Archive | thoughts

a picture an hour

September 14, 2012 at 9:21 pm

I took a picture an hour (or almost) last week, the same day that I filmed Lena “discovering” she was going to have a baby brother by mixing up blue frosting. I realized as I put this post together what a fun record this is of an ordinary day in our home. Well, okay, it’s not every day that you are celebrating that you are going to have a son! But in other ways this day was completely ordinary and filled with things that make up the pattern of our lives right now, like Lena’s Raisin Bran in the morning (3 bowls, please, with extra raisins), playtime with her new IKEA stacking toy, her nap times while I work on projects around the house, summer afternoons on the porch splashing in her little pool, and lots of play time and meals with our beloved Arthur family. Someday I will look back on this post and say, “Oh, there is Elliott in his Army PT clothes… back when he was still in the Army!” (although will I say this in 5 years or 20, I don’t know) or, “Did that toy really once look that new?”or, “Wow, their kids have grown up since then! I’m glad we still know and love them.” (Because I truly hope we do.)

Funny to think of the future. Sweet to savor the present.

Enjoy a few snapshots of the rest of the day, including some more behind the scenes about how those cupcakes came into being… and then were rapidly consumed (by me).

7 o’clock

8 o’clock

9 o’clock (welcome home from running a 5K, Daddy!)

10 o’clock (time for a nap)

11 o’clock (putting together my new Home Management Binder, more about this in a later post)

12 o’clock

1 o’clock (want to share some frosting with me?)

2 o’clock

3 o’clock

4 o’clock (admiring my baby boy)

5 o’clock (playtime with friends)

6 o’clock onwards (homemade Indian spice chicken burgers and chocolate cupcakes with friends)

(otherwise known as: I struggle to participate in conversation as I stuff my face with cupcake… s)

Happy Friday, everyone!

5 :: in a picture an hour, family, friends, home sweet home, thoughts

productivity rush

September 5, 2012 at 7:47 pm

Over the weekend away in Noto, I had a rush of inspiration to truly maximize our time here in Sicily and live a simple, productive life with no regrets. (You know, just your average goals in life.) I journaled for pages and pages. Obviously this is a work in progress, but there are so many ideas and goals swimming around in my head. I hope to share more about this in the future.

In the meantime, I have made myself a massive to do list and am gritting my teeth and working through it this week. I’m taking on tasks that have been bugging me for months, like changing the light bulb on the porch (well, actually, both light bulbs on both porches) or going to IKEA to replace some battered lamps with brand new ones. There’s lots of purging going on around here, too. What is it about the end of the summer and wanting to clean out your closet and redefine yourself with less clutter? I’m not the only blogger/mother out there with the bug!

Day 1 of the productivity rush found me canning an autumn’s worth of chicken broth by 9:30 am. I shouldn’t try to give too favorable an impression, though, because I am easily distracted, especially by wonderful, inspirational lists like this one: 99 Ways to Simplify Life with Kids. But actually the five minutes it took to read that post made me more inspired than ever! So sometimes procrastinating is actually productive, right?

What’s on your to do list as you face the change in seasons and feel autumn in air?

3 :: in Becoming a Stay-at-Home Mom Series, home sweet home, thoughts

productivity rush

September 5, 2012 at 6:47 pm

What’s on your to do list as you face the change in seasons and feel autumn in air?

3 :: in Becoming a Stay-at-Home Mom Series, home sweet home, thoughts

that time we went to Greece

July 2, 2012 at 3:20 pm

There’s a whole story behind our last-minute, semi-harrowing journey to Crete last week, but I’m going to save it for tomorrow when the four loads of laundry are no longer calling my name. There are some lovely pictures to share of a magnificent island, and I’ll also tell you what’s like for your plane to lose an engine halfway across the Mediterranean!

In the meantime, I have a wonderful article I want to share with you: Constraint and Consent, Career and Motherhood. Kate Harris, Executive Director of the Washington Institute, wrote a response to the much-discussed Atlantic article Why Women Still Can’t Have It All. Kate’s perspective is insightful and encouraging, especially as she writes as a Christian woman who works part-time as she mothers three pre-school-age children full time. Read Kate’s article and be encouraged and inspired to use the constraints of motherhood to figure out your true calling and passions.

As I muddle through volunteering as a nurse, developing my skills as a homemaker, blogging somewhat regularly, knitting with a purpose, I wonder where in there lie my true passions, now gently and firmly constrained by the presence of little Lena in our lives. I think of two of my friends who are going back to school (taking classes at home) to become midwives while raising their young children. I think of other bloggers who have studiously developed their writing or design or photography skills while nursing young bodies or homeschooling young minds. I think of many published authors who have written during nap time as they crafted their life’s work. Wherein lies my deepest passion? How can I refine my vocation and pursue the sweetest calling of all, all to the glory of God?

2 :: in good reads, thoughts, travel, weekend