Just a Few Things on my Mind Lately..

Warning... some of these things are blessings I'd like to share, but a couple are vents that I need to get off my chest! I may choose to expand on some of these topics in the near future... or not... ! I thank you in advance for indulging me!

• I would say that for the last 1 1/2 years to 2 years, I've been on a very slow path towards trying to eat and live more organically. And it's been a struggle for me. The cost of living in an amazing country like Canada does not come cheap. Trying to do so organically is exhorbitant. I sometimes wonder if ignorance is bliss... reading about the chemicals, hormones and toxins that we are ingesting with every bite we eat was my undoing... I cannot in good conscience continue to feed my family anything but the highest quality of food that I can obtain. I just wish it didn't have to come at such an expensive price to do so. It shouldn't cost an arm and a leg to be able to feed your family healthfully.

• Apatosaurus, Compsognathus, Ichthyosaurus, Lambeosaurus... !!! Yes - I have dinosaurs on the mind... Dearest Luke - I am so very humbled by your desire to learn and the way you adamantly refuse to be given lazy answers... right now it's dinosaurs that you are passionate about and I try hard to feed your neverending thirst for knowledge...what other 2 year old do I know that can point out all of these dinosaurs and has a special fondness for the little Compsognathus dinosaur? You are an absolute wonder my dear son and it is an honor to mother you and teach you.

• Decluttering!! I'm trying hard to be ruthless...but I'm a packrat at heart... what if I could possibly USE that pocket lint at some point?!! Okay -I'm not THAT bad... but close!! I think though that with my home daycare closing soon - I will be reclaiming a large chunk of living space (my home is already very tiny) and storage space again. And this should make my job easier.

• Why is it that some people choose to feel threatened when we make parenting decisions (or any other decisions for that matter) that are different than the decisions that they've made? MY decisions are NOT a passive condemnation of YOUR lifestyle! What I feel is important to my family may not be important to your family - and that's OKAY! You may choose to fill your days with events and activities that are different than those that we choose to spend our time on.... and that's OKAY! We can choose to view our differences in a positive way - what a boring world this would be if we were all the same! As a very wise woman once said (Mother Teresa): "If you judge people, you have no time to love them." Let's just choose to love each other, despite the differences, okay?

• Isaiah 58. Today we had a guest speaker give a powerful sermon... or a workshop as he called it (it was quite interactive)... on this chapter of the bible. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it. But it was good. It was very good.

• Springtime, long hikes, camping, gardening, sitting in my backyard with my family... basically I just want winter to be over right about now... grin!!

The Sense of Wonder

"If this (the starry sky) were a sight that could be seen only once in a century...this little headland would be thronged with spectators. But it can be seen many scores of nights in any year, and so the lights burned in the cottages and the inhabitants probably gave not a thought to the beauty overhead; and because they could see it almost any night, perhaps they will never see it."

Quote by Rachel Carson in her book "The Sense of Wonder" - which was originally published as an essay in 1956 in The Woman's Home Companion.

The Sense of Wonder is a must-read for any parent.