a boston taxi??

“i love your blog, if you need a boston taxi, call me!”

you gotta love those spam comments…but when their numbers start reaching great heights you know it’s time to come and clean out the old blog…they are a bit like cobwebs…which actually very recently caused a bout of laughter in my life during the rosary before my grandmother’s funeral…yes, my grammie passed away 2 weeks ago…and there was a long, silky translucent web hanging over the head of one of my mom’s friends as we said our hail mary’s…of course the baby, being the baby, has a rather loud voice when it comes to such things…and couldn’t restrain himself from saying rather loudly “there is a COBWEB hanging from the ceiling!!” thank you, baby. seen and noted.

 

that baby. he drives me crazy. but he is a joy.

he is still one of my favorite faces to photograph.

and as i’ve sort of been moving towards this photography business thing…i like to keep looking at this face…so that my priorities remain focused on what’s important.

mamas have all sorts of mama dreams. for their children. for their marriages. for their lives. but when a mama has a dream for herself it can get lost. it can seem selfish. especially when *gasp* there are cobwebs hanging from the ceiling…

but as i sit here writing this…on the FIRST day of a NEW year…in a hotel room…6 hours away from home….while we patiently wait now for my dad’s mama to pass away….things get shifted around inside head and heart….life is short. life is but a shadow. and as the matriarchs from both sides of my family fade away into eternity i feel their strength. i feel their faith.

and i am excited about a lot of things again. like knitting. and my very own homemade granola.

and not worrying about the wonky format of this post…..

xoxoxox. friends. praying and wishing you the best today because it’s new year’s and always…just because.

yarn along the second:cotton & love

joining ginny for her yarn-along:

the knitting…

a cotton dishcloth with a heart right in the center.

my parents celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary a few weeks ago and in the whirly-wind of holidays. emergencies and life i got behind with regards to finishing up a few things i was making for them (well, really for my mama).

she loves cotton dishcloths.

even though she can barely bring herself to wipe clean hands on them.

the book:

jacob have i loved.

i started it a few weeks ago.

and then a certain little girl stole it from me.

she thought i’d finished it-although i don’t know how-when no one reads as fast and as thoroughly as she does.

that same little girl almost spilled the beans on the ending.

so i guess i’d better get on with it.

can’t wait to see what everyone else is up to!

(ps. updated: i loved the ending! this was a sweet read. it did my heart a lot of good to finish this sweet story.)

making spirits bright

sprinkles of sugar and cinnamon on bunelos. tiny marshmallows in warm. soothing drinks. chocolate dove snowflakes. twinkling lights. a little bit of sewing & crafting. a rainstorm. rainboots and umbrellas. red and green rugs to keep the mud at bay. a kitty who likes to sit in my lap when i am on the computer….a first hat completed….even with the gauge a bit off on the brim….oh, yes, i am feeling the Christmas spirit tonite. God is good and all is well on this fourth sunday of advent.

so tell me…what’s making your spirits bright?

yarn along::the first

first time joining the fun at ginny’s.

first hat. a santa hat. the free pattern is here.

first time in this this space in a while.

the books:

the voices of Christmas. we really like this one. each person tells their view of the Christmas story from their own perspective.

how many miles to bethlehem. aside from the fact that the Blessed Mother *gasp* has short hair and head uncovered. (which apparently matters to small Catholic children). this is a lovely read as well.

hark! a Christmas sampler. tommy de paola and jan yolen. need i say more?

anyhow…

happy knitting. happy reading. happy day 18. is it really almost Christmas?

my how time does fly.

chasing november

and catching it now and again…

enjoying little bits of wonderfulness amid the busy. busy days.

the spectrum of needs is broad.

and oh.so. delicate.

my heart is being stretched in so many different ways right now.

the struggle to be so many things to so many people is an awfully overwhelming task.

one that is best pondered in the early morning stillness at mass.

alone.

as often as i can steal away. that is where i go.

for answers.

to little things.

like chasing november.

a month that has sped past my very eyes with lightning speed.

shorter days.

leaves swirling outside. 

falling gracefully.

like snowflakes.

scattered all over the yard.

little things like how i feel a lot like one of those leaves on the ground.

scattered. trampled. dirty. worn out.

saddened by a diagnosis of leukemia for my grandma.

that’s a big thing.

she is deteriorating so rapidly.

thankfully there is still some shade from the tall. strong. elm.

planted firmly.

towering.

and it offers solace.

solace that makes me content to be grounded.

grounded in a faith built on a rock.

content in knowing that all i have to do is look up.

for all the answers.

savoring

thyme. and time.

admiring a boy brave enough to chew on grass.

stopping to smell the sweetest flowers. and chase butterflies that look like tiny flying pansies through the woods.

making slivery wishes. gazing at long-girly lashes and the “bling” on her glasses. she did it herself. and gets compliments on them almost everywhere she goes.

finishing the baseball scarf. i am on my third skein of yarn. but not quite done yet. after traveling around with me since april. to many a game and practice. i am such a slow knitter.

today we read a story about a chicken who was knitting at the beach. i think i am that chicken.

stopping to gaze in every nook and cranny. and finding the strangest things. blue-throated lizards. and pinkish thistles.

yes, life, even without the curls, is pretty darn good.

i won’t even mention how behind i am in EVERYTHING. and at this point i just don’t even have it in me to “catch up”. summer is right around the corner. and i am ready to catch up on geometry embrace it with open arms.

how about you?

the blues

these are the best kind of blues.

the hues of my life right now.

a life lived “simply, bravely and joyously beneath the gaze of God and for HIM….”

there’s so much i want to write about. but that is the lot of a wanna-be writer. there is always something to write about. but the realities of motherhood don’t always allow for it.

the realities of : trying to re-write the rule. for this particular season of our life. utilizing an organized homekeeping notebook.  forcing myself to weed out many nasty. bad. habits. especially going to bed and getting up earlier in order to make it to daily mass on time. something i’ve been feeling called to do. something i’ve always wanted to do and something i finally have the opportunity to do.

there is nothing this side of heaven quite like that time spent with Our Lord in the early morning.

and then i get back here.

to the never-ending crumbs. laundry. dishes. and schoolwork.

and then life seems a bit like a bad case of groundhog day.

“didn’t i just wash those?” i ask myself for the umpteenth time.

and then there is the soreness and tiredness from exercising.

when does that stop?

maybe it doesn’t.

maybe i’m just getting old.

it really is true that the more things change. the more they stay the same.

at least in my little. blue. corner of the world.

grace notes

 

happenings. God making music with our lives. attracting our attention. we’re not meant to linger on them. but grace notes make the music richer. they let us know Somebody is there.

~the excerpt above is from chosen. it’s where i’ve got my nose every free chance i can get. sending chills up and down my spine. bringing tears to my eyes. making my heart sing that I. AM. A. CATHOLIC. making me curious about the faith. the apostles. the REAL PRESENCE of Jesus in the EUCHARIST.

the thesis of the book is simply this: Christ, not man converts, and while His shepherds may flee, He stays, drawing until the end of time the lost and weary to life upon the unbreakable rock of HIS Church.

i am often lost and weary myself.

conversion is a  lifelong process.

and frankly it feels so good to be a part of something  as big. ancient. solid. and outside of the constraints of time. as the Church.

happy weekending friends! hope you are finding lots of little grace notes in your own lives.

i’ve missed this place. but absence makes the heart grow fonder, does it not?

xo.

march-ing

 

right along. in spite of rainstorms. tummy bugs. and big boys with earaches.

there are still plenty of bright spots:

bits of sunshine shining on socks-in-progress( i broke down and bought this book and so far so good!)

blooming grape hyacinths. muddy garden gnomes. little boys who delight in the simple things. like weeding the yard with his new red hoe. a “hoe-hoe” he calls it.

we are immensely enjoying this book right now. i think my garden helper can relate a little too much with the naughty toad and his escapades.

this week feels gone already and it’s only wednesday. today is music lessons. the post office and library day. leftovers for dinner.

thursday is our anniversary and first baseball practice for our smallest ball player.

i have so many projects in my mind, but really need to stick to my lenten cleaning schedule instead.

oh, yes. this month is march-ing right along.

wishing you well friends.

hope you have a few bright spots to brag about too!

first bud and lace lingo

garden: one of our bulbs has an actual bud. this our first bloom on something we have planted since we moved here at the end of may. i am crossing my fingers that the resident gopher doesn’t find his way to my bulbs before we “get” to him first.

learning notes: lots of stuff about president lincoln this past week. civil war ghost stories. biographical essays on lincoln. memorizing the gettysburg address. playing with lincoln logs. reading the red badge of courage. math. math. math. for everyone. if we stick to it they should all be done with their math books by june 11th. i know this doesn’t sound like a lot. but multiply it x’s four kids. and lent. and me being sick and really, this was a lot.

i have yet to write about all of my lesson plans in this space. but i might still do it. but don’t hold me to it.

i have very. little. stick-to-it-ivness. in fact. maybe i don’t have any at all.

ha! that is a lie. i have it where it counts. my faith. my marriage. raising children and not running away when things get tough.

knitting: i am learning lace lingo. i am even p2tog. wouldn’t you say that’s a good place for a beginner knitter to be? i have to laugh at myself when i lug around this 6 lb. reader’s digest book from the 80’s. teaching myself all the millions of things there are to learn about knitting. really there are millions. maybe even zillions of things to learn.

but i am so desperate for quiet time to do this very thing.

my husband usually takes the oldest to his wednesday afternoon guitar lesson, but this week i practically ran out of the house. my apron still on. that big book. a ball of yarn and two needles under my arm.

he got out of the shower and wondered where i was. i left early so i could be the one to go.

and i did. and i sat there for a blessed 35 mins. all by my lonesome. laughing quietly to myself as i remembered some of the things i read in this book. especially the part that said: you can do anything for a few rows….

so that is where i am at.

or actually where i was at.

right now i should be in bed.

and so…off i go.

happy week-ending friends.

it is raining here. again. so i’ll definitely be moody.

mud makes me moody.

and i so hate to bother you with that nonsense.