Same details, New story

This past week Asher had a rough 48 hour crying episode. Something I ate? Still not sure, but it was awful. No sleep for either of us…..holding, rocking, bouncing non-stop for 2 straight days and nights.

On the second evening, completely undone with exhaustion, I started to cry. All I could think about was 19 years ago.

Same month of the year. Same age baby. Same unexplainable nonstop crying.

That scenario ended with a life flight helicopter, a kiss with Heaven, an extended stay at Texas Childrens Hospital and a completely different path for our oldest daughter’s life than what we expected.

🤍

This night ended with finding the right homeopathic colic remedy and a little guy who slept peacefully all night long. 🙌🏻

Completely different scenarios, but in the moment they FELT the same.

{Pausing here to say #ptsd is brutal. I’m no stranger to it and I knew that’s exactly what was happening, but it’s still incredibly powerful. If you think you might be experiencing any level of ptsd speak up. Get support. Don’t try and go it alone.}

🤍

At some point through my tears I felt undeniably prompted to say to myself “You were doing everything you knew to do then, just like you are now. It was not your fault.”

Honestly, I wouldn’t have said I was blaming myself for Abby’s brain injury but maybe on some level #momguilt and/or doubt had settled in over the years, thinking I could’ve done something different to prevent it or get her help sooner.

I hate that my little guy was crying and I hope that was the last time we have an episode like that, but I am so grateful for the light he helped bring to a dark place in my heart that needed tending to.

Forgiving myself felt so so good.

🤍

Mamas….hear me…this job is HARD and stretches us beyond where we ever thought we could go. But this I know to be true…..You really are doing your *very* best. You deserve all the grace and all the kindness and all of the forgiveness TOWARDS YOURSELF everyday, but especially on those days when you question if you are enough.

Side note: my husband rarely left my side during Asher’s crying spell. I never felt alone or unsupported. My postpartum mental health is still really good. No anxiety or depression. I have experienced otherwise with other babies and I’m sharing this story to encourage mamas and give them permission to speak out and get help when they need it.

Also…..God redeems. 🤍

📸: bookends Abby and Asher, Abby at Asher’s age at Texas Childrens Hospital.

Newbies

We fumble with the car seat straps, wonder if he’s warm enough and go back and forth about which sling he will be happiest in. We beam with pride as the nurses “ohh” and “ahh” over him and drop his blanket on the floor an embarrassing amount of times. He smiles at me in the rear view mirror and we giggle at ourselves.

🤍

With our first baby Ryan was gone days at school and nights at work. Any outings I did were with my mom or alone. After Abby’s brain injury at 1 month old outings rarely happened. They were just too much.

🤍

We may not be first time parents but we both know these are sacred “first-time” moments God is gifting us.

🤍

God is writing our story in a jumbled out of order, beautiful mess and we are ok with that.

God redeems.

🤍

Twelve Simple, Intentional and {almost} Free Gift Ideas

About ten years ago we made some decisions about Christmas that we have been so thankful for ever since.  There are two words that we used (and still do) to guide us in everything holiday……simple and intentional.  One of the most obvious areas to apply these two words, first, was gifts!!We had never really gone crazy in the area of gifts, but we wanted to scale back even more.  We wanted to stop that feeling of just buying things because we *had* to buy a gift for someone to open and really focus in on well thought out, meaningful gifts.  I can also testify that typically those are not the gifts that break the bank. In fact, one year we challenged ourselves to not spend anything!!!  It was crazy and fun and one of our most special Christmases!!

Here are a few ideas that we incorporate into our gift giving every year!  And don’t worry….you don’t have to be crafty or creative!!!!
1) Heirlooms – I love to dig through things we have and pass along special family things to my older kids. It’s nice to include a note about what makes it special or a fun story behind the item.
2) Books – If you have books on your shelf that impacted you in a big way, write a note inside the cover about what you took from the book and wrap it to go to an older child, family member or friend.
3) Recipe Binder – perfect for an older daughter/granddaughter or new sister-in-law! Print a cute cover and slip into a clear binder. Copy favorite family recipes into it! I made photocopies of my mom’s, grandmothers, great-grandmothers and Ryan’s grandmother’s recipes in their own handwriting to go into my girls binders. Each year for birthdays or as stocking stuffers add a few new recipes! You can also write in stories or memories of meals shared serving that food! If you don’t have time to do a full binder this year, just passing along a few recipes is great!! Make sure you write them in your own handwriting!! These are some of my most cherished possessions from the women in my family who are not here anymore!
4) Tools – pass down tools to an older boys or grandsons.  My Dad gave our son a tiny tool set that was his this year for his birthday and he LOVES it!!
5) Jewelry – I recently had some of my James Avery pieces freshened up at the store to regift to my girls.
6) 12 Dates of Christmas – Fun for a spouse or even for a child! I think it’s especially great for a teen or tween! 1 date for each month of the coming year! There are lots of cute ideas on Pinterest for this! When I did it for Ryan I actually planned out all of the dates ahead. I collected items from all of the places I planned to take him each month for the coming year. You don’t even have to go that far though!! Keep it simple! Search Pinterest for lists of inexpensive or free date ideas.
7) Coupons!! My kids always get these in their stockings!! Here is a few things we include: 1 hug anytime you need it, Choose What’s for Dinner, 1 Amazon Movie Rental (or RedBox), Pick a dessert, Stay Up 30 Minutes Late, Have a Friend Over to Play, Date with Mom/Dad, Get Out of Chore Free, $5 anytime you need it!  For older teens add a 30 Minutes Past Curfew Pass or a Large Pizza ordered anytime you want it! If you are not feeling creative in coming up with your own go to Pinterest and search “Printable Christmas Coupons”, click, print, tie together & add to stockings!!
8) Printables – we always add fun printables to our kids stockings. I find that these really help stretch out the time on Christmas morning while our kids are waiting to open gifts. I added links in the comments to the ones my kids got last year.  We love to print out coloring pages of scriptures verses, coloring pages of their names, Christmas games and last year we printed this Christmas village to color and put together!  This Christmas Would You Rather was SO fun, too!
9) Love Notes/Compliments – these are free and right from the heart! There have been years when we didn’t have much money for gifts for anyone other than our kids and so we wrote notes and letters to tell people how much we love them! Last year all 7 of us added compliments to each person in our family into the stockings!! I cannot tell you how special it was to read these on Christmas morning!
10) Gifts of Service – one year my brother gave my husband a day of his time to help him get his garage organized!! Best.gift.ever!!! My kids have given me a car detail done by them, help with a project I have been wanting to finish (you could wrap needed supplies) & one day of doing all of my “mom chores”! Last year we gave 10 Freezer Meals to my Dad, who lives alone and needs to eat healthier). I have also done this for my brother when he was in college.
11) Babysitting Gift – you might think someone knows you are available to do this for them, but giving it as a gift and making sure it happens is so special! We have been given this gift, complete with movie & dinner Gift Cards! FANTASTIC gift!!
12) Cookie of Month / Ice Cream of The Month – Print 12 Coupons and tie them together with a pretty ribbon, leaving a blank for them to fill in the type they want! They get to turn in one each month for the coming year! Either homemade or store bought! My kids LOVE getting this gift!!!!

Avoid the mall and the traffic!! Stay home and get your creative on!!

Gifts from the heart are the best kind and they don’t have to cost a thing!

Merry Christmas Friends!!!

And feel free to share!!

XO,

Maggie

Sometimes Winners Quit

This past Saturday was Small Business Saturday and I will be honest it felt very strange not to have a business to share on social media.  For the past 6 years I have worked pretty tirelessly at running my own business and off and on for the 4-5 years prior to that!!   Most of those years have been spent in direct sales with some selling of handmade items and private health coaching mixed in.

And I have loved it all.

Shaklee was a fantastic company to work with, still to this day some of the most caring people I know.  I never met anyone within this company that I didn’t genuinely like.  I learned so much about the importance of a knowing your ingredients, living a chemical-free lifestyle and leaving a light footprint on the environment through the initiatives of this company.  I learned about building a legacy business, that allowed for generations within a family to work together to create a dream lifestyle for themselves.  I saw it first hand and I knew that it was what I wanted.  It was an extremely difficult decision to close my business 31/2 years ago, but I knew it was the right move to make.

Plexus was an equally fantastic company to work with.  The products positively impacted my health more than anything else I had ever tried.  The people were fun.  The company was fun and so, so very generous.  I experienced a tremendous amount of personal growth while I was with this company, as that is where they shine.    It was an equally difficult decision to leave this company and the relationships within it, but again, I knew the decision was right.

WildTree was my most recent direct sales experience and again I gained so much from my short time with them.  I learned how to lead with service in business as that is where they shine.  I met so many wonderful people in my community by helping them get healthy meals to their table.  I had never done a “party planning” style business and I can say that it got me out of my comfort zone in a really great way.  Again, it was difficult to leave, but I knew it was the right decision for me.

So where does that all leave me now?  To be honest I am still answering that question for myself.  I know that it has been a dream in my heart, since I was 19 years old, to build my own company with a residual style income that allows me to be fully present for my family AND impact those God has put around me through my business.  I will not compromise on choosing between the two.  I am an entrepreneur through and through, beginning with teaching the neighborhood kids trampoline lessons at 6 years old I have pretty much always had a business of some sort. I believe in the value of owning and supporting a small business.  I’m passionate about education and community. I have no problem going against the crowd or blazing a new trail.  But I also know that I am also very burnt out on the way Direct Sales is typically done.

In terms of what the future holds for me in my work, I know exactly what I want and what I don’t want…..a lot of failing forward will help you define that. 🙂  I am thankful for all of the times I have succeeded BIG, like earning free trips to the white sandy Ft. Meyers beach for a week for my whole family and an EPIC trip to Washington D.C. for all of us.  I earned another trip to Florida and passes to Disney and took my husband for the first time in his life!  I have learned so much about what I am capable of from those successes, but I learned more from the failures and the months when my numbers didn’t meet my goals and giving myself permission to QUIT when I knew God was calling me out of a season.  I am a fiercely loyal person by nature so quitting is hard, hard, hard for me.  But I will also say that there has been sooooo much fruit in laying down what I want in any area of my life, not just business, and trusting God enough to let Him take the lead.

So here’s where I am right now at this exact moment.  Resting in Him…..piling up all of the dreams in my heart, all of the plans and all of the experiences He has taken me through in my life and laying them at his feet and resting in the knowledge that He has a good, good plan to knit them all together.  He has said “Rest” (otherwise read as stop trying to figure it all out) and He has spoken very clearly that my achiever personality WILL NOT be the thing that accomplishes these dreams in my heart.  He will be the one to do it.

And this verse….I just can’t read it enough…

“Put God in charge of your work, then what you have planned will take place.” ~ Proverbs 16:9

For now I am focusing on supporting my oh so awesome husband in his new job (with lots of travel!!!!), keeping a great rhythm in our new schooling approach, serving in my girls AHG troop, managing adoptions that are still coming in through our Adopt A Harvey Family Website, and helping a few friends incorporate essential oils into their homes!

I get messages daily from people asking what company I am working with now, so I hope this helps answer that and explain some details.

And for real….no worries, if you can’t keep up with my life, even I can’t sometimes ;).

XOXO,

Maggie

Turkey, Unicorns, Hogwarts and Answered Prayers {November}

No matter how much I prepare ahead November always kicks my behind.  Three of our girls have birthdays, plus Thanksgiving, plus beginning the holiday season and well that is really just a new level of insanity…..or blessings…..or both ;).

On top of the regularly scheduled Bokros November Insanity, this year my husband was in the midst of interviewing and accepting a new position, which required lots of travel for him and multiple trips to my knees.  He really had me honing my longsuffering prayer skills there for a bit :).

But we made it through and we are so ridiculously blessed.

Our baby girl turned eight and we celebrated her with a sweet friend, some crafting and a fancy ballet.

Our middle turned eleven and has finally made it to “tween” hood.  I am sure of it because she has reminded us many, many, many times.  She has not ever had her very own birthday party, which she also reminded us of many, many, many times……SOO…..we celebrated her with her very own unicorn party, complete with a unicorn cake made by her daddy.  I am pretty sure he felt on top of the world listening to all of her friends “oohh” and “ahhh” saying, “your Dad made that?!?”

And for the grand finale, our oldest turned sixteen.  I am seriously stumped about how this happened since she was just born last week.  We celebrated her with Ugly Christmas Sweater Cookies and a day of Christmas fun!

Thanksgiving Eve we celebrated our finishing of THE FIRST Harry Potter book (I know…I know…we are so behind) by watching the movie.  We have been reading the book aloud together in the evenings.  I have no words for how fun it was to watch my kids see all of the characters on the screen comparing them to how they had imagined them, while we were reading.  So.so.fun.

Sandwiched in between all of the birthdays, we opted for a quiet Thanksgiving at home, just us.  Just the way we wanted it.

While the Turkey baked, we crafted Harry Potter Wands and cast spells on each other.  We cooked, ate, played at the park, napped on the couch and ate some more.  It was perfect.

By the end of Thanksgiving night, our eight-foot chalkboard literally could not hold another “I’m Grateful For”…..it was filled to capacity with all of the blessings in our lives, much like our hearts.

Grateful.  Thankful.  Blessed.

I truly hope your November was the same.

XO,

Maggie

Freeschooling Days {Fall}

“and all at once summer collapsed into fall.” ~ Oscar Wilde

Invitation to explore spiders and their webs

All the seeds of tomorrow are the flowers of today.

{Harvest Squash Puzzle}

But these are the days we dream about

where sunlight paints us gold.

The trees are about to show us how lovely it is

to let the dead things go.

{Autumn Leaves Bundle}

Find our list of Fall Read Alouds here.

Happy fall y’all!

Maggie

Our Book Basket {Fall Reads}

I have been an avid reader since forever, so naturally, I have worked to instill the love of reading in our kids.  Our kids have been going for weekly library trips since they were in the womb :).

We have always incorporated great quality living books into our schooling and now that we are freeschooling our books have become even more foundational in our learning.  I get asked often how I find “good” books.  I don’t rely on one resource, but several.  I have lists I have been referring to for years and I am always looking for new resources.

Two of my favorite current resources are The Good & The Beautiful Book List and Sarah Makenzie’s blog and IG Feed at Read Aloud Revival.

(Click here for a special link for a free download of TG&TB Book List through 11/11/17)

I thought it might be fun to document here what we are reading as a way of keeping track for myself, but also for those of you who need some more ideas!

So here’s what is currently being consumed at our house!

Morning Read Alouds (for everyone)

~ I spend about an hour and a half reading aloud to everyone to start our school day.

  • The Giant Pumpkin Suite, Melanie Heuiser Hill
  • 10 Girls Who Made a Difference, Irene Howat
  • Emily Dickinson Poetry for Kids
  • Every Living Thing, James Herriot
  • 100 Dresses, Eleanor Estes *
  • The Llama Who Had No Pajama, 100 Favorite Poems by Mary Ann Hoberman *

*finished in October

Monday Read Alouds (for my younger three)

~ On Monday’s I get some time with just my three younger kids and I pick some fun books just for them.  I typically read 3-4 a week and then we chase the spark for our lessons that day from something that interested them in the reading.  

~ These books go with our Autumn Leaf Study and lead to some great discovery about hibernation and how to tap a Maple Tree to make your own syrup!

  • Ox-Cart Man, Donald Hall
  • Little Tree, Loren Long
  • A Book for Bramble, Lynne Garner
  • A Tree is Nice, Janice May Judry
  • I am a Bunny, Richard Scarry
  • Luck, Jean Craighead George
  • The Lion Inside, Rachel Bright
  • Aesop’s Fables
  • The Nutty Nutchase, Kathryn White

Personal Reading 

~ Part of our school day is time set aside for independent reading. 

  • My Seven Year Old ~ The Courage of Sarah Noble, Alice Dalgliesh
  • My Ten Year Old ~ Jeremy: The Tale of an Honest Bunny, Jan Karon
  • My Twelve Year Old ~ One Crazy Summer, Rita Williams-Garcia
  • My Fifteen Year Old ~ A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett and she just finished Heidi, Johanna Spyri (*she prefers audiobooks to get her reading done)

On My NightStand

  • Atomic Weight of Love, Elizabeth J. Church
  • When Children Love to Learn,
  • Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv

AudioBooks

~ If we have a day of errands or a road trip we usually have an audiobook going.  I watch for deals through Sarah’s site and stock up when they are under $2.

This month we have listened to:

  • Hank the Cowdog: The Case of the Halloween Ghost, John R. Erickson
  • Tumtum and Nutmeg: Trouble at Rose Cottage, Emily Bearn

Bedtime Read

~ My husband and I are taking turns reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to our three younger kids before bed.  We are right at the end and they BEG every night for more!  They can hardly go to sleep wondering what’s going to happen next!  

 

What is your family reading right now?

 

Maggie

PS – I didn’t include my hubby in the lists above, but he just finished Chip Gaines new book and LOVED it!

Freeschooling {review of The Good & The Beautiful}

This September we started our 10th year of homeschooling and I can honestly say that so far it feels like our best year yet.  And it does feel unbelievably good to say that, coming from what the last few years have felt like.

When I started thinking about our year and what I wanted it to look like God spoke one word to me over and over again….Depth.

I penned the word in my journal and prayed and really tried to think through what He meant for me to take from that word and how to apply it to our school year.

I prayed over co-ops and curriculums and all of the things we have done in the past.  I considered many, many new options.  Every single one God gently said…”no” and continued to lead me in the direction of what I am now calling freeschooling…..just for the record I HATE being bound by labels, but this one is so different for me ;).

Freeschooling for me is all of the freedom and none of the boundaries.  It’s everything my kids individually need, right where they are, and none of the arbitrary standards someone says they “should” know.  It’s letting them run wild and free with their strengths and their interests.  It’s not limiting their education to a curriculum, a methodology, a desk/kitchen table or even the four walls of our home.  It’s filled with space for wonder and discovery and challenge and thinking and absent of fear and forcing and finishing a lesson or a curriculum, because of a self-imposed deadline or need to “check all of the boxes”.  It’s me learning from them, more than them learning from me.  Freeschooling is fluid, with movement and growth.  It leaves room for ME and care of myself.  Freeschooling is relationship based and lead by grace.

And then I went and did something CRAZY!! I sold all of my curriculum….I really did.

We started with a family vision night, where we each shared our vision for what we wanted school to “look like” and things we wanted to learn (yes…me too).  We put it all down on paper.  Then I started searching for resources to support what and how we wanted to learn. As you can imagine finding curriculum that fits into all of the freeschooling dreams of my heart might be quite a challenge.

But God 🙂

I don’t know how in all of my homeschooling years I haven’t even heard of The Good & The Beautiful, but it has been THE THING that God has used to breathe life back into our homeschooling days.  I can say with my whole heart that it has not only met, but exceeded ALL of my expectations in a curriculum.  It has fit perfectly into my freeschooling approach.  I cannot say enough good things about this curriculum and the heart behind it.

And every single one of my kids LOVE it.  Yup….you read that right!  They LOVE it!!

We made this short video to tell you the things specific things we love the most!

Homeschooling Mama…..if you or your kids are not thriving in your school days, don’t wait to make a change!  Stop, pray and go where God leads, even if it doesn’t make sense at first!

Also, many of you have asked me how I find all of our great Read Alouds and this is one of my favorite resources!!!  AND IT’S FREE FOR YOU THROUGH TOMORROW (11/11/17) , compliments of Jenny Phillips at The Good & The Beautiful!!!  Use this link to download for FREE!!

I plan to go into more details about the ins and outs of how our days unfold and what each child is working on currently.  If you have other questions about my approach, please let me know and I will do my best to answer!

Blessings,

 

Maggie

 

PS – For honesty sake I need to disclose that I am entering this post into a contest to win free curriculum from The Good & The Beautiful, BUT I’ve had this post written in my mind for a month exactly as it is….the contest just pushed me to finally do it :).

 

 

 

What A Health Coach Can Help With

It is my belief that every…..yes, I said EVERY medical condition and every illness and even wellness can be improved with good nutrition, regular movement and sustainable lifestyle changes.  Even structural conditions, like a broken arm can see quicker healing by adding key components into the diet.
For my fellow list makers, below is a list of things that I can address with a Holistic Wellness Plan:
Adrenal Fatigue
Asthma
Allergies (seasonal, environmental and food)
Anxiety
Depression
Acne
Eczema
Psoriasis
Lupus
Fibromyalgia
Epstein-Barr or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Gout
PCOS
Hormone Imbalance
Menstrual Cycle Difficulties
PMS
Pregnancy
Infertility
Menopause
Weight loss
Sugar Cravings
Thyroid
Migraines (occasional and chronic)
Low libido
Acid reflux
Constipation (chronic or occasional)
IBS
Stomach Ulcer
Crohn’s Disease
Celiac Disease
Chronic Colds
Cancer
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Diabetes (Type 1 & 2)
ADHD/ADD
Mental clarity
Stress management or reduction
Healing from trauma (emotional or physical)
Low Energy
Yeast infections (chronic or occasional)
Bladder Infections (chronic or occasional)
Kidney Health
Gallbladder Health
Breast health
Breast-feeding
Mastitis (breast infection)

 

You also might want to hire me as your coach if you are:
Training for an athletic event (race or marathon)
Planning to get pregnant in the next 5 years
Wanting to make-over your medicine cabinet for a more natural approach to illness
Wanting to make over your pantry to include more healthy foods
Wanting to makeover your daily routine to lower your stress
Want to really hone in on a few goals you want to see accomplished
Want to get more organized in grocery shopping & meal planning & prep
Wanting to makeover your family’s favorite meals to give them more nutritional umph
Want to prevent illness during cold/flu season
Want a better understanding of what’s healthy and what’s not
Need a reset in your health
Want to do a gentle detox
Want to prevent cancer
Want a cheerleader in all things healthy

 

To Your Health!

~ Maggie

Practical Ways I Grow Good Things

In my last post I talked about my brown thumb and my pursuit of growing good things in my life.  I know first hand that the only way those good things are going to grow is for me to give attention to them.
It’s a simple concept.
What you give attention to grows, both good and bad.
If you are always pointing out your spouse’s annoying habits, do they not grow into the only thing you can think about when you think of them!?  On the other hand, if you give your attention to the things you love about your spouse and regularly compliment those things, then it’s quiet possible your love for them will grow (as that annoying way they swallow quietly disappears into the background…….right hunny 😉 ).
So here are a few of the practical ways I have found to grow good things in my life:
  1. Look for them – as I said above….be intentional about looking for the good things and noting them.
  2. Build Them Into My Routine – I have a pretty regular routine I go through to begin and end my day.  If I want to make sure something gets daily attention, then I add it into my routine.   I also take big goals and break them down into daily steps in this way.  For example, one of my 2016 goals is to develop a deeper prayer life.  The daily action step of that looks like me taking time each evening to pray through my Prayer Points.img_6984
  3. Keep A Visual Reminder – I am a visual person.  I really have to keep things in front of me in order for them to stay on my mind.  I use notes on my bathroom mirror as reminders.  I keep my planner open on my breakfast table at all times, with action steps toward the “good things” I am working on written in it.  I also keep my Monthly Tending Sheet out at all times, so I can see where I am headed for the month! img_7054
  4. Make Space for Them – I’ve done A LOT of shifting of priorities in my life lately, so I can really hone in on the things that matter to me.  The bottom line here is if you don’t make time for the things you really want in life, they will not happen.  Plain and simple.
  5. Daily Check In – The things that are important to me get my daily attention.  I am working on growing my income, so I check my bank balance and the each day and thank God for what is there and pray for more ways to put my value into the world.  I also check-in daily with other aspects of my business.  I am working on growing good things img_7052in my marriage, so each day I take time to fill a need of his that my husband voiced to me awhile back. You cannot expect a beautiful, fragrant rose bush after months of walking past it without a second glance.  And of course the box checker in me loves the Tending Sheets from Lara Casey for this!
Mom Tip:  I use all of these with my kids as well!  Reading Logs, Teeth Brushing, Physical Therapy Exercises!  These tips work for everything!!
What practical ways do you make sure there are Good Things growing in your life?