Owl Creek Cottage

Lava, Pickle Ball, and Baseball Cookies

We had a full, full week and weekend!  There was too much going on to put into one post, so here are a few highlights from the week. 

The boys are studying astronomy this year for science, and this week we learned about Venus.  We made a volcano of butter and flour to show how lava melts, then cools.  I love easy science experiments that require very little work but are fun for the kids.

And for P.E. we bought a volleyball/badminton/pickle ball set and put up the net in our back pasture.  I left the rackets and balls on the deck, and the kids have gone out all week and played.  It's a little hard to play badminton with three players, so I ended up playing with them a lot.  They think I'm extremely athletic and good (I'm not), so it's very gratifying :-)  Addie is actually pretty good at sports, so she and Caiden played lots and lots of pickle ball.

One of the things we really loved about our house when we first looked at it, is that it's fully fenced and gated, with cross fencing for the pastures and paddock.  So the kids can go outside and play, and I don't have to worry about them getting into the street--or into the land behind us, which has a large den of coyotes!  The freedom means they spend a lot of play time outside, now that it's finally cooling down.

On Wednesday, we had a little family party to celebrate our Texas Rangers appearing in the World Series!  I taught the kids "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," which required looking up the lyrics on the phone.  I'm famous for messing up lyrics, so I figured I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Then we made nachos and a plate of cookies.  I got the idea from Erin, who made hers several years ago.  I bought Nutter Butters to be the peanuts and then dipped Oreos in white candy coating, let them harden, and used an icing writer to draw on the threads for the baseballs.  Can you guess what was the kids' favorite part?

They turned out cute (and delicious!)--thanks Erin!

On Thursday we had a wedding rehearsal to go to and had to miss some of the game, but even our babysitter Kristina and her precious baby Abby (The kids call her "The Evil Dr. Abby" because she chases the cat, but fortunately Kristina thinks it's funny!) got into the spirit!

I have tons more pictures from Grayson's birthday party and the wedding he and Chris were in this weekend that I'll post next time.  It was a full, full week, and although it was all really fun, I'm very glad to see a quiet, foggy Monday here today!  And that is good, because the second half of this week and the weekend are going to be really full, too!  Today I'm savoring doing not much else besides school, sipping chai tea lattes, and heating up chili for tonight's game--go Rangers!!

Messy!

Lately I've felt like my shoulders are up in my ears.  I feel cramped, overwhelmed, and like the Legos are closing in on me!  Everywhere I turn, there is a mess.  Of epic proportions, usually.  There are papers, books, shoes, socks--I am not kidding that I find 10-20 socks in weird places every single day!--and Legos everywhere, constantly piling up, making me crazy!  

I have always been very, very neat.  I had a perfectly-picked up bedroom growing up, and clutter makes me cross-eyed.  However, I am married to a man who does not have the same bent (He's the baby; I'm the first-born, can you tell?), and his offspring have all taken after him, not me.  That means there are four people who thwart my every attempt at order, neatness, and margins!  It's not that they mean to; they just simply don't see the messes.  On the one hand that's good--Chris has never, ever mentioned that things could use a little picking up.  On the other hand, that means I spend a vast amount of my waking hours walking from room to room, picking up and mumbling under my breath about how if somebody would notice things left on the stairs--would close the toilet seats--would not drop books and socks and Legos everywhere . . .  I feel like a supreme grump and complainer a lot.

I've tried not caring and just going with the flow.  That works really well for about a day, but then when five people don't pick up, the house looks like a bomb has exploded, and I just have more work later on.  It doesn't help that four of us are here nearly 24 hours of every day, and that homeschooling brings with it about a million books, markers, papers, and math manipulatives.  (Those one-inch colored tiles multiply like Gremlins.  I find them everywhere!)

My other response is to tackle the chaos head-on:  I buy bins, organizers, binders, calendars, laundry systems.  I label things, put little reminders on the inside of the toilet lid (Mod Podged, so tinkles can be wiped off!), and continually dump large loads of stuff at Goodwill.

Nothing is helping.  I'm going crazy.  At least once a week I just put my head down on our school desk, sigh dramatically, and moan.  The schedules, activities, books, socks, and Legos are getting to me!  I can't do the obvious:  cart off the Legos to Goodwill, make everybody go sockless, quit our activities, or send the kids to school.  

So, does anybody have any sage words of advice?  Especially on this one:  what to do with all the Legos!  (We have bins and keep them in an understairs closet across from the boys' room, but they seem to spread like a virus.)  Now, if you have two little girls who like to sit and color, your husband was in the Army and still lines up his shoes by color and type, or you have live-in help, I'm not sure you can help me.  But if you are outnumbered by boys, have a creative (read: not super neat) husband, and homeschool, please let me in on any little secrets you've come by.

And in the meantime, I'm off to fight the paper mess in the schoolroom . . .

Snapshots

I keep thinking I will find time to sit here and write in this space, but somehow night comes before it happens, and the only thing I want to do is go to sleep!  It has been a busy fall, filled with lots of good things, but I don't think it could get much more full without me going crazy.  I get a little panicky when we have lots going on.

Here are unrelated and unorganized pictures of what we've been doing:

 

Grayson celebrated another birthday last week.  I can hardly believe my sweet, chubby, sleepy baby is a sweet, skinny, busy 7 year old!  He runs circles around me, but every time I catch him I can't resist stealing a snuggle.  He is the sweetest thing ever. (Pardon Addie's face--I think she was mid-cough?)

Addie spends most of her days wearing her ballerina costume.  She has a current obsession with Angelina Ballerina, and she twirls pretty much everywhere she goes.  It's adorable!

Grayson joined Scouts this fall.  So far his impression is that the meetings aren't fun but that his uniform makes it worth it.  He loves dressing up, and the more items a costume has, the better.  I think he'll like earning belt loops just so he can add to his uniform!  His little snaggle-toothed grin makes me happy.

He and Addie are in the same class at our weekly co-op, and I love seeing what they are making each week in their Dr. Seuss reading class.  

Give her scissors, and she's in heaven.  She loves making little snips everywhere.

Notice the ballerina swimsuit.  I'm serious about the ballet clothes being a constant uniform!
=

I discovered last week that if I'll let Addie and Gray fill up the sink with water, they'll spend two hours playing!  Sure, the kitchen gets moderately wet, but they will happily wash all the dishes I give them, and they even share their chair relatively nicely.
 

Obie is our daily pupil.  Around an hour after we start school, he joins us upstairs and plays on the drawing table with all the markers.  Today he found a bin and spent the entire morning snoozing.  He's such a chilled out cat and lets the kids drag him all over the place.  We love him!  (Notice the peeling table--I discovered the hard way that chalkboard paint peels off plastic tables :(

In the last 20 hours, we have been visited by a large rat snake by my bedroom window (outside), a hawk attack (lost two chicks), Caiden stumbled upon a coyote right behind our garden in broad daylight, we spied an armadillo digging up the backyard this morning, and this little possum was found taking a nap inside the chickens' nest box!  I told my husband that we live in a zoo!  That's a lot of wildlife in two days, especially since we live inside city limits!  I kind of prefer one quiet golden retriever and one sweet cat, but nobody seems to give any weight to my animal preferences!! (Addie renamed Shadow and Saint, our two naughty dogs, "Precious" and "Pumpkin," because she says if they have sweet names, maybe they'll act better.)

So that's what's been going on around here.  I'm trying desperately to stay on top of meals and laundry, in addition to juggling allergy shots, physical therapy appointments, Scouts, church, and co op.  We've had multiple house maintenance issues, and all of that on top of school each day has me treading water very fast!  But God is good and gives me grace every day for it, even if some days nobody has clean socks.  Fortunately, with a house of mostly boys, nobody seems to notice.  

Everybody is growing up so fast that it makes my heart sad, and I don't want to hurry these days by, just so I can have a quiet and clean house.  I know I'll look back someday and wish I could have these years again, but I don't want to look back and wish I'd done them differently.  So I'm savoring each day, each mess, each moment of neediness, taking little snapshots in my mind so they don't disappear.  

Stairwell Silhouettes

I bought these frames several months ago with the idea of putting my children's silhousettes in them.

Finally this week I realized it was now or never.

After discussing options with my uber-creative sister, I landed on the easiest and most fitting one:

Fabric!  I traced each child's outline on butcher paper, cut it out and traced it onto fabric.  After using spray adhesive to back the oval cardboard of the frame, I cut out the fabric silhouette and used more spray to adhere it to the background fabric.  

It's perfect for our home, considering my love of textiles, and our bland, vanilla stairwell is now graced with silhouettes of our children.  

 
And at the top of the stairs, I painted "The Happy Room" outside the door of our beloved school room.  

I'm so pleased with the results that I find myself going up the stairs for no reason other than to enjoy it.  Satisfaction is a heady feeling!

Still

I'm slowly waking up from a long winter's nap.  An unintended break, but when I don't feel like writing, I take it as a sign to back away and take a breath.

We've been relishing spring, even to the point of taking off school for a couple months to enjoy the best season in our region.  

Our days are filled with planting flowers and the garden, playing chess, reading books, always, and hours upon hours spent on the porch.  Addie wheels furiously up and down the long drive on her bicycle, and the boys hunt for grubs for the chickens.  We eat dinner on the deck, take naps in the hammock, play on the tire swing.

I am rested.  Our long-standing projects (painting baseboards and trim never ends) are finally getting done.  Yardwork is catching up.  Life is better lived at a stroll than a sprint, yes?

Deliberately slowing down has been a good thing, a necessary thing, and it reminds me of all the many graces that are around me, when I stand still long enough to see.

Lately

These first couple weeks of the year have been so nice, and so calm! I love putting away the Christmas decorations and enjoying a simpler, less cluttered space. It seems to cast a tone of simplicity over the month of January after all the scurrying and warmth of December.

We've been enjoying Christmas presents,

(See those hands on hips?  She doesn't like to share her crown!  Baby of the family and only girl!)

forcing the cat to participate in photo shoots,

spending lots of time together up in our Happy Room, learning together,

and doing lots and lots of healthy cooking (and eating!).

We are participating with our church in our annual Daniel Fast, and I have found so many delicious recipes this time around:  snickerdoodle smoothies, amazing vegan taco soup, and more.  I have really looked forward to this fast and am already committing to sticking more closely to it when the fast is over--we feel too good not to!  

Today my mom is driving in to spend a couple days with us.  I love having her so close now, after 16 years of living several states apart!  We have very little on the agenda, other than lunch at Whole Foods today, knitting by the fire, and lots of cooking and talking.  That's why I love January so much--none of the regular activities have started up yet, and my homebody instincts are in full-force as I try to get the house and our routines back in order after the holidays.  I even spent a few hours in my garden last week (Before the freezing temps hit Texas) and got it winterized.  

So that's what we've been up to lately--a little of this, a little of that, and thankful to God for all His blessings, especially the little ones.

Slowly Finishing

Yesterday Obadiah tried out his wings, jumped off my sewing room loft onto the hard floor 15 feet below, then remembered he doesn't have wings.  A vet visit and x-ray later, the cat has a bad sprain and is limping around pitifully.   We've all taken pity on him and have carried him around with us, or let him lie in our beds half the day, or talked to him in baby talk and crooned over him.  I think he's enjoying this.

After abandoning high hopes of getting much done today, I settled on trying a green smoothie (more on that later), folding the laundry and covertly putting away the tree ornaments, followed by eating ice cream.  It has been a fully satisfying, albeit fully unproductive day.  Perfect for after Christmas, no?

Tomorrow I will put away more decorations as stealthily as possible--people in my house mourn when the decorations come down, so I have to be gentle, make brisket for dinner, and slowly soak in the last day of the year.  Lots of goals (Oddly enough, I made goals instead of resolutions this year, posted them where I could see them, and actually achieved over 90%.  A record!  Those experts know what they're talking about.) to work on tomorrow, but for tonight I'm relishing the end of this  Slow Day.  And while I'm at it, I'll blockade the stairs to the sewing room, so that Obadiah can finish his day slowly, too.

Cheering Up

Today is gray and chilly--perfect for November after a long hot spell for months and months!  Here's how we cheer up our gray days:

Music is a must!  Bach's Cello Suites, Joel Clarkson's "A Thousand Dreams" album, old Rich Mullins' albums, "Quiet Christmas," and so on.  Quiet and calm but uplifting.

Candles--our fall favorite is the Paula Deen pumpkin candle a friend gave me.  I also love the "Cashmere Woods" scent by Glade.

Reading on the couch, all cozied up under our electric lap blanket, accompanied by the candles and music.

Laundry, too:  a humming dryer of warm sheets and towels makes the laundry room and kitchen warm, and everybody loves the smell of clean clothes!

A hot lunch.  I make quesadillas a lot; they're our alternative to peanut butter and jelly, which takes first place in our hearts here.  

Today we're having all of our school in the great room, cheered by all of the above, and I foresee hot cocoa at some point, followed by naps for all.  (Except me; I'm forging ahead on curtain sewing.)

As I type, Grayson and Addie are walking around wrapped up in their new Snuggies.   Humor also cheers up the grayest of days!

Weekends

First, thank you for all the generous words about my fall quilt--it has rarely slept alone these last weeks, so I think the general consensus around here is that it's a success!

I blinked, and now it's Saturday.  The days are flying by here, in a nice sort of way, but I'd really like them to slow down now that it's October, my most-favorite of months.  This morning we started our soccer season, which went well despite staying up late with friends until midnight last night, children included.  We hosted a sweet family with homemade pizza by candlelight on the deck, and the children played until very late with glowsticks in the pasture.  So this morning came early, but my early birds were still up before sunrise, ready to go!  I think naptime will also come early today.

But weekends are good for that, and for dozing with the sound of football in the background, and playing around in the sewing room, maybe adding something to the shop, and taking long runs, and enjoying church.  They're good for putting the schoolwork aside, and taking naps, and lying in the hammock with good books.   With all this beautiful weather outside, I think I'll tackle the garden again, once we get rid of our usually-complacent-but-suddenly-aggressive rooster.  Those roosters keep me from a lot of good gardening!  That and the grasshoppers.  I'm not sure which I dread more.

So that's what we're doing this weekend, a little of this and a little of that, and not much else.  That's what weekends are good for!

Weekends

First, thank you for all the generous words about my fall quilt--it has rarely slept alone these last weeks, so I think the general consensus around here is that it's a success!

I blinked, and now it's Saturday.  The days are flying by here, in a nice sort of way, but I'd really like them to slow down now that it's October, my most-favorite of months.  This morning we started our soccer season, which went well despite staying up late with friends until midnight last night, children included.  We hosted a sweet family with homemade pizza by candlelight on the deck, and the children played until very late with glowsticks in the pasture.  So this morning came early, but my early birds were still up before sunrise, ready to go!  I think naptime will also come early today.

But weekends are good for that, and for dozing with the sound of football in the background, and playing around in the sewing room, maybe adding something to the shop, and taking long runs, and enjoying church.  They're good for putting the schoolwork aside, and taking naps, and lying in the hammock with good books.   With all this beautiful weather outside, I think I'll tackle the garden again, once we get rid of our usually-complacent-but-suddenly-aggressive rooster.  Those roosters keep me from a lot of good gardening!  That and the grasshoppers.  I'm not sure which I dread more.

So that's what we're doing this weekend, a little of this and a little of that, and not much else.  That's what weekends are good for!

Hard Work

Evidence of a hard-working Friday:

Not on my part, actually, but I did get to reap the benefit of a tidied yard all weekend!  Now that the outside looks so good, it's time to turn my attention inside.  

The family room project is stalled, waiting on me to choose fabric for the curtains and to buy more paint for the walls, ceiling, and bookcases.  The ceiling is sky-high, and I shrink at the thought of climbing a ladder, so my mother has graciously offered to paint the high parts for me.  The windows need a second coat themselves, and I hope to have it all done by mid-October, which is fast-approaching.  

Time to get busy!

Falling

We're slowly falling into the rhythms of fall:  schedules are picking up, routines are becoming more routine, and slowly, slowly, the days are cooling down.  

 I have a well-known love (obsession) for autumn, and I purposefully look for ways to squeeze every bit of life out of the season.  This fall, I'm reading Dickens' Bleak House, a perfect autumnal story.  For years Wuthering Heights was my go-to fall read, but I'm branching out this year.  (Speaking of books, I just finished The Chosen, and it was fascinating.  I want to read its sequel, The Promise, this fall, too.)  And then, of course, there's All Creatures Great and Small, because what could be more perfect for autumn than the musings of a country vet in rain-soaked England?

Soccer starts up this week, and Caiden is ready.  He has grown an amazing amount since last fall, and his cleats look bite-sized next to his feet.  He's growing so fast it makes my heart hurt, and I'm reminded how quickly time passes.  Maybe that's why I love autumn so much; it is a fleeting season.

 We're baking more, cinnamon breads and buttermilk chocolate muffins, and loaves of crusty French bread.  Soups are finding their way to the table, music is quiet in the house, and I'm hunting for a new pair of dress boots for church.  

Fall is almost here.  

 

Fall Vignette

 

Big Doings

This has been a week of Big Doings.  First, we celebrated Caiden's last single-digit birthday, and then I decided to start a Big Project.  That deserves grammatical distinction because painting all the window trim in this house is a Big Job.  These old windows are nearly nine feet tall and fully trimmed in stained wood.  Nothing less than three coats of oil-based paint will suffice. Ten were done in July; nineteen to go!  Excuse me, nine to go.  I knocked out (not literally, of course) ten this week while watching episodes of "Lark Rise to Candleford," my newest only indulgence.  (You'll need to have watched to get that.)  Two of my children contributed to the project by getting sick and being content to lie around and take lots of naps.

Today I finished up the dining room windows, painted the flanking wall, and decided to cut the drapes into panels, to scavenge some of the fabric for my kitchen windows.  That project will take place later, after my shoulders unstiffen.  But once it's done, I can officially say the kitchen redo is finished!

Now I'm making pans of lasagna and trays of cupcakes for tomorrow's Big Doing, our family birthday party.  The children and I cleaned the guest rooms, shopped for the menu, and bought mums in anticipation of tomorrow's company.  After lessons in the morning and last-minute details, we'll be ready to bring on the party!

And I think after this weekend, I'll be ready for some little doings.

Old Bench

My husband came home with prizes in his truck the other day, two *free* benches.  One is wood and wrought-iron, perfect for the front yard, where I can knit and watch the children play outside.  

The other is a true find, an old short church pew, complete with communion cup and hymnal holders on its back.  It needs stripping and re-staining, or at least a couple coats of paint, but for now it sits in the hallway, and it already seems to have its fans.

Zebras in time out,

Those who've spent plenty of time in time out themselves and are ready to commiserate,

and those who get up before dawn and camp out next to my bedroom door, hoping I'll get up early.

It's a charming little bench, for sure.   

For Today

We spent a quiet weekend lounging around, mostly.  We ate guacamole and chips, took naps, and read books.

Today it became apparent the weekend was over; by 9 a.m. we were at the doctor with Addie, who's come down with a summer case of bronchitis.  Two hours later, we ran back home for lessons, then drove down to the pharmacy to load up.  We skipped naptime, instead spending our time up in my sewing room playing with buttons while I finished up the quilt top that made my hands stop itching.  After a slightly-obsessive Saturday afternoon piecing, the strips were ready to be assembled.  I have the top and the backing ready, but no cotton for batting.  Another weekend, I suppose.  

I called my mom, who's vacationing, and talked her into doing a quilt-along with me this fall.  I assured it will be fun (Her experience quilting with her quilting group was less so; they were very intent on "rules."), and that we'd pick out something fun and pretty to do sort of together, sort of over the phone.  I'm not intent on rules; I don't know enough about quilting to really know any!  So she agreed.

I also realized I'm a few short months away from Christmas, which seems crazy on days when it's 106.     (Today while driving back my car overheated, which makes the a/c cut off, and it said "109" on my dashboard thermostat.  So we got milkshakes.)  I had grand notions of having a mostly handmade Christmas last year, but those dreams evaporated when suddenly it was December 15th and I hadn't made much.  Just knitted snakes for the boys, who've draped them over their dresser next to the shed snakeskins of the rat snake who lives under the laundry room steps outside.  

This year, I have visions of a tiny cradle quilt for Addie's babies, and knitted mice in long johns, and gifts for others I can't divulge here.  (They read.)  I figure by starting thinking about it in August, I'll have a better chance at seeing it happen.

Today, however, it's too hot to think about yarn.  Smoothies sound good for dinner, especially to Addie, who has stopped eating.  She's not a big eater on a good day, but bronchitis kills her appetite.  I'm dreaming of fall weather, holding out hope that it will come this year, despite what my car thermostat says today.

Tonight we're home alone, while my husband is working late.  Legos, Andrew Peterson singing in the background, laundry to be folded, baths to take and meds to give.  It's not the weekend anymore, but I'm thankful for today, just the same.   

This is What Fridays Are For

Fridays are for Daddy sleeping in, children tiptoe quiet, lessons completed efficiently, and then the real fun begins!

Working outside with Daddy, playing with the hens (Roosters don't like to play.), picking up odds and ends with Addie at the "market," as she insists it be called.

 

She's serious about raking hay.

Caiden looks like he's drowning, but I promise he was supervised! 

 
 

Lazy afternoons playing together, reading, napping, sewing, laughing.

Pizza for dinner, always, and staying up late.  

Fridays are my favorite.

A Blissful Day

I've come home to a clean house and happy children, thanks to our wonderful babysitters, so instead of tackling a mountain of laundry, I've been rather lazy.  A quick trip to the store to stock up for the rest of the week, a quiet afternoon while children napped and read quietly, and tonight I'll be heading out to a nearby restaurant to meet three dear friends for our monthly dinner date.  It has been a wonderful day.  

If I can squeeze in some late afternoon coffee, too, it will be bliss.

Fall Proposals

Lately I've been thinking toward fall, and making all sorts of plans in my journal, which is really half-journal, half-list collection.

I'm thinking our fall will include

• A trip with just Addie to see my sister, hopefully right when the leaves turn in Pennsylvania.  

• Caiden in a soccer uniform again.  Grayson not in one, as he felt after one practice and one game last fall that he'd enjoyed soccer plenty and was content to play on the sidelines at Caiden's games.

• Grayson and Addie in swimming lessons.  Caiden swims well, but the littler ones are scary to watch in a pool.  One is fearless and can't swim; the other is fearful and can't swim.  Lucky for us, there's an indoor swim center nearby, where you'll find us one morning a week, come October.

• Quilting a quilt top made by either my grandmother's mother, or her mother.  Either way, it's at least 85 years old and in *perfect* condition.  My mother gave it to me this spring with the promise I'd quilt it within a reasonable amount of time.  Made entirely of 30s women's dress material, it's fabulous!

• Joining old friends and new at our homeschool co-op.  Grayson will start school this year, and he's thrilled with the thought of both learning to read and carrying his own lunchbox to co-op.

• Making lots and lots of bread--hot bread with butter and honey is a fall must.

• Sewing more things for my shop, which has been languishing these weeks I've been either redecorating my bedroom or recuperating from redecorating my bedroom.

• Knitting a new fall sweater for me.  I found a pattern I love, bought the yarn, and then remembered I'm already in the middle of a project.  Oh, well, that's incentive to finish!

• I also have another decorating project in mind, in the last room to remain untouched since we bought our home.  We'll see!

And of course, fall isn't complete without apple picking, picnics under the trees, and many hours in the hammock and swings.  That all goes without saying, of course.

More on the Keeping of Routines

"To every home come seasons of special stress when doing everything is too much work.  What to be cut out?  The continuation of the basic pattern of work, mealtimes, leisure, and sleep will be a key to whether this home and the individuals in it survive the stress.

 A regular daily meal (or meals if possible) together is one of the top priorities.  So is relaxation and sleep.  Even in wartime or when painful disasters hit the family, it is worth a huge effort to keep this basic schedule going.  In such circumstances, this health-giving routine and provision helps to keep us from falling apart.  We ignore this essential fact at our risk; it is like pulling out the string from the string of beads."

Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, "For the Family's Sake"

Beauty in the Bedroom

When we moved into our house, I loved our bedroom in theory, but not in fact.  In theory it was large, with three walls of tall windows, room for a sitting area, and had a loft above it perfect for my sewing room.

In fact, it was too big, with awkwardly-arranged furniture, and was Brown Everywhere:  brown curtains, brown carpet, brown walls, brown ceiling, brown woodwork and trim.  I simply could not get past it all to see a plan, until one night a few months ago, when I woke up in the dead of night with an entire vision in my head.  I stayed up for hours, writing out ideas, sketching curtains, and researching online.  And I didn't breathe a word of it to my husband.

After two months of covert planning and stealth-shopping and sewing, my husband left on his overseas trip, and I got to work.  At the end of three solid days of painting, I had painted the trim around all ten windows, the baseboards, the beadboard ceiling (by hand! No roller!), our dresser, one nightstand, the legs of a footstool, a bench, and the entire bathroom ceiling, as well.  Thankfully, I left immediately for a weekend at the lake with my family, before the paint fumes really did me in! 

 

 After I returned, I finished sewing the windowseat cushion, all the pillows for the room, and three London blinds.  The five bedroom curtains and duvet cover had been sewn before my husband left, and I worked on the gathered bedskirt at night when he was gone, while watching old BBC movies, when I couldn't handle the thought of picking up the paintbrush again.

 
 
 Now the room is done, and it is a dramatic transformation, better than I'd hoped.  The only brown that remains is the walls ("Sauteed Mushroom") and the carpet.  With cream-and-roses curtains, white bedding, and cream furniture, the walls are a good complement now, instead of looking dull as before.

 

 
 

My reward has been that the entire family loves it in here now, lounging in the windowseat, reading, or curled up in one of the chairs, looking out over the pasture and woods beyond, writing at the sewing table-turned-writing desk, or propped up in bed against a sea of pillows.  (I am thankful to have a husband who agrees that every person should have three personal bed pillows!) 

 

  

 We have spent the better part of the last three days in our room, and what started out as a too-big, too-brown, underused and underappreciated room has become the heart of our home, second only to the kitchen, and I can definitively say all the hard work was worth it.  

But I can also say this:  I do not need another project anytime soon!

The Basics

I've found that sticking with the basics is essential to home and family management, and even more so after a trip, illness, or interruption in routine.

Today, after the completion of a long trip and a time-consuming project, we're focusing on our basics:

• The dishwasher unloaded and the sink empty after breakfast
• The day's laundry load done and put away before lunch
• Any chores completed before lessons
• Lessons worked on during the mid-morning hours, while Gray and Addie play in their rooms
• Dinner thought about and prepped by lunchtime

With those all done by lunch, I'm able to spend a couple of hours in the afternoon sewing, reading, visiting with friends, or anything else I want, while the children rest.  Then we're all ready for a late afternoon outside, followed by reading aloud before dinner, and the rest of the evening goes well.

If I vary too long from the basics, then routines break down, children get cranky, and I get overwhelmed.  But just a little work every day before lunch assures smooth sailing the rest of the day!  Sticking with the basics is well worth the effort!

Coming Home

The children and I have, in fact, been on our own these past two weeks.  My husband has been overseas, so far away that it's winter and the next day there!  I always expect some tearful evenings when he's gone, and as the days stretch long, we have to find special things to occupy us so we don't despair.  ("We" applies chiefly to Caiden, who is my husband's shadow and mourns when he's gone.  I've heard "I miss Daddy" literally a hundred times this month.)  

This trip, we spent some of the time at my parents' lakehouse, enjoyed a tiny visit with my sister, ate a lot of ice cream, went on a few special lunch outings, read stories aloud in the evenings, had puppet shows, watched old movies, drew hundreds of pictures (mainly of dinosaurs, the boys' favorite topic), and had a late afternoon tea time on Sunday, the second weekend my husband was gone.

This adapted tea time, due to the hot weather, consisted of sweet tea in china teacups, poured from Addie's beloved Peter Rabbit teapot, and chips, salsa, and guacamole.  I read "The Bear That Heard Crying," the true story of Sarah Whitcher, who was lost in the woods and kept alive by a bear, and we savored a favorite tradition with a Southwestern twist, I guess. 

Now my husband is somewhere over the ocean, to arrive home this afternoon, and we are a flurry of activity, planning little surprises for him.  I cannot divulge, as he will likely read this from the airport during his layover.  I did let him know yesterday that I've been working on a secret project, and I think he's nearly as anxious to see it, as he is to see us.  

I just hope he likes it!  

A Summer Saturday

Today started slowly:  reading a little from the book of James, while drinking creamy coffee and listening to piano music.  The children were all engrossed in playing Legos in their rooms (pink ones for Addie, of course), and even the dogs were quiet.  

It has been raining, rainy, or about to rain for the last week, and it makes for mellow mornings around here.  (It also makes for misery with three large dogs, but I'll take the rain anyway.)  Our school year is winding down, my project is 95% complete, and I'm eyeing a long summer's nap soon.  Oddly enough, I get slow and meditative in the summer, and by mid-July my productivity screeches to a halt.  All I want to do is read.  The only way I can keep our home on track is to religiously stick to my cleaning routine and never allow myself to move on to any other activity before the dishes are finished.  Things fall apart quickly here, and it always starts with dishes in the sink.

But today the dishes are done for the morning, the children have finished their chores, and all that's left on the list is to run by a friend's house with Caiden's egg delivery.  I foresee a long nap coming soon, and an hour in the armchair with a good book, at this rate.  It's shaping up to be a perfect Saturday!  

A Busy Week

These past seven days have been especially busy, as I've been working on a top-secret project that must remain top-secret for a little while longer.  We've also managed to squeeze in a visit to see my parents and my sister and brother and their families at the lake for the 4th, and then I brought back my sister and nephew home with me for a micro-visit with them before driving her to the airport the next day.

We got drenched to the skin in a surprise rainstorm, hauled a 75 pound puppy to and from the vet, got the children's haircuts, watched Grayson turn into a champ at getting his weekly allergy shots (Caiden had already mastered the art of not flinching for his shot), sold eggs to a friend, cheered up another who's in the middle of moving, and played more than a few games of Risk.  

Nothing has been out of the ordinary, except for my project, but it has been a wholly satisfying week, and I've been going to bed each night completely worn out.  Tomorrow I'm taking the poor old minivan to the mechanic to fix everything that's wrong with her (He laughed when I listed the broken items!) and getting my hair cut.  All regular, ordinary things, but somehow they add up to a very busy, very satisfying, week.  

And yes, I'll share more about the project when I can!  

Swinging in the Hammock

Somebody very lucky got a hammock for Father's Day.

Somebody else, also very lucky, got the first swing in it.

 

Somebody else is waiting for the children to go to bed, so she can read in it.

Addie Serves Tea

We girls found ourselves unexpectedly home alone for the entire day yesterday.  My husband graciously agreed to take the boys on a full day of errands, so it was just me and Addie home together.

We savored in the instantly-feminine atmosphere of the house, complete with cello music, lit candles, and no boys.  I sewed her two circle skirts, cut out a set of kimono-style pajamas, and then we rearranged her bedroom and played with her babies.

We finished by having tea for two, complete with shortbread with chocolate on top, strawberries, and iced tea, because it's too hot to drink anything else.

Addie served tea, perfectly dainty and careful.  

 

It was so lovely we are dreaming up more errands for the boys, soon. 

Making Lists

It's officially summer now, but we're in that in-between period of still finishing up the school year while balancing doing fun summer activities with friends, who are done for the year.  

Yesterday, in an attempt to get a handle on the to do list, I sat down at the computer and jotted a few notes down:

• a meal plan for a couple weeks
• a revised chore list to include outside duties like watering and gardening
• a list of the activities the children have said they'd like to do this summer--berry picking, making ice cream, and a picnic under the sprinklers (?) topped the list

I also wrote down what's left in Caiden's two remaining subjects, history and math, to finish by the end of July.  We take off only the month of August; from experience I've seen that three months off is too long for us!

And then I wrote down my dream plan of projects for the summer, like painting the hallway bathroom a new color and finishing the boys' window shades, which have been languishing in my sewing room for months.

I ended up with a couple of calendars and a few typed lists, and although they certainly won't accomplish themselves without me doing something, making a list always makes me feel better.

Twilight

We spent a recent evening outside after supper, enjoying the twilight and each other.

We admired the neighbors' horses and donkeys,

and they admired us.

The children burned some late energy,

before settling down to savor two favorite things:  books and chickens.

 

I snuck out back to check on the big girls and caught a peek at the wild grapes growing over our fenceline.

 
 After checking the garden I headed back through the pasture and noticed how pretty this chick is getting,

 

wondered why this one looked so sheepish,
and met our old faithful dog at the gate, ready to go back inside.

A Home "Warm and Alive"

"What a traditional woman did that made her home warm and alive was not dusting and laundry . . .Her real secret was that she identified herself with her home . . .Then her affection was in the soft sofa cushions, clean linens, and good meals; her memory in well-stocked storeroom cabinets and the pantry; her intelligence in the order and healthfulness of her home; her good humor in its light and air.  She lived her life not only through her body, but through the house as an extension of her body . . ."

Cheryl Mendelson, "Home Comforts"

A Working Lunch

Now this is what I call a working lunch!  Combining two of their loves, homemade quesadillas and books, makes for a very quiet meal.