daily – now

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

"Forever is composed of nows." Emily Dickinson

right now:

The garden is carpeted in flower petals.

We are moving furniture around making room for a new piece.

The little dog is being weaned off his steroids. (fingers crossed!)

Moira is teaching piano to the younger children.

Soccer (seasonal) is in full swing.

Ditto field trips.

I am trying to remember the difference between what calls to me and what I am called to do – and where those things overlap, and where they do not.

Staying up too late. See line above.

Awaiting a smallish dental procedure this week. Sigh.

Planning to play with patchwork.

Creating order.

Wimpole Home Farm

Posted on April 27, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

"Farmgirl is a state of the heart." – Mary Jane Butters

My heart will always be on the farm. And the barn in springtime has a special draw. We have spent lots of time with farm babies lately.

the time of plans and projects

Posted on April 24, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

“Spring is the time of plans and projects.”

Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy

A treasure – free this week

Posted on April 22, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

It's still one of those unusually vivid memories of mine. It was 1997 and I can recall exactly what the living room of the townhouse we were staying in looked like. It was colonial style with dark wood furniture and Wedgewood blue accents. I wanted to stay forever. Except it was a hotel and we had just had our fifth baby and a cat and so that wasn't within the realm of possibility. ; )

I was standing in that blue room when Maureen and Rachel were emailing about a book project. A really good book project. In 1997 there were not entire sections in bookstores devoted to homeschooling. You were hard pressed to find anything in print that related to Catholic homeschooling at all. This very good idea was to remedy that by publishing a collection of experiences and advice from real live Catholic homeschool moms.

Fast forward 17 years.

Although there is one kindergartener left in my living room these days I have found myself discussing preschool anew with my daughters and daughter-in-law and new homeschooling moms. It is still a subject that is so very near and dear to my heart. Increasingly I have thought back to that volume of stories from years ago. It occurred to me that I actually had my thoughts collected in one place and would not change a thing about what I wrote despite having journeyed through those early years with five more babies since then. Problem was I could not locate my original volume and had lost the chapter notes in a computer crash over the years. Maureen to the rescue.

Maureen has graciously uploaded the entire volume to Amazon and it is free through Friday. Mine is safely in hand once again so I am prepared when someone asks, "What about the little ones?" There is also a whole lot of ground covered in the rest of the book. It was written by moms (and a Dad or two!) in living rooms during an era where there were not co-ops in every city and internet connections began with a dial tone. You did not need a fortune then but you had to be really dedicated and committed to hang in and thrive. There stories are ready to download right now. They are still relevant and today they are free. : )

A Catholic Homeschool Treasury

Easter in England

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Our littles, as English as they can be this Easter. Images both from the garden at home and the dining room at Wimpole Estate. Not that anyone would have thought it was our dining room lol. It is a grand table though, yes?

unless there is a cross

Posted on April 19, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

"What do the scars of Christ teach us? They teach us that life is a struggle: that our condition of a final resurrection is the same as His; that unless there is a cross in our lives there will never be an empty tomb; unless there is a Good Friday there will never be an Easter Sunday; unless there is a crown of thorns there will never be the halo of light; and unless we suffer with Him we shall not rise with Him.

Everywhere else but in Him, liberation promised is either armed or forced and that can mean slavery. Only nailed love is free. Unnailed and uncrucified love can compel. Hands pinioned to a wooden beam cannot compel, nor can a lifted Host or an elevated Chalice constrain. They can only beckon."

Fulton Sheen Lessons on Cana and Calvary

best of anything

Posted on April 16, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

"I love the new paper dollies Aunt Amy painted for me best of anything!"

– Little Men

And these little girls love the paper dollies their big sister makes for them. They have been busy designing ball gowns and christening paper people with names like Lisette and Clarabella. The only disagreement came when Moira offered to make a prince as well. "No Princes!" said Abbie Rose with absolute conviction. She has no intention of playing the boy and was pretty sure she would end up with the job. Therefore, there are only damsels in this paper kingdom.

sweet serenity

Posted on April 15, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

"The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,

And all the sweet serenity of books."

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

practicing the art of adventure

Posted on April 13, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

The call went out from the homeschool group on Friday morning to meet at the adventure forest. I hesitated for a split second thinking, wait. Obstacle courses, ziplines… maybe I should call Allen. Maybe we should go when I have more help. I don't know how to get there and……

…and then I stopped my maybe-ing and considered the possibility that it might just all work out and the sun was shining and what the heck. We shelved the books and began packing lunch and finding wellies and water bottles. Our destination was Thetford forest. It was great nearly free fun. (As is common in Europe, you are welcome to take yourself on in but the car will cost you to park.)

Tess' favorite part was the musical forest trail. At each turn of the path there was another interactive instrument: chimes, ropes on pulls, in ground piano keys to jump on.

Abbie's favorite part? "The desert," she said. Meaning? The enormous sand pit with the big diggers which I thought would frustrate them but instead they nearly broke a sweat determined to coordinate the two arms.

The boys and their friend played ball in the open field then hit some of the bigger kid equipment. There was a little worrisome point for Brendan. It is not a big deal for Kieran to go off a bit ahead with older kids but Brendan is a little too young to be a big boy and a little too big to be ok being designated in the hand holder group. I could see his brow furrowing some and figured that was the problem. Luckily Aidan saw this too and had him tag along promising to keep a close eye. Brendan brightened right up and stuck close to his side so as to prove he was up for the honor.

By the afternoon's end Abbie proudly announced there was sand in her wellies which translates to "all is well with the world." They were fearless and carefree. Things I was not at their ages. But if you make it to the end you'll see that is changing with time. : )

“A man practices the art of adventure when he breaks the chain of routine and renews his life through reading new books, traveling to new places, making new friends, taking up new hobbies and adopting new viewpoints.” — Wilfred Peterson