the weekend starts when principal daddy walks in the door on friday afternoon
i like to plan out my next week on friday evenings in the family room when we are all in there
love my planner
first i look at the big family calendar and write out everywhere we have to be all week in those little rectangles
and then I put in my to dos (laundry, clean the house, enjoy/decorate my house) {one per day, even though I work in the two schools this helps me stay on top of my house}
i plan out one week at a time but i can't wait to get to these thanksgiving stickers
on saturday morning after group viola class, anna baked cupcakes
in the afternoon we hiked up here
with lily (from china) and her dad {same orphanage, same 14 months, same awful room}
it was so so good to see them
love how sweet teenage lily is
look at that carpet of leaves
i just have to be outside each weekend, even for just a little bit
a little decorate your own cupcakes afternoon
and we carved pumpkins (those pictures tomorrow, i think) and got ready for halloween...
Quote of the Weekend"When I get to Heaven, I'm going to ask God to show me a bunch of colors I've never seen before" ~Anna Baker (no, she's not color blind, which is why when I overheard her say that to her sister, I thought it was beautiful... because for sure God MUST have more colors up there) Photo of the Weekend I love
Moment of the Weekend
{titled 'The Perfect Saturday Night'}
It was a pretty bad week. Nothing earth shattering. Just lots (and lots) of small things.
Like Monday morning when Abigail and I got in the car to drive to her school (to drop her off) and then me off to my school and the car didn't start.
Scott got home around 9:30 and I got Abigail off to school. He took my car (after jumping the battery) and I took his car. He was worried that the car wouldn't start at my first school if I took it. (I tutor at two schools)
So, long story short, I've had Scott's car alllll week while we try and get to bottom of the problem with my car.
And it was an especially busy week with Scott home past the girls bedtimes two nights this week thrown in the mix. And cooking for our friends going through chemo. (blessed to help)
Up at 4:30 and running all day until my head hits the pillow, trying to give and give, first to my house (while everyone sleeps, I cleaned), then to my husband and my girls, then to my readers at school, then to my girls until they are in bed. And once they were in bed the to do's started all over again, food, lunches, cleaning, basics...
I can do it. I love my life. My day to day. I love it and am so grateful for all of it. But this week there were school issues for both girls that weighed on us and viola problems to solve. A bunch of other things thrown in the mix.
And when we are ragged, Scott and I, when we are supposed to pull together, sometimes when we're pulled in too many different directions we are not giving our best to each other.
But we know that this week, 'this too shall pass' and that minor annoyances and concerns on our heart are so small compared to the trials of our fiends dealing with cancer.
Why did I just say all that? Because when I look at the photos, quick ones I took this week I'm reminded that there was beauty in the mess. THERE WERE moments that were gifts from God. Sweet ones. Right before my eyes. I might have been too concerned, too busy, too tired to notice this week, but somehow, something in my made me pick up my camera. And noticing for the first time here, I'm grateful.
I'm blessed to have those two sweet girls who need, want, need, and want from me. Emotionally, physically, spiritually, in every single way. Over and over again
I'm blessed to be his wife.
I'm blessed to have this position with children in two schools with sweet students. I'm blessed to work with them in reading.
I'm blessed to have this home. These things around me that make me happy.
I'm blessed to have friends that I can cook for and love on.
I'm blessed even when I don't feel blessed.
And this week, well, I may not have noticed these things as they happened. I really don't remember taking these pictures. But right now I notice...
I noticed how happy she was on 'wear a costume to Irish Dance class' this week.
I noticed I took cotton off and put flannel on girls beds.
I noticed her, in the morning light, reading and reading and reading.
I noticed...these were NOT a hit. (sometimes I go buy Anna a bunch of things at Trader Joes because she never gets what she calls "store bought" because everything is homemade for us {abigails' allergies}) And then when she gets "store bought" she says, can I have that cereal you make?
I noticed her in the 'chapter book library' one morning getting some books down to give Abigail a 'what's next' book talk.
Anna chooses a few books, and chats with Abigail about them, why she'd recommend them, the genre, etc.
It's really the sweetest thing.
I noticed this essay Abigail wrote and was happy for her.
I noticed how she looked on Thursday morning.
AND THIS, YOU'RE NEVER GONNA BELIEVE!!!
I noticed SNOW! from 9:45-5:00 all day Thursday. Light, pretty, beautiful, making the world amazing, reminding me of fairies, and light and sweetness, snow!
This when it was first starting. I'm going from one school to the other.
An October snow...
Except the last time we had snow before Halloween {before all of the leaves fell} we had 9 days with no power. So we were a little worried when we saw things like this.
But from my kitchen sink, everything look wonderful...
So I did what I do best, I baked. Made a pie crust and chicken pot pie for dinner.
And that it what I noticed this week. I can not wait to get my jammies on, and slide into bed. It's really cold out... like 30! And sleep, sleep, sleep.
A few weekends ago.... looooong before the foliage was at its peak we took our dinner to a park around the corner.
Right now our days of picnicking are for sure over. It was only 40 something today. But back at the beginning of October we like to get outside as much as we can.
We love this spot and have been here so many times.
Just a pretty, pretty night.
I love this time of day and have always said that this golden light is my favorite.
~Now in a cottage built of lilacs and laughter I know the meaning of the words ever after~ Frank Sinatra
On Columbus Day weekend we had few extra days off thrown in we were invited to stay in a charming town on Cape Cod in a charming house. It belongs to a teacher that Scott has worked with for years.
And I have to tell you up front that although we only stayed for one cozy night it was a world away for our little family.
In fact, I highly recommend a cottage on 'the Cape' in October. Please Scott, can we buy one?
Although I didn't know the 'story' of the house until after we got home I knew from the moment we turned the key in the door it was filled with memories. The refrigerator had pictures of family summer lobster dinners from years ago when Terry's (that's the wonderful teacher) children were really little. I could almost see and could definitely feel the love in the walls. Her father built the house years ago. That's all Scott told me. And (swoon) that's all I needed to know. I could go for years on that...
I also know that her daughter was recently married on the Cape and I was trying to hard to picture how wonderful the most recent memories in that house. Ones with a bride slipping her wedding gown on. Ones with bouquets of flowers on the kitchen table. Sigh.
This is what I saw... (house on the Cape perfection if you ask me) ready??
the living room. Cozy, peaceful, and oh so comfortable. The fireplace mantle was lined with little wooden buildings, churches, places from around the Cape.
And this... the bedroom that the girls slept in. Like a fairytale. Look at the sweetest wallpaper.
and the dresser in this room, oh so pretty.
Another bedroom with wallpaper and furniture and sweet curtains that made me want to move right in.
The perfect spot to gather, cook, and relax after a day at the beach. Oh summers here must be glorious.
We decided to spend our day in the next town up, Chatham. We were hungry and ready for an early lunch and some shopping. Abigail wastes no time in diary writing.
~Preserve your memories. Keep them well, what you forget, you can never retell~ Louisa May Alcott
Somehow wherever we are the girls seem to bring home a book and a stuffed animal. Boy, did she have a hard time choosing!
Lovely bookstore called "Where the Sidewalk Ends" (and yes, it was at the end of the sidewalk).
Abigail decided to take this one home (and she loved it)
And Anna and I thought this one looked interesting, so we decided to get it to work through together. (I've been learning a bit on mindfulness and was pleased to see something geared for teens and mindfulness)
This bookstore had a real 'shop around the corner' feel to it.
(from the movie, You've Got Mail)
We had the whole place to ourselves. I can imagine that in the summer the look from the childrens loft is quite different, and that the stores are jammed packed.
We had the most relaxing lunch out at the Golden Goose, a tavern attached to a beautiful inn on Main Street in Chatham.
Anna ordered cider and it came steaming hot and she was thrilled.
I was so happy with a small pot of tea, vegetable quiche and a salad.
Exactly what you would picture a town at the Cape to look like, right? ~New England has a way of doing this to people; they can be homesick for it even if they've never seen it~ Mark Van Doren
There were such lovely shops. Anna lives in 'life is good' tees during the week. And this one we had to get her because we love adoption.
It was such a beautiful, crisp, fall day. Perfect for walking around and enjoying being outside.
I love this one of Anna.
~What one loves in childhood stays in the heart forever~ Mary Jo Putney
Such a pretty spot.
That evening at sunset we visited a beach in Dennis.
Just a day earlier there were storms from the hurricane and Florida. Although the Cape didn't see any damage there were leftover high winds at the beach.
All Anna's idea, and I love it!
And I love how happy Scott is here.
Yeah, the jean jacket over the long sweater, I know. But it was so cold, we ran to the car and grabbed and put on whatever we could to keep warm.
~Joy is not in things, it is in us~ Benjamin Franklin
I didn't notice until I looked at these at home, our shadows together looking at our girls.
What a super cool beach! This is one I would love to visit in the summer for sure!
After this it was time to find a yummy place for lobster dinner.
We did, and we brought it back to the house to relax and eat. I'll spare you the details but our plans of getting on the ferry in the morning to spend the day in Martha's Vineyard were changed because Abigail was up 5 times that night feeling awful. We weren't sure if it was just a cold and could go on with our plans that weekend or if it was something more. But the previous month she had bronchitis and pneumonia so we didn't want to take any chances and sadly headed home.
A a wonderful breakfast out and took a few pictures in front of the house.
~I want to have a little house with sunlight on the floor, a chimney with a rosy hearth and a lilac by the door~ Nancy Bird Turner
Thank you Terri, for sharing your house full of memories with us. We were so honored to be there. And Cape Cod that is so close we're embarrassed to say we hardly know you, we'll be back as soon as we can!
