Real- life yoga for moms

Hi, I'm Greta, and I LOVE yoga. Of the many different exercise classes I've participated in over the years, yoga is the keeper. With the benefits including flexibility, strength, balance, and, most importantly, inner peace, you can't go wrong. And the great thing is, no special equipment is needed! I can do it all using my own body. A yoga mat is nice to have, and I've been using the same two mats for the past 10 years.

I've led a yoga class at my church for several years now. I've gained so much more than I thought possible. One of the bonuses has been having great friends to do yoga with. Here's my friend, Tani, making her way into half- moon pose.

What do you do when you have little kids and no one to babysit while you exercise? Bring them with you! Having my kids with me during yoga has been a unique experience. It's unlike any yoga class I've ever been to. I've learned much patience, and how to tune out the outer chaos and tune into the inner peace. Here are my friend Sidney and I are focusing on our squats, while my son, Noah, provides some entertainment. :)

Complete Surrender! Amidst the goldfish crackers, toys, and scattered belongings, there is still calm. Final relaxation, or corpse pose, can get a bit tricky at times, but I've found that it is the ultimate time to relax and enjoy regardless of the noise around me. The best is when I have a kid or two come and snuggle with me during final relaxion. That's vastly more rewarding than any health club yoga experience.

If you're a mom to your own kids or others, join us! Or, bring your spouse for Saturday morning Couples Anti- Nursing home yoga. :)  Namaste.


(Photos taken by Emmy Ward, age 7, with Sidney's camera.)

"And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." -Mark 4:39

Moon flowers

One of the most exciting events of the summer happened when my friend Sally gave us a handful of moon flowers from her front yard. (Called "moon" flowers because they bloom by the light of the moon.) It was 9:00 at night and she told us to watch them and that they would open soon. So, we got home, put them in a vase, and waited.

Here they are, all curled up and beginning to open. The anticipation is killing us!

 The flowers took about 30 min to each individually open. Moon flowers are some of the most amazingly fragrant flowers I have ever encountered.

Still open and beautiful the next day! Fragrance was gone, though.

Aaah, the little things in life. I've got to get some starts for our yard!

"All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all. Each little flower that opens, each little bird that sings, He made their glowing colors, He made their tiny wings." -Children's Songbook pg 231

"Boy, you've sure got your hands full!"

While grocery shopping over the weekend, I had two different old women offer, at different times, to help me with my children. One was so old she was shaking! And I thought my kids were behaving quite well. I did think it was very kind of them to ask. Then, yesterday, at Deseret Book, as I was walking out with the kids, a lady remarked, "Boy, you sure have your hands full!" Not an unfamiliar comment. I guess I do have my hands full, but I'm pretty used to it by now. I love being a mom, and I love my kids!

"The work of a mother is hard, too often unheralded work. Please know that it is worth it- then, now, and forever." -Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

It's Fall... I mean Winter!

Yay! Fall is finally here!

Playing in the leaves in bare feet is AWESOME!

Woo-hoo! Jump and twirl and enjoy!

A WEEK LATER...

"Look, Mom, SNOW!"

Our cat has turned into Camo-kitty!

Bundled up and out the door even before breakfast!

Just chillin', eatin' some snow. Yum!

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven"

Ecclesiastes 3:1

We love Halloween!

Emmy and her best friend, Sam, getting ready to trick-or-treat. Cute!

Adam got a full face paint at a salon for his trick-or-treat!

So did the girls! (So did Noah, for that matter, but he's a little camera shy.)

Finding their favorite baby-sitter at the ward trunk-or-treat!

David was slightly jealous of the Dog- the- bounty- hunter and his wife costumes.

I thought his costume was pretty snazzy, though.

And he picked up a pretty cool chick at the trunk-or treat!

For the love of marigolds

This year, I fell in love with marigolds. I have planted them in years past, but they have never done very well. This year I kept dead-heading any flowers that didn't look so happy and well, the results have been amazing!

Not only are they gorgeous, but I have fallen in love with their fragrance. The colorful flowers are thought to lift the spirits and encourage cheerfulness.

The dried flowers also have amazing medicinal properties. They can be used as anti-inflammatory, to relieve muscle spasms, as an astringent, to prevent hemorrhaging, to heal wounds, as an antiseptic, to detoxify and as a mild estrogenic. I have been saving my dead-headed marigolds to make a cream for cuts and scrapes.

Bugs are not attracted to marigolds, in fact, they act as a repellent. I was hoping the marigolds would act as a deterrent for hungry grasshoppers gnawing on my ornamental grasses, but not so in this pot. Of course, they didn't bother the marigolds themselves. Next year I'm going to try planting marigolds all around the borders of my garden area to keep out pests.

I planted them this year because I got a flat on sale at a great price. What I discovered was a treasure- added joy to a meaningful life.

"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever."

Isaiah 40:8

Back to Homeschool!

"I've got some big shoes to fill!"

A math lesson at the library

A present from Emmy at the park

Making carrot juice for the first time!

"Did you start kindergarten this year?" Emmy shakes her head no. "First grade?" Emmy shakes her head no again. Confused looks abound. "What do we do, Emmy?" I ask. "Homeschool!" she says. All sorts of reactions follow. "Don't you do first grade curriculum, though?" one friend asks me. "Oh, that's great! So you get to pick your own grade!" a bishop comments. "Oh....." says another friend and quickly changes the subject.

Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE asks my child about school. If dogs could talk, they would ask her, too! I guess it's the thing most people ask all children. At first she was really shy, but she's starting to get the hang of it. I told her that if people ask if she's in first grade, she can simply say "yes" if she wants to. Then if they have more questions, they can ask me.

Actually, Emily is in what A Thomas Jefferson Education calls "Core Phase". So are my other two, in fact. What is Core Phase?

"This consists of the lessons of good/bad, right/wrong, true false and is accomplished through work/play. The acquisition of 'scholarly' skills is not as important as these lessons during this phase. A child who plays at and practices learning throughout the Core phase will approach skills acquisition at the self-appropriate time and pace with relish and self-confidence as her aptitude increases and the meaning of the tasks gains context through her experiences. Home is the ideal venue for the Core Phase, and "homeschool" in the Core is a product of the structure and flow of family life." -A Thomas Jefferson Education pg 32

Put into my own words: In Core Phase we learn what is right and wrong, good and bad, true and false. We work together, we play together, we read together, we learn together. We don't have a set curriculum. We pick and choose from different "curricula" but they are second to the all-important, essential lessons of the core. Our family life and structure and our personal examples teach more than any textbook at this crucial beginning stage of life.

"In proper sequence, first comes the knowledge of God and his program, which is the way to eternal life, and then comes the knowledge of the secular things, which is also very important...

Mortality is the time to learn first of God and the gospel and to perform the ordinances. After our feet are set firmly on the path to eternal life we can amass more knowledge of the secular things..." -Elder L. Tom Perry

"Secular knowledge, important as it may be, can never save a soul nor open the celestial kingdom nor create a world nor make a man a god, but it can be most helpful to that man who, placing first things first, has found the way to eternal life and who can now bring into play all knowledge to be his tool and servant."- President Spencer W. Kimball

Here's to a fun and enjoyable year together!