“Dining with one’s friends and beloved family is certainly one of life’s primal and most innocent delights,

one that is both soul-satisfying and eternal.”  ~Julia Child

The kitchen is the busiest room in our house, and not only for eating.

Davy conducts science experiments (baking soda and vinegar, salt and water).

The naughty dog steals dirty dishes and carries them away to lick.

We sit at the table and read.

Cupboards and drawers open and shut.

The cats come and eat from their bowls.

Coffee in the mornings, tea, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks.   Hugs and kisses.

And nine nice people, all in a family, running into each other as we all buzz about getting drinks, eating, or (most often) cleaning the place up!

I’ve been snapping kitchen pictures here and there, over the last week or so and thought I would post them today.

Candy is a rare treat here, but someone (I confess) couldn’t resist some butterfinger chocolate eggs.

On this day, we had mints.  I went downstairs to dig my tangerine fiesta carafe out of storage, it looks so bright and cheerful on the table.  As I was digging, I also rediscovered an old picture of my husband…….

homemade berry cobbler, pineapple banana bread

We ate one loaf and then, after wrapping it and letting it “season” for a day, I put the other one in the freezer.  I’m going to get it out to serve to the ladies tomorrow, at Bible study.

Unsalted butter, tastes so creamy and delicious on warm banana bread.

Soft, late-in-the-day sunshine, on the wall.

HLC Violet platter, gift from my Aunt~

My brother David went on a trip to Greece with his wife last summer and brought me back an olivewood spoon and fork serving set.

One of the children ran my beautiful spoon through the dishwasher (a big no-no for wooden things) and it became quite dry, I wasn’t sure how to remedy the situation.  Thankfully, when Rich and I were out on a date, we found the solution in one of our favorite kitchen stores.

Now my wooden spoon is happy again.  The creme is made of beeswax and mineral oil, so I feel good about using it.  Highly recommended!  We found it at Stonewall Kitchen but I’m sure it’s sold in other stores, as well.  I’ve been using it on my other wooden handled spatulas and scrapers, and wooden spoons, too.

 Hope you’re having a lovely day, we are, too, here at the homeplace.  (in the kitchen and out)

Sarah Joy likes stars, and cars.  They are a good way for her Mama to teach her the colors, too.

“purple star, pink star, red star”

“yellow car, red car”

How are you today, friends?

I went to Target today and left the littles at my sister’s house so they could spend time with their (BFF’s) cousins.  So cute.  Thankful.

Seth fell asleep on the ride back home and ruined his nap.  boo.

I had a DD chai tea, yum.

It’s in the 50’s here today, which is downright springlike, here in the Northeast.  It’s making me feel giddy.

I hung clothes out on the line to dry in the cool sunny breezes.

Thank you, for being you.

“There’s no other love like the love for a brother. 

There’s no other love like the love from a brother.”

~Terri Guillemets

My brother David and his wife Maria visited us this weekend.  We don’t get to see them very often and they hadn’t been to our place for quite a while.

They got up early Saturday morning and made it here before the older boys were even awake, so Dave went downstairs and surprised them.

Everyone was happy to have their wonderful Uncle and Aunt in the house for the day, it was a huge treat.

The little ones put Uncle Dave to work, making lots of paper airplanes out of construction paper.  Sarah even got (a pink) one!

This was my absolute favorite picture of the day, my brother with my baby, and look at her cheek (she smiling big!).

We played UNO and Aunt Maria taught Grace how to shuffle.

Maria with Abbie and Grace.

Maria taught the girls some Greek (her family is from Greece), and also did Grace’s nails and hair.

David took this picture, and all the rest of the following ones, too.  (thanks for sharing them, Dave!) 

My brother Isaac, my sister Amanda, myself, and brother David.  There are five of us siblings (I’m the oldest), Nathan wasn’t with us this weekend.

Naomi and Weston with patient Snickers, the cat.

We named Davy after his Uncle (and, although he doesn’t look it here, he truly does adore his Uncle David!)

Jacob was being silly and put a dinosaur on David’s head!

Uncle Dave never forgets a birthday (or a Christmas), there is always a card sent for each child with money in it.  He has such a kind, sensitive heart.  He and Maria are such a blessing to our family.

Uncle Dave and Caleb with mean faces!

And then, silly faces!

And how’s this for ADORABLE?

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How’s your day going, friend?

I’ve been puttering around here at home, with my little sidekicks. 

Seth and I made berry cobbler and banana bread=the house smells very good!

Blessings to you on this fine day~

ethan!

He’s one of the sweetest boys ever.  14 years ago, Rich and I welcomed him, our second born, into the world.

Thanking God today, for this precious gift, this son of ours.

“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father…..”  James 1:17

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, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

~inspired by soulemama

Snow day!  No school, so I have all my children home with me today.  The first thing I did this morning was make a quick list of things we could do with our day.

It’s almost 1:30 now, and it’s been a nice morning.

The snow is gently falling, so quiet and pure white.

Jacob and Ethan are trying to find shovels so they can work on the driveway.

Seth and Sarah are napping.  The other three are having quiet play/reading time.

I did dictation with David and Caleb.  Dictation is when the teacher reads aloud to the students and they copy down exactly what they hear.  It helps with several skills; listening, spelling, sentence structure, handwriting…..etc.  Today I used a sentence from Stuart Little (and put the book down for the picture).  After they were done, they drew the picture, too.  It was delightful fun. 

“Everyone thanked Margalo for saving Stuart’s life;

and at suppertime Mrs. Little presented her with a tiny cake,

which had seeds sprinkled on top.”

Out of the bosom of the Air,
Out of the cloud-folds of her garments
shaken,
Over the woodlands brown and bare,
Over the harvest-fields
forsaken,
Silent, and soft, and slow
Descends the snow.
~Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow

(I got a big kick out of the helpful labeling.)

I’m currently reading this great book, and found a quote last night that I liked, that made me think of my friends here.

“Odd, to feel as though you knew someone quite well whom you had never met.”

Enjoy your day, dear friends, whether it’s sunshine or snow, quiet or loud, or ever-changing as the hours pass……..(like most of these busy mothering days).

PS, This morning I pulled on a sweatshirt and didn’t realize that there was another long-sleeved t-shirt stuck inside it.  I spent hours feeling so plump and round, wondering, until to my astonishment, the extra shirt fell down and out as I ran downstairs after putting Sarah to bed!  What a nice surprise, to instantly lose that bulky feeling!  LOL

I try to give them constructive things to do and sometimes it simply backfires on me! 

Last week, I used up the last of my quick oats and (’cause I’m such a thoughtful mama) gave the little boys the tall, empty, cardboard container to play with.  They used it for drumming on, and also to make up a new game called, “POPCORN”.   You play this game by filling the container up with blocks and then shaking it up and down, letting the blocks fly out all over the room.

Well, no surprise that the container soon ripped and was promptly thrown out.

No, no, that was not surprising.  But, what WAS surprising was when Seth played with blocks this morning, remembered his beloved POPCORN game, found my almost-full container of old fashioned oats in the cupboard and emptied them all INTO MY SINK, so he could have it!

It was even more surprising that I did not see him do it at all.  (How???????) I found the oats hours later, after we had gone out shopping and I was putting the groceries away.

Last night Rich was gone with the three older children, and I was plumb tired.  I decided to show Seth and Sarah how to insert coins into David’s and Caleb’s piggy banks.  (Rich collects all his loose change into a big plastic bag).  This was great fun for all four children.  They were so busy and cute, especially little Sarah Joy.

Here is a picture of her doing it this morning.  (I had emptied the bag of coins into a shoebox.)

Cute and  harmless, right?  WRONG.  Actually, to tell the truth, I did already learn this lesson when a very small David inserted coins into our CD player in the van.  Alas, I forgot all about that…….so…..this morning, as I was emptying the dishwasher, Sarah saw some familiar looking slits and ran to get some pennies………which are now down there:

You just can’t make this stuff up.

Another story?  Okay……

Last week, I got an order from Pottery barn (shoe racks and a storage bin for the porch) and the children wanted to play with the boxes.

Well, poor Caleb.  He decided to SLEEP in the big box, that night.  He did, he fell sound asleep in the box.  However, he had it ON his bed, and it fell off with him in it. 

And now that boy has the biggest goose egg and bruise I have ever seen, on his forehead.

(I took this picture this morning, he looks so tired!)

The bruise is over half of his forehead! It’s a mercy he was okay.

When things like this happen, I call out, “Just something else to put in the family history book!”

 Comments closed at 12:45,

and the winner is happyangel78!

Thanks to those who joined in the fun!

“A Delicate Joy”

I downloaded this album about a month ago and I’ve listened to it almost every day since. 

Beautiful, sweet, piano music by David Nevue, released September 2011. 

I’d like to give away a copy to one friend who leaves a comment on this post.  I’ll “draw a name out of a hat” tomorrow at this time and let you know who wins!

Pretty Sarah’s pretty blankie got pretty dirty so she had to put it *in there* to get washed! 

I think we had a pleasant morning, regardless. 

Except when Seth got a little too close for comfort.

Speaking of Seth.  He did the cutest thing at church yesterday.  Rich was asked, spur of the moment, to help pass the offering plate. Before I could do anything, Seth got up and followed his dear Papa down the aisle as the church family all snickered at his adorable-ness. 

He also did something today that made me very happy; he went #2 in the potty FINALLY after weeks and weeks of potty training.  I gave him 10 chocolate chips for his success, and we called Papa at work to tell him.  These are the days when my husband doesn’t know what to expect when he gets a call during the work day.  *smiles*

I miss him today.

It’s that time of year again, SPRING is for-certain in the air.  My friends and I have been bitten by the “spring cleaning” bug (you, too?) and ladies take bags of things to church to try to pass off to other families.  (I have had to learn how to politely refuse, LOL).  I cleaned the basement storage room today and threw away 3 bags of old stuff and garbage. 

After lunch, I took Seth and Sarah outside for some fresh air.  We collected half a dozen beautiful eggs from the coop. 

It is about 48 degrees today, but there is a lot of wind so we had to bundle up to keep warm.

They were watching nimble Socks cross on a log, and were concerned that he would fall in the stream.

After we played and explored and took care of the dog, it was time for naps.

Sarah and her nice clean blankie were reunited.

O happy home whose little ones are given

Early to Thee, in humble faith and prayer.

To Thee, their Friend, who from the heights of heaven

Guides them, and guards with more than mother’s care!

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.