Oh, I love this month! It's just the right temperature to have the windows open most days with a few warmer days and a few with a chill. That makes it so easy to freshen up the house and do a few re-organization projects so that everything is taken care of before we really close up the house for winter. The urge to knit is definitely back with the cooler evenings so I'm finishing up mittens and hats.
I've been hunting down bins with winter jackets and snow pants, relocating mittens and hats from the last few years, replacing our short sleeves and shorts with longer, woolier things. Socks have made an appearance for the first time since last spring! And my very favorite October thing came to be yesterday - two little boys in overalls . . .
In the midst of all this extra cleaning and re-ordering I've felt this pressure about all the other things that I should be doing and an overwhelming feeling about losing my prayer time in the mornings. After being sick for two weeks Ezra's body is still confused about what his sleep cycle should be and he is rising ever earlier. I feel like my body is already at a limit and if I try to get up earlier than he does at this point I will be a mess of exhaustion all day long. I have found my prayer space instead in the liturgy of keeping house, in the repetitiveness of my day. The simple actions of folding a basket of laundry with its repetitive motion almost begs contemplation, and the work of washing all this winter clothing has become extended prayer time in the last few days. Since realizing this and taking full advantage of my chore time it has turned from drudgery to refreshment- maybe not in body, but certainly in mind.
We have a lot of outdoor plans for this month and next before snow and ice arrive.
:: apple picking
:: a visit to the pumpin patch
:: leaf collecting along with lots of leaf tracing and rubbing
:: a visit to "our" lake . . . the one where we were engaged 9 years ago on a very windy evening
:: birthdays for two of my sisters-in-law
:: The birthday of a very special boy who was once my sweet little baby but in just a few days will be a FOUR-year-old boy. How did that happen? After days and days of him asking how many days until his family birthday party we made a long paper chain to count down the number of "sleeps" until that grand day. Now his chain has just one last little link on it and I have no idea where the days have gone.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
About Ezra
At 26 months:
:: Is using two words together more often than not
:: Loves, loves, LOVES Brown Bear, Brown Bear.
:: Wishes to live outdoors as long as there are no bees.
:: Colors for ages each morning. Most often drawn: a pig and a duck.
:: Favorite saying: "Woodpecker- peck, peck, peck!"
:: I love how he dances while he waits for ANYTHING. Whether I'm pouring cereal or milk or hunting for his favorite book, he stands in one place dancing while he waits with a big grin on his face because he knows that Mama is doing something just for him.
:: If you ask for a kiss he always says, "gross!" then grabs your face and kisses you. Then he laughs like he just played the biggest trick on you!
:: Ezra is obsessed with utensils. He won't eat anything without a fork or spoon lately, even if it's something that is usually a finger food- he finds a way to get it on a fork. I've seen this child tenderly spear a cracker with a fork and then joyfully proclaim victory when it didn't break into a million pieces.
:: Ezra is the child that comes to sit on my lap several times through the day, often just for a minute or two. He shares so many smiles, so many kisses and loves to cuddle cheek to cheek for just a moment before it's time to play again.
They change and grow so quickly. Before I know it he'll be a teenager that rolls his eyes and says, "oh, Mom!" in that overdramatic voice. I'll take my kisses while they are eagerly given. :)
:: Is using two words together more often than not
:: Loves, loves, LOVES Brown Bear, Brown Bear.
:: Wishes to live outdoors as long as there are no bees.
:: Colors for ages each morning. Most often drawn: a pig and a duck.
:: Favorite saying: "Woodpecker- peck, peck, peck!"
:: I love how he dances while he waits for ANYTHING. Whether I'm pouring cereal or milk or hunting for his favorite book, he stands in one place dancing while he waits with a big grin on his face because he knows that Mama is doing something just for him.
:: If you ask for a kiss he always says, "gross!" then grabs your face and kisses you. Then he laughs like he just played the biggest trick on you!
:: Ezra is obsessed with utensils. He won't eat anything without a fork or spoon lately, even if it's something that is usually a finger food- he finds a way to get it on a fork. I've seen this child tenderly spear a cracker with a fork and then joyfully proclaim victory when it didn't break into a million pieces.
:: Ezra is the child that comes to sit on my lap several times through the day, often just for a minute or two. He shares so many smiles, so many kisses and loves to cuddle cheek to cheek for just a moment before it's time to play again.
They change and grow so quickly. Before I know it he'll be a teenager that rolls his eyes and says, "oh, Mom!" in that overdramatic voice. I'll take my kisses while they are eagerly given. :)
Monday, September 28, 2009
Daybook
Outside my window… The sun is shining and the leaves on just one of our trees are starting to change.
I am thinking… about Ender's birthday. We're having a little party for him on Saturday, but I still need to hunt down one last present! I know what I'd like to find for him, just having a hard time finding it. I'm finishing the border on his requested quilt tonight or tomorrow hopefully, then my mom will take an evening to quilt it, then I just have the hand binding to finish by Saturday . . .
I am thankful for… the unexpected break in my day coming later. It's just a half hour cancellation, but sometimes a half hour is enough to recharge.
From the learning rooms… Ender told me a few days ago that it was boring with no work time during the day since we hadn't had work time in about a week at that point. I suppose that means we're doing something right. For this week we're getting back to some phonics and I printed 2 pages of grid art to see if he's able to do that this week- I think it may be something for next year, but we'll see what he thinks. I'm not quite recovered enough to get back to our letter of the week, but I think we need a few days to just get back into a routine that doesn't revolve around medication times. I have plans for color mixing too, but that kind of depends on how caught up I am on laundry and all that after spending a week holding sick boys.
Ezra is going to be busy with other color work- color box 2 and some free coloring pages. He's starting to name objects including the color- "red chair", etc. - and I think I owe it all to reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear at least 5 times a day in the past week.
From the kitchen… Can I just say I *love* that I can order library books online? I ordered 6 or 7 cookbooks last week when I finally realized we'd be hiding out at home for a few days to recover. Superman went to pick them up for me and so I've been looking through those for new-to-us recipes. We're going to try out homemade chicken nuggets later this week and I next weekend I'm going to make a few recipes designed to be made ahead and frozen for the nights that we're struggling with getting dinner on the table.
The best find out of that library stack? Nigella Express. The simple fact that she writes that she's not always in the mood to make dinner at the end of the day even though she's a professional chef??? I love that. Makes me feel 80 kajillion times better.
I am wearing… an ankle length red linen skirt I made over the summer and a long sleeve black t-shirt. Leggings too, since I get cold even though it's 75 degrees outside.
I am creating… hats this week. I finished up the green mittens (pictures to come) and I'm on to red hats. I had intended the green to be for matching mittens and a hat for Ezra and the red to be a matching set for Ender, but when Ender saw Ezra's finished mittens he said he wanted to match Ezra. So we have 4 green mittens and soon we will have 2 red hats.
I am going… to spend a lot more time in meditation and prayer this week. My head is buzzing with everything that HAS to happen in the next few weeks. To make that happen I'm going to be up a little earlier in the mornings. Since the sickies hit us I've not been getting up as early (since Ezra has been sleeping later!) and I need to get back into the habit of getting up at 6. That probably means I should go to bed before 1 a.m.
I am reading… The Red Tent by Anita Diamant.
I am hoping… to finish Ender's birthday quilt in time!!!
I am hearing… K-Love. We've been listening to a lot of radio this week.
Around the house… the laundry is getting caught up and so is everything else. Slowly but surely! I'm back in the studio this week though, so it will be a little on the slower side.
One of my favorite things… the evening quiet time. The boys have been so tired when bed time comes around that they have gone to bed easily and quickly lately. It's been nice to just be in the quiet.
A few plans for the rest of the week . . . getting back into the swing of things, finishing Ender's quilt, trying to help Superman keep his head above water this week as he writes 3 papers for a total of 35 pages. Oh and takes 2 exams also.
Here is picture thought I am sharing… I know, I know- again with the "no picture" thing, but like I've said before- because of all the recent computer issues adding pictures involves shenanigans with the external hard drive that I'm still figuring out. If I were to share a picture today it would be of Ezra's colorful artwork on my living room wall. Thank goodness it's only crayon and I practically own stock in Magic Erasers.
I am thinking… about Ender's birthday. We're having a little party for him on Saturday, but I still need to hunt down one last present! I know what I'd like to find for him, just having a hard time finding it. I'm finishing the border on his requested quilt tonight or tomorrow hopefully, then my mom will take an evening to quilt it, then I just have the hand binding to finish by Saturday . . .
I am thankful for… the unexpected break in my day coming later. It's just a half hour cancellation, but sometimes a half hour is enough to recharge.
From the learning rooms… Ender told me a few days ago that it was boring with no work time during the day since we hadn't had work time in about a week at that point. I suppose that means we're doing something right. For this week we're getting back to some phonics and I printed 2 pages of grid art to see if he's able to do that this week- I think it may be something for next year, but we'll see what he thinks. I'm not quite recovered enough to get back to our letter of the week, but I think we need a few days to just get back into a routine that doesn't revolve around medication times. I have plans for color mixing too, but that kind of depends on how caught up I am on laundry and all that after spending a week holding sick boys.
Ezra is going to be busy with other color work- color box 2 and some free coloring pages. He's starting to name objects including the color- "red chair", etc. - and I think I owe it all to reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear at least 5 times a day in the past week.
From the kitchen… Can I just say I *love* that I can order library books online? I ordered 6 or 7 cookbooks last week when I finally realized we'd be hiding out at home for a few days to recover. Superman went to pick them up for me and so I've been looking through those for new-to-us recipes. We're going to try out homemade chicken nuggets later this week and I next weekend I'm going to make a few recipes designed to be made ahead and frozen for the nights that we're struggling with getting dinner on the table.
The best find out of that library stack? Nigella Express. The simple fact that she writes that she's not always in the mood to make dinner at the end of the day even though she's a professional chef??? I love that. Makes me feel 80 kajillion times better.
I am wearing… an ankle length red linen skirt I made over the summer and a long sleeve black t-shirt. Leggings too, since I get cold even though it's 75 degrees outside.
I am creating… hats this week. I finished up the green mittens (pictures to come) and I'm on to red hats. I had intended the green to be for matching mittens and a hat for Ezra and the red to be a matching set for Ender, but when Ender saw Ezra's finished mittens he said he wanted to match Ezra. So we have 4 green mittens and soon we will have 2 red hats.
I am going… to spend a lot more time in meditation and prayer this week. My head is buzzing with everything that HAS to happen in the next few weeks. To make that happen I'm going to be up a little earlier in the mornings. Since the sickies hit us I've not been getting up as early (since Ezra has been sleeping later!) and I need to get back into the habit of getting up at 6. That probably means I should go to bed before 1 a.m.
I am reading… The Red Tent by Anita Diamant.
I am hoping… to finish Ender's birthday quilt in time!!!
I am hearing… K-Love. We've been listening to a lot of radio this week.
Around the house… the laundry is getting caught up and so is everything else. Slowly but surely! I'm back in the studio this week though, so it will be a little on the slower side.
One of my favorite things… the evening quiet time. The boys have been so tired when bed time comes around that they have gone to bed easily and quickly lately. It's been nice to just be in the quiet.
A few plans for the rest of the week . . . getting back into the swing of things, finishing Ender's quilt, trying to help Superman keep his head above water this week as he writes 3 papers for a total of 35 pages. Oh and takes 2 exams also.
Here is picture thought I am sharing… I know, I know- again with the "no picture" thing, but like I've said before- because of all the recent computer issues adding pictures involves shenanigans with the external hard drive that I'm still figuring out. If I were to share a picture today it would be of Ezra's colorful artwork on my living room wall. Thank goodness it's only crayon and I practically own stock in Magic Erasers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
