{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.
{this moment} surprise delivery
5
snow (it’s the little things)
With an old scarf around my head keeping the hair off my face, and a wooden spoon in my hand, I opened the door to let out a cat. Sarah and I were in the kitchen making Christmas cookies.
I had determined to have a quieter day. We had a pleasant snow fall in the night but not enough to keep the children home from school. Ethan had a dentist appointment at 8:50 so Sarah and I left to pick him up…..while the snow continued to gently fall.
The many tracks in the driveway, made by the family I love, made me smile. So much activity belonging to the special boys and girls in my life. My husband’s truck tracks meant that he was already at work, making an early start so that he could get back to coach wrestling later at the High School.
At the end of our road, I stopped to take a picture of the farmer’s cows in the snowy field.
In town, Sarah and I both admired the ivy growing up brick buildings. She asked me if we could grow them on our house.
Ethan didn’t have a coat on and shivered as we made our way to the car. “Why on earth didn’t you wear a coat?” I asked. “Because! I don’t have any classes outside, Mom!” (obviously!)
Ethan is the one child that I nag the most about brushing his teeth. It’s become sort of a family joke although Ethan himself may not think it is funny anymore.
He had zero cavities!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He is in wrestling now at school and had to get his official weight taken today. I couldn’t even tempt him to a small hot chocolate after his cleaning. I took him back to school.
By that time it was only 9:30 so Sarah and I went to the Thrift shop and spent two dollars on some rubber stamps for the children to play with, a few books, & an ornament.
We walked hand in hand to the car, over the railroad tracks. When we got there, I noticed that the snowflakes were falling from the sky as pretty as a picture on top of Sarah’s pigtailed head.
In the parking lot by the town offices I stood with my camera, taking careful close ups of Sarah’s head and my own arm! I had to laugh when I realized what I was doing in public…..but the magic of it all…..
God is so good to me! I didn’t want to leave my cozy house this morning and when I remembered Ethan’s appointment I had groaned. But, in the midst of running these common errands of motherhood I was given yet another opportunity to see the simple beauty of a day I would have missed if I stayed inside.
It is the life of the crystal,
the architect of the flake,
the fire of the frost,
the soul of the sunbeam.
This crisp winter air is full of it.
~John Burroughs
How many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose,
if there were no winter in our year! ~Thomas Wentworth Higginson
*****
We drove home and my mind was on the snowflakes and William Bentley.
If you’ve never taken a picture of an individual snowflake I encourage you to try it!
I meandered around the yard and our cat Sherlock tried following me across the ice on the pond and fell right in the water. It was rather shocking for us both. He swam back out quickly, which was a good thing because I was on the other side of the pond.
This is Billy-Cat.
Two fresh eggs were waiting for me in the chicken coop.
Sherlock was very busy on the porch, trying to clean the water off his fur.
Sarah was already inside and we fried up the eggs and shared them for a snack.
And then we read the books we had found at the Thrift store.
Under a soft, warm, electric blanket, we learned that “Q is for quiet times”……
And were inspired to be as kind as the shoemaker and his wife.
Best of all, we decided to make Christmas cookies, after a cozy nap.
While the oven was still hot, I mixed up a banana bread. I read on allrecipes.com that if you wrap up your *hot from the oven* quick bread in foil, it will steam itself cool and become nice and moist.
This entire morning *after the children left for school* has been a “no TV” day and the quietness of the house has been wonderful.
There is something about snow falling down outside to make a day seem so peaceful.
madrigal feast
Good day to you. It is drizzling cold rain outside and as a matter of fact, the children had a two our delay from school this morning because of icy conditions…… and, it was quite the morning, let me tell you. There was a flurry of activity as the children did their best to enjoy the extra hours. They are now gone to school and Sarah is playing in her room, so I have a few moments to give a report on the Madrigal Feast.
The music director at our local High School has put on a weekend of Madrigal Feasts for the last 28 years. Grace was involved for the first time last year, as a Freshman, and I was so impressed by it that this year I bought tickets for Rich and I, plus Grace’s six siblings. The tickets were 15 dollars a piece and the kids perform three times over the weekend to a packed house. It is a great fundraiser for the music program, and they also donate money to a local charity. The first two Feasts were in the evenings. Rich and I went on the third day, Sunday afternoon, to avoid having the children out late.
On Sunday afternoon, while Rich (I love him) conveniently fell asleep and took a nap on the couch, I got the four younger children looking presentable.
Here is darling Sarah, all dressed up in her little dress, white tights, matching shoes, and itchy hair band.
After the 10 minute drive to school in the backseat with her brothers, she looked like this:
I mean, you just have to laugh, right? I took the itchy hair band off the poor girl and then everything was fine.
When we arrived at the door to the cafeteria, where the feast took place, we told the doorman our name and they called out in a loud fanfare, “The ‘Smith’ Party has arrived!” (only they used the correct last name; our last name is not Smith, by the way) and in we marched through two columns of choir children, to our assigned table.
We each had a name card at our place, where a salad and fruit plate were waiting for us. I sat in between Seth and Caleb. Seth did everything in his chair but stand on his head, but it was nice for the most part. David became cold and had no coat. Jacob kept making eyes at his girlfriend.
Grace and the rest of the choir were singing up front all during the salad course. I felt shy, so I asked if one of the children could walk up to take a nice picture. Seth was the only volunteer. Thank you, Seth!
When the singers filed past our table I took a quick picture of Grace, using the flash. LOL Ethan.
There was a wonderful song all about wassail. Every member of our table asked me what wassail was, including my husband, who was in attendance last year and should have remembered that it is a nonalcoholic hot cider drink served in a punch bowl.
Seth had three glasses of wassail and two full glasses of water, consequently he had to use the bathroom several times and was also too full to eat his feast.
The number of wonderful songs being sung one after another were like a lullaby to Sarah.
We ate chicken, stuffing, a baked potato, bread, and mixed vegetables. For dessert there was chocolate cake with cherries and whipped cream. As we ate, the choir performed beautiful songs, skits, dances, and jokes for our entertainment. There was a king and queen, a group of wenches, a jester, and so on….we were to imagine that we were in old time London.
In this picture, on the far left, you can see a door with a sign, “face painting”, which is where Seth was taken to sit and have his face painted like Spiderman (his choice).
Also, this is the picture I took during the final verse of “Silent Night”, when our Grace stood front and center to perform sign language.
There were many, many items raffled off. David had put tickets in several jars, trying to win things, but when he discovered that the winners had to go up front to claim their prize and perhaps do something embarrassing, he hoped and prayed he would NOT win. (he didn’t).
OVER TWO HOURS later, the feast was over. I had thoughtfully volunteered Rich to help tear down the sets so we hung around for another hour or so, until the cafeteria was a cafeteria again.
Mrs. Jones, the choir director (not her real name) is an AMAZING woman, so strong and capable, the children respect and adore her. She wrote a little poem about each and every senior and had it read in their honor…provoking tears from every mother’s eye. Grace is her assistant this year and she made sure to tell me how much she appreciates Grace and her work ethic.
I can’t begin to tell you all the little ways Mrs. Jones makes the feast special for everyone involved. It truly amazes me.
After the performance, every photographer took pictures of their children. 🙂
The yearly groups form a close bond and Grace was thrilled to see graduating students return to visit;
LOL Jacob (far right)
I took the little ones out to the hall and sat as they ran around, waiting for the clean up to be over.
I had to laugh by the end of the evening I had a huge stack of coats, purses, shoes, etc, in front of me on the table to “watch” for the kids……
Spiderman!! (make up remover wipes took it off just fine)
This was embarrassing. David, my magician, came to me with this plastic tie around his wrists and asked me to tighten it for him. Even though my inner motherly instincts were screaming “NO DON’T DO IT” I tightened it. “More than that, mom”. Okay, I tightened it more, as per his request. Well, he thought he could use magic to break free, but it never happened…..as he struggled, another mom came by to say hello to me, and to my horror, noticed Dave whose hands were turning an unnatural shade of pink, “Oh, that’s not good, David, you shouldn’t have that on your wrists.” “It’s MY MOM’S FAULT,” he replied, “She’s the one who did it.” Nice, Dave, nice. We finally found some scissors and Emily cut it off.
It was eventually time to leave and we all left like a herd, 10 of us, a big family full of never ending excitement, the stressful kind AND the good kind. Deep in my heart I appreciate each and every moment with these people.
We went home and decorated the tree (pictured in the previous blog entry).
*******
a proper photo, by another parent
a tree for Christmas
First, pour yourself a smooth, sweet cup of cocoa.
And gather up your favorite cat…….while I share with you, dear friend, some of our weekend happenings, namely; decking the halls with boughs of holly, and decorating the “O Christmas Tree”.
This morning, I awoke to the sound of my two youngest children arguing loudly over a cat. I was heavy with sleep as reached for the clock to look at the time. It was 6:47am. Caleb would need to leave for school in half an hour. I rolled slowly out of bed, and thankfully found the boys already dressed for the day. I served them peanut butter toast, passed out lunch money, made a cup of coffee, and after the busses came and left, I sat and looked at all the pictures we took this weekend………..
These are busy days for all of us. Some of us Moms are working on less than ideal energy. What a blessing it is to be tired yet still determined to love and nurture our families.
On Saturday, between a wrestling practice and a Christmas Ball, Rich and I had a small window of time to get our Christmas tree. We were determined to cut it down ourselves this year so we bundled up in our coats and asked the children who wanted to go with us? Out of seven children, we had two who were excited about going with us to get the tree; Seth (5) and Sarah (4). So off we went.
It was raining.
The tree farm was busy despite the rain. There were a line of cars with people tying up their trees. We couldn’t help getting excited about finding just the right tree.
It is simply amazing that we’ve been in love over the last 20 Christmases…..
We walked briskly along the rows of trees and it didn’t take long to chose one.
Just right.
“Not only green when summer’s here,
But also when ’tis cold and drear.”
While Daddy cut down the tree, Seth and Sarah ran around laughing and having a wonderful time as only 4 and 5 year olds can do.
Happily wet and muddy, our dear darling Seth. A cute note about the matching mittens; I dug through the mitten box and found two that didn’t match, yet more importantly were for the left and right hands. When we got to the truck and buckled up, Seth leaned forward with the matching black mitten (which he had discovered in the truck) and said, “Mom, you’re blind. The matching mitten is right here.”
Seth, ready to be a help, climbed up on the truck to pull the tree up with his Dad.
Then, even though I was right there ready, he insisted on jumping back down all by himself, thanks anyway Mom!
Christmas mud.
They wanted to get out while Rich returned the saw, but did you see that mud? We made them get back in.
We left the tree farm with candy canes. A few miles down the road Sarah spit hers out in my empty coffee cup, spitting and clearing her throat so much I became amused. Apparently she doesn’t like candy canes. (She doesn’t like toothpaste, either).
Points if you can name the title of my current read!
We returned home. Rich and Ethan set up our beautiful (but very wet) tree, and then Rich and I had to quickly get ready for our date. Grace left with a friend to go to school for the Madrigal Feaste, Jacob babysat the children for us, and we left the house for the evening.
And it came to pass that we decorated the tree 24 hours later, (last night).
Jacob turned on some Holiday tunes, while Emily made a Santa craft with Sarah and Seth. The children are to glue a cotton ball on his beard each day until Christmas, when his beard will by then be fluffy and white with cotton…….they loved it (thank you, Em!)
It was a flurry of chaotic activity to get the tree decorated and all too soon not soon enough, it was completed.
We followed the excitement up with early bedtime for the younger children and crashing in front of the Andy Griffith show for the rest of us. I went to bed at 9 and was asleep very shortly afterwards, thankful for another day.
******
keep calm and jingle on
xoxo
{this moment}
{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.
sweetest name I know
Let me tell you about the sweetest name I know.
Recently, a little booklet of printouts came home from school with my Kindergartener. It was titled, “Happy Holidays Throughout the World” and on page one I read this:
“Christmas is a holiday celebrated by members of the Christian faith around the world. This is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, who Christians believe is the Son of God.”
His powerful NAME IS in the schools, my friends. He is there in the printed word and in the hearts of those who love him and are serving our children as teachers and helpers. He is in the hearts of the children who trust in Him.
*****
Yesterday I took Sarah Joy to the library and we went straight to the Christmas books. I pulled the books out halfway and dear little Sarah judged them by their covers. We came home with an armful of new books to read. One of them had a picture of Santa reading a book to a lap-full of children and elves. It was titled The Christmas Book of Hope and I read it to Sarah this morning.
“His parents were sick, there was hardly any food, and no joy was found in Timothy’s house as Christmas drew near. Every night he would pray to Jesus for help, but things seemed so hopeless to Timothy……….”
“…….Later that evening, Santa came down the chimney into Timothy’s house, and sitting by the fire were Timothy and his parents. ‘Oh Santa, cried Timothy, ‘My parents are getting better! I think Jesus heard my prayers!’
In the story, one of Santa’s elves wrote Timothy a book of hope, which included this point: “Most importantly, if you believe in Jesus, God will take care of you, especially when times are bad.”
Ironically, I read in a Santa Claus book for children, pulled from our public library, the hope of the world….is Jesus.
(By the way, I don’t believe Santa is any competition for Jesus at Christmas. Jesus wins by far, which is the reason why I don’t make it my mission in life to eliminate Santa from my family at Christmas time.)
*****
I’ve recently had a few days of stress, and what the Lord impressed upon my mind most of all was that Jesus was near, He was around me, comforting me, caring for me, loving me sweetly and gently. He opened my eyes to the abundant life He has given me and I thanked Him.
When I’m stressed out I start to accuse God of not caring enough to make my problems magically vanish away. This is the worst way to deal with problems because the Bible says that everything that happens to a Christian, good or bad, is a planned and purposeful journey for the GOOD of that particular person. If I accuse God, it is treachery to the Very One Who cares for me most of all.
The belief that my faith will give me a perfectly smooth life free from trouble will only cause anxiety in my soul when the stresses of life started pulling me down, down, down.
Truly, life is hard, and there are terribly sad times in life, but the thing about faith in Christ is that He makes the hard parts supernaturally more bearable, because His grace is sufficient and His power is incredible. Jesus is made great and His name is glorified in my weaknesses. For a believer, the peace and comfort that comes from this faith is amazing and comforting. I can let go of the things I cannot control and trust God.
It’s not easy because I am not perfect and there are times of tempting when Satan wants me to doubt my Savior and give up on this beautiful life that seems so pointless at the time. But I have to correct my negative thinking to truth. A good question to ask yourself when you’re thinking a negative thought is: “What is the truth?” And answer that question honestly with the Word of God.
Never blame God for things. Thank Him for his care in your life because without Jesus we would be much much worse off. We would be on the path to certain destruction.
One of the downfalls of an affluent society is that we become spoiled and proud without even realizing it. We lose our feeling of need. My greatest need was for my sin to be washed away, and that was dealt with by the grace of God many years ago. But, personally, I am thankful as I continue to wrestle with my greatest struggles of stress and anxiety, and depression ONLY because it gives me a reason to fall on my face before Christ, ready and waiting for his arms around me to become reality in my soul again. He always tenderly cares for his precious children but how can we realize and thank Him unless we have an idea of our utter dependence?
The Bible says that Jesus said these words to His disciples: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29
I love this Scripture because so often we think we need a complex Bible Study, or theological studies that go beyond the simplicity of simply studying Christ Himself. (the study of Christ is the most profound of all.) I believe we should always start everything with a deep and appreciative look at Jesus, our Savior, our Everything.
Over the last few days, I’ve been reading an old favorite book that does an amazing job at explaining the expressions of love that Christ extends to His followers.
A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, by Phillip Keller (highly recommended)
“We live a most uncertain life. Any hour can bring disaster, danger and distress from unknown quarters. Life is full of hazards. No one can tell what a day will produce in new trouble. We live either in a sense of anxiety, fear and foreboding, or in a sense of quiet rest. Which is it?
“Generally it is the ‘unknown,’ the ‘unexpected,’ that produces the greatest panic. It is in the grip of fear that most of us are unable to cope with the cruel circumstances and harsh complexities of life. We feel they are foes which endanger our tranquility. Often our first impulse is simply to get up and run from them.
“Then in the midst of our misfortunes there suddenly comes the awareness that He, the Christ, the Good Shepherd is there. It makes all the difference. His presence in the picture throws a different light on the whole scene. Suddenly things are not half so black or nearly so terrifying. The outlook changes and there is hope. I find myself delivered from fear. Rest returns and I can relax.
“This has come to me again and again as I grow older. It is the knowledge that my Master, my Friend, my Owner has things under control even when they may appear calamitous. This gives me great consolation, repose, and rest. ‘Now I lay me down to sleep, for Thou God keepest me.’
“It is the special office work of God’s gracious Spirit to convey this sense of Christ to our fearful hearts. He comes quietly to reassure us that Christ Himself is aware of our dilemma and deeply involved in it with us. And it is in fact in this assurance that we rest and relax.”
*****
I titled this post “sweetest name I know” because even saying the very name “Jesus” is a sweet prayer of need to a believer. Jesus tenderly cares for His much-loved children. He has blessing and comfort for us, hands that reach out, no harshness, no judging, only pure and perfect love is in His eyes. His disciples leaned against his breast, and that is what we may do as well.
“Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.”
What a picture of closeness, and security!
Sometimes, to get a sense of the love Jesus has for me, I imagine the person I feel safest with next to me in the room. Who do I feel the most love and comfort from? My husband comes to my mind, my parents, trusted friends and family members who have always accepted me no matter what, who would hold and carry me through difficulties, laugh, cry, talk, care about me, ….I think of these people and then realize that Jesus loves me just as they do, but EVEN MORE, FAR MORE than we could even imagine.
There’s within my heart a melody
Jesus whispers sweet and low:
Fear not, I am with thee, peace be still,
in all of life’s ebb and flow.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
sweetest name I know,
fills my every longing,
keeps me singing as I go.
Luther Bridgers (1884-1948)
tasting goodness
“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.” Psalm 34:8
Enough snow fell on the day before Thanksgiving that the children have been able to go outside and play with their snow boards and sleds. The sunshine was so bright yesterday that it hurt my eyes.
Still, it is a pleasure to feel the cold on my face, and to breath in the fresh air.
I cautioned the children way too many times to steer AWAY from the trees and pond and road.
David lined his boots with garbage bags.
Our house sits on a hill, a hill steep enough for the children to go down……such a joy for them.
Seth threw a snow ball at his Mama.
He had gloves on that were way to big. In this family, they just grab anything and hope for the best.
Hats, mittens, and gloves stress me out.
We went for a walk around and said hello to the hens.
The children slid down the rock like it was a slide and then I think the chicken tried it, too.
David chased Billy up a tree. Billy went carefully and silently around and around to find the best way to get back down.
He is a smart cat.
Thanksgiving 2014
I planned, I shopped, I fussed, I baked, I did a hundred little things, and then…….it was over.
I am a little tired and blue today, so I decided to blog about our wonderful day, to cheer myself up.
The Lord is good.
My sister said that her heart was warmed, as David gently stirred the pot with her and talked about things.
Later, Jason told me he thought David was so smart and had an engineering type of mind.
My niece Abigail peeled potatoes with Grace. 10 pounds of potatoes.
With a cup of cheer in my hand and my handsome husband. I am so thankful for Rich. Today he caught me before I fell on the ice outside…it took me a few steps to gather my balance and he made me laugh by staying strong and saying dryly, “You okay? This is just like walking with a newborn calf that can’t get his legs under himself!”
On Thanksgiving Day, Abbie turned fourteen.
Grace and Naomi played with their Bitty Babies. Sarah’s room is still a total disaster from all the playing (searching for the doll stuff). Aren’t they adorable? I love everything about this picture.
Handsome brother Isaac, and son Jacob.
Michael came over, too, and there was a game of Monopoly that lasted for hours.
Abbie and Cassandra
My beautiful daughter Grace.
Grace practiced her french braiding skills on Aunt Cassandra.
Rich fell asleep after dinner and clean up. Jason fell asleep in the recliner, too. It’s the smart thing to do on Thanksgiving day.
The children colored with the smelly markers.
Then, it was time for birthday cake. I’m so thankful that we were able to spend the day with Abbie. She’s a beautiful young lady and we are proud of her. It was a blessing to end Thanksgiving day with birthday cake.
also remembering….
early morning phone call from brother Dave
weston got wet in the pond
we took family portraits for christmas cards
sarah wore a red ribbon
i burnt the rolls
but the pies were to die for
we lost sarah outside; it turned out she was with her brother E
aunt amanda made ethan proud of his muscles
laughing over the Andy Griffeth show
we cheered up aunt cassandra because she was sad and missing her family
rich was quiet all day until 9pm. then he went for a run and then wanted to take me out shopping. (no)
jacob dressed up in a tie
food was wonderfully good, so was the drink
seth was especially energetic and was the child most likely to get reprimanded
ending the day with a nice phone conversation with mom and dad
*****
Thanks for stopping by the blog today, friends!
You are loved.
“The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation.” Psalm 18:46
“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” Psalm 23:1
“All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness….” Psalm 25:10
attitude of gratitude
If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until it gets so ugly you can hardly bear to look at it. A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely. ~Roald Dahl
Oh Roald Dahl, you are such an interesting person. I love how you take truth and get it down our throats with a spoonful of good humor.
Here are a few little happenings that I am thankful for:
1. A morning of sunshine
Got no checkbooks, got no banks,
Still I’d like to express my thanks –
I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night.
~Irving Berlin
2. We went to the day spa, Sarah and I.
She was so fascinated by the yellow goo being squirted in my hair that I had to get out the phone and take a picture. She loves watching me get my hair done.
Rich told me to relax at the spa and I said, “Yes, but, how can I relax if I have Sarah with me?” “Oh Shan, she’s adorable! You let her get her nails done. See if they can get her in.”
I did ask, but the ladies were all booked up so I asked Amy (my hairdresser) to take Sarah in the other room to pick out some nail polish. While my hair processed I myself gave Sarah her manicure, including base coat and top coat.
3. Seth had a program at school so I buttoned him up in a handsome dress shirt (over a t-shirt). I fussed quite a bit with the hair, too. (you can sort of tell by the picture that he was ready to be let go again, right?)
Later, when Sarah and I arrived to school for the assembly, in walked Seth with the dress shirt OFF and looking all ordinary.
4. Breakfast at the diner.
5. My two oldest boys; Jacob (in back) and Ethan.
6. Michael and Seth (Sunday)
7. Reading books to silly Sarah.
8. The ice melted on Monday. I sent Seth out on the porch to feel the air, “There IS no air!” was his observation. It was a windless, warmish day. When they came home from school we went outside. Before I could stop them, Dave and Seth had their shoes and socks off in the stream. It really wasn’t warm enough for it, and their little feet turned pink.
9. Dave caught a crayfish which was a joy because every other sign of life in the waters was missing (frogs, turtles, fish).
How many of my friends are in the kitchen this week in preparations for Thanksgiving Day? I’m in the kitchen as I type. My body is sitting on the couch in the living room, but my mind is over there in the kitchen thinking about what I need to do next!
10. Yesterday I made my roll dough using my Grandma’s recipe. After the first rise, I formed the rolls.
I placed them in their pans, wrapped them up, and put them in the freezer. Tomorrow I will take them out, let them rise the second time, and bake them.
11. Yesterday we also did our big grocery trip for everything we needed on this list:
I would rather stay in the kitchen cooking all day than go to the store! So I was very happy to get it done.
12. We had a mini-thanksgivng feast yesterday. Jacob and Ethan had to miss their football thanksgiving dinner because their game was moved up a day. They were disappointed about it so I decided to surprise them. When they got home from school at 2:30 everything was ready. I roasted a butterball turkey breast, made (frozen) mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, corn, and cranberry sauce. I saved out some of my roll dough in order to make a couple little loaves of bread, too.
Not only did my children come home (Dave, Jacob, Grace, and Ethan) but also two extras. I loved watching them fill up their plates and go sit down in the dining room together.
13. Last night was Senior night at the football game. It was cold, but we had a lot of fun watching Jacob play his last game.
This is one of those pictures that I look at and see him as my own little baby, behind those eyes and that face, he’s still there.
14. sisters
I hope you have a lovely day today!
There is snow falling outside and it will be a cozy day to make pies.
{this moment}
Image
A Friday ritual. A single photo-no words-capturing a moment form the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
a valentine in november
Yesterday evening four year old Sarah sat at the dining room table all by herself. She was busy with a guitar pick maker that was given to Ethan a few years ago. The pick-maker is a hole punch that makes a single guitar pick out of old credit cards, thick plastic, and what have you. She was having a lovely time going around and around several pieces of scrap paper with it. She ended up making about 50 guitar picks, all from paper. She carefully wrote on some and decorated others.
She called them Valentines.
She took a handful upstairs to the boys’ room and bestowed them to brother Jacob. He accepted them with gratitude.
She had lots more to give away, and wandered over to me, “Mom, do you want a Valentine?”
“Why yes, Sarah, thank you!” I replied, honored. She carefully placed one in my out stretched hand.
Along with the letters “SMI”, this is what I discovered written on my *valentine*:
I had to find the paper this came from to see how it happened: It was a letter from school about a “school wide assembly”!!!
Good to be Home 