{pretty, funny, happy, real}

“capturing the context of contentment in everyday life”

every thursday at like mother, like daughter

{pretty}: red paint for a thrifted bookshelf. which also makes me happy!

{funny}: it is funny that this girl child, even with stitches in her leg, can’t sit still. here she is up and around painting said bookshelf.

{happy}: the baby is happy to help paint same red bookshelf too. only that doesn’t make us happy. so we give him a star to paint instead. ooohhh…that shiny star is pretty too!

{real}: my very real husband caught a very real fish.

he butchered it and together we cooked it right up.

 it was very yummy. ugly. but yummy nevertheless!

my real husband looking so handsome in white. (and letting me take his picture!)

and finally a very real candle.

to mask the not-so-funny- fishy-smell that is permeating the air!

so that’s it!

random daily contentment….one doesn’t really have to look far….there is so much to choose from…..can’t wait to see what everyone else is up to!

now i’ve seen it all…

my husband has this thing with darth vader.

and it has only gotten worse.

getting directions will never be the same again.

ever.

making light

delicious drinks. serious swimming. and leisurely sewing.

scrumptiously cool mornings and evenings are making us wonder: is this really july? since when does july bring breezes just chilly enough to necessitate the use of quilts?

the answer: maybe not ever. but i am not going to complain. because it is fantastic!

we have a kingdom of bees living in our upstairs-there is actually honey dripping from the rafters. it has been going on for quite some time. just wasn’t sure what was going to happen. but apparently there is ALOT of honey comb, etc. and so they are going to have to rip open the walls, etc. etc.

i don’t know what my 6 yo. will do when he can’t lick honey from the windowsills any more. this may sound disgusting. but if you knew how sweet raw. natural honey tasted you’d totally do the same thing.

the boys have been going to work with my husband a lot lately. one of the nicer things resulting in his being laid off is that we do have our own small. very. small business to fall back on and it is an excellent learning opportunity for the boys. they not only earn some money for themselves but this allows them to discern whether or not they want to apply a little more effort to their studies.

my grandmama, my dad’s mom, has some cancerous lumps in her breast again and so we will be heading up north to visit her in the next few days. this woman has fought cancer off and on for many years. she lost her husband, my grandfather, when i was 8. and then 8 years later, her youngest daughter, my aunt. both of them died due to complications from brain tumors.

my point in sharing this here:

life is short, friends. and though not always sweet. there is much sweetness.

we follow a Body Whose Head wore a crown of thorns.

and there is a sacredness in pain and suffering.

when it is submitted into HIS pain and suffering.

not even a hair on our heads is harmed without God’s permission. and minute by minute. week by week. day by day, HE controls the scenario of the centuries. and the years.

and even the minutest details of our days.

so let us remember:

“not for thee and thine to go in fear, dismayed like these others, enthrone the Lord of Hosts above all else, HIM you must fear, of HIM stand in awe. LET THE HOUR OF PERIL CONSECRATE YOU TO HIM.” ~is. 8:6-8

therein lies the “prescripition” for the myriad of things that can and do go wrong.

the peril is very real. but of which we should have no fear.

so consecrate yourself. and the ones you love to HIM.

today.

God’s green earth

i feel like we’ve seen it all. like i am done with vacations forever. but after traveling over 1100 miles in a car with my kids and husband. for 6 days. staying at various hotels and relatives’ houses. i can’t help but wonder if i am even required to make sense at this point in time.

that being said. i loved this time i spent with my family. the colors of the leaves on the trees. the different kinds of sand on every beach we went to. i loved the architecture of the missions. the gardens filled with flowers. the fountains. the way the mist settles over the ocean just before sunset. the way the water looks when it hits the rocks. i loved all the different species of birds in all of their different habitats. i loved having my pockets filled with treasures by little and big hands. i love that our nature treasures were so plentiful that by the end of our trip that we put them in their very own bag. i love that my husband still puts his arm around me. and how even while i slept he was vigilant about beautiful picture spots. the first time i felt the truck come to a halt unexpectedly i woke up. not knowing why we were stopped. only to find myself in the middle of some perfect place that he felt  he needed to share with me and my camera. i love all of the unexpected twists and turns this trip took us on. it was refreshing and exhausting at the same time. and i love that we are home. sweet. home. and that it is the first sunday of advent. the sound of choppy Christmas carols being played on our piano. the comfort of our own bed. and i think that if anything, this trip made me want to find peace and simplicity in the weeks to come. the weeks in which together, we will wait for HIM.

father’s homily today talked a lot about the light. and the truth and those are two things that i really felt these past few days. as we travelled all over God’s green earth.

i have a new sense of appreciation for mary and joseph as they journeyed to Bethlehem. no modern conveniences to ease their burdens. no gps to tell them which way to go. with alternate routes for missed turns.

just a star. and a promise.

and my heart wells up with joy thinking about how that promise applies to us too. if only we purify our hearts. of all the clutter and nonsense. so we don’t miss that star….