Saturday Graces

Graces...things that I do not deserve, but that He has seen fit to give to me. These are joys here on a September Saturday.

~ The doors are flung open this morning to welcome in a pleasant breeze! It is glorious! 

~ I added touches of fall to my home this week, even though it was crazy hot and humid! Company was coming and that gave me a little incentive to get it done. Now I can enjoy it on this lovely Saturday morning.

~ We are getting ready for an ice cream party this evening, the last one of the season. I am experimenting with a new autumn-inspired flavor: maple walnut. I'll let you know how it turns out. 

~ I am reflecting on a successful first week of school! Where we sometimes ease into our studies, this time we just jumped right in, met all of our goals, worked hard, had some fun, and it's like we never stopped! 

What are the graces in your world today?

"The Dog Ate My Homework"

So when your computer is in the shop for two weeks and you're using your daughter's when it's free and then your daughter's computer goes to the shop right after you publish a blog post and then hers comes back and then it is free in the late, late hours or during the day when you're homeschooling and/or getting ready for company and then your internet fails for some unknown reason and then reappears just as mysteriously and your inbox is full of emails to which you have not replied...

Yes, that's what we have here.

Excuses, excuses. But the struggle is real.

Preview of Kati's freshly painted bedroom

I'll be back...someday...

Back to (Home)School

Ron is back to work. The stay-cation is over. The painting projects are done. My computer is still at the doctor. (I am using Kati's to write this post.) And our family's 26th year of homeschooling began today!

I had to take a peek back through the archives and I was struck at how much older Bekah looks, even since last year!

Of course, if you're a regular reader then you know that last year's school year was our most challenging ever. Ron had surgery at the end of September, had multiple complications, and didn't return to work until the first of the year. Several months later, we moved from our home of thirty-five years. Bekah didn't finish 9th grade until the end of July. 

I'm not complaining! I am grateful for His grace and for His provision for us. We know that it was all a part of His plan for our lives. 

Recently I was reminded of a prayer that I had prayed last summer...before the "challenging" school year had even begun. He knew, and He was preparing me to trust Him for everything. I wrote about it here, but I am sharing the prayer again...

Father, I feel so inadequate for the task. Teaching my child, preparing her for what is ahead is a big deal. I don't see Bekah's future. I don't know everything. In fact, I know very little. But You...You see. You know. You know what she will need to prepare her for what lies ahead. I pray for your divine guidance as I map out our school year. Help me.

Here I am, spinning my wheels about academics, but it is even more important that she be prepared spiritually, that her character is strengthened, that she hears from You. You knit her together before she was born, during those days of difficult pregnancy and hope. You had planned for her life from the start. Help us to be the parents who aid and encourage Your plan for her. 

So as I make choices for Bekah's ninth grade year, I ask for Your leading, as One whose love and care for her surpasses my own. 

Today, as I look back over Bekah's past few years, and over the past twenty-six years of our homeschooling journey, I can only see grace upon grace. 

And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD;

and great shall be the peace of thy children.

Isaiah 54:13

A Late Summer Weekend

Have you checked everything off on your summer list? (Do you have a summer list, or is that a little odd?) 

We have certainly not completed our summer list this year! Our homeschool year went well into the summer, so we didn't have as much time to work on it. We did some of our fun things and some of our projects and then we ran out of summer. We had hoped to try out a local cupcake shop and have lunch at a couple of cafes (so maybe we just really wanted to eat?), but we'll do it someday. Or we won't. 

This past weekend, we squeezed in a little more summertime. 

We made a batch of vanilla bean ice cream! That is good summer eating! 

We had hoped to have the old neighborhood over for an ice cream party, but Tropical Storm Hermine threatened to rain on our parade party, so we planned for a smaller group (just the eighteen of us!) to party on the sun porch. 

We also celebrated, not an August birthday, but a little six-year-old with a September birthday, our granddaughter Alaine!

On Labor Day, the four of us went out for lunch (crab soup for me!) and then we visited an antique mall that was new to us. It was a successful adventure! Each of us found goodies to bring home. I used some birthday money to buy this little turkey candy mold. 

Now we begin our stay-cation. This week, we hope to get both Kati's and Bekah's bedrooms painted and a new ceiling fan hung in Bekah's room. The girls have done such a great job decorating their new rooms (after somewhat sadly giving up their charming rooms at The Farmhouse), so we want to help them finish the job with fresh paint.

I may disappear from the Internet for a few days. Heloise (my laptop) suffered a minor accident and has a broken hinge. She will be going to the computer doctor to be treated. Perhaps by the time I return to Blogland, I'll be able to share some pics of the girls' new rooms!


Are you hoping to squeeze anything else into your summer?

"The Thorn"

A sweet friend shared this poem on her Facebook page this morning. I had learned of this verse a few years ago and had shared it here. It seems like a good morning to revisit...and ponder...as Hermine passes through our corner of the world and as storms pass through the lives of some of our dear friends... 

The Thorn

I stood a mendicant of God before His royal throne
And begged him for one priceless gift, which I could call my own.
I took the gift from out His hand, but as I would depart
I cried, “But Lord this is a thorn and it has pierced my heart.
This is a strange, a hurtful gift, which Thou hast given me.”
He said, “My child, I give good gifts and gave My best to thee.”
I took it home and though at first the cruel thorn hurt sore,
As long years passed I learned at last to love it more and more.
I learned He never gives a thorn without this added grace,
He takes the thorn to pin aside the veil which hides His face.

–Martha Snell Nicholson

A Saturday Chat

We've been busy these past few weeks! You already know we've been celebrating birthdays, but also...

• We visited a water park along with three of the older grands. 
• I had tea and peach scones with a friend. (Thanks, Barbara!)
• Ron and I went out for a low key anniversary celebration which included coffee, a few errands, and dinner out...and ended with an oh-so-romantic stop at Walmart. :)
• My aunt and uncle treated Mom and me to a birthday lunch (thanks Robin and Tom!) and we came back to Pineapple House for lemon meringue pie.  
• Sarah and the children stayed after piano lessons (did I tell you that Bekah is teaching piano to her two nieces?) and joined us for lunch.
• My friend Joanne and I went for our monthly Mama Coffee date.
• We three girls and Mom met my sister Linda, my niece Amy, and my grand-nieces Isabel and Ivy for a day at the ocean. (And we had the most weather-perfect day of the summer!) (More on weather later.)
• The ladies of our church met for fellowship and prayer here at Pineapple House this morning. 

That was no one in our group, but it was fun to watch!

I have been tweaking house-y things. As in moving furniture from one room to another. 

Last Saturday morning, I had a thought. (That can be dangerous.)

What if...? I voiced my thought to Kati and Bekah. Since Dad has decided that he would like to make a reproduction step back cupboard, and since that will be a while (because Dad has a project list as long as his arm), and since I don't want to live with an empty space on that wall for the long term...what if we moved the jelly cupboard from the kitchen hallway to the dining room and the pie safe/school cabinet from the someday-library to the kitchen hallway and took out the school books and filled it with dishes...? 

Kati: "That might be good." 

And then she continued reading through her Facebook news feed... 

So I did what any house-y person would do. Started moving furniture!

Kati: Mom, are you moving that cabinet by yourself?! 

Of course, then she got up and the two of us pulled and hauled furniture and vacuumed and fetched dishes from the china closet down in the basement and unpacked one last box of dishes that we had missed before and decided on a display of white ironstone and yellow ware. For now. 

Still considering what to hang over the cabinet...

Today, I had my first pumpkin spice iced coffee of the season! Ahhhh...

I am ready for fall!

Mom and I discussing the weather...

MOM: It's only supposed to be 82 degrees on our beach day. I hope we're not chilly.

ME: Mom, 82 is not chilly. It sounds like the perfect beach day to me.

MOM: It's supposed to warm up again. It's going to be 90 on Friday, so at least it will be nice for my birthday.

ME (in my head): "Nice"?!!

What about you? What kind of temperature is "nice"? 

Sunday Snapshots: Crab Cakes Instead of Birthday Cake

 This weekend, we did not celebrate anyone's birthday! (What?) Having the birthday x 6 party last weekend made yesterday a "normal" Sunday, which we made into a simple summer seafood Sunday. 

Sound good? It certainly was! Daughter-in-law Sarah brought crab dip and corn-on-the-cob. Daughter Kristin brought potato salad and cole slaw. I made crab cakes. Yes, we had some good summer eating! (I enjoyed it all the more knowing that summer is winding down and that this brutal summer weather pattern is going to break this week. Whew!)

As we were preparing to eat, I realized that I, a life-long Maryland girl, had never shared my recipe for Maryland Crab Cakes! So I snatched one off the platter and took a quick picture while everyone was filling their plates.

MARYLAND CRAB CAKES

Ingredients:

1 pound crab meat

2 slices stale white bread, crusts removed

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon mustard

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1/2 stick butter, softened

Directions:

Cut bread into small cubes.

Combine all ingredients except the crab; mix well.

Very gently fold in crab, trying to keep meat in larger pieces.

Shape into cakes.
(The number of cakes depends on the size. I usually make 6 from this recipe.)

Chill cakes at least one hour.

Fry in hot shortening until brown on both sides. OR broil until golden brown.
(I prefer to broil. I set the broiler on high, put the pan of cakes on the bottom oven rack, and watch closely! It usually takes about 10 to 12 minutes.)

I didn't take many pictures yesterday. I guess I was enjoying the laid back, non-party afternoon. But I did pick up my camera when some of the kids were teaching the others to play Miss Mary Mack! 

Maddie teaching Eve

Maddie and Alaine

Paul wanted to play too! :)

Kati and Maddie. Their hands are a blur!

Aunt Bekah teaching Nora

Somebody messed up the words!

If you had to choose: Crab cakes or birthday cake? 

(My answer is crab cakes!)

And the Triple Birthday Party Grows...

Every August, we three celebrate our birthdays together with one "triple birthday" party. 

(I can't even remember when we started this tradition, but here are some of our past parties: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015)

2016

But this year, the party grew...

and even though Ron had already had a BIG party

and even though Owen had celebrated his 10th birthday with a party at his house the day before,

we had decided that this year we'd celebrate ALL of the August birthdays together! 

So this year, these three gents joined the three ladies and we partied!

Because it fell right on the heels of Ron's party, and it was the day after Owen's party, and August is a busy month around here, we kept this one simple. (Sometimes, simple is best, don't you think?) Ron grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and we had some easy sides. 

I used some napkins that I have had in my stash (yes, I have a napkin stash) for several years. I love them, but hadn't had just the right occasion to use them. They are a design of folk artist Jane Wooster Scott and they are very summery and fun. 

The details don't show up well in this fuzzy photo, but you can get a better look here at Wooster Scott's site.

Of course, we had plenty of desserts. Nora (7) made brownies and I made a cheesecake per Ryan's request. And then there was the birthday cake. It was not simple. Mom made it and it was a show stopper! 

It was a grand time!

Birthday x 6! 

* Thanks to Kati for many of the photos!!