Outside my window…it is gloomy and cold.  So, so cold!

I am remembering…a bountiful Thanksgiving feast at Mom and Dad’s.  Sometimes Dad brines the turkey, sometimes he roasts it, and sometimes he deep fries it (my favorite!).  This was a year to deep fry the turkey (yay!) so all the boys got a lesson in deep frying.

The table was set beautifully and the feast was spread before a very grateful crowd…

I am thankful for…moments like this.  Family, fall weather, festivities.

I am watching…Hallmark movies at night after the kids go to bed.  Dax and I really enjoyed The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (which was from 2008) and there were a few we liked that were new this year like A Gift to Remember and Switched for Christmas (although I still haven’t managed to see the ending of that one!).  Oh and I liked Christmas Next Door.  I really need to do something better with my time in the evening (my pile of books to be read is growing exponentially!) but I really enjoyed the mindlessness and delight of all those Christmas movies!

I am wondering…why my kids are sometimes the best of friends and then two minutes later they are the worst of enemies.  These sibling relationships seem very complicated.

I am hoping…that 2018 is a good year for my With Every Intention website.  Dad says hope is not a strategy so I have lots of good blog posts rolling around in my head thinking that will probably spark inspiration over there faster than hope will!

I am pondering… the idea to listen and reflect .  You’ll have to scroll down a bit to see her reflection, but it’s totally worth the read.  I, too, am super quick to talk and assume…I’m actually terrible at listening and reflecting, but I’m open to trying to change.  Let’s see how that goes.   (And while you’re over there, I strongly recommend you read Karen’s reflection about a New Kind of Resolution.  Completely worth the time.)  

I am praying…for peace, love and prosperity for 2018.

I am laughing…about Katie.  We are having to draw some privacy lines around here so the other day she bursts into the bathroom and kindly announces, “You need privacy.”  Gee, thanks for the announcement although she did actually give me some so I guess it worked out.

I am admiring…the women of the 1800s.  Seriously, what is not to admire?  The kids and I are reading a biography about Kit Carson and in the first chapter they had to quickly pack up the entire cabin as the Indians were on the warpath.  I can barely pack a suitcase for us to go to Austin and that still takes me days.  Then they had to rush to the fort for protection.  And live there for months only to return to their land and find their homes burned down by the Indians.  Eek!  And here I am hoarding craft materials just in case I get bored on a rainy day.

I am planting…nothing and apparently killing everything this season.  Although on a good note, we did get lots of oranges and lemons from our citrus trees.

I am reflecting…on the idea of setting intentions instead of making resolutions.

In the schoolroom…we started back to school today, on January 1st (that’s right, we schooled on a holiday…it’s cold and we wanted to start the new year with a lovely day of reading and snuggling).  We’re still working our way through our book list from my consultation with A Delectable Education, but we have recaptured our Morning Time a bit, thanks to the encouragement in Cindy Rollins’ book Mere Motherhood.  I’m also anxious to re-read Volume 1 of CM’s works, Home Education, and follow along with the ladies over at A Charlotte Mason Plenary and their online session.  Accountability and support are always helpful when studying CM in all her original wise words.

Around the house…Christmas gifts are put away, school room is cleaned up, laundry is folded and sorted.  A glass of wine is in my future.

In the kitchen…lots of loving meals prepared by family and friends.  All the love in these meals makes my heart happy and my tummy full.

I am wearing…black pants and a long sleeve forest green shirt…comfy clothes.  Oh and socks.  Socks that have a reward ribbon on them that say “Got Out of Bed Champion”.  I couldn’t make that up if I tried.

We are preparing for…dinner at Yaya and Grandpa’s.  Octopus is on the menu.  Hmm, I think chicken legs are the back-up…thank goodness.

Someday I am going to miss…reading aloud to my kids…I dread the day they outgrow listening to a story being read aloud.  

I am reading…The Orchid House (for book club), With God in Russia, The Flying Carpet and Voyager (I just can’t stop reading this series).  

One of my favorite things…watching the boys grow in their Handicraft skills.

 

A peek into my day…

Please visit The Simple Woman’s Daybook for more daybook entries.