PJ Jonas

Category: Parent Intentionally

  • Times of Challenge

    Times of Challenge

    Jim decided this past weekend that he was going to get me out of bed at 5:45 every morning so we could go to the YMCA and work out.  Now, anybody who knows me knows I am NOT a morning person. Left to my own, I normally wake up without an alarm clock between 8 and…

  • Half Way to Perfection

    Half Way to Perfection

    I love the concept of halfway there. The idea is that a distance between two things can always be cut in half, bringing them very close together in a few steps. Unfortunately, going halfway can never ever actually get the two items completely together. For instance, even if a football team only has 20 yards…

  • Goats at the Nursing Home

    Goats at the Nursing Home

    At Goat Milk Stuff, we are so thankful for the many blessings we’ve been given.  We get to work hard as a family to assist people in keeping their skin healthy.   Because there is so much work for us to do within the family and the business, it would be easy for our focus…

  • 7 Principles for Non-Annoying Bragging

    7 Principles for Non-Annoying Bragging

    While we were vacationing with my Mom at Disney World, the cast members brought out some hula hoops.  My children all have their own weighted exercise hula hoops and they use them all the time.  So when Indigo saw the hoops, she went running over and started to use one.   We were soon joined…

  • Work Yourself Out of a Job

    Work Yourself Out of a Job

    I recently was introduced to the blogging fathersphere. There I found a lot of really cool Dads who spend a lot of time reflecting on fatherhood and making some excellent points about the whole experience. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I was asked for advice, being the newcomer and all. Turns out, having…

  • Expectations vs Reality

    Expectations vs Reality

    When we first got goats 7 years ago, we were completely new to farm animals.  I read a lot of books and did a lot of online research, and thought I was prepared and knew exactly what to expect.  Hah! I soon discovered that despite all my “preparation” I didn’t have a clue what I…

  • Managing Stress

    Managing Stress

    Let’s face it, most moms today are overwhelmed and stressed out.  I say moms because I am one, but this applies to everyone – men, women, and unfortunately even children. Most people know how bad extreme stress is for our health. Yet we still live with it because making big changes (to remove the stress)…

  • Limiting Technology and Encouraging Creativity

    Limiting Technology and Encouraging Creativity

    Being a homeschooling mom, I work hard to make sure that my children reach their full potential.  To me, that means giving them many opportunities to work hard, a wide selection of good books to read, and plenty of down time to be creative. Most of you are aware of the childrens’ roles in Goat…

  • Teamwork

    Teamwork

    I received a phone call last week from a woman who had just discovered we were building a new soap room in Scottsburg.  We had a nice conversation and then she made a comment that stuck with me.  She asked me how long we had been in business and when I told her four years…

  • Are Children Ever Too Young to Work?

    Are Children Ever Too Young to Work?

    I took the youngest five children (Fletcher, Greyden, Hewitt, Indigo, and Jade) food shopping with me the other day.   I pushed a cart, Greyden pushed a cart, Hewitt pushed the “car” cart holding the girls, and Fletcher walked on his crutches.  I sent Greyden and Fletcher off to fill their cart with cereal, oatmeal,…

  • Believe You Can

    Believe You Can

    As many of you know, Fletcher broke his leg this summer and has been wearing a cast.  He has less than two weeks left and I have been very pleased with how well he has done.  There has been very little complaining this entire time.  The fact that he has a waterproof cast and can…

  • Creativity and Wasted Time

    Creativity and Wasted Time

    Jim recently shared with me a quote from Albert Einstein who once said, “Creativity is the residue of wasted time.” What a brilliant way to put it!  I have always felt that lots and lots of free time is essential.  I believe it so much that we’ve made it foundational  to how we homeschool  and…

  • Magic Pencil?

    Magic Pencil?

    Several weeks ago, I finished the book, “Write it Down, Make it Happen“*.  The author, Henriette Klauser, believes there is something “magical” (my word) that happens when you commit something to writing.  This “magic” can be attributed to the inner workings of the brain. At the base of the brain stem, about the size of…

  • Taking Responsibility

    Taking Responsibility

    When I started Goat Milk Stuff, somebody recommended that I read the book, The Success Principles – How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be* by Jack Canfield.  I bought it, but never made the time to read it.  Since today is my anniversary and I decided to be “lazy”,…

  • Do You Limit Yourself?

    Do You Limit Yourself?

    As a very busy Mom, I know that I can’t do everything I want to do.  So I choose to limit myself.  I find that it is more important for me to do less and have time to relax and spend time with my family, than it is for me to take advantage of every…