A Project: From One Spring to Another

Spring 2010: 
We purchase bricks for a backyard patio.

Summer/Autumn 2010: 
Lots of work.  Lots.  On Ron's part.  (Especially the part where he removes a blue million tree roots.)

(Click on photo for a closer view of the work in progress.)

Autumn 2010: 
New patio complete!  We decide to take the winter to mull over ideas for patio furniture and landscaping.

Winter 2011: 
Do I want wicker furniture?  That's what we have on the screen porch, so the porch furniture could be used if we need extra seating.  But do I want white?  Does white have a colonial Williamsburg-y feel?  How about Adirondacks?  They are rustic and comfortable  But they will take a lot of room.  Wooden benches are pretty, and fit with the look I want.  But they are way over my budget.  Hmmm... 

And about that landscaping?  HELP!  That is not my strong suit! 

Spring 2011:
Still undecided, I wander through Target's garden department one afternoon (I know my friends and family are shocked to think of me in Target ~grin~), and these wrought iron chairs catch my eye.  I have not even considered wrought iron.  Hmmm...  I love black.  The chairs are stackable, which means that they can be stored easily.  I can (kind of) visualize iron chairs in a Williamsburg garden.  And the price is way under my budget.

I ask one of my trusted design consultants who happens to be with me (Kati), and after we set up a mock seating arrangement right there in the garden center, and after we call in another design-and-budget consultant (Ron) to meet us at Target after he has finished at his day job, we go home with new patio furniture. 

Win-win situation! 

Spring 2011 (continued):

About that landscaping?  I am still crying "HELP!"

But we are so excited about sharing some Happy-To-Be-Together Times on this backyard patio! 

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Linking up for the last week
of  Kellie's Spring Fling party over at The Blessed Nest...
celebrating all things spring!

 

Thank you, Kellie, for hosting this springtime celebration!

April Showers

If you have new boots that were 75% off at Target,
and you got an umbrella in your First-Day-of-Spring Basket...

...then you can get pretty excited about
April Showers !



* * * * *

Linking up again
with Kellie's Spring Fling party over at The Blessed Nest...
celebrating all things spring!



Food Fit For a Queen

For some reason, I was at a loss for what to cook for dinner tonight.  At the last minute, I decided to make fried potatoes (something I have done exactly twice in my life)...and suddenly I was a twelve-year-old girl in my childhood home! 

When I was a girl, my mom would sometimes make fried potatoes for weeknight suppers.  They smelled so good as they were cooking...but when they made it to my plate, I turned up my nose if they were too brown.  "They're burned," I would complain.  "I don't want to eat them." 

Unfazed, my mom would always tell me, "Queen Elizabeth's favorite food is fried potatoes."  And I would have to eat them.  For the queen's sake, I suppose. 

So tonight, we dined on royal fare.  And I remembered my mom's kitchen and the queen. 

Ten Mondays

Today Kati counted the Mondays that she has left in her high school career.  Ten. 

All year, I have been keenly aware of the "lasts."  Her last first day.  Her last math lesson.  The last new composer she'll study.  Her last Christmas vacation.  (You get the picture.) 

This is the girl who began homeschool at age four.  Her older sister and brother were 17 and 15, and Kati begged to "do school" too, so we eased into her school years a bit on the early side.  It seemed like graduation was such a long ways off, and I was glad about that. 

But somehow we are at the end of her senior year and, even though I'm still not ready, graduation is just over the horizon. 

And now there are just ten Mondays. 

A Weekend Breakfast

Even the avowed "I do not like oatmeal" people in my house (ummm...that would be me) are eating this oatmeal.  I can put it together in five minutes...and then have a whole thirty minutes of "coffee time" with Ron before the girls arise.

BAKED OATMEAL  Preheat oven to 350°.  Mix the following ingredients...  1 1/2 cups oats 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup milk 1 egg 1/4 cup cooking oil  ...and then pour into a buttered 9 x 13 baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.

It's that easy!

This morning, I stirred in some dried cranberries and topped it with a handful of pecans before baking.

I plan to try it with other fruits too...blueberries? peaches? apples?

Yum!

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Update on April 19...
linking to Tri-Moms who are featuring
"Cheap and Quick Recipes" today. 

Changing Clothes

Around here, there is a sign of spring that is almost as sure as the warming breezes and the blooming forsythia: the biannual Clothing Day. The day that we sort through all the boxes to evaluate each little girl's wardrobe for the coming season.  (This includes my youngest daughter Bekah, 9, as well as my granddaughters Maddie, 6, and Alaine, 6 months, whose out-of-season clothing is stored here at my house).

It is a day of trying on and modeling and oohing-and-aahing and lots of twirling and posing and pink here and pink there and many, many piles.

Today was Clothing Day.  And here is just a bit of that posing.

One of the highlights of this particular Clothing Day was the hot pink gingham dress-shirt.  You may recall this post when I shared how Bekah rescued her size 2T dress from the quilting scrap pile by insisting that said dress could be worn as a shirt.  Yes she did.  So today each one of the little girls tried it on.  Hysterical! 



The general consensus is that it "fits" Maddie the best this year.  So far, the dress has been worn as a toddler dress by both girls, and two years as a shirt for Bekah.  Now it's Maddie's turn for the shirt.  I wonder just how long this dress-shirt will last?!  Will Alaine get a turn to wear it someday too?

Tonight, the changes have been made. 

Some old favorites have been passed down.  Some new wardrobe additions have been put in the closet.  Some pieces were discarded, and some were carefully folded and put back into storage to wait for another season.  And the twirling, posing girls are all tucked into their beds for the night.   

So much change. 

The seasons change.  The clothing changes.  My family changes.  The world changes. 

And someday, the heavens and the earth will change.  In fact, "they all shall wax old as doth a garment."  Like the bathing suit that we pulled out of a box today, the one that had lost its elastic.  Like the sweet baby dress that had yellowed. 

"As a vesture shalt thou fold them up and they shall be changed."

Like the clothes that are no longer needed...

But He is constant.  He will not change. 

"They shall perish; but thou remainest...Thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail." 

***  Hebrews 1: 10-12

* * * * *

Linking up again
with Kellie's Spring Fling party over at The Blessed Nest...
celebrating all things spring!



Melting

Me to Ron: Sarah sent a few more pictures of Peter today. They will just melt your heart!

Ron to me: It's already melted.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It's simply amazing how quickly these little ones can find a home in your heart!

A Thought For the Homeward Bound

“It is God to whom and with whom we travel, and while He is the end of our journey, He is also at every stopping place.”

~ Elizabeth Elliot

A Burst of Springtime

sunny daffodils

shared by a friend

in an old blue Ball jar

 on the kitchen table

Happy Springtime!



I'm linking up with Kellie's Spring Fling party over at The Blessed Nest...
celebrating all things spring!



Me? Ready For Spring?

This diehard fan of winter is officially ready for SPRING.

The cold temperatures didn't make it so.  Neither did the wind, nor the snow.

The stretch of indoor days and indoor activities didn't make it so.

I'm not tired of sweaters or soup or hot tea or the cozy wood stove. 

So what has made my heart yearn for daffodils and sunshine and gentle breezes?

The Flu. 

I will remember this winter as the winter of The Flu.  The ache-from-head-to-toe-coughing-chills-and-fever-miserable sort of flu.  The hard-to-shake-it sort of flu.  The kind of illness that reminds you just how frail we humans are...and how very dependent we are on Him "in Whom we live and move and have our being."  And the kind of illness that makes "thinking about home" center more on the Heavenly home and not the earthly one. 

I suppose that makes even The Flu a good thing. 

   ~  * ~  *  ~  *  ~ 

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 

Colossians 3:2

Organization (By a Non-Guru) :: Tip 3

Keep what you love.

Do you really love it?  Then find a home for it.  If you don't really love it,  then give it away to someone who will love it.  If there is no one who will really love it, then throw it away. 

(This is another of my simple ideas...although this tip looks simpler in print than it is in real life.  That is, real life in which more than one person lives in the house.  As in...there are some of us—who shall remain nameless—who want to keep everything.  Everything.)  

To keep my house organized, I find that I must purge, and purge often.  And my criteria for keeping an item is "Do I love it?" 

A few months ago, my table linens were stacked on a top shelf in my laundry room and they were a bit hard to reach.  Worse than that, they were wedged so tightly that when I pulled a tablecloth or a runner off the shelf, three or four more came with it.  And because they were up so high, I had a frustrating time of replacing the ones that I wasn't using. 

But I love my table linens and they needed a home. 

My paper napkin collection had also grown too big for its designated home.  Okay...homes (plural), because the napkins were lodging in the coffee cabinet and the seasonal storage bins in the attic and a shelf in the laundry room and wherever else I could stuff them. 

But I love my paper napkins, and they needed a (bigger) home too. 

Since these are things that I love, I decided that I would find a home for them...

...and this is the home that I found...
a cabinet in my living room
(which, of course, I had to purge to make room for these things that I love).

Now it is a pleasure to choose a tablecloth for a party or a package of napkins for Sunday afternoon dessert...all because I made a home for the things that I love. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”    ~  William Morris

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Other posts in this series:

Organization (By a Non-Guru)

Organization (By a Non-Guru) :: Tip 1
Organization (By a Non-Guru) :: Tip 2

Science Is For The Birds

...well, for this weekend anyway!

Our family has participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count for the past several years.  It is an exciting learning opportunity to collect ornithological data...in your very own backyard!  Who says science always has to come from a textbook? 

Spend a mere fifteen minutes watching and counting birds in your yard and recording your data. (For complete instructions, click here.)  Then submit your data to GBBC via their website.  It's that easy! 

Be sure to  Explore the Results after you've counted.  Here you can find out such things as where other "counters" were in your state and how many Black-capped Chickadees are in your area, as well as look at hundreds of maps detailing bird locations.    

There are two days left now.  Won't you join us? 

House-y Ways To Say "Be Mine"

Preparing

As the weather began to cool just a bit and the leaves were tinged with color, we learned of their plans for a visit, and not a day passed that the thought did not come to the surface at least a time or two. Our hearts stirred as we imagined sipping coffee and chatting, breaking bread and learning more details of their lives, looking into the faces of those precious little girls whom we love from a distance, hearing their voiceds, hugging and kissing, and meeting the one who was not yet born but had already won our hearts.

And the busy days passed and the weather was cooler and the leaves blazed and we lived and ate and learned and sang and celebrated, all the while anticipating the promised visit.

Although, again, we celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas without them, we were comforted by knowing that soon, very soon, we would all be together for a time. 

As the time drew nearer, we prepared our home.  (Our hearts were already prepared.)  We planned for vacation time from work.  We cleared the calendar.  We cleaned.  We thought out sleeping arrangements and menus and extended family get-togethers.  We shopped for favorite foods and extra bedding and squirreled away some little surprises for the tiny girls.  

The months became weeks, the weeks became days, and then the day came.  The day that we had anticipated, longed for, prepared for. 

There is another day of promise. 

I am not sure of the exact day.  There was no phone call on an autumn evening to let me know the date, but His Word has told me that it will be. 

And so, as I prepared for the visit of my beloved family, I prepare for His coming. 

As the thoughts of their coming pervaded my daily consciousness, may my thoughts of His coming be never far away.

As I yearned to be with them, may I long to see His face more. 

As I prepared my home to receive them, may I purify my heart to welcome Him.

As I spent my resources in labors of love, may I give all to the One who has spent Himself for me. 

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.  (I John 3:2, 3)

Organization (By a Non-Guru) :: Tip 2

Keep a daily list.

Pssst...remember when I told you that my tips (being from a non-guru and all) would be simple? 

Today's tip is quite simple, but keeping a daily list is a big help to me in organizing my time and my thoughts.  I was inspired by this idea from Anna over at Pleasant View Schoolhouse (a beautiful homemaking blog).   

I have a small (7x5) spiral notebook that is my daily organizer.  No fancy charts and sheets or somebody else's organizational style.  Each morning, I simply write the date at the top and then list everything that I would like to accomplish that day: daily chores, appointments, notes to write, errands, phone calls to make, craft projects, cleaning projects, and so on.  I will also jot down lists of things I need to take to a certain place, phone numbers, and appointment times.  In the bottom corner, I write out our dinner menu for the day. 

I work from this list all day, checking things off as they are accomplished.  (Isn't "checking" a satisfactory experience?  Does anyone else ever add something that you've already done to a list, just for the pleasure of checking it off?)    P

Benefits of the daily list...

• Helps me to remember what needs to be done.
• Helps me to prioritize my time.
• If I have a short time between activities, I can scan the list for something that will fit that amount of time.
• I can check things off.  ~smile~

When the notebook is filled, I go back through to see if there is anything that needs to be saved.  (For example, I have saved the list of items to take to our extended family Christmas party...just tucked in the back of my current notebook.  Then next year, I don't have to rack my brain to remember those details.)

Do you keep lists?  (Do you like to check? P)

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Other posts in this series:

Organization (By a Non-Guru)

Organization (By a Non-Guru) :: Tip 1