Family Manifesto

Matthew says this is the silliest thing we've ever done.  I think that's amazing.  We do lots of silly things.

It's hanging in the kitchen, making me laugh, and hopefully inspiring us a little.  But mostly making us laugh.  Inspiration here.

Behind Drawer # Three...

My bottom kitchen drawer has been not QUITE shutting for over a year now.  It finally occurred to me to lift it off the rack and fix the problem.  After removing 2 dishtowels, 5 potholders, and 12 ziplocs ... works like a charm.

Breaking You-Audrey Assad

Just in case you don't love this album yet.  Audrey Assad  --  Heart

breaking you – lyrics

You’ve been let down, it’s true
Your pain is so easy to see
You’re hunted by your history
and it feels like you’ve got no escape

Your life left you high and dry
You used to be sure of yourself
But then your whole world went to hell
and tomorrow looks like just like today

So, you lie on your bed, you wont let the morning come in
And you hide in your room, feeding that fear and its killing you
don’t you know
that its killing me too, cause your heart break is breaking you

I miss the life in your eyes
the home that I found in your arms
and now you don’t know who you are
but I wont give up on you
on no

You lie on your bed, you wont let the morning come in
And you hide in your room, feeding that fear and its killing
don’t you know
that its killing me too, cause your heart break is breaking you

and you lost your fight
and your flame’s gone out
and your down on your knees
cause your life is not what you thought it would be
no,

lift up your head
help is on the way
and it wont pass you by
you just gotta reach out your hand
lift up your eyes
love is on the way
and it wont pass you by
you just gotta reach out your hand

go on and lift up your head
because love is on its way
and it wont pass you by
you’ve just gotta reach out your hand

February Craft

 I wanted to make a little something each month- so far so good!  (I'll show you January as soon as I get some tech things figured out.)

We each got one of these little lopsided hearts for Valentines Day.  I used this pattern.  Strangely, they got more lopsided the more I made...You'd think it would be the other way around...

Ash Wednesday

Lent 2012

I think for this year I'm going to try to pray the Rosary in the morning as I'm getting ready for school, and also give this 40 days, 40 bags a go.

Anyone else care to share their Lenten goals?

And, if the past weekend is any indication, we'll be listening to this CD a lot.  Audrey Assad-Heart.  Buy it.

Narnia numbering

Publication order	Chronological order
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe	The Magician's Nephew
Prince Caspian	The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader	The Horse and His Boy
The Silver Chair	Prince Caspian
The Horse and His Boy	The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Magician's Nephew	The Silver Chair
The Last Battle	The Last Battle

MJL and I prefer the publication order.  The new books are all printed in the chronological order.  Allegedly C.S. Lewis supported the chronological order, but he never asked anyone to change the way the books were being sold.

I think they're more fun to read in the publication order, because you find out different things at different times and I remember that being really fun and engaging for my imagination.

What do you lot think?

I know a spot that I love full well...

(From Aunt Carla this morning)

February 16, 1863, the Kansas Legislature accepted the

transfer of Bluemont College to the State of Kansas.  The money for what eventually became Kansas State University came from the sale of 90,000 acres of Kansas land at $1.25 
per acre made possible by the Morrill Act signed on July 2, 
1862 by President Lincoln.  Happy Birthday all you K-Stater's.  
(By the way the school's designated color is purple, interesting since that's February's birthstone color.)

Something new to put on the calendar!  Lots of things to celebrate in February.  

Spoiled Silly

Sweet sweet Matthew James.



They're heavenly soft, and then, when I look down, they're sparkly.  These are my dream shoes.

Coincidentally-today we've been together 17 years!  We passed my "together longer than not" day back on Christmas Day, but MJL's not quite there yet. And we're having another baby in August! lub lub.

Two sisters in February

 How we get any good pictures of two girls together is a mystery.

 Here Super Grover is jumping on Daddy's head.  

 Here Katie is distracted with the pony tail holder she so desperately wanted to chew on.

Here!  Two girls looking at camera happily!  Jackpot.  Happy Valentine's Day!

My Sister's Wedding

Remember way back in November when my sister got married and I never posted any pictures or anything?  Sorry about that.  Luckily MJL never misses anything.   Here's his post about November, complete with photos.  Enjoy!

St. Scholastica

Our February Saint is St. Scholastica, twin sister of St. Benedict.  She's the patron of nuns, convulsive children, and against storms and rain.  (Though we won't ask for any rain to stop around here!)

I didn't know anything at all about St. Scholastica, so it's been fun to learn a bit about her.  Here's the most common story about her life.  From here. 


Saint Gregory tells the charming story of the last meeting of the two saints on earth. Scholastica and Benedict had spent the day in the "mutual comfort of heavenly talk" and with nightfall approaching, Benedict prepared to leave.


Scholastica, having a presentiment that it would be their last opportunity to see each other alive, asked him to spend the evening in conversation. Benedict sternly refused because he did not wish to break his own rule by spending a night away from Monte Cassino. Thereupon, Scholastica cried openly, laid her head upon the table, and prayed that God would intercede for her. As she did so, a sudden storm arose. The violent rain and hail came in such a torrential downpour that Benedict and his companions were unable to depart.


"May Almighty God forgive you, sister" said Benedict, "for what you have done."


"I asked a favor of you," Scholastica replied simply, "and you refused it. I asked it of God, and He has granted it!"


We can learn from St. Scholastica that it's good to love your siblings, and that God cares about the things that we care about.  Good lessons for our little family.  

Happy Feast Day, St. Scholastica!

6 years old

I always like to catch a good giggle.

*sigh* 

How did she get so big?

 

One years old

We did a Katie's Birthday/Valentines Day photo shoot.

 We had such a sweet little model...

 Though she was pretty wiggly...

 If you take enough pictures, sometimes you get lucky...

 And catch some glimpses of the real girl.

Lovely work, Matthew!

Happy Birthday Mr. Dickens!

One of my favorite authors has a big birthday today.

Charles Dickens 200th 

Did you know he saved Christmas?  Those of us who love Christmas have much to thank him for.

I don't know how we'll celebrate.  (Pinterest had no suggestions!)

I spent one winter pre-kiddos reading lots and lots of Dickens.

My favorite is Our Mutual Friend.



You should read it.

Happy Birthday Katie!

  

 Thanks for a wonderful year.

Groundhog Day

I love Groundhog Day.  I love love love a silly holiday.

pic stolen from www.groundhog.org

I'm conflicted, because as a good farmer's wife, I need to hope for 6 more weeks of a nice wet winter, but as someone who doesn't love the cold, I do eagerly await the Spring.

This year I'm definitely hoping for the snow.  Drought smought.



We're having pigs in a blanket for dinner (is that a stretch?  I think it works) and I'm hoping we can work on this crossword together.

Happy Groundhog day!  (And Happy Birthday Sweet Clementine!)

Treasure

Want to see a real treasure?

 When we had Streit Christmas, Uncle Chuck brought an envelope full of letters and cards from Mom to Grandma Anna.

Nice, newsy letters, from young Betsy years to young Susan years to young Abby years.

 Seeing her handwriting and hearing her voice in my head has been a delight.

There were even two cards from my Grandma Madge to my Grandma Anna.  She said I was "sweet as sugar".  It takes my breath away, to remember how much love I've been blessed with.

Happy Kansas Day!

It was yesterday-but surely states deserve a Birthday Week just as much as the rest of us!

We had an incredible sunset here.  I just enjoyed it, didn't take any pictures of it.

Here's a super-tough KS day quiz.  

Good Luck!

Controversy = Comments

You know what I learned yesterday?  Controversy = comments.  And I like comments.

So...remember that Jesus video from last week?

Here's a rapping priest.

Happy Friday!  Comment away!  :)

Only...actually...yesterday everyone pretty much agreed with me and left nice comments.  so...maybe this is a bad idea...I"m nervous.

Controversy!

Not really that controversial, really.

Last week it seemed like everyone I knew liked this article about Motherhood.  Because so many people loved it, I know it really struck a chord-and I don't want to say that it was a bad article, or that people who liked it are bad and wrong.  And it could well be that I read it in a certain kind of mood and that is the problem.  I just have another idea-which can probably coexist.  

I liked the part at the end about Chronos time and Kairos time ( A LOT!), but I have some different thoughts about the rest of it. Not better thoughts.  Just different ones.

What if, when people who are older stop us in the store and tell us to enjoy every minute (which has never happened to me, by the way-am I scary looking?), what if it's not that they have forgotten how hard it is, but that they actually KNOW, better than we do, that this IS the best time of our life?  I hate to discount the wisdom of age, especially when it's a stranger, seeking me out, to tell me something wonderful.  I'd rather believe they know what they're talking about.

"Be happy, it's one way of being wise." -- Colette

And even though an all night puke fest is no picnic-what a gift of service, what a blessing of work. And maybe I can try to choose joy, and keep choosing it.  And when things are awful and terrible and icky and hard to bear, I can offer all of that up to heaven.

"The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions, and not on our circumstances.  We carry the seeds of one or the other about with us in our minds wherever we go."  --Martha Washington

Please don't think I do this well!  or often! (And feel free to smugly remind me of this when I stub my toe or spend any amount of time on the phone with customer service). It's just something I think about.  And then I read this article--maybe the problem is that we don't have ENOUGH children!  ;D

***EDIT***  Here's a post that has the same idea, but presented eloquently.  Via Clover Lane, one of my new favorites.  Thanks, Sarah, for the tip!

Cleaning Things

 

This year my January rampage hit the kitchen.  

 Looking at these clean cupboards makes me feel ridiculously happy.  

That's why I took pictures.  So I could look and smile and sigh.  

I love clean things.  :)

St. Francis de Sales

"Be who you are and be that well"

One of my resolutions for the year was to learn more about the Saints.  I decided we would do that by choosing a Saint each month and learning about him or her, what they did and taught, how they lived, etc.

.

"Be patient with everyone, but above all with thyself.  Do not be disheartened by your imperfections, but always rise up with fresh courage."

St. Francis de Sales is our January Saint, and today is his feast day.  St. Francis de Sales died in 1622 and is the patron of attorneys and educators and writers and the deaf.  He wrote Introduction to the Devout Life-which you can find for free! here in print and here as an audio version (read by a nice lady, not a machine.  I'm going to listen next week.)  Here's a nice (long) biography.  

"Nothing is so strong as gentleness.  Nothing so gentle as real strength."  

We've been reading this book
and really enjoying it.  It's very simple, practical, common sense advice and encouragement for living.

You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; and just so you learn to love God and man by loving.  Begin as a mere apprentice and the very power of love will lead you on to become a master of the art.  

He's said so many things that I've loved for a long time that I never knew came from him.

"Bloom where you are planted."

That was one of my Mom's favorite sayings.  He said that!  I'm hoping that today I will have the chance to plant a little something with the girls and talk about that-blooming where we are planted.  Such a lovely image.

Do not fear what may happen tomorrow.  The same loving Father who cares for you today will care for you tomorrow and everyday.  Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it.  Be at peace then and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings.  

Thank you St. Francis de Sales, for your example and wisdom!  Happy Feast Day!

Sociolinguistica

My new class started last week.  This is the super scary textbook.



This semester I have this class and I turn in my portfolio-my culminating activity for this Master's Degree.

As usual, I'm a panicky mess because it's the beginning of the semester and it's going to be really hard and I'm not going to have enough time and, and, and...

But I'm so close!  I have this semester and one next summer and that's all.

What will I do with all that time?  I have an idea...

Rejuvenate!

My dear friend Chelsea is hosting a year long blog series:  52 Weeks to a Rejuvenated Spirit.  

Join me on a year long journey to rejuvenate your spirit and relationships.

Follow my blog and receive weekly tips on how to change your life and your relationships from the inside out.

The economy may be depressed, but our spirits don't have to be.

Find out how to mentally, emotionally & spiritually recharge yourself one step at a time.             

www.TheSpiritOfTherapy.com                    Chelsea E. Brandenburg, LMFT

*Photography by Beth Mercer

Twisted Laundry

Help a girl out?

Every other time I was overalls, the hook gets caught on the lint trap and the entire load of laundry twists itself into a tight ball of wet clothes.  

What am I doing wrong?

Time for Christmas

At the beginning of December I was feeling rushed and overwhelmed and I wished for "Time" for Christmas.

Then, the week before Christmas, we got two snow days, and I got my wish.  It was delightful.  I didn't leave the house for a week and had time to make lots of  little presents for my family.

A camera case for Abby from an old sweater sleeve.

 Complete with a button I made myself!  I think I was using up the leftovers from a Sculpey project one day.

Hair Bows for Anna from some pretty bows I had been saving.

 But they fell apart right away so I need to rethink the barrette attachment...

A frame for Susan and Steven from the envelopes from their wedding.  I think it's fun to see all the familiar handwriting.

This funny little thing was from an earlier FAIL.  I was trying to make a pom pom from an old t-shirt.  It didn't work but then I put the pieces into a baby food jar and added googly eyes and it made me laugh.

I also made my Dad some hanging towels for the kitchen, and Anna made some ornaments, but I guess we didn't take pictures of those.

Time is the best gift of all.

I love January

The best thing about January?

I saw these plastic boxes on sale for $2, and I knew I wanted one, but I wasn't sure why yet.

Then I saw this on Pinterest.



And then I made my own.

And then-because it's January-I cleaned that yicky area behind the wooden screen.

It's yicky because usually I only clean JUST enough to keep me un-cranky.

But in January-extra bonus motivation comes from nowhere, and then cleaning yicky spaces is actually fun.

And THAT's the best thing about January.

Closet Cleaning

Yesterday MJL gave me such a wonderful January gift.

He cleaned out his closet with me.

2.5 bags, 2 boxes ready to go to someone who needs them more than us.

(And yes, that's my pink tree.  It's staying up through Valentines Day.  Because it's pink and pretty and MJL loves [and humors] me.)

When we feel guilty about disappointing our children.

"How we deal with the big disappointments in life depends a great deal on how the people who loved us helped us deal with smaller disappointments when we were little."

--Mr. Rogers

When we feel guilty about saying no to activities.

"One thing is certain:  Children need lots of free, quiet time to get used to all that's developing within them.  Have you noticed that unhurried time by yourself or with someone you really trust can be the best setting for your own personal growth?  It's no different for children."
--Mr. Rogers

When we feel guilty about taking time to do what WE want to do.

"If you like to make things out of wood, or sew, or dance, or style people's hair, or dream up stories and act them out, or play the trumpet, or jump rope, or whatever you really love to do, and you love that in front of your children, that's going to be a far more important gift than anything you could ever give them wrapped up in a box with ribbons.  And what's more:  The last thing in the world you have to be is perfect at it.   It's the spirit that gives that kind of gift its wings."

--Mr. Rogers

When we feel guilty about not doing enough.

"Start by making your own home a place where happiness and love abound, through your love for each member of your family and for your neighbour.  Try to put in the hearts of your children a love for home.  Make them long to be with their families.  So much sin could be avoided if our people really love their homes. 

Mother Theresa

Pedaling for Environmental Education

My friend Lindsay, from KSU Rowing days, is biking across the USA.  And blogging about it here.  And stopping at my house!!!

Follow along!

Pedaling for Environmental Education

2012

Resolutions:

1.  Focus on enjoying my time with the people I am blessed with.
2.  Forget about "shoulds" that are really not important.  Do not waste energy and time feeling guilty about ridiculous things.
3.  Learn some more about the Saints
4.  Pray daily and more.  Remember that something is better than nothing.  Use the moments I can find.
5.  Use my snippets of free time to do what I actually want to do.  Make things instead of reading about making things on the internet.
6.  Finish my Master's degree!  :)

Oh- and I want to make this too-hopefully in the month of January.

Pic and link  from Creating Clever via Craftzine

And-I would really like to make something each month-just a small seasonal thing-because that makes me happy-but I've got to remember that it should be fun-and not actually "necessary" or "important".