Library Love

I have posted many times about my love for the library or given out lists of books that I am currently reading. It's a topic that I don't tire of easily.

As I have been doing more household de-cluttering recently, I was struck again by how many books that we own and don't ever read again. I may have gotten impulsive and ordered a few from Amazon...or bought ten more books at the thrift or library book sale because they looked interesting and were a "great deal"...or they were gifts or hand-me-downs from others. In any case, unless I want to buy yet MORE bookshelves (which I really don't want to do as I seek to live more simply!), I have to get rid of a lot of these. And let's face it, there are truly VERY FEW that are worth keeping to re-read or lend out to others to read.

And the thought struck me, "why do I feel the need to own all of these books when I have a lovely public library down the road where I can 'test-drive' books for FREE?" I don't have to store them, organize them, or dust them off. They come in my door, are enjoyed, and sent back for others to enjoy. It's a wonderful form of "sharing" and not hoarding. It teaches me to be patient and wait for a book to be available and not to purchase it impulsively. It frees up space in my home.

And my kids read the library books with freshness and exuberance yet look at their own shelves full of books with a glazed look of boredom. Could I pair down all of our children's books to just the "best of the best" and let the rest go? I am beginning to think that less is more even when it comes to beloved books.

To make our library experience simpler for our large family, we try to go every other week. With two in school, two at home, and a busy husband, I have decided that it's more meaningful for us to have a family trip to the library every few weeks instead of just me and two of the kids going in the mornings (and let's face it, my mornings at home are precious to me so I guard against outside time!) This allows Mike to get a chance to find some books for himself and model to his sons a love for learning. It also gives me an opportunity to peruse for a few minutes without a toddler under my feet :) Late Sunday afternoons work nicely for us or a late weekday afternoon when Mike gets home from work.

We try to keep a rule of sorts that every child only gets three books at a time...this keeps the scramble to find them and turn them back in so much easier for me. We also keep a centralized "library book basket" in our living room where all library books are to be kept. Each child has their own library tote bag but we usually end up putting all of the books into my big red canvas bag.



And now for the books I have been recently reading:

The Lighthouse by Eugenia Price. This was my book club's selection for this month and it was easy-to-read, enjoyable historical fiction. Perfect vacation read. I am now starting the second book in this St. Simon's Trilogy...New Moon Rising.

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. This book is right up my alley because it speaks to so many themes that I love...women friendships, crafting, community and bearing each other's burdens. It's not a page-turner, but I love coming back to it every day because of the realness of each character's struggle and search to figure out life...and doing that in the context of friendships and knitting.

A Slice of Organic Life by Sheherazade Goldsmith. I just picked this up on Sunday and am so excited about it. It's published by DK so it's full of photos and EASY to pick up and read/understand. The book is a back-to-the-basics primer to beginning a more organic, simpler lifestyle. Some of the topics include:

• grow salad leaves in a window box
• support local businesses
• nourish skin naturally
• make and freeze baby foods
• give eco presents
• make compost in a small space
• keep urban honey bees
• plant vegetable in a "square foot" garden
• make organic drinks
• grow flowers for cutting
• make summer fruit jam
• keep some chickens

There are so many more topics than just these...just giving you a taste :) This book will give your creativity a spark as to how to make more simple, small choices that make a big impact on the environment, your health, and your quality of living.

What good books are you reading?

Simple Natural Remedies

Goodness, there just seems to be so much sickness going around!! It always makes me wish I used the seasons when we are healthy to learn more about natural, herbal, or homeopathic remedies. It seems that if you aren't prepared with knowledge BEFORE sickness strikes, then you are in a reactive mode that grabs the first over-the-counter medicine from your cabinet that promises any kind of relief.

As wise mamas, a bit of natural-nursing knowledge would be a good idea to investigate and learn during times of wellness... and when we have good knowledge, we feel very empowered as mothers. Nurturing and mothering are particularly delightful when we have a sense of how to do something ourselves instead of looking helplessly to the first person who will give us any kind of reasonable-sounding answer!

There is a wealth of practical knowledge out there for us mamas to glean from...websites, blogs, library books, magazine articles, Holistic Moms Network. We just need to be a bit more intentional to search those resources out. I speak to myself here. When times are good, I don't particularly feel the need to go learn about healing bruises, cold remedies, or how to deal with a child's fever...in fact, I don't want to even think about those things! But we all know that sickness is inevitable (especially around February!) even if we are taking proactive, preventative measures by healthy diets and supplements.

Here are a few items that I keep on hand in my personal medicine-arsenal...this is a simple list because I am just beginning my journey to learn more. I just ordered these books to give me a better understanding of herbs, and I really would love to order this book soon because it seems very practical, balanced, and written from a Christian perspective. I have had an interest in aromatherapy for a while and can't wait to explore that further too!

• Burt's Bees Res-Q Ointment. This stuff is awesome. Any time my children (or I!) have bumps, bruises, scrapes, bites, etc., I reach for this. It is so healing and soothing.
• Hyland's Homeopathics. I have bought many of their products from our local pharmacy and have had total success. I would love to buy this "remedy chest" so that I have everything I could possibly need in one place! I always took Ibuprofen or Tylenol for menstrual cramp relief, but using Hyland's Menstrual Cramp formula has worked great!
  
• Wally's Ear Oil. Anytime I sense the children have an earache (or even if the dog keeps scratching at her ears!), they get a drop or two of this ear oil. It brings instant relief and heals so well! If you do an internet search of this product, you will read many glowing reviews.
• Emergen-C. I drink one packet of this daily and my husband Mike recently starting drinking 2 packets a day when a bad cold started coming on. Within 2 days, Mike felt totally better. I hear over and over again that it really helps knock colds in half, and if you drink it daily, then you may not get the cold to begin with! You can find it at your local grocery store.
• Lemon Juice/Water. I continually hear (and have experienced!) how this simple drink can stop a migraine or even nausea associated with morning sickness. It also helps digestive problems, skin problems, and allergies.
  

And here are two recipes that I found last night that I plan on using immediately:

Enchanted Garlic Syrup (from A Kid's Herb Book)

1/2 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/2 cup water
5 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. fresh ginger, grated or 1/4 tsp. powdered
1/2 cup honey
Dash of cayenne pepper (optional)

Mix thoroughly in a blender. Take 1 tsp. every two hours as needed. Lasts in frig for one week.
**This syrup is good for stubborn coughs, bronchitis, pneumonia, mucus and lung congestion due to a cold.**

Allergy Relief

5 drops lavender oil
2 drops peppermint oil
Organic olive or almond oil.

Mix peppermint and lavender in your palm with the olive or almond oil and then apply to the sinus areas of the face, neck, and forehead to help with most allergy symptoms. This is also a wonderful blend for reducing a fever. It may also be applied to the feet and the back of the neck.

Please do share your natural, herbal, or homeopathic remedy in the comments! We all need to learn from each other and help each other by sharing great resources and our unique experiences with products or homemade recipes or trial/error!

Here's to being an empowered mama-nurse to our dear little ones!

Happy Health and Healing! :)

Making Stuff

a new tote I made two weeks ago from Bend-the-Rules Sewing

I have enjoyed two weeks of making lots of different things and thought I would share some photos and links with you for your own inspiration! Having these times of creativity has really helped ground me again after the craziness of the past two months (um, unexpected pregnancy, Christmas, a plane crash, and a trip to Florida!) Producing things with my own two hands (and with the help of a new sewing machine!) is so therapeutic and healing...creating like the Creator is just plain healthy for the heart and soul!

Here are some great Valentines that I put together yesterday afternoon.

They were inspired by this post, and they were SO easy and fast to make!! I may just have to do these every year! We also made these cuties for Katie's friends, and these for John's friends.

I also sewed up this cute little patchwork bag from Pink Penguin and embroidered the Twirly Bird on the linen side. I love this little bag.



I also made this really cute purse, but just haven't taken time for a photo shoot yet. This takes only 30 minutes or so to make and would be a wonderful birthday gift or a "just because" gift for a friend!!

I have had the goal to learn to make sourdough bread for years now. I am not a good bread baker at all and just buy it from a local bakery. But I adore sourdough and have kept the desire to at least try to make some. A dear friend gave me her simple recipe for a starter and I actually had success and can't wait to keep it going!


And finally, all of my attempts at natural deodorants have been awful!! I have tried SO MANY brands and I am just not satisfied with how I smell even just after a few hours after I have put some on. And I am more hyper-sensitive to smelling good and fresh when I am pregnant so I just went back to using my regular deodorant for the past month. But I found this recipe a few weeks ago and made some of it this morning and put it in a empty massage lotion jar I had kept for re-purposing. So we will see if this simple recipe actually works!!


Are you enjoying making stuff during this so-called-shortest-but-feels-like-the-longest month of the year?? If you have the winter blues, help shake them off with some simple creativity...I promise that your spirit will lift! :)

Sweet Meditation

Psalm 119:103 "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"

In the past few weeks I have found it so cool and refreshing that in many different spaces in the blogosphere, sisters on the journey of following Jesus are all reminding each other of the same thing...tuck His Words away in your heart.

As I said in my last post, I have found it very important to have the Words of Truth ready in my heart to remind my mind at a moment's notice of what is True especially when life starts to unravel or get confusing or unsure. And His Words DO comfort and guide and soothe. We also need to pass on those same Words to encourage each other and not just give each other that everyday, sounds-good-to-me advice.

Psalm 119: 92-93 "If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life."

His Word also brings us joy...it reminds us that this world is not the truest Reality...it beckons us to lift our eyes to Him and praise and be thankful and rejoice! And not only do all of these actions bring Him glory, but they are also really good for us. I am amazed when I read research showing that gratefulness helps our health both physical and mental...that living a life of faith and joy brings longevity and fulfillment. Psychologists are finding that "be anxious for nothing, but in everything, with prayer and petition, make your requests known to God" really DOES bring the promise of peace into our lives (Philippians 4).

In the past I have used more formal approaches to Scripture Memory...and because of how trapped I have been in subtle forms of legalism which eroded my walk with Jesus, I am very cautious in what I "add" to my walk with Him. In fact, I don't even like to call this "spiritual discipline" Scripture Memory anymore (just a personal preference) but to focus on it being meditation. The words "Scripture Memory" have been a harsh taskmaster to me, but somehow viewing the chewing and digesting and remembering of His Word as meditation brings my soul a sense of lightness...and speaks of an ongoing daily conversation I am having with His Word. Not a 20 minute rote review in the mornings, but an ongoing tasting of the verse as a habit throughout my day...allowing His words to be on my tongue at the sink, as I putter outside, as I declutter a closet, as I fold another towel.

Psalm 1:2 "But His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night"

Psalm 119:97 "Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long."


In this season I am only putting to memory those verses that really speak to where I am right now spiritually, emotionally, physically because otherwise I get bogged down and burned out by long chapters or whole books. That's just me. I do write verses down on notecards. I carry the notecards around with me or come back to my room regularly during my day to catch a glance of my notecard to review...but those verses are repeated in my mind over and over and over throughout the day as I truly meditate on the meaning of the verse and echo it back as a prayer to the Lord that my need for review doesn't last for long.

I have found that I am actually memorizing verses very quickly because of how often they are being repeated in my mind throughout the day...and I have truly begun to fall in love with these verses and view the Word as a dear friend coming to visit. And it IS a dear friend because it is the Holy Spirit speaking His Word to me in my need in the moment.

As a sister (or brother!) on the journey, may we together find His words to be sweet to our taste...so much so that we crave them throughout our days and find the promises becoming at home in our hearts. Words that visit us in our homes and hearts and remind us of our Dear Daily Friendship with Jesus.