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 even if I don't further organize the things I've been gathering up (in a WAY outdated tub!)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

Why Sabbath?

Weekly I receive an email from Shelly Miller through her Sabbath Society subscription.  

This week she asked "Why Sabbath?" for each one of us . . . 

here is my answer:  

Sabbath for me is a chance to trust God, fully, intentionally and practically, remembering that He is Sovereign, the One who is truly orchestrating things, not me and that I do not have to be “controlling” everything every second.  

I very well might need to remember that again so I am documenting it here.  

Kelly

grateful for this week . . .

big kids who have fun ideas and can execute much more of them themselves

birthday cake dreaming for my sweet almost 6 year old

cake idea from this book

sweet friends

lip licking good hot cocoa on an unexpectedly snowy afternoon

hand me down dresses that are so much fun to wear, green lantern symbols drawn on by her brother and that smile

aunts who quilt and give generously and a daughter who likes to play pretend

that homeschooling can happen anywhere and that our car dealership service area has a fish pond

also, that my kids are enamored with and curious about nature wherever they may find it

another aunt who gave us a chick-fil-a gift card which led to a fun treat of breakfast out after taking the car into the shop

the "after a library trip quiet" that comes as they pour through the new offerings

a fixed and ready to go car, fun kids to spend my days with and that we were all still smiling at this point in a long day!  

Nana's who host St. Patrick's Day parties and fun cousins building leprechaun traps!

a visit from Granddad!  

that all of our grandparents love, share and promote reading

really good friends and the unexpected discovery of a whole patch of blooming crocus in our neighborhood!!!!!  

that I get to homeschool . . . I am very grateful for this life . . . 

bracelets from Kenya

braids

the margin in a day to try hairstyles before hiking

the young woman she is growing up to be 

(and her fashion sense!)  

my strong boy

handsome husband and that my kids love their grandparents

pretty girl

good friends

her enthusiasm and all her words

stop me in my tracks views during errands

spring meals coming up

their insatiable appetites for learning and trying new things

What are you thankful for this week?