Motherhood

“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” -George Eliot

It is that time of the year again! My favorite. I can’t believe that it is already here & in full swing again. Fall. Beautiful, GLORIOUS, perfect fall. I truly feel that this time of year is a time of reflection & a time to be grateful. It feels as if nature itself turns itself over to us for this very purpose, to see the splendor of the changing leaves, the fire that they light the world with before they say goodbye & fall to the ground for their eternal winter sleep. It’s as if the world around us is calling out for a final push before the winter, a timely opportunity to make the most of our days & light a fire in our souls. So with that, I thought it would be worth sharing some of my favorite things from this season, that are simple, but a good start at living WELL each day. A few things that help us celebrate this season as a family. Enjoy!

“I trust in nature for the stable laws of beauty and utility. Spring shall plant and autumn garner to the end of time.” -Robert Browning

“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree…” -Emily Bronte

Leaf Garland tutorial.
- Step 1: Go outside! Find leaves from your neighborhood, or your backyard, or if you have to, buy some fake ones from your local decor/craft store. That will work too! This is the second year that we have done this activity & without a doubt it is being established as a family tradition for fall. I blogged about my experience a year ago about creating these, but this time I wanted to share pictures so it’d make it a bit easier to do for yourself if you are interested. Make sure you grab an ample amount of various leaves so as to have a bunch of color & different shapes to work with.
- Step 2: Get a needle & thread. It can literally be whatever color you have! If you have a tiny sewing kit you commandeered from a hotel, use that. You really don’t need much. Grab some scissors also.
- Step 3: Find a comfy seat & spread out your treasures!
- Step 4: Thread your needle & start adding one leaf at a time, poking it carefully right in the middle, so as to not hurt yourself or break your leaf.
- Step 5: Keep going! Make it as long as you want. (It helps if you have a space in mind to hang it.)
- Step 6: Take pushpins, or tiny nails, or whatever you fancy & hang it up for all to see. 🙂 Make sure it is out of reach for little wee fingers & animals who might crush or ruin your fabulous garland.
- Make more! Give them away! Hang them in all the rooms of your house. Whatever. Have fun.

2. THE BEST Double Chocolate Pumpkin cookie recipe EVER. pumpkin-cookie-pic-2

(Picture credit: Janssen at Everyday Reading blog)

I found this recipe on Pinterest & so want to thank Janssen at her Everyday Reading blog for providing this goodness with the world.
http://www.everyday-reading.com/2013/09/double-chocolate-pumpkin-cookies.html
I am copying the exact recipe from her blog for you below. ALL the credit goes to her!
Double Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies

(adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe)

Makes about 2 dozen

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/16 teaspoon ground cloves
4 ounces semisweet chocolate (I just used chocolate chips)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into large pieces
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Set aside.

In a small saucepan (or in a microwavable bowl) over low heat, melt the chocolate and butter together until smooth. Don’t let it burn. Set aside to cool for a couple of minutes.

While the chocolate cools, use the attachment paddle on a stand mixer to beat together the sugar, pumpkin and vanilla. Add the chocolate mixture and mix until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat until evenly mixed.

Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone liner, and scoop golf ball-sized balls onto the cookie sheet, leaving about 2 inches of space between each one (they spread a lot).

Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the edges look dry and the tops are cracked. Let cool for 10-15 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

(Picture credit: Janssen at Everyday Reading blog)

3. Paint a pumpkin.

For those of you with 3 & unders like myself, or any age for that matter, this may be something that is more appealing for you than carving your pumpkins. Still messy, but in a different way.

Step 1: Get a pumpkin.

Step 2: Set up a paint station with newspaper, paints, brushes & child. (I prefer to keep Eliana shirtless so as to avoid even more of a mess.)

Step 3: Paint away! Let it dry & then put it on display. Wallah.

4. Sunset walk.

After dinner (if you eat early) or pre-dinner (if you are running late or have a quiche baking in the oven), head out the door. Grab your sweater & wagon for the little people, a cup of tea & walk.
Take a jaunt around your neighborhood & look at the sky. REALLY look at it. Look at the trees changing colors. Look at the combination of the trees & the sky. WOAH.
Make sure you have your favorite people come with you & hold hands. 🙂
Ask your wee ones about the different colors they can see & talk about the beauty of nature & the creation we get to enjoy.
Take some deep breaths of the chilly night air & reflect on your day.

“There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky, which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been!” -Percy Bysshe Shelley

“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.” -Jim Bishop

There you go! I hope you can get at least one idea to try. These are some of our favorite activities, but we have lots more! Simply put, it is a GOOD THING to enjoy nature. To enjoy the season that the world is in. For us, right now, it is autumn. A time to both push for our best as well as reflect. A time to shore up before winter & to relish the days. A time to set our souls on fire. So I will do my best at enjoying all that this incredible season has to offer.

ALSO, I didn’t add this into the list but it is just as amazing. Go find yourself a copy of Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery from the library, a thrift store, online, whatever. READ IT. October hit & I immediately made the decision that my autumn read would be Anne of Green Gables. I just finished it & it was INCREDIBLE. If you haven’t read it, it will be one worth your time. After this, I’m off to start the next one in the series!

“Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.” -Stanley Horowitz

Cheers,

Katie.

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” -Aesop

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For months & months & months, this word has been etched on my heart, on the back of my eyelids, on my mind. KINDNESS. I have had conversations about it with some of the people closest to me & I know that it is time to share about it in a broader context because I can’t get it out of my head! This subject of kindness, is something I hope to be improving on for the rest of my life. It is so so worth it.

kind·ness

ˈkīn(d)nəs/

noun

noun: kindness

the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.

synonyms:

kindliness, kindheartedness, warmheartedness, affection, warmth, gentleness, concern,care;

consideration, helpfulness, thoughtfulness, unselfishness, selflessness, altruism,compassion, sympathy, understanding, big-heartedness, benevolence, benignity,friendliness, hospitality, neighborliness;

generosity, magnanimity, charitableness

“he thanked her for her kindness”

2. a kind act.

plural noun: kindnesses

“it is a kindness I shall never forget”

synonyms:

kindliness, kindheartedness, warmheartedness, affection, warmth, gentleness, concern,care;

generosity, magnanimity, charitableness

“he thanked her for her kindness”

(Thank you Google.)

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There is just something about kindness. There is something significant & profound about it. The way we choose to USE it, to SHARE it, to FEEL it for ourselves will literally change things. I know it has for me. I feel like for the past several months this has been a theme for me. I have quietly operated in it, trying to practice it on my husband, my girls, myself & on others. Others, being simply, neighbors, strangers, friends. And let me tell you, I have failed miserably. I have also succeeded, but it has definitely been a mixture of both. I still feel like I am barely scratching the surface on what kindness is & all that it means.

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear & the blind can see.” -Mark Twain

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Have you ever spent much time contemplating kindness? Have you ever taken a season of life (or even a DAY for that matter) to PRACTICE kindness? I honestly hadn’t. I would consider myself a kind-hearted person, someone who typically acts with kindness. But still, to actually practice it, to meditate on it, to discover it in motion… It is quite revealing! I have learned over the last few months about my kindness towards myself & others, how it is affected & how it causes effect on the atmosphere around me. I have learned that, while I am indeed a kind-hearted person (because only Jesus could have made me that way), I still need to CHOOSE it. Oh it can come more “naturally” on really rad days, but on the average day & on the not so hot day, it is ESSENTIAL to choose it. It makes a world of a difference.

“A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve.” -Joseph Joubert

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Let me tell you. Being a mom is hard. WAY harder then anyone can ever try to explain. Motherhood is ALSO the most REWARDING thing. But kindness is crucial to help get to the rewarding part. I know. I’ve been practicing, remember? Lol. I know that when I am not kind, when I choose to operate out of something or a whole lot of somethings OTHER than kindness, my children bare the brunt of that. They are living in the atmosphere that I help create on a daily basis & when that atmosphere is full of say, frustration & exhaustion & short tempers & little patience, I can tell that that is not an environment that they thrive in. It’s like they are plants & they suck it in & breathe it back out. When KINDNESS steps in though, WOW. It is incredible seeing & experiencing the fruit of that in my little ones as well as in myself. And let me tell you, those days, those moments, make the whole of motherhood worth it. Kindness really is a game changer.

“A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, & he who plants kindness gathers love.” -Saint Basil

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Another area where the fruit of kindness is so obviously GOOD, is within myself. I think that is the hardest part for me, choosing to treat myself with kindness. I’m just being honest. The change that kindness brings within my own heart is tiny, miniscule, on some days. But on other days, it can be like life or death! Speaking kindness over myself as a woman, as a wife, as a mom, as a daughter, a teacher, a friend, an advocate, a believer, is like eating Trader Joe’s Speculoos Cookie Butter straight from the jar. It is ALL sweetness. And just a little bit, really does go a long way.

“Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” -Franklin D. Roosevelt

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Lastly, I want to share about kindness in the world. This can look like a SMILE as you drive down the street & pass the neighbor walking his dog. This can look like choosing to bake cookies with your daughter even though it makes the kitchen such a mess. This can look like not getting fiery with someone over the current state of politics & ripping their view apart, instead it can look like choosing to stay off of social media, PRAY & stay friends with your friends, regardless of who they are voting for & why. It can look like bringing in the newspaper for your elderly neighbor or volunteering to babysit for a young family so the parents can go on a date. It can look like picking up those pieces of garbage on the sidewalk that you didn’t put there, but throwing them away anyway. It can look like making EYE contact with the cashier at the grocery store & really asking them truly if they are having a good day. It can look like holding the door open for someone. It can seriously look like a million different things. However it ends up though, kindness is a good decision.

I heard somewhere once, “throw kindness around like confetti.” I couldn’t agree more.

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I hope that this helps move you in a direction of choosing kindness. For yourself, for your family, for the world around you. We really all could use more of it!

“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.” -Scott Adams

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Cheers,

Katie.

the jenks tribe

celebrating the goodness in our every day living

Fall celebrations

KINDNESS.