Wordless Wednesday: A Fairy Good Morning and a Sad Afternoon
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Ooh, that's harsh
/Katie and Gracie are struggling with the looming change in their relationship that's coming when Gracie moves at the end of this week. They've squabbled more than usual the last couple of days.
Today, playing Wii:
Gracie: No fair! You can't win all the time.
Katie: I can if I do. And I did.
Gracie: Then I'm not going to be your friend any more.
Katie: Fine. When you move, I'll delete your Mii.
Gracie (lip quivering): And then you'll never see me again.
Long week, this one.
The Curriculum I've Been Writing All My Life
/Ever since I was a little girl, I've always had a mental filing basket for those gems that are so meaningful to me that I want to be sure to pass them along to my daughters. Certain books made such big impressions on me that I wanted to be certain they were a part of my girls' formation. As I grew into my vocation as a wife and mother, many more books went into that basket.
Now, I have a daughter who is old enough and more than eager to start reading them. Last winter, when I went to pluck a tattered Montessori book off the shelf in our family library, I discovered it was missing. And so were all the other Montessori volumes customarily found there. They were all downstairs on my daughter's nightstand, along with 20 and Counting and It's So You! The wheels started turning. At last, it's time to share all the treasures of my vocational library with my daughter.
Jennifer Mackintosh and I started talking with each other about how this unique curriculum would look all laid out beautifully. We were all too happy to begin to fit together the pieces of a young lady's education: one that would teach and inspire and equip our girls to embrace God's calling with wisdom, knowledge, and grace. We've just begun and we are happy to share an overview of the first year and details of the first couple months on Serendipity.
There are two different versions of the curriculum because we've taken seriously our commitment to tailoring for each girl. I expect that I will tailor again three more times for each of my daughters. Mary Beth is excited about how the treasures in these baskets will work with her real life--daily life spent with her siblings, moments beside me in the kitchen or marketplace, quiet mornings twice a week leading little ones to the Good Shepherd in a Montessori atrium, and many, many hours in a dance studio--to form her into a young lady. The future has a bright, rosy hue indeed!
Daybook~After the Little Vacation
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Outside My Window ...
it's a warm summer evening and children are running all around the yard.
it's a warm summer evening and children are running all around the yard.
***
I am listening to...
children laughing and playing.
sandy face, salty curls
***
children laughing and playing.
sandy face, salty curls
***
To Live the Liturgy...
we began the week with our St. Anne's tea. Today was also the first day of Vacation Bible School which is all about the Mass. We'll be immersed in liturgy this week.
we began the week with our St. Anne's tea. Today was also the first day of Vacation Bible School which is all about the Mass. We'll be immersed in liturgy this week.
***
To Fit and Happy...
I. must. start. walking. in. the. morning. Period.
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I am thankful for...
my friend who has generously loaned us her beach house for three days last week. We are so grateful to have had somewhere to go for a little getaway.
~
baby toes touch sand the first time
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I am pondering this quote...
Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, and the other is gold.
My father sang this to me all the time when I was little and we moved every couple of years. My children haven't experienced transient friends too much in their lives. We're about to get hit bigtime with it this week.
my friend who has generously loaned us her beach house for three days last week. We are so grateful to have had somewhere to go for a little getaway.
~
baby toes touch sand the first time
***
I am pondering this quote...
Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, and the other is gold.
My father sang this to me all the time when I was little and we moved every couple of years. My children haven't experienced transient friends too much in their lives. We're about to get hit bigtime with it this week.
***
From the kitchen ...
I'm on a kick where everything I make has ribbons of fresh basil in it
I'm on a kick where everything I make has ribbons of fresh basil in it
***
I am wearing ...
Capris, t-shirt, St. Anne medal, twisted-up hair, diamond stud earrings, lipgloss, bare feet.
Fort Stephen
Capris, t-shirt, St. Anne medal, twisted-up hair, diamond stud earrings, lipgloss, bare feet.
***
I am creating ...
a present for my new godson.
***
On my iPod...
The Good Stuff.
Mike saw Kenny Chesney in concert in Utah last week. He didn't even know one single song Kenny Chesney sings. He went for "work."
Is that even fair?
***
Towards a real education ...
We've got some good things going for young ladies at Serendipity. I'll give this project a post of its own tomorrow, but let's just say we have some happy girls going into this year..
***
I am thinking...
how hard this summer has been so far. Bad news has crashed over us again and again like relentless waves. It was good to go to the seashore and let it roll out with the tide.
Mary Beth stayed in for hours
***
a present for my new godson.
***
On my iPod...
The Good Stuff.
Mike saw Kenny Chesney in concert in Utah last week. He didn't even know one single song Kenny Chesney sings. He went for "work."
Is that even fair?
***
Towards a real education ...
We've got some good things going for young ladies at Serendipity. I'll give this project a post of its own tomorrow, but let's just say we have some happy girls going into this year..
***
I am thinking...
how hard this summer has been so far. Bad news has crashed over us again and again like relentless waves. It was good to go to the seashore and let it roll out with the tide.
***
In the Garden...
Lots of basil.
Lots of basil.
Around the House
I'm really re-thinking some rooms. I might give up my "school room" and make it a bedroom again. I'm waiting a few weeks until Mike has another day or two off and we can really think it all through.
***
Sarah Anne this week...
At long last we have found something she will eat. Sarah Anne can both sign and swallow crackers. This is a big week for our little miracle. As I continue to celebrate the feast of St. Anne I am overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude to the grandmother of our Lord, who so graciously tended to my baby and me.
***
I am reading ...
about six books at once:-)
about six books at once:-)
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I am hoping and praying ...
for my precious aunt who has been diagnosed with cancer. We are watching and waiting through the very trying time of testing and decisions.
for my precious aunt who has been diagnosed with cancer. We are watching and waiting through the very trying time of testing and decisions.
***
On Keeping Home ...
I thoroughly cleaned Patrick's room, top to bottom and inside out last week. It was a glorious feeling and now I am so on a roll...
I thoroughly cleaned Patrick's room, top to bottom and inside out last week. It was a glorious feeling and now I am so on a roll...
***
One of my favorite things ...
baby toes in the sand, the smell of salt in the air, little girl curls set with sea spray, boardwalk fries, boys building sand castles, fairy houses made of seashells
A bunny visited this fairy house shortly after we took this picture. Do you think he told the fairies about their new digs?
***
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:
My heart leaped a bit at this prompt. This is our very last Gracie week. I have known since the day she became a part of our lives that one day she would leave. I went into this with my eyes wide open and I knew this day would hurt. She's moving across the country and taking little pieces of our hearts with her. My children will struggle with this for some time, I'm afraid.
And
our friends behind us are moving the same day.
Some mourning and weeping in our little valley this week.
My heart leaped a bit at this prompt. This is our very last Gracie week. I have known since the day she became a part of our lives that one day she would leave. I went into this with my eyes wide open and I knew this day would hurt. She's moving across the country and taking little pieces of our hearts with her. My children will struggle with this for some time, I'm afraid.
And
our friends behind us are moving the same day.
Some mourning and weeping in our little valley this week.
***
Picture thoughts
Beach Vacation
Beach Vacation
