this has been a week of . . .

seeing Mesa Verde's cliff dwellings for the first time after having wanted to since my Sweetie and Poppy came home from a trip there when I was a child and shared photos and stories.  

spending time with "my girls".  

enjoying a ladies' tea party!

thinking about house decor

texting with Betty about home organization

going on a snowy hike around a frozen pond on a BEAUTIFUL sunny Sunday afternoon with Mrs. Rebecca!

getting rid of SO much with a donation pick up tomorrow!  

 

Psalm 145

 "I will exalt you, my God and King, 

and praise your name forever and ever." Psalm 145:1

photo:  six years ago at The National Aviary in Pittsburgh

what's working for us Wednesday

 

We are working on some habit building over here.  These punch cards that they get to whole punch themselves are working for us right now.  

What is something that is working in your home right now?  

Kelly

road trip

Road tripping in Southern Colorado in our electric car.  Remote cabin means bringing in our own groceries, drinking water and firewood.  

 

happy Friday!

 Happy Friday from these two goofs!  

photo from our cabin trip last weekend 

What are you doing this weekend?  Which day will you rest?  I'm hoping for a Saturday of planning house projects and a Sunday of worship and rest.  

Kelly

polar bears in action

I think they count today among their best days ever!

 Hope you've had a good day too!

Kelly

what if . . . rest?

 I was just feeling tired in the middle of the day and decided to just relax for a few minutes and take care of myself.  I am in no way an infectious disease expert but I found myself wondering if perhaps feeling tired just might possibly (I know people who have studied this far more than I have been saying things like this for a very long time, so I am speaking a bit tongue in cheek) . . . if feeling tired just might possibly be a signal that my body needs rest?  

It seems that viral load is a pretty big contributing factor to "catching" Covid-19.  What if feeling tired might mean that I was unknowingly exposed to some corona virus bugs and my body is working on fighting those off?  

Maybe not.  Maybe so.  

I think what I am working on remembering is that I am the one who most often puts expectations on myself.  What if I gave myself permission to listen to my body and rest when it feels tired?  

What are your thoughts on rest these days?  

I'd love to hear. 

Kelly

morning

July 6, 2020

at least 6 feet apart

I'd say that does it!  

😀

playing at the creek 6/29/20

and the results

I'd say it worked well enough.  ☺

experiement . . .

Does string cheese melt well?  

I have no idea.  

When food in the fridge isn't getting eaten as is it's time to get creative.  Waste not want not.  

I kind of like the striped pizza look.  We'll see what happens as it cooks.  :) 

What creativity have you exercised in the kitchen lately?

Kelly

9 things

nine things . . . 

1.  I had a wonderful birthday week last week celebrating with my family.

2.  Bike riding is one of my favorite things.

3.  Our living room floor is covered with lego train tracks, lego trains, instruction booklets and lots of spare pieces.  

4.  I like to listen to podcasts while driving around in my car. 

5.  I still think I can one day get my entire house organized all at once . . . for at least a few seconds.

6.  I miss going to thrift stores.  I thought garage sales would scratch the itch but it's not really.

7.  I am so excited to stay home all day tomorrow and it makes me happy that after all of these wonky months I still love days at home with my people.

8.  I am getting better at gardening.

9.  Summer is my favorite season.  

bike riding

We have always ridden bikes together as a family but it has actually mostly been as part of our "bike train" (tandem bicycle and a tandem trail behind) but during this season of staying at home due to the pandemic, we have begun riding individually many nights after dinner and often around this big empty parking lot.  We are having so much fun!  

What will be one of your favorite memories from this unique season?  

Kelly

Christ the Lord is Risen Today

summer's almost over . . .

but it's been a really good one!  

Hope yours has been too!

Kelly

home-making

We have certainly been taking the adventures 

that are falling to us . . . 

birthday lunches and park playdates 

with friends visiting from out of town

work trips and double dates

sleepovers, breakfast dates, mudpie making and phone calls

library lunch, playdates, scooter riding, 

watching webinars about homeschooling for the 

coming school year and spontaneous Thai dinners with friends!  

curriculum pick up, Moms in Prayer summer edition

summer finale Nana camps, food trucks 

early to bed nights, early morning bike rides to the grocery store 

last meeting of book club with some of our homeschool buddies, climbing trees, reading books 

rain storms, dinners at friends' houses and Junk Fest

We have had a blast, are tired and happy and thankful . . . 

and the house is a mess and details have been left unattended to so this afternoon it has felt so, so very good to tend my home and garden.  

Homemaking is not a very popular word any more but there is truly nothing I would rather do than have the privilege of helping to shape a home where myself and three other precious to me people get to live out our days, discover our dreams, grow into who we are to be . . . 

"Home. Cozy, pillows on a couch, blankets and a dog. Everyone who should be here is here. There’s a comfortable familiarity between us and I don’t have to figure out how to be. It’s a feeling that I’m not in a hurry or that I don’t have to be somewhere else. Home is what I come back to, not what I go out to. It’s the reset button, the safety net, the place where I know I can be my “self” just as I am and the people in my home will love and support me, will help me, will soothe me." - Julie Bogart, the Homeschool Alliance

and so I am delighting in an afternoon slow enough to both notice and take a photo of our tomatoes' progress

an afternoon when I know we are all done going out for the day, we will stay here and be home through dinner and going to bed and waking up again and we don't have to be anywhere tomorrow morning.  

feeling the satisfaction of getting the dishwasher and washing machine going, changing over laundry, putting in a second load . . . even if I don't further organize the things I've been gathering up (in a WAY outdated tub!) for school this year

reading books to this cutie pie!  

These are both excellent by the way!  

beginning to get books loaded into our library crate 

to be out of our house and go back

enjoying the glimpses of organization and order that Cora has imposed of her own volition

 having time to notice and not just rush on to the next thing, that the plant with the yellowing leaves needs some attention and so does the laundry on the floor . . . 

appreciating the normal things

even if the picking up isn't perfect, 

being grateful for a cleaner floor

noticing colors and patterns and texture 

amidst the mundane messes

relishing walking out the door besides for the purpose of leaving the house

seeing that our pumpkin vine is beginning to flower 

and also seeing everything else

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and enjoy some "home time" in the coming days.  You deserve it.  Your people deserve it.  What is one of your favorite things about being home?

Kelly