Hooping it Up

Posted on April 24, 2018 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Sorry. That was lame lol. The girls made some really nice embroidery hoop art pieces at their sewing class last week. The projects called for lots of new techniques for them. They drew their designs on paper and cut them out to trace onto fusible web. They ironed that to the fabrics and cut and ironed the pattern pieces to the their background material. They used a tight zig zag stitch to embroider detail as well as hand sewing some buttons for the Archie dog. He figures prominently in many family art projects. We heart Archie!

How to for similar fusible project we want to tackle here

Zigzag tute here

A Sunday Well Spent

Posted on April 24, 2018 by Kim Halloran-Fry

It's been said that a Sunday well spent brings a week of content. If so we got off to a very good start. It was the first Sunday we were all home together and it was warm enough to eat and pray outside and listen to the birds. At the risk of sounding sappy it really is a balm to the soul after such a long lingering winter season.

Suddenly spring is most definitely here if the weeds are any indicator. Landscaping has begun in earnest. If a child needs extra cash the answer is usually, "There is weeding/digging/hauling…."

The teen boys and I spent a week traveling to see their "away" siblings and photographing a beautiful wedding. The girls have started Irish dance again. In what seems truly to be an answer to prayer we have a steady stream of visitors and visits to other places scheduled in the coming weeks. Lots of interesting things to share!

First though, deep breath. Unpack. Make some food. Soak up a sunset. We have earned a springtime evening Amen, right?

Maria Emmerich's Reuben Pork Chops here. So good!

Apr 2018 tess web (1 of 1)

a sense of quiet

Posted on April 8, 2018 by Kim Halloran-Fry

"Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a sense of quiet in a crowded day – like writing a poem or saying a prayer."

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Whether or not spring has actually arrived OUTside this year, the spring flowers have arrived in the grocery stores. Walmart has had tiny pots of single bulbs for as low as a dollar a piece and small bouquets of tulips for under $5. It's a little luxury that doesn't break the bank and brightens corners of the home so well. You can place them bedside or tuck them between two thrifted candlesticks for instant dinnertime charm.

I have mentioned before that floral arranging was not a skill that came naturally to me. It's a work in progress still. I have picked up some little tips from library books and through studying gift arrangements when I have been so blessed. One trick that made a world of difference for a single variety vase is shown on the cover of this book:

You don't need dozens for this to work either. Take a handle of tulips, slip an elastic band around the stems, then gently twist in opposite directions. If your vase is clear you may wish to wrap the band with floral tape. That's all there is to it. As you can see I did not even do that to the small vase above and I still smile every time I pass.

An Easter Daybook

Posted on April 5, 2018 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Wearing: by late afternoon on Sunday when we took our annual Easter family portrait (with whichever combination of children happen to be home) this is what we looked like. The teen boys and I are shopping this week for some new dress clothes. They are avid weight lifters which, together with the current style of narrow pant legs, poses more wardrobe challenges for their mother than I can tell you.

Lest you get the impression we are entirely refined I will also share the other annual Easter family portrait tradition – the outtake:

Around the house: There are buntings and vases and vignettes. The easter lilies smell truly divine. I wish spring flowers lasted all year!

From the kitchen: It was typically simple fare here. Our guest brought us some ham which I warmed with a brown sugar and mustard glaze. I roasted a couple chickens and toasted some rolls. The little girls made some peep cupcakes. The bunny pancakes made their appearance as always. That's the thing about traditions, they look forward to them with great expectation. It is different now that there are more able hands to assemble them all.

Creating: the crowning project, of all things, were the Pixar eggs. (below) I'm not sure what got into me lol. It involved paint and glue gun and I seriously questioned my sanity at one point a couple hours into it. Still, they were so very happy and busy and utterly thrilled when finished. They are not toddlers anymore and I know how soon the day will come they will not have hours to sit at my table and laugh and craft. It's a new season, couched between the chaos of preschool and the outside activity of the teen years that will soon be here for them. It's a good season.

Reading: The Dolorous Passion of the Christ We watched the movie together on Friday and it occurred to me that perhaps next year it would be good to watch it at the beginning of lent. It is always so convicting and I think the visual and reminders would inspire better focus. One thing that struck me this year was the laughter – from the guards, the party-goers at the palace, the crowds. Sin can appear to be so terribly funny. Sigh. I've asked myself how often I too have had Truth standing right before me and I missed it as completely. Is it possible I have looked into the face of God and dismissed Him in the same ways? The time it's taken to read random chapters online in bits and snatches has been well spent.

Thinking about: Hospitality and all it entails for me. It's sort of a dirty word it seems. A few moments online will turn up jeers and scorn and questions – "Who are you trying to impress?" they ask as though that must be our motive. Well, the thing is we have had some weary souls around our table at times and these lines come back to me often –

"No day should pass, we say, on which we do not put a little cheer into some discouraged heart, make the path a little smoother for someone’s tired feet, or help some fainting robin unto its nest again. This is right." JR Miller

I know how to do some things well. My cooking is only passably good, but I can set a pretty table. I like to gather flowers and set candlesticks in place. I press tablecloths and pull out cut glass bowls. It makes me happy. As we sat down together I realized that, much more importantly, it was making other people happy. Those who have no home of their own or no time or resources or strength to beautify their space could be spoiled for a few hours and maybe leave standing a little taller and feeling a bit steadier. This is as it should be. As Miller said, this is right.

It doesn't fix everything but perhaps it makes us better able to tackle all the rest.

And now we are well into "all the rest." April and May are full of travel both for ourselves and for guests arriving here and I am already there in my head working out plans and making lists. I hope your Easter was lovely and your springtime full of promise.