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| A beautiful fall day in my part of the world |
Welcome friends and family.
November has arrived.
Even though October is one of our longer months, it flew by for me in a blur. With Thanksgiving celebrations, my husband David's birthday, getting ready for Halloween (my love affair with my sewing machine making a costume, see previous blog post) and subsequent parties, it's all over; except the lingering sugar high.
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| Our son Will as Pikachu and his friend Scream |
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| Kathryn the butterfly, making a monster craft |
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| Victoria, our garden fairy with her new, rockin cherry pink glasses! |
After a week of cold and rainy weather, it was glorious to see blue skies again today. Of course it would be like this though. Yesterday, all the kids came home from school with wet and cold feet. So after ballet class, I took our 4 youngest on a hunt for winter boots of which they all needed. (have you ever shopped for winter boots for 4 kids in one hour?) I felt so happy driving home knowing they all had new felt lined snow boots, along with winter coats we had picked up a few weeks ago. They were all so thrilled to pull on their new boots and coats this morning before heading off to school on this grey, chilly morning, but as I write this, it's lunch time and the sun is beating in through my kitchen window. (See picture above!) I'm sure they are all wishing they had their hoodies and sneakers on right now. Oh well.....
Murphy's law!
Who's going to complain about gorgeous weather though? Not me. I know, even with global warming, our days will turn bitterly cold soon and snow will be flying and those coats and boots will be appreciated.
Before the kids come home from school today, I'm going out to plant the garlic my brother in law B and sister J gave me. It's such a simple herb to grow and one I use abundantly in all our meals. I cleared and added compost to several spots in my garden on the weekend and am excited to plant another crop of garlic. It's little things, like planting in my garden that make me happiest.
The downside of having free ranging chickens, is they love to dig and scratch in newly planted areas. I may have to lay some hardware cloth over my garlic to keep them out but oh, I love seeing how joy filled they are digging for bugs and worms. My chickens make me happy.
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| Here are Sadie, Cocoa, Clara and Annie, helping me in one of my garden areas on the weekend. |
The other thing that came with November was a new meditation challenge.
Did you start Oprah and Deepak's 21 day meditation challenge with me on Monday? If not, here is the link and you can still join me in registering and hear the first 4 days of guided teachings.
I have LOVED this meditation topic. "Creating Peace from the Inside Out~the Power of Connection."
If you read my previous post, you know I believe we need peace in the world more than ever right now, with only 5 days left until the US election, heated debates, anger and fear is prevalent right now. In so many parts of the world there is unrest as well.
So I was really looking forward to starting a new meditation challenge.
From day one I was hooked when the centering thought was, "Ideal relationships are my intention every day."
Each interaction we have with each other has a HUGE, or as Donald Trump recently said, a BIGLY, effect on each of us.
How we listen, what we say in response, what we think, how we conduct ourselves, how we treat each other, ALL has an impact on the world.The vibrations either towards dissent or harmony ripple through the world. If we don't believe it, all you have to do is plug into the social media to feel the energy...negative and positive.
The greatest lesson I'm learning and we are only 4 days into the challenge, is that the most important relationship we have is with OURSELVES.
I always forget that.
When we learn to love and care for our true self, we are then able to extend that love, compassion and peace to others. This has taken me most of my lifetime to understand. I always thought putting others first was more important, but I understand now that when we neglect our true nature, we are unable to give fully to others BECAUSE we haven't anything to give. We are empty.
When we learn to ask ourselves, "what do I want?" "what fills me up?" "what brings me unshakeable peace?" and we give ourselves what we need, it is then, when we tune in and learn to become attentive to ourselves that we in turn, can extend that same consideration to others.
When we take time each day to connect and build our relationship from within, give our authentic self what it needs, then we have the ability to really listen to those around us, make eye contact, respond appropriately, care about others and create peace in the world. It's never been out there...no one else completes us or has the ability to make us happy or feel loved. We need to do it for ourselves.
Have you ever done a kindness to yourself and just felt buoyant? It makes us feel lighter and happier and when we are happier, then we are able to shine that light out into our other relationships and connections with others.
As a mom to 8 children, it's a struggle to maintain a balance of THEIR needs and mine. There of course is endless work; shopping, meals to prepare, house to clean, yard work, laundry, laundry and LAUNDRY!
I knew having a large family would be hard but years ago, I felt that I wanted to really LIVE FULLY on this earth and not take the path of least resistance. I wanted to go into the areas that scared me and pushed me the most. Deep down, I knew I needed to learn the art of letting go and trusting. As an A type person, it would have been really easy for David and I just to continue to be career people, (two income, have anything material you want kind of lifestyle) and maybe we could have stopped building our family once we had the two token replacement children too, but oh, babies and children brought me such joy. Thinking about having more children was scary and quitting my job to be a Stay at home mom, even SCARIER!
I knew in the process, I could very well lose myself and definitely, what I loved to do (yoga, reading books, playing tennis, skiing, gardening) would take a back seat. Now looking back, I'm glad I lost myself for awhile, as finding myself has been such a joy. If you haven't experience the depths of struggle, you never know the heights of joy. I now have this large group of people to connect with daily, my family. Little did I know, but our babies, and children would be my greatest teachers on this life's journey.
The soul knows....
I'm glad I didn't listen to my mother in law who said, "why would you want more than two children and why in HEAVES, are you quitting your job?" I'm glad I didn't listen to a friend, who when finding out I wanted more children after 40 said, "Your crazy, you need to get a life." If I had listened to them, I would have missed the most profound lessons of my life.
If you are a mom, you know what it entails to keep all the balls in the air daily and how easy it is to lose ourselves in the process. But at some point, we need to lay down those balls, take a deep breath and connect from within.
I'm thankful to Deepak and Oprah. They offer this 21 day mediation program for FREE and share wise, life changing lessons. Being inspired to take time, sit, breathe, contemplate my life, and connect from within is AMAZING!
Why don't more of us do it?
IT'S SO SIMPLE.
Why do they not teach this in school? If we learned early, how to tune in and attend to our authentic self, our life path would be clearer and the world would be a better place. But it starts here. With each of us. And as a mom, I know this week has gone better with me Ommming on my yoga mat.
Blissful!
While I could easily dig deep into my to do list and believe me it's LONG, instead this week, I've taken more time to say yes to me and no to other things. I said no to a Parent Adviser Meeting on Tuesday night and Yes to a meeting with me going to bed early one night with a good book. WOW!
Simple pleasures.
Also, even though our children came home from Trick or Treating with FULL bags of candy, we chose to say No to consuming any sugar during the school week. This, after a crazy, nutsy, bath time and evening on Tuesday, November 1st. They had had 3 pieces of candy after dinner on Tuesday and that was a mistake!!! Hence our new parenting shift, to save it for the weekend, when they can have a few pieces as a treat during family movie night.
I was really happy with that change in our parenting choice and so far, the kids are really okay with it. I think they were happy when we set limits because they consumed enough to know it doesn't feel good to have a sugar flip out.
It will create simple pleasures for them as it will be a special when they do have a piece of candy and it also teaches them to to care for themselves first....being conscious about what they are putting in their body
Well, that is an update on what has been going on around here. Taking care of our inner selves, segue ways beautifully into the other reason for my blog post today.
And that is sharing something I love and made recently in my kitchen.
Pumpkin spiced lattes.
Yes, those lovely, spicy, nothing says fall better, drinks that only coffee shops makes deliciously.
I'm not a coffee drinker but a few years ago, when David and I were out shopping, I think on an early Christmas foray, all by ourselves (which hardly EVER happens!), we took a moment to recharge and treat ourselves. I chose a Starbuck's pumpkin spiced latte. Oh the rich, spicy flavour was delectable. The little kick of caffeine wasn't a bad thing either. Maybe because I'm not one to entertain such a luxury on a regular basis made it taste even better, but since then, what says, "Welcome November" to me now is a Pumpkin Spiced latte.
As soon as the leaves start to fall,.....
I crave it!
What do I do when I really love something but don't want to pay someone for it" Well, learn to make it at home of course. It's a no brainer and part of what this blog is all about. Learning to make things at home, being more self sufficient. Why should I waste fossil fuel traveling down to one of the many Starbucks in our little town (Yes I think we have 4 or so and I live in a small town)
Anyway, making it from scratch is so rewarding.
I love knowing it's as good, if not better than what I could get from outside the home too.
I enjoy these simple pleasures in life and know they are something I can treat myself to, without it having a huge impact on our family's pocket book. After all, I have made a choice to have a large family, to stay home to care for our children and things like new boots, coats, gloves, hats for our little ones are needed. My obsession with pumpkin spiced lattes are not in that same need category.
But hey, I figured out how to have it all.
That's the cool thing about having more time as well, you can be creative.
Also, when you make it at home you can share your love of something with those you love. It's a win/win right?
So getting back to the theme of my post, I was able to listen from within and ask myself, "what makes me happy?" "What do I want?"
And the answer was treating myself to simple pleasures, AND sharing that joy with my family.
Hey, and guess what? You don't need a fancy espresso machine.
Nope!
Just a regular coffee maker that has an option to make a strong brew.
If one of the things you love in life is Pumpkin Spiced lattes too, then you have come to the right blog post today, as I 'm going to take you step by step through the process. Welcome to my kitchen, let's start by making a strong cup of coffee. We used Ethical bean, "Lush" from Costco.
While the coffee is brewing make up some pumpkin spice mix, unless you are able to find it already mixed for you in a local shop. We do not have Trader Joe's in my part of the world. If I did, I think I would ask for a can of it for my birthday.
Here's the recipe for Pumpkin spice mix
In a small bowl add the following ingredients:
3 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp of ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp all spice
Mix well and using a funnel, pour into a spice jar/label "pumpkin spice mix"
Is your kitchen smelling of coffee and spicy goodness?
Great...we are almost there.
Let's make our lattes.
Pumpkin Spice Latte~ recipe for 2 but double the recipe if you have big mugs or want seconds, yum!
2 cups milk (dairy or non-dairy)
2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
1 to 3 tablespoons sugar, depending on how sweet you like it
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, plus more for serving
1/2 cup strong hot coffee
Whipped cream, for serving
Sprinkle of cinnamon for topping
Directions
- Add
milk, pumpkin puree, and sugar to a saucepan over medium heat.
Heat until hot, but do not boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and the coffee.
Divide the mixture between two mugs. Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice or just cinnamon.
Note: if you enjoy your coffee black (without sugar or cream), then you don't need much sugar but since I don't drink coffee at all, I used 3 tbsp for my recipe. Also, I have used it with Almond milk (vanilla) and it was great.
The older I get the more I realize I just need the simple things in life; a comfy home, good food on the table, (pumpkin spice lattes) and to be surrounded by the people I love.
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| It was nice sharing my passion with my oldest children, Clark and Alyssa |
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| Our cat Ryuuki came up from his morning nap to say, "hey, where's my cup?" |
The school week ends tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to a weekend making lattes, raking more leaves, and guess what we started? David started working on our latest project...AT LAST.....a room over the garage for our 17 year old son, Harrison. I thought I would add a few pictures now and as we move along the process, I will share more. Maybe it will inspire you to look at your space in a new light.
Often, when we need more space in our homes, we will move to a bigger house but since we love our location, what we have chosen to do, is look at the space we have with new eyes and see if we can create more space or use what we have more efficiently. Here's a few snaps of the first steps in this process. Using vertical space solves a lot of space issues.
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| Here are the stairs David built going up to the attic space over our garage. You can also see the new skylight in the roof which we had installed when we had our new roof put on in the summer |
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| Here's the attic space that we are working with. It will make a great room for our teenager. Stay tuned |
Enjoy the experience, that's why we are here.
Before you close, check out Bobby McFerrin's song, "Simple Pleasures,"
It's so catchy...the phrase, "I am so happy" is a wonderful mantra as we move around the world.
Blessings from Hope
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