but does “stopped to pick some apples” count?
I have one month (and I am living it) where things are not in balance…not one bit.
I am admitting it, confessing it, laying it out there for all to note.
The Queen of Intentional Living is out of balance, and it was brought on by myself.
(Yes, I do recall that Saturday I was the ‘Queen of Best Intentions’, but can I not declare myself Queen on a number of platforms…with a bit of the good, bad and ugly tossed around in there? Thank you for the permission…I will).
Yep, from now until November 10th….I am teetering out of balance – too many speaking things, home school things, craft booth things…just THINGS.
Good things that sometimes get in the way of more important things.
Great things if they had been spread out a bit more on the calendar,
but at least I am owning up to it, and working on ways to deal with it,
while not harming my children in the process.
I have admitted it…there is hope…hee hee
If you can relate in any small way,
one of my anecdotes for busy living is spontaneity.
When was the last time your were purposefully spontaneous?
Or was that something that was washed down the toilet with a husband, kids, work, and any multitude of other fill in the blanks?
Now I understand that busy and spontaneous may appear to be an oxymoron,
but the concept and execution can work wonders for the slivered soul.
It can weave the spirit of intentionality into your timely tapestry, even when you’re falling into more shares of bedlam moments than you care to admit (and yep…we even had one on this adventure)!
Last Friday, we had that choice.
My sis-in-love dropped off a box of my catalogs that had mistakenly been sent to her house.
Now one would assume that since we live together on this happy homestead, we would savor coffee bonding times together on a regular basis….NOT!
During the fall, we wave in passing. Summer is our season together.
During our 30 second exchange, she mentioned buying some apples from a local orchard when she went to pick up her van from the shop.
I gushed, “Let’s go, let’s do it!”
Yes, I do believe in invite myself.
Some times you just do what you need to do.
It took us a few moments to actually determine that we were more than just talk, and this might just work if we left immediately – without thinking through the ramifications.
But we did it. (JUST DO IT!)
We made a spontaneous decision,
and it was a memory making moment at its finest!
With our open window of just an hour, the children raced through the rambling rows.
We chit chatted with the orchard owners (notice my nephew’s hand on his mom’s shoulder. He was waiting patiently to interrupt. I didn’t even know I captured this, but it’s a great example of rewards that are reaped from beginning that character training young.)
Here are two of my blessings digging into the goodies. We surely have enjoyed baking lots of apple creations this week, but do you know how many peeled apples it takes to make just a little homemade applesauce?
An hour’s worth is all I can say about that. 🙂
Enjoy that Mott’s because you won’t see me sharing any of this with you…hee hee!
(Just making sure you understand that the cute litte bootie did not come from this momma 🙂
The two little cussers (from a past post) enjoying the bounty.
Where my oldest daughter came from, I do not know?She did NOT want her picture taken, and tried various attempts at averting the zoom on my camera.
It’s amazing what they can get away with for the sake of a blog post.
Nope – didn’t even discipline her for this, in fact, shuckled and thought it was awfully cute!
So finally, I gave my nephew full reign on the tickle factor.
She saw it coming…..
And it worked just like I anticipated!I do have 20 more pics in this sequence of shots, but thought I wouldn’t bore you with an entire page of her getting tickled. 🙂
Best of cousins….but more like sisters.
No problem getting this one to pose…anytime…anywhere.
She’s there for you!
And this is by far one of the most precious Proverbs 31 teens that you have ever met. Sheer delight oozes from every pore in her being, and I am privileged to be her aunt.
What would an afternoon in an apple orchard be with out a few cartwheels among cousins?
Or better yet…a delightful roll down their ginormous hill.
As our blessings yelled for us to watch, we smiled, cringed, then felt itchy, nauseous, and dizzy all at the same time.
Don’t worry, I wouldn’t let the bedlam moment get by on this one.
It was a relief to realize that our age wasn’t the only significant factor….
“It’s ok, honey, you’re going to be alright. Just a little motion sickness.”
“But I really think that I am going to throw up.”
And that was the continuous theme on the way home from this delightfully, spontaneous hour that soothed our soul, nurtured the family bond, and allowed everyone the vicarious experience of morning sickness… all the way home.
The end.
Let your creative juices explode…I can’t wait to hear about the spontaneous celebration that you allowed and then chose to impact your home this week.
Yep – it’s a choice….remember, it can be as easy as eating dinner under the table. 🙂
JUST DO IT!
What a great reminder! Looks like you had a lot of fun and created lots of memories…just by taking that hour!
I’m curious…where is the orchard? We’re looking for a good one to visit.
Thanks for sharing!
Heather
I left something for you on my blog 🙂
Oh I just love this post Jen! Tummy aches and all! I wanted to be 8 years old all over again and roll down the hill with the children! What a wonderful time you all had!
Sincerely ~ Tricia Anne
Ps. Can I p.s. in blogging?! You had asked in the past when my 40th bday was, it will be May 12th. Lord willing. :o) Also, your sweet words about my mishaps are being treasured!
Sounds delightful! And those are beautiful pictures of beautiful children. Love them. You make me want to go be spontaneous now!
Wow! What fun! Thanks for sharing!
Brandi had a yard sale and if I had been more spontaneous I could have hopped in my van and headed down there to help her. Instead, I lazed around the house and got not. one. thing. accomplished.
Seeing how much fun you had makes me think we would have had a blast.
Sigh…
It’s funny how it’s the little things that make life special. They’ll probably have just as fond of memories about this day as they would a big fancy planned trip to Disney Land.
Just going out there and doing it has been a motto of our family. Life is short and memories are precious.
Lisa Q
Best spontaneous moment was a few weeks ago! My son and I were at the mall running some errands and on the way out to the car the mall has one of those fountain things that is just on the sidewalk so the kids can play. I NEVER let him play in this since it really seems icky to me, but I remembered I had a towel in the car from the pool the day before. You should have seen his face when I said “Go ahead”. I wish I had had my camera since it was the most precious sight. There were people walking by just smiling and watching him run and splash and play. Not only did we make each others day more fun and special, but he brightened a lot of other peoples day too!!
Ohhhh I love this post…just brings a HUGE smile to my face! Those are some fabulous photos!! Great times, great memories!
I can’t even remember the last time I was so spontaneous! I need to work on that! lol
~melody~
What great fun! I love the rolling down the hill picture. It seems like some of the best memories are ones that are not well planned and just “happen”! You are enjoying that camera aren’t you!!!!LOL Great pics!
OHHH I just found your blog today and I love it! Thank you so much for your openness, honesty and encouragment!
sara beth
Fantastic pictures! When I got married I was not spontaneous in any way.. and my husband was completly on the other end of the spectrum. Now I’ve learned to ease up a little. 😉
I love apple season and I love it even more when it brings opportunities for unplanned fun and unrushed appreciation for the blessings in our lives.
My biggest spontaneous moment came while my mom and I were canning applesauce this year. I sent my 3yo out with hubby to do “chores” and looked out to see Aidan playing in the yard with no sign of his father. Of course I was concerned about such an idea so I went running outside to check on him and almost tripped over a big pile of leaves. He had buried dad, lol. Needless to say we all had to take turns being buried after that.
I will, I will, I WILL be more spontaneous. Your children are BEAUTIFUL! Louise
I’m fairly new to your blog. Linked over from someone’s. So, I’m not sure if you’re pregnant or you just sneakily shared that fun fact or if everyone already knew it or if no one is actually pregnant at all. hmmm . . . so exciting if you are! Blessings. Kelly
I love it!
Yes, yes, yes spontaneity is the best!
What great pictures you ‘gathered’!
“the vicarious experience of morning sickness” . . .
🙂
I’m totally not a scheduled person so everything I do is spontaneous. Unfortunately, that usually translates into me spontaneously staying home! Thanks for the inspiration! Although I didn’t spontaneously go apple picking, I did spontaneously go to Wendy’s. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but it was really spontaneously packing the babies up in the car when hubby called to say he wouldn’t be home for dinner, and going to bring him some. My son loved to see Daddy at work and was very excited to get a couple “whys” (fries) with his PB sandwich.
Oh, I loved this! And yay…this time when I clicked on your link at my place it DID bring me here! 🙂
What a wonderful example of how we can have flexibility in home schooling and sometimes seize the moment!
And what a beautiful family you have!
Thank you so much for participating for my very first Open House! Hopefully word will get out and next month will see even more participating! 🙂
Jen,
What a great post! You’re right…those moments are the ones the kids will remember always…you made some wonderful memories out there! My daughter was sitting beside me as we read it and she said, “That sounds like fun.” And isn’t that the beauty of home schooling….seizing the moment and taking advantage of it and having fun!
We really enjoyed participating in Tammy’s first Home School Open House! I’m looking forward to more!
Thanks for sharing!
Tammy