I rarely talk about life as a grad school family directly. This is mostly due to the fact I don’t think about our life that way. With Andrew working towards being a professor we will always have changing semester schedules and holiday breaks to look forward to. There will come a time with more responsibility…
Thoughts
Showing Gratitude for God’s Creations By Learning about Them
One thing elementary educators of all backgrounds seem to agree upon in my readings is that kids should be outside learning from the world around them. I’ve spent the last year prioritizing being outside mostly out of my own desires to be in the sun. As I’ve read about the details of nature study I’ve…
Accepting the Assignment
A few weeks ago I listened to President Nelson’s devotional to young adults. I was cleaning the kitchen and felt uplifted and then continued on. Last week I stumbled across a blog post on lds.org from President Nelson discussing what he learned from studying the Saviors life in the scriptures. That’s when a vague recollection about…
Learning in the Waiting
It was six months of waiting before we found out baby jackson one would be joining our family. At the beginning of the waiting we had an early miscarriage. I was devastated, depressed, despondent. I fell into a routine: Andrew left Provo at 5am for his 2.5 hour bus/bike commute to Sandy to teach. I got…
The Widows Mite
A good portion of my marriage I have been physically unwell. Between surgery, difficult pregnancies, challenging postpartum recoveries, and my bought with c. diff, Andrew has pulled a lot of weight taking care of us. During many of these periods I spend a lot of time apologizing and feeling guilty for not matching Andrew’s work…
Achieving Inbox Zero
My relationship with email has changed dramatically over time. In middle and high school getting an email was as exciting as a letter in the mailbox. In college I had it open almost constantly, answering emails as they came in. I only deleted junk mail, leaving everything else in the inbox so I could find…
How Maria Montessori, Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf), Charlotte Mason, and Essentialism are Shaping My Role as a Mom
I struggle with the open-endedness of motherhood. Diaper changes, feeding, cleaning, and sleep take up a good portion of the day. But there are at least six unstructured hours of time to fill. I often default to just sitting on the floor with the kids. My mind is wandering or stressing about what I want/need/should…
A Fixing Day and Our Winter Routines
The transition to winter has been tough for us. During Spring, Summer, and Fall we fell into an easy rhythm of being outside with friends during the majority of waking our hours. We tried to continue our schedule as the temperature dipped into the 20s. Emily doesn’t seem to mind the cold above single digits,…
“If thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God”
We have been watching #LIGHTtheWORLD videos each morning followed by a bible video. Emily’s absolute favorite video is Lazarus being raised from the dead. My first impressions were on how Jesus knew how to meet each individual’s needs. With Martha he listened to her testimony and taught her a little more about the resurrection. With…
A Season to Organize
When I was watching the Mom Conference in October I came across a free webinar on the Power of Moms all about organization. The tagline read, “Are you ready to tame your task list and get things done in a stress-free and efficient way WHILE prioritizing motherhood?”. YES YES YES! I dedicated 50 minutes of…