“These are the few ways we can practice humility:
To speak as little as possible of one's self.
To mind one's own business.
Not to want to manage other people's affairs.
To avoid curiosity.
To accept contradictions and correction cheerfully.
To pass over the mistakes of others.
To accept insults and injuries.
To accept being slighted, forgotten and disliked.
To be kind and gentle even under provocation.
Never to stand on one's dignity.
To choose always the hardest.”
– Mother Teresa
It's often very warm after dinner. We move slowly, as a rule, gathering the dishes and putting the leftovers away. I am happy for my window over the sink. It faces out over the valley where the sun sets. Right out there the other night a family of quail cautiously crept out of the woods and made a rather bold trek across the yard. It was a success. The dogs snoozed nearby unaware. Only we humans noticed. First the girls, who then whispered through the open window, "Mom! Your birds!" I dropped my dish cloth and we walked outside to watch them together.
The mother bird eventually led the way northward, followed by a mostly orderly line of little chicks. If you've ever crossed the street with a gaggle of kids you know there are always a couple who wander further abroad, making their mother crazy. The male, on crossing guard duty, stayed mid-yard on lookout until the last chicks passed. When the planks of the deck creaked he hurried them all along into the brush and out of sight.
There was something wonderful about the whole journey, both of the pair with their jobs to do. Single minded. Each instinctively knowing how critical their role was. Happy little chicks exploring eagerly with no idea how vulnerable they are, trusting the older birds to get them where they were going.
This one, standing as a sentinel afterwards, until they were well hidden and down the hill. The dogs would have gone after him if he had been noticed. I suppose that was his purpose for remaining out in the open so long. I found that heartachingly beautiful.
"Love is always ready to deny itself, to give, sacrifice, just in the measure of its sincerity and intensity. Perfect love is perfect self-forgetfulness. Hence where there is love in a home, unselfishness is the law. Each forgets self and lives for others." JRR Miller
Some quick takes? Soccer is in high gear again.
I have been using my practice hours – and any other hour not spoken for – to get lost in Anna Karenina. It is a book I didn't want to read and now cannot put down. I say it every time I finish a work of "classic" literature. "Everyone should read this so they don't… (insert any number of disastrous decisions that can make)" Seriously. How different my own and so many other's choices would have been had we grown up reading something more substantial which would have spoken to all those pressing issues that occupied our hearts and minds.
Only downside to the soccer practice reading is that it has been so suffocatingly hot. Here. I have proof. Hot:
It's been so hot I have been using the Instant Pot and/or the grill nearly every night. I can't bear to turn on the oven and heat up the main floor. The day it rained and was cooler we tried these zucchini tots. The kids ate them zucchini and all. Cheese is a usually a powerful negotiating tool.
The garden. I hesitate to call it a real garden. Some flowering plants have gotten established though. Does my heart good to see the water droplets bead up on the blossoms after the sprinkler has run.
Silly signs on the walking trail. I am all about clear unambiguous directions, after all. Life should really come with a disclaimer like this. "You are now entering pure BS zone." I like to know these things.
Abbie Rose saved up and bought herself an 18in doll. It is not one of 'the' famous 18in dolls. Her older sisters had some and we managed to wreck them just as easily as the $30 variety. Of course a girl is also less likely to wreck something she saved and planned for. Here is hoping. We are looking for some 18in patterns to attempt some pj's and skirts for this one.
Long-nosed creatures overhead. I didn't catch just how long the beaks, bills or whatnot were until I uploaded the images.
Otherwise, we have nearly finished the family room remodel. Again. You might recall a similar announcement in December, followed by news of our freak cold spell and water damage. Well, here we are again. I will show you the progress in another post. At any rate we have doubled down on the remodeling and finally come around the patio table for evening prayers where we hope to catch a bit of breeze.
It is hard and often tedious work and progresses much more slowly than we would like. I suppose all progress is like that. Still, I am grateful for it. Grateful for a home we own. Grateful for the means to update it bit by bit. Grateful for good health to do the work. It will come together in time.
What are you working on right now and what is it teaching you?
This week has seen a lot of action for the three youngest here. We sent that young man (above) off to camp. Then the girls have been preparing their projects to submit to a local gallery for our city's monthly art stroll exhibit. I will be honest. That was one of those ideas that sounds awesome when you first hear it. Then as the time draws near, if you are an introvert anyway, you start thinking of how swamped you already are, how you need to find out where the art work is supposed to get dropped off, that you must plug all that stuff in the GPS and figure out how to get it there on the same day the boy child needs to meet his camp ride. And it's his first time away from home and both of you are a little wigged out about all that. And paint and finding newspaper to cover the table, and cleanup and stuff.
This is GOYBP at its finest y'all. Get Off Yer Butt Parenting. It's a critical piece of the discipline puzzle. You know, when you are trying to finish your chapter/blog post/phone call/work deadline/whatever but Child 1 reports that Child 4 is pouring that new organic shampoo into the toilet, then you need to GOYB and go parent right then. When you're sitting on the couch calling the child and child keeps saying, "In a minute," over and over? You've gotta GOYB and go retrieve the child.
Well, it is every bit as important to GOYB when the kids are being awesome. These kids have been awesome and since they can't drive and want to participate I pushed past my foot dragging and we got 'er done. I'm so pleased with the finished products. Both girls have been working so hard and trying many different mediums. We have learned so much – both what worked and how we will do some things differently next time.
OK so we did actually go to the wrong place initially but we recovered, got to the right venue and found their work. Then we crossed the street to the cupcake shop to finish off the evening. Lemondrop , Chocolate Marshmallow, and a caramel chocolate macaroon thankyoukindly. So much fun. Now we are scanning our Pinterest feeds for the next project.
We had a quiet dinner at home for Alannah's 23rd birthday. It has been such a blessing having her here as long as we have. Ours have tended to fly from the nest earlier vs later. In her case, having a wonderful local college nearby and lots of privacy at home has made for a practical arrangement for this very responsible young woman. These days are numbered no doubt. We get few birthdays with our faraway adult children, so we relish celebrations together at home when we can get them.
Tess has been showing more and more interest in the sewing machine and has developed a very steady hand and foot recently. We have looked through many, MANY, how to sew books and most left us underwhelmed. We decided to jump in learn on items that would actually be used. She and Abbie finished this apron made from upcycled jeans and painted a wooden spoon to go along with for their little bestie next door who had a birthday this month. We are so pleased and need to get started on our next project.
How to make binding here.
Apron directions here.
Up for a virtual Sunday drive in the country? How about we visit Midway, Utah? It's a little bit of Switzerland in the Rockies. We hope to return for Swiss Days in the fall or the Christmas creche festival. From the folk painted exteriors to the bits of charm throughout town to the horseback riders along the road, it was a breath of fresh air.
It's hard to tell here but we arrived as the clock struck on the hour. The doors opened and the tiny figures spun around as the chimes rang.
Whoever planted these is surely a kindred spirit.
This fella?
I got nuthin'
It's funny how you think you know the stories inside and out and yet a fifth or fifteenth or fiftieth read still yields another new revelation. We have commisserated and mused with several different friends all feeling the pull to be someplace other than where they have found themselves to be very firmly rooted. It is easy to strew pithy quotes to our left and our right as we dance past this sort of anguish. "Bloom where you are planted!" We scold. Listening closer often reveals deeper concerns rather than simple discontent:
"We are here in an urban jungle and our children are surrounded by materialism and vice."
"We are isolated in the country. There are no opportunities for the arts, no likeminded faithful families nearby."
"We are starting over. Again. Our kids left their church friends and are struggling to break into the new group."
"If we could just get to the other place there would be… (the better school, house, job, church, opportunity….)"
"I'm not sure why we are here."
We worry. It feels cavalier to tell our children, our spouses, it will all be fine when we are eye to eye with major challenges, lack of support, isolation. When is that faith and when is that being callous or plain foolhardy?
Is it possible this is God's will?
Maybe so. Maybe this is exactly where God has put you to save your soul. Perhaps He has whisked you, your spouse, your child from an unknown danger. Perhaps you have been plucked from your comfortable place to be where you were needed, even if that purpose has not yet been shown to you. Perhaps this is our season to pull away from other voices and be alone with the One we truly need to hear. To lean into the fear and trust that a good plan is unfolding even right where we stand.
Perhaps.
While my guys were tackling a deck repair the other day I ended up getting some work done ahead in the kitchen. Big project of the day was getting some dressing and ghee made. Aidan had mentioned In and Out sauce a few days earlier so I made up a copycat batch. We also knocked out some Paleo ranch which I feel I cannot live without from this day forward. Disclosure – husband liked it better as a dip than a dressing due to the dill. Say that three times fast. And finally – the ghee. Big new here is that it WORKED. I couldn't seem to get all the milk solids out last time around. Will say it took a lot longer than any of the recipes suggested but look at that. Liquid gold.
We made a double batch of Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Spaghetti Squash. Oh my word. With the ranch? So good. Daughter and husband crumbled bleu cheese over theirs. Truly a hit. It did make a LOT though so plan accordingly. For the record, it's even better the second day for leftovers.
I made broccoli soup to go with. It was also even better as a leftover. Everyone liked it. Almost everyone. Not this one….
There's one in every crowd. Note to self: have cheddar handy next time.
That sounded catchy. It's actually far more impromptu and serendipitous than thoroughly preplanned, however it has come together so nicely. First, it's hot. Just blasted hot. Second, September is starting to fill up with fun travel plans. So we jointly decided to do some projects now while we are otherwise melting and will have a head start on the autumn semester which is always full to the brim.
True to form this idea occured to me AFTER the 4th. Since the unit study police don't actually exist we are making a whole patriotic month of it over here. This is part of our stack this week:
Which led me to read up on George III and Charlotte and their fifteen fine children. And porphyria and whether or not he had it.
To pull all the separate 'real' books together I have my new favorite ever notebook book. I may have been so gaga over this series I bought them all. They are something like ten bucks at Amazon right now and I am kicking myself for getting mine at B&N but I couldn't stop myself. Years ago – TEN years ago now when I was in perptual motion all day with tiny people – I wrote about guerilla homeschooling. This series makes it super feasible to do that. They give you a broad overview of the topics and general skills your students should have mastered when they leave middle school. The pages are laid out exactly like a bullet journal type of notebook you might have put together yourself. I'm in lesson planning heaven.
The middle schoolers are making this interactive notebook (pssst its free) and sort of crazy over the whole thing. They balked at writing essays about the era, but then complained they were running out of room to put aaaaaaall the cool information they had in their notebooks. That second one is an awesome problem to have as a teacher though. It is helping them learn to distill all that fabulous information to the main points.
They are adding their own maps and things. This was inspired by a page in their book. (linked above)
An art project "in the spirit of" from here. More American symbol art lessons and more American Revolution projects here.
Abbie is working on some latin and English notebook pages:
There has been a LOT of cooking happening – which involves a whole bunch of math and direction following. Here is a July dessert that has no redeeming virtues other than it's color coordination and fun factor. Pioneer Woman's Holiday book as a variation on this recipe which we used.
So that's how July has been shaping up. Summer school this year – which I usually only recommend if you are getting nice restful breaks throughout the main part of the year which we do have.
So. Much. Fun!
Starry Sky Journal 