A Week of Posts on Home

Kindness ~ "A capable, intelligent, virtuous woman opens her mouth in skillful and Godly wisdom and on her tongue is the law of kindness." Proverbs 31: 10,26

A Week of Posts on Home

"So much depends on the homemakers. I sometimes wonder if they are so busy now with other things that they are forgetting the importance of this special work." Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1901

A Week of Posts on Home

"If we look at the lovely world that God designed for us, we can see a pattern for what He has always intended for us - a home environment filled with color and creativity and order, a welcoming provider of laughter and refuge, a space where memories are made and shared." Sally Clarkson

Weekends Are Like This

Friday ~ I make the dough that rises in the afternoon.



I make the pizza sauce that simmers all day long.



We grate the cheese.



He puts together the most creative pizzas.





And we sit on the couch and relax.





Saturday ~ I greet the day at sunrise and Bible time

On this Saturday I drove to this lookout and had Bible time in my car




We garden all day.








We have cozy evenings.



Sunday~  We participate in Mass from our parish live.
We all work up a pretty brunch in our kitchen.
Anna makes the tea.
Abigail sets the table.
Scott and I cook up some yummy food.









Yes, weekends are quite different in this season and I like them quite a lot.

How a house (a life, a home, a family) is built

Taken in a different year - oh how I would do anything to roam the aisles of a greenhouse.

2017


Proverbs 24:3-4

Through skillful and Godly wisdom is a house (a life, a home, a family) built, and by understanding it is established (on a sound and good foundation).

What is "skillful and Godly wisdom"? Well to me, this morning I was thinking
It is the Word of God and the Holy Spirit that lives in us.

The house is our family, our life together and it needs to have understanding.

Understanding the Wisdom of God doesn't come from self-help books.
Wisdom doesn't come from culture.
Wisdom doesn't come from the way of the world
Wisdom and understanding comes from God.

And by knowledge shall it's chambers (of every area) be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

And what are those "riches"? Well to me, this morning I was thinking they are
riches of peace
riches of laughter
riches of pleasantness
riches of cooperation
riches of love

Oh how I love those verses.

They are the heartbeat of all I want to do in my home."

I have been praying that God shows me each morning in my quiet time His wisdom so that I have understanding. I know that is how I want my "house (a life, a home, a family)" to be "built." And I am so grateful I don't do it alone.

2017


One day these garden stores will open up and we will roam the aisles filling our carts with the color of spring.

Helping

I'm not sure when I took these pictures but I sure want to remember how much Anna has been a help during this Distance Learning both to me and with Abigail.

She has a full schedule with AP classes and is still keeping up with her viola lessons and practices. With all that she does, she always takes a minute when we need her.

Today she helped me by hooking up a tablet to a computer. I do google meets small group teaching and I needed a place to write. She figured it all out for me - like it was nothing.

She's always able to answer tech questions for me and also jump in when Abigail is stuck or just needs encouragement.

I am so grateful for her help and and so happy that we get to spend our days together.

A Prayer We Pray

I came upstairs after 21 google meets ready to put on my favorite podcast, sneakers, and head outside for a walk. I knew Scott was going on a walk with Abigail right after lunch - so this 'done teaching' walk I could clear my head and move my feet after sitting for so long. But when I came upstairs it wasn't just raining, it was hailing... so this picture was exactly what I turned my late afternoon into, baking bread. And that... is just as good as a walk and good podcast. Baking fills my soul.



Looking forward to warm bread to go with our dinner tonight. And with that I thought I'd share our prayer we've been praying aloud.

Every night before we eat dinner, we pause and say this pray around our small circle table. Every night. It is from our parish. It's beautiful and it's words read and prayed over and over have been like a balm to our souls.

God of Mercy and Grace,

You have called us from the east and from the west, from the south and from the north to be your body in this world. Keep us connected through you even in our physical distance.

We come to you trusting that you are our refuge and our strength, our very present help in trouble. 

We pray for people who are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and for the family and medical staff who surround them in care.

We pray fro those who are most vulnerable to this disease, whether from underlying health conditions or other contributing factors. May they rest in your peace and protection.

We pray for healthcare workers and people on the front lines of this disease. For workers who are inessential roles to keep our communities going. Keep them healthy; keep them safe. 

We pray for parents and children who are struggling with this new normal of distance learning, especially those who rely on school mean programs. We pray for everyone struggling with these rapid changes. May we be your peace and your presence. 

We pray for people who face hate and discrimination brought on by fear and anger. May these your beloved children feel your embrace.  

We pray for those whose actions are motivated by fear and anger. May they remember that you are a God of abundance. 

We pray for our leaders. May they be guided by your wisdom. May they be courageous and make the bod decisions necessary to end this pandemic. 

And we pray for all of the advocates and the volunteers who are responding to your call to care for the people who are most vulnerable in our communities and around the world. Give them endurance. Stir them with your longing for justice. May they be comforted and moved by your Holy Spirit. 

It is in the strong name of Jesus that we do pray. Amen. 

April Vacation Week

Some people call it Spring Break - here in CT we call it "April Vacation". Just always have.

April is such a wonderful month when you live in New England. After a long winter of not much light, snow {although not much this year}, and cold cold cold we welcome the sunshine, the rain, and the slightly warmer temps. It's a lovely time to live here.

Usually we don't go away for April Vacation. We've done an overnight in NYC. Here we are back in 2015 for an overnight. Here's part one - Part two - Part three -  Part four - Part five 

We had tea at The Plaza (2015)


In 2012 we drove to Washington DC. There were lots of posts on that trip. Here's the beginning. There were lots of parts to that tiny little DC trip. Here's two - Here's three - Here's four - Here's five - Here's six - Here's the final

2012


We've done day trips. Here is one we took to Newport, RI - not too far from us.

(2017)


Here's another day trip to a zoo in RI

(2013)


There was this one to a sweet little CT town

(2014) From this post back here 


Mostly though, we save April Vacation for working 'opening up' our yard for the year.



After a long winter a CT yard needs a lot of spring cleaning. There are 5 months of sticks to pick up, acorns to rake, grass seed to plant, on and on - but we're happy to do it because sunshine in on our faces and it feels good to smell the earth again.

(2014) From this post back here 


Did I miss a day trip this year? Yes, I did. It's fun to pick a place to go and just hop in the car with some snacks and head somewhere for a day. We live 2 hours from NYC and 2 hours from Boston. There are lots of wonderful small towns too - but this year we were just home of course. And that was just fine. It felt good good good to relax after the pressure and stress of the first month of Distance Learning.

I don't have many pictures. But here are a few...

I love that the girls had this break from Distance Learning plans and could be the best of friends!

They wrote in their diaries together almost every day. {boy I wish I had a sister back then - don't think I could have gotten my brothers to sit down and have a diary writing session with me, ha!}



We spent a lot of time on couch College Tours - here's the thing... Anna started touring colleges last June. We've seen some but planned on seeing three or four more this April Break - of course colleges are closed as are tours, but many have created tours on line. So from the comfort of our home we 'toured' many colleges. It was so so so much fun! Now we have a small list of colleges we still need to see in person for an actual tour whenever they open back up in late summer (we're hoping)



Also the SATs were cancelled :( Anna was all set to take them in late March, again in May, and then June - all cancelled. So she spent four hours straight one day taking an online practice test to see how she would do. We decided that that evening a family movie night was in order!






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Oh my goodness! I don't want to forget the great closet clean out that happened this break! The girls rooms are squeeky clean and in the process we found many 'kits'. We decided to pull them all out, put them on the kitchen counter and work on them during the break! They had so much fun together!





The girls cut out a hundred hearts, wrote on all of them and covered the doors.





Starting to work on the yard - and I love watching light as it hits blooms.



Beautiful sunset sky.



And the sun fading down for the day - this picture is the lake that is our backyard right now. Not pretty at all. Our plan was to all work hard and paint the fense (yes, both sides) this week but it was too too wet and soggy so that will wait for another time this spring. That is probably a good thing since were hadn't finished our project inside yet!



And Sunday - my new favorite day of the week. I love the flow and the rhythm of our Sunday. We wake up late, go to Mass in our cozy clothes on the couch, and then have a big pancake brunch.

Then the girls had a late egg hunt -- the bunny was a bit behind and the egg hunt came later this year because I think he was waiting for nonallergic chocolate to arrive for those eggs!



















It was a good good break. And now we are ready to start Distance Learning again!