Learning to Abide

For the last several years, I have tried to pick a word or an idea that it seems God is wanted me to focus in on for a season. A few years ago, my word was serve as we moved into a new home and God opened several doors of hospitality and outreach. Last year, my word was here as I focused on home and routines and caring for my family.

This year, I have felt that I need to really ponder…

You can read the rest over at the Jelly Tell blog where my first post is live!

Also, because it’s too good to pass up, Betsy-Tacy is $1.99 on Kindle today!.

A President’s Day Daybook

Outside my window... sunny and breezy. It was in the upper 50’s when we were out earlier and just almost warm. The sun felt so good on our arms!

I am thinking… about school curriculum and plans for next year. Too soon? I always find it amusing that when I’m slightly burnt out on what we are working on now, I’m super excited to figuring out what is coming up. It’s a sickness.

I am thankful... for a day off. It hasn’t been entirely unproductive either, which is nice, although none of my productivity has managed to touch any house cleaning. A-hem. A project I had do was checked off my list, a well-check for one child accomplished, and soccer shoes procured for N2 at a very reasonable price. I feel fairly accomplished for today! : )

In the kitchen... marinated Greek chicken skewers are on the menu for tonight (minus the skewers since I don’t have any). Since we have had a day off today, I have a little bit more time to play in the kitchen. Ergo, new recipe night. : ) T and I have been working hard on changing some of our eating habits and we are seeing progress so that’s been encouraging. My new breakfast of late, besides my favorite sweet potato latkes and eggs has been a banana pancake. Just to be clear … it does NOT taste like a pancake. : ) It’s sweeter because of the banana, quicker to make than grating sweet potatoes, and extremely filling. I take one banana and one egg and mix it really well with my immersion blender. Mashing it with a fork doesn’t get it smushed enough. Then I pour it in my frying pan and cook it until it’s firm and I can flip it. A tablespoon of peanut butter gets smeared over the top when it’s done.

 

I am wearing... brown leggings, brown dress with white t-shirt under it. Almost-spring-like weather attire.

I am creating... a Valentine’s Day banner. Two days after Valentine’s. Not so prompt this year, but I love it so it will stay up for a while.

I am going... to have a quiet start to my week and then it will pick up around here. We had a doctor appointment for N2 today – her 7-year well-check and found out that the girl has grown three inches in the last year! We don’t have anywhere we have to be Tuesday or Wednesday (until Awana on Wednesday evening) and I’m super excited about that. It’s been weeks since we’ve had a stretch of days in a row to be at home. I get so excited when a string of them pop up on the calendar.

I am reading... The Scarlet Letter. It’s very. slow. going. right now. I need it to pick up the pace sooooon.

I am looking forward to... my night off tonight – sort-of. : ) Normally on Monday night’s I have Classical Conversations prep to do after the girls get in bed. However, this week is our mid-winter break and the reason we have tomorrow at home.

I am learning… lessons in buckling down and getting the job done. I’ve been wishy-washy about some things and it’s been affecting my parenting and school. 

Around the house... T and N1 cleaned the kitchen yesterday afternoon. It looks fabulous and I hope it stays that way longer than 2.9 seconds. N1 is trying to earn money for something she spotted on Amazon and we’ve been paying her $3 every time she helps mop the kitchen floor. I love this deal.

I am pondering...

 

When I forgot that the afternoon bath was therapeutic for mama and baby. I really can’t remember the details of the day but it had been a long one. When we finally got to a point where I felt like we could be done with school for the day (because it was one of those days) I asked the boy if he wanted to take a bath and he was all over that idea. I sat on the floor next to him and watched the sun shine. I need to slow down like that more often. 

A favorite quote for today... this verse from Jeremiah that I underlined yesterday during Sunday School:

"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," says the Lord. Jeremiah 9:23-24

One of my favorite things... date nights. We had two last week. Unheard of! : )

A few plans for the rest of the week… school, Bible study on Friday, birthday party for one of the girls to attend this weekend. Pretty normal and fabulous.

A peek into my day...

It was clean for a couple of hours. : )

Project Life Week 5 ::: January 28 – February 3

This is what it’s about – little people looking in the album and remembering. : )
I got behind a couple weeks on Project Life. Life happened! We had a birthday in the family, there was snow, school has been busy, etc., etc. Week 5 here was especially busy with a couple extra inserts and collages so I could get everything I wanted in. Here’s the overview:
 
On the left:

• a smudged out shot of something that B had to sign for school. For those that know B in real life, she has a nickname that has stuck with her since she was a baby that I just adore. Well, when it was time to write her signature on this paper, all on her own she wrote the super sweet nickname that is in no way legal. : ) Loved it so much that of course it had to be included in the album!
• I sat in on a Classical Conversations Essentials class on Tuesday. (Their afternoon program for 4th-6th graders.) N1 will be starting this next fall and it looks so great. I’m excited about what she (and I!) will learn from sitting in this class!
• The birthday girl.

I used all sorts of kits and pieces in this week’s layout. On this side you will see the Olive title card and a journaling card (far left). The second card is from In a Creative Bubble.
Up closer – the insert shows a 4x6 documented a power outage we had last week during a storm. The power went out around 3am when a huge storm (and small tornado!) went through and stayed off until about 10am. Nothing to even complain about but it was definitely odd to wake up with no power on N2’s birthday!

The first insert on this week was the questionnaire that I did with N2 on this post. The second insert below is Design C, cut in half to hold three 4x6’s on each side. The front is devoted to photos of the birthday girl with Dad and Mom. (The 4x6 “love this” journaling card on this side, and the “today” card on the back, are both from my February Studio Calico kit.)

The back was documenting the big storm that came through.
 

And on the right:

• Snow pictures!
• Bowling pictures!
• Birthday pictures!

“Happiness is” and “Note This” are from the Olive kit which is on sale right now both in the digi version and on Amazon. The February card and “on cloud nine” are from the Studio Calico kit. I have to admit after not having been knocked out the January kit, I have really liked the February kit so far!
You’ll notice the liberal use of collages here. : ) The collage 4x6 card is a recent find from Splendid Fiins – called “halvsies”, they are half collage and half lines. I can see using a lot of these.

And that was a full week five in a nutshell. Week six is done and photographed so I’ll hopefully post that soon. : ) As it is it’s about my bedtime on a wild and crazy Friday night so it’s time to shut things down for this evening.
Project Life is a product and a system created by Becky Higgins and available on Amazon.com. It can be anything you want it to be. You can view all my posts about Project Life here. I'm always happy to answer questions about how Project Life works for me, if you have any.

Famous? Not really…

But I have been asked to join a blogging team over at Jelly Telly as one of the Jelly Telly Voices. (It has quite a formal name to it, doesn’t it?) : ) My first post will go up in a couple weeks, but the first Q&A for all the contributing bloggers is up today with little old me chiming in.
I invite you all over to check it out!

February Reading

I’m a few days late in documenting what I’ve read in January. I had a short list last month – my goals were to try and tackle:

• The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge. I have started this and am about two chapters in. So far … I’m enchanted. I finished this and it was DELIGHTFUL. We definitely need our own copy for our home library and I’m thinking this will be a read-aloud in another year with the crew.
• French Kids Eat Everything: How Our Family Moved to France, Cured Picky Eating, Banned Snacking, and Discovered 10 Simple Rules for Raising Happy, Healthy Eaters I grabbed this at the library. I made it about 1/3 of the way through the book and then petered out. I felt like I had the gist of what she was saying and it gave me some ideas for my own crew.
• For the January Reading to Know bookclub, I’m also tacking on a couple L.M. Montgomery books. I’m reading Jane of Lantern Hill aloud to the girls (our first LMM selection to be read aloud) and Jane is one of my favorites. (I read Jane for the 2009 LMM Challenge and blogged her here). I want to reread Rila of Ingleside on my own for the challenge. It’s been a while since I’ve spent time with her. I read Rilla and blogged her here. The girls and I also read Jane and thoroughly enjoyed it. I blogged this one back in 2009 and she’s still just as delightful. So glad I got to share this with the girls this month.

I also managed to finish 100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson. I had read this one several years ago and recently picked a used copy for a song and couldn’t remember if N1 would be ready for it. The answer was yes for this quirky, fairytale-ish story.

A good chunk of my February plans are posted in the picture above. I’m still trying to pick from my shelves and read some that have been recommended to me time and time and again but I just haven’t ever gotten to. With that said, my plans for February are:

• to read the second book in the 100 Cupboards series, Dandelion Fire. (I can’t just stop with book 1 and I’ve not read book 2 before).
• One of the books on my shelf from Susan Schaffer Macaulay – either For the Family’s Sake or For the Children’s Sake.
• One of the Katrina Kension books on my shelf – Mitten Strings for God, The Gift of an Ordinary Day, or Magical Journey: An Apprenticeship in Contentment. I’ve dabbled in the Kenison books (except the bottom one, it was just published) and it’s time to read through one of these from cover to cover.
• Read-aloud The Railway Children by E. Nesbit with the girls. It was a reading selection in one of N2’s Writing with Ease assignments and the few paragraphs we read were enough to tempt us into reading the book. I downloaded a free copy on my Kindle and we are about two chapters in and can’t wait to read more. This is my first foray into E. Nesbit’s books, though we have watched a video of Five Children and It and loved it. I have a feeling I’m going to love her books as well and will need to read all of them soon. : )

I’m also planning on participating in the Reading to Know bookclub again in February. This month’s read is The Scarlet Letter, one that I haven’t read since high school. I have the free version loaded on my Kindle and found a very dusty copy on my shelf so I’m set. Now to just find some time. : )

Happy Wednesday! We are going to tackle some school today and hopefully get a little bit of sunshine this afternoon. These mid-50 days we have had this week have been wonderful for little people that have been cooped up inside for far to many cold days in a row. And Mama has enjoyed the Vitamin D as well. : )

January 2013 Reading Plans

On Turning Seven

 

It was a good day.

Template from Cathy Zielske.

What We’ve Been Up To

We finally got snow on the ground over the weekend! It started Friday and there was enough to cancel our Bible study that morning … and that was about it. : ) It didn’t stop the munchkins from getting out to run around in it for a few minutes.

To our recollection, we think this is the first time he’s seen snow … he mostly just thought it was really cold and wasn’t terribly impressed. : )

We had another batch on Saturday morning and it stuck around for a good chunk of the day.

 

We made snow popcorn after playing in the snow … it was so good. It was actually supposed to be popcorn balls, but we didn’t have any luck getting it to stick together into balls. It didn’t affect that taste at all. : )

There was a Friday fun family night of bowling – a first for us with the kids.

This picture = boy heaven.

There’s been a lot of reading on these cold days. I rearranged all my books in the school room and N1 discovered some chapter books on the shelves that she had forgotten about. The first Lemony Snicket book was devoured in one afternoon.

N2 also completed one of her chapter books that she has been working on for quite some time – The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznik. Of course, it always helps to have someone snuggled up next to you when you are reading on a cold winter day.

More on a special birthday we celebrated this week as well soon!

Project Life 2013, Week 4 ::: January 21-27

Another week in the book courtesy of a little time on Saturday afternoon. This week is a hodge podge of different cards – I didn’t try to stick with any one kit. I have another week to work on as of Monday and I’m trying to stay up-to-date for now. : )

On the left:

• a day reading aloud downstairs, enjoying some January sun on a cold day.
• a dinner that T made one night. He doesn’t cook often, but it’s always so yummy when he does.
• More reading lessons, documenting progress.

The journaling cards on this page are all from the Seafoam kit.

Love this look that he is giving me. He was done swinging before I was because it was cold that day at CC and I was really wanting us to get a little outside time. Stickers came with my Studio Calico January kit.
 
On the right:

• N2 wanted to do her presentation for CC on the dog so she needed some current pictures.
• Me and B (in my attempt to include myself in the album more).
• the boy, peeling his own clementines. He’s a genius.
• This picture is one that I found when I was cleaning off my camera card. It’s from December, but too cute a shot to not make it into an album somewhere. I managed to not take any (good) pictures last Saturday or Sunday (what?!) so this one filled in a spot.

Journaling cards on this side are both from the Studio Calico kit. “This” stamp is from Elise Cripe.

More use of the free Instagram template from Cathy Zielske. (Psst. I love this template.)

Happy Saturday. : ) It’s been a full day here with a some baking and prepping food for the week ahead, a little Saturday school for some things that didn’t get done this week, and hopefully a family movie night tonight. Hope you’ve had a good week!
Project Life is a product and a system created by Becky Higgins and available on Amazon.com. It can be anything you want it to be. You can view all my posts about Project Life here. I'm always happy to answer questions about how Project Life works for me, if you have any.