My Heart's at Home Daybook-July 27

I've really enjoyed The Simple Woman's Daybook--be sure to visit Peggy for the latest entries.

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Outside My Window ...The basil looks a bit crowded in the square foot garden with the tomatoes. I think I'll move it back to the rose bed next year. And the roses? The roses are blooming again. I've had to prune even more than when I last wrote about it. What lessons in pruning the Master Gardener is teaching me this summer! But bloom they do and I rejoice in the hope that offers to the souls in my home.
We need to buy more bird food. We have squirrels who like to visit this year, much to the delight of my children. And just last week, the squirrels introduced our feeders to the rabbits:-). I think a whole family of rabbits is living in the hedge in front of the house. Very, very exciting!

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Towards a daily rhythm ... I still need to recreate the chore chart. I lost all my home management files in the lightning strike. My notebook needs updating anyway, but I wonder if this isn't a project I will save until later. The chore chart I need now, but the notebook is committed to my memory, more or less, so I'll focus on the doing now and the recording later.

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I am thankful for ... mornings when all ten of us fill a pew in church and evenings when all ten of us crowd around our kitchen table.

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From the kitchen ...
for breakfast:
Dutch Apple Pancakes

Lunch:
peanut butter and jelly
and for dinner:
 no clue...looking for inspiration.

The dishwasher is functional. It still pops open mid-cycle, but not if we move heavy furniture in front of it. The faulty valve has been replaced and it no longer spews water uncontrollably. The refrigerator guy will get back me. August 5th.

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To live the liturgy...On the Feast of St. Martha, tomorrow
Collect: Father, your Son honored St. Martha by coming to her home as a guest. By her prayers may we serve Christ in our brothers and sisters and be welcomed by you into heaven, our true home. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
I think I'll re-read Holiness for Housewives. It used to be named Praying While You Work: Devotions for Use of Martha Rather Than Mary
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I am wearing ... boxer shorts and a T-shirt. It's still very, very early.

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I am creating ...a giant mess as I pull apart bedrooms and completely re-organize who goes where and what they store there. It's definitely the storm before the calm.

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I am going to breathe deeply ...this is supposed to be my exercise block. No exercise allowed right now. I'm going sit and breathe. Preferably outside.
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Bringing beauty to my home ...I'm taking the girls and Patrick to gather paint swatches so that we can plan our next re-decorating scheme.

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I am reading listening to ... On Holy Silence by Fr. Basil Nortz. I listened to it during Lent and I'm re-visiting it now. Many thanks to Kristen for first mentioning this wonderful resource. There is so much wisdom in these CDs. 

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I am hoping ...oh, so many things that I'm keeping close to my heart. Whisper a prayer if it comes to mind, please?

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Around the house ... Mike and the children cleaned out the garage on Friday and Saturday. That statement sounds so insufficient for the huge amount of work that was done--cheerfully.

One of my favorite things ...watching Karoline feed herself breakfast granola.

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A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: It's all about that list.

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Here is a picture thought I am sharing~

 

All this stuff used to be in my garage. Now, the garage is so clean you could eat off the floors (Mike bleached them--when he gets on a roll, it's rather amazing).No time to crop the photo. The smell of apples and cinnamon has done its job and roused the troops.

On blogging...

"It's really nice to be able to edit your life a little bit..." Danielle Bean
Go on! Click and you can hear Danielle Bean, Lisa Hendey, and Rachel Balducci chatting it up at Faith and Family Live!

History Plans

In a note to me yesterday, Marilyn shared survival strategies for pregnancy bedrest. One of the things she recommended was  " School - get watertight lesson plansso it will run without you - though the good thing is that you will have time to read and “couch school. "

Nothing like the threat of bedrest a little nudge to get things moving! Actually, these plans were pretty much finished (I didn't write eight detailed posts this morning). I was going to publish them after we did them, but I figured there might be someone else out there who is looking at an uncertain fall and would like to have plans that are pretty watertight and leave lots and lots of suggestions for reading and couch school. There are eight weeks of plans up on Serendipity today. Click here for the bunch of them. Soon, we'll (Cindy will) have these better organized for you to make them easily accessible without scrolling. They're not complete. Remember this is my rough draft.  There will be typos and mistakes. Shortly, I'll publish a booklist that Paula has lovingly put together so you have one neat list to take to the library that covers all eight weeks. I just need my computer to understand what I'm telling it. Also, we are going to add a Michael and Mr. Applebee history-themed, original story each week. But we have to get going first in order to do that, so I'll update those as I go.  Now, I'm off to address the other things on Marilyn's list.

Have a very blessed day!

News Flash!

Elizabeth wrote to tell me that Rosie's Babies is not out of print. It is readily available at Amazon in paperback. This book is so dear to our family that I was tempted to buy one for each of my children, to save until their children become big siblings. (I didn't, but I wanted to.) As a rule, I dislike "big sibling" books. They tend to introduce negative feelings that just don't happen here. This book is charming and delightful and focuses on four-year-old Rosie, who nurtures her stuffed "babies" as her mother takes care of the new baby of the house. Rosie is right alongside her mom, chatting all the while. There is a precious picture of Mom discreetly nursing the wee babe.This one is a keeper. In our house, a tattered, worn, well-loved keeper.

My Heart's at Home Daybook~July 21

I've really enjoyed The Simple Woman's Daybook--be sure to visit Peggy for the latest entries. 

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Outside My Window ...the sunflower house is a bust. I wish I'd recorded what we planted last year so we could be sure to plant them again, and what we planted this year so we'd never plant them again. And my green tomatoes have black bottoms. Need to research that.

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Towards a daily rhythm ... I need to recreate the chore chart. I lost all my home management files in the lightning strike.

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I am thankful for ... medical technology.

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From the kitchen ...
for breakfast:
oatmeal and blueberries
Lunch:
Pasta, tomatoes, and zucchini
and for dinner:
 something with pork chops....

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To live the liturgy...On the Optional Feast of St. Lawrence of Brindisi
Collect: Lord, for the glory of your name and the salvation of souls you gave Lawrence of Brindisi courage and right judgment. By his prayers help us to know what we should do and give us the courage to do it. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
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I am wearing ... a pink tiered skirt,  a CAMISOLE (necessary for all maternity shirts these days), a floral blouse and bare feet.

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I am creating ...a cookbook for Michael to take with him when he lives in an on-campus apartment this year.

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I am going to breathe deeply ...Not sure about the exercise plan. Need to make a call to the midwife to see if anything has changed following last Friday's sonogram.
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Bringing beauty to my home ...Mike is going to finish painting the kitchen this morning. He's been out of town and wasn't real keen on me climbing ladders and countertops.

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I am reading ... about an hour's worth of picture books to Karoline at bedtime every night. Her current favorites include: Rosie's Babies, Rain Makes Applesauce, Nighty Night, Hush Little Baby, and Angelina Ballerina. I'm amazed by her attention span. With the exception of Angelina, who didn't appear until Mary Beth did, all of these books have been on our shelves since Michael was a baby. I love to read them again and again and recognize how much they are a part of our family culture. I'm so sad to see that Rosie's Babies is out of print. Every one of my children has loved this book. Michael was in the doorway when I was reading to Karoline not long ago and recited it word for word, much to her delight. 

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I am hoping ...for a peaceful week.

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Around the house ... I need to keep on keeping on. My goal is to have finished my nesting by mid-September. There's a chance bedrest is in my future and I don't want it to catch us unprepared.

One of my favorite things ...the general pandemonium that breaks out in our house every single time Mike pulls up in the driveway. Makes me want to leave for a day or two just to see if I get greeted with shrieks of glee..

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A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: The refrigerator repair guy is due here on Wednesday. The dishwasher guy is coming Thursday. No promises that either appliance will be functional this week--just that said repair people will show up and assess the situation. I need to make calls to the orthopedist and physical therapist to get Patrick all scheduled. A pizza date with some of my favorite people to kick around ideas for another conference next summer.Thorough closet cleanouts. Christian will be home, so maybe Wednesday he and Mike can assemble those bunkbeds and get them out of the living room. All the history plans for the first eight weeks should be up on Serendipity later today. Oh, and Cindy is working on big things to make Serendipity plans much more accessible.

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Here is a picture thought I am sharing~

 

Window "dressing" in the girls' room.