Outside My Window
It is still dark.
I am Listening to
The hum of the refrigerator and nothing
else.
I am Wearing
A t-shirt and boxers—pjs;-).
I am so Grateful
for
~a daughter who conspires to celebrate
the day her family began (Thanks, Mary Beth, for anniversary sweetness;-)
~starting the week in a fairly tidy
house
~soccer moms (and soccer dads, too)
~come to think of it, soccer siblings,
too
~regular updates from Patrick in Spain
~the gifted educators who have
published excellent curricular material that has blessed our new school year
~homemade miso soup
~grocery store carnations
~lunch date on a Sunday
I'm Pondering
Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants. ~Michael Pollan
I am Reading.
I just finished a pre-publication copy
of a very good parenting book.
And
Food Rules by Michael Pollan
I am Thinking
About the coming weekend.I’m so looking forward to having
company here.
I am Creating
A new ‘do. Well, I’m not really
creating it, but I do desperately need a haircut and I’m considering asking for
something different. Appointment this morning. We’ll see.
On
my iPod
Mossflower.
We finished Redwall over a week ago and spent some time talking about whether
we’d listen to another or the boys would be on their own to binge through the
series. As a compromise, we’re going to listen to the prequel and they’re going
to read the sequel. This audio version is so well done. The author narrates in
a rich, deep, lovely accent. It’s a full cast audio that does truly bring these
books to life.
Towards a Real
Education
I can say with all sincerity that we
are off to our best start ever.I’m rocking the Charlotte Mason Organizer to its fullest potential. The
children seem to understand that if we’re going to keep up the pace of soccer
and ballet that they want, we have to use those morning hours to their fullest.
They are working hard and genuinely seem to like that resources I’ve chosen for
them.
I’m happy to report that each and every
one of my children spent a full hour or more working on math every day last
week (even Labor Day—and we had a soccer tournament final that day). I
attribute this astounding fact to the warm embrace our family has given to
Dreambox and Aleks. They love it. They are definitely learning something. I am
not a math teacher. I am grateful for a computer that is. Hooray!
Towards
Rhythm and Beauty
I have stressed and stressed over The
Schedule. I have lost countless hours of sleep trying to make it all work, to
figure out how to be at one opportunity east of me, one west of me, and another
north of me at the same time, in order to meet the needs (and wants) of
different children. And then something amazing happened. I handed it all over
to God and watched in awe as He worked it out in ways I could have never
imagined. I started to write about
it here, but it’s gotten too long, so I’ll save it for a post of its own.
Hopefully soon.
To Live the Liturgy
It’s nearly time to begin our
preparations for feasts of the fall.
I
am Hoping and Praying
~for Patrick, who is in Spain this week. He plays the
Spanish U17 national team tomorrow and Thursday.
~for the traveler who will come to stay with us this
weekend. I pray her time here is everything she hopes it will be. And then
more.
.
In the Garden
The mums are starting to pop. The petunias look a little
beaten up after some serious wind last week, but I’m going to leave them in a
while longer, yet. Tomatoes are looking a bit bedraggled. Roses are beautiful.
Around the House
I still haven’t created a new chore
chart. I’m using the “see a need, call the first person who comes to mind”
method.Mary Beth and I thoroughly
organized the little girls’ room last week. That’s probably a post in itself,
too…
From the Kitchen
I’ve
temporarily abandoned my cycle menu while we experiment with some new recipes.
This week, we’re eating
Sunday:
chili (with sweet potatoes added-it was yummy)
Monday: chicken
and white bean salad
Tuesday: Maple
Dijon pork chops, Caesar salad, roasted broccoli
Wednesday:
Chilled Linguine with Gorgonzola and Basil
Thursday:
sandwiches to go—we’re eating at the park.
Friday: Cowboy
beans and cilantro lime rice
Saturday:
grilled sandwiches before Michael’s game
Almost
all from the Whole Foods Market Cookbook
One of My Favorite
Things
Happy Anniversaries.
Sarah
Annie this week
After
nearly two years of living in our room, she has discovered “her room.” She
could easily spend several hours a day playing with the dollhouse in there. And
she prefers to sleep in “her” bed, too, much to her daddy’s chagrin. It’s sweet
to see her moving into the territory of her sisters and to see them envelope
her in their world.
Gonna
miss her, though.
Gosh,
there’s a lot of missing going on around here, isn’t there?
A
Few Plans for the Rest of the Week
Hmmm:
haircut; ballet planning meeting with dear friends, the kickoff game of Monday
Afternoon Football season, two playdates in the park, much soccer, ballet, and
the hum of busy excitement as we prepare for Saturday’s trip to the airport to meet
our guest.
Picture thoughts:
