*tsk*tsk*

i know i said i’d be here more…and i hate it that i haven’t kept my word…

but i get distracted so easiLy…i am too busy noticing things Like the way the sun Looks when it’s coming through the window in my front room….

fooLing around with a new Lense….

taking baby beLLy pictures….aren’t they beautifuL??? so vintage and soft Looking….sigh. baby beLLies are so LoveLy….

finishing up some handmades…

the girL quiLt….

aLL done.

stitched up with Lots of Love…

and of course i can’t forget this guy….

my scrabbLe buddy.

he pretty much needs to be fed constantLy…

but he’s so entertaining…

and then he has these “requests”….as if i can “make” anything…

but i try anyway…

so i have not dropped off the pLanet friends…i am onLy caught up in the swirLing tornado that is MY Life…bLessed. crazy. sad. frustrating. funny. beautifuL and very distracting…(in a good way).

xo.

{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!

glittering summer days

dirty feet. water balloons. a wet kitchen floor.

i am having a staring contest with my messy house.

things get a little bit crazy around here when mama is not feeling well. 

i have slowed way down.

like snail slow….

 when you lose your health (even if temporarily), things sort of shift into proper perspective (with God’s grace).

and suddenly you hang desperately onto something as small as teaching the baby how to tell if a cantaloupe is ripe…because that’s important.

at least it’s important to me.

so what if the stuffing is coming out of the couch….i can deal with that later.

right now we are enjoying these glittering days of summer:

a very empty calendar (by choice!!!) = time to create.

butterfly craft found here.

i had way too much fun punching all. those. butterflies. out!!!!!

and she, well, she is the artist. so there were pages of watercolors…

the pottery…well, that is courtesy of our local pottery shop which holds children’s classes….

yes, this is me screaming…”look how talented my daughter is!!!”

what can i say? i really love watching my children blossom. 

and make things.

(that is a decorative wine-cork-topper btw. a painted button glued into the top of a cork.)

i think it is (one of the many) very special components of homeschooling…dabbling in this and that…

and we do dabble…

speaking of my daughter…she went and turned 12 on me last month…did i mention that?

how dare she!

my june bug.

but what a lovely person she is turning out to be!

donning an apron and whipping up some sort of yummy baked (or not) concoction at least every other day is something that has me in awe these days…i am impressed.

and not just because her peanut butter cookies are so good!

i am impressed because of the little woman she is turning out to be.

useful. joyful. and so faithful.

these are the things i see during this time of pulling back…

and because there are so many things to say “yes” to these days…it is hard.

but i want to say more yeses to these…

these gap-toothed smiles.

and inquiring minds.

so worthy of my attention.

i often feel like there must be some well-adjusted woman out there who i was meant to be…

a woman who has her act together and cruises through her days….

but until i find her…i will soak up every moment i can….staring at faces with pink cheeks and scratches from the kitty…reading stories and laughing.

because it won’t be long before these glittering summer days will be gone….

connections

are good.

especially when they are with people you love!!!!!

and that pretty much explains my absence in this space.

the mama-child connection is something my children don’t seem to get enough of. regardless of age. in fact i think they need me more now than ever: with jobs and bank accounts come so many decisions and things to do!

then there are senior happenings with the biggest girl. she chose me to take her senior pics….and well, that means we were off finding fields of flowers to pose in….and then me wanting some sister shots…of sister kisses.

and faith connections…

did i mention that the baby made his First Holy Communion? on mother’s day.

that smile says it all, doesn’t it?

he has been waiting for Our Lord a long, long while.

and when it was over i breathed a big sigh of relief…took a few days off.

and here it is. already the end of another week.

and i realized that i so missed my connections here.

which have been difficult to maintain due to a nasty virus on my home computer.

making everything online just that much harder to accomplish.

i think i may’ve gotten lazy during lent.

when i stayed away to purge the noise. and the whispers of incompetence at all the ways in which my life is boring. mundane and ordinary.

no projects to shine forth…no garden glory. no books or knitting.

just  “glittering desolation from the starry pinnacle of the commonplace” to use some of dear chesterton’s words.

yes, that’s where i’ve been. at that place where busy-ness meets boring.

and i realized just how so this afternoon. as i lay on my bed. taking one. long. momentous. pause.

with the toilet running and 4 flies buzzing around the kitchen(no doubt invited in by someone leaving the door wide open!) and i thought selfishly to my selfish self: is this it?

that coupled with the fact that i had been NOT cooking a roast for 2 hours because the crock pot wasn’t PLUGGED in!!!  just might’ve been enough to send me over the edge of said starry pinnacle.

no connection there!

between crock pot and plug.

and yes, this is my life.

one mad adventure.

i am thinking too much….it happens when i read chesterton.

does he have that affect on you too?

i allowed myself some fun reading for easter and plowed my way through the man who was thursday.

i was deeply confused and disappointed with the ending. i felt very similar to the night i watched the LOST finale.

“you think too much, mom.” my girl told me.

“sometimes you need to just read.”

ouch!

she’s only 11!!!

and already a sage!

happy reading friends!

if you made it to the end of this post then God love you!

i will be back. sooner than later.

that is if my pride will allow me to publish such utter nonsense twice in a row!

xo.

ps. i’ve got my paws on mere christianity now so watch out!

undone

there is a false spring here in cA. i am in full-on de-cluttering mode. literally grasping and seeking out a place for everything…..

yesterday i found an old to-do list that read: re-paint the cradle. it is a doll cradle mind you. it was given to me as a gift the year she was born and then she used it for her baby dolls.

now here we are. two years later. and that same cradle remains unpainted along with a pile of a few other things ready to be put away. 

the little wooden high chair is there too. how did that happen?

some things shouldn’t be left undone.

but they are. because other things and happenings take their place.

and then one day you are sitting in the midst of a pile of stuff and you want to cling to it not because of what it is but because of what it symbolizes: the love.

where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

my treasure isn’t the pile of old sports jerseys. a nana-made batman cape that we left in the movie theaters once and had to return to look for it. a cub scout kerchief and book. pajamas that my husband, their daddy, painted with glow-in-the-dark paint, telling them they could have anything they wanted…that time i left on retreat…7 1/2 years ago. or the t-shirts they made the summer we went camping. reminding me of that summer when my mama and i walked in the dark and watched a thunderstorm. in awe of the beautifully lit night sky and the power of lightning.

my treasure isn’t even that old cradle.

my treasure is all those souls who have crossed their paths with mine. their hearts and bodies entwined so intricately with mine.

some mornings i find their blankets and socks in my bed. tangible signs that they’ve been there. with me. with us.

i don’t know why i need these tangible signs so much.

i won’t even get started with how i parted ways with the last of the baby clothes….

there is just something so sacred and precious about these years.

the parenting years.

and they are so fleeting.

and holding on to what is fleeting is impossible.

we are meant for what is eternal.

so i hate it that much- if any-of my time is wasted doing things like de-cluttering.

but it’s all part of the struggle: the martha/mary struggle.

both the work and the contemplation call out to me.

there must be a way to bring some sort of harmony and balance. reconciling the two.

yes, de-cluttering can be a prayer.

that is what He tells me.

simplify. simplify. simplify.

it is a theme that keeps running through my head.

it’s your job. He tells me.

to remove things and happenings from your life and theirs.

you can put some things in a box.

to remember.

but let the rest of it go.

let it bless someone else.

the real things that should never be left undone aren’t really things anyway.

and it is your responsibility to figure out what those things are….

with collections and knick knacks in every corner…i ponder. daily.  just what is it exactly that He is wanting me to remove?

it’s easiest to start with what is broken and mismatched.

what about the baby clothes?

yes.

but what if there is another baby?

do not worry about what that baby would wear.

you cannot and will not reconcile the tangible with the Eternal.

He wants to be the center of it all.

and that’s just not possible when there is too much stuff.

so much to contemplate. this de-cluttering thing.

especially when it applies to so many areas of my life….

i suppose i’ll always be the most undone thing in my life.

broken and mismatched.

gently i unite this thought to the hearts of Jesus and Mary.

3/52

joining barb:

52 weeks of daily life in pictures.

:: trials and celebrations, the extraordinary and mundane — whatever is unique to the week.

it’s kind of too early for these…but i couldn’t resist. and they were so yummy!

they are also delicious on top of gluten-free pancakes and paired with vanilla-greek yogurt-cream-cheese-fluffy-wonderfulness.

 pretty table-settings. and impromptu tea with friends.

thank you….half-half. i will never lose weight because of you….and your creamy presence in every. single. cup. of coffee. i drink.

thank you, Lord, for sweet looking weeds….that almost look like flowers.

girls with pink cheeks and creative spirits don’t belong locked up learning in classrooms. they should be free (with limits) to sketch in a pile of comfy blankets when inspiration strikes.

thank you krusteaz  for finally making a mix that won’t kill my children…i do so love it when the kids can make things with a little help from a box….(this muffin is sans blueberries. but these are oh. so. good when you add a cup of blueberries to the batter. and spoiler: they might not last long enough to take photos.)

hello. nice. big. stack of red linen napkins.

you look like you could use some embroidery. and i sure could use an easy project that will travel. we’ll see how it goes.

and last but certainly not least….

the pure. unadulerated bliss. of having a big brother that will ride you really fast around the yard in a wagon….

(as a side note: this does cause a certain amount of tipping. or so i was later told.)

this really was a good week.

and it’s great to have these pictures to remind me so.

spicy!

if variety is the spice of life. then things are spicy around here.

we managed to squeeze in one of the last performances of the phantom before its farewell performance. i saw it years ago. but really wanted the little ones to see it with a live orchestra. and they did. at the historic pantages theater. in downtown hollywood with lots of bright lights. limos and trendy restaurants. stars under our feet. literally.

it was a 95 mile one way trip. i managed new shoes for both of them but my son has a bowl cut. and i wasn’t able to get that fixed before. he looks sort of young paul mccartney-ish.

it was worth every second we spent in traffic. and every second i spent explaining. in a very whispering voice. all of the details of this very exciting production.

on a completely different note. it is deer season. the tail end.

and it is so tempting to play with all those deer parts. at least for some folks.

oh deer!

i told you things are really spicy around here!

we are coming to the end of a very whirlwind week. and if i can just make it to sunday i’ll breathe a big sigh of relief….i am keeping the calender very empty for november and december….we need some time to unwind.

and i say that with a heavy heart. knowing that both of my grandmothers are sick and dying.

how soon, only God knows.

i do know that we are all dying.

one of my favorite lines from the movie braveheart is: every man dies. but not every man truly lives.

so what do i want to remember about this week of truly living? 

singing taylor swift songs at the top of our voices. till our throats hurt. picking out pumpkins and big kids who are not too big for pumpkins. a boy who can walk around the house cutting up a pom-pom while he lets pieces fall all over the place like furry confetti-like it is the most natural thing in the world to do. finally sewing the owls with the girls. pomegranate wine mixed with spiced apple-cider. edgar allen poe read aloud. frivolous fake jewelry. velvet shoes. and black fingernail polish.

 signed. yours truly.

seen & noted:

the baby. measuring the rain. in a rainbow colored shot glass with the words acapulco, mexico plastered to the side…plastered…ha! no pun intended.

bible test. question number 31: after noe, people became more…larger and larger.

hmmmmmm.

that shot glass is looking more appealing as the day goes on.

and i don’t drink rain water.

better

oh. those. kinds. of. days.

the kind where you burn your tongue taste-testing your husband’s morning coffee.

and middle son uses your favoritest tea towel. the one you embroidered as a young girl. while you were still living at home. dreaming of your own home. to wash the car.

and the baby eats a bowl of yogurt and frozen blueberries in your bed while you are away visiting your sick grandmother. so when you come home. and fall into said bed. you collapse on said bowl. and it hurts.

no. this wasn’t quite what i dreamed it would be…

it’s better.

seriously

and so very official.

all this homeschooliness.

finding the right spot to do an art lesson.

it’s not easy, you know.

especially if you have to take your shoes off.

and put your finished masterpieces on exhibit.

then there is the issue of socializing with friends.

who are sometimes in need of water.

or quite possibly a place to live.

and what about those conservation causes and clubs?

the ones that take up so much time and energy?

like this one for the trees.

the care. conservation. and observation of baby pine and cedar trees to be exact.

oh, yes.

it’s serious stuff .

that i hope y’all aren’t taking too seriously.

happy days!

and remember:

“how can it be a large career to tell other people’s children about the rule of Three and a small career to tell one’s own children about the universe?”

~G.K. Chesterton