A Daybook to Begin the Week

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Outside My Window ...
it's very bright and very hot.
 

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I am listening to...
Ann's blog. I frequently begin my day by meditating on the things she suggests and then I just leave a window open there and enjoy the piano.

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To Live the Liturgy...
We're looking forward to delving into the craft co-op box:-)
 

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To Fit and Happy...
I am creating meals that focus on fruits and veggies with small amounts of meat and little saturated fat. I'm not counting carbs, but I don't eat wheat and I'm avoiding sugar, so this experiment is low carb. It's not low fat, though, because I'm still a big believer in the necessity for healthy fats, especially for nursing moms and growing brains.
 

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I am thankful for...
quiet
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I am pondering this quote...
A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter:
he that has found one has found a treasure.
There is nothing so precious as a faithful friend,
and no scales can measure his excellence.
A faithful friend is an elixir of life;
and those who fear the Lord will find him.
Whoever fears the Lord directs his friendship aright,
for as he is, so is his neighobr also.
Sirach 6:14-17

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From the kitchen ...
successes from last week include Summertime Risotto, Asparagus in Warm Pecan Vinaigrette, and Lentil Curry and lots and lots of strawberry variations:-)

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I am wearing ...
pearl earrings, a pony tail, new lipgloss, a white linen shirt, pink and white capris, bare feet and toes that probably should get some sort of pedicure this week .

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I am creating ...
a new medal necklace since my scapular medal has worn through the wire. Again. I need to figure out a better way to wear that medal with a miraculous medal. For now, though, Sarah Anne's favorite medal is the St. Anne one  anyway.
 
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  On my iPod...
A lot of Brad Paisley.
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Towards a real education ...
I admit I'm waffling on my resolve to keep up the regular pace during the summer. There's so much happening out there in that world! And Patrick won another tournament this weekend so that means he has more travel and training on his schedule (and ours), which leaves his weeks at home very scattershot.I need to sit and think through how to plan the next year for him.
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I am thinking... 
about a summer rhythm .

 
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In the Garden...
I can 't figure out why my wave petunias look like the tide has gone out. I saw some in my neighbor's yard while walking home from the fair yesterday and they were full and lush and well, wavy. Mine are spindly. Can't be the weather since we live under the same clouds. Any petunia experts out there?
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Sarah Anne this week...
Sweet darling girl, she spends hours at a time in the frontpack and I spend hours at a time soaking up her very being. It ocurred to me this morning that I really am her whole world right now and I resolved to make that world the very best it can be.

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I am reading  ...
nothing. Well, I'm trying to read but Sarah has now decided she doesn't want me to read while nursing and that's put a bit of a crimp in my reading style.
 

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I am hoping and praying ...
for Katherine and that pink blessing. Soon, my friend--very, very soon.

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On Keeping Home ...
Sarah has never been too keen on the co-sleeper, so I took it down and put up a bedrail. Then, I reclaimed my nightstand for its original purpose, repurposed a piano bench to hold a basket of towels in the bathroom, and just plain followed my inner muse as I spruced up my bedroom. Admittedly, it was a little emotional. I've got to think my bedroom might never have that newborn look again. I'm choosing to focus on my new, uncluttered cheerful nest. Mostly.
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A few of my favorite things ...

Friday Farmer's Market in McLean

Clemyjontri Park

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A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:
It's ballet week. Lots of rehearsals and then two performances this weekends .

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Picture thoughts

   

Be sure to visit Peggy for links to more daybooks.

Not Quite the Help I Had in Mind

Karoline: Mama, can I make the house all bright and shiny today?

Me (with some surprise at the unsolicited offer): Of course! That would be very nice. I'll go get a spray bottle.

Armed with a spray bottle and some paper towels, I made my way back upstairs, where I heard Christian: Karoline! WHY are you shaking glitter all over the floor? What are you thinking?!

Karoline, stomping with authority: You go away! Mama said I could!

Small Successes: Patting Ourselves on the Back

1
 
I finally have opened bank accounts for all my children who did not have them. This news should thrill people who gave my children checks last Christmas and wonder why they haven't been cashed.

   
2
I haven't spent more than an hour a day online since this time last week. If I owe you an email, now you know why. I've opted to sleep in, fold laundry, cook complicated meals, and...

3
 I got up this morning, drove an hour out to our favorite farm and let the kids pick eleven quarts strawberries. We managed to return home before the rains began at noon. And then we spent the rainy afternoon making pies and endless jars of freezer jam.
Only seventeen days until cherry picking:-)

What are your successes this week? This is a great exercise in holding ourselves accountable and patting ourselves on the backs. Mothering and homemaking don't have built in performance reviews and bonuses. The  internet can be a source of support and encouragement. Let's encourage one another in our small successes.I'm very late to the party, but you can still share too at Faith and Family Live!

So NOT Jon and Kate

It’s almost a universal response these days. I tell someone we havenine children and they respond with some variation of “Wow! That’s like ‘Jon and Kate Plus Eight’ only with one more. I don’t know how you do it.” Let’s just set the record straight from the get-go: My life is nothing like Jon’s or Kate’s.Read the rest here.

Catch My Breath Daybook

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Outside My Window ...
summer has arrived. It's hot and humid. Yuck.
 

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I am listening to...
Sportscenter
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To Live the Liturgy...
we had an opportunity to visit two parishes in neighboring dioceses these past two weekends. The first church was a small rural church where my family made up fully one third of the worshipers present despite the fact that a bishop presided. Since I don't really like to offer negative critiques, I shall remain silent on liturgy at that parish.

Last weekend, we celebrated Pentecost at St. Bede in Williamsburg. I can't do justice to how beautifully this parish lives liturgy. The building itself is architecturally perfect. If someone plopped you down there without telling you where you were, you would easily guess you were in a Catholic church a stone's throw from colonial Williamsburg. While the architecture was American Colonial, it was perfectly married to Reverent Catholic. Words fail me here.

The liturgy was a beautiful Novus Ordo Mass, proving that that is not a contradiction in terms. It was reverent and relevant and completely orthodox, despite the round church. Who knew?
I wish I lived in that parish. I can't wait to go back.

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To Fit and Happy...
I have carried a 17 pound baby in a front pack for hours and hours and hours in Jamestown (in 90 degree heat and total humidity), in Colonial Williamsburg for three hours one day and five hours the next, and up and back on the sidelines of a soccer field for two breathtaking games.

I'm sore and tired.
but happy:-)
 

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I am thankful for...
the opportunity to witness an indredibly poignant, tearjerking father-son moment last weekend. I can't tell the story without tearing up.
I'll save it for another time.
Maybe
   
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From the kitchen ...
at the suggestion of a couple of friends and a soccer-dad-oncologist, I'm reading this and this and this.
It's really time to admit that Sally Fallon is not the answer after over six years of buying into the theories.
Kind of goes back to that definition of insanity thing: if I keep doing the same thing and getting the same [negative] result, it's time to change what I'm doing.
 I'm re-vamping our eating and revisiting my vegetarian years, with modern twist of Omega-3s and small portions of healthy meat.

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I am wearing ...
a pink t-shirt, brown capris, and these shoes, which fit me perfectly in a child's size, thereby saving $15 over the adult cost of the same shoe. Go me.

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I am creating ...
momentos from the weekend.
Shhh, it's a secret

 
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  On my iPod...
All of these stories. We listened to them in the van on the way to Williamsburg. Thanks for the tip!
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Towards a real education ...
We'll spend the rest of the week leisurely creating Jamestown Settlement and Colonial Williamsburg narrations with illustrations.
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I am thinking... 
I'm going to miss Michael. He'll be gone 51 days. Not that I'm counting.
 
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Sarah Anne this week...
She's seven months old! Her dimples got quite a workout last weekend as she flashed that darling smile to everyone who glanced her way. As long as she's being held, she's a happy, happy sweet girl. Fortunately, I can't get enough of her. She's been carried all over Maryland and Virginia in the last two weeks, had several naps interrupted by cheering crowds, and got caught in some giant celebratory hugs.
And she's been a great sport about it.

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I am reading  ...
hmmm...there are 700+ unread posts on my Google Reader. I might have to delete without reading.
 

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I am hoping and praying ...
for Elizabeth deHority
and
Jessica Hulcy (new link to caring bridge)

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On Keeping Home ...
Seconds after we arrived home last night, Patrick grabbed the last few rays of light to plant eight new rose bushes. I can hardly wait to see them bloom.
After spending several days in a hotel, I always have an overwhelming urge to purge and declutter. Isn't it nice to be unencumbered by our stuff? Vacations are so good for reminding us of that. So, there will be some decluttering while the hotel remains fresh in my mind.
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A few of my favorite things ...
The smell of wood smoke and "oldness" at Colonial Williamsburg. Reminds me of mornings on the Lawn at UVa.
Little girls in mob caps and bonnets
A little bigger boys who are not too big for tri-corner hats
Inhaling the history of that place
A Very Little Girl who insists that she is Felicity Merriman and holds everyone around her to playing their roles--for four days straight, much to the delight of everyone blessed to be with her

State Cup Championships

 

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A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:
Clean out the van, catch up on laundry, go strawberry picking, hit that park I've been promising before school is out and it's too crowded with vacationing kids (the benefits of home education;-).

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Picture thoughts
   

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Be sure to visit Peggy for links to more daybooks.