Identity Part 5: Hobbies

     One might think, "when does a mom of 4 (or of any number of young children) have time for hobbies?" My choice of time is at night when kids are in bed, when Dad is home entertaining them, or sometimes they can join in!

Scrapbooking: I love pictures! To me a picture is truly worth a thousand words. I as well as many other moms will make their first born a baby book. In my baby books I captured some family genealogy, history of their name origin, fun facts about siblings and of course pictures from birth to about one year old. I think most of you would agree it was fairly easy to make a scrapbook for the first child, but much more daunting to make one for baby #2, #3, or even in my case baby #4. I strongly encourage you to keep at it, even if your youngest is a teenager and you can only manage one page a month. What an amazing gift to pass on to your child when they begin their own family. Eventually I want to make a keep-sake scrapbook for each one, of all those beautiful art work and hand made cards throughout the years. But as for now my youngest recently turned one and I am about half way done with his baby book.

The cover page of each of my 4 boy's baby book!

Reading: For me, this hobby is a passion with a bumpy start. When I was in kindergarten through first grade (the time when most kids learn and start to read) I had only memorized enough words to get by. I vividly remember the teacher quickly going through the alphabet and their sounds, all the other kids seemed to flawlessly chime in with her as I blankly stared. I was overwhelmed trying to remember all the sounds, rules, and exceptions. Sounding out words were hopeless. I would often mix up 'b' with 'd' and 'P' with '9'. Combining words when I was writing like, 'forth e' instead of 'for the' or 'the nd' instead of 'the end'. In the middle of first grade, I was diagnosed with dyslexia. Luckily I did not have to fail a grade, but had to take extra classes that would help with dyslexia and work over summer to catch up. Finally by third grade my reading level was the same as my peers. As many of you know you don't just stop having dyslexia, you learn different ways or tricks to help you. One of the greatest tricks, for me, was to read more! The more I read, the more I saw how words were suppose to be written. My vocabulary increased as well as my passion for books. I agree it is not easy to make time to read with little ones, but it is always worth it. I catch a few minutes of reading outside while watching the kids play. I definitely get in some reading with homeschooling, reading endless children books to them and all the teachers manuals. My favorite time is when kids are in bed until my eyes can no longer stay open.

My personal collection of books I've read so far this year.

Sewing: My newest interest. I have since a young child known (as I think every boy and girl should learn) how to sew up holes in my socks or shirt. About two years ago I got my first sewing machine. I've only made a handful of things; t-shirt skirt, boppy cover, fitted crib sheet, baby blanket, and a kitchen certain. As well as re-sew blanket hems or other small hem jobs. Each one was very rewarding, but without having a personal teacher it has not been as easy as I imagined. I am still determined to make each child a quilt from old baby clothes and other precious projects to treasure forever!

Baby's crib sheet and blanket. I tried it on toddler bed, at time I didn't have the crib set up.

     Hobbies can change over time, or fade out. But it definitely speaks to who you are and what you enjoy. In the past I've enjoyed sketching and writing poems. But as time is fleeting my hobbies have changed. In the future I wish to add painting and gardening to my hobby list. Of course, one of my hobbies now is blogging. I enjoy writing out my thoughts as I hope they reach others in need of encouragement, a laugh, or inspiration.

     Philippians 4:13 (NIV) "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Don't know about you, but I needed to recite this verse and keep it close to me today!

Name: Jamie
Occupation: Mom
Marital Status: Married
Gender: Female
Residence: Small Town
Hobbies: Scapbooking, Reading, Sewing, and Blogging.

Next post will be the last of this series of Identity, I hope you have enjoyed it!

Identity Part 4: Residence

     I know you are thinking, "what does residence have to do with identity?" I believe you will find yourself falling into one of these four categories: small town girl, small town girl living in a big city, city girl or a city girl living in a small town. You follow?!?
     When I got married, and until recently, I was a small town girl living in a big city. For years I often pleaded with my husband to consider moving outside of the city. Maybe not exactly the same small town he grew up in (which is also where we meet), but somewhere between city and small town. He insisted all the jobs would be in a big city, so it only made sense we lived close by.
     Almost 8 years of marriage and 4 kids later, we were making plans for the purchase of our first home. Obviously living in a 2 bedroom and 2 bath apartment just was not going to cut it much longer. Next logical step was to rent or to buy a home. And reasonably one of the first questions we started asking ourselves was what location.  Before I even said a word he said, "I'm ready to get back to my southern comfort zone." Needless-to-say he still works in the big city, but with a 45 minute commute he is back to small town living! 
     Now mind you, we don't have any cattle or farm, but we have plenty of space for kids to run around. We love the bright stars at night. Being able to have our own fire going, and hearing the howling of the coyotes in the distance is just one of the luxuries. Boys have their own digging hole in backyard. Lightening bugs in spring. We often spend nice days outside as much as possible doing things around the house, or like recently clearing out our creek. When I wake up and look out my kitchen window I see cardinals and blue jays playing in the yard. For us it is like a little piece of heaven. Eventually I would love to have a few chickens and a small garden (don't worry I'll be sure to capture those adventures in a post!).
     As expected in a small town it has its down sides, like how fast news travels. We are still new and it takes awhile to get to know people. For parts around here there are about three important things; family, church and sports. Home is where the heart is.

Joshua 24:15b (NIV) "But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

Name: Jamie
Occupation: Mom
Marital Status: Married
Gender: Female
Residence: Small Town

                                                                        Our first fire!

                                                          Sam playing in the little creek.

                                            Josh got to be the first on our new tire swing!
                                        

Southwest Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breast
Lemon Pepper seasoning
1 package of Italian dressing mix
2 tsp of lemon juice
2 tbsp of water
2 tbsp of white vinegar
1 (15 oz) can of black beans
1 (15 oz) can of corn
1 cucumber
1 tomato
2 kiwi
1 bag of premade salad (I like the ones with multiple types of lettuce, carrots, and cabbage)

Toppings:

Shredded cheese (about 1 cup)
Croutons
Salad Dressing (My husband and I like Catalina and our kids like Ranch)

Directions:

First I cut the chicken into 1 in cubes. Cook them
in pan over stove top and add lemon pepper.
About a teaspoon. Cook until white.
 

Once it is cooked, you can set it aside in a medium bowl.



Next I cut up the kiwi, tomato, and cucumber.
I like them bite size. But however you prefer is
fine. Then add them to the bowl with the
cooked chicken.

Then I pour out the can of black beans and corn
into a strainer, rinse them off. And them to the
bowl with cooked chicken.


Now add the 2 tbsp of water, 2 tbsp of white vinegar, 2 tsp of lemon juice and the package of Italian dressing mix into the medium bowl. Stir well.


Put the bag of premade salad into a large bowl.
Add all the medium bowl on top and mix.  

Salad is ready, now add your favorite toppings. We added some cheese, croutons, and Catalina dressing.


This is my hubs favorite salad! Enjoy, and add some of your favorites to make it your own!