simplicity.

today is day #4 of wearing the exact same outfit.
i didn’t begin the week intending to wear the same outfit four days in a row…
but as it happened, there was a surprising freedom found.
Monday I put on the jeans i wore on Sunday {so technically it’s been 5 days of wearing the same jeans} and the tank tops, sweater, boots and scarf to make the outfit. then on Tuesday, i had a bunch of ladies and their kids coming over for a Bible study in the morning, so it was just easier to throw on the same outfit than to waste any extra brain power on thinking of something different to wear. then on Wednesday, my mind was on what i was going to wear later for halloween.  
not really.
just kidding.
{as a side note} our halloween clothing was a pretty simple decision:
i dressed as *myself* ~ a super cool mom with a coffee addiction.
the wee babs dressed up in sweet hand-me-down costumes we already had.
score.

Photo: Me & Les!! :-) http://instagr.am/p/Rdw2KtzQl4/
me with my friend Kristen ~ another super cool coffee addicted mom 🙂
Photo: My ballerinas and Iron Man :) #Halloween http://instagr.am/p/Rdy5-opGTu/
the wee babs ~ two ballerinas and an iron man

i think we all looked pretty cute 🙂 

so even though i was not thinking about halloween outfits on Wednesday morning, my mind was distracted *as usual*… hence, i took a whiff of the jeans and sweater and thought they smelled fine…ish. {and believe me, i know a thing or two about wearing stinky pants} i threw on the clothes, sprayed on some perfume and went out the door. then on Thursday, i was running late getting myself ready and forcing the kids to get ready for school… and you guessed it: the same outfit went on again…for the fourth day in a row.
now let’s be sensible. yes, i took a shower. yes, i changed my underwear.
but i have worn the same tank tops, sweater, boots and scarf for the past 4 days…and the same jeans for 5 days.

when i was in college, there was a fellow student in my biology class who wore the same outfit every single day.  he wore a denim button down shirt and jeans.  i always wondered if it was just on the days we had biology… but the other days i would see him around campus, he always had on the same outfit. i wondered why he wore the same outfit everyday, but i never asked him…

maybe it was just easier.
maybe he hated shopping for clothes.
maybe he didn’t have money for more than one outfit.

maybe it was just for the sake of simplicity.

i like clothes. and shoes. and bargains.
i’m not a big spender or a name brand snob, but i do like new clothes. and shoes. especially boots.
there are times in my life when i shop more, and other times when i give things away and forsake all further shopping.
when i do go shopping, i can easily get caught up in a buy/regret/return cycle.
and with 3 wee babs to buy clothes for, this cycle can triple itself.
this can be exhausting.

so for me, it really is better to keep it simple.
and wear the same outfit.
i mostly wear the same things anyway.

so this week i didn’t intend to wear the same outfit four days in a row…
but i am thankful i did…
it reminded me of how much i have… and how little i truly need.
it reminded me of how little the majority of our world lives with…
compared to the excess we live with.
it reminded me of the Pioneer times when American people owned very little clothing… an outfit or two for the work week and another dress for their ‘Sunday best’.
it reminded me how we are blessed with more than enough… and how quickly we can be burdened by living with too much.

i’m thankful for the surprising freedom found in wearing the 
same outfit this week.
simplicity.


what have you simplified in your life?

monster house.

as parents we are called to love, protect, teach, nurture, guide and correct our children.
this week as parents, we loved our wee babs with tickles, cuddles and affirming words…
we nurtured their hurts, clarified their questions, and helped guide their decisions…  
we corrected unruly behavior and taught them to make wise choices…  
and this week as parents, we protected. we protested. we were proud. and we prayed.
we protected our kids from a black hairy googly-eyed spider. sure, it was only a quarter of an inch long. but it was a spider. *hooray* exclaimed our kids ~ mom and dad saved the day! 
we protested after our 3rd grader saw the movie monster house at school.
{what? you protested a silly little kids cartoon movie?}
why yes. we did. 

today the whole school watched monster house after returning from their fall field trip.  
p.a. called the school and talked to the principal, who was apologetic. he asked why this movie was shown without parental consent?  it’s rated pg {ahem. that stands for ‘parental guidance’}.
call us overprotective. call us prudes. call us crazy. we don’t care. 
while some might think this is an overreaction, we are taking action.
nope. we’re not going to file a lawsuit. that would be *ridiculous*.
however, we do hope that next time a movie with no educational purpose is shown during school hours, paid for with our tax dollars, we will know ahead of time and have a right to keep our child out of school for the ‘movie time’ without being counted as an absence if we do not approve of said movie.
yes that was meant to be a run-on sentence. thank you for reading.
the point is:
we are not trying to be holier-than-thou-pastor-parents.
we are called to protect our kids.
the school is not going to do that for us. culture is not going to do that for us.
it is our parental job to protect.
so. we choose to use our parental right to protect our kids from certain media.
and we expect to get a note ahead of time the next time said media is going to be shown at school.
this week as parents, we were proud.
when the movie began, soleil was immediately uncomfortable. she also noticed another classmate who seemed to be shaking and physically scared by the movie.  she went to her teacher and explained her feelings. she was given the option to turn her chair around and read. 
i wish we could’ve just come to the school and picked her up.
we were so proud soleil spoke up.
and this week as parents, we prayed. 
we know we can’t control everything every second of the day about our kids. especially while they are in school or any other time they are away from us. 
so we pray. 
we pray over them everyday.
we know we can’t make decisions for them, 
but we can influence.
our home is our training ground for life. 
it’s our base camp for tackling situations that arise.
it’s our headquarters for problem-solving.
home is where we teach, train and take-to-heart the truth.
we choose to follow Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life.
The living Word of God.
The Bible is our root, our foundation, of truth.
when we teach our kids to think about ‘whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable…’ as in Philippians 4:8, there are very few movies that fall into that category.  there is so much media [even media deemed *kid friendly* that is contrary to those things].
we are humbled to love, protect, teach, nurture, guide and correct our wee babs.
this is our calling as parents. 
we are honored to have this job.
and this week we are *proud* of a job well done.

Soleil for President


I don’t know about the rest of you, but I know who I’m voting for on election day…

SoleilYep. My 8 year old daughter will be getting my vote.
Her convictions, ideas and vision for our future are astounding. 

*Here are 5 reasons you also should vote for Soleil on election day*

1. Soleil will remove all cars and replace them with horses for future transportation.  Imagine a world with no more toxins or fuel prices to fuss over. This will save the planet, peeps.

2. Soleil will make sure all children, 5 and up, have iphones.  These iphones will have a feature called *pop outs*.  These *pop outs* will access anything you need. Need food? Need clothing? There’s an app err… a *pop out* for that. Imagine a world where everyone has an iphone with buttons that access and *pop out* anything we need… actually, I think we are well on our way of heading toward this reality. Soleil will make it happen.

3. Soleil sees a future where money is not needed… except to buy your iphone. This will be our only need for money – so that no one is greedy.  

4. Soleil will equip every house with an invention – a button.  You will push this button to set up parties or a place for gymnastics. She sees a future where everyone will be healthier by having parties and doing gymnastics. Sounds good to me. 

5. Soleil will ensure all bad people are exiled to space. This point speaks for itself.

Soleil for President, Everyone – Hip Hip Hooray!

Obviously I live in reality and Soleil is not a presidential candidate.  Just to clarify any confusion.  Although she does have some wonderful ideas, her name won’t appear on the ballot.  
We will have to make a *for real* decision for this upcoming election.  How will you decide? 

As a Christ follower, The Bible is my ultimate authority.In this “election season” I am reminded of Romans 13:1-14. 

Yes, I will choose a *for real* candidate. But first, I choose to pray continually, trust wholeheartedly and live my life fully… so that~regardless of the election outcome~I know God is in control.

He’s got this.




lies we believe.

5 lies we believe… 

1. you’re. not. cool. if you don’t own a pair of TOMS shoes. and the Bobs Skecher version doesn’t count. and neither does the Payless version. if they even have a version. sorry.

the truth is ~ TOMS shoes are impacting the world in a great way. buy one give one. but you don’t have to own a pair of TOMS to be a cool and giving person.

2. you’re. not. hip. if you’re not on Pinterest. sorry. you’re just not. and you have to be invited into Pinterest. so you probably don’t have any hip friends either.

the truth is ~ Pinterest is hip and trendy. for now. but don’t feel bad if you haven’t been invited and you’re not ‘pinning’ anything. life will go on. i promise.




3. you’re a terrible housekeeper if you leave dishes in the sink. or on your counter. over night. you will start the day tomorrow with dirty dishes in the sink. you are already behind.  just give up now.

the truth is ~ you can do the dishes in the morning. really. they will still be waiting patiently for you in your sink. or on your counter. 

4. you will. miss. out. on the greatest deal, the final sale, and your last chance to save 20% if you don’t use that coupon to Kohls that expires today. and you will never. ever. get that chance back again.

the truth is ~ those deals run every. single. day. and they are stupid and pointless. and they clog up your inbox. so you need to ‘unsubscribe’.

5. your underwear is crap unless is comes from Victoria’s Secret. in fact all of your hoodies and stretchy pants are also crap if they don’t have the PINK logo slapped on the buttocks.

the truth is ~ victoria’s secret underwear get holes in them too. just the same as undies from target [pronounced ‘tar jay’ en francais] where you can also, btw, find perfectly fluffly $5 clearance hoodies.

whew. i am certainly relieved these 5 lies we believe have been exposed… and i am so thankful that God loves me *and you* regardless of my clean or dirty dishes or underwear choices.

*In the Bible, Matthew 6:25-34 also renounces these lies we can believe:

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on {or what kind of underwear you will put on}. Is not life more than food {or dirty dishes in the sink}, and the body more than clothing {or whether or not you have a pair of TOMS}?… verse 27. and which of you by being anxious {or pinning things on Pinterest} can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing {or whether or not you will be able to use your 20% off Kohls coupon that expires today}? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these {Kohls customers}verse 33. but seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble {and shopping at Victoria’s Secret can be more trouble than its worth}.” Amen.

this post will be continued… there are many more lies to uncover another day, but for now… happy monday!

*please note {emphasis added by me} these notes are not in the Bible 🙂 but don’t just take my word for it, read it!