Become Like a Little Child

Jake and I are reading through The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz and came upon this today:

      "We have memories of long ago, when we used to be free and we loved being free, but we have forgotten what freedom really means.

      If we see a child who is two or three, perhaps four years old, we find a free human.  Why is this human free? Because this human does whatever he or she wants to do.  The human is completely wild.  Just like a flower, a tree, or an animal that has not been domesticated --- wild! And if we observe humans who are two years old, we find that most of the time these humans have a big smile on their face and they're having fun.  They are exploring the world.  They are not afraid to play. They are afraid when they are hurt, when they are hungry, when some of their needs are not met, but they don't worry about the past, don't care about the future, and only live in the present moment.

      Very young children are not afraid to express what they feel.  They are so loving that if they perceive love, they melt into love. They are not afraid to love at all.  That is the description of a normal human being.  As children we are not afraid of the future or ashamed of the past.  Our normal human tendency is to enjoy life, to play, to explore, to be happy, and to love.

      But, what has happened with the adult human? Why are we so different? Why are we not wild?"

The first thing that came to my mind is this verse from Matthew (18:3) : "And He said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."  The second thing that came into my mind was a video I took of Boy 3 about 8 years ago . . . this boy, he has always been free and wild and his joy knows no end.   

He's 11 now.  He still is pretty wild and free and brings me great joy. <3  Praying for myself and you that we can be like a little child.

How I - Inadvertently - Tamed the Laundry Monster

It's cold here in Indiana!  Not much to do except sit next to the fire, put a warm laptop on and write a blog post - about laundry.

 I know, it's not your favorite subject, nor is it mine, but it is something we all must deal with.  As my recently ill husband said when I mentioned I would have to wait to wash the sheets when he was out of them . . . "Yes, just like clothes, it's much easier to wash them when you're not in them"!

As a family of six, we have a lot of laundry, clothes, running/work out clothes, towels, sheets, delicate's, hand wash . . . the list goes on!  Thankfully, quite a few years back we had an old house issue that inadvertently led to a laundry solution.

Have you ever heard of a "dry well"?  WELL, I hadn't!  ;) I guess it's something that may come along with an old home such as ours. Our dry well was right next to our driveway and front step and apparently, it was full.  Yes, our dry well was full . . . of laundry water . . . As I type this, I realize how little sense this may make, so if anyone out there can explain it to me, please do.

Until we were able reroute our laundry water, we couldn't wash more than one load at a time or the water filling up the dry well would seep up out onto our driveway, walkway and yard.  And since this was in the middle of winter, freeze.  "Welcome to our home, watch out for the small, ice covered pond on your way in!"  

So, I started washing one load a day . . . and then I assigned each member of the family  a laundry day  . . . and then I started to teach my kids how to do their own laundry!  Aaahh, yes, you can see where this is going!!! Freedom!!!  Ok, maybe not freedom, but freedom from the Laundry Monster!  No longer did I have 4-5 loads to do at a time.  No longer did I become extremely b-o-r-e-d washing, drying, folding and putting away laundry.  No longer was this another chore for mom to do.  This became an opportunity to instill a life skill to my children, to lessen my load as a mom and to give up some areas of control.  My boys (Baby Girl-6, is still learning) can now wash, dry and put away their own laundry!  Granted, they may not fold them, but if they are ok wearing wrinkled clothes, good for them! They can also help out if I need a load of sheets put in the dryer or a load of towels put on to wash.  

These days, we sometimes have to do more than one load a day and we can, since we have rerouted our laundry drainage. But I still stick to a load a day for each family member.  There have been 2 other changes since then that have helped lessen our laundry - the most recent, Norwex Towels - the other, we know what clothes we need and what clothes we don't!  With my kids washing their clothes once a week, they need enough pants/shorts, underwear/socks, and shirts to get them through a week.  If they are only using the top half of a shirt drawer, we get rid of some!  If they stay in their pj's because they have no clean pants (and not because they are homeschooled), we need to go shopping.  

Now if I could only find a way to get my whites WHITE as Snow!

Back to the Books

It's that time of year again. Time for resolutions, new goals, blah, blah, blah.  I am not a resolution maker - really, isn't the purpose of making them so you don't have to accomplish said resolution?  Ok, maybe not, but that is usually what happens.

I am happy, however, to be moving past 2015 and into 2016.  This past year has been difficult to say the least - maybe, someday, I will do a post on that.  2016 is set to have it's challenges too - I have one son who will be moving away and joining the Marines, another one who will be learning to operate a large metal machine car (thankfully, it is rather large) and many others thing I know nothing of at the moment.  So why am I ready to move on?  If I (re)learned anything in 2015 it is that My God is a big GOD!  He can handle anything and whether or not all is smooth sailing, extremely difficult, incomprehensible or just down right hard, He's got it.  I may not see the whole picture, ever, let alone this day, week, month or year, but that doesn't mean He's not redeeming it all.  So, no matter what 2016 brings, I've got a big God that has already shown His love for me through his son, Jesus and really, what more do I need? So, no resolutions for 2016, just taking it one day at a time and trying to be in the here and now, enjoying the moment and leaning on HIM through it all.

All that to say that I am back to reading.  2015 what not a record breaking book-reading year for me and if you know me, you know I love to read.  I may or may not, at one time, had the nickname . . . Rita-book . . . get it?  Yeah, I know . . .

I don't have a set amount of books to read this year, but I have enlisted the help of Goodreads to keep track of what I am reading and to get book suggestions.  Come, follow me and see what I am reading, what I want to read and even suggest some of your favorites.  There may be a good chance I've already read it, but if not, I'm always looking for a good read!

And the winner is . . .

For those who read my post on Do-Terra's Natural Deodorant, thanks!  I hope it was helpful to you.  I hope to be doing some more reviews and giveaways, so stay tuned!

It's time to pick a winner! 

For this drawing, I didn't actually put your names in a hat and draw, I used: http://www.miniwebtool.com/random-name-picker/

It was super simple!  I entered all three of the names, clicked on the "picked a random name" button and ta-da!  The Winner is My Heart Song!  Whatever would we do without the internet?!

Just message me at ritagorbics@gmail.com with your address and I will get the natural deodorant out to you!

Thanks everyone for entering!

I'm back . . . DoTerra Deodorant Review

It's been awhile . . . but I'm back.  

And I've been trying out some of doTERRA's newly released products!  First up a natural deodorant!

For a little background, I've been trying different natural deodorant's for the past few years.  My first move was away from an antiperspirant.  The short reason - Aluminum, which is possibly* linked by some to cancer and Alzheimer's. I would prefer not to have to deal with either of these, and using an antiperspirant was something I did at least once a day, I dropped the antiperspirant and switched to a deodorant, then have been trying the more natural deodorants. Can I just say there is A LOT out there!  And you can spend as little or as much as you would like!  There are rocks, sprays, roll-on, sticks, homemade, etc.  

So, what did I think?!                                  I really like it!                                   And it works!

Ingredients:  Coconut Oil, Beeswax, Triethyl Citrate, Carnauba Wax, Corn Starch, Cypress Oil, Melaleuca Oil, Cedarwood, Bergamot Oil, Sage Oil, Shea Butter & Sodium Caproyl/Lauroyl Lactylate.  

Pretty good that there are only two of those I had to look up! The scent is simple, not overpowering or perfuming at all. Cedarwood is also one of my favorite oils, so I really like the smell.  When applying, one will notice it is a little sticky.  But after application, I didn't notice it again - and my armpits definitely weren't sticking together!  As a friend suggested, I applied it more than once.  I applied some after my shower (which I usually do at night), then again in the morning or before I headed out.  I made sure I added a layer before I headed to work out with my younger two!  

My two biggest tests: Rockstar workout and Co-op days!  For the workout, I always sweat (that's kinda the point) but I didn't notice a stinky armpit smell afterwards . . . and yes, I checked! For co-op days, I am busy running around setting up for the day, so even if it's not warm, I typically start to sweat a little.  Then have to be around others for the rest of the morning, so I don't want to be all stinky from the morning set-up.  And I wasn't!  

The final selling point - my shirts!  I'm not big into washing each shirt after every wear, especially if it's a nice sweater or a shirt I've only worn for a few hours.  This cuts down on the wear of my clothes and helps them last longer.  But, if I pick up a shirt the following week and the armpits smell - that's is not good!  I have not noticed this problem at all using the doTERRA Natural Deodorant. 

And now, here's the good part!  I am giving away a doTERRA Natural Deodorant!  Would you like to try it?  Just comment on my blog and you'll be put in for a drawing on November 7th.  I will then send you your own doTERRA Natural Deodorant to try out!

But even if you don't win . . . it's a very reasonably priced natural deodorant and comparable to other natural deodorants.  $11.33 retail which you can order through my website.

Or if you're already a doTERRA WA, you can buy it for the wholesale price of $8.50.  If you'd like to learn more about having access to wholesale doTERRA, just comment below!

Field Tripping

We are all getting ready for Spring up here in Northern Indiana.  What does that look like?  Taking any and every opportunity to get out of the house!  Sometimes, that is easier said than done.  One great option here are the Potawatomi Conservatories. Admission is only $3 for adults, $2 for kids ages 3-14.  It was wonderful to see fruit on trees, flowers in bloom and so much green!  Our favorite room every time is the Desert Dome.  Not only is it war, but has such an array of plants that we don't see around here.  We even brought home our own Aloe Vera plant.

Next up was a field trip with our home school co-op to Oxbow Park for Maple Syrup tapping! We learned which maple trees are the best for tapping, how to tap and taste-tested syrup straight from the tap. With a gate fee of only $2, we will back to explore the many trails and check out the newly rebuilt Ox Bow Tower. 

Family Portraits

Yes, you heard correctly - Family Portraits.  Oh why do these cause me so much stress?!  Is it because they so badly need to be done, but nobody wants to do it? Or is it the difficulty of finding outfits that coordinate but don't "match"?  And then, what if the weather is bad, the kids cry or don't smile, or I am having a bad hair day?  Or what if we are just having a bad year as a family?  But then, I read something like this and there is no putting it off any longer.

Family portraits had been in the back of my mind -  maybe it had something to do with the fact that the last time we had them taken, Portrait Innovations was, well, an innovation!

You may be able to tell that this was quite a few years ago!  Baby Girl was just that, a 6 month old baby, The boys still looked liked boys instead of on the verge of manhood.  And yes, hubby and I look young!

So what better motivation that mommy guilt, so many years lost and a homeschooling friend who takes great pics! After one cancellation due to cold weather, a few $$ spent on outfits that at least wouldn't look bad together and a trip to my Fix Salon . . . .

Yeah, so we've grown a little!  Here's to building family and self-esteem! Oh wait . . . now I need to order prints, get frames and put them on the wall!