Monday Again

I find myself:

::noticing God's glory

The weather has been mild lately. It's weird. I think I like it. I was looking forward to winter weather. Now, I'm looking ahead to temperatures in the mid-60s by Wednesday and thinking field trips outside.

::listening to 

Dreambox in the living room and Rosetta Stone upstairs.

::clothing myself in 

Jeans and a Mickey Mouse sweatshirt. Stephen commented this morning that he's more tired on Monday mornings than he is on Fridays. The weekends are intense around here. The past couple of days have been downright exhausting. It was a sweatshirt and jeans morning, for sure.

 

::giving thanks for

local friends who can take one look at me and know the right thing to say.

::pondering prayerfully

Listen: First ,have peace in thy own breast, then thou wilt be qualified to restore peace to others. Peacefulness is a more useful acquisition than learning. 
-- Thomas a Kempis (The Imitation of Christ) 

Pray: Jesus, you had such a heart for the littlest child. Help me to remember today that the frenzy preceding Christmas can be stressful for a small child. Open my heart to your grace and your peace so that I can bring that peace to my children. 

Act: Take your time with the bedtime wind-down tonight. Before you even begin, pray for your own peace of heart. Then, take time with baths and bedtime stories and prayers and pillow talk. If your children are all older, share a cup of something hot and give them your undivided attention before bedtime. Bring peacefulness into their dreams--and yours. 

from Small Steps, December 10. I've shared this one previously. But I need to read it again and again. And yes, that link will take you to a page that let's you know that Small Steps is out of print. Makes me sad.

::clicking around these links

I shared some links last weekend. And there are some more good things in the pink Google Share box on the sidebar. 

::turning the pages of this book

Understanding Exposure, at Ginny's suggestion. I am so hoping to take my camera off "auto."

 

::thinking thoughts as I go about my daily round

It's no secret that I'm a big proponent of attachment parenting. And I believe in home education. Here's the thing, though: when you stay connected and you have lots of children and they are home every day, you feel and absorb all their pain. As they get older, it's inevitable that there will be pain. More children, more occasions for pain. That's a lot to absorb. I think I might be too sensitive. 

::creating by hand

A log cabin pillow using my Disney trip cross-stitch as the center. I had an hour of quiet this morning and it was good to let my hands go whichever way they wanted with my stash of beautiful materials.

::learning lessons in

trusting God.

::encouraging learning 

in the pages of picture books. Katie and Nicky have programs of study based almost solely on the picture books in our home. I hope to share the details of that with you next week. 

::carefully cultivating rhythm

I stayed up late last night and re-wrote chore charts and assignment sheets to reflect the changes in the new semester.

 

::begging prayers

for Christian. 

::keeping house

Those aforementioned chore charts will be executed. I plan to be a drill sargent about it.

 

::crafting in the kitchen 

Thinking about Super Bowl food. Pepperoni Rolls?  Antipasto? Fondue? Stuffed potatoes? Or something else entirely?

::loving the moments

when he says, "I'm here. Don't worry. It's going to be fine." And I believe him. 

 

::living the liturgy

I try to remember, in the weeks right before Lent, to check in with Fr. Joseph. His homilies, from the perspective of the Eastern Catholic Tradition, are always good inspiration. Read here for some thoughts on The Pharisee  and the Publican.

 

::planning for the week ahead

Well, I've got well-planned lessons, a meal plan, a chore chart, a fully penciled-in planner, and a prayer commitment. Now, I'm just going to hold on for dear life.

::capturing the images of my days

these are work-in-progress images from my early morning crafting quiet. I'm ever inspired by the art of Anna Maria Horner. Perhaps I'll detail this project with links and such after I finish it, if you would like to make a similar one. Lots of good stuff here: quilting cotton, needleworks, ribbon, and the back-to-be in velveteen.