I love podcasts. A new favorite is Emily P Freeman’s “The Next Right Thing” podcast. I am about 2 years behind so I have been listening to at least one episode every morning while I greet the sun and workout. It is “a podcast about making decisions, but also about making a life.” At the end of each episode she says something like “do the next right thing in love” and “our daily decisions are creating our life.”
Wow. Simple yet powerful. And those words come in handy throughout my day. Someone is frustrated with fractions. Particularly adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators. What’s the next right thing to do when I have no idea how to help her because I’m not really a teacher and I don’t know the 5 different ways to explain one simple task? Go outside, get some sunshine and fresh air for 5 minutes. The next right thing might not always be the next thing on my list or what I want to do, but the next right thing is definitely the best thing to do. (She came back from outside with a refreshed attitude and all of a sudden those fractions starting making sense…praise the Lord!).
And “our daily decisions are creating our life.” Last year at the beginning of the pandemic, I made it a point to read to my kids every day. I probably should have made them read to themselves, but that was almost like pulling teeth. Reading to them was “easier.” And now it is part of our life and I asked for children’s books for Christmas, so I guess the daily decision to read to my kids is creating a life and a house full of books and stories. Not mad about it at all.
Anyways, this post was going to be about the random happenings of February. Why did I open with Emily’s podcast? Because she is also about reflection and just published a “Next Right Thing” journal that encourages such reflection. So these monthly blog posts about the “random happenings” are a way for me to remember and reflect.
Scroll for a look at the random happenings of our February.
Leah’s birthday. I guess it is not really random because birthdays happen every year on the same day. There was snow. A few cousin friends came over on her Saturday birthday to sled ride, eat chicken nuggets, and enjoy her unicorn cake. This was the 3rd year for a unicorn cake. We broke someone’s sled but no bones, so it was a good day.
I have always been a huge fan of historical fiction. Growing up I loved the American Girl historical series and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House on the Prairie” books. Recently, we have been reading about real people who lived “back in the day.” We read a couple books about Anne Frank, read through a book of “Bold Women in Black History”, and met Gyo Fujikawa and Katherine Johnson in picture book biographies. (PS I love picture book biographies. If you need to buy me a gift, that is just a little hint. Too bad my birthday isn’t until August.)
I took an online portrait class through Illuminate Classes called Portrait Revolution. I enjoyed it and was exposed to many artists whose work I never saw before. Below is an image I took for the class. The assignment was to take a portrait in someone’s environment that will help tell their story. Here’s a portrait of a girl…still holding her blankie as she is writing in her journal all her thoughts and dreams. #girlhood.
Lilly decided that we would go outside every day this month at sunset, take pictures of the sky and make a book. That happened about twice. One time we were at the farm getting ready to leave. Lilly runs into the store and asks, “Mom, where is your camera?! The sunset is beautiful!” She took the camera and captured the beautiful colors of the sky. I then took a turn and captured them in a different way. Enjoy both.
We finally finished “Farmer Boy,” the story of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s husband, Almanzo. I remember my mom reading this book to us when we were kids. Our favorite chapter was when Mother and Father went to visit an uncle “10 miles away” and left the kids home alone for the week. They ate all the sugar and got in a fight that left a black spot on the parlor wall. It sounded an awful lot like what would have happened if we were left alone for a week as kids. My girls thought it was pretty funny too. They fell in love with Almanzo and now we are reading “The First Four Years” to learn more about him and Laura.
(If you were fixing a “Farmer Boy” meal, apple pie and donuts would be a must on the menu. I am pretty sure there wasn’t a chapter that didn’t include the foods he ate and every meal had pie with it.)
A simple list taped to the wall right outside the girls’ bedroom. In the morning, instead of doing nothing or fighting, a list guides them on what they should be doing without me having to remind them. There are mornings that go perfectly and others, not so much, but it has made a difference and I will continue to create lists for them.
(My awesome sister, Rachel: jack of all trades, master of a few, gave me the idea of creating fun lists for the girls. Especially when it comes to playing on electronics. When they ask, “Can I play on my Kindle?” I make a little list for them first. It isn’t always chores, most of the time it includes “play Go Fish with your sister,” “draw a picture,” or “ go outside for 10 minutes.” The idea is to get them engaged in something else so they forget about the electronic for a while.).
Thanks for sticking around to read my random ramblings. In a nutshell, February had snow, lots of books, a list, and now we welcome the sunshine and sights of spring. Happy March!
