Author Archives: Kim Halloran-Fry

Seeing Europe – Griswold Style

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If you travel with us you should have a sense of humor. We do our share of cathedrals and places of awe and majesty.  But kids get a little maxed out with awe and majesty after a while.  And since their mother is a bit of a crack up always trying to insert levity into the day you might find us….

read

striking a pose….

statue

pose

do you see what I have to work with here, people?

foosball

maybe an impromptu game of foosball?  Can't explain this table cemented into the sidewalk. 

We admire the ingenuity of the locals….

maintenance

and try to mingle with the crowd.  You're supposed to do that you know. 

frankenstein

gladiator van
We try not to pass judgement on things we can't exactly understand.  Like this…

half house

It probably takes half the time to clean anyway. ; D 

We are always, always on our very best behavior.  The height of propriety at all times….

fountain

We chuckle at signs….

coffee 

We make faces back at gargoyles..

gargoyle
We brake for gelato.

gelato
gelato counter

(spaghetti style is a fave)

gelato

and as the saying goes we…

stamp
But be advised that sometimes that is more challenging than others…

July 2011 neustadt toilette web
For instance, we never did figure out the automated, self-cleaning potty (though I really wish I had one at home!) which resulted in a high speed run to McDonald's where we slowed down long enough to allow for a certain passenger to fly out of the vehicle in the nick of time.  (You should also know that in this country restrooms are sorta optional, and it is a good idea to guard your eyes when passing open fields on the roadsides… Yeah.  Not for us.) 

Anyway, I was laughing may way through editing and thought I'd share. Have a fabulous weekend! 

Black and White Wednesday – the face of summer

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lunch

Just random lunchtimes.  I love hanging back and watching them talk.  Tess and Brendan like to make their own sandwiches these days which takes a very long time from gathering tools and ingredients to preparation to eating to cleanup.  But its a very long time that small people are busy and productive and have that glorious Montessori face on.  It's when you hear that very quiet heavy sigh of satisfaction over their work. Worth every minute. And crumb. 

swing

window
Did you know that if you look out my dining room window you can talk to your next door neighbor through their window?  Sigh.  But hey, the kids think this is the ultimate in cool.  I am just grateful for blinds <g>

van
Someone got way too old this summer. She has taken to shopping and cafe hopping downtown every chance she and her friends get. 

handshake

In case you don't have brothers or football at your house, this is the secret handshake, to be used after a touchdown… yay-ah

football
van
running running running, always running
yard

these two as well….

run

but who can resist those faces?  Not me. 

Black and white wed

Gasthaus

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Thought you might enjoy a peek inside this Bavarian inn, outfitted with mint condition midcentury furnishings, from what was likely the last major renovation. 

hotel room 1

the double and the twins…

hotel room 2

not to mention the 'premier' sound system which gave me flashbacks to the even more retro radios which graced the 'dens' in my grandparent's and friends' homes. How we loved horsing around with the dials and bringing in stations from way far away if the weather was right.  (You know like 3 or 4 hours away…) 

hotel radio

hotel window 1

hotel window 2

Does anyone else miss pricilla's?  I sure do. These are identical to the ones which hung in my bedroom as a girl. I was born in the wrong century.  Or maybe just the wrong continent. <g>

windows

He Notices

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daisies
Continue On

A woman once fretted over the usefulness of her life.
She feared she was wasting her potential being a devoted wife and mother.

She wondered if the time and energy she invested in her husband and children would make a difference.

At times she got discouraged because so much of what whe did seemed to go unnoticed and unappreciated.

"Is it worh it?" She often wondered. 
"Is there something better that I could be doing with my time?" 

It was during one of these moments of questioning that she heard the still small voice of her heavenly Father speak to her heart.

"You are a wife and mother because that is what I have called you to be. 

Much of what you do is hidden from the public eye.

But I notice.

Most of what you give is done without remuneration.

But I am your reward.

Your husband cannot be the man I have called him to be without your support.

Your influence upon him is greater than you think and more powerful than you will ever know.

I bless him through your service and honor him through your love.

Your children are precious to me.

Even more precious than they are to you.

I have entrusted them to your care to raise for me.

What you invest in them is an offering to me. 

You may never be in the public spotlight,

but your obedience shines as a bright
light before me.

Continue on.

Remember you are MY Servant. 

Do all to please me."

– Roy Lessin via Michelle Duggar, who is blessing me through her latest book. 

You may not feel very successful today.  You may not be able to boast of the perfect marriage.  You may be anxious over one of your children.  You may know all the many ways you and your life fall short of your ideals.  This was never about perfection, but about faithfulness.  It was never about how this looks in the eyes of the world, but about how it looks in the eyes of eternity.  

Continue on.  

"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling." Phil 2:12

It is easy to be faithful when you appear to be a shining success.  How much more difficult in the apparent absence of that success?  But what is faith, but evidence of things NOT seen?  There is still a God Who notices, Who can work for good.

Continue on, no matter how foolish it seems to the rest of the world.  It matters.

"…let him become a fool that he might become wise.  For the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God." 1 Cor 3:18-19

dachau daisy
(images of my children gathering daisies for me at the Dachau Memorial.  Just struck me at that moment how painfully beautiful that was. A testimony to the triumph of beauty and goodness over evil.) 

 

stau

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Traffic was blocked behind the house yesterday while the farmer moved his cows from the pasture across the road.  Somehow it's more fun watching other people move their cattle than to actually be the mover ; )  Although I am an avowed livestock watcher either way.  

cows

 

cows

cross

cross
Gives new meaning to 'street photography'.  

 

best of all

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geraniums window

 

"Best of all were the mornings and evenings at home.  Laura realized she had never appreciated them until now. There were no sullen silences, no smoldering quarrels, no ugly outbreaks of anger. 

Instead there was work with pleasant talk, there were happy little jokes and evenings of cozy studying and reading, and the music of Pa's fiddle…. How often Laura thought how happy and fortunate she was. Nothing anywhere could be better than being at home with the home folks." 

- These Happy Golden Years

geranium


Window Dressing

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The children's bedrooms here have been a bit Spartan since we moved in.  Mainly just beds and a dresser – for personal items since the clothes are stored in the laundry room. It has been a good system since the rooms  clean up easily and usually look pretty neat. Now we are turning our attention to dressing them up a bit and slowly replacing some subpar beds and mattresses etc.  

room

The girls each picked out bedding before we moved. Alannah has a set of black bunkbeds and chose a black and white zebra stripe comforter with hot pink sheets and bedskirts.  For months the windows stood bare.  They are now dressed in bold pink sheer panels topped with black boas found locally.  They hang on simple black iron rods. 

room 2

We repainted an old hand me down chair in glossy black and moved it in for seating.  The stained white upholstery was recovered (glue gun and staple gun) in a pink cotton and topped with a pillow to match the bedding and boas.  It still needs the black braid trim to cover the staples.  Had to wait til I found it finally at a craft store.  To be done soon.   It isn't exactly "my" style but it isn't exactly "my" room now either is it? ; )  And it is very, very "her".  

Christmas in July

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I am finally embracing this idea that shopping and crafting are best done at least a season or two in advance.  With that in mind, I am deciding how to finish the French cross stitch completed mostly after Christmas last.  Thinking a tiny ribboned cushion to hang from a doorknob would be perfect.

  noel

And to go with the mood, a spray of summer snow. 

queen anne's lace