I have so enjoyed the Southern Lady blog. Lots of decorating inspiration from real homes. And hey, she has my pantry door. <g>
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Purposing and re-purposing
There is nothing more fun than using things in unexpected ways. This is doubly true if chalkboard paint is involved. Y'all know I have a bit of a fascination with chalkboards. <g> Well, check these out. Bless This Nest made a gorgeous chalkboard out of an old silver tray. She got the idea here. This isn't her first erasable project though. Here is here snazzy pantry door.
While you are there you might enjoy the Phillip's family reflections about how to show love in the home. While these pointers are aimed at parent-child communication I think spouses would do well to practice saying – and meaning – those things:
* I enjoy being with you
* I like watching you grow into what God wants you to be
* I like who you're becoming
* I think you have good ideas
* I forgive you
* I love you for who are (as in, instead of for who I want you to be)
* I support you in the things you enjoy
embroidered table runner
food cravings?
This chart proposes to identify which nutrients your body is asking for when you crave certain foods. Interesting! Though I wonder what craving these means…..
sigh. Somedays I really miss corn syrup.
our domain
"Ladies, our homes are our domain to tame. And this isn't a one time project. Just like child training requires constant upkeep, so do our homes. Never stop thinking about what you might try next. Rearrange furniture and try out new colors in your mind. Enjoy the challenge of organizing and making lovely on a budget. Rise with a smile to the job of daily tasks mixed with long term projects. Be the queen of your home who oversees all, as well as the sweet servant who washes the floors.
…the environment that you surround yourself with and the attitude that you wear each and every day can have either a negative or positive effect on your own, as well as each person in your family. Your mindsets, moods, energy levels, and productivity will be impacted by your surroundings. The more organized and lovely you make your home, the more you will enjoy your work and rest in it.
and another thought-
"Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest." Prov 14:4
God is saying, "Chin up, Honey. If you didn't have any children you wouldn't have any mess."
He is reminding us that without oxen there is no manure and I guess you could say the same about children and dirty diapers. We don't want to complain about our blessings. The messes are a result and a part of the blessing!"
Cheyenne
Cheyenne is a sleepy little cowboy town which mercifully escaped the 'modernization' trend of the 70's. It's brick storefronts remain intact with visible ghost ads along the alley side walls. It was wicked windy the days we were there. It felt as thought we might blow right off the map at times. Still the rugged beauty was undeniable.
We began with the lovely historic homes Allen was inspecting.
Directly behind us was a herd of pronghorn who were quite comfortable among the cars and commotion:
We checked in here:
and then ventured downtown:
While we were at The Plains the little boys were at The Dog and Duck. I suspect the accommodations were even more gracious there. Karen I don't know what we would do without you!
be back soon
Just wanted to pop in here to say hello should there be anyone left out there. : )
We are in the process of a much-needed update and facelift for the blog and then will be back to visit again. I hope you have been having a delightful spring. God bless.
kodachrome
"I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph…" - Paul Simon
'Tis more blessed to give than receive. It really is. Still I am embarassingly overjoyed by my husband's gift this year. Digital SLR. Oh…my…stars. I am beyond words. And as soon as the software is loaded I'll bore you all to tears with new pictures.
Meantime, from the old camera, tell me this isn't the cutest Christmas dress? The little ones had such a splendid time.
A Charlie Brown Christmas tree
"I never thought it was such a bad little tree. It's not bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love…"
-Linus
My husband felt the same and I am pretty sure he was paraphrasing Charlie when he got back from the forest:
"I don't care. We'll decorate it and it'll be just right for our play. Besides, I think it needs me." [picks up tree; a lot of needles fall off] - Charlie Brown
So we did just that. We loved it as best we could and here is the end result. It is hard to get a good picture of the tree – both because of the glare from the wall of windows and because of well….. the tree. It's a peculiar tree to be sure. Allen thought we just needed to turn it to show its good side. Some of us aren't convinced it HAS a good side but it is definitely one of a kind.
It has made the living room festive with all the sparkly though. In fact Alannah was saying it was her favorite room in the house and I have to agree. The sparkly part came from this years's gold theme. Last year's 'natural' theme posed some real problems with our "Snoopy". He was thrilled to death with the wood and clay ornaments. My solution was to paint everything that wasn't already. He won't touch anything painted or glittered and it all matches now. Problem solved <g> We filled in with a box of metallic shatterproof balls.
The garland came out well enough on the tops of the larger pieces of furniture. The cats weren't impressed by the decorations we left in their sunning spots however.
See what I mean? It's almost as though you can hear her "hmmph". Either that or she agrees with the kids that the woodland angel has wings that look like spider webs….
And look who started smiling. Actually you mostly have to take my word for it because the camera can't keep up with Abbie's smile so we have several 'almost' shots. We now compete to see who can get her to grin. Tess is determined <g>
normal is just a setting on your washer….
The one constant in life is change. Margaret Kim Peterson addressed the differences and challenges in large and small households. I think her observation about small households actually encompasses most larger ones as well:
There may be a few years (in a small household) in which there are young children and then many years in which there are none. Children can feel like an intrusion in such a household; parents may spend the preschool years waiting for things to 'get back to normal." But, young childhood is just as normal a state of life as adulthood; we just tend to forget that, in our age-segregated society. Keeping house (in a smaller household) calls for the flexibility necessary to see a variety of situations as "normal" and a willingness to repeatedly reassess the changing needs of household members and the varying contributions that household members can make to the work of the household.
Having a new baby, no matter how many you have had, can throw a person for a loop. Previously fine-tuned routines can be turned on their ears. Fatigue and the inability to predict baby's moods can knock a person off their game for a bit. If articles about how to 'deal' with preschoolers are any indication, that state of disequilibrium can last some time, at least until the child can be sat down with a pencil and paper or sent to school. That is a state of things we often feel more comfortable with. Many people spend the early years just hanging on, waiting for them to pass, until the children are less… childish.
It is true that there are challenges unique to the baby and toddler years. If you are in a larger household you may find yourself in and out of this time over and over. You may find that you spend a number of years never out of it completely, with some small person around at all times. It is necessary to have a proper perspective either way.
With my first children I assumed chaos was the best we could expect and housekeeping was kept to the bare despicable minimum. I resented the intrusion housekeeping chores made on our life and figured no one could be expected to do them with any regularity given the peculiar demands tiny people imposed. I fell into the mindset Peterson describes – this will pass. We would wait until some future date when things would get back to 'normal.' As you can see 'normal' never came and chaos was not an acceptable status quo for the long haul. Neither was resentment.
We have never been the types to enforce a rigid schedule for little folks. We gently move them into a routine but the truth is there are weeks and months where life demands that we adapt to the unexpected and still carry on cheerfully one way or another. This is our normal. There is nothing 'wrong' with this state of affairs that must be endured nor fixed per se. It just requires a different outlook and plan of attack.
When writing about our family life in the Catholic Homeschool Companion book I said we had learned to 'make hay when the sun shines.' This is still our way of doing things. If the baby is resting and I am able to, I get to work. When we are home and able to, we push ahead with school. We do all we can, whenever we can, and then if life happens (and sooner or later it does) we can respond to that challenge without undo anxiety over what else is not happening. We know that 'normal' means babies might be sleepless, toddlers may get excitable and messy, and teens may sometimes be in a funk or prone to sleeping every bit as much as the babies are prone to wakefulness. Dad, who had previously been home at 6 each evening might now be out of town or out of the country. There can be new homes, new jobs, new health challenges.
Even aside from those major upheavals there are inevitably the lesser ones which come and go. The child who was enthusiastic about math or doing dishes last year may balk at those things this year. In contrast the child who was unable to contribute much last year may suddenly excel at a chore today. The new driver may now be able to run errands. Tasks that were once done reliably at certain time may now have to be shifted to another part of the day so mom can catch a nap when baby falls asleep. We don't stop doing the things we must. We do however develop flexibility about when they get done in the day and who is able to do them. We don't consider this problematic. It is just another sort of normal.
In His divine economy God wastes nothing. If the season of life in which you find yourself has its own set of unique trials, be assured it also has its unique opportunities as well. Instead of clinging to our comfort zones we can embrace the change and ask ourselves how we might see and do things differently. We can be certain that we are able to thrive under many different circumstances. There is a reason for today.
Starry Sky Journal 