I've been inspired by a fellow Mom with her recent Facebook post about social media allowing us to present our best selves and not the less than perfect. As a result the world seems full of perfect mothers who always have clean homes, and freshly cooked food, well behaved children and so on.
This prompted many to then share their messy stories from that day. Not cleaning, running from your kids, popping them in front of movies so you can get something else done, wishing and wishing for the next stage of childhood to come. We've all been there, maybe more often then we'd like to admit.
There are many days where I take my kids and we just leave the house so I don't have to look at the pile of dishes, or the pile of laundry, or the pile of mail, toys, etc. (Or choosing to catch up on my favorite show instead of doing all the previously listed things. Eek!) It's not pretty to admit those things but it is real. If we were all a little more real with each other maybe we wouldn't feel so bad about the things we don't get done.
Obviously there are things we need to do and its part of being a responsible Mother to tidy the house, wash the clothes and so on. We shouldn't completely neglect those things. But there is an amazing thing called "Grace" for when we do! Thank you Jesus!
We should embrace our "messy motherhood" and at the same time encourage and call each other up to a higher place. I know I need that. Sometimes you might need a little tough love but more often then not I think you just need to hear your not alone. It's okay that your house is a mess and your kids are running wild. Don't leave it forever but it's okay!
So for all my Mom friends out there, I'm glad your not perfect! Me either. Lets encourage each other and love each other right where we are.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Tradition, Tradition!
I love holiday traditions. The Christmas holiday especially. More specifically the Shinkle family Christmas traditions.
It usually begins with going to find a Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. As a child we always went out onto a relatives farm land and searched for hours for the perfect cedar tree. The house smelled so wonderful! More recently this has meant going to the tree farm to pick out a tree. Still fun just different.
Yes, I am a fan of live trees. Doesn't feel like Christmas to me without it.
Then we wait with anticipation for Christmas to arrive. When our whole family is together. I am the oldest of 9 children if you don't already know that. So 9 children, 4 spouses, 4 grand kids, 2 great-grandparents, and of course Mom and Dad.
We spend the week before preparing food. We don't do a big Christmas meal but instead have a huge table of snacks that we eat on throughout the day. There are a few things that appear every year like Dad's homemade summer sausage, the best cheese ball you will ever have, ham roll ups, Grandma's cinnamon rolls, jalapeno cheese balls, and punch still served in Mom's wedding punch bowl. There are many other things like cookies, crackers, scones, stuffed mushrooms, you never know what might show up. :)
We always do our family Christmas on the 26th since Dad works on Christmas day. My Dad still wakes us all up with jingle bells. We make coffee, of course, and wait for the Grandparents to get there before opening gifts. We usually read some of the Christmas story to remember why we celebrate this day and then we begin gift opening. We draw names since there are so many of us and we take our time going on person at a time so everyone can see what they received. Then we go straight to the snacks. The day continues this way, playing games, eating, watching a movie like White Christmas, Elf, or It's a wonderful life, eating, napping, playing more games, etc.
I love my family so much. They are the real reason I love Christmas so much and the reason it's fun to make traditions.
I want my kids to have as many good memories as I do about family and holidays. We've started one tradition of giving each other a new ornament each year and I look forward to creating more traditions with my kids as the years come.
I hope you have a family you love spending time with over the holidays, whether biological or not. Family as God intended it is beautiful and life giving.
If you have any great holiday traditions please share them. I would love to hear some new ideas!
Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life! ~Albert Einstein
It usually begins with going to find a Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. As a child we always went out onto a relatives farm land and searched for hours for the perfect cedar tree. The house smelled so wonderful! More recently this has meant going to the tree farm to pick out a tree. Still fun just different.
Yes, I am a fan of live trees. Doesn't feel like Christmas to me without it.
Then we wait with anticipation for Christmas to arrive. When our whole family is together. I am the oldest of 9 children if you don't already know that. So 9 children, 4 spouses, 4 grand kids, 2 great-grandparents, and of course Mom and Dad.
We spend the week before preparing food. We don't do a big Christmas meal but instead have a huge table of snacks that we eat on throughout the day. There are a few things that appear every year like Dad's homemade summer sausage, the best cheese ball you will ever have, ham roll ups, Grandma's cinnamon rolls, jalapeno cheese balls, and punch still served in Mom's wedding punch bowl. There are many other things like cookies, crackers, scones, stuffed mushrooms, you never know what might show up. :)
We always do our family Christmas on the 26th since Dad works on Christmas day. My Dad still wakes us all up with jingle bells. We make coffee, of course, and wait for the Grandparents to get there before opening gifts. We usually read some of the Christmas story to remember why we celebrate this day and then we begin gift opening. We draw names since there are so many of us and we take our time going on person at a time so everyone can see what they received. Then we go straight to the snacks. The day continues this way, playing games, eating, watching a movie like White Christmas, Elf, or It's a wonderful life, eating, napping, playing more games, etc.
I love my family so much. They are the real reason I love Christmas so much and the reason it's fun to make traditions.
I want my kids to have as many good memories as I do about family and holidays. We've started one tradition of giving each other a new ornament each year and I look forward to creating more traditions with my kids as the years come.
I hope you have a family you love spending time with over the holidays, whether biological or not. Family as God intended it is beautiful and life giving.
If you have any great holiday traditions please share them. I would love to hear some new ideas!
Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life! ~Albert Einstein
Thursday, November 17, 2011
The Oil Cleansing Method
My latest discovery that I am loving is making my own face wash. I have never been really happy with a cleanser I have used and I have tried a lot. Most of them natural or organic but still have not been completely satisfied.
So, I began searching how I could make my own. This has to be easy right? We don't need that many ingredients to clean our skin.
In my searching I came across the Oil-Cleansing Method. Maybe you have heard of this already but I had not.
The idea is simple...Clean with oil. Sounds a little crazy I know. Most face washes or cleansers you see with proudly proclaim "Oil-Free". Making us believe that oil must be bad for our skin. This is completely false.
One of the laws, if you will, of chemistry states "like dissolves like". Meaning oil dissolves oil. Plus our bodies produce oil naturally and need oil to be healthy. Many products strip the oil from our skin and leave it trying to repair itself. Cleansing with oil will remove impurities and replenish your skin with good, healthy oils.
All that to say I am loving the oil cleansing method!! I have been using it for almost a week and my skin feels soft and healthy. I am currently using a combination of Castor oil, Sunflower Seed Oil, Lavender, and Tea Tree oil.
The method itself is simple. Massage the oil into your skin, place a very warm washcloth over your face to steam for a couple seconds and then wash off. You also only need to do this once a day. Seriously so simple.
There are many different oils you can use depending on your skin type. Apricot, Almond, Sunflower, and Olive are all great. Have a look at this website for more details and how to mix your oils. This site only lists sunflower oil which is great for any skin. Apricot is better for dry and Almond better for oily. I hope I have inspired you to try something new...
http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/
So, I began searching how I could make my own. This has to be easy right? We don't need that many ingredients to clean our skin.
In my searching I came across the Oil-Cleansing Method. Maybe you have heard of this already but I had not.
The idea is simple...Clean with oil. Sounds a little crazy I know. Most face washes or cleansers you see with proudly proclaim "Oil-Free". Making us believe that oil must be bad for our skin. This is completely false.
One of the laws, if you will, of chemistry states "like dissolves like". Meaning oil dissolves oil. Plus our bodies produce oil naturally and need oil to be healthy. Many products strip the oil from our skin and leave it trying to repair itself. Cleansing with oil will remove impurities and replenish your skin with good, healthy oils.
All that to say I am loving the oil cleansing method!! I have been using it for almost a week and my skin feels soft and healthy. I am currently using a combination of Castor oil, Sunflower Seed Oil, Lavender, and Tea Tree oil.
The method itself is simple. Massage the oil into your skin, place a very warm washcloth over your face to steam for a couple seconds and then wash off. You also only need to do this once a day. Seriously so simple.
There are many different oils you can use depending on your skin type. Apricot, Almond, Sunflower, and Olive are all great. Have a look at this website for more details and how to mix your oils. This site only lists sunflower oil which is great for any skin. Apricot is better for dry and Almond better for oily. I hope I have inspired you to try something new...
http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/
So here it begins....
I've been contemplating starting a blog for awhile now. Mostly I have resisted because it seemed like the "in" thing to do, but in all honesty I really want to have a blog so here it is! :)
Often I am going through my day, at home or in the car, and I'll think of something I would like to write down or share with others. Thoughts on kids, Jesus, food and health, being a good mother, wife and friend etc. Those are the topics you will find on the blog and it'll be fun.
So here it begins....
Often I am going through my day, at home or in the car, and I'll think of something I would like to write down or share with others. Thoughts on kids, Jesus, food and health, being a good mother, wife and friend etc. Those are the topics you will find on the blog and it'll be fun.
So here it begins....
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