Living the Adventure

I had a really good birthday this year. I just felt like I made some good time for me, and that people I love made good time for me as well. It wasn't stressful or full of unrealistic expectations. It was easy-going, and I just did things that I wanted to do, and that made me happy.

So what are some of those things that make me happy?


1)The thing that brings me more joy above anything else is just being with my family. 

I love my husband and my children so much. And it seems like the more children we add to our family, the more joy I find. If I had a million children, I would love them all and just be such a happy mother. I've learned to embrace the crazy and to not expect perfection. This has helped me be a little more relaxed in my parenting, and has provided opportunities for me to see value in ALL types of situations.

Life is crazy with littles running around, but I find so many moments throughout the day that make everything seem so worth it. Sure, they punch, hit, and tease each other on a daily basis. I think I have everyone come to me at least once a day crying as well. That's not always fun to deal with. But the joy in those situations is that I'm the mom and the comforter and the teacher, and they choose to seek me out. I've been told that won'r always be the case, so to "treasure" these moments that I am so needed by them. I find that those moments of tears (whether angry, sad, or frustrated) are opportunities I've been given to help them feel more loved and confident, or to help them understand a situation and learn a good lesson.

I feel like since I've taken on this decluttering approach, my parenting attitude has become healthier, but it has also helped my children behave better too.

Good consequences of decluttering:

• We've taken the little TV out of our kitchen. We have one TV now, and it's downstairs, and I will put on some PBS kids shows for quiet time so they can be down there relaxing and watching a show while I'm upstairs getting work or house stuff done. I didn't think that I would notice a difference in their behavior by limiting TV; I actually thought they'd act worse. With all that free time, wouldn't they just be making more messes and fighting more? Quite the opposite. They take more time to play together and explore/imagine/get creative/collaborate. 

  

  Building a castle with paper towel rolls on Amazon delivery day. They have so much fun playing and using their imagination with the paper towel stacks they have.
  
  

  

  Taking time to color and work on alphabet pages rather than watching TV.

• We've removed and minimized a LOT of our toys. We had WAY more toys that we ever needed or that we could ever keep track of. I've set a three-strike rule that the kids have been quick to pick up on. If I find toys or belongings on the ground, I will pick them up only two times. The third time they either go in the donation box, or are thrown away. I'm trying to teach them that if they don't care enough to take care of their things or put them back in their proper place, they don't need them anyways. (Now...there are some toys that are really special to them. Those I'm a little bit more lenient about. But I also find that those are the ones that they actually do take care of. But things like the happy meal toy that I'm always stepping on?
  
  They don't really take care of that, and therefore don't need it around. It just ends up being clutter in our home, so it's best to get rid of it. ) We also keep four sets of toys upstairs–that's it. We have a wooden block set, a wooden train track set, a bag of legos/duplos, and a small collection of hot wheels. I love these toys because they promote imagination play and creativity, and they're something that all the kids can play with at any stage. We also keep a small basket of baby toys for Lillie, but she likes playing with the blocks and cars just as much as the other kids. The toys we have out are easy for everyone (including Lillie) to pick up, and we can have the living room looking nice in a matter of 15 minutes if everyone helps clean and put things away.
• With less toys and TV, the kids spend a lot more time exploring outside, reading books, or doing art projects. It's hard in the winter here, because it's COLD, and I think the snow is gross. But we've adapted somewhat and it's finally consistently in the 40's, so having on some boots and a jacket make it decent. The kids will go outside in our backyard and explore, or talk to our chickens, or play with our new dog (notes on dog to come). I feel like most of my happy memories as a kid took place outdoors. It's something our current culture doesn't get enough of, so it makes my heart joyful when I see my children enjoys nature.
  
  
  
• There are also less things lying around for them to get in to. I cleaned up my yarn stash, and put it all in my downstairs craft closet, with the door LOCKED. When I was deculttering my bedroom, office, and upstairs linen closest, I quickly felt like I had some serious mental issues as I realized I was a yarn hoarder. I filled up two large garbage bags FULL of yarn (garbage bags to store, NOT to throw away. Yarn brings me joy, too, so I'm not getting rid of that). Yarn was in my bedroom closet. Yarn was in both drawers of my nightstand. Yarn was underneath towels and sheets or high on the shelf in my office. It was in the kitchen junk drawer. Why was there so much yarn in all these places? Marie Kondo, in her book "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing", said that we should keep all like items in the same place. It helps to avoid confusion, and keeps you from buying MORE than what you need because you can easily see what you have on hand. I've tried this approach of consolidating like-items around the house, and it's really helpful. So now, there is a designated area for my craft and art stuff. AND, I've learned to keep it very locked in order to avoid little hands accessing things they shouldn't. This has magically helped me avoid things like:

 

2) Another thing that brings me joy is taking care of plants and animals. 

There is something just so fulfilling about cultivating a garden or raising animals that give things back to you (like chickens). Maybe I'm a little too hippy, but I just feel so connected with the energy of the universe when i'm t taking care of my plants or animals. It's very zen.

• For my birthday, Brett and I made design plans to build a hanging herb garden in the kitchen out of metal cable and pallet wood we had (post to come). We haven't actually built anything yet, but I did get some herbs together. Dollar Tree has all it's garden stuff out right now, and I found some cute little terra cotta pots 2/$1. I already had some mint, green onion, and basil growing on my windowsill, but I bought cilantro and parsley from the grocery store (you know, the "living herbs" found in the produce section), and planted everything in the new pots. Some day soon we'll get to building the actual garden stand. Brett's been pretty busy with work...so it's been delayed. But just having the pots on my windowsill and being able to water them make me happy. (I really look forward to springtime in another two months, and being able to plant flowers and start my vegetable garden.
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• We must seem totally crazy, but we got a new dog. AND WE LOVE HER. 

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  We had another dog when we moved up here, and I liked him. He was a beautiful red tri Australian Shepherd, but he was also stubborn, not well trained, and aggressive some people. He bit a neighborhood teenager, and I quickly found him a new home with a family that had the time and patience to train him and take him on the adventures he deserved. We probably could have made it work...but at the time It was just too much effort. I was pregnant and working a LOT, and still settling into the house and getting used to a new school routine for a kindergartner and preschooler. It was just too much, and I decided it was better for everyone if he went to a better home. The family we found was kind of a mirror image of our own, and our dog quickly warmed up to them all. I feel like it was meant to be, and that it was a good decision. But a year and a half later, we get another dog.
  
  Brett came home from work one day last week and said "I got us a dog today. She's a hunting dog I found on KSL for free". I looked at him like he was crazy. He hates dogs. "It's only for a little while, though. I want to get her and then have my dad work with her then sell her so I can have money for a new gun." We had a discussion on being responsible with animals and if bringing a dog into our house is something that was wise to do. I love ANY animal, especially anything fluffy and cute and fun to pet. But I remembered the last dog(s) that we took on, and it was unwise and ultimately selfish of us and not good for the animals. I didn't want to do that this time, so I told Brett no thanks. But then he showed me a picture of the dog that the owner texted to him. Uh-oh. That was a mistake. NEVER SHOW ME PICTURES OF ANIMALS. Self-control becomes a lot harder after that. I saw her picture...and she just looked so adorable and loving.
  
  
  So I took a good 24 hours and thought about it. A LOT. I researched the breed, the pros/cons, the temperament and lifespan of German Shorthair Pointers. I watched Youtube documentaries on the breed, and on dog training. I even prayed about it. Something about her spoke to me. But I didn't want this to be a impulsive decisions. I didn't want to get her just because I felt bad for her, or felt like she was a helpless creature that needed a home. I sure she could find a home. There are lots of people that would take her in a flash - especially since she was free. But the question was, did she need to be in our home and part of our family? I really pondered the situation. I hardly slept the night before we got her, because I was researching and reading up. The next day, I decided that I'd just take the kids to meet her, no commitments. If it didn't feel right, we'd say good luck and goodbye.
  
  The owner was an hour's drive away. Brett was working late, and it was (more) convenient to go during the day time while Lillie could nap and when we could avoid rush hour. I loaded all four kids in the car, and off we went to Ogden. We got to the place, and the girls were both asleep, so I let the sleep while I took the boys inside. (I could always see the car from the window. They were safe, don't worry.) As soon as we walked in the door, and she looked at me I knew we had to take her home. She was meant for us. So we spent a couple minutes talking about her past, and petting her, and giving her treats, then we loaded everyone back in the car and headed home.
  
  She has added a fun energy to our home, and she really is like a member of our family. She's 2 years old and out of the obnoxious puppy stage. She's housebroken and is just a lot easier to deal with than a new puppy. She also adds some extra safety to the house because she's a good watchdog. When someone comes in the front door, or walks past the backyard gate, she'll give a quick bark to let us know. She doesn't bark excessively, though.
  
  We like Bailey. She immediately fell in love with our family and claimed us as her own. She doesn't have very many manners (either good or bad). She's kind of a clean slate that hasn't really had any training, but she's very intelligent and very quick to learn and loves to please us, so I think she'll be great.
  
  
  
  
  Brett also loves her. And she loves him.
  
  
  
  I plan on working with her and doing obedience training. SHE WILL BE A WELL-TRAINED dog. I will not have an ill-mannered dog again. 

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  Other animals:
  Like I said before, we have backyard chickens. I LOVE them. I love seeing them walk around and do their chicken things. I love taking care of them. I love that the kids learn responsibility through feeding and watering them. I love that the kids also get to learn about nature and life and how things work. I love how surprisingly low-maintenance they are. I love having fresh chicken eggs.
  
  Brett wanted to be adventurous again. He researched some chicken breeds and decided that he wanted chickens that would be good for both meat AND eggs. Enter the Brahma chicken. It's "One of the largest breeds, good layers of winter eggs, good in cold climates; Large roasting fowl, capon, or early broiler." So we found a place to order some and we ordered 15 female Light Brahma chickens that we will get as chicks in about 10-12 days from now. They send them to us the day after they hatch. I thought it was weird to have mail-order live chickens. But I guess they just drop it off at the local post office, and we pick them up there. So, I've been spending time getting a chick area ready with proper bedding, heat lamp, feeding equipment, etc. This is another fun learning opportunity for our kids (and for me and Brett too). We're excited. This is what these guys look like. I'll take actual pictures of our own chicks and set up when they come in.