Arty Party

When the model is vertical, I feel the need to try horizontal

 

I know nothing about art. My work is very primitive. Yet, there is something very serene about messing about with paints. When there is no expectation of an end-product, I enjoy playing with canvas. Especially in the company of my Sunday School girls with a few yummy snacks around.

At home, we pulled out the coloring books. That's about as low-tech and uncool as it gets, but, to my surprise, the thirteen year olds were right there in the mix. We colored to classical music and drank cinnamon apple tea and I had to force them all to quit playing with the oil pastels and colored pencils and go to bed. Lovely. My mama heart was happy for a little evening of creativity with each kid absorbed in the process...and absolutely no arguing or temper tantrums about glitching computer programs.

My son was invited to a birthday party tonight where an 18 wheeler was outfitted to house multiple video game screens and invitees spent two solid hours of video combat. My fifth grader expressed some anxiety about the level of competition beforehand. "But mom, these kids play video games six hours a day!" This led to a great discussion of how we have other intentions for his childhood. He doesn't live under a rock. He regularly plays with some buds in the land of Redstone repeaters that can be set to a maximum of five ticks. But, we set limits and have goals other than filling our hours with electronic devices.

Minecraft is a foreign language to me. I don't know what stone pressure plates or sticky pistons are, but I do know that I want our children to spend time in the fresh air, playing music, reading good books, creating art, throwing a football, talking with neighbors, loving God, serving others, and interacting with the family that lives in their same house and not just battling some hacker from cyberspace. That's a battle I'm willing to take on day after day.

 

 

 

Weenie Roast

We enjoyed a fall afternoon in the woods around a family campfire. We decided we like cooking hotdogs in the daylight when you can find where you put the ketchup.

 

Happy to have my people unplugged for a few hours and connected to one another

 

Healthified choices make room for celebratory ones

Happy birthday Nee Nee and Jane. We love you.

 

Broken Things and Beauty

The grout is chipping (again) in our bathroom.

I caught a rock on the newly constructed highway.

 

My budding musician accidentally sent my ostrich egg flying off the coffee table into little pieces.

 

 

Since I have already lost two ostrich eggs and two emu eggs, we decided to try and Krazy glue this one back together and just turn it (in its new location) so that the fractures don't show as much.

Not so bad, eh?

I was thankful to The Lord to have grown some since eggs 1-4 were broken. No fussing or guilting, just quietly glueing... Side by side fitting the pieces back together. Almost enjoying the challenge.

 

In the midst of hosting and family and church responsibilities and glueing things back together, I find myself needing to go outdoors, even if for only a moment. This morning was brilliantly clear (and a comfortable temperature). I drug (dragged) my children one-by-one out of bed to see the constellations: Ursa Major, Canis Major, Orion, Tarus the bull, the Pleiades, Cassiopeia. We huddled in my oversized bathrobe and then I returned them to slumber (except for the overachiever who was still making modifications to a rough draft.)

 

In the midst of hurry, and deadlines, and sandwiches for dinner, I am thankful for a few moments taken to stargaze or notice the color of the autumn leaves or a flower that has bloomed in my backyard that I have never seen before.

I pray that my children will learn to be still and enjoy God's company in holy moments, too, when they are on their own, and don't have every moment scripted.

 

"If only I may GROW: firmer, simpler -

quieter, warmer"

Dag Hammarskjold, Secretary General of the United Nations, Nobel laureate (1905-1961)

 

 

Spa Day

 

I would love to have one of these signs outside my door.

Quiet Zone

My dear friend of twenty-five years is expecting her first baby.

We took a Saturday together at a hotel spa to give her some rest. I was only too happy to be a kind friend and keep her company.

Serenity now...

Meanwhile, my man picked the girls up from various sleepovers and took them to piano lessons. They had a fun day practicing archery in the grandparents' woods, eating pizza, and watching Godzilla. Win. Win!

 

Won't you take me to...Pumpkintown?

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe....

 

Post four-and-a-half hour climb ice cream stop

I think we have passed this pumpkin photo op the last four years of day-hiking, and never had enough time to stop and play. This year, as (one night) campers, we could linger on the porch a while. Wish fulfilled.

 

Hiking Perseverance

 

I love the mountains...I love the rolling hills....I love the flowers...I love the daffodils... I love the fireside when the lights are low....

My family is a little more undecided

It is one thing to take yourself up a mountain. It is an entirely different thing to bring others along with you who are unsure if they even want to see the view from the top. Motherhood should include a manual on motivational speaking.

Glad to see these smiles after many "Can we turn back now?" conversations. They were not too excited about climbing every mountain, but made it to this vista just the same.

Forced Family Fun....you can thank us later, or not.

It's time to retire my twenty-year-old hiking boots, but I hope to never give up a love of moving.

My man pressed on through plantar fascitis for me

I love him so!

 

 

Camping 2014

Before and After

Some things are worth getting a little messy (and stinky) for... at least once.

We like clean. We like order. We like our soft, comfy beds.

But, we love our Sunday School class, and I love the mountains, so we tried. Thanks to many loans from our outdoorsy friends and family, we pieced together one Suburban, one car-top carrier, and one trailer of gear for our seven people. (On the way home we saw another family with the identical set-up who honked in solidarity or sympathy!)

 

We know we are not really die-hard campers. This state park was outfitted with electricity, water, and not-too-distant plumbing. But, for us, it was a good first step (and possibly the only step we will ever take). Kids, enjoy these photos in case this is your only childhood camping experience!

Seeking a moment of quiet in the midst of our seven-man shared space.

The neighbors

Hatchet love...happy 15th!

Learned that my man is great at telling creepy ghost stories to seven-year-olds

Hanging out with buds

A moment of sisterly affection

Polishing some whittling skills with only one flesh wound

Feels like fall.