"When we had our children, our ideas changed somewhat. Thenceforward we lived only for them; they made all our happiness and we would never have found it save in them. In fact, nothing any longer cost us anything; the world was no longer a burden to us. As for me, my children were my great compensation, so that I wished to have many in order to bring them up for Heaven" -- Saint Zelie Martin, mother of St. Therese of Lisieux, canonized October 18, 2015 along with her husband St. Louis Martin.

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Mid-September Daybook

Outside my window:  it has been a rainy couple-a days.  Good for the grass we are trying to grow in our backyard, good for deep-cleaning my home days.

And...that's how far  I got before my baby started needing me.

Can I share a bucket list for the Fall now instead?!

1) apple and pumpkin picking

2) bake apple and pumpkin pie until we're sick of it and begging for gingerbread and peppermint ice cream!

3) lots of pumpkin spice latte's--and I don't even care where they're from!  But I'd really love to finally master my own homemade psl's made with real pumpkin.  I never quite like my own...yet.

4) plant mums in my garden (after weeding it for the first time since...June! #newbabyissues)

5) nature walks with kids, nature journaling

6) Sunday family hike

7) make an awesome football party spread for my family as we hang out (sliders. I want to make awesome sliders...bbq beef with pepper jack cheese).

8) buy some really cute, comfortable zip-up, lower heeled, suede (can be faux) booties...and some jeans.  Non-maternity jeans would be so jackpot!


Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Hi!

Blogging isn't really happening these days.  But maybe these'll tide you over!


That's Eowyn's hand on Sam's head: she will NOT leave her paws OFF!! Obsessed little 2-year-old sister!! She loves him.  She just always has to TOUCH him!  I don't really mind, but she did give him her cold.:)


11 1/2 weeks
16 pounds

Must love.

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Ordinary Beauty

Gosh I love "Auntie Leila"!  She had a sweet post today on the importance of ordinary beauty.


 Ordinary, as in, the beauty that is found in our homes.


Ordinary as in imperfect, but still beauty.  Still reminding us of the Perfect.

We mothers and homemakers work hard to put order and beauty into our homes.  We want to create beautiful atmospheres for our family to live and flourish in.

But we aren't a "House Beautiful" magazine.  Ours is not a showcase.  Ours is the daily imperfect.  A path of humility.   The trick, though, I think, the trick to finding peace in this imperfect--rather than the constant frustration and deflation that comes from everything you work to put in to ordering being undone by the masses (our children, of course)--is to savor those glimpses of ordinary beauty.




 Ann Voskamp in her book "1000 Gifts" speaks of being a "beauty hunter".  We have to train our minds to see it amidst the imperfections, and then, to savor it: really store it up in our hearts!

mermaid making

Like Mary did.  Always treasuring things in her heart, pondering.  Because the mystery of the Infinite, the Perfect, shows through in these thousands of imperfect moments, spots, of beauty in our daily, ordinary, lives.

And as today is the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, following the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, I feel it is appropriate to add, "even as we carry our daily crosses."  Even IN the Cross, there is beauty.

If I had two hands and more time I'd try to wax more poetic or eloquent, and right now I'm barely coherent, but I'm gonna publish anyway.  This is all I've got right now.  Imperfect, but worth pondering, so I share. :)


Monday, September 12, 2016

Overheard

From this morning's catechism lesson with Rosie:

"Our Father, Who art in Heaven"

Me: What does that mean?  It means that God is in Heaven.  Heaven is where God is.

Rosie: Yeah but it's funny because it kind of sounds like he isn't there.  Like "aren't".

Me: Oh! Um, yes, well, it's not "aren't", it's just "art".  "Art" is an old fashioned, fancy way of saying "are."

Rosie:  But "ain't" isn't fancy is it?

Me: no.  no, "ain't" isn't fancy, it's improper.

moving on...

Me: What did I tell you "hallowed" meant?

Rosie: umm???

Me: Holy.  It means holy.

Rosie:  That's funny too, because it also sounds like an empty tree trunk, you know, hollow.

Me: Oh, yes.  It sounds like that, but it's actually hallowed.  Holy.

          I am going to go get a pumpkin spice latte at McDonalds ASAP!!

Sunday, September 11, 2016

September Musings


100 degree heat index for our back-to-school/Birthday of Mary party.  It was still one of the most grace-filled afternoons of my life.  Friends to confide in and seek prayers from.  That is a gift that all mothers, all people I am sure, need.  I am so grateful for the communion of saints.  So grateful that I'm not trying to go this alone.

Where did my newborn go?  Fleeting fleeting newborn days.


Sam is all pink and chubby.  Healthy and happy.  He sleeps a lot and is getting very big!  Still, he is an infant.  And I'm treasuring him.


Here's an old snapshot of Arwen's friend's garage sale at the end of the summer.  They worked for days to prep for it, and then the first day was a total rain0out!  You can see the sign was ruined by the rain.
Arden's friend decided to run the sale through two weekends and ended up making over $500 dollars when it was over!  We scored some nice play dough sets that the kids played with outside for days...until it rained again and most of the leftovers were washed away.   I am never able to keep play dough for long, which is why buying it at a yard sale was a boon. :)


Must kiss!


Sweet Eowyn with her Grampa.  She loves him!  He calls her "Mary", which is not her name.  She wore a scarf over her head a summer ago and told him she was Mary, so that's what he calls her.:)


Time flies!!  I just had to try to post a little to see if I can get my groove back...at all!