Together, Together

My thankful heart does not begin to express the love and warmth of this weekend.

Isabel asked in the car on Saturday, "Why aren't we together, together more often?" I couldn't agree more, that's what this long weekend felt like. With no where to go and large streches of time ahead of us.

We slept in and snuggled. Made wreaths and played play-doh. Ate pumpkin pie in our pajamas. Made massive amounts of oatmeal.

One evening we watched Olive the Other Reindeer and Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer while we decorated for Christmas, Daddy even put the lights outside. But more than anything we did it all, together, together.

And that felt like home.



How was your weekend? Did you get to enjoy your time off?

Three Minutes

The three minutes between getting shoes on this morning and the drop off at school, I lost my cool.

In those three minutes there were lost shoes (how!? I just handed them to you!), lost mittens (replacements for lost mittens had a hole. And then tears about said hole), a broken plate, a forgotten bear and lunch box mislaid. And then their were a few words, I wish I would have said with different 'timing and tone.'

But, I asked for forgiveness. We made a plan for what could possibly have gone different in the future.

How could we approach this better?

And I gave away my crushing guilt for a bit of grace.

And that is one of the only lessons I want them to learn. To give grace and recieve grace-- even when it's undeserved.

Because the kind of grace they gifted me with after those three minutes, wholly undeserved grace.





(photo from our last trip to California)

Weekending: Aflame with Glory

I heard this poem this morning, on On Being. And it set my heart to singing.

Thanksgiving Day Prayer
by Walter Rauschenbusch (1861–1918)
For the wide sky and the blessed sun,
For the salt sea and the running water,
For the everlasting hills
And the never-resting winds,
For trees and the common grass underfoot.
We thank you for our senses
By which we hear the songs of birds,
And see the splendor of the summer fields,
And taste of the autumn fruits,
And rejoice in the feel of the snow,
And smell the breath of the spring.
Grant us a heart wide open to all this beauty;
And save our souls from being so blind
That we pass unseeing
When even the common thornbush
Is aflame with your glory,
O God our creator,
Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

Have I ever told you the importance of Thanksgiving week in our little family. O wait. Maybe I have. So many life events that invite retrospective glances, but to have them all in a few day span every year, helps us mark time-- to come to this week with as much hope and expectation as we do New Years day, or the beginning of a new school year.

We started this week of so well... the group we eat Sunday lunch with came over to our house for Sunday dinner. And we had a holiday meal-- A Friend Thanksgiving. Ahh. I hesitate to say to much and perhaps my memories won't be as clear, beautiful. It was a beautiful evening.

So this week, be extra thankful. Let your memories serve you well. Give kisses and hugs, say your I love you's. Because being thankful isn't about the perfect turkey it's about all the common things that are aflame with Glory-- the people you see (or don't see) often that make the world go round.

May your heart be wide open to all this beauty this week.

What are you thankful for?

Journey into November

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you want to scream DO-OVER!
But wait, don't. I don't think I'd want to do this week over.

We had a ton of things to accomplish after our 10-day vacation. And now that we're finally at Friday-- I can breathe.

{Everyone take a deep breath with me. Breathe in let the breath swirl up in you head and exhale pushing your breath out through your limbs.}

But, we have a weekend jammed full of amazing people, relaxing places and Christmas shopping.

Oh, I love the season we're in but, I'm putting on the breaks. I was reminded of the Mary Oliver poem, The Journey. So fitting. Listen to what your life is telling you.

Let's join together in the spirit of November.  And I will tread lightly through this season.

Slow, November. Enjoy, November.

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice ‑
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible. 
It was already late                                                                               
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do ‑
determined to save
the only life you could save.

          - Mary Oliver

Scenes from California

Playing in the sprinklers is a thrill in October!

We traveled a bit the last few weeks... staying 10 days in California with family. Here are some of our favorite scenes from the trip (a few more posts to come!).

During a blackout, we lit candles and antique lanterns.

Grandma P's beautiful roses.

This is the scene from my run. Foothills and sunset surrounding me!

Playing at the park with Papa

Doing crafts with Grandmommy

The Sunrise

As I got up in the dark of Saturday morning, I tip-toed around the house as to not wake the sleeping ones.

Once washed, dressed and bundled. I headed out on the road.

These scenes were the gifts that awaited my early journey.