#mommied Monday: Playroom Cleaning

March 9, 2015 by Jules 2 Comments

In honor of Mother's Day coming up, I'm going to be sharing stories {possibly weekly} that makes ya wanna say, "BOOM! You just got Mommied!" because it is a super power Often we feel like we just got owned by our children in the small battles so we need some encouragement when we don't loose!

My kids had a neighbor friend over to play after dinner and when she left we told them it was time to clean up. The complaints started and we reminded them that we serve our friends by cleaning up after them and we show gratitude by taking care of our things {ie Clean Ya Junk Up}.

Matt was heading out for a run so we set a timer for the time he would be gone and explained that whatever they didn't have cleaned up by the time he was home for baths they would be grounded from.

More than 1/2 way through their timer Mags runs out to check the clock only to run back into the playroom yelling, "Guys! We have time. We might not get grounded from anything. If you help Jamin do his job and I grab the extra stuff we won't get grounded from ANYthing!" Izzie responded excitedly, "Uh, you help Jamin and I'll grab all the extra stuff."

BOOM! #mommied

I would LUUUUUUVE if you would share your #mommied stories with us on the as Jules is going facebook page or find me on Instagram to share awesome documentation of your #mommied moment! Don't forget to use the hashtag so we can all find it. Maybe by the time Mother's Day gets here we will all feel the true power God has given us as mommies to train up His lil blessings.

Filed Under: #mommied, as Jules is living, Parenting, The ones about the Rothacher Home

#mommied Monday: Walk the Plank

March 2, 2015 by Jules Leave a Comment

We had been stuck inside for days due to multiple "winter storms" in our area. I mean, the kids had bundled, gone outside to get wet and fridged only to return for homemade hot cooco. So when we had finished out school work they were going crazy indoors. I needed to make lunch sooooo, I taught them how to "walk the plank". Starting from our deck, using scrap wood from our many projects, they were to lay them on the ground, return for another board, walk the plant, add it to the end of the line, and then repeat. No One was to Touch the "frozen water" on the way to the "pirate ship" because alligators would eat them. All three kids were to work together to make it from one place to the next. After they made it to the "pirate ship" aka playground, they had to work their way to their "house" aka shop building where they would stack the boards in a pile there they are stored. Winning! They did this for at least 30 minutes and thought it was hilariously fun. #mommied

Filed Under: #mommied, Parenting, The Ones about Post Series, The ones about the Rothacher Home

Why Would I Talk about My Depression?

February 18, 2015 by Jules 2 Comments

Because God uses story to binds us, His most priced creation.

I remember fretting over whether or not to publish my story, the beginning of my journey living with depression. I worried I was slipping further and further away and all I need to do was get closer to Jesus. The Christian world doesn't talk about "mental health." Even the few people in my past that I knew dealt with or had dealt with anything of the sort acted as though satan had taken a hold in their lives and then Jesus delivered them from it, leaving me feeling, once again, like a faithless Christ-follower. An imposter. The others dealing with this just didn't talk about it. Some didn't deal with it. If there was family history, you just brushed it behind that giant neon green elephant in the room and acted like it wasn't apart of who they were, where they'd been, or even what they were living in at the moment.

Depression is:
a mental condition characterized by feelings of severe despondency and dejection, typically also with feelings of inadequacy and guilt, often accompanied by lack of energy and disturbance of appetite and sleep. Synonyms: unhappy, sadness, melancholy, misery, sorrow, woe, gloom, low spirits, heavy heart, despair, hopelessness, etc

The Main Causes of Depression:

There are lots of things that can increase the chance of depression, these are just some of those:

Abuse
Certain medications
Conflict
Death or a loss
Genetics
Major events
Other personal problems
Serious illnesses
Substance abuse

Pretty much, it's all Serotonin's fault. It's one of many brain chemicals, the one associated with "happy feelings". Depression, no matter the cause, is a chemical imbalance in the brain.

God has given me writing as a tool to work through the stuff floating around in my head. I often read something, hear about hot topics and am not quite sure what my option is on it. Maybe that's a middle-child thing. Anyways. Not only does writing help me walk myself through how I think about things it helps me identify how I feel. It gets all that emotion out of me. Sometimes its super silly and others it's totally nasty. Some I publish and some are still "drafts".

Depression is one of those "draft" topics God has ask me to open up with others rather than just He and I {and my computer}. I wasn't sure why at first but after the anxiety of pressing the publish key, I felt relief. Like this was one less thing satan was holding over me. One less 'secret' he could use against me. One less thing I feared if it came out. It was out. It didn't matter how anyone responded to it. I was free. That's all I needed, to shake those chains off.

Talking about my depression hasn't *fixed* it. I so wish it had. Sadly {budump bump}, I still take a medication to help levelize the chemicals in my brain. It helps me feel less...crazy. Psycho mom. Yeah, I said "less". Again, I wish this was a healing story as some may have come looking for but this is something I'm still walking through. The term bipolar comes to mind at least once a month as I experience good days and then very quickly bad days. {Thanks Aunt Flow. Rrrrr}

I guess, I'm writing this as a follow up of sorts. God has confirmed over and over again that my tiny little blog and a simple post series about my experience are a blip in the conversation that so desperately needs to be blown wide open in the Christian community.

From long-distance, life-long, and in-my-own-back-yard friends, there is someone I know who is secretly going through this alone. Satan is winning if we hide, ashamed, in the dark. He wins if we can't confess our habitual brokenness. He wins if we hide it, protect ourselves against the murmurs that 'might' happen. We are unable to fully grasp the gospel in our personal, well-worn lives. We are denying that we need Christ's blood to ooze into this crevices in our world, as if He didn't already know about it.

From former students, my own peers, or strangers, confessions of living my story have tumbled in! Do you know what that did? Shamed us? Killed us with that gut wrenching pain? NO! It bonded us. I'm not even just talking about believers being bonded over suffering from the same downfalls. I'm talking Across. The. Board. God wants to unite. Glue together. Tether. Fasten. Attach. Knot. Eternally Secure His most prized creatures to one another and Himself.

#realness is my anthem!
This verse my song.
Boast happily in weakness!

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Filed Under: as Jules is living, Depression, Testimony, The ones about the Rothacher Home

#mommied Monday: Dinner

February 16, 2015 by Jules Leave a Comment

I need my 6-year-old daughter to finish her dinner and she can be slightly picky at times. I sized up what she had left of the tiny portions I had given her then challenged my competitive child. "I bet it will take you 10 bits to finish all that. You might be here all night." She could stand the thought of sitting there longer than everyone else and knew with appropriate size bites there was no way it would take 10 bites. She ate up what was left in like 4 bites and “beat” me. #mommied

Filed Under: #mommied, Parenting, The ones about the Rothacher Home

Celebrating Valentine’s Day with Lots of Littles 2015

February 11, 2015 by Jules 2 Comments

I know Valentine’s Day is totally a commercialized holiday BUT since its everywhere, it can be super cute and fun to decorate for, AND because Jesus is all about L.O.V.E. we ‘celebrate’ it.

In years past {shortly after the evil Pinterest reared its evil head} I was so methodical, preplanned, over-the-top, and giddy about this holiday. We had tons of decorations, lil parties, a love note 'station', etc. Now…I think I have too much on my plate or I’ve gotten incredibly lazy. Or maybe both.

This year, the only things I’ve managed to actually do on my wishful list of v-day fun is get the tiny mailboxes out {minus the entire Love Note Station}, let the kids put up some window clings, printed some of the homeschool <3 activities, and send invitations for a Kids’ Valentine’s Day Party {aka Parents Night Out} for Valentine’s Day evening {similar to last years}.

Here are more themed resources:

Math, Graphing, Addition/Subtraction, Patterns

Sorting, other PreK FREE Printables, for Toddlers

Games: Shooters

Beginning Sounds, Sight Words, Dialogue, Word Matching

Science: 13:13 Experiment, Conversation Heart Experiment, "Exploding Heart" Experiment, Every Candy Experiment Known to Man

Art/Craftiness: LOVE hands, Homemade Valentine's for Friends and or for Neighbors

And of course, I’ve pinned about a thousand more Valentine's Day ideas on Pinterest if you want some inspiration to go big! AND if you haven't come up with a win win win Valentine's Day gift for your man {or the entire family}, I highly recommend {aff link} Union28! Yeah know, 'cause my hubs rocks!