happy mother’s day!

Posted on May 15, 2018 by Shanda

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Go on doing the little things,
no matter how small,
only making sure that you breathe love into them.
Let them fall where they may,
no matter into what heart,
no matter how silently,
no matter how hopeless may seem the soil into which they drop,
no matter how you yourself may appear
to be forgotten
or overlooked
as you do your deeds of kindness,
and speak your words of love.
These words and deeds and influences of yours are living seeds,
and not one of them shall perish!

J.R. Miller

full & good

Posted on April 16, 2018 by Shanda

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Things That Have Been Happening Around Here Lately:

Rich has been away more than here. (business trips)
basketball with neighbor boys
Sarah had a brunch date with friends.
I bought a giraffe at an estate sale.
Someone gave me a gospel track — Rich said I must’ve looked in need of Salvation.
I yelled, “Get OFF the roof!”
I yelled, “WHAT are you DOING?”
One of our black cats ate a purple ribbon.
Sarah broke a rose fiesta bowl.
We had a warm weather day.
We had rain.
We had snow.
We had ice.
The boys had baseball practice.
We are listening to The Hobbit on audible to and from the fields.
Seth didn’t want to hold my hand on the sidewalk in town. (rite of passage)
This week is spring break.
David had an appointment this morning.
And is now back to bed.
I said, “If you ask me that one more time you are going to stand in the corner” to my 12 year old.

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’tis spring; come out
to ramble
the hilly brakes around,
For under thorn and bramble
About the hollow ground
The primroses are found. a.e. houseman

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golden edges

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bluebird sighting at the suet

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One morning I could hear a bird singing and I sighed, “I wish I could identify birds by their sounds.” The children got on the bus and a little while later I went to get in the car and was distracted by the bird that was making that same sound I had heard earlier! So I learned what it was, a Red Headed Woodpecker! I ran to get the camera……..

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It slipped the tip of its beak under the edge of the lichen to get bugs; making its calling noise the whole time.

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No human has a naturally red head THIS red.

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And then, a cardinal appeared.

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And a goldfinch. It was a lovely bird morning. I took the photos from the porch.

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The children spent the entire day outside on Saturday. In my opinion it was our first spring day. . . . .absolutely gorgeous weather, bare feet, fishing, turtles, basketball, baseball.

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Caleb ran to show me the turtle he and Jack found.

And like his big brothers before him, he named it and put it back.

And then they caught a nice fish.

I repotted some plants I started for my friends and family. It’s been fun collected different planters and pots on my thrifting adventures. I’ll have to do a blog post soon to show them off.

life is full and good

another (yes another) snowday!

Posted on February 8, 2018 by Shanda

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for reals.

a previously despised task……..

Posted on January 26, 2018 by Shanda

I posted the last blog a few days ago, gathered up my things and went downstairs to the laundry room, prepared to spend at least an hour folding clothes, when my phone rang. Honestly, I hadn’t even folded ONE ITEM before it rang. It was the school nurse calling to inform me that Sarah was in the office not feeling well. She was running a low-grade fever and had a sore throat, it came on rather suddenly because she was fine that morning when she got ready for school and left on the bus.

I was quite busy with her and the boys that afternoon….along with catching up with the laundry, I also picked David up early after midterms, then picked up Caleb after newspaper club, took David back to the school for practice, took Sarah to the doctors where her strep test was negative, and got home just in time to take Seth and Caleb to practice.

Yesterday she was feeling much better but spent the day at home with me, in her cozy jammies. We picked up David again after midterms and I ran into the grocery store to get things for lasagna dinner that evening and a chicken for tonight.

This morning the three youngest ones are all at school but David didn’t have any tests today so he is home and he’s still asleep.

I’m 41 years old, I’ve been married since I was 19, I had my first baby at 20, and life is still busy (as it should be–no complaints) but as I sat this morning on the couch, I was struck by the thought of what I was doing…….MENDING A LONG TEAR IN A TWIN SHEET……

I’ve mended through the years once or twice, when absolutely necessary, but there were many many other times when something ripped and I simply threw it away. It sounds so awful, downright wasteful, but those years of having little ones at home filled me right up to the brim with other more important work, more important than mending a small hole in a pair of pants that was barely noticeable. He can wear them anyway. If a sheet tore, I would groan loudly, fold it up, and stick in the back of the closet. I can’t mend! I have to change diapers, get a child out of mischief, clean up strange messes that a house without children wouldn’t see (eggs all over the floor and counters?)….I often wondered why I was tired to tears by the end of the day. I truly thought something was wrong with me.

Now I see, as I’ve come out on the “other side”, and I see that OF COURSE a newly pregnant mom, nursing an almost one year old, with multiple other children is going to be crying at the end of the day!!! When you love and care for your children with your whole being, your whole being becomes exhausted!

……Beautifully exhausted, although back then I didn’t see much beauty in it whatsoever. I was impatient with myself……. but at least I had the sense NOT to do the mending.

Until now. In the year of our Lord 2018, I am mending. I am downright marveling at this turn of events. Yesterday I sat and sewed up tiny holes in “baby” Sarah’s size 8 pants from J Crew. And then I sewed shut a small hole in Seth’s nice thick athletic pants. I repaired a pair of gloves that Sarah’s thumb had popped through. And this morning, I mended a 15 inch long tear in one of our very precious twin sized sheets (there are 6 twin beds in this house that need these sheets). The mending is imperfectly lovely but as I folded the sheet and put it away, I felt a connection to this thing, this fitted sheet that my child tore (how?) and I repaired. I took care of something and restored it to usefulness again. I chose to put this skill aside in those very busy childbearing years, but now have the interest and desire necessary to put my hands to work and “waste not”………

Isn’t it a marvel that life’s path changes? That a woman can change? I loved the early baby-years, but I’m loving the “school-aged-children” years, too.

What’s next while I await the next small hole? The house is tidy, I organized a closet, cleaned out a fish tank, and later on David and I are going to repair a lamp.

Unless of course, the school nurse calls.

the fifth son

Posted on December 6, 2017 by Shanda

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No, it is not his birthday.

Seth will be not be 9 for two more months.

He is lively, bright, active, your- typical- boy -but -maybe- just a notch or two- more hyper. He is a lot like my brother Nathan was at that age, always moving, always using the furniture as gym equipment.

By the way, let me remind you that he had three staples in his scalp and fractured his collarbone on Halloween? He’s all better. We had the trainer at the HS school check him out this weekend and he said he was good to go. So he had his first wrestling practice last night. On the way there he confided, “I feel nervous.” “I think you’re excited,” I answered. “Yes,” he agreed.

Last week after he got back home from school he put a paper on the counter and came over to me and said in a hesitant voice, “Mom, I have a note from school.” “Oh no,” I thought. “What is it, Seth? Did you get in trouble?” “Just read it, Mom,” he said sadly. So I rushed over to the paper, picked it up, and learned that Seth had been awarded the Hall of Fame for good behavior and work in his classes. So apparently my son is also a good actor because he had me fooled at first.

I squealed and hugged him and gave him a big ol’ kiss on the cheek. He bounded away, “Mama’s proud of me.” he just knew it.

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He got dressed all nice for school. I had bought him a nice Jcrew sweater from a consignment shop…..I’m dying to find out if it’s still on him for the assembly, which is TODAY. IN 45 MINUTES! You see the peek of orange underneath, I bet he’ll be wearing the orange t-shirt for his award. ????? I wonder???? It’s happened before with my other sons. Seth is number 5 so he has to prove to me that I DON’T KNOW ALL THE TRICKS YET! He’s an original, just like number one (Jacob) number two (Ethan) number three (David) and number four (Caleb). We are surrounded by brothers.

I’ll let you know if he’s still wearing the sweater.

I noticed, too, that he PUT A NECKLACE ON. Be still my heart.

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This was his favorite photo.

Instead of bouncing off the walls of the house, chattering and laughing and being silly as he waited for the bus, he was having his photo taken on the driveway!

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No, not because it is his birthday.

But because……..he is getting awarded for being a good student today at school!

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“No more pictures, mom!”

We turned to go into the house and saw………

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Miss Sarah! Wearing the same pants she had worn to school the day before. And needing her hair fixed. “Oh yes, I have things to do,” I cried. And sent her back upstairs to “put different pants on!” Goodness. Find your socks and shoes and grab the hairbrush.

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It’s the 6th day of December.

All is well.

sarah’s hair

Posted on October 12, 2017 by Shanda

Everyone knows that one of the many job descriptions of “MOM” is “HAIR STYLIST” whether she wants to be or not, it’s inevitable.

As I look through the recent photos I have taken with my phone I see a theme developing. It all started on Monday night when my young daughter/hair client came to me with a case of the grumps AND tangles.

“Get a brush, Sarah, and I’ll brush your hair nice and soft,” I said.

I brushed and brushed and she just loved it. It was very relaxing to sit and have a super wonderful mom hair stylist gently brush her long hair.

I admired how pretty it was, clean and sweet smelling, with little waves and a variety of color, everything from blond to dark brown.

I took a picture to show her how long it was getting.

I held up the blondest piece and the brownest piece and took another photo. I even called Rich over to look, “Rich, look how pretty Sarah’s hair is.”

We remember when she was a toddler and she was practically bald, it took years for her to get any length to speak of. In fact, her siblings called her “Baldo” now and then.

Sarah went to bed that night feeling much better.

The next evening after school she walked over to me and raved, “Moooooooom, Ariana came to school today with bluuuuuuuuuue hairrrrrrrrrrr.” Sarah had been quite impressed by it. I knew what was coming….sure enough, I found her five minutes later, digging through the crayons looking for her hair chalk that we bought a couple years ago. “I found it! Can you put blue and pink in my hair before school tomorrow?”

“Only if you pay me in a five minute hug, a happy smile, and a kiss on the cheek.”

(A good hair stylist ALWAYS prices her services accordingly.)

Naturally I had to take a photo to show my youngest client her hair and to make sure it was just what she desired. I only get paid if it’s done right. “It needs a little more blue, please.” I colored a few more streaks and off to school she went.

When she came back home, I noticed the pony tail was out and her hair was all over the place again. She and her brothers grabbed a snack and then ran next door to play with the neighbors.

About 45 minutes later, the Dad next door came to the house with Caleb by his side and Sarah walking a few steps behind looking distressed, with her hand on her head. They stopped to explain what had happened but Sarah kept going into the bathroom. I noticed a long piece of hair in Brian’s hand. “I was in the house when the boys came running to tell me that Sarah needed help. She was on the swing and her hair was caught in the chain. I got her all untangled but……yeah, she has a little bald spot on the top of her head now.”

Brian and Caleb left to go back next door and I reminded Caleb to come home in 10 minutes for dinner…………

Then I turned to go check on Sarah’s hair. I may or may not have been laughing. I encouraged her that it really wasn’t that bad and I knew just how to fix it so no one would know. Soon she was happily playing on the kindle with her hair brushed back into a pony tail, with lots and lots of hair spray in front.

(As this was a true need, I didn’t request payment.)

Here is a photo of Sarah’s bald spot before school this morning, right before her most talented hair stylist worked on it.

And here is a photo of her happy smile afterwards; priceless.

large family life; kids are always losing things

Posted on September 20, 2017 by Shanda

It’s mesmerizing outside; the air is cool and slightly damp, “it smells like rain” said Seth as he went out the door to wait for the bus. A most gentle of winds is bending leaves and branches and tree tops. The sky is light gray and easy on the eyes.

My husband is away this week on a business trip. I have found that planning a busy evening helps pass the hours until bedtime. The boys’ football practice was cancelled last night so we picked David up from soccer practice and headed to the mall. Three handsome sons had haircuts with a friendly six-foot barber who is getting to know them now after several visits. He asked them about their sports, their older brothers, called them each “my man” and gave them strong handshakes, bending near for a half hug and pats on the back, a big laugh, and smiles when they got down off the chair. The boys love it.

Then we had pretzels and sang to the radio on the way home in the dark.

It was 7:30 pm when we pulled in the driveway and David needed to finish up his homework. I was busy getting Seth and Sarah off to bed when I heard loud bangs and booms. The air crackled with frustration and anger; David couldn’t find his Very Important and Expensive calculator.

(Okay, so. Typically when the kids come to me and say, “Mom I can’t find my “whatever” small item, I simply don’t care in the least. I pretend like I care because I don’t want to hurt their feelings. I say, “Don’t worry, you’ll find it.” BECAUSE I KNOW for a fact that this THING they can’t find WILL show up. I think to myself: don’t even bother looking for it, child, you will come across it very soon. And sure enough, their lost item is, 99% of the time, found in a timely manner. )

However, this calculater was another, more urgent lost item, part of the remaining 1 %, and had to be located like, five minutes ago. Four of us had remembered seeing it with our very own eyes in the new football bin on the porch. The bin is so big that it can hold the football stuff AND several backpacks, a lawn chair, soccer balls, and old cleats. The last time we saw it, the calculator was on the bottom of the bin, after falling out of David’s backpack, but now to everyone’s horror it WASN’T THERE. David stormed around the house, inside and outside, looking for it. “SOMEONE TOOK IT!” he accused. He slumped on the couch and said impatiently to his brother, “What are YOU looking at?” He stomped upstairs and downstairs. Finally I said, “It HAS TO BE IN THE BIN!!! If we last saw it in the bin and none of us touched it, IT HAS TO STILL BE IN THE BIN!!!” Seth (who got out of bed because he “wanted to help”) looked in the bin, David looked in the bin three times, and I also looked in the bin. Hmmmm, it really was not there. I suggested other spots where it could be. No. Finally, I suggested calling their Dad. He didn’t answer, but called back about half (a long) hour later. We were all completely stressed out. “I don’t like it when David gets mad”, Seth confided in me. “My night is…. totally ruined,” I secretly thought dramatically to myself. “Ugh. That calculator was so expensive, too, I wonder if we should give him a new one next week for his birthday to replace it. He would LOVE that.”

HOWEVER……Rich knew what we were talking about right away. “I saw it on the bottom of that bin and put it in the front pocket of his book bag,” he said an an annoyed fatherly voice because he hates it when things aren’t put away where they are supposed to go. We hung up.

David stomped up to his room to look in his bag, again. There was a long silence. I was in the kitchen, pressing my hands to my mouth and willing myself not to ask. I finally called upstairs, “Did you find it?” “NO. IT’S NOT IN HERE.” he was still sounding very frustrated. What the heck?????

Then, I had a thought (through many years of problems, moms become amazingly brilliant at problem solving–if you remember, it was also my idea to call their Dad and ask him).

“Maybe he put it in Caleb’s bag by mistake.”

We rushed to find Caleb’s bag. We put it on the counter. We opened the first front pocket. No. We unzipped the second front pocket. And there it was. “Stupid” was for some reason the word that came from my mouth as I walked away. “Did you just call me stupid?” David asked. Then I laughed, “No, I guess I’m just calling this whole situation stupid.” The tension left the room.

By that time everyone else was in bed, the house was dark, all but a friendly glowing lamp. David and I each got our books and read together in quiet until 9:30. I interrupted the silence only once.

“Can you please keep your calculator in the main part of your backpack, zipped up, so it never falls out again?” He stared at me for a moment, I held my breath.

“Okay”, was all he calmly replied, looking back down to the page in his book.

******

Last week I was standing on the porch, busily brushing the dog. The kids were all at school. Clouds of fur lazily rolled across the porch and down the steps. I brushed one side and then the next. We didn’t talk. A light rain was falling. Then, all of a sudden, a little flock of juvenile blue birds came flying over the house and landed in the yard. My arm froze in mid-brushing. “I know I’m supposed to be brushing your fur, but would you mind if I got my camera?” I asked politely. He wagged his tail which I assumed meant, “Do whatever you want I’m gonna love you anyway and never ever get offended by anything you decide.” So I turn into the house and got my camera. As an apology, I let him take some of the photos. I thought they turned out pretty good.

****

Oh, one more quick story about kids losing things. Caleb has his own kindle and every once in a while when I think he’s been on it too much I take it in my room and hide it. Well, the two of us could not find it for days. And I’m thinking to myself, “I’m finally losing it. I can’t remember where I hid the thing. I can’t even remember hiding it.” Caleb was wandering around the house singing, “my kindle, my kindle” and it was putting me on edge. He even slyly searched David’s room. No luck. Finally we asked Sarah, who was upstairs playing in her room, if she knew where it was. “Seth has it. He took it to school. It’s in his backpack” Caleb and I stared at each other and then yelled downstairs to Seth. “Bring us your backpack, Seth. Where is Caleb’s kindle?” Seth looked so guilty, I rarely see a guilty expression on Seth’s face and it was ugly. Sure enough, the kindle was in Seth’s backpack and Seth had to go into my room for a talk. The point to this story is if you really can’t find something ask the youngest person in the family because 9 times out of 10 they know. They have amazing observation and memory skills. The other point is, when you feel like you’re finally losing your mind, 9 times out 10 –you’re not. It’s just that you have lots of kids and there is no limit to what can happen in a particular day.

PS, Mom? If you’re reading this? I can’t find my deodorant.

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first day of school 2017

Posted on August 30, 2017 by Shanda

Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise.

Philippians 4:8

Blessings to the children, first of all, on another new school year. You have each grown so much over the summer, but still young with lots to learn. What bright and willing minds you have, eager for education and eager to have fun with your teachers and friends.

Blessings to the teachers, who work hard to make the school year as successful as they can, with patient and mature minds, eager to “go forth and conquer” all the challenges that come about each day. Blessings to you as you prepare and teach. Your life’s work is importance and we thank you. You are touching countless young lives.

Blessings to the families who let go and watch their children go forth and experience life, who do everything they can to help. Blessings to the mothers and fathers who nurture and provide a home for children to come back to at the end of the school day. May the afternoons be full of welcome and love. And cookies.

I like to imagine all the good things happening that no one will ever know.

The mom, busily packing school lunches, slipping in an extra package of snacks, “so you have something to share with a friend.”

A music teacher, choosing a special song with a certain student in mind. “He’ll love this one.”

The office ladies picking up donuts to share with any parent who comes in during the day. Adding fresh flowers from the garden to a vase to brighten up the space.

Cheerful volunteers who do what they can to help.

Children picking out their favorite outfits and wondering if their best friend will be in their class this year. Such smiles when they reunite with their classmates.

Janitors keeping things extra clean, who get to know the children by name.

Teachers who purchase extra supplies just in case a student isn’t prepared. Showing a caring heart.

School nurses who welcome the wounded and show patience to pretenders.

Dads smiling over the texts messages; photos of his dear ones.

Mothers left alone in a quiet house, quietly cleaning and working, preparing for when everyone gets back home again. Or off to work, glad to have something to do, with thoughts of her babies always there.

And so on.

Secret prayers, deep thought, problem solving, strings pulled behind the scenes, all sorts of people taking an interest and making good things happen for their communities.

. . . .encourage one another and build one another up . . . . .

“We can only see what we have grown an eye to see.” Rachel Remen

This little boy wants to be just like his older brother, so he found Ethan’s old backpack and claimed it for this school year.

Sarah only likes ponytails, so I took a quick picture just before twisting around the hair ties.

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

……encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all……

Time again for an early morning “wave” from the next door neighbors as they get their kids off to school, too. We’re in this together.

……..anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad……

Have a wonderful day!

You are loved.

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efforts on the last day of summer

Posted on August 14, 2017 by Shanda

“….a little boy grows up so fast….”

I was secretly calling Saturday the last day of summer because it was our oldest son’s last day at home before leaving for college the next morning. So I made the effort to take some photos of the ordinary family living that I hold so dear to my heart, knowing deep down that while life will go on just as beautiful and ordinary as ever, parts of it were ending and beginning anew in other parts of the world…….not too far, thankfully. Jacob and Ethan will be at college together in Vermont this year (3 hours away), and our sweet Grace will be in Pennslyvania (about five hours distance). As the children grow up, things within the home change, but the bond we have stays true, and the love we share will never die, and indeed, my deepest desire and hope is that it will continue to grow up and out as our family grows up and and out.

So these efforts were made by me in the realm of photography, and the only other effort I made personally was to be “hands off” on the day and let it be as normal as possible, because I have finally learned that while deep in my soul I am in a type of motherly mourning for the fleetness of the years, no one else in the family necessarily needs to know. 🙂

So what did we do? Jacob headed for work, sicker than a dog, and Rich left for the chiropractor’s with Ethan (they are both getting work done on their backs) and Caleb (who needed a hair cut after the doctor’s appointment).

Confession: somehow, even though I was truly trying, I just realized this morning that I took not one single photo of Grace, so I am inserting this one from last weekend, when I caught the sisters sharing a moment over pancakes. In reality, Grace was so busy on Saturday….she had driver’s practice in the morning, and then worked all afternoon until 7pm….that I somehow didn’t take any pictures of her.

The brightest red wildflower is in bloom down by the banks of our stream. It’s like a jungle down there so I can’t get as close as I’d like……

I watched busy buzzing bees collect pollen all over the wild and tall Joe Pye Weed and then, saw the most beautiful dragonfly I’d ever seen…..

RED! DARK RED!

with shimmering wings! I admired it until it flitted away.

Next to the garage we have a tiny wild pond where bullfrogs hang out all day. I enjoy sneaking around to spy on them and they always freeze like this and stare at me. I want to sit down there sometime and see what they REALLY do……

And then, the guys finally got home and went to work on Rich’s car. Yep, that was the real theme of the weekend; “Put The Motor In”.

Rich has been itching to do it all winter long and had big boxes in the house which were all delivered and saved carefully for The Day.

Nice haircut, Caleb.

Now get to work!

Nothing makes Rich more annoyed than not being able to find his tools because the children have been running off with them and not returning them to the proper place. Nothing that is, except maybe water running through the ceiling because Seth didn’t have the shower curtain in the bathtub and was getting water everywhere on the floor upstairs…..ask me how I know this…..so the first thing they did was find Dad’s tools, while Rich and Ethan organized and Sarah cleaned.

The car is under the tarp. Waiting for it’s motor.

I’m pretty sure this is it. 🙂

Sarah was very conscientious about sweeping the floor.

Seth wasn’t as conscientious about finding Dad’s tools.

David

Oh and Jacob was able to get out of work a little early and he went straight to bed, spending his last day at home SICK and asleep.

(I think it’s amusing that the dog is in a lot of these photos being ignored. But he gets his revenge later.)

Bringing the boxes out of the house (finally!) and into the garage.

Finally they were ready and the younger boys snuck away. David was called for duty now and then, but Ethan was the main helper of the entire day all the way up until it was too late to visit Tessa and he was secretly annoyed.

I mean, as his mother, I could sort of tell. But Rich, as his father, certainly didn’t care. He needed his son and Ethan has vacation days coming up this week to visit his girlfriend. (It reminded me of when Rich and I were dating all those summers ago and he had to bale hay all weekend for his dad while I was left to my own amusement at home…..so I took pity while Rich just felt like it was the only natural thing to do; helping Dad…there’s no way out of it, not even girlfriends.)

The younger boys hung out on the patio between the house and the garage.

And I found Sarah had vanished to her room to play the DS. So I sent her right back outside to enjoy the beautiful day.

They made a cake.

Eventually, hours and hours later, I picked the camera back up to take a picture of CHICKEN that I grilled myself……

And this is where the dog got his revenge for being “ignored//neglected” all day.

After we all ate, he stole the leftovers off the kitchen counter, eating the chicken and neatly leaving the sticks on the carpet in the living room. We all got mad because that was really good chicken and I had made a ton so we could enjoy the leftovers, not feed them to the dog.

We ended our day by watching TV on the couch in the dark, all tired out.

*****

This is where things get sad you might want to turn away.

I woke up at 5:30 on Sunday morning to see my son off. Rich was already awake and in the garage with his car but the rest of the family was asleep as Jacob finished packing his car to leave, although I did hear Seth stir and call out, “Bye, Jay!” from his bed, as he will greatly miss his big brother, too.

I followed him around, back and forth to the car and house, not unlike the dog, silently and with wishful eyes.

We hugged twice. We held it together.

It was a beautiful morning, with bits of pink in the sky.

I looked at his dear possessions everywhere in his car, that say “Jacob” to me in so many ways……his collection of hats from working at “LIDS” all summer….his new sneakers that I bought for him during a quick shopping trip we had together last week.

His music, his new fridge, all his clothes and books (he took a big box of books, which made me smile and touched my heart…I remember when he read them all…and sister Grace struggled with sharing some of them..namely the JRR Tolkien books…), my dear 20 year old son, how thankful I am that I had all of these years with you before you moved on to new adventures taking classes and playing football at college. I am blessed to call you son and friend. We’ve had such good times together, haven’t we? Your downstairs room in the basement is too quiet and still already but we’ll keep it ready for those visits back home!

“So the life of the true home flows on, sometimes in the bright sunshine, sometimes in the deep shadow; yet whether in the sunshine or in shadow it brings blessing. It shelters us in the day of storm. Its friendships remain true and loyal when adversity fails and other friendships are broken. It lays holy hands of benediction upon our heads as we go out to meet life’s struggles and duties. Its sacred influences keep us from many a mistake. Its memories are our richest inheritance. Its inspirations are the secret strength of our lives in days of toil and care. Then it teaches us to look toward heaven and the great Home in which all our hearts, hopes, and dreams shall be realized, and where the broken ties of earth shall be reunited.” JR Miller

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1, 2, 3

Posted on July 26, 2017 by Shanda

And the third? Coming soon. 😉

*****

I liked this quote:

“I never saw my mother sleep. In fact, she only sat down during dinner and later for about three minutes in the tub of our one bathroom. Although Mom was perennially pregnant, she was always on the move–a blurry blue Sears housedress topped by a wavy blond perm and supported by two sturdy speed-walking legs. She had bulging varicose veins that grew with each child, and I was always worried they were going to pop, but they didn’t.
“On any given day, Mom could be found in one of two places: the outside landing, where she hung the laundry, or the kitchen, where she jogged between the ironing board and the oven. It seemed my mother could do a hundred things at once, all the while keeping at least one of her blue eyes on her ten children.
“‘Watch yourself, Eddie!’ she’d shout down from the landing to my oldest brother in the side yard. ‘Remember, you’re a born leader and all the boys are watching you!’ Then she’d vroom down the fourteen wooden steps, hip the laundry basket through the banging screen door into the kitchen, and dump it onto the table.
“‘You’re the absolute best helper, Ellen,’ she’d say as my eager sister did the folding, ‘You’re going to make a wonderful mother!’
“Shortly after noon, Mom would begin preparations for dinner, served nightly at six o’clock sharp, ‘Barbara Ann!’ she’d yell down the basement stairs as she peeled potatoes. ‘Come on up here and take Florence, Tommy, and Mary Jean. They need some entertainment and if you’re going to be a star, you’ll need to practice.’
“And that was my mother’s genius. She kept her house going by putting her finger on the special gift she saw in each of her children, and making each and every one of us believe that that gift was uniquely ours. Whether it was true or not, we all believed it.”

~Barbara Corcoran, in her book Use What You’ve Got