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Posted on February 4, 2014 by Shanda

Sunday: After a big, gooey pizza, we had birthday cake.

I know, the cake was tiny! I bought it at a bake shop and I knew he would love the football and decide that it would slice into 10 pieces just fine. We each had one piece and then the cake was gone.

Monday: I knew we were about to get some snow so I took Seth and Sarah downtown to get some groceries. There is nothing like that “prepared” feeling.

After I got the groceries in the house Sarah and I ran down to the chicken coop.

We asked them to come out and play but they said they were barefoot.

Parker is always ready for some playtime.

Actually, I think this face is saying, “Do you have an egg in your pocket for me?”

Here is a laundry tip for mothers with a large family: KEEP DOING IT. No matter what, do your laundry every day, even weekends. Go around the house in the morning and pick up any dirty clothes, take sheets off a bed or two, pick up towels in the bathroom and gather up the kitchen laundry, too. Remember to wash coats and jackets every once in a while, too. If I keep up with the laundry I only have to do, at the most, three loads a day, and sometimes only two. I wait until they are all washed and dried and then I stand at the couch and fold everything (or, I have a child do the folding). As soon as they are folded they are put away in the proper place. I’m usually all done with laundry by 1 o’clock every day.

Snowflake photography next to the open door of a snowy day.

Quiet moments during Seth and Sarah’s nap time.

My latest thrift store book: Things to Make and Do, full of doable, cute crafts for little ones. We made puffets!

The living room toy basket.

Our stack of reading by the armchair.

The fire is so delightful.

And since we’ve no place to go,

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

More snow pictures from the front porch.

When Seth woke up we played his sock monkey game from Grandma.

Someone hides the monkey while the other one covers their eyes. Then, we read the questions in the game for clues to where it could be. Then, we GO LOOK.

Once, I hid the sock monkey in my plant.

Seth looked and looked.

And looked. Finally, he found it!

He was so happy. Then, it was his turn to hide it.

But when it’s my turn to look he cannot stand the suspense and usually tells me where it is before I can find it.

The boys came home in the snow.

Caleb spent the evening reading his book and finally finished it. The smile.

Tuesday: This was the view this morning from the porch, at about 7:30am. Fog was drifting toward me from over the trees, as the sun rose. And the trees were heavy with snow.

The children had school at the regular time but there are rumors of a snow storm tonight and a possible snow day, tomorrow.

I’m writing this in the bathroom while Seth splashes and sings in the bathtub.

Happy Tuesday!

Oh, I almost forgot to show you the puffets!

(They are really puppets but Seth and Sarah don’t say it right).

contentment and bean bags

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Shanda

Hello, lovelies. I am sitting cross legged on the couch looking into a brand new laptop screen with fingers tip tapping across fresh, clean keys. The children are at school, Seth and Sarah are napping, the dryer is humming, the roof is dripping. It’s up 20 degrees from yesterday and feels positively warm at 39, the snow was slushy and wet under my feet when I went to the coop earlier. Seth and Sarah went outside for about 20 minutes and managed to build and destroy three little snow men. The dog ran off with the carrots. Laughter, cold hands, hungry tummies, sandwiches, naps.

What am I thinking about? In a word, contentment. My dear friend Kara shared with me a book to read and I am only a few pages in but already refreshed by good, wholesome truths.

“…..I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11

Wow, wait a minute, contentment can be learned. This fills me with hope, and a strong desire to learn, learn, learn! As Christians, God can and will infuse us with the strength we need to face each moment of every day and will teach us everything we need to know. Isn’t it encouraging that we got this far? I’m done with “chasing happy”, from now on I am going to “chase contentment”.

“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” 2 Corinthians 4:17 NLT

I am excited about my new book and if you want to read along, too, it is by Linda Dillow and titled Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman’s Guide to Finding Contentment (I am sure men would enjoy it, too). 🙂 I am reading it on my kindle with a pencil and notebook.

***

A poem I came across recently:

What God Hath Promised

God hath not promised
Skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways
All our lives through;
God hath not promised
Sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow,
Peace without pain.

But God hath promised
Strength for the day,
Rest for the labor,
Light for the way,
Grace for the trials,
Help from above,
Unfailing sympathy,
Undying love.

Annie Johnson Flint

****

A craft to do with the children

Like homemade play dough, homemade bean bags are a quick and easy thing to do with the children and are all the better for being made by our own six (more or less) hands. Seth and Sarah had a fun time choosing their own fabric from my bin of scraps, and I even let Seth press the sewing machine “foot” (scary) to sew his own.

We kept making them until the beans ran out.

Sethers was still in his cozy pajamas. I love those darling bare feet.

We ended up with six colorful little bean bags to throw around.

This one was my favorite, as you can see I got fancy with the stitching on this one, too. Mushrooms!

Sarah’s favorites were the baby blue/pink rose ones. She told me she didn’t like the mushroom one.

Watch out! They are about to let them fly.

“just to be alive is a grand thing”

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Shanda

a simply lovely life

“But there was something more {to his experience} which he felt, but could not express, sights and scents and sounds of which he could only say: ‘It seems to get hold of you like, somehow.'” Flora Thompson, in Lark Rise to Candleford

….”it is in the smallest details that the flavor of life is savored.” Sarah Ban Breathnach, in Simple Abundance

“Open the eyes of my heart Lord, open the eyes of my heart. I want to see You.”

This morning I sat in the recliner by the window, under a lamp, and spent some time (the best time) in the Word of God, reading Ephesians and a Charles Spurgeon devotional, Evening and Morning.

As I was reading, the children were quietly buzzing about, playing and fighting a little, too (over toys).

I was blessed by Sarah’s face as she sat back and looked at the pink plastic necklace she put around my neck, her eyes were adorably thoughtful and considering.

I thought about the Holy Spirit and how God moves like wind, blowing life into dead hearts, stirring them up to begin to think of him, a miracle of soul-work. A man shared his salvation story in church on Sunday and broke down as he told us the sacred memory of the desire he heard in his mind for the very first time “READ THE BIBLE, READ THE BIBLE” until he finally obeyed and went to the mall to find one, and buy it. The Word was like a dagger into his heart, telling him clearly who he was, and what he needed, which was Jesus Christ to save and comfort him, to take his burdens away and give him rest, finally rest, for his weary soul.

I read this morning Spurgeon’s words to the sinking Christian, and how we find our refuge in the humble act of PRAYER. Oh what a comfort to simply go to Him with all our troubles, knowing that He hears and helps in such amazing ways. If only we had eyes to see all that He truly does for His own loved and cherished children.

“The fox hies to its hole for protection; the bird flies to the wood for shelter; and even so the tried believer hastens to the mercy seat for safety. Heaven’s great harbor of refuge is All-prayer; thousands of weather-beaten vessels have found a haven there, and the moment a storm comes on, it is wise for us to make for it with all sail.”

“Immediately a keen sense of danger forces an anxious cry from us the ear of Jesus hears, and with him ear and heart go together, and the hand does not long linger. At the last moment we appeal to our Master, but His swift hand makes up for our delays by instant and effectual action. Are we nearly engulfed by the boisterous waters of affliction? Let us then lift up our souls unto the Savior, and we may rest assured that He will not suffer us to perish. When we can do nothing Jesus can do all things; let us enlist His powerful aid upon our side, and all will be well.” Charles Spurgeon

so much to be thankful for;

Jacob cleaned the kitchen the other day, he cleaned it spotless, and one of his techniques was to take the everlasting four inch pile of mail, school papers, and other papers and put it in my bedroom with this label on top. LOL

It seems so strange to have flowers coming up in a “hot spot” in the flower beds. They do this every year in January and it’s amazing to see how they get covered in snow again, and frozen, but still come up and blossom prettily in the spring.

The chickens had a happy couple of days with milder temperatures and laid a few extra eggs for us.

I took a freshly baked berry cobbler to our Bible study brunch yesterday. Recipe here.

I just love the look of ice on the pond. We have another rainy day today but it was nice to see a peek of the blue sky yesterday.

If I do say so myself, I knocked one out of the park yesterday at dinnertime. I made fluffy cornmeal dinner rolls from a cookbook that Aunt Mary gave me years ago. (please be advised, if you try the recipe, I had to add more milk (increase amount to 1 cup), this dough needs to stay somewhat sticky and soft in order for the rolls to be fluffy. I used my kitchenaid to knead the dough.)

And a big huge pot of homemade chicken noodle soup.

Darling Caleb, scraping up the last of his (third) bowl of soup made by mother.

contentment.

“I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.” Agatha Christie

“And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:5

God bless all those who pass through here today, I pray that you have a gentle, serene day in the Lord, no matter what trials come your way. You are loved.

ice and rain and orchids in january

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Shanda

In January
its so nice
while slipping
on the sliding ice
to sip hot chicken soup
with rice. Maurice Sendak

So far in this month of newness, we have had deep freezing temperatures suited for ice skating, snow to make us stay at home, and now…..rain.

January is a time to rest after the holidays, and a time to talk about the weather.

Sarah herself says that today is a fine day and I quite agree. When we went out to the chicken coop we were quite happy to get rained upon. It was ridiculous and made us laugh. Rain in January?

In other news, we have orchids blooming in my bathroom. Rich bought me these last year and I am just thrilled that they grew new branches and blossomed. There are five big magenta blooms and it amazed me to see them uncurl from their buds. Imagine trying to fold them back in? God is truly a master designer, my son David works so hard to make an origami masterpiece out of a flat sheet of paper…..God takes a seed, which grows into a green leaf and stalk, and a bud, and the flower UNFOLDS ITSELF from it just perfectly! And that’s just the basic explanation, there is much more to it as we all learned so well, in science class.

Yesterday morning’s frosty ice.

“Hast thou entered into the treasure of the snow?” book of Job

It was so beautiful by the stream, doesn’t this look like melting candles flowing into a wax puddle? or a cow udder?

I saw this beautiful bare foot sight this weekend….Grace was playing songs for the little ones on the computer, songs from the movie “Frozen” that Rich and I took the girls to see.

Sarah’s been wearing her fanciest dresses at home and I say, “yes”, because life is short and tiny girls grow out of little fancy dresses eventually.

I love feathering my nest……

I found this tea towel yesterday. It’s just right.

My ring came back today!!!!!!! ( from Rich for Christmas, I had to get a smaller size)

My pantry.

“You overflow my cup.” lyric from a worship song by Audrey Assad.

My darlings painted the most beautiful pictures this morning.

Sarah played on my bed with the new bunnies.

She wanted to keep them but I said these bunnies live on mommy’s bed, this is their country, but you can visit them.

Hot chicken and noodles, a wonderful dinner for a January evening.

Candlelight.

I absolutely positively cannot believe it’s raining today!

Quote from today: “Seth I just burped, did you hear that Seth, I burped.” ~Sarah, who thought he would be proud.

opening presents

Posted on December 26, 2013 by Shanda

Then let us all rejoice again,
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
Then let us all rejoice again,
On Christmas Day in the morning.

Sentimentality hit hard on Christmas Eve, after we placed the gifts under the tree and stuffed the stockings we sat in our rockers in front of the fire thinking about the children and how fast they were growing. Thinking about our grandparents and how they are all gone now. Thinking about each other, how happy and content we are in our love and wanting time to slow down and last forever, but knowing it won’t, it can’t.

In these moments, we always come back to the same truth: to determine to savor the NOW and enjoy the days as they happen, as gifts from God, which is what they truly are.

I got up at 6 to find … Jacob, Ethan, Grace, and Seth all awake and waiting for the rest of the family. I was laughing from the first, with the discovery that the older siblings were just as excited as the rest of the children. Caleb and David woke up at 6:30 and we all called, “Sarah!” to wake up the littlest one. She stepped carefully down the stairs to us, with sleepy eyes and crazy morning hair. Still little enough to be a tad confused about all the fuss.

After working on wrapping each and every gift, I was bound and determined not to miss a single child’s face when they opened it. David passed out the presents and we all watched as that person opened it. At first they were a little shy about all the attention (16 eyes upon them) but they quickly warmed up and forgot about being self-conscious.

The faces.

Those darling eyes revealing wonder and expectation.

Sweet joy filling the room, in the giving and receiving.

And then, the beautiful mess.

The children fled to the new addition to put together lego sets and play with dolls, leaving the cat alone amongst all the wrappings, and a mama upstairs, camera aimed down with full heart, thankful for the day, CHRISTmas day, and a family to love with everything within me.

{this moment}

Image

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. inspired by soulemama

family working weekend

Posted on November 21, 2013 by Shanda

Hello, dear friends, today has dawned bright and nippy cold. I am glad to be inside, tucked under blankets by the window, with sunshine pouring through and Little Bear the movie playing on the tv. Seth and Sarah are still in their warm pajamas, Seth with a Bionicle in his hands, and Sarah with her beloved blankie.

Wednesdays are a very full day for us, with a dash out the door (after lunches, baths, and helter-scelter) to drive to Community Bible Study, where there are children’s classes for Seth and Sarah, and a continuing study in Deuteronomy for myself. I facilitate a small group, and then the classes go to the auditorium for a fabulous teaching time with Annie. I have come to love Wednesdays because of the time I can spend with other believers, with so many other women of all walks of life.

After CBS was over (at 2:30), we went to Costco to stock up on lunch supplies. I put Sarah Joy in the cart and proceeded to shop and keep track of adventurous Seth at the same time. We ended with a cart as full as it could possibly be. I caught myself complaining that I had to do a Costco trip to my friends at Bible Study, and my heart was convicted, how dare I complain when I should be praying thankgiving to God for my husband’s job, and the fact that I CAN EVEN GO TO COSTCO in the first place………….

When I got home, Grace and Caleb unloaded the groceries and helped put them away. I poured meatballs and sauce into the crockpot and set it to “high” and then enjoyed the children. We watched an old episode of “Reading Rainbow” on amazon prime, and before I knew it, it was time to get Jacob and Ethan from school. Ethan had stayed after for a test, and Jacob had football practice.

We had dinner, Rich had to work late, and when he came home he found me on the couch with Dave, Caleb, Seth and Sarah cuddled up next to me. I was reading aloud, and trying to stay awake. 🙂

Quotes from books (titles at the end of post) do you recognize them?

“This is a long tall mountain. And you are the last car on the train.”

“One day Granny Annie made a pancake so light and fluffy it floated right off the skillet.”

“Billy was a little boy who loved horses more than anything else in the world.”

“On the fourth day, the squirrels brought six fat, black beetles for Mr. Brown. They had wrapped each beetle in a leaf fastened with a pin made from a pine needle.”

“When the crowd saw that Harry was a dog, they gasped. They could hardly believe their eyes. All at once Harry began to jump higher than ever.”

Our cat Sherlock was so funny the other day, I had never had a cat sleep on my lap like this.

Seth has been difficult lately, just a very busy and not-really-meaning-it but very mischievous little boy. So much so that we couldn’t leave him home with the others on date night, he had to come along so we could keep an eye on him. He sat by me at dinner and when I asked Rich to take our picture, Seth turned to me with a smile, got ever closer, put his tiny arm around me……oh, and my heart melted, all was forgiven in his honest love.

Ethan came home from school on Monday and made mousse, yes mousse, completely from scratch.

Our overflowing with food-blessings, cart at Costco yesterday. Can you spy, with your little eye, a silly Sarah hiding?

So, on Sunday, we felt some guilt because we stayed home from church. Rich had rented a log splitter for the weekend and he needed to get his full use out of it so it was a family work weekend. Both Saturday and Sunday were spent trying to catch up on things around the house.

Seth, washing windows

We made a list of things that had to get done. Rich hung up curtains, and Ethan’s shelf that he made at school finally got hung. It was a proud moment for E and he promptly put his dirty sneakers on it.

They stayed for the day and then were removed and I put a picture of Ethan there, instead of the shoes.

David washing windows.

Caleb used the granite cleaner; he was thrilled to discover we have granite countertops, as he is learning about rocks and minerals at school. He loved making the counters shine (wearing a cape from Halloween).

Wood work

David and Caleb trying to get my sympathy.

I think he is so handsome; a quick little love story: the other day, I don’t know why but I asked him as we cuddled on the couch, “Rich, what made you fall in love with me and know for sure you wanted to spend your whole life with me?” He said, “Well, at first it was your long black hair, beautiful legs, and gorgeous body. Then……………it was your long black hair, beautiful legs, and gorgeous body.” He was laughing, and I laughed too, knowing that he was only half-teasing. MEN!

Ethan with the axe.

And Jacob with the log splitter run by motor; this was so amazing to watch…the log, put in place by Jake, gets “pinched” with a wedge-end and it cracks down the length. Most logs were so big that he had to run the same log’s pieces through it several times to get the right size for the fireplace. It hums along, loud but not too loud, and I found myself standing and staring, it was soothing in a way, and I think Jacob enjoyed it, too.

He wore out his gloves.

and drank mountain dew.

Ethan getting ready for another swing.

Oh yeah that’s what I’m talking about!

Time for a snack of Mom’s homemade bread!

He did end up stealing the end of the loaf from the picnic table. So mad.

Rich thought I was funny perched importantly on my log and took the camera from me.

Caleb

Yes, even Grace was put to work.

After they had a bucket full, Rich and Ethan drove it to the back of the garage to stack.

Rich wanted to get it all split, but at 3:30 I went outside to ~~beg~~ order him to please stop. Ethan was relieved, but Jacob had a hard time stopping, too. It was a very productive weekend.

The Little Red Caboose, by Marian Potter

The Jolly Pancake, by Donald Charles

Billy and Blaze, by C.W. Anderson

The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin (an adaption) by Beatrix Potter

Harry by the Sea, by Gene Zion

********

Thank you for stopping by the old blog and I hope each of you has a wonderful day. My older children have a half day at school so it will be nice to see them earlier for a change. I’ve been convicted about COMPLAINING and “bragging” about HOW BUSY I am, so if you would be so kind as to keep me in your prayers for these attitude adjustments? Thank you, dears.

God bless any and all who read this today.

You are loved.

weekend pics picked by the picker of pics

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Shanda

I take too many pictures. But if you only knew how many pictures I want to take……… Photography has become a sort of love language for me. I love my life, my children, my surroundings, nature, and home. I can’t help but keep the camera ready. And on days when I DON’T love my life, if I just start “shooting” my mood lifts and I realize, oh yes, contentment.

I stumbled out of bed Saturday morning to the sight of three of my boys all cozy in the livingroom watching a cartoon. Caleb with the big cable knit down-filled pillow and the flannel patchwork quilt (I made). Seth on the floor with his pillow, blankets, and cat. Sarah, later on, with her book.

My heart was joyful; my husband was finally coming home from a long seven days in Jamaica. He, Jacob, and Ethan were there together with a Mission’s Team from church, a whole group of people went to do preaching, children’s VBS, ladies Bible studies, and anything else they could do. Last week was good for us here at home, but always in my heart was an empty spot, a worried part that just wanted my husband and teen boys home again.

So, Saturday was a day of waiting for them to pull in the driveway and step through the door. Little did I know they wouldn’t be back until 11pm, but in the morning I had believed it would be 7pm and even those hours seemed to stretch out ahead of me like a mountain to climb. What to do? I decided to take the children to the diner (five minutes away) for breakfast, which is where Grace and I became interested in tongue twisters. There were several on the paper placemats and I used my phone to look up more, we were roaring with laughter as I read them to her.

Two of our favorites were:

Luke Luck likes lakes. Luke’s duck likes lakes. Luke Luck licks lakes. Luck’s duck licks lakes. Duck takes licks in lakes Luke Luck likes. Luke Luck takes licks in lakes duck likes. (from Dr. Seuss’ Fox in Socks)

and:

One-one was a race horse.
Two-two was one too.
One-one won one race.
Two-two won one too.

English Tongue Twisters (try this site) it’s great fun.

Sarah’s hair was bothering me. On a regular basis, it looked like a wild mess. She has very thin hair, and had never had it cut, so the ends were uneven. I got it into my head to take her to get it cut. After our diner breakfast, I dropped Grace off at the end of our road with Seth and Caleb and told them to walk home (only a quarter mile or so) and drove away, smiling at big sister holding hands and walking with her brothers. I took David and Sarah on with me to the hair salon to get trims.

((I wish I had pictures of her in the chair on my lap)) She was so adorable and got about 3 inches trimmed off.

David was next in the chair and then, even though it was only about 40 degrees with a wind chill of about 30, they begged to go to the playground at the school next door and I said yes.

David (11) and Sarah (3)

By the time we left I was cold to the bone (but, if you noticed, David had run around enough to actually get hot and want to take his shoes off! he’s crazy)

I was cold so it was doubly wonderful to go home, put the younger ones down for naps, and make a fire. With Rich away, I was able to do it myself for the first time this week. This is our first home with a real fire place (we have a wood pellet insert in our other fire place) and we.love.it. The smell of wood and smoke, the sound of the fire crackling and popping, the heat…it’s bliss.

Old, old fire. When I stare into it, I can imagine I am in any other place or time in History. There is something so very basic and unifying about a fire, it touches something deep down good to the soul. I’m Anne, warming her hands. I’m Lucy in Narnia, falling asleep. I’m Laura on the prairie eating pancakes with molasses. I’m my great-great-great grandmother, busily working.

(give thanks banner and marble run; both from pottery barn)

This is where I sat for the rest of the weekend (every chance I could get, that is)……..right in front of the fire. Reading, of course.

When I got up to make dinner, Seth took my spot. I made spaghetti for the children and used half the pasta to do up my own yummy dish:

Pasta with Garlicky Greens and Beans

1 T. olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 small red pepper, diced
1 bunch kale, washed and chopped, with stems removed
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 T. balsamic vinegar
1 pound ziti pasta
2 cans cannellini beans, drained
1/2 cup Romano cheese, grated
Freshly ground black pepper

In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add garlic and red bell pepper and sauté for about 2 minutes. Don’t let the garlic brown. Add greens and cook another minute. Now add broth and vinegar and cover pan and cook until greens are wilted, about 5 minutes. In the meantime, get your water started for the pasta and cook according to package directions, drain, and set aside.

After greens have cooked, add the drained beans and incorporate. Now add the pasta and toss gently to mix. Serve with grated Romano and some freshly ground black pepper on top.

FROM: Saving Dinner, by Leanne Ely

my kitchen

anthropologie mushroom salt and pepper shakers hiding amongst my houseplants

“Let me just forget and just giggle with them, and leave apples lying around the house with just a couple of bites taken out, and fly with the winds of now…….” Tessa Kiros

(there are also legos tucked away in her shoes)

chocolate cookie baking

Sunday afternoon sunshine

old pumpkin moonshine sinking into the garden bed

relaxing with our coffees on Sunday afternoon ((welcoming him home))

Thankful for:

chocolate cheerios
blossoms on the geranium
coloring books and crayons in a fiestaware bowl
the memory game
tracing paper
cooking books
play dough and cookie cutters
sunshine
banana bread and walnuts for breakfast
coffee in my new mug from Jamaica
a whole day ahead of me to love and enjoy with the people I love most of all

and, verses:

Worry weighs a person down, an encouraging word cheers a person up. Proverbs 12:25

Your home is secure; your nest is set in the rocks. Numbers 24:21

Live as children of light (for the fruit of light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Ephesians 5:8

For thou, O God, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. Psalms 86:5