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We Choose This

A family of seven; one daddy (Nick), one mommy (Stephanie), four sons (Aidan, Coda, Dillon & Jericho) and one daughter (Téadora). We choose to live our life in a way that many might find "odd". We choose being together, Jesus, natural living, a big family, life on the road, mama with dreadlocks, healthy eating, homeschooling, adventure and love. You might call us crazy, that's OK, we choose crazy!

The Birth of My Dreadlocks

Yes my dreadlocks on my head.

Last Sunday night my best friend Kristy began backcombing (ratting, then pulling, then twisting, then ratting some more) small sections of my hair into "dreadlocks".  I chose to not use wax, so my dreads will look more fluffy and frizzy, but as they mature that will settle down.  They won't be actual dreadlocks for a number of months, backcombing just gets the process started.  Since we have 8 kids between us, we were only able to work on my hair in the evening, so we finally finished on Thursday night.  So Thursday, December 17, 2009 I became a dreadlocked mama.

 

A few rows done...A LOT more rows to go.

I would like to hear your first reaction, but remember I have feelings.  For some of you your jaw might have dropped, you might have said "whatever" or you might have wanted to give me a big hug.  Making the decision to dreadlock my hair was not an easy one.  I have been infatuated with dreadlocks for A.LONG.TIME.  I like how they look, I like the ease of their care, I like that they are not "mainstream" and that they are a little hippie.  But more than any of those "likes", I decided to dreadlock my hair for me, to show myself that God loves me for me, regardless of my hairstyle, the makeup on my face or the clothes that I wear, I can be me and God will still love me...in fact being "me" is what God intended.  For the past two years I have been growing out my hair, two years ago it was only an inch or so long in some places, so its been a long process.  I would think and dream about having dreadlocks but my hair was so short I knew it wasn't the right time.  As my hair got longer I couldn't get dreadlocks off my mind.  Nick was not so hot on the idea at first, but it grew on him.  I tried to get the idea out of my head and I just couldn't.  Kristy and my E (my sister) were in full support and thought that dreadlocks totally fit me.  I spent lots of time researching different ways to dreadlock hair; backcombing vs. crocheting, professionally vs. a friend and I couldn't decide.  Then last week it all fell into place, I was going to be staying at Kristy's for over a week, she was so uber excited to dread my hair and so we did it :)

Our family is on a wonderful (challenging, crazy, AHHHH) journey right now and dreadlocks are somehow fitting perfectly into it.  Nick is so supportive of me and my decision, he is even loving spending time each day palm rolling them and playing with them. I walk by a mirror and I can't help but take a look and then smile.  Téadora would like to have dreadlocks of her own...but we are going to wait on that one :)  I have been very blessed to have friends and family that love me for me. 

I am going to blog about my journey and document the stages of my dreadlocks through pictures.  My dreads will be kind of crazy for a while, well maybe forever, so it shouldn't be a dull ride.

December Photo Project ~ 12/18/09

Daddy & Tèadora
Snuggle time at Papa & Grandmas!

December Photo Project ~ 12/13/09

A break in the rain allowed for a much needed break from the indoors.

December Photo Project ~ 12/12/09

Old School Nintendo
Kristy is super into Super Mario Bros.
Awesome rainy day fun!

December Photo Project ~ 12/10/09

Coda James a bazillion stuffed animals that he arranged and Kristy's beautiful Christmas tree. 
Little by little we are getting into the Christmas spirit.  I am feeling so blessed to be staying with my bestest friend and her beautiful family for the next few days. 

December Photo Project ~ 12/09/09

The Grapevine

December Photo Project ~ 12/06/09

~Primo Pizza & Pasta~

Carlsbad, Ca

Pizza, yum.

Beautiful, Unforgetable time with just the 7 of us.

By a wonderful accident, Daddy captured more than just the sign on the building.

December Photo Project ~ 12/05/09

Beautiful Avocados,  Amazing View

December Photo Project ~ 12/04/09

Jericho Toren Amadeus ~ 6 Months Old
Can you believe this little boy was born 6 weeks early and
weighed 5lbs 1oz at birth and under 5lbs at 2 weeks old.

December Photo Project ~ 12/03/09

The view from our apartment.  A view that I will only see for six more days.  What started out as 6 weeks has turned into15 weeks.  Living somewhere for 15 weeks is an awkward amount of time, atleast for us it is.  For the first 6 weeks we were busy exploring, soaking up the sun and enjoying lots of family time.  Then Nick began working longer hours, the pool wasn't quite as warm and we were feeling the desires to settle in or move on.  Well we didn't move on, but we knew we would be soon, so we couldn't settle in.  We had been going to a wonderful Church, but joining a small group just wasn't feasible.  We had met some wonderful homeschooling families, but had a hard time deepening relationships because we were leaving "soon".  We didn't make our apartment feel very "homey" from the start and by the time we felt the need to, I felt like it was too late.  This was our first stop on our adventure and we have all experienced and learned a lot.  As we prepare to head north to Santa Rosa then onto Eureka for Christmastime, I begin to reflect.  I want to figure out how to make furnished apartments "home", even if its home for only a few weeks.  I want to be able to make "friends" even though we will only be around for a little while.  I want to keep exploring even when I get blue and stop desiring to explore.  I want to be thankful for the roof over my head and not complain about stark white walls!  I want to drive away from each destination with a joyful heart!  Here is to a changed attitude for the next six days.

December Photo Project ~ 12/02/09

Téadora co-sleeping with baby Annabelle.

I have always been told, its not what you tell them, its what they see.  We co-slept with all of our five children and wake up many mornings to two or three of them in our bed and the others come in soon after for their "morning snuggles".  So it is only natural that Téadora would not put baby Annabelle to bed in a crib, but right beside her. 

December Photo Project ~ 12/01/09

Mama & Jericho

 Santa Paula, CA

McGrath Family Farm

On Saturday the 29th of August we were able to meet one of my friends from highschool, her special guy and their cute son. Emma, Jake & Jackson were visiting Simi Valley for a family reunion and squeezed us in for breakfast. We ate at a great little resturant "Eggs 'n Things".

Then we were onto the McGrath Family Farm in Camarillo. The McGrath Farm, is a certified organic that has its own fruit & veggie stand, stands at about 7 Farmers Markets and delivers to local resturants. The farm offers tours of their farm as long as your have a group of 3 or more, well we are 7 so we passed :) We got a one on 7 tour by the manager. He was so knowledgeable and let the kids pick strawberries, tomatoes, pumpkins and flowers. The kids pick beautiful tuberose flowers for me, bad thing, those flowers give me an instant headache. We had such a wonderful time. It was over 100 degrees, so we were HOT. The farm has about 20 full time workers. Aidan and Coda think that with our family plus a few more people we could take care of that big of a farm. I am not so sure. Dillon was sad at the end, he saw now cows. He was not understanding that it was a fruit/vegetable/flower farm, not a cow farm. It was neat to see all that they could grow with the amazing weather that blesses Southern California. They can grow strawberries ALL YEAR LONG! We are hoping to visit a citrus and avocado orchard while we are here also.

Setting Out On Our Big Adventure

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. Nick returned from a month long working stint in Alaska on August 13th, just two days before my sisters wedding. We spent the next two days celebrating with E (my sister) and Sergio (her now-husband). It was a wonderful two days, filled with family and friends, laughing and crying and the most beautiful wedding I have ever seen. Sunday was spent saying good-bye to our Church family. Next was a day and half for Nick & I (and Jericho) to have some special bonding time. Then it was onto Monday afternoon when we began the craziness of packing up an entire house, selling furniautre, deciding what to store, what to bring and what to give away. Our deadline was Friday night as we needed to be on the road Saturday morning to head to Southern California.

While Nick was in Alaska we prayed, talked and then decided that we were a family, a family that was meant to be together. The job opportunity that Nick has right now, is a travelling job, so we decided we would go with him. It was not an easy decision to leave home, our family, our Church family & friends, but we wanted to be together. We are crazy, we know it. We have five children, 7 and under, dedided to pack everything we need into Nick's cargo van and we go carvaning down the highway. We will stay in most places 5-6 weeks, but it could be longer or shorter, just depends on the job.

So Saturday morning we left, our goal was to make it to Lompoc (about 1 hour north of Santa Barbara) where Uncle Bobby lives. It is a 9 1/2 hour drive WITHOUT stopping. Well we had to stop, if I remember correctly we stopped 4 times. It ended up taking us 12 1/2 hours. It was a long driving day!

Sunday we woke up hung out a bit, went to breakfast and then set out on the last two hours of our drive to Oxnard, CA. The drive was beautiful. Through Santa Barbara, along the coast, Ventura Beaches, just amazing.

We had an awesome family evening of a picnic dinner, playing on a pirate playground and walking along the beach. Sunday night we stayed in a hotel in Oxnard. We planned on beginning our search for an apartment or Extended Stay on Monday.

Due to a huge miracle, we found an amazing apartment...it was the first place we looked at and it was just perfect. Two bedrooms, one bath, furnished, rented by the week (which we need as we could be moved at any time), attached to a beautiful inn in a small town about 15 miles from Oxnard, so we have a pool, get clean towels and sheets as often as we need them.

Since then we have spent our time exploring Santa Paula, Ventura & Oxnard, visiting beauul parks, figuring out how to let Nick sleep (he works nights) and spending each afternoon by the pool.

How do you do it?

I am a mom of four and get asked that quite frequently.  Most commonly I answer, I am not sure, I just do.  Then I will go on to say that life with four little ones seems almost easier than when I had one or two.  Now that sounds like crazy talk.  But I assure you its not.  I am not crazy, although I believe that each day I do struggle with staying on this side of sanity :)  I am more organized and less uptight with four as opposed to two.  I have bigger children to help with littler ones.  Even if the bigger ones aren't "playing" with the little ones, the little ones have someone to watch and parallel play with.

With that said about a week ago I needed the answer to a "how do you do it"?  So I asked two friends of mine, who happen to homeschool, have more children than I do and I look up to greatly.  My how do you do it was on the topic of the dreaded "L" word...LAUNDRY.  I am so bad at it, I have tried so many different ways, two loads a day, different types of laundry each day and the worst system of all, just ignoring the laundry until I have so much I must go to the laundromat and spend almost $40 to complete it all, only to have it piled high in a week or so.  My two friends gave me great advice, actually they gave me the same advice (it could be because they are sisters).  They helped me to realize that my first problem lies in the amount of laundry we produce and then they recommended the once a week "Laundry Day".  I loved the idea.  Mondays are a stay at home day anyway, so why not do all the laundry on that one and be done with it for the next 7 days.

So this is how LAUNDRY is dealt with in our home now:

-If it is not covered in dirt or food and doesn't smell too bad, it is to be worn again.

-Laundry is done one day a week, MONDAY, with the exception of cloth diapers and "wet" things, such as peed in underwear, smelly wet kitchen towels, which are done as needed throughout the week.

-Again I say if it is not really dirty, it is not to be found in the hamper.  And I have been know to scavenge through the hamper for "clean" clothes.  :)

-We now have a LARGE Rubbermaid container in the laundry room, instead of the basket or two that use to be there.  Dirty clothes may be put in the Rubbermaid or in the hamper in the bathroom, wet things go in the small basket that is on top of the Rubbermaid lid.

Before this new laundry plan I was doing about 12-15 loads of laundry a week, plus cloth diapers.  This past Monday I was 6 loads!!  FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK, SIX LOADS!!  YIPPEE!!  I was only consumed by laundry on Monday, not everyday of the week.  I love that the dirty clothes are nicely concealed in a container with a lid, so I do not have to see them all week.   I also love that I can spend less time worrying about laundry and more time doing things that I enjoy with the people that I love.

And the best thing yet, Nick enjoys are new found Laundry plan so much that he has vowed to put all the laundry away.  I wash, dry and fold.  It waits nicely on our bed for him to put it away after dinner.  What an awesome hubby :)

Compacting...7 Months In

As of now we have completed seven whole months of Compacting.  First off let me just get this off my chest...we have slipped here and there :/.  Don't quit reading, PLEASE.  I am trying to not have guilt over the purchases we have made, knowing that there would have been many more if we were not on the COMPACT.  Dang it.  I guess I am just too much of a perfectionist.  I only want to do things if I can do them to the highest of standards, and if I don't I think I have failed, I treat myself as though I have failed.  And in this situation slipping up a few times does not deem me or my family failures in the Compacting department.

We have grown so much due to Compacting, more than I ever could have dreamed and the year isn't nearly over.  We spend more time together, less time shopping and just all in all a lot more mindful of our consumption.  We have been recycling everything we can, buying food and household goods in bulk and have cut our "garbage" down by about half.  We started a garden and have seen the fruits of our labor through the likes of carrots, beans, tomatoes, strawberries, plums and we are still waiting on a bell pepper.  I went from a clothing shop-o-holic to actually not knowing what is "in style".  My kids are wearing hand me down or used clothing store bathing suits this year and they all look cute at the river, can you believe it.  I have been spending a lot less time online, even though Nick thinks I am still addicted.  I have been blogging less and selling less tie dye.  My kids have been enjoying the outdoors and I have been enjoying it with them.

A few months ago I spoke at to my MOPS group about our journey into Compacting, beginning at my insane desire to declutter.  I had such an awesome response, ladies wanted to know more about it and more about natural and simple living in general.

We have begun to pray about and talk about how we are going to handle Christmas.  Honestly, I want to pack my little family of six and go somewhere, escape it all and just focus on Jesus.  However, I think that would be considered running away.  I knew Christmas would one of the hardest parts about Compacting.  I also knew I had all year to figure out how we were going to handle it.  I mean, I am totally comfortable in yelling from the mountaintops that we are Compacting, but when it comes to Christmas (gifts) it affects so many more people than just our little family.  If you know me at all, I hate confrontation.  I hate to tell people things that might not be what they are expecting to hear.  (Thank God for email, hehe)  SO pray for me, for us as we embark on the next stage of Compacting.

Live Lightly.

Over a year ago I was turned onto Sara's blog Walk Slowly, Live Wildly...I love reading her blog, feeling so warm by her words, enjoying reading another like-minded bloggers thoughts.  Then she announced that her and her fam would be taking to the road in a veggie-oil powered RV.  I was more than intrigued.  I offered a somewhat flat piece of concrete in front of my home for them to park for a few days, little did I know they would actually take me up on my offer.  Their tour the Live Lightly Tour is traveling the country spreading the word about veggie-oil powered vehicles and sustainable living...

Last week they came our way, stayed for a few days and our lives were changed forever.  Matt and Sara are amazing creation-loving Christians.  From the second they arrived Nick and I felt like we had known them forever.  (We continue to wonder if they have that affect on everyone they meet or if we were *special*, I would like to think we are *special*, but I think maybe not.)  We had an amazing weekend of laughter, scooters, redwoods, photography, raw food eating, veggie buying, worshiping, jammin' (as in Matt and Nick playing music), girl-time, where we squeezed as much into as little time as possible, Thai food, coffee and Borders all before bedtime (thank you Daddy's).  We had such a wonderful time with the Janssen's and we would welcome them back anytime, absolutely anytime!

Welcome to the world Elijah Joseph!

On Wednesday night @ 10:33pm Elijah Joseph was born and I there. My best friend Kristy was so amazingly strong during the whole labor and birth. I am so blessed to have been able to be there from start to finish, only sneaking away a few times to nurse Dillon. Thank you Kristy and Greg for allowing me to be a part of Elijah's birth :)

Where have I been?

We have been strong these days, here are a few things we have done in the past few weeks:

-Dillon and I went to Santa Rosa for my best friend Kristy's baby shower, Nick stayed home with the other three

-Soaked up the nearly 70degree weather in Humboldt County

-Planted seeds indoors

-Spent many hours "spring cleaning" the yard, still in process

-Rearranged the living room

-Spent time dreaming of adding onto this tiny house

-Found out that two family-ish members are pregnant, both have had losses, so lots of prayers going their way

-Dillon started walking, YIPEE!

-Aidan can read pretty much anything that is 6 letters or less, it is kind of crazy

-Téadora is compleltly day time potty trained

-Aidan is completely diaper free, he was day time potty trained at 2 1/2 but has worn a diaper to bed for until now

-We are still COMPACTING and going strong

Alright, I promise I am going to be better about blogging :)