Notes to Self

::noticing God's glory: 

My tomatoes are doing good things! We won't have enough to can or anything, but we at least have enough to feed the whole family at once. And okra! Yippee. Look for an okra and tomato polenta recipe on Friday.

::listening to 

Dance studio chatter. 

::clothing myself in 

Yoga pants, t-shirt, lightweight sweatjacket. It's chilly. Really.

::talking with my children about these books

Well, not books, but stories. I love to listen to books/podcasts while I work around the house and I'm trying to share the value of that with my kids. We've recently discovered Sparkle Stories. Love:-).

::thinking and thinking

about the role I want the Internet to play in my life. Food for thought:

What it Looks Like to Have a Cyber Sabbath

Switch off the Static and Turn on Your Mind

and I'm eagerly reading an advance copy of Hands Free Mama's new book. 

::pondering prayerfully

"No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not actually worth reading at the age of fifty." C. S. Lewis

This is my guiding principle for the school year.

::carefully cultivating rhythm

Sigh. We made some major decisions, left two beloved teams with longtime, very close friends, and made our radius much, much smaller. I'm thinking about a post about why we did what we did for as long as we did and why we made a change. But then I think no one would ever do what we did and my experience probably has nothing to offer anyone else. 

::creating by hand

I really want to sew something other than headbands...

::learning lessons in

asking Jesus all day long.

::encouraging learning 

A number of people have asked about math curriculum. I hesitate to offer anything in that regard. Really, I've yet to find the magic math curriculum. But I do love Dreambox. 

I'm super excited about plans this year, which is a lovely surprise. For the younger three, it's going to be a Storybook Year, heavily dependent on these lists (browse the lefthand column--there aren't enough days in a childhood for the treasures here). For the older three (and the younger, too, actually), lots of fresh inspiration from these thoughts:

Nature Deficit Disorder

Teaching Boys & Other Children Who Would Rather Make Forts All Day

The Four Language Arts

Nurturing Competent Communicators

Fairytales and the Moral Imagination

::begging prayers

Please continue to pray for Shawn, for Elizabeth DeHority, for my friend Carmen, and for my mother-in-law, who soon begins radiation treaments.

And for a private {all good} intention close to my heart.

::living the liturgy

It's nearly time for the St. Monica novena. What a perfect novena at a time when two of my boys embark on a new college semester. Novena begins on August 18th. Join me?

::keeping house

I frequently refer to the wreck that is the basement. Last week, I posted some pictures of said wreck on Instagram. I think I surprised some people. It really is a wreck. I'm overwhelmed by the wreck. But we're making slow progress. Some big items are leaving permanently, off with Christian and his friends. If I'm honest, I think I'm working up my anger over the wreck so that I won't be leveled by the sadness that will be inevitable when he and his basement band are no longer making gigantic messes down there. What ever it takes...

::crafting in the kitchen 

I ate Domino's gluten-free pizza the other day. It was delicious. It's NOT gluten-free. 'Nuff said. 

::loving the moments

when I'm snuggling her to sleep and her hair just smells so good and life is peaceful. And light. And lovely. 

::giving thanks 

for special prayers at dinnertime.

::planning for the week ahead

The coaches Christian has teamed up with for the last several years have planned a going-away party for him on Friday. And then, he goes on Monday. I sort of have tunnel vision.

 

 .

.

.

.

.

 

iPhone pics, all mine. That one of Mike making wildflower bouquets just about does me in. 

Have a beautiful week, friends!

Lord, Hear Our Prayer

The internet is a formidable force for bringing the comfort and consolation and hope of the Lord to all of us. It can be an incredibily powerful medium for community. There is an unfathomable resource for prayer here. We have on the 'net the privilege of praying for people and of being witness to the miracles brought forth when fervent, faith-filled people pray for one another.

Let's be that community of hope and faith for one another.

How about this idea? What if I pop in here every weekend, share Sunday's gospel and talk a wee bit about how we can live it and pray it in our homes? And then you tell me how we can pray for you that week? Deal?

{And please, do return and let us know how prayer is bearing fruit.} 

Gospel

LK 12:35-40

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. 
Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. 
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have the servants recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. 
And should he come in the second or third watch
and find them prepared in this way,
blessed are those servants. 
Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into. 
You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect,
the Son of Man will come.”

Think

What do superfluous riches profit in this world when they do not assist our birth or impede our dying? We are born into this world naked, we leave without a cent, we are buried without our inheritance.". ~St. Ambrose

Pray

Lord show me the biggest way that I tend to waste time. Gie me grace to take greater control of that part of my life today.

Act

If there is some actitivty you think wastes your time (TV, computer, telephone, etc.) give it up today. See what opportunities arise in the pockets of time you free up. And do consider a regular cyber Sabbath.

This week's Think-Pray-Act is taken from Small Steps for Catholic Moms, available now for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

How can we pray for you this week?

{this moment--or two}

Read all about it here.

needle & thREAD

Good evening! We had a busy morning here. I had this bright idea to make headbands out of jazz costumes. Some of the girls in Katie's company had costumes that never fit right. I'd promised them we'd cut them up after the season ended. They were already stretched and ripped beyond wearing again. It was a bit of a miscalculation on my part. There isn't enough useable fabric in the stretched out/ripped costumes to make headbands for everyone.

If you have ever loved a group of 14 ten-to-eleven-year-olds, you know it would have been very bad form to make headbands for some, but not all. 

So, a new plan was hatched. We chose fabric from my stash and Katie, her friend Zoe and I began to make headbands for all 13 (14?) girls in the company. Zoe will be back in the morning to finish. 

I'm reading It's All Good by Gwyneth Paltrow. Haven't tried a recipe yet, but it sure is pretty!

What are you reading and sewing this week? 

I am eager to hear!

  Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo (or more) and a brief description of what you're up to? Will you tell us about what you're reading, also? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much.

    Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and theREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and theREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link:-).

Throwback Thursday: En Pointe

Yesterday, Jenny mentioned in the comments that she remembered reading about Mary Beth's first pair of pointe shoes. I'm so glad she commented. I've been thinking about that day too, but Jenny's comment urged me to find the post. And when I did, I was so glad I kept a blog back then. Reading my words, and seeing my hopes in print, and then knowing the rest of the story? Well worth the price of her first pair of pointe shoes, Katie's first pair, all the shoes between, and all the shoes to come. 

Here's that long-ago post.

Needle & thREAD will go up this evening. I've got a big sewing project going this morning. Pictures later (don't get too excited: more and more and more headbands;-)

I left the dance school yesterday with all my instructions from Mary Beth's teacher, Miss Mary. I knew where to sew the elastic and where to sew the satin ribbons. I knew who to request at the dance store for the fitting (only Esther was to be entrusted with this job). And just in case I didn't know, as I was leaving, Miss Mary reminded me of one more thing, "She's not a little dancer any more. Now she's a big girl." Ah, yes. Why is it this day seemed so far off way back when she was twirling for Miss Missy in my dining room?

And so we arrived at The Cinnamon Tree. This was the dance store where I first purchased that outrageously expensive pink skirted leotard because I'd always wanted a little girl in a pink skirted leotard. At the time, Mary Beth was my only girl; a little pink angel in the midst of five brothers. On this day, I had another little girl by the hand and still another in my arms. We walked through door, led by Mary Beth, her hair still pulled up from dance class, her back straight and her stride the unmistakable walk of a ballerina. She sat for her fitting and I snapped pictures. I noticed that Mary Beth was so excited the both her hands and her feet shook.

And then, Esther  held her hand and asked her to go up en pointe. Mary Beth did and I heard a collective gasp from the ladies in the shop. "You did that beautifully!" exclaimed Esther. I will never know if such exclamations come with the purchase price of one's first pointe shoes, but my little girl  ballerina flushed with joy.

En pointe.

Two little girls took it all in, inspired once again by the truest heroine in their young lives. Katie will remember every detail of this day and she is likely to talk about it for the next six years until she claims a day like this as her own.She spent a good deal of time begging for a pink skirted leotard. Not this time, my girl.  And Karoline. Karoline, who speaks very little English at this point, can do a pretty admirable passe, to go with her burre, her port de bras, and her arabesque. Karoline is a dancer in good company. And right now, she has in Mary Beth the best teacher in all the world.