{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, visit Soulemama to leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.
Outside my window…it is perfect. Sunny. Forecast for today is mid-70s. I wish these kind of days were more common.
I am remembering…another little Superman from years ago…hard to believe this superhero is already getting his driver’s license.
I am listening…to the creak of the boys’ swings and their conversation about Superman. Seems some fascinations with superheroes just never fade.
I am wondering…how other people get a good family picture. Here’s the best out of a whole bunch that were taken…
p.s. thanks, Joseph, for the cross-eyed look…it certainly makes the picture an authentic representation of what our lives are usually like ; )
I am going…to have to think about winter coats for a few of these little kiddos. It’s hard to think about heavy clothing when it’s still so warm outside, but I know how the wind doth blow…one day it’ll be beautiful and sunny, the next day it will be shivery cold. I better get on it.
I am pondering…the thrill of going up the slide rather than down it. Every kid does it. Without fail. And every kid loves it. Without fail. Why?
I am thankful…for a successful first camping trip (with the kids, that is). Somehow, I got really lucky and not only do I have an amazing sister and an amazing sister-in-law, but they both double as my best friends. Having both of them there, along with their awesome kids (who, of course, double as my awesome nephews!) and husbands, really made this first camping trip with the kids special.
We camped at Stephen F. Austin State Park, which was beautiful…lots of tall trees and hiking trails. It’s located on the Brazos River and it’s about 30 minutes from the outskirts of Houston, so it was a bit humid. We had the park to ourselves, which made for a relaxing adventure (no need to worry about the kids bothering anyone). The following day we headed into Bellville to visit Newman’s Castle.
In the schoolroom…Thanksgiving plans are in full swing. Last week our focus was on the Wampanoag Indians. This week we’re focusing on the Pilgrims. Next week, of course, will be a week of reflection on the First Thanksgiving. Lots of great books, a few crafty projects, a couple of specially chosen DVDs and some Thanksgiving tunes. We’ve got this holiday covered.
Around the house…trying to sort through toys before the Christmas onslaught. Would love to hear how you keep things simple and organized.
In the refrigerator…all the ingredients for kolaches are waiting to be thrown together…Andrew has been asking for them since our camping trip.
I am wearing…black yoga pants, a purple Merit t-shirt, and a dark gray knitted shawl. The shawl is a bit of an exaggeration but a crisp morning calls for a little fall accessory.
We are preparing for…A Year of Mercy. Not sure what that’s going to look like with the kids yet, but my reading list is ready to go. Here’s what I’m planning…
The Church of Mercy: a collection of Pope Francis’ thoughts regarding his vision for the Catholic Church, which is namely a call for mercy, service, and renewal.
Mercy: The Essence of the Gospel and the Key to Christian Life: a theology based book looking in depth at the essence of the gospel (yea, I totally just used its title to describe it).
Mercy in the City: the memoir of a young lady who decided to spend Lent living out the Corporal Works of Mercy
The Second Greatest Story Ever Told: Now is the Time of Mercy
With God in Russia and He Leadeth Me: The first book, With God in Russia, tells the story of Father Ciszek and his journey to Russia where he was imprisoned as a “Vatican spy” in labor camps for 15 years. His faith gave him the courage he needed for each moment and upon his release, he offered forgiveness and mercy to his captors. He Leadeth Me, the spiritual memoir of his journey, is meant to be read alongside With God in Russia.
Someday I am going to miss…seeing Katie in her pink tutu. Every.single.day.
I am reading…The Worry Cure by Robert Leahy. Daxson and I have been reading bits of it together, laughing at our scores on the assessments. I’m also reading Cocktails for Three for a little light reading. And I’m back to Genesis in the Bible. No specific book for our December book club. Instead we’re going to each talk about the book(s) that have changed our lives. I’d love to hear about your life-changers in the comments!
One of my favorite things…an excuse to pull out my camera.
A peek into my day…William is pretty impressed with himself. After reading The Flying Hockey Stick, he decided to invent a flying contraption of his own. He “invented” this handy propeller. I’m still waiting to see where he flies off to. (The Flying Hockey Stick has been re-published by Purple House Press. If you haven’t hopped over there to see all the old gems they are re-publishing, it is totally worth your time. Keep an eye on their bargain basement…tons of awesome deals!)
Please visit The Simple Woman’s Daybook for more daybook entries.
{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, visit Soulemama to leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.
If I could freeze this moment in time, here’s what you’d find…
Joseph: You now like to be called Joey. It’s hard for all of us to remember (after all, you’ve been our Joseph for 8 years now!), but we all try! Katie always remembers, though, and you adore her for that. Actually, you just adore her. All her littleness…the things she says and does. You are praying for another sibling. You are still holding steady with your favorite color…red. Therefore, Iron Man is your favorite superhero. You love Legos and superheroes and Star Wars. You drag your feet about everything, but then throw yourself wholeheartedly into it despite your reservations, like for example: the beach. You are practically in tears before we go, reminding us (at least 10,000 times) how much you hate the beach. Until the moment we arrive. Then you throw yourself (literally) head first into the water and call out, “I love this! I love the beach!” You love grammar and writing. Math is definitely your least favorite subject. You’re optimistic and joyful, outgoing and so very easily distracted.
William: You now like to go by Billy, although you’ll answer to any name we call out! You love to imagine how you’re going to spend your money and you’re always updating your wish list. Right now that wish list has all sorts of things on it ranging from a motorcycle to a canon, gamma rays and water balloons in between. Really…your list is huge and everyday, you manage to cram another item or two on the list. You love science, but you drag your feet when it comes to reading and writing (unless it’s writing a letter to Auntie Romy…you’ve found that she knows quite a bit about each of the superheroes). You have moved on past Superman (a phase you were stuck in for, literally, years) to the Hulk and sometimes Ironman. You crave adventure and love the books Daddy reads to you at night (usually stories about survival like My Side of the Mountain and The Cay). You are definitely a people pleaser, always wanting to make each person around you happy. You love to offer massages and are always quick to offer a kiss. You don’t like to go to sleep without me…in fact some nights you sneak out of your room once your brothers are asleep, so we can snuggle together on the couch.
Andrew: We still call you Roo…or Superman…or Batman…or Bruce…or WonderBoy…or whichever character you are for the day, but the default name is Roo. You’re still struggling to find your place with the other boys, some days things go well and you’re happy as can be; other days, you tell me you’ve had a rough day because you’ve been bullied (although just for the record, you do your fair share of bullying, too!). You are sweet and affectionate, always offering me a kiss and wrapping your little hands around my neck at night. When I told you recently just how cute you are, you seriously looked at me and explained that you’re handsome, not cute. When we visited the neighbor this past weekend and she asked your name, you told her Simba (from the Lion King). Then you proceeded to tell everyone there that when you go fishing, you catch fish with your mouth (because you’re a lion, of course). You take character role-playing to a whole new level, sweet one! You’re just learning to read and you can write some of your letters. You love to be left alone to your imagination.
Katelyn: Oh my! You are one determined little girl. Shakespeare described you perfectly…though she be but little, she be fierce. You love Minnie Mouse. You put on your Minnie Mouse dress and pink high heels in the morning and it takes some major trickery to get you to change those clothes to go play outside! If you wear your Minnie Mouse shirt, it takes a force of nature to get you out of it at bath time. When we ask you a question, your answer tends to be “You betcha!” You still ask for milk multiple times a day although you really only nurse at night now. You love a can of sardines for lunch (which you affectionately call sar-beans). You don’t nap because, heaven forbid, you miss a single moment of the day, so instead you fight the afternoon meltdown and make it until about 7:30. You talk in your sleep (usually to tell Roo not to steal your purse or to call out, “I can’t do it!”). You can count to 10 now. You love everything your brothers love…superheroes, legos, books, but you’re developing your own loves now…pink, princesses and, of course, Minnie Mouse.
{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, visit Soulemama to leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.
Sometimes my words go unsaid. The words bounce from side to side in my brain for a text that I forget to send or a thank you card that has every intention of getting written but gets lost in the chaos of life. I find myself nursing a sleepy baby at 2 am and my heart is totally warm and happy at the thought of a friend who remembered us when cleaning out her classroom. Or I’m on the drive home from a recent doctor’s appointment and I am consumed by the thought of how lucky I am to have such an amazing doctor, confidante and friend and I tell myself that as soon as I get home I’m going to write a sincere heartfelt thank you card to thank her for all she does. Then I get home and I get caught up in the whirlwind of life and that thank you card goes unwritten. My words are left floating through my brain with no anchor to hold them down.
But sometimes it’s the words I meant to say when the people were here that I didn’t take the time to say and now I don’t get to say that haunt me the most. It’s the stories I’ve never heard because I’m always in a hurry…always too busy to stop and just listen. I’d love for just one moment to tell my grandma that I love her. Just as she is. That she’s beautiful. I’d ask her questions and I’d really listen. Oh how I’d love to soak up the wisdom of lessons learned. How I wish I could spend one more afternoon with my dear friend Amanda and tell her all the things you assume your friend already knows like how amazing she is and how funny she is and how she pulled you up out of a funk every.single.time you felt down. And how lucky she is because she’s clearly loved and adored by her parents.
Sometimes I imagine I only have a short time left and I think if I knew that, what would I do? Would I spend the time updating finances, finishing a book, tackling an unfinished project? Would I clean the closets? Reorganize the cupboards? Of course not. I’d soak up the people around me. Every.single.detail. I’d lose myself in the depths of my children’s big eyes. I’d listen…really listen…to every story they come up with, every tale they invent. I’d tell myself the laundry can wait. The dishes will still be there when I’m done. I’d snuggle with Daxson. I’d breathe him in and memorize that moment. I’d let his strength pull me along. Because, of course, if it is the moments that are left then I’d see those moments in a whole new light and drag each one out as long as possible.
But what if I don’t have to wait for some prognosis of doom to live that way? What if I could learn the art of “just being” right now? In reality, ditching all my responsibilities to only revel in the people around me would be highly impractical…after all, I have a duty to provide for my family by cooking and cleaning and schooling and laundry but what if that idea to really soak up the people around me took precedence over the never-ending to-do list? Because I’m pretty sure, as a Type-A perfectionist, I tend to flip the priorities. I only half listen as a child tells me a long complicated story because while he’s talking, my brain is mentally reviewing the to-do list. (What? You too? So that’s how you agreed to take your kid toy shopping in the middle of the week…yep, I’ve done it too.) By the end of the day, I’m exhausted. The introvert in me is begging for peace and quiet and so I quietly slip away to bed, book in hand and completely bypass a conversation with Daxson.
My goals are not lofty. I know that the well meaning thank you card probably still won’t get sent and I’m sure that there will always be a text left unfinished, but that idea to stop what I’m doing and look my people in the eye and really listen with my heart is completely within my grasp. The idea of asking a simple question (and actually wanting to know) and then waiting for the answer is so uncomplicated. It’s a matter of shifting my priorities.
{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, visit Soulemama to leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.
Outside my window…it has cooled off. It’s breezy and beautiful. I think it might be 89, but after such a long stretch of upper 90s, this feels delicious.
I am remembering…our first time taking the kids to the go-kart track. Andrew was still a baby! They were all so little!
I am listening…to the rustle of the trees and breeze with an occasional grumble of the trash truck, which is closely followed by Katie’s panicked cry, “Thunder!” No thunder. Really. It’s just the trash truck.
I am wondering…about my kids’ attention spans. Seems like there’s so many distractions these days, I sometimes wonder if we’re doing this next generation a disservice with all the tv, social media and technology.
I am going…to get my thoughts and plans together for our first co-op meeting this Friday. It’s just a small group of us, but it’s chock-full of academia…Spanish, PE, drama, and literary analysis.
I am pondering…acceptance.
I am thankful…for Daxson. I love listening to the lull of his voice as he reads with the kids each night…they so look forward to that moment when they all settle in and his voice carries them away. Right now they’re reading My Side of the Mountain and thanks to the readers on the Read Aloud Facebook group, we have a whole list of books to explore once they finish that.
In the schoolroom…we are traveling down the Alphabet Path again this year and having a grand time. In addition to weekly letter formation, letter of the week saints, animals and fairies, we’ve learned about alphabetic science topics including apples and birds, creeks and dinosaurs (we’re in the midst of studying electricity right now for “e” week). Our family time is filled with poetry, author studies, crafts, cooking projects, songs and so much more! The big boys are tagging along the path with us, tailoring the work to their level, so while Andrew and Katelyn are being exposed to tons of amazing stories and topics (through books, songs and fingerplays and hands-on projects), William and Joseph are using those stories as the basis for their copywork, dictation and writing.
Around the house…a new refrigerator!
In the refrigerator…our first attempt at homemade, baked donuts. We made them in honor of “d” week…delicious.
I am wearing…white shorts and a purple tank top with a glittery butterfly on it…a kickback to my early college days.
We are preparing for…William’s First Confession. I love how they pour their little souls out when preparing for that first confession. All their little secrets are spilled with such fervor!
Someday I am going to miss…these toothless grins!
We are celebrating…Joey’s 2nd place prize in the story writing contest, hosted by Rainbow Resource! William was so disappointed that he did not place in the contest, but he’s more determined than ever to practice all year so that next year he can try again. Either way, they both had their book “published” on Lulu Jr. so we have these gorgeous books to remember the occasion with! Here’s a little peek at the outside of both books and the inside of Joey’s book…
I am reading…Abandonment to Divine Providence (again…apparently I need to review this topic often) and Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella…hilarious….seriously, so hilarious!
One of my favorite things…Joseph. He had his picture published in the paper a few weeks ago and was so excited to imagine himself famous (which was later confirmed, in his mind, when a gentleman approached us at church exclaiming that he’d seen us in the paper!). When the lady from the book contest called to tell me that she’d be calling later in the day to surprise him, I mentioned to Joseph that someone was going to call him later that day. He asked me who and since I couldn’t say, I very vaguely said, “Oh I’m not sure. Just someone who wants to talk to you.” Instantly, he looked at William and said (without a hint of pride…it was so matter-of-fact), “Oh someone must have seen my picture in the paper and would like to speak with me.”
A peek into my day…
Please visit The Simple Woman’s Daybook for more daybook entries.
{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, visit Soulemama to leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.
Outside my window…it’s blue skies and breezy. There’s something magical about my backyard. It isn’t the size of my yard. Or the view. It’s the shade and the breeze. There’s always a nice, cool breeze. Really. The heat index is always in the upper 90s these days, yet we’re able to spend a huge chunk of our day outdoors. Nobody’s sweating profusely. Nobody’s complaining. It’s really beautiful. I am so very grateful.
I am remembering…last Sunday’s trip out to the University. To think that this whole thing started out there 13 years ago in a tax accounting class…
I am listening..to the wind rustle the leaves and Katie scream, as she tries to avoid every boy in this yard.
I am wondering…why it is so hard to keep these tiny little area picked up. It looks nice now. Give it 5 minutes. Ha, who am I kidding? Give it 1 minute.
I am going…to have to decide soon where I go next on this fitness journey. I’m over halfway through my 21 Day Fix (and loving it!). I have so many little cheerleaders! Plus Dax decided to join me, so there’s some extra accountability there (in addition to the awesome Facebook group led by my team beachbody coach, Cecilia McTague). So much encouragement, accountability and inspiration!
I am thankful…for Sculpey clay. I have a terrible confession to make. Every week, for the past eight years, I have packed the Mass bag with coloring books and crayons, lacing cards and books for the little kids, but I still spent half of Mass trying to keep them entertained. Until recently. I discovered that the absolute best thing for the Mass bag is a few little balls of Sculpey clay. It keeps little hands busy throughout the entire Mass. It doesn’t require so much concentration that they’re not listening. It doesn’t crumble or stick to anything. Really, it’s quite brilliant.
In the schoolroom…We just finished reading Macbeth (have I mentioned how much we adore Bruce Colville’s adaptations and, of course, we love Edith Nesbit’s adaptations, as well) and thanks to the suggestion in The Story of the World Activity book, we made the witches’ brew…next time I think I’ll replace a few more things with fruits…it felt like I served up a serious serving of sugar to the kids.
Around the house…trying to keep all those school books organized. Pretty soon we’re going to be like the family in the book The Children who Loved Books…the books are going to take over our house! We’ve already taken two loads to Half Price this summer, but as the number of readers increases and they each develop their own tastes, our book collection just keeps growing.
In the refrigerator…finishing up Grandma Nury’s jar of pesto, Andrew’s Paleo brownies and a bowl of homemade coleslaw.
I am wearing…olive green shorts and a coral Land’s End decorative tank top.
We are preparing to celebrate…Daxson’s birthday. He’s not much fun to shop for these days…his list is coffee and whiskey.
Someday I am going to miss…being asked to hold her hand while she scoots along on her scooter.
I am reading…The Goldfinch. Desperately trying to get to the end before the book club meeting, but it seems like this book just keeps growing.
One of my favorite things…bike rides with the kids. Since Katie can still ride on the front of mine and Andrew can keep up better these days, we can actually go at a normal pace.
A peek into my day…
Please visit The Simple Woman’s Daybook for more daybook entries.
With Every Intention 