What’s going on in my world… the little (mundane) details, the passing thoughts, and the revelations? Here are some reflections on my body, mind, and soul (and everything else).
Body
The exercise bikeAs I have already shared on several social media channels, I’ve been enjoying my recumbent exercise bike. I sit on that thing and pedal like a mad woman. I love it because I can watch TV, read, (or even snack) while exercising. I find it really challenging to achieve the cardio component of my exercise routine during the winter months; the bike should help with that. *Sighs* Did I have to mention winter?!
Oh yoga, how I miss you. I used to do a lot of yoga. However, we’ve been on a really strict budget and have been trying to cut expenses. One of the first things I cut was my fitness membership and yoga passes. I keep telling myself I can always do a yoga video at home… but do I? No.
However, last week I put on a kids yoga DVD for my oldest daughter. I decided to join in and ended up really enjoying myself. I might try to do this more often. I really need some motivation here and so far, this is the only thing that has worked. I do miss the yoga studio though.
Mind
HomeschoolingI’ve been thinking a lot about homeschooling lately. I think we’ve fallen into a good groove and a nice schedule. If I can keep the routine similar to what we’ve been doing, it will be a wonderful year! It’s a lot of work and planning on my part, but so far our homeschool days have been absolutely wonderful.
I’ve also been thinking about how I approach teaching my daughter. The thing I struggle with most is letting go of the “mindset” that I have to know it before I can teach it! Some of the best activities and projects come from moments when my daughter and I were partners in learning. This is going to take some work for me.
Soul
A New Bible StudyI’m super excited because starting next week, my church is participating in a church-wide study of The Story. The Story is essentially The Bible, broken up into 31 chapters. Components have been summarized so that it reads more like a novel. I purchased a copy for me, the children’s version for my oldest daughter, and the preschool picture book version for my 3-year-old.
I’m delighted that I will be “learning” the Bible for the next 31 weeks from front to back! Moreover, I’ll be incorporating The Story into our homeschooling. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this! I think the next 31 weeks are going to be amazing!
HealingI’ve been praying for healing lately. My oldest daughter has her dairy allergy challenge test on the 25th of this month. I can’t imagine life without Epi-Pens and worries about accidentally poisoning her… yet here we are, just weeks away from that being a reality. If you’re the praying type, then please, I ask you to join me in prayer for complete healing of her anaphylaxis dairy allergy.
Everything Else
The Deliberate Mom Turns FourObviously, The Deliberate Mom’s “Blirthday” has been on my mind. Over four years ago I hit the publish button for the first time. What a journey it has been! If you haven’t read about the history of The Deliberate Mom or entered my giveaway for one of three prizes (one of which includes a $40 PayPal gift card, you can do so HERE). If you haven’t yet linked up your blog to my Blirthday Bash post (with more prizes up for grabs) you can do so HERE.
The Blirthday Bash has been wonderful to watch unfold… to see all your beautiful faces in one spot just fills my heart with such joy. Thank you to everyone who has joined in and made this such a fun celebration.
I love the leaf falling, pumpkin spice latte drinking, sweater-wearing, crisp air breathing, boot toting, hat wearing, calm and stillness of autumn. This is my favourite season. Fall, to me, is what the New Year is to so many others… a time of reflection, goal setting, planning, and productivity.
Unfortunately, autumn also means saying goodbye to the lake for another season. I’m going to miss our tranquil jaunts out there on the weekends.
I listen to music in spurts. I can function for weeks in silence and then all of a sudden I feel a constant need to have music on! I’ve recently returned to my love of Songza. My favourite playlists currently include;
- Internships Work/Study Sounds (for writing and blogging)
- Songs to Raise Your Kids To (playing and hanging out with the kids)
- Essential Jazz (baking and cleaning)
- Fall Asleep (relaxing)
How’s your body, mind, and soul (and everything else)? If you ever want to join me in this blogging series, please do (just make sure to let me know, so I can read your musings as well).
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SHARE WITH OTHERS
Awww love that photo of your daughters doing yoga! :-)
And that Bible study sounds awesome! And I’m praying for your daughter’s healing!!!! Let us know how it goes!
I’m so excited to be reading The Story as a family.
Thank you for your prayers. I would love a life without epi-pens for her.
Sounds like you have a handle on everything mind, body and soul. I have to get my soul in order. I have skipped a few weeks of church and while I hate missing church it was due to medical reasons. I will have to check out a few of those books you mentioned. btw loving the yoga session with the kids. Now that the weather is getting cooler I have to find other ways of getting Madison her exercise so may invest in a yoga DVD for her as well. Thanks for the tips here. Hope you had a marvelous weekend!
We do the Yoga Kids DVDs – Silly to Calm is their favourite!
We had a lovely weekend. It was busy though… I am actually happy to be back to the routine of our week.
Wishing you wellness and healing Amanda.
Ok – you eating while biking cracks me up!!! haha!! I used to do yoga ALL the time and my favorite teacher doesn’t teach anymore. Makes me so sad – i really do miss it!! Your bible study look awesome – excited for you to start it!!!!
I’m really excited to be participating in a church-wide study of The Story. I’ve read the first chapter and I love it. They really did make it feel more like a novel. I think I heard it’s about 82% direct;y from the NIV Bible and is presented in chronological order to read like a novel. Certain sections are summarized to make reading it a bit easier.
Our pastor introduced us to it yesterday and he emphasized it’s not meant to replace our Bible but rather enhance our understanding and appreciation for it.
It’s super exciting and if you could pray for healing for my daughter I would be so appreciative.
I’ll be praying for your daughter!!! My church has been talking about doing The Story as well, it sounds great!
Thank you for your prayers Katie. We sincerely appreciate it.
I’m really excited about reading The Story as a congregation and as a family. Yesterday the Sunday School provided families with activity sheets to enhance our children’s understanding of The Story. I did a happy dance because I was already planning on incorporating it into our Bible curriculum at home… and here they handed over detailed lessons plans to me!
What kismet! My daughter and I were just exercising and she said, “Let’s do yoga, Mommy!” so we’ve penciled it in for just before her quiet time today.
Do you do this each month and I just haven’t seen it until now? This is a great idea to help one regroup and reassess.
I’ll be thinking of you and your daughter – here’s to you both living a life free of epi pens!
We love our Kids Yoga DVDs – it’s such a great exercise to do as a family too.
This is my first-ever Body, Mind, and Soul posting. I’m planning on it being a monthly feature on my blog. I like when bloggers share their “Currently” posts… this is kind of my own spin on that.
I’m envisioning a life free of Epi-Pens… it would be amazing!
That pic of you and the ice cream sandwich still cracks me up! You sound like you’re in a really good place right now Jennifer. That makes me so happy.
Hopefully you can incorporate more yoga. And stop snacking while you ride your bike! You should be sweating and breathing hard. :)
xoxo
I’m in a super good place right now *happy sigh*.
I don’t snack THAT much when I ride the bike. I just tell myself if I want something decadent (like that ice cream sandwich) I have to pedal off the calories + 100 more. That day I literally pedaled off the calories LOL.
I totally love the exercise bike and am going to be using mine more once again as the weather starts to change and get cooler outside, but now you totally challenged me to eat ice cream sandwiches while doing it!! ;)
Haha! The trick is you have to bike off the ice cream sandwich and 100 calories more LOL.
I wish my complete love of fall could make me hate winter a little less. All in good time.
Definitely praying for you all that the allergy test results are fantastic.
I hate winter too – ugh. It’s the down-side of fall.
Thank you for the prayers my friend. I would love her to be able to live her life without Epi-Pens.
You’re pretty much my hero for eating an ice cream sandwich while riding an exercise bike. Just saying.
I think I need to start a biking group… how does The Consuming Cyclists sound to you?
Love that photo of you on your bike with an ice cream sandwich, lol!! You are awesome. And I thought that was amazing when you said you feel like you have to know something before you can teach it to your daughter, but that it’s actually great when the two of you learn together as partners. That’s one thing I’ve worried about regarding homeschooling and it was so relieving to read that! Fall is also one of my favorite seasons, even though I don’t get to experience it (insert crying here). It’s so beautiful and crisp and I would love to cozy up in sweaters and all that good stuff. Not happening here until around December, boo!!
I think the ice cream sandwich picture caught a lot of readers off guard… lol.
I’m glad what I shared about homeschooling resonated with you. It’s so true Jessica. If I can let go of knowing first and learning with and from her, our experience, our relationship, and our knowledge increases greatly. It will take practice but I know I can get there. Plus it makes learning that much more fun when we’re discovering things together!
Fall for me means a long, cold winter is around the corner. Not looking forward to that.
Do you have a group of friends that do yogo too? Perhaps you can take the kids to the park and all gather there to still have your class? That way you get out of the house, and get some much needed grown up time. Just a thought!
This would be a lovely idea if winter weren’t around the corner. Thanks though… I’ll keep this in mind for the spring!
I will be praying for your daughter and I really do hope her allergies go away. Your girls doing yoga are so cute!
Thank you so much for your prayers my friend.
I love seeing them do yoga… it is cute.
That must be a “skinny” ice cream sandwich, right? I love doing yoga too, but just opt for the tv/dvd version when I can. Your pic reminds me of my kids because they love joining me when I do it. I end up missing half the routine because I grab my camera and start taking pictures of them. :-)
Unfortunately it was a DQ ice cream sandwich packed with 170 calories! lol
I have also been missing the yoga studio! It’s not in the budget or schedule these days. My home practice has lapsed, but it feel really good to stretch on the floor while I’m playing with Baby.
I listen to Pandora a lot, but I’m really curious to see what plays in the “Songs to Raise Your Kids To” station!
I love that playlist… lots of “classic rock” on there.
Jennifer I will definitely be adding you and my daughter to my daily prayer list! I have a severe allergic kid, but it’s mostly just environmental, but we keep his meds on the ready as his attacks have been frightening!
Happy Blirthday, Happy bike riding while eating ice cream sandwiches and Happy everything to you my friend!
Thank you so much for your prayers. I want a life without Epi-Pens for her. I know God can do this… our prayers will be heard and God will do what He needs to do right now.
Thank you for your warm words my friend. It means a lot to me.
Loved this, Jennifer! I’m totally checking out those Kids Yoga DVD’s…I’ve been dying to try it with my kids. Thanks for sharing your beautiful life!
I’m glad you enjoyed this Laura. I liked creating this post and I look forward to making it a monthly series.
Totally check out the Kid’s Yoga DVDs (Silly to Calm is one of our favourite volumes).
Happy Blogiversary :) That’s so exciting! {I want that cupcake.}
Can you share what kid yoga video you were watching? I’m interested. Also, homeschooling is hard, in general. The fact that you are doing it and rocking it is amazing. Those girls will love and appreciate all of it! Have a great week!
Hi Ann! We do the Yoga Kids video series (Silly to Calm is our favourite). I own one but borrow others from the series from our local library.
This has been a tremendous start to our homeschool year… considering last year was so challenging, I’m delighted.
Thanks so much for stopping by Ann! I love meeting new friends!
Hey Jen. Great blog! I am jealous. Autumn / Fall is my favorite! But we are going up North to visit MA and CT in a few weeks and hopefully I will be able to see some beautiful Autumn leaves and get some great pics!! I love the Bible books for kids you posted. I will have to check those out. I pray with my son every morning to start the day. I hold his tiny hands in my hands and we pray. I love telling him about Jesus and reading Bible stories to him. So important. Oh! And did you save me a bite of that CUPCAKE!? Gee, thanks! Didn’t think so. Oh, well. Maybe next time. ;) *wink* Have a great day. xo Cindy
A-Can we just sit and talk about how much I love that you are eating an ice-cream sandwich while riding the bike. That is so awesome.
B-Autumn is a lot like New Years for me as well. I also like boots, sweaters, and pumpkins.
C-I’ve seen The Story around and thought it was a neat concept, but didn’t like how I couldn’t flip to a verse as easily. I LOVE the idea of reading a “chapter” a week. Now I understand why they made it like a novel. Thanks for the insight!
D-I will certainly be praying for your beautiful daughter. God’s speed!
E-I feel like we’re growing to be fast friends and that really makes me happy :)
LOL – I’m glad you enjoyed the photo of my multi-tasking! LOL
You should definitely check out the Story. As my pastor shared, it’s meant to be a tool, not a replacement for reading our Bible. I’m loving it!
Thanks for praying for my daughter… and I’m excited we’re becoming friends too!
It sounds as if you have a good balance in your life at the moment and I hope it continues for you. What can be more balanced than snacking on a cream filled biscuit whilst pedaling furiously on an exercise bike?…You did say you pedaled furiously, didn’t you?
You must be such a disciplined person to maintain your blog and to manage to home school your children and I bet they learn more about life than they ever would at school.
I too go through phases of listening to music and then not. Sometimes I love the silence, but at other times I need music to get me motivated. It very much depends on what mood I am in.
I think I do have a good balance right now… which is much needed considering how much I am juggling right now!
I have a lot of discipline (and a very rigorous schedule) but it works for me!
Thanks for sharing Debbie!
This was a fun read for my Saturday morning! I miss yoga too, I always think I’m going to make it a point to do it at home but the motivation and commitment is nonexistent, wah! I am so proud of your accomplishments and blirthdaybash. Seeing all those faces is a real indication that you are loved and celebrated! You are a rockstar! I hope your daughters allergy test goes well and it is in my prayers.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this! I really enjoyed reflecting on life currently and sharing it.
The #Blirthdaybash was great – thank you for celebrating with me.
Your prayers mean so much… we’re just a few days away from the challenge test. This mama is trying to stay strong and not get rattled.
Love the pic of the girls doing yoga (and the ice cream sandwich!) I, too, love yoga. One of my favorites it Jillian Michael’s Yoga Meltdown. I like that she has you moving in and out of the poses so you burn more calories, but still get a great yoga workout. Perhaps you can try renting it from your local library to see if you like it before you invest in purchasing it? Glad to hear your homeschooling year is starting off well. We’ve had a busy month, so I am looking forward to getting more into a routine this next week. Here’s to a great year!
Oooooh, thank you for the recommendation! I just put it on hold at the library! I’m so excited! I sincerely appreciate it.
I’m so glad you were able to find it at the library! It’s nice to try before you have to buy. I think you will enjoy it – it is probably my most favorite workout DVD.