.  I knew it was an extensive list, but I was surprised to find that sleep affects EVERY area of our body’s.  Here is the link to Wikipedia’s list of sleep deprivation symptoms.  After doing a small amount of research, I decided something needed to be done about my exhaustion.

This journey is just beginning…. I hope you will join me this week in focusing on sleep.

Step one: Identify what is interrupting my sleep.

Step two: How is lack of sleep affecting my body?

Step three: What changes will I need to make?

Side note, the man my friend rear-ended with her truck...he sent her flowers because she was so upset!  Aren't they beautiful?  Most of us would be very upset at the person who hit us, but he saw how upset she was and rather than making her day worse, he choose to make it better for her.  He did a wonderful job of cultivating something good out of a bad situation. How kind is he?!!?

Talk to the Shepherd

I’m tired!  Why can’t everyone sleep when I sleep!!!  Ok that is what I was feeling at 2 am, but I do not think that is  what came out of my mouth J  However, being up every other hour for the last week has really had my brain turning on the fact that sleep patterns are important.  And how do we cope, when our sleep patterns are different than our children or our spouses.

Maybe I like to sleep too much.  I’m an early to bed, early to rise and I would love to take a nap!  Our younger children are early to bed, early to rise.  Our older children do not EVER want to wake up.  And my husband is more of a night owl than I am.  All of our biological clocks are just not in sync.  So basically someone is awake 24 hours a day!

Sometimes my brain races 100 miles an hour with my to-do lists for the next day.  Or my life long struggle with nightmares will pop up.  My husband lives with chronic pain and sometimes struggles to sleep through it.  So between us, we have many sleepless nights.  I have known for many years to turn these nights into nights full of prayer.  However that is much easier to say during the day, than it is to act on at night.  I have seen this quote  many times.  But my prayer this week has been that I remember at 2am to talk to the Shepherd, when I am unable to sleep.

It's tough to cultivate good things when I'm exhausted,  but talking to the Shepherd will help me stay on the right track!

Self Evaluation: Balance

Self Reflection is very important in my life. I try to be very intentional about learning from others and relating it to my life. Now I'm not always good at it, and I don't always like what I learn! But this weekend two important words came to me to reflect on. The first is Balance which I will share with you today. The second is Nagging, which will come later in the week!


Balance is an important word in my life. After all, with five children (ages 18 down to 1) a full time job, and all the daily routines that come along with such wonderful responsibility, balance is a must. I try to be intentional with decisions on schedules, adding more activities and items that affect our home.


But sometimes my views are one-sided, until something slaps me across the face! I think I’m doing well and then I realize I’m missing something. This weekend I had one of those “Ah-ha moments” I came across the following status update of a friend of a friend on Facebook. It said,“I hate gamers sorry but when I hear it see it every day I can’t stand it”


I immediately thought, “Her husband is lacking balance with video games” Wow, a husband can lack balance? Then I began thinking, wait maybe she’s talking about her child. Children can lack balance? Of course this is common sense, but have I put it on the back burner? I have been diligent about balancing my own choices and responsibilities. But am I communicating the importance of balance to my children and am I supporting balance for my husband?


In her household Video Games seem to be an issue of balance. Maybe a conversation about priorities and balance would be beneficial. But as always:

“Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” John 8:7

I always try to take the approach rather than nagging, (that will be my next self reflection blog!) to model the good behavior I would like to see. A conversation may be appropriate but evaluating one’s self, is of the most importance. I thought I was balanced until I began reflecting. Then after thinking about her video game in-balance, I found another area of my life that needs more balance.

FOOD!

We tend to be overeaters, and with a busy life we have to put a lot of effort into balancing healthy choices in our cupboards. Yet I will admit I need more balance in this area. I am not always modeling good behavior and balance, and therefore my family is not making the most balanced choices. But until now I had not thought of food choices as an area we need to balance.


My hope is that in cultivating good things, balance will come more naturally and easily to me! Until then….I need to go home and throw away the donuts I just bought!

A new perspective

So it's been a rough few weeks in our household.  We have been passing a stomach bug around, I was the last one to catch it.  Now I would like to say that I was very gracious, kind, supportive, helpful and had a postive attitude the entire time I was cleaning up after my family.  But I will admit there was at least one or two messes in the middle of the night that I was not exactly grateful as I should have been.  Be grateful in all things, is tough for me when it includes body fluids and 2 am at the same time!

But I mustered through it, and did my best.  Then it happened....I was slicing strawberries one night for a before bedtime snack for everyone, and I never completed the task, I spent the rest of the night very close to a toilet.

An interesting thing happened, my perspective changed.  I was the one scurrying around to help and support everyone, and suddenly I was on the ground!  Here is a picture of my new vantage point.  While my husband was taking the older children to school I put our youngest in the bathtub and laid on the floor right outside the bathroom.  That was all the energy I had, was to snap two pictures with my phone!

Of course my new vantage point showed me that the baseboards need to be cleaned, someone stuck a toothbrush behind the toilet, spiders make webs in corners on the ground not just corners up high and the kids really do know how to play with their toys!  I mean look at that beautiful
mess!

But my new vantage point also came with several positive points.  I was surrounded by wonderful people.  My three year old came and gave me a kiss on the forehead and said "feel better mama"  My husband waited on me hand and foot all day, and everyone pitched in to help when mom was down.

Even in sickness we can cultivate good things.  I saw kindness, support, helpfulness and positive attitude in my family when it was my turn.  This was a great reminder to me that our reactions to every thing in life is seen and often mimicked by our children....lets show them good things and cultivate kindness!

Terrible Three's

Why do they call it the terrible two's?  She was so sweet when she was two, she liked to snuggle, her words were kind and loving....then she turned three.....

Looking back my friends would be sure to point out that she was two when she got a hold of all the boiled eggs for Easter.  Yes she took a 12 pack of boiled eggs into her room and peeled them all while I fed the baby in the living room.  I remember smelling something funny and got up to check.....yes that was a big smelly mess.  Then there was that day when mommy thought she was taking a nap, and later found that she was having a tea party with something that should have stayed in her diaper! Oh then there was the time she told me, "mommy your shoes need to be washed"  And I found them in the bath tub! Yes those were some not so sweet, but oh so funny moments of her terrible two's.

But since she turned three, she is even MORE inquisitive, exploitative, creative and independent.  Boy is she giving us a run for our money! Last night I found myself saying, "That's it you are grounded!"  Hmmm, not sure that was the best reaction, but I was frustrated when I found a pile of her brother's valentine candy wrappers hidden in her bed.  She was suppose to be napping, and apparently found a pound of candy and ate it.  Needless to say she never napped!


This too shall pass and in another year I can look back and laugh, but today, I'm not laughing!  She is such a blessing and has an amazing personality and wonderful qualities.  But some days she wears her mama out!

 But as always I need to stop, pray, reflect and remember that my reactions to her curiosity need to help cultivate good thing, not tear them down.  Have a good cultivating day!

Define: Cultivation

Welcome to my blog!

I am an educated woman.  I have a few degrees on my wall, a high level position within an organization….Yet sometimes when it comes to life, motherhood and relationships I just do not feel as smart as maybe I should be!  I want to take time each day to be sure I am cultivating good things.  

I am creating this blog to discuss the many areas in life that I and many other mothers may need a little more cultivation.  I want to be wise and educated in as many areas of my life as possible.  Most importantly I want to be open to learning and cultivating new and good things every day.    

So what exactly does it mean to cultivate???

cul·ti·vate

verb (used with object), -vat·ed, -vat·ing.

·       to prepare and work on 

·       to promote or improve the growth of by labor and attention.

·       to develop or improve by education or training; train; refine:to cultivate a singing voice.

So there you have it this blog will encourage us to improve ourselves through growth, labor, attention, education and training so that we are more prepared for the trials and tribulations of our life.
  Have a good Cultivating Day!!