Gathering My Thoughts

.

I find myself:

::noticing God's glory

Nick and I went early to training Monday night to try to capture with the big camera the spectacular sunset we’ve seen at the soccer field nearly every night for the past couple weeks. Alas, not so spectacular; maybe tomorrow. (This means you get iPhone shots from the weekend for today's post. Note the very sweet, nearly perfect coffee shop in Old Town Leesburg. You can bet I'll be back there!)

::listening to 

quiet. I’m in the car while Nicky trains. I’m tempted to listen to music, but right now the quiet thumping of soccer balls off in the playing fields suits me fine.

::clothing myself in 

Yoga pants, t-shirt, Nike jacket and shoes. I’m still hopeful I’ll work out today;-)

::talking with my children about these books

We’ve moved on to the letter C. I doubt I’ll get to too many Storybook posts this week because I need to write birthday posts (my kids are big fans of birthday posts). Here’s the C book lineup. I’ll share some specifics on some of them next week. (we’re taking two weeks for every Alphabet Path letter this year).

::thinking and thinking

Wow. My brain is abuzz. I was talking with a friend the other day. She also has a large family and her first few children are young adults. We were talking about how it doesn’t always turn out how you thought it would. Actually, I think she said something like, “All those Christian parenting books are read in the 90’s? They lied.” Lots of people successfully resolve midlife crises at such a point in their lives by accepting that we didn’t know all we thought we did and trusting that God’s grace will fill in the gaps. I think my friend and I trust that there is sufficient grace, but we’re probably digging deeper than most moms to try to tweak the parenting philosophy. After all, we still have lots of children home to raise.

::pondering prayerfully

"We greatly influence others with our thoughts. We can be very good or very evil, depending the kind of thoughts and desires we breed. If our thoughts are kind, peaceful, and quiet, turned only toward good, then we also influence ourselves and radiate peace all around us. However, when we breed negative thought, that is a great evil. When there is evil in us, we radiate it among our family members and wherever we go. So you see, we can be very good or very evil. If that’s the way it is, it is certainly better to choose good!” ~Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica.

::carefully cultivating rhythm

Sunday was Michael’s birthday. Monday was Katie’s. Wednesday is Patrick’s and Friday is Karoline’s. The rhythm is likely to break cadence a bit.

I’m finding that the biggest detriment to the discipline required for rhythm is social media. As the political climate is ever more heated and ever more charged and as there is increasing debate about the Church, I’m finding that social media is a vortex. The problem—for me—is not time spent posting. It’s reading something and then trying to walk away from it and having it live in my brain for hours (or days). Where is the fine line between being educated and engaged and distracted and disturbed? I've been trying to step away from social media entirely on the weekends. On Sunday, I logged into Facebook briefly to wish Michael a happy birthday. I ended up clicking on just one link to just one article. But that one article so bothered me that I stewed on it all day. It still bothers me. Far better, I think to be a little less informed and a lot more peaceful?

::creating by hand

I’m still awaiting Katie’s fabric:-(. I did make Karoline a top last weekend and I’m hoping to get one made for Sarah today. Then, maybe I can finish one for Katie before the weekend. Maybe. Maybe.

::learning lessons in

Paths to college. Michael accumulated a huge number of dual enrollment credits before going to college, pretty much on a typical schedule. He graduated college early because of those credits. Christian began community college after homeschool high school and then transferred to a four year college, two years later. Patrick took some dual enrollment credits and then began college a semester early, in the winter of 2013. Each scenario has had its pros and cons. As Mary Beth explores her options, there is no clear-cut path, only much to ponder.

::encouraging learning 

I don’t want to let “B” week get away entirely without telling you how much I love the Jan Brett Website. We studied her wonderful books last week and took many rabbit trails down the site, especially enjoying the drawing lessons in her videos.

I think Mossy is my favorite of the Jan Brett books, but it's really hard to choose just one. It truly needs its own Storybook Year post.

• On Noah's Ark
• Gingerbread Baby
• Gingerbread Friends
• The Hat
• The Mitten

• Hedgie's Surprise
• The Umbrella
• Daisy Comes Home
• Three Snow Bears
• Honey Honey Lion
• Town Mouse, Country Mouse
• Annie and the Wild Animals
• Fritz and the Beautiful Horses
  Jan Brett's website is full of information and art and activities. 

::begging prayers

for the lonely, depressed, and discouraged.

for all the intentions of our prayer community.

And for that sweet little intention very close to my heartJ  

::keeping house

I need to craft a written housekeeping schedule once again. It’s been way too long. My obstacle? I don’t want to sit in front of the computer long enough to get it done. Same with a good recipe/meal plan. I know that doing these digitally is the most efficient; I just can’t bring myself to sit still in front of the keyboard long enough to get it done.

::crafting in the kitchen 

I thought we were shifting into autumn menus. It’s going to be 85 most of the week. Maybe not so fast..

::loving the moments

when they run all happy crazy to welcome home their big brother.

::giving thanks 

for a teenaged girl who would drive four hours roundtrip on Friday and then four hours round trip on Sunday so that her brother could come home for the weekend.

living the liturgy

Today is the Feast of St. Therese. There will be roses.

::planning for the week ahead

Lots of birthday and name day celebrating this week. And…some of us will go to Charlottesville on Thursday or maybe Friday. Paddy plays Friday night. Then to Harrisonburg for Family Weekend on Saturday. Then Mike and I have our 30^th high school reunion back in Northern Virginia Saturday night. Soccer and soccer on Sunday.

Small Steps Blog Tour Begins Today--And a Super-fun Contest!

How would you like to own a signed copy of every one of those books? That's right--a nice little Catholic Mom Library, each signed by its author. But where would you find the time to read them all? I know not...

I do know that it only takes about five minutes a day to read Small Steps for Catholic Moms and we are about to share lots of ways to get those five minutes! Head over here and share your favorite way to get five minutes alone and you will be entered to win the whole bunch of books.

The Small Steps Blog Tour begins today. Visit these blogs and enter at each of them in order to win a copy of Small Steps. Lots of chances. Lots of winning! Lots of little steps.

Please visit Lisa Schmidt at The Practicing Catholic for a chance to win Small Steps for Catholic Moms. 

And then, check in with these fine folks for more chances to win and more peeks into the goodness that is their homes on the 'net.

• October 1 - Lisa Schmidt at The Practicing Catholic
• October 2 - Rachel Balducci at Testosterhome
• October 3 - Ginny Sheller at Small Things
• October 4 - Barb Szyszkiewicz at Franciscan Mom
• October 5 - Grace Snow at Uncommon Grace
• October 6 - Sarah at Amongst Lovely Things
• October 7 - Pat Gohn at The Back Porch
• October 8 - Ginny Moyer at Random Acts of Momness
• October 9 - Christine Johnson at Domestic Vocation
• October 10 - Martina Kreitzer at Catholic Sistas
• October 11 - Simcha Fisher at I Have to Sit Down
• October 12 - Elizabeth Scalia at The Anchoress

Sponsor Spots

If you have an Etsy shop or small business that you think might bless readers of  In the Heart of my Home, please consider becoming a sponsor. I am offering sponsorship opportunities for this blog and Serendipity (all bundled together). With a commitment for October, November, and December, January will be free. Please contact me at intheheartofmyhome AT gmail DOT com for more information.

Why it might be a blessing to do dishes by hand

The air is downright chilly in the mornings and evening soccer practices yield to cool darkness. Autumn is upon us. I’m a big fan of weather, an embracer of the change of seasons. And of all the seasons, I love autumn best. This year, though, I find myself wishing it wouldn’t arrive so quickly. Time just seems to slip through my fingers these days. Autumn comes and with it, the close of the year will soon be upon us. Hurry, hurry. We race on. I’m not ready to let this year go.

Where can we find more time? Amidst the bustle of it all — the super-fast debit card self-checkout that eliminates the need to count out change and chat with the cashier about what I plan to bake with those chocolate chips and the can of pumpkin; the E-Z Pass that eliminates a smile and a “Have a nice day” with the man in the tollbooth; the automated checkout at the library that means we won’t chat stories with the children’s librarian — we are hustling through time. It feels so frantic. We feel so frantic.

Tell me, what do we gain in our hurry? I can well see what we lose. We lose our sense of community. We lose our connectedness to one another. We lose the ability to stop and savor and settle in and notice the details. And in our hurry, we find ourselves feeling cheated, as if we just pushed our way through but didn’t really live the life we’ve been given.

Last week, our dryer was broken. In a family of 11, when the dryer breaks, we all get pretty creative about places to hang clothes. Our homeowner’s association prohibits clotheslines, preferring the aesthetic of efficient dryers trapped inside stuffy laundry rooms to the messy beauty of linens blowing wild in the breeze. Go figure.

We hung clothes from portable soccer goals and relished the warm windiness of the day. For the few days of our inconvenience, I was not-so-secretly enjoying being “forced” to stand in the sunshine and shake out clean laundry. It was terribly inefficient, made the chore much more time-consuming, and would likely become wearisome over time. But in the moment, it was a golden opportunity to relish the moment, to linger long instead of tossing clothes inside the drum while looking ahead to the next thing to do.

The day we got the dryer fixed, the dishwasher decided it was no longer communicating with the water source. Admittedly I grumbled a bit before I resigned myself to filling my sink with warm, soapy bubbles. Surveying my “help,” I decided it was probably easier to wash dishes by myself than to coach my reluctant dishwashers through this new way of tackling the typical Tuesday night table set for eight. Or 10.

Here’s what you can’t do while washing dishes by hand: You can’t get distracted by your smartphone. You can’t wander out of the room when a child keeps adding to a longwinded, very detailed, not-even-remotely true story. You can’t quickly go check the laundry. Or your email. You have to stand there, hands in the warm suds, and be fully present in the moment. It doesn’t much feel like time is slipping through your fingers.

Where’s the slow in life? Can we seek it, find it, perhaps even create it? Can we deliberately pull into the slow lane sometimes? Can we embrace the wait time? Take a few extra moments to pay in cash and count out exact change, looking the cashier in the eye and sharing a warm word or two? Can we breathe more deeply, park a little further away and enjoy the walk? Can we plunge into the sink full of bubbles and invite someone we love to pull up a stool and chat while we rinse away the hurry with the dirt?

When we do, we catch moments that glisten like soapsuds in the early evening light across the sink. And time swishes warmth around us instead of swirling forcefully down the drain.

Needle & thREAD

This morning, Katie and I made a disheartening discovery in the sewing room. She has outgrown my fabric stash. That is, nearly none of the fabric I have stashed was cut in lengths long enough to work for her fall clothes. Furthermore, she’s outgrown all but one of my Oliver + S patterns. I had the one pattern that fits traced and ready to go, but she couldn’t find two fabrics that would work for her.

So, did what we all do in times of sewing distress. I got on Facebook and asked for advice. There, Jennifer suggested the Lisette patterns. I have one of those in her (gulp—really?) size. Jen mentioned that she had a similar, but different pattern and a very similarly sized daughter. We decided to go for it together. Sew along! A couple other friends are joining us. It’s all very informal. I don’t even have fabric yet.

I’m sewing this one. Jen is sewing this one.

My friend Kathy has asked me about choosing fabric. Since Katie and I had some fabric shopping to do this morning, I kept Kathy in mind and tried to take note of my steps. In dase you’re wondering, here’s my fabric shopping strategy:

I spent a whole lot of time on sewing blogs back when I first started to sew. I got a sene of different designers and what to expect. Those are my go-tos when I’m looking for something new. They’re also where I check in periodically to see what’s new. All those blogs used to be safely bookmarked on my Google Reader. No more. I don’t read online much at all these days, so I’m sort of out of practice but I’m going to try to reconstruct the list. Here’s a brief list and I’m certain I’m excluding someone.

Heather Bailey

Anna Maria Horner

Bari J

Joanna Figueroa

Camille Roskelley

Kate Spain

Leisl Gibson

Amy Butler

That list is what is represented on my shelves.

Sometimes, the designers have shops and I buy there. Anna Maria Horner is one I usually purchase in her shop, because I love her ribbons and patterns and other goodies and I’ll buy those at the same time.

 

I have hit some great Heather Bailey sales.  Anna Maria Horner is on my very short regular blog reading list even when I’m not shopping fabric.

Outside of designers shops, or when I want to buy from more than one designer, my first stop is the Fat Quarter Shop. There are two reasons for this. (1) They are blog sponsors and no other fabric store wanted a spot here. I like to dance with the one who brung me. (2) They have incredibly excellent customer service. From answering questions to notifying when something is in to packaging to cutting to just plain getting it right—they’re top notch.

Other places I go:

Hawthorne Threads: I like that they offer coordinating color suggestions—nice design feature. I feel like their selection is different from the Fat Quarter Shop.

Pink Chalk Fabrics: Another with topnotch customer service and good sales/bargains.

A word about Fabric.com. They have a design wall feature where you can browse and pin fabrics to a wall so that you can see how they all go together. It’s a great feature. They have the worst customer service ever and after countless wrong orders, I won’t go back. Though their prices are better, the mistakes end up being costly.

The designers listed above usually put out a collection of fabrics, maybe in two different colorways, once or twice a year. The prints are intended to coordinate with each other. Frequently, I’ll find that a designer’s style conveys across collections, too. For instance, I stashed some Heather Bailey back when Karoline was  a baby seven years ago. It’s sitting on my ironing board with what’s left from Katie’s Heather Bailey Easter dress a year and a half ago and I am certain the two will find themselves together on a garment this fall.

Usually, I just play with this, sometimes obsessively. I’ll go to the Fat Quarter Shop and fill my cart and delete and add and delete and add until I have combinations I like. Usually, if I’m shopping to stash fabric (to take advantage of a sale), I buy in 1 yard lengths. I’m rethinking that as the girls grow. This is all a huge learning process for me.

I’ve learned the hard way to never let a fabric line get more than six months old while I wait for a sale. I’ve missed some good ones biding my time.

Kathy, I hope this helps a little. At least, it might provide a starting place for your own rabbit trail through sewing blogs.

This week, I’ve been tracing and cutting and measuring and ordering. It’s been a ridiculously stressful week and this morning, when Katie handed me her pointe shoes to sew and I felt my heart rate drop as I threaded the machine, I promised myself that I will make time for myself in the sewing room today. I’ll update as I go on Instagram.

Not much reading happening, outside of necessary reads for my kids. But the time of year and the state of my heart have directed towards the bookshelf, where I’ve stored a gift from Tripp Curtis. Barbara’s last book. I couldn’t read it when he sent it.

Now, though, I would love to have these conversations with her and I’m grateful that her words are here with us even when she no longer is.  So Raising God First Kids in a Me First World is my slow read these days.

So tell me: what are you reading? What are you sewing? And how do you shop for fabric? Surely, we can all help Kathy come up with a strategy.

And one more thing? I wrote this post last night in soccer parking lot. There's no wi-fi there, so that left a lot of linking to do this morning. Now that I've finished linking, I'm looking at my mail and my Facebook messages. Both Elizabeth DeHority and Shawn Kuykendell are in urgent need of prayer today. Please light a candle with us?