the graduate(s)

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Kim Halloran-Fry

My baby girl donned her cap and gown this weekend, graduating from high school with her besties, along the shore of wooded pond. It was a tremendous moment for us all, not because we didn't see it coming. She didn't just burst into womanhood but has just naturally eased right into it, feeling very comfortable in her skin.

I realized this time, the fourth time we have sent a child forth out of our homeschool nest, that it is different now. People ask, "Does it get easier?" They mean, I think, "Does parenting get easier? Does teaching (and choosing curricula and methods) get easier? Does letting go get easier?" Well, it must, because the thing that has struck me the most about all that in recent weeks is that I no longer feel the angst I felt as a young mom.

Decisions that were all consuming for many, many years no longer occupy my every waking moment. Not because we no longer have small children, for we definitely do. Somehow it is easier now to make peace with the reality that every choice we make necessarily closes other doors. It is easier to trust that even if we don't select the very 'best' math program or music lesson or scout troop that God can still make everything work for good if our intentions are sincere. It is a little bit easier to feel in my heart that even if they aren't under my roof, we are still bound very tightly in our hearts.

I don't know where life is taking this girl of ours. She will be close by for a bit yet, taking advantage of this opportunity to see Europe. But I know that even when she leaves, she is still our own dear girl. And we are going to be ok. As she said in her commencement speech, "We've got this."

It isn't just kids that grow up. Families do too.

(the dads gave speeches as well as the girls' close friend, Sarah. Then the girls each shared some thoughts.)

Thank goodness for some levity at this point because there was not a dry eye by then!

All I am going to say about this is that dessert may or may not have been analogous to our homeschool journey. We sighed over Pinterest images of little cake pop graduates. Then, as we attempted a makeshift double boiler far too late the morning of the ceremony, our white chocolate 'seized'. We improvised with tiny 'diplomas' made of Ho-Ho's last minute. They worked. They were devoured. And no one was any worse for wear for having missed the cake pop experience. note this : )

It's been a marvelous ride, sweet girl.

ordinary time

Posted on June 9, 2012 by Kim Halloran-Fry

The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.

St. Thomas More

pilgrimage

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Kim Halloran-Fry

This story began long before our feet touched the cobblestones in Prague. In fact my earnest prayers to the Infant, many years ago, were some of the first for which I recall receiving distinct and immediate answers. Still it was many years before I really understood the whole concept of contemplating our Lord as a mere babe. Maybe I am still uncovering more layers to this mystery and its application to my life, which is also vulnerable and fragile and every bit as dependent on Providence and mercy as was the Infant in the manger.

This is the ultimate paradox – the Saviour became weak, helpless. He entered the world swaddled immobile and left it bound securely to a tree and later swathed tightly in linen again. This is not the sort of hero people were expecting. It still isn't.

"my power is made perfect in weakness…" 2 Cor 12:9

This is something we do well to consider.

"…Let us then also follow the magi, let us separate ourselves from our barbarian customs, and make our distance therefrom great, that we may see Christ, since they too, had they not been far from their own country, would have missed seeing Him. Let us depart from the things of earth. For so the wise men, while they were in Persia, saw but the star, but after they had departed from Persia, they beheld the Sun of Righteousness. Or rather, they would not have seen so much as the star, unless they had readily risen up from thence.

Let us then also rise up; though all men be troubled, let us run to the house of the young Child;

though kings, though nations, though tyrants interrupt this our path, let not our desire pass away. For so shall we thoroughly repel all the dangers that beset us. Since these too, except they had seen the young Child, would not have escaped their danger from the king. Before seeing the young Child, fears and dangers and troubles pressed upon them from every side; but after the adoration, it is calm and security; and no longer a star but an angel receives them, having become priests from the act of adoration; for we see that they offered gifts also. Do thou therefore likewise leave the Jewish people, the troubled city, the blood-thirsty tyrant, the pomp of the world, and hasten to Bethlehem, where is the house of the spiritual Bread. For though thou be a shepherd, and come hither, thou wilt behold the young Child in an inn: though thou be a king, and approach not here, thy purple robe will profit thee nothing; though thou be one of the wise men, this will be no hindrance to thee; only let thy coming be to honor and adore, not to spurn the Son of God; only do this with trembling and joy…" – St. John Chrysostom (ca. A.D. 347-407)

Our desire, likewise, did not pass away and our first stop in Prague was to the Church of Our Lady of Victory to kneel and pray "with trembling and joy."

So very much has happened in the weeks since our pilgrimage I haven't really known where to begin to explain it all. Life is changing very quickly once again, though I have come to expect that. When God acts in my life it is decisive and dramatic very often. So it has been.

Symbolic of the change has been the final closing of the sale of the ranch last month. It all happened during these weeks before and after our trip. I say it is symbolic because my life 'before' was so tied to that place that even this blog and my photography work bear its name. Truly a new chapter has begun.

I can't do justice to all have carried in my heart so I will just leave you to the pictures.

Of course, she was here. Of course. My ever present companion.

(I am happy here I really am. But a big puffy, sniffly, pour-your-whole-heart-out mess by then)

A Story of the Infant Jesus of Prague

Infant of Prague prayers and history

the backyardigans

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Kim Halloran-Fry

If there's no answer, check around back please. : )

backroads

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Kim Halloran-Fry

breathing in, breathing out

Sometimes I remind myself, because life begins to hyperventilate. There is so very much that must be done to make these moves happen. Appointments, calls, house showing at a moment's notice, sorting, car sales, paperwork, contracts to sign, things to be faxed, more sorting. And there are still dinners to cook and papers to check and little heads to shampoo and laundry to fold. and. and. and…

When life is moving at a sprint you get winded faster.

I had begun to feel that – winded – but I pressed on, perhaps harder and longer than was prudent. The tank must fill – and so must the lungs. You can't talk and type and call and run without pausing for a breath. Not for long. Not and hope to have anything worth saying, nor to do any of the many things that must be done halfway well.

Some deep breaths were overdue. Fortunately we know where to find them. I round up my men and we head down the back road. These walks have the paradoxical effect of tiring the little ones out while invigorating me. Much better than the other way around things.

We pass the jet-coated stray. We spot a buck in the grain field. We toss daisies at each other and moo at the cows. And we laugh, long and loud.

Deep breath.

This is good.

It isn't a luxury. It is the essence of life itself and life is too short and too uncertain to take it in by frantic gulps and gasps. I am old enough to know this now, but there are seasons I have to live it more conscienciously than others. This is one of them.

Steady on.

Take the back roads instead of the highways. - Minnie Pearl

today was a fairy tale

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Senior prom on a Rhine River cruise. I think that qualifies as a fairy tale.

Scenes from the hours beforehand…

Best friends and beloved sisters, pouring over hair and makeup options.

twirl, curl, primp, set, brush

pin, tie, hug, cry

pose, laugh, dance

My beautiful girl, with her beautiful friends, on a beautiful day.

(the rest of the images here)

over, under, and through

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Kim Halloran-Fry

They were well equipped this foggy day for a perfect adventure. The Rheinfels Castle, with its extensive mine tunnels were beckoning. The castle sits high above the Rhine, strategically placed just before the river turns wild. This location encouraged many travelers to pull off and regroup before hitting rougher waters at which point tolls could be collected. It was also a target for invaders. Clever castle guardians devised an intricate system of tunnels which allowed them to plant land mines many yards away from the compound. The mole like burrows are just about boy size, unlit, damp, and irrestible. You know we had to try this.

What We Did

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Some random domestic updates from the past few weeks….

What We Ate:

Leftover lunches. In an attempt to bring more produce to the lunch table – and less grains for me once again – we have had veggies pureed into soup with milk and a bit of butter, veggie frittatas, and veggies and cheese wrapped in tortillas.

I think my favorite request this month however was from Abbie who asked us to make her Girl Cheese sandwiches. Who'd say no to that? ; )

What We Did Around the House:

Sorted. Lots. I have been gathering like things together and lumping them into small, medium or large bags. Sometimes putting the bags into boxes like my sewing box or my knitting box. (this is the desk drawer) This way I can use them easily now and I know all those things will end up together when we move.

What We Read:

Lots of picture books histories. Two favorites were…

Farmer George Plants a Nation

Always Remember Me

A new Grace Livingston Hill for me.

Surfing some parenting articles from this site with which I find myself nodding quite often.

What the Weather Was Like:

Let's put it this way. These two outfits happened in the same week.

What's Happening at School:

The big kids are working to finish their quarter tests and reports. There is regular journaling happening again, from all of us, hence this update.

drink in the sunshine

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Kim Halloran-Fry

"Whenever you go out of doors, draw the chin in, carry the crown of the head high, and fill the lungs to the utmost; drink in the sunshine…" – Elbert Hubbard

Yes, do.

After dreary spring weather I was so afraid there would be no brilliant blue skies this rapeseed season but the clouds have parted and soon as they did we brought the little girls to the fields, where they gathered armfuls of bright yellow blossoms.

Drink it all in.

It doesn't last forever.

violets are blue

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Kim Halloran-Fry

I don't wear purple. I don't decorate with anything in the purple family. It is one of those incontrovertible 'fun facts' about me. At this moment I am fairly certain there is only one purple thing in my possession – my violets.

African violets are surprisingly hard to come by it seems, for something that was such a staple of my youth. My grandmother cultivated many varieties on every north facing window in her home. She painstakingly started little leaves in tiny juice glasses. I remember watching the progression of those hair-fine roots as they first emerged and then slowly grew long enough to risk transplant.

Many of her little plant babies eventually migrated to my bedroom's bay window in town. In time a white, Victorian styled wheeled plant cart was full to overflowing with those plump fuzzy leaves. It brought great joy to see those blooms. It brought a bit of her as well. Still does.

I have a notoriously brown thumb and feared more than once that I had killed these. It turns out they have a blooming and dormant cycle. When all hope seemed lost they came back again, though they are still a little peaked looking from overwatering. They don't tolerate being waterlogged, nor do they take to watering from above, rather only from the roots below. And they abhor getting their leaves wet. It has the same effect as leaving a damp glass on the coffee table. You can find all the specifics here. I hope to begin again this summer in the new house.

Starry Sky Journal

Reflections from Starry Sky Ranch

Category Archives: The Ranch Hands