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.
{this moment}
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from Laura Ingalls Wilder
It’s the day before Thanksgiving. The weather is mild with rain in all forms; steady and pounding with big fat drops and rushing downspouts from the corners of the house, or as it is now; a fine, fine misty rain. I need to go to the chicken coop this morning and will soon have rain-wet hair.
Rich is working from home today and is in his new corner office in the addition with a fire going. Later on we plan on *one last shopping trip* before tomorrow. I need EGGS of all things. The hens haven’t been laying much these days. He wants to go to Panera for lunch.
I’m washing some of the couch cushion covers, we have a dog and three cats and I hate the thought of the house smelling like animals…..the cushions are now all over the livingroom from Seth and Sarah making forts. The dryer is going.
I’ve started the kitchen work. Rich helped me scrub the counters and I made the base for my orange tapioca salad. Once it cools I will fold in the whipped cream. I boiled a package of ring pasta to make seafood salad, as close to Grandma’s recipe as possible (she didn’t write it down). Oh how I miss family at this time of year and the way things used to be.
It’s hard to believe at times that I’m all grown up and making dinners like this for my little children and nieces and nephews. Within 10 years, I will probably be a grandmother myself. When I think of the children, all the cooking and cleaning is worth it because I know we are building lifelong memories for them. Some of my memories of holidays as a child include so many LITTLE things; I found delight in the label maker we got to use for putting our names on the plastic cups, and sitting on the bar stools with Colleen and David to eat our plates of food, spinning back and forth now and then. The holiday punch bowl. That was fun and so delicious. I’m hoping to find a bigger punch bowl today at the mall.
I’m thankful for my parents. My mom’s cooking. She will be here tomorrow to help cook, she is the expert. I’m hoping she will do the gravy. It’s not something I enjoy doing. Ethan hopes Grandpa will bring his guitar so they can play together.
I was reading Little House in the Ozarks this morning and thought I would share a quote from Laura:
The season is over, the rush and struggle of growing and saving the crops is past for another year, and the time as come when we pause and reverently give thanks for the harvest. For it is not to our efforts alone that our measure of success is due; but to the life principle in our earth and the seed, to the sunshine and to the rain–to the goodness of God.
We may not be altogether satisfied with the year’s results, and we can do a terrific amount of grumbling when we take the notion. But I am sure we all know in our hearts that we have a great deal for which to be thankful. In spite of disappointment and weariness and perhaps sorrow, His goodness and mercy does follow us all the days of our lives.
As the time approaches when we shall be called upon by proclamation to give thanks, we must decide whether we shall show our thankfulness only by overeating at the Thanksgiving feast. That would seem a rather curios way to show gratitude-simply to grasp greedily what is given!
When a neighbor does us a favor, we show our appreciation of it by doing him a favor in return. Then when the Lord showers favors upon us, how much more should we try to show our gratitude in such ways acceptable to Him, remembering always the words of Christ, “Inasmuch as ye have done I unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
Laura Ingalls Wilder in “Thanks for the Harvest” 1921
Happy Thanksgiving!
and overflowing with thankfulness
Glorify the Lord with me
let us exalt His name together. Psalms 34:3
(brother dave on vacation in jamaica)
Hello my friends! We had such a good old ordinary weekend and I feel rested and recharged. Hope you do, too.
I usually do a “this moment” post on Fridays but didn’t get around to it the other day so here is my picture:
Brother Dave surprised me with a card and a giftcard to Starbucks. Thank you, my brother and friend, I love you! I only wish I could go to the Starbucks WITH you.
Gracie took this picture of our almost full grown kittens, in the sock basket. Poor Sammie (the black) got caught behind the oil tank on Friday night, the kids heard her yowling. When Jacob tried to get her unstuck, she bit and scratched him so Rich had to do it. She’s still limping around today. Sherlock has to play by himself but they can still snuggle together.
So what are your plans for Thanksgiving? We are having it here at our place with my parents, Amanda and Jason with their children, Nate and Melissa with theirs, a friend of Amanda’s, and brother Isaac. I am going to make a big list today and get busy on organization……also, praying hard that the weather isn’t too bad for travel on that day.
I love Thanksgiving; giving thanks is a regular spiritual practice for believers, and it’s lovely to have a special day simply devoted to praising God and counting blessings. It’s amazing how, in giving thanks, God fills up our souls with contentment. Last night I took out some old homeschooling materials and did dictation/copy work with the boys. Jacob said, “I want to do it, too!” so he joined in, even though he was already doing homework. It was fun.
Seth (the four year old) was inspired by all the writing.
He told me to write, “Dear Grandma” on it, and he pointed his finger to where I was to write.
This was taken early Saturday morning. I was sitting in the rocking chair all alone, when Caleb stumbled into the room. He was still half asleep and wanted to be by me. He tried to get in the chair with me but there was no room so he walked over to the other rocker, picked it up, and carried it all the way over to place it as close to me as possible. It was just the most precious act of love from him (8 years old) that I asked Rich to take our photo.
Seth asked if he could sit over by Michael during church and I said “yes”. Jacob was there, too. Mike took this picture of him during the prayer before offering……he wasn’t as angelic for the entire service, however. He’s a Seth.
Grace was going to sing in her school chorus at a church in town yesterday. I took her early to practice, it was so very cold and windy that the town lost power and I had to go right back down to get her, the service had been cancelled. We never lost power at our house, though, it was cozy and warm and Rich ordered a pizza for dinner. These are the days of party sized pizzas that get entirely eaten by seven healthy , growing children with big appetites.
(Ethan S, how is your ankle??)
I put on winter garb this morning to tend to the hens.
The sun was coming up, shining on the now icy ponds.
Ice in the stream, the air was icy cold, too. I took this photo with red and stiffening fingers.
Inside the house, Sherlock found the sunshine.
Cats are the best.
Every good and perfect gift
is from above,
coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,
who does not change
like shifting shadows. James 1:17
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,
continue to live in Him,
rooted and built up in Him,
strengthened in the faith as you were taught,
and overflowing with thankfulness. Colossians 2:6-7
PS. Seth just said longingly to me, “I wish I had fur, Mom.”
Perhaps when he’s a man, he can grow some on his chin like Uncle Dave!
(image via pinterest)
family working weekend
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.
grace in plays
(grace as a gypsy)
I’ve been blogging about Grace since she was 7, and now here she is at 14, a freshman in High School and member of drama. She is thriving in her new activities (she is also in writing club, and a singing group) and most evenings she does not get home from school until 6-6:30pm.
As far as Drama goes, a friend signed her up for it as a surprise, and Grace was scared. But once she got involved and started practicing, she fell in love. She memorized lines all summer long, and has been practicing with the cast since school started.
We were able to see both productions this weekend. Friday night was “Babes in Toyland” and Saturday night was “The Secret Garden.” They were performed dinner theatre style; the audience got to watch the play while being served dinner by students from other musical departments. We were so proud of all of them.
BABES IN TOYLAND
The tables were decorated with little cards that said, “Come live our fairy tale. Open your mind and see. You may never return again. Hold onto the dream. Come with us, fly away. Don’t look back, fly away. Once you grow up and say farewell to the dream.” So I was pretty much already crying before the play began.
We were served baked chicken, french fries, and corn on the cob. Rich and I took Jacob with us, who ate far more than anyone else at table (he had come from football practice). At one point, he accidently threw his plastic fork. I’ve come to realize that kids of all ages do strange things, you can’t trust any of them in public. LOL (Rich would say the same about their mother)…….
Back to Grace.
Grace had several small parts, and it was fun to see her in the costumes.
There was a stage on both ends of the cafeteria.
(grace in blue dress, school girl; fourth from the left in front row) This was during the song that goes “This is much too hard for me, I can’t do the sum.”
(Grace as a spider, on far left)
(Grace as an adorable, hard working Elf)
(I had to mend the skirt, she ripped out a good four inches on both seams, during rehearsal.)
(Grace as a serious soldier, second from left).
********
THE SECRET GARDEN
Grace was cast as Mrs. Medlock, a very stern housekeeper, with lots of lines and singing, too!
Rich and I took Ethan with us, and Grace’s church Youth Group leaders came; Seth and Jessica, along with two youth group teen boys, Ethan and Jimmy. We had a nice table full of friends to enjoy her performance, but the sentimentality was a little much for the boys at times.
The place cards didn’t help them: “There’s a Secret Garden within each of us. Here is a key to help you unlock the beauty within you. Thank you for coming to the show. We hope you leave with love in your heart.” This came complete with a lovely ribbon strung with a tiny key to take home. I thought it was absolutely precious, but the teen boys? You can imagine the fun they had with them as we waited for the play to begin.
I was thankful to be seated next to Jess, imagine being at a table full of boys/men during The Secret Garden. LOL
Anyway, back to Grace. She was brilliant!
(Grace as Mrs. Medlock, the mean lady!)
(discussing spoiled little Mary Lennox with maid)
(grace, right, holding flowers)
We got to the school half an hour early and still ended up at a table in the very back, I was using my zoom lens to take pictures. Grace had many, many lines and a few solos, too, complete with choreography. She never mentioned to us how big her part was, and I was just so thrilled for her.
She wore a whistle, and used it, too. Made me want to get one for my refereeing motherly moments. 🙂
Taking her bow, alone.
last bows, with group
at our table, eating a cookie; happy, tired, and relieved!
******
What a feeling, to see a production through to the end, and experience the pride and joy of a job well done.
She has some time off for a few weeks, and then, in December she will audition for a part in “Singing in the Rain.”
{this moment}
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
rose fiesta mugs
Gentle candlelight,
a brother,
a sister,
hot chocolate, cooled down for them with cream,
and rose fiesta mugs.
((love))
the season’s first
The north wind doth blow
and we shall have snow,
and what shall poor robin do then?
poor thing?
He’ll sit in a barn
and keep himself warm
and hide his head under his wing,
poor thing.
nursery rhyme
in honor of
our first snow
11.12.13
weekend pics picked by the picker of pics
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
{this moment}
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. (soulemama)
Good to be Home 