Category Archives: Big Thoughts

The Power to Bless

Posted on by

I came across an image of a vintage transferware mug that really caught my eye.   I couldn't save a picture so do follow the links and see how wonderful it is. On it was imprinted a sentiment that appears to come from Franklin.  Sometimes listed as Flowers that Never Fade, it reads:

Good humor is the greatest charm

That children can possess,

It makes them happy and what's more,

It gives them power to bless. 

The Blue China Book gives a little background.  It is "an expression of one of Franklin's favorite theories, one which he himself was in the habit of practicing – that good humor is one of Nature's flowers of character most powerful in its influence upon men."  

 

 

Daybook

Posted on by

Outside: The snow still blankets the yard and has formed high walls along the driveway as tall as I.  Temperatures have been low but Abbie and her neighbor friend especially have been undaunted and still get outside for a while daily. 

Jan 2017 snow front web (1 of 1)

Listening to:  The Beatles today.  One son said he had downloaded a couple songs and, did I ever listen to the Beatles.  Um yes.  Me and most of the rest of the western world.  "Were they like, your band?"  After explaining I wasn't actually BORN when the Beatles burst onto the music scene I made them listen to all my favorites on youtube.  That took a while, especially since I had to sing my favorite parts.  For him that was Hey Jude.  For me that included Ob-La-Di, Penny Lane, Yellow Submarine. What say you? 

Around the house:  I should be showing you the newly remodeled school room and family room but the weather earlier in the month wreaked havoc on part of the area.  We are back to square one.  Stayed tuned.  It's going to be wonderful.  It WAS wonderful for ever so brief a moment.  It will be wonderful again.  Hopefully soon.  

Creating: We just finished some flower girl accessories.  Working feverishly to complete all our ideas for Moira's wedding. 

Reading: Mama's Bank Account together.  I remember loving it as a child and picked up a copy to read to the younger three.  We are really enjoying it.  One teen finished Animal Farm and is reading St Catherine of Siena now.  Another reading Scarlet Pimpernel.  Tess is working through the Little House books and Abbie is working through Beverly Cleary's Ramona titles

From the learning room: pastels and watercolors and snowmen have prevailed in art this winter.  This was a favorite we learned from Pinterest, my happy place.  Our craft project ideas here. 

16468649_1372429562787817_274969982_n

From the liturgical calendar: Today is the feast of St John Bosco. He has always been one of my heavenly heroes.  I was given a relic a few years ago by my dear friend Rebecca and it hangs where I see it every morning.  For parenting inspiration I recommend this which could be summed up with this thought below: 

16427794_10212407134800449_4257219932978155060_n

Of course this applies to much more than correction of children.  So much more.  In fact Psalm 141:3 is every on my lips daily right now given our contentious climate.  

From the kitchen: printing recipes when I see promising things on Tasty etc.  Using the instant pot a great deal.  Here are some spaghetti squash boats from the other day.  Spaghetti squash cooks in FIVE minutes in the IP.  Amazing and so good. 

  Jan 2017 spaghetti web (1 of 1)

Towards fitness:  I subscribed to the digital Walk at Home membership before Christmas and love it.  Have started incorporating Fitness Blender into my week again as well.  I most love that when it's done.  

reading and thinking – spare time bits

Posted on by

2014 england linens web (1 of 1)

 

Each evening draws to a close without me sitting down to write, it seems.  Truth is it is difficult to string together a thoughtful piece this late in the day.  It occurred to me it might also work to share bits and pieces of life lately. So there is the first random bit: I ran across this image the other day from a house we visited in England.  Took my breath away. The sun shines against the shiny tile and I can imagine the smell of bleach as the linens dry there. I love everything about this. While I feel we are where we ought to be (most days) I miss the pace we lived there. 

We watched The English Patient this winter for the first time in many years. It bothered me in ways that I had forgotten and sparked some thoughtful questions from my daughter in law.  One part that caught my particular attention, oddly, was a story from Herodotus that the main female character told around a desert campfire about King Candaules who exposed his wife's beauty to his aide and how she repaid his betrayal.  When I was browsing through a box of books our oldest son was storing here I found a copy of The Histories.  I had completely forgotten about this passage and the movie until I began reading the first chapter.  Who knows how far I will get but I have been picking up this volume here and there and enjoying these stories from so very long ago that describe people so very like people today. 

I have been following Peter Walsh's daily posts of decluttering tasks on Facebook. If the day cooperates I will tackle one of the short challenges. A Bowl Full of Lemons is hosting a more ambitious themed house organization challenge that several friends have joined.  The social media shares are inspiring.   Similar but different – my friend Briana shared an article about Minimalism and where it sometimes goes off the rails. Good perspective to balance the current trend of elimination when it is for elimination's sake. Coincidentally I ran across this one later in the day.  You've seen my pictures and probably guess where I fall on this spectrum though that really doesn't matter in the end. 

The Federalist ran an excellent article about contemporary motherhood.  Or about how to look at any job we find ourselves tasked with that at first is outside our skill set.  Also about cynicism creeping into our vocation, our conversations.  Cynicism is a joy sucker if ever there was one. 

Fake news is the topic of conversation all over right now. This article from last month discussed the sort of news that captures attention versus the sort of news that actually impacts our day to day lives – personal narrative.  Lady Lydia mentioned something similar today.  The most important stories are not often told on tv. Or social media.  Or any media.  They are the kitchen table stories.  After I read that one I decided maybe it is good after all to share the virtual equivalent of my library receipts or my daybook entries. Maybe it helps to hear what someone just like you thought about or read about or tried to do today.  

so that's what I did

 

pen to paper

Posted on by

 

Dec 2016 christmas web (1 of 1)

In an age like ours, which is not given to letter-writing, we forget what an important part it used to play in people's lives. 

~Anatole Broyard

I am part of a cusp generation, the last of those who may have had pen and paper pen pals. I have not forgotten the feel of feather-light airmail vellum envelopes with their red and blue edges.  The penmanship of friends and family I have corresponded with is still fresh in my mind.  For many reasons, electronic correspondence makes more sense today.  Perhaps only one reason – speed. Perhaps that too, is its great downfall.  We live in an age with no pause between reception of message and reply.  I'm not sure we are better for it. Email and text have really replaced phone calls more than letters. Letters just sort of faded away.  

Christmas is the one time of year when the mailbox once again brings real, tangible messages from far away. Today more than ever I treasure handwritten addresses and signatures.  It is a truly restorative treat to sit quietly and pour over the new pictures of my children's friends even if I have seen some of them on a screen. 

I sat with a cup of tea today and read a multipage letter from an old friend.  She has email.  So do I. It is different somehow to sit and read her stories of the year past and how she felt about it all. After her letter came a card with a short note from my late mother's best friend from school.  We do not know each other well but the moments she took to tell me she was thinking of us mean more than I can say.  

Old fashioned handwritten correspondence was something that fell by the wayside as the tempo of my life inched upwards. My own bookish and artsy younger children are helping me revisit this habit. I hope we can turn this around a bit, for the sake of us writers as much as for those we send our letters to.  

Some ideas for those cards and letters arriving in your mailbox here here and here

 

 

A tailor-made feasting plan

Posted on by

Dec 2016 st nicholas web (1 of 4)

Hymn for St. Nicholas

From every land and every age
We sing of those who bravely wage
The saintly fight with Spirit's sword
In mighty battle for the Lord.

Saint Nicholas the Shepherd true
Who brought his flock to faith anew,
Now by his prayers and faith secure
Draws us, for Jesus to endure.

Now we rejoice on this his day
For in his life, in Christ's sure way,
He saved thy children from their plight,
Defeated sin, put fear to flight.

And we, like sailors lost at sea,
Recall our saint, for surely he
Our patron, points us to the Lord
by whom all sinners are restored.

Now in this church we raise our cry
To God the King of Saints on high.
And pray that, with our Patron, we
May one day God in glory see.

Dec 2016 st nicholas web (3 of 4)

Dec 2016 st nicholas web (2 of 4)

It was a beautiful feast day this year.  We found another pair of authentic Dutch wooden shoes at the thrift store for $4 which made my heart sing, I tell you.  Then our college daughter assembled all the shoe stuffers for us. Even though we have been busy, between us we were able to make a nice morning.  

I commented to a young mom friend though that it's important to look at peaceful, artsy feast day celebrations with a balanced perspective.  Do not compare your spring to another's autum.  I don't have babies at home and have not for many years.  My baby just turned EIGHT years old.  Sigh.  

There are other reasons besides more available time and being well-rested that account for my ability to pull off creative feast days these days.  We are in good health right now.  We have spent 30 married years collecting statues and decorations – $4 or less at a time. It took a loooooong time.  For many years we were lucky to afford dollar store candy canes in their little tennies.  And that was wonderful in its own way.  I am not being facetious.  Oh, to have those tiny children back for an hour or two.  

Our priest has always encouraged us to cultivate fulfilling projects of our own.  He advised that the day would come when the children would be grown and we needed to have other satisfying ways to fill our hours.  That day has not completely come yet but we are definitely in transition.  There are no more hours in the rocker or pacing the floor with colicky infants.  There are no more night wakings nor need for constant vigilance with the outlets or the breakables or the household cleaners.  However, the trials bigger kids face are also not as easily fixed up.  I can't carry around a big twelve year old boy on my hip.  I can fill a shoe with the same favorite treats he has enjoyed for many December sixth's and thereby remind him that while the bigger world around him is ever changing and ever presenting him with new challenges, some things are foundational, fixed, unchanging.  You can count on them.  

Dec 2016 st nicholas web (4 of 4)

It occurred to me that this is a way to embrace those big kids. To borrow a contemporary term – this is my love language.  Decorating and celebrating come easily to me.  I am not particularly skilled in areas other people find come easily to them.  I hope they are embracing their skill set and using it to show love in their own ways.  

That, after all, is the real point.  

The purpose of the task is to strengthen the relationship.  If decorating stresses you then it is not strengthening your relationships. It is straining them.  Go to Starbucks and have a peppermint latte instead.  Go to the library and pick up a Christmas book to share. Pack up that fussy baby and drive around looking at lights til she is asleep again.  

Just be you and be that well.

The Doorway to Christmas

Posted on by

 

Dec 2015 advent wreath web (1 of 1)

"For Mrs. Sharp's family, the holiday excitement begins as soon as the Thanksgiving turkey starts simmering on the stove for soup. Then we put away the everyday china to make room for the Christmas crockery and bring out the Advent Box.

"Advent Box, Mrs. Sharp? Is this another old-fashioned Victorian tradition?"

No, dear readers. Advent is one of the oldest celebrations of the Christmas season, dating back at least 14 centuries. The Advent season–the four weeks preceding Christmas–is traditionally set aside for spiritual preparation before the Nativity of Christ. Mrs. Sharp likes to think that Advent is the doorway through which we enter into a joyful Christmas.

And the Advent Box is just a cardboard box, clearly labeled "Advent" (to distinguish it from the hundreds of "Xmas boxes" in the attic). It contains all the books, supplies and materials Mrs. Sharp needs early in December in order to celebrate Advent.

Do you observe the season of Advent in your home? Victorian families did, for the many colorful customs that surround its observance–the Advent calendar, wreath and candles, as well as mini-festivals such as St. Nicholas Day (Dec. 6) and St. Lucia's Day (Dec. 13)–all added to the children's understanding and appreciation of Christmas."

Mrs. Sharp's Traditions

Although the lower level remodel is eating up a good deal of our time right now we are enjoying our Austin family style advent doing some bit of preparation each day along with our special advent prayers. This weekend's particular task is to be certain we are prepared for St. Nicholas' feast day Tuesday.  Now is the time to ensure there are chocolate coins and candy canes for the shoes as well as the makings for a simple craft gathered up. 

with hands and heart

Posted on by 
 

Dec 2016 gifts web (1 of 1)

It should be understood that everyone in the family has a present for everybody else; these presents should be precious, though not in terms of money, as they should not be bought, but home-made. This is quite a task in a large family, but fingers become skilled in handicrafts of many kinds block prints, wood carvings, leather work, needle work, lettering with beautiful illuminations, and clay work. All these, and one's imagination, are called upon to create many beautiful, useful things, which could not be bought for money because they are made not only with the hands but also with the heart.

– Around the Year with the Trapp Family

 

Do we do this perfectly?  Not even close.  I am sharing my favorite advent and Christmas reads though because they give me a vision. 

Almost December Daybook

Posted on by

Outside:  The rich autumn reds and oranges we were blessed to enjoy so long have been blanketed with beautiful snow cover all week. We need the moisture and I just plain love the snow.  Then again I loved the leaves.  It's a beautiful world, period.

Nov 2016 B snow web (1 of 1)

 Around the house: We moved all the furniture and dozens of books from the family room/school room. (hundreds? thousands? millions?  probably not, it just felt that way.)  When we pulled up the carpet we noticed some concrete irregularities and panicked a little.  Ok I panicked a lot.  We have had enough disaster in our residential history to warrant panic.  However the contracter who came out assured us all was well and to carry on.  That we did.  We are now nearly halfway to a new floor.  It is transforming an 80's basement to a clean open farmhouse space.  That might be more in my big picture vision than in actuality at this moment but the promise is there.  The boys are learning so much working on this project. They have painted and cut out vents and trimmed edging.  Real life work.

Note to self: get the leaves and pumpkins rounded up today.  

Nov 2016 floor web (1 of 1)

Wearing: Snow gear per above.  I need to buy some more waterproof gloves soon.  The first snow always surprises us.  In other wardrobe news we have ordered the girls' dresses for the wedding. I am probably late on the game but working on mine.  An unrelated note – Elizabeth Broadbent wrote this essay about dressing your kids in secondhand clothes which resonated with me.   I heart thrift shops.  

In the kitchen: lots of veggies.  Someone here, who isn't me, had a 'midcentury' physical and is motivated to jump on the veggie train with me. This one was good.  Roasted brussels sprouts and butternut squash and onion.  Toss in pomegranate seeds or craisins afterwards.  

Nov 2016 sprouts web (1 of 1)

Listening to:  Christmas music on the piano.  All day.  Every day.  Carols.  It's a wonderful thing though to have a houseful of piano students again.  Their instructor gave them a new Christmas music fun book and Tess especially has been all over it. 

On an unrelated random note,  driving home home last night I was listening to Simon and Garfunkel's America.  In the dark, as the music was playing, I was 16 again, right back in an apartment in Italy listening to that album playing on a turntable and soooo terribly homesick.  Missing a boy with all my heart.  (dear reader, I married him)  So funny how music can transport you not just to a place but to the very emotions that enveloped you at that moment.   Another random note – the song was written in '68.  So basically it's almost as old as I am, which doesn't feel as old as it sounds when I say it.  Not at all. 

Creating: We are busy making Christmas gifts.  Trying to aim low and finish a few.  The guys packed up the sewing machine and many of the craft supplies so we are working with a limited cache of tools at the moment.  Abbie was given a bracelet making kit for her birthday.  Her big sister helped the girls make a ton of them over the weekend.  

Nov 2016 bracelets web (1 of 1)

Abbie's bells and whistles party didn't materialize.  Because, life.  We decided to make a gingerbread house together instead.  

Nov 2016 B snow web (1 of 1)-2

Nov 2016 B snow web (1 of 1)-3

Nov 2016 gingerbread web (1 of 1)

Reading:  My time has not been my own lately.  Every time it seemed as though moments were going to open up to grab my book they have been taken up with other work.  However we finished a huge chunk of our fall reading list and are happily diving into advent and Christmas books. (see right sidebar)  Today we will at least begin 24 Days Before Christmas.  This was our first introduction to Madeleine L'Engle and the Austin family.  In this slim volume we follow the family's gentle approach to holiday preparation.  Each day Mrs. Austin puts up a little bit of cheer, usually homemade.  Some foil ornaments.  A door wreath.  A batch of cookies.  Without even realizing it you fall into step with her as the days draw nearer.  I am so looking forward to sharing it with the youngest of our family and hope this will help to set the pace for our own advent.  

Coincidentally, a friend shared this short essay on L'Engle this week.  She captures the purpose and role that art plays so well, 

"To try to talk about art and about Christianity is for me one and the same thing, and it means attempting to share the meaning of my life, what gives it, for me, its tragedy and its glory."