Midsummer Daybook

Outside my window: beautiful beautiful summer days.  

Little Pet Shop on my front porch.  About four houses and 30 "pets": my sister gifted me the collection her big girls outgrew.  The neighborhood girls have played for hours upon hours with this set of plastic animals and their homes.  Very sweet little girls.  

We have a mini baby pool off of the front lawn.  Today the girls floated the "LPS" .  They grabbed firewood logs to make boats for the "babies".   More hours of fun.  So cute. 

Clover all over our front lawn.  Must mow.  Probably should have fertilized...  maybe just unleash the bunnies and let them graze?!

Back-blogging:  I owe you a little story.  This is where I last left you: covered in blood, with a bandaid on the head.  Ouch.

 Well, after a glorious Baptism we all went into the church hall for a reception provided by my amazing mother.

The grandchildren (there are 19 now) ate, held their new cousin "Sam", and did what they do best: play!  The ten-and-under crowd began to play a game of tag.  We told them to stop running.  They slowed down.:) They went up on the stage that is at one end of the hall.  We told them to get down.  Most of the kids listened.  Legolas...delayed obedience.  He was behind the stage curtain.  He walked straight towards the edge of the stage with the curtain in front of him, draped over his face.  I was chatting with my sister-in-law, back to stage, totally unawares that there were even kids on the stage (do I get a pass for being 6 days out from having a baby? No? #momfail.)   Aragorn was actually watching Legolas, and thought that when he paused at the edge of the stage that he was getting ready to JUMP (which he could very easily do)...but he didn't.  Legolas didn't see the edge of the stage and he simply took one. more. step, and fell flat on his face.

I was opening a baptism gift from my mom (a miniature miraculous medal pin for Sam) when I heard the cries.  I looked up and saw Legolas running to me with blood flying everywhere.  Thankfully, my youngest brother grabbed Legolas and held him until my husband could come.  I was honestly afraid to look!  

In the end, it wasn't so bad.  One huge bandage later, we were ready to head home, get the kids to bed, and get Legolas to Urgent Care.  A week later? Stitches out!  One black eye from the drainage.  Cute Star Wars bandaids make it all better!  (sorry for the blurry picture, couldn't get my phone to focus).  Glad that injury is behind us!

Remembering:  Speaking of injuries, it occurred to me that we are a year out from our summer of surgery with Galadriel!    Last 4th of July was our final hurrah before our week of surgery and recovery.  This picture still makes my heart ache:

Last 4th of July:

 This 4th of July:  better.

And the old ice crusher?  This summer the kids pulled it out again for FUN (not recovery) purposes:

they get unfrozen freezer pops from the neighbors and pour in the syrup to make slushes.  Much happier this time around!

Repurposing:  The video collection we were given by a compassionate mom who had gone through tonsil/adenoid/ear tube surgery with her daughter?  Pulled some of those out again when I gave birth to Sam this summer.  Now we are on a "screen ban."  We developed some very screen dependent habits around here, and we need to detox.  

sharing Mom wisdom:  I have long been grateful for the wisdom shared by elizabeth.  I was thankful for her recent post here:

She was talking about what's in the news lately, about how it's pretty unsettling, and while I don't engage in on-line forums at all myself, Elizabeth was saying they aren't good for her.  In my case, it's enough to read a headline and bring the latest events to my daily Rosary, praying for peace.   Elizabeth wrote:

I knew it was time to click away. It’s just not feeding me anything healthy for me.  I just have to agree.

In the same article, she wrote about the life and goals that exist in her "overactive imagination" vs. her real life and real accomplishments.  I so resonated with the sense of failure that comes from feeling like I'm not accomplishing some goal I have for myself.  I feel defeated at the end of a day simply because I didn't do something I wished I had done (quilt a blanket, learn to crochet, write the newest great American novel) when all the while I had done so many worth-while and necessary activities for the sake of my family and vocation as wife and mother.

Elizabeth said:

As soon as my goal shifted, I felt myself relax into chores around here. It’s the same routine and I have the same responsibilities. And they still take all day every day, but now, I don’t feel like I’m fighting them, hoping to get to something else. I’m just doing them and doing them with all my heart.

It's so true.  And I'm glad to be reminded.

Finally, this one resonated for very obvious reasons, and it's so nice when someone speaks something beautiful without knowing how close to home it might hit someone unknown and far away:

 I love baptisms. In the last month, I’ve been the grandmother at a baptism and the godmother at another baptism. Every time, that liturgy speaks into the core of my soul.  It is so, so full of joy and hope. And the grace of a summer morning spent holding a sleeping baby while she becomes a new creation in Christ (all while inhaling chrism)? Is there anything sweeter on earth? I think not.