Their site has been updated with gorgeous pictures of that awesome house.  I wanna move in.   : )

We are grounded today. On a Divine Time-Out.  The children have taken turns erupting since Saturday. In a weird way it’s ok though. It forces us to be here and be settled which is my goal anyway. Seems God has a way of pulling us back to our center when we start to scurry. He ‘makes us lie down’.

While on our imposed quiet time I have been devouring the Down to Earth Blog. I have been chewing over Rhonda Jean’s description of the steady pace of her days. She knows what to expect when she begins her days and ends them with hearty satisfaction, looking forward the challenges of a new day to come. About home she says:
"…my home is like my work of art. I hope it will become my masterpiece. I
believe that I have done the best work of my life at home. I might not
have been paid for it, but it paid off in many ways money never could
have."

Indeed it does. How often we look for fulfillment and purpose elsewhere.  How rarely it is to found anyplace else. We have been given such a gift. It is my goal to keep that gratitude foremost in my mind and make the most of it.

Elements of Time explains the steps they have taken to reduce their consumption by 90%.  90%   That’s a whoooooole lot.  I am fascinated by the prospect however since that would free up a bunch of resources to tackle debt. Check it out.

Lion Brand yarn has some podcasts available here. The new catalog came by mail this week.  Oooooooh Aaaaaah!  Absolutely gorgeous colors and the backdrops were incredible too for that matter. The most impressive to me was the Tree of Life afghan.  A work of art. Nothing I could swing.  Maybe Rebecca! : ) I love the tone on tone pattern.

I swear when I read the books I picture this:

My 50s nostalgia rolls over into lit in a big way.  I got a wild hair and found The Timber Trail Riders on amazon.  I can’t wait to share them with my daughters. : )  I spent all my holidays and summers and many weekends at my grandparents’ stable. We didn’t have a vast library but being a bookworm I think I memorized most of the books on the shelves. 

Did any of you have these? The Golden Book Encyclopedia set kept me occupied for a lot of hours.  I picked up a set of my own when the boys were little.

I love old books.Sigh.

Speaking of which – its time to pull out An Austin Family Christmas.

I mentioned in my last post that ‘a reader’ had sent me the link to her blog.  That comment has been bothering me all day.  Just sounds so pompous. 

Here is what happened.  I got a very sweet note from a very nice woman who happened to have visited here. She was kind enough to share the link to her new blog which was delightful.  She is an art therapist and has some insightful thoughts about the role our creations play. Thoughts which, unbeknownst to her, have been turning over in my mind all week.  I had hoped to share the link here but as I am using my son’s computer and reading webmail things occasionally disappear or get deleted.  Like the link. And the email with which I could have retrieved the link. : / 

So please accept my apology.  Like I said – that just didn’t sound right to me.

Please keep two of my favorite people in prayer if you would.  I know God has a plan but honestly I am a bit beside myself over both of them at the moment. : /   Karen has been a wonderful steadfast friend since we both moved to CO. They have been ‘whole family’ friends, a rare find where all of us- husbands, wives, and kids – get along famously. They host warm old fashioned parties for scads of locals and are the first to appear with food when there is a celebration or crisis.  Now Karen is having her own struggle and I am determined to pray her through this.

Jen and I have been friends for 13 years now. But who is counting. ; )  We have gone through lots of babies, moves, and diets together.  We have alternately inspired and consoled each other as life demanded. We have hashed out deep, vital issues like theology, nutrition, educational methods, and the ongoing bangs-versus-no bangs debate. <g>  Life has thrown her a curve ball healthwise also. She is unlikely to make much mention of it being as others-centered as she has always been. Please life them up in your prayers!

I wandered onto Rhonda’s blog to get these way cute embroidery patterns.  I stayed to read more of her musing about simple living. Her Two Simple Things post includes this challengs:

As soon as you finished reading this blog today, I have a task for you. Your first small step: sit down with a pen and notepad and think about the kind of life you want to live. Picture yourself in your ideal location doing what would make you happy. What is complicating your life? What do you need to change in your life to achieve what you want?

It reminded me of that Elsie Flanigan layout I linked to last week which said, "This is your life. Are you who you want to be?"  (If I was a good blogger I would go dig it up to hyperlink, wouldnt I : / )

Rhonda says today can be the first day of the rest of your simplified life. She also echoes my recurrent thoughts:

I’d be lying if I told you that simple living is easy. It is satisfying, rewarding, healthy, beautiful, it makes you feel happy and content, it’s substantial and important and necessary, but it isn’t easy, especially when you start. But it’s a wonderful and significant way of life and I hope all of you decide that even if it isn’t easy, it is how you want your life to be.

Simple.  Not to be confused with easy.

Anyhoo, if the idea of simple, sane living intrigues you but you feel you are buried under with no hope of digging out then give yourself an hour and go read the Down to Earth blog with a pen and notebook. See if she can’t change your mind. : )

You are in for such a treat!  Our favorite Gypsy Caravan has rolled back into town and is every bit as delightful as it ever was.  Now you can also see the lovely notebook pages the children have been creating this school year on her sidebar.

Speaking of which, if you check out our lefthand sidebar we are slowly creating albums of our notebooks as well.  It has been such a pleasure to make this journey with frequent phone visits with Rebecca. We are having such fun.  Go visit and welcome her back to blogland!