::noticing God's glory:

My tomatoes are doing good things! We won't have enough to can or anything, but we at least have enough to feed the whole family at once. And okra! Yippee. Look for an okra and tomato polenta recipe on Friday.

::listening to

Dance studio chatter.

::clothing myself in

Yoga pants, t-shirt, lightweight sweatjacket. It's chilly. Really.

::talking with my children about these books

Well, not books, but stories. I love to listen to books/podcasts while I work around the house and I'm trying to share the value of that with my kids. We've recently discovered Sparkle Stories. Love:-).

::thinking and thinking

about the role I want the Internet to play in my life. Food for thought:

What it Looks Like to Have a Cyber Sabbath

Switch off the Static and Turn on Your Mind

and I'm eagerly reading an advance copy of Hands Free Mama's new book.

::pondering prayerfully

"No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not actually worth reading at the age of fifty." C. S. Lewis

This is my guiding principle for the school year.

::carefully cultivating rhythm

Sigh. We made some major decisions, left two beloved teams with longtime, very close friends, and made our radius much, much smaller. I'm thinking about a post about why we did what we did for as long as we did and why we made a change. But then I think no one would ever do what we did and my experience probably has nothing to offer anyone else.

::creating by hand

I really want to sew something other than headbands...

::learning lessons in

asking Jesus all day long.

::encouraging learning

A number of people have asked about math curriculum. I hesitate to offer anything in that regard. Really, I've yet to find the magic math curriculum. But I do love Dreambox.

I'm super excited about plans this year, which is a lovely surprise. For the younger three, it's going to be a Storybook Year, heavily dependent on these lists (browse the lefthand column--there aren't enough days in a childhood for the treasures here). For the older three (and the younger, too, actually), lots of fresh inspiration from these thoughts:

Nature Deficit Disorder

Teaching Boys & Other Children Who Would Rather Make Forts All Day

The Four Language Arts

Nurturing Competent Communicators

Fairytales and the Moral Imagination

::begging prayers

Please continue to pray for Shawn, for Elizabeth DeHority, for my friend Carmen, and for my mother-in-law, who soon begins radiation treaments.

And for a private {all good} intention close to my heart.

::living the liturgy

It's nearly time for the St. Monica novena. What a perfect novena at a time when two of my boys embark on a new college semester. Novena begins on August 18th. Join me?

::keeping house

I frequently refer to the wreck that is the basement. Last week, I posted some pictures of said wreck on Instagram. I think I surprised some people. It really is a wreck. I'm overwhelmed by the wreck. But we're making slow progress. Some big items are leaving permanently, off with Christian and his friends. If I'm honest, I think I'm working up my anger over the wreck so that I won't be leveled by the sadness that will be inevitable when he and his basement band are no longer making gigantic messes down there. What ever it takes...

::crafting in the kitchen

I ate Domino's gluten-free pizza the other day. It was delicious. It's NOT gluten-free. 'Nuff said.

::loving the moments

when I'm snuggling her to sleep and her hair just smells so good and life is peaceful. And light. And lovely.

::giving thanks

for special prayers at dinnertime.

::planning for the week ahead

The coaches Christian has teamed up with for the last several years have planned a going-away party for him on Friday. And then, he goes on Monday. I sort of have tunnel vision.