life is a continual feast

Posted on July 18, 2016 by Shanda

This morning I was in my pajama pants and tank top, my hair was pulled up in a very messy pony tail. I was making the children color pictures at the island while they waited for their breakfast. I was feeling rather full of myself as I expertly cut up their french toast and dribbled Trader Joe’s cherry pie filling over the top. “I have to admit,” I said happily, “I’m pretty awesome.” And guess what? Little ears were listening……..

“I’m pretty awesome, too.” said Sarah, promptly and agreeably.

amen.

These nature photos are from last week. We were searching for more monarch caterpillars. The first photo was of milkweed bugs and then this one is of a flowering bush which I have not identified. It has small, bell shaped baby pink blossoms.

very very very interesting brown moth. look at it’s eyes.

It was Sarah Joy’s first long walk after her surgery. She got tired, and dear Amy gave her a piggy back ride all the way back home.

We found wild black berries. They tasted sour and Seth loved them.

These baby birds are living in a nest on the gable of the chicken coop.

When I stare at this picture I can’t help but squeal from the cuteness. There is something about that pouting bird face and the other bird that doesn’t even know I’m there but I can see it’s little bottom and heels.

Last week was very very very very long. Rich was on a business trip from Monday to Thursday night, and then from Friday morning to Saturday night he was gone with Ethan to college registration. Come Saturday I just wanted to go someplace where I could sit and look at magazines without having the kids need me. So off we went to the playground, stopping for a big iced coffee on the way. (it was hot and muggy.)

As is typical, as soon as I got out of the house with my camera I still couldn’t focus on the magazines because the kids were all of a sudden adorable instead of exhausting.

Sometimes you just need a change of scenery and a little fun to brighten up a long week.

This is a big deal for Sarah, she has conquered her fears at the playground. There were years when she wouldn’t ever take risks like this.

Seth, on the other hand, has been climbing before he could walk. (some of the pictures won’t show unless you click on them)…

Happy Monday, friends!

youareloved

PS, here is my current favorite photo:

A friend of mine took it at an antique store because she thought of me!

the dishes *swoon*

For the despondent, every day brings trouble; for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.
Proverbs 15:15

wet walk

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Shanda

I have a room all to myself; it is nature. ~Thoreau

It had rained that day and we were restless. Therefore, Seth, kitty, and myself went for a rather wet ramble in the woods.

Our feet were soaked…. all the way through our sneakers and socks. Our feet said, “squish, squash” as we stepped and climbed over logs and streams.

The Mountain Laurel was in bloom. These beautiful shrubs are Connecticut’s state flower. As we drove along the roads on Sunday, to and from church, I looked deeply into the woods and could see Mountain Laurel everywhere.

Things were very drippy on our wet walk day.

We found two very small bushes of bog laurel, a pretty blossom. They were growing among the Mountain Laurel.

We saw an inch worm dangling from it’s thread.

It was amusing to watch it climbing back up, slowly, awkwardly, and methodically.

It was afraid of our eyes looking at it so closely.

The woods were very jungle-like, especially after a nice rain

a secret place…does an tiny elf or mouse visit here sometimes?

(Incidentally, last night I was on the couch watching TV and half asleep with Rich. The boys went outside to play “man hunt” just in time to rescue a perky eared, black eyed mouse from the cat. They brought it inside within a cup to show me, but I didn’t know what they were bringing until they handed it over and I looked inside. 9:30pm is much too late in the day to admire mice.)

my funny Seth

We went to find some wild strawberries but we didn’t eat this one.

Someone was already eating it.

I fed my son wild strawberries while he was busy looking for cool rocks.

“Put them in your pockets,” I said, and he did.

We crossed the stream to get home quicker and I stopped by the chicken coop to get……….

…..the eggs!

Want some?

with seth

Posted on May 13, 2016 by Shanda

I know right away when I love a song……as soon as I hear it, it sort of stops me in my tracks. I travel away into the song, forgetting everything around me….

and this is one of them!

A song for a Friday.

(Grace sent it to me one day in a message through FB.)

Today was Senior Skip day. Ethan made homemade pancakes for breakfast using his Grandma’s recipe for himself and four of his friends. While he was making them, I got ready to go out shopping and then the phone rang. It was the elementary school nurse calling me in regards to Seth. She wanted me to come and get him because he was uncomfortable with an allergic reaction in his eye.

Do any of you have this problem? Or a child with this problem? It’s the dust. It gets in his eye and the eyeball itself swells, sometimes the lid and the “bag” underneath also swells, but the eye gets red and itchy, too. It happens randomly now that it’s springtime and most often when he is on the little league field playing ball in all that dust. I normally do nothing about it but a cool washcloth because it resolves within a few hours, but it does look and feel terrible.

I asked him when I walked him out to the car, “Seth, Mommy was about to go to Target but I suppose you probably can’t go because of your sore eye, right?” And he sighed like a martyr and said, “I can go. It’s just an eye.” “Oh, Seth! Are you sure?” “Yeah”, he says, with that same little sigh but I know very well he’s dying to go to Target with me.

“Why are there so many cars there?”
“Is this the road Aunt Amanda lives on?”
“Can I have batting gloves?”
“Can we go to Dick’s?”
“Can I get a batting helmet?”
“What’s your age plus Dad’s age?”
“Is anyone at home right now?”
“When does David get home?”
“Can we listen to music?”
“Am I going to practice tonight?”
“Are we still in Connecticut?”

He had lots of questions and as is typical, whenever one child is with me, that child talks nonstop to Mom and I sit and drive and smile and listen and my heart….it swells up so big with joy. I say, “You are so cute.” and I reach over to pat their shoulder now and then.

We went to Goodwill first and I actually found a piece of fiestaware. It’s a seamist sugar bowl without the lid. It was super exciting. I also got a springtime wreath for 3 dollars and some other odds and ends.

Mainly, the purpose of the trip was to have fun getting a few summer items for Seth and Sarah. Sarah has grown so much that her last year’s shorts are much too short. I keep saying to her, “Yes you can wear those shorts to school IF you put a skirt on over them.” The one pair of longer shorts she has she refuses to wear because she thinks they are swimming shorts.

Seth found a Land’s End swimming shirt at Goodwill. He says he likes it because it will keep him warm under the water. He also got a pair of swimming trunks (Lego Movie) from Target.

This bottle was 50 cents at Goodwill. I brought it home and put dandelion seeds in it.

We ate chick fil a drive thru for lunch and he said, “Thanks, Mom.” And he also said, while eating, “I bet fries are made of potatoes.” He said this after he noticed the waffle fry had skin on it like a potato. It only took him seven years to figure it out!

He bought a calculator from Goodwill for a dollar and made up math problems to ask me. He was so surprised, stunned really, when I got them right. Mind you, it was first grade math.

When we got home he played baseball for a little while and I planted carrots and sunflowers.

Now he’s snoring on the couch, five minutes after telling me he didn’t want to take a nap.

It’s been a super delightful morning with my Sethie.

short n sweet

Posted on May 6, 2016 by Shanda

If we triumph in the little things
of our common hours,
we are sure to triumph in our lives.
~Anonymous

Happy Friday!

I took this photo of Seth after school one day this week. He’s hugging Gentleman Gray and eating a snack of Pringles, raspberries, and strawberries, on a vintage amberstone (“sister” of fiesta ware) small plate.

Yesterday, at the end of the day, I did a five minute photo shoot of Jacob’s girlfriend, Emily.

♥ with Sarah ♥

♥ with Jacob ♥

I’ve been making homemade coffee creamer and it is delicious!

It’s one can of sweetened condensed milk, mixed with two cups of half n half, and a 1/4 teaspoon of extract. (I used vanilla the first batch, and almond the 2nd batch).

Rose bud vase,
marigold java mug.

John 12:12=24

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Shanda

Yesterday at church Seth was sitting close by my side, just where I like him to be. I gave him a pen and paper to give him something to do and it soon became apparent to me that his mind was occupied with, not religious matters, but mathematics. He was busy writing a story during the sermon and this is what it said:

The ~~lazy~~ Dog by Seth

Captr One

Once thar was a dog the dog was rily smart. The dog new what 100 + 100 is and 200 + 200 is but one day the dog didint no what something was and it was 100 + 800 and he thinnked and thinnked but he couldn’t do it so he ascked the techer. The techer didn’t now so the techer thincked and thincked and the techer got it and it was 900.

Chapter 2

The techer was smorter then the dog the techer new wat 100-15 was it was 85.

That was all he was able to get done during the sermon. It was quite a laborious task for him. He whispered a couple of questions to me when he needed some help with it. One question was “How do you spell ‘what'”(he didn’t care about the other words) and the other was “What is 100 minus 15?”

He informed me that it will be 90 chapters long. To which I replied, “90-2=88”

Then he told me that he knew what 12 plus 12 was. He told me this after staring at the sermon text for a while.

what’s the special occasion? “life”

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Shanda

“The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.”

*****

“And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.” 1 Chronicles 29:13

We spent the weekend in literal freezing temperatures. Saturday there was a wrestling tournament. My brother Isaac and his wife Cassandra came and watched it with us. Ethan came in fourth in his weight class.

On Sunday, my sister came and dropped off Abigail and picked up Sarah. It was Valentine’s Day. Rich took Seth to compete at States for wrestling and Seth won.

While they were away doing that, I took Ethan and Tessa to Texas Roadhouse and dropped them off. Abbie, Grace, and I went shopping at our favorite store, Sephora. Also, as a nice Valentine’s gift for Rich and I, I went to Pottery Barn and bought a beautiful dark gray linen duvet cover for our bed. When we came home, I found flowers in a vase on the counter from Jacob. He gave me a rose, and he gave each of his sisters a red carnation. Later on that evening, Caleb came by to take Grace out to dinner for Valentine’s Day.

On Monday, I had a dentist appointment. I had to have a filling in one of my very back molars. It was not fun for a variety of reasons. And then my face was numb for several hours. After the appointment, I picked up Zak and brought him home to spend time with Jacob and Ethan. I dropped him off at the house and picked up the kids and we went to see the movie Kung Fu Panda 3 with my sister, and we exchanged back our girls. When I came home, I found that my new TOMS had arrived. I LOVE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8:30 last night we were all visiting and chatting in the kitchen….David showed everyone a youtube video. Aren’t these smiling faces wonderful? (Oops I forgot to crop out dinner, which was meatloaf and everyone picked on it saying it looked like something else all together.)

This morning I had my yearly check up. I took Grace and Sarah along so we could go shopping together after the appointment. We went to Costco and then Target. We picked up Grace’s boyfriend on the way home. When we arrived, I had all the kids help bring in the food and clean up the kitchen a little. I was so very happy that all my favorite kids were here and so I took a portrait of them to hang on my blog and on my wall. I love these people so so so so much.

from left to right: Caleb, Grace, David, Zak, Ethan, Tessa, Sarah, Emily, Jacob, Michael, Caleb (sitting on floor), and Seth.

I have to show you a picture of the shoes Sarah picked out today. We were in Payless. She didn’t hesitate at all. She said, “I am going to get these because I have NO high heels.”

She twisted her legs so I could be sure to take a picture of the heels so Aunt Amanda could see them. Grace was unamused at Payless, “She’s FIVE, Mom.” But then as we watched Sarah take her first wobbly steps she changed her mind, “Well, if you get them for her now by the time she’s my age walking in them will be a piece of cake.”

Since we came home she’s been wearing them nonstop and I have to say, walking in them is already a piece of cake for this girly girl of mine.

When we paid for them, the lady asked if they were for a special occasion. Sarah said “yes”, and when she then asked what the occasion was I said, “life”.

‘Tis true, ’tis true.

*****

you are loved

we both learn more about peace

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Shanda

One of the best things about having children is being able to hang original art all over the house. This weekend I was emptying out Seth’s backpack when I found this wonderful paper plate project. It took me a moment to recognize that it was his hand with a dove over it.

“Seth, this is beautiful!” I gushed.

“It means peace,” he grunted happily.

“His class talked about peace but they aren’t able to mention God so…..” (I thought)

“Oh I love peace, it comes from God!” I say.

“AND Arthur Luther King,” he added.

Amen.

seven years ago

Posted on February 2, 2016 by Shanda

Seven years ago today I was about ready to give birth to baby boy number five.

Today is super exciting because not only is it Seth William’s birthday but it is also our school’s 100 day AND groundhogs day AND Seth is having a friend get off the bus at our house after school to play until wrestling practice.

“Seth, you’re going to be really happy and excited today so try hard not to let yourself get into trouble” were my words of advice as I hugged him goodbye this morning.

Dad said that winter is over, the ground hog didn’t see his shadow. Hurray!

Sarah had to take 100 of something/anything to school and I sent her with a puzzle that was 100 pieces, she wasn’t that thrilled because she doesn’t like pigs. “They are made out of meat and wolves eat them.” she explained.

So far today:

1. Got kids ready for school, took shower, got dressed for a meeting and then remembered it was happening tomorrow.

2. welcomed Kevin into the house to repair Grace’s ceiling.

3. watched an episode of The Good Wife while folding clothes and matching socks.

4. Went out shopping. First stop: Goodwill

what I bought:

Harry Potter book on cd which the kids are going to LOVE
Angelina Ballerina hardcover book for our family library
an old frame with an oval mat
a nature book
and two dresses, one for me and one for G…guess what, April? One is Garnet Hill and one is Boden!

This dress is Grace’s. The sleeves are 3/4 length and gathered at the ends. Both dresses are made from a soft knit and are currently spinning around in the washer with hopes that I have time to dry them outside on the clothesline by the end of the day.

This one is mine. The lengths on each dress fall just below the knee.

5. After Goodwill (I also bought a very much needed bookcase for G’s room) I went to the Tractor Supply for bird seed, chicken feed, and cat food.

6. Costco for Seth’s birthday cake and groceries

7. Starbucks for a coffee and a snack

8. Arrived at home and Michael helped me put everything away.

9. went to coop to gather (1) egg and feed the hens.

10. hung laundry on clothesline for the second time this week (it’s about 45 degrees here and sunny)

11. made homemade spaghetti sauce with a big 6 pound can of tomatoes that I got at Costco today. I blended them smooth and poured them in a big pot over 5 cloves of minced garlic and a chopped onion, added pepper and dried basil. Now it will simmer for a few hours and I will make homemade meatballs. What with Sarah needing to reduce sodium I am noticing salt in many of the food goods I’ve purchased in the past. For many years I’ve obsessed about sugar and now it’s salt I have to be concerned about. Thankfully there is a simple solution…like make everything yourself (spaghetti sauce) instead of buying processed foods. The can of tomatoes I bought had only 1% of the daily allowance of sodium and since I’m putting some salt in the meatballs I am not adding any to the sauce.

12. Put away groceries

13. That’s it.

This is dear sweet Seth opening one of his gifts this morning. He received legos, glow in the dark plastic dinosaurs, and a Snoopy video game. Sarah was happy because she helped me chose a couple of the gift from the hospitals gift shop while we were there a few weeks ago. She was so happy that she told Seth they were legos before he opened them.

b184595536

Seven years ago.

football mama

Posted on October 7, 2015 by Shanda

My two youngest sons play football and they are both rookies this year.

Seth is 6 and Caleb is 10. They are both determined players but Caleb has a little extra advantage: PASSION….total and complete passion for anything that has to do with football. He collects the cards and organizes them carefully in binders, studies NFL teams and trivia using magazines and books, watches any football game on TV, and will happily talk nonstop to anyone who will listen to endless football conversation. This passion he has for the sport gives him an extra desire to play….to play hard with body AND heart.

Whoever gets to take Caleb to his first real college or NFL football game is one lucky person.

Rich gets excited watching Caleb play because he sees the potential. Rich loved playing football in school.

I don’t want to make it seem like Seth doesn’t have talent, because he does..he just misses that outside interest in the sport. He plays and then goes home to do other stuff. Caleb plays football and then goes home to play some more.

I even secretly think that he’s longing for a sports injury, just so he can be like all the other tough guys. Not anything major, mind you, but a nice little injury that doesn’t slow him down but gives him something to brag about. A little blood would be nice, and a few good bruises.

A couple weeks ago I took along my SLR to take some photos of the boys in action.

SETH’s team played first:

Okay, so the coaches are all awesome. I LOVE to see men working with boys, teaching them, yelling at them, caring for them.

Here is Seth (number 3) getting his helmet snapped in place by one of his coaches.

team talk before the game.

Seth is on the line.

A team mate running for a touchdown.

Our team won the game and afterwards celebrated with a bag of lollipops, which is what they are doing in the following picture: (grabbing lollipops) Seth is number three with his back to me.

Seth made his Dad buy him a FLAVORED mouth guard AND special gloves. He has to have the stuff to be cool, you know. Nothing gets by him.

Seth has gotten the “tuff guy” ball three times this year, which is awarded to the toughest boy after each practice.

CALEB’s team was next to play::

Here he is, number 54, getting ready to kick. He does great as kicker…and guess what? His dad was kicker on his team, too! Caleb was thrilled to make his dad proud of him by being chosen team kicker.

Caleb in action, running through two kids from the other team. He is the one running left in the photo. Caleb plays both defense and offense so he never comes off the field the whole game which makes me laugh. He gets good and sweaty but doesn’t tire out at all because he loves it.

They had their first win! Caleb took his helmet off, cheering with joy while the coaches clapped.

Caleb is a great motivator and never shuts up during the games (he is like that in baseball, too), he helps the team by using kind and encouraging words….what a gift he has! He was ready to pat everyone on the back and tell them how good they did after the win, too.

It was after this game that I went out and bought cowbells, to the annoyance of the whole family. They are soooo loud! After spending a few days in the house I put them in the back of my car to live.

This past weekend Rich went to the game without me so I could take the other kids to church (we hate that most of the games are on Sunday morning). Their teams both won again and Caleb played very well, sacking the quarterback twice causing him to fumble the ball, getting interceptions, and tackling people right and left. Rich texted me throughout to keep me posted.

I asked him if he was ringing the (annoying) bells for Caleb and he said, “No, they are all yours. I wouldn’t do that without you.”

This weekend Rich is teaching Sunday School so I will be taking the boys myself. It’s fun being a football mama.