Summer Schedule

In summers past, we have never had a schedule.  The kids had chores to do, but we sort of just flitted around with n'er a care in the world.  Or, at least the kids did.  I spent most of my time trying to keep the house clean and keep the kids happy when it was "too hot to go outside" (this is my kids whining and before we became members of our local pool).  We did slip-n-slides, popsicles, sprinklers....but there was a lot of inside time, and honestly, a lot of complaining.  

One would think (seeing that my oldest is 12) that I would have come up with a "summer schedule" years ago.  But apparently I am slow on the uptake, because this is our first year.  The truth is that I felt like somehow having a "summer schedule" shouldn't be necessary.  We have a schedule all year.  And isn't that what summer is all about???  Unrestricted play.  Endless days filled with wonder and spontaneous creativity.  I am an idealist.  And I thought that given the freedom, all of these things should simply fall into place.  Because, well, it was summer.  And that's when these things happen, right?  (I crack myself up as I type this.  This is so unrealistic...yet I have spent the past 10+ years expecting it to happen this way!)

We finished up our school year the last week in May.  After a week of just waiting for the "summer magic" to occur...I decided I was going to have to intervene.  If the magic wasn't going to happen, then "I was at least going to have order around here, darnit!!!"  (that is me yelling at the children)

And so, the summer schedule was born.  From me losing my cool.

Behold the beauty:

(I made this on the computer myself.  It is my first time making such a document.  I am completely inept with computer stuff, so I am SUPER proud of this baby)

Since putting this in place, I have to say...all the magic that I had been dreaming about all these years is happening.  And I am not the one orchestrating it all!!!  Since we posted this chart, these things have occurred: 

1. The kids have made up a pillow game that they play together in the basement.  There are rules and strategies, and they are assessing it over lunch to try to make it better.

2. Child #3 is teaching Child #4 the piano.  

3. More books have been consumed (and enjoyed) by #3 than ever before (he is our one who doesn't love to read)!

4. I have been the joyful audience for a magic show, a dance performance, and a basketball game

5. #2 made a family favorite recipe for breakfast one morning while I was still sleeping, all of his own accord.  

6.  Lots of coloring and drawing and creating of beautiful artwork has been made to decorate my fridge and walls.

7. My house is clean.

8. The kids are getting along.

Now, I am sure some of this is the newness of it all, however, who knew that what the kids needed was just a little guidance to get their creative juices flowing.  You live and learn, I guess.  :)

Beauty in the Heart of My Home, Sunday Sneak Peek

Last week I talked about beauty in the home.  Then I listed some ways that we try to "live beauty" within our four walls.  I mentioned our fancy Sunday Brunch.  It really is one of our favorite traditions.

Even when I don't feel like putting in all the effort of setting out the china and cooking and such, the kids excitement every week keeps me from letting myself be lazy and just eat bagels on paper plates.  And since we have been doing it for a while now, everyone knows what it takes to make it happen and everyone pitches in.

The oldest 5 are able to help with the setting of the table, and the hubs and the top 3 kids are all able to help with the cooking.  Someone is usually assigned to toddler duty.  Otherwise, with all the hustle and bustle happening in the kitchen she will get run over or into trouble.  Sometimes that someone is me, and I get to just relax and I get to just sit and enjoy baby girl and not have to cook and set all the things in motion for a change.  Those are really nice Sundays.

It's not a perfect process. Sometimes there is arguing or impatient snaps, but I think the joy and beauty and routine of it all transcends that, and the kids will remember this with fondness as they grow up and venture out into the world on their own (at least, that is my hope).  So, without further adieu...here are some photos of the table all set and ready for our feasting.

Ready to eat!!!*

My loves!!!

*(perfectionist spaz disclaimer....we usually use a plain, cream-colored table cloth, but I couldn't find it anywhere.  grrrr.  So, we used the checkered one.  Which is too "busy" in my opinion and takes away from the beauty of the china.  But...like I said...life ain't perfect!)  And to my credit, I didn't even say anything about wishing we had the cream table cloth out loud.  This is progress for me, folks!!!  I am a self-proclaimed, recovering perfectionist!!!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  

~Hope you had a beautiful weekend and a blessed week to come!~

Friendship is a Gift

We live in a culture where competition and one-upmanship and proving ourselves is rampant.  That sort of atmosphere is difficult for anyone, but I think it is exceptionally hard on women, and in particular, mothers.  We love with a love so fierce, and we want to do right by our children.  We are acutely aware of our own weaknesses and failures.  You throw in a world that thinks it is its' job to give their opinion about everything and point out a better way; its amazing we aren't all living in a deep depression and that any of us can get up in the morning.

In this sort of climate, some may wonder if it's even possible to go through life and let yourself be seen.  Really seen. To let your soul bare itself and know that you will not be rejected.  You will not be judged.  Now, that is not to say, that people should never tell you that you have stuff you need to work on, or question you.  It means that they will still look you in the eye and see you.  Even when you are far from your best self.

I had the privilege of spending a beautiful evening with a few of these type of people last night.  I don't see these ladies often (and there were a few who weren't able to be here), but whenever I do, my soul is refreshed.  I have known some of these women since I was 8 years old.  The rest since I was 12 or 13.  They know me.  They know my crazy, how weak I can be, and ultimately, how I have gotten to be the person I am today.  They have been with me the whole time on this life's journey.  And they are a treasure of greatest value.

If you don't have these kind of people in your life...pray to find some.  Because life is too short and too hard to not have people you can call and laugh with over everything and nothing.  But also call when you are at your deepest and darkest and then still be able to stand tall and look them in the eye the next day, because you know that they love you and will never leave you.  And they can see you even when you sometimes can't see yourself.

Thanks for an amazing evening, ladies!!!  ~until next time.

Beauty in the Heart of My Home

I grew up surrounded by beauty.  My father surrounded us with beauty at every turn.  We had a replica of Renoir's, Boating on the Seine hanging over our mantle.  We listened to Handel's Messiah every Advent and Christmas as we decorated the tree and baked and did all the Christmasy things around the house.  We read great literature together (The Chronicles of Narnia, The Little House Series, and The Sign of the Beaver, and the Beatrix Potter books come to mind).  We also had very strict rules about what we could NOT view or listen to.  We only had a few television channels and we often watched as a family when we did watch (think Cosby Show, Highway to Heaven, Family Ties) and every week on the way home from church we would listen to Casey Casom's top 40 countdown together in the car.  But when songs with inappropriate lyrics came on, my father would just turn off the radio for a few minutes and turn it back on for the next song.  He never said anything.  He just quietly guarded our souls by trying to expose us to things that were good, true, and beautiful and keep out things that would chip away at our sense of those things.  

I still don't know if he did it all consciously, or if he knew how deep the effects of his actions would be, but as I sit in my home raising my own crew of souls, I can tell you it made me.  Beauty, in its truest and purest sense- the raising of the heart and mind to God- is something that I am very conscious of.  And the lack of it brings me unrest.  I suppose it should be that way for all of us really, since we are all created for God, but I think not all were as blessed as I was and many don't realize their need for the truly beautiful in their life.  Many don't even know how to recognize it, because if you look around the world we live in today, its become the rarity and not the norm.  

I was blessed to spend a semester in Europe my Junior year of college.  That sealed the deal for me.  Beauty.  It was everywhere.  The cathedrals there, the buildings, the art work...it made you realize how little you were.  It humbled you. Standing before these great works of art, these massive buildings...they had something that our country lacks.  Every detail was accounted for.  No cost of time, effort, or expense was counted.  Because it was done for a higher purpose.  It was done to bring glory to God.  Not for efficiency, or cost-effectiveness, or to please others.  These great works were created for the Creator.  And it shows.  

True beauty leads us to the sacred.  It raises our souls to something higher than ourselves.  That's why art like Michaelangelo's Pieta brings us to tears. We rise above ourselves to something greater.  We feel in the depths of our being the truth about life.  That we were made for more.  And when you experience this type of beauty it pierces you.  You find yourself so filled with joy that your heart might burst, yet at the same time such sorrow because there it is a beauty that we cannot yet experience here on this earth.  It is truly of Heaven.  

Now back to reality.  My earthly home growing up was far from heavenly.  We had our fair share of hardship and sorrow, yet, somehow, being surrounded by beauty and sharing those beautiful moments in books and music, helped us to survive those hard times and to have hope for the future; hope for the peace and joy of our Heavenly home where there will be no more sorrow or pain.  And now, in my current home, with my own children, I seek out ways to fill our home and our hearts with the true, the good, and the beautiful in our daily life.  I hope that by being surrounded by truth, goodness, and beauty my children will have a sense of the sacred themselves.  That they will have a hope to carry them through the hard times of their life, and a peace that comes from being surrounded by that which is at the heart of the human soul.

"But what does that look like?" you might wonder.  Well, at our home it's several things:
1. We eat a big fancy brunch every Sunday after Mass on my husband's grandmother's china.  We set the table beautifully and eat delicious food.  This teaches them that Sunday is sacred as it is The Lord's Day, and that family is also sacred.  We take the time to create a beautiful atmosphere to enjoy each other.  I pray someday when my children are grown and have kids of their own we can continue this in some fashion together.  Or that they find a way to continue it in their own way in their own homes.  

2. We try very hard to keep clutter at bay.  When the home is cluttered, it clutters the mind.  Clutter is not a peaceful existence and without peace, it is hard to think and pray.  So we have chores that everyone helps with and an end of the day tidy to ensure always ending the day in a peaceful, clutter-free home and starting the next day with a clean and orderly home.   

3. We pray as a family both in the evening and the morning, so this just helps to foster that sense of peace and beauty....our "Prayer room" is the one fully decorated room in the home.  It's the most beautiful, and also, it's not a play room.  It's our sacred space.

4. Like my father, we also are very selective about what is watched, listened to, and even read.  We watch most tv and movies together and we read aloud a lot.  I also am very picky about illustrations.  A book with truly beautiful illustrations is very important to me.  I still have my collection of Beatrix Potter books that my dad gave to me when I was a child, and my children love them as much as I did.  Their illustrations are some of the best.  

5.  We enjoy nature together.  We are blessed to live on a pond with a forest behind it.  Hardly a meal goes by without being interrupted by a shout of, "Look, the Heron!" or, "Mom, the deer are here again!"  We spend a lot of time outside just wandering and exploring God's creation.  His artwork is the highest form of beauty.  :)

6.  We attend the Latin Mass.  While not necessary, the reverence of the Liturgy, as well as the music used, and the regular use of incense and other gestures has in its very nature a beauty that is hard to put into words.  One has to experience an Easter Vigil or Epiphany Mass to understand.  It has deepened my family's sense of the sacred profoundly.

These are the things that come to mind off the top of my head.  I am sure there are more.  And I am always seeking ways to bring more beauty into my home.  What are some ways that you live beauty in your home?  Share in the comments.  I would love to know!  

So....I started a blog.....

Recently I found myself sitting in my kitchen, a steaming cup of coffee in hand,  with life going on around me.  Kids were playing nicely in the adjacent family room, hubs was upstairs showering, and I was just sitting.  And thinking.  Uninterrupted.  And it was sublime.  Hence the title of this blog.

I am an introvert.  A deep thinker.  A ponderer.  Yet with 6 kids, homeschooling, home management, outside activities (a.k.a LIFE), I have found myself with so many thoughts...but with so many interruptions, I find myself unable to retain most of them.  Which makes me feel frazzled at times, and also lost.  I need to be able to gather my thoughts.  If they aren't gathered, not only can I not share them when I would like to, but I also can't do anything with them myself!!!

So, after many years of contemplating starting a blog (and I did a few years back, but let it fall, because I didn't quite know where I was going with it),  I am now doing it.  That one, uninterrupted cup of coffee, was a graced moment.  I saw a way to gather my thoughts.  And then be able to share them.  YAY!  I am starting this blog here and now, imperfect as it may be (I can't even figure out how to edit my profile), to gather and share my thoughts and musings on life, parenthood, living the liturgical year (I am Catholic and this is my absolute favorite thing to do with my family), organization (also high on the list of favorites), and fitness and health (because I've realized how important taking care of me is).

Hoping you will join me in this adventure.  Grab your cup of coffee (I like mine laced with a little Bailey's some most days) and let's share our hearts and minds.  Its sure to be sublime.  ;)