Morning Quiet Time

Being on spring break and recovering from spring break caused me to put very little effort into my morning quiet time the last two weeks. Only to my own detriment I might add.

I found I missed my morning time with the Lord. A quick prayer to start the day just wasn't enough. I have quickly lost my center sense of peace. Oh, things didn't fall completely apart, but I knew it wasn't the relationship I've grown to cherish.

This morning had me back in my favorite chair putting my spirit back in order, and God was so faithful. You see, I can quickly fall into the worldly trap of wondering what great things I'm supposed to do with my life. Should I be volunteering more, teaching, writing, painting, etc.? The question on my heart this morning was, "What do you want me to do, Lord?"

I found this quote from Oswald Chambers during my quiet time,

All God's revelations are sealed until they are opened to us by obedience...Obey God in the thing He shows you, and instantly the next thing is opened up...God will never reveal more truth about himself until you have obeyed what you know already.

Why would God ask me to do anything new, when I'm still working on the things He's already asked me to do? The adventure in my life is trying to be faithful in my follow through - completing the task before me. There's nothing new and earth shattering to hear from God, because I'm still working where he placed me. I can also rest in the assurance that when He wants me to do something different, He'll let me know.

Thank you, Dear Lord, for your faithfulness, for your patience, for your unending love, and the grace we so desperately need but could never earn. Thank you standing before me to lead me down your path, for standing beside me to keep me on the path and out of the ditch, and for standing behind me to keep me moving. In Jesus's most holy name I praise you, Amen.

How Fast Are You?

I have so many other things I should be doing, but...

I took this silly typing test instead. Obviously fishing did not improve my typing speed.

60 words

Speed test

My Mind Is Still on Vacation

I want to be back beside this rushing creek. I'd love to be sitting on the stone porch listening to this rushing creek, roasting before a roaring fire after fishing for hours.

Instead, I'll be day dreaming of our spring break while I do laundry today.

I'm glad to be home and glad we had such a great family vacation.

Easy Easter Egg Clean-up

Here's a little Works for Me Wednesday tip I gleaned from my dear mother-in-law.

Each year when we dye Easter Eggs she first pulls out an old vinyl tablecloth to cover our workspace. Here's is red and white checked. I bought a bright one covered in pictures of what else? Easter Eggs.

I've found that a vinyl tablecloth can be used for any art project. It's especially helpful for those messy preschool art projects.

So go ahead, get the whole family, grandparents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, mom and dad, involved in dying Easter Eggs this year. Let's see who can make the time consuming rainbow egg my husband always attempts. The whole point is having fun as a family and not worrying about dye on a table really helps that effort.

Got a Minute Alone?

Do you ever feel that not only is time marching on...it's actually stomping across your face?

What extremes do you go to in an effort to slow down this express train to wrinkle-ville?

It's not a new problem for me. But lately, I just look dare I say - almost 40? I catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror and think, "Whoa, Charlie, what ran over me and my face?" Where are the days where I threw my hair in a ponytail, splashed on a little mascara, and looked fresh?

To be honest, I think those days are hiding back 15 years ago.

It's a dangerous thing to spend a minute or two alone in the bathroom with no children pounding on the door feeling this way. Just ask my eyebrows and newly formed bangs.

Last week, I thought maybe if I just tweezed the old eyebrows they'd look younger. A little arch could add a lot of lift to my sagging eyes.

Or so I thought.

That was before I did a little plucking and discovered my eyebrow hair has a design all of its own. When I plucked just the last little row on the bottom to make that arch I envisioned, I ended up with some weird boxy area.

Perpendicular angles are not a good look for eyebrows. I'm just saying.

I was scared to pluck anymore, so I just let my hair fall over that eye and hoped no one noticed. My friend L called first thing the next morning to check on my eyebrow situation.

I told her I wasn't looking in the mirror for a few days. Maybe if I didn't see it, I wouldn't think about it, and then the hairs would grow back in more quickly. Uh, yeah.

Then a few days later - after I remedied the eyebrow catastrophe somewhat - I decided maybe bangs would make me look younger. I'd been contemplating them for all of 3 or 4 days. Why wait a minute longer for a hair appointment with a professional who actually does hair for a living. I just snipped them off myself.

Why or why do I do these things?

Guess what?

Cutting bangs and pruning my eyebrows have done nothing for the condition of my aging skin.

Springing Forward

I love Spring. The grass looks greener, the sky is a beautiful blue, birds are chirping...and then we throw in that whole Spring Forward time change thing. We were fine with the time change yesterday. I set my alarm clock and even got us all to Sunday School on time. Which is actually the first time that's happened...um - ever.

Day 2 of time change is a different story.

As Hon was getting dressed I sat up in bed and contemplated actually waking up and having breakfast with him or laying in bed for another 10 minutes. I checked the time. I had to stare at the clock for a good amount of time before I realized 7:27 is too late to lay in bed any longer. Actually 7:27...Fred's bus should be rolling through our neighborhood right about - NOW!

Hon was not happy.

Hon skipped breakfast.

Hon grabbed breakfast bars to munch while sitting in traffic he usually avoids.

Hon probably will not recover from missing his quiet morning time in the office today.

I, on the other hand, thought the situation provided a little laughter to start our day. Fred made it to school only 10 minutes late. We pulled into the Kiss & Ride behind another student. I knew he wouldn't be the only one late. :)

Oversleeping threw my entire morning routine off, which completely benefited our younger two children. They were at school a little earlier than normal, because I didn't do anything I normally try to do in the mornings. In fact, it's 11 am I haven't showered, had breakfast, done the dishes, or began my list for the day, but I have had time to drink my coffee and enjoy the birds on this beautiful spring morning.

Bringing the Great Depression to Life Through Our Stomachs

My son's middle school has a great social studies curriculum. The teachers really get into their subject and have created many ways for the students to experience as much of what they are learning as possible. As a former social studies teacher myself, I LOVE what I hear about them.

Yesterday, Fred came home and reported that he has a project to complete about the Great Depression. We have to go shopping and cook dinner for the five of us with $4.00. Including tax. We're only allowed to eat from the $4.00. No dessert or snacks later in the evening.

Now I realize from many of the blogs I read that this is entirely possible. I think??? I know people all over the world survive on much much less. But have you met my family? Specifically our father figure. Do you know the size and metabolism of my husband, Hon? He comes home eats a pre-dinner snack, a large dinner with extra helpings, lets that settle for half and hour, probably another snack of cheese and crackers, followed by a little dessert before he snoozes. His astounding appetite is well known in our family and among close friends. Like I said; he's very tall and has a high metabolism. We do not save money on our grocery bill. I am rarely instructed to curb spending at the grocery store. When I try to he whines and thinks I'm starving him.

Fred and I were discussing this last night as I was saying good night to him in his bedroom. Hon had just climbed into bed himself. Fred restated that there would be no snacking or dessert. Then we thought of Hon. We both dissolved into tears of laughter. Immediately Fred yelled,

"Hey Dad, come here!"

"NO! I just got in bed"

"Really Dad, just come here a minute. I have to tell you something. Pleeaassee."

"Humph!" Stomp, stomp, stomp as he walks the 10 feet to our son's room. You would have thought we'd asked him to take out the trash in his underwear in a snowstorm. We simply laughed much harder.

"Dad, we have to do this project for social studies. Our family has to eat dinner for $4.00. The only food we're allowed to eat that night has to come from that $4.00. I'm thinking hot dogs. Mom thinks lots of rice. And..."

"Well, that's not going to happen."

At this point Fred and I are gasping for breath through laughter. You had to see Hon's face. He kept looking at me as if I would tell him it's not true. Finally he just started laughing himself. That kind of nervous laughter, he was laughing along with us, but it really wasn't funny to him.

"And Dad, you're not allowed to eat anything else."

"Well I'm sure you can eat stuff we already have right. Right? We'll already have food in our house." More looks to me to save him.

"No, Dad you just have to eat from the $4.00."

"What class is this for? Who's this teacher?"

"Dad, it's for a grade. We have to do it by the 25th."

"Well, you let me know what day we're doing it so I can eat a really big lunch. And maybe I'll cruise through a drive thru on the way home."

With a disgusted look Hon stomped back to bed. Fred and I dissolved in giggles. We should invite his teacher over to laugh with us. On the other hand, maybe not. I'm pretty sure Hon will insist the kids go to bed at 7:30, so he can break out his regular snacks.

Let's Dish

Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer was thinking of washing her hands of her dishes earlier this week. However, after she took another look at her beautiful, but never used, fine china, she had to admit it was awfully pretty.

I love our china, that my husband picked out by the way. Who knew he'd want such a say? He insisted we pick a color we thought we would use in our home decor (blue), and he refused to buy dishes with flowers on them. We did pick this dignified Presidential pattern that must be hand washed. I love to use them on special occasions, but he groans every time he has to hand wash them.



I love, love, love my Spode Christmas China. It's the same pattern my grandmother had. My mother-in-law has diligently bought me 14 plates over the last few years. I also have various serving pieces, dessert plates, and a few cups and saucers. Every time I look at these plates I think of my grandma which fills me with love. I keep them in our plate cabinet year round and we use everyday from Thanksgiving to New Years.

Here are our well used, much scraped everyday dishes. We originally had 12; we're now down to 8. I think we only have 4 bowls left. The most interesting story about these dishes is the hike my best friend and I took to find them one day. Actually it's not even that interesting. I'd love to replace them, but they work.


However, since we only have 4 cereal bowls left in our everyday pattern, we use these well photographed snowman bowls year round. We've been doing using these since before Birdie was born, oh, 9 years ago. They're a great size and shape. I'd love to buy dark red bowls, but then I'd feel like I needed matching plates. And while these certainly don't match and aren't year round appropriate it's how we do bowls here at Casa NOT Martha Stewart.



These are the bowls my family used for spaghetti growing up. They are one of the few family heirlooms from my mom's side of the family. I never had spaghetti any other way. My mom wasn't a great cook, but she made fabulous spaghetti sauce. She gave me these dishes a few years ago. I had high hopes of my family using them, but my husband, you know the one with lots of opinions on dishes, refuses to use them. I have to admit they look tons better photographed than in person. Still I can't imagine ever getting rid of them.



Hon loves these pasta bowls. They're twice the size of the heirlooms and a lot more sturdy. Plus they're pretty and match our decor. You know how important that is when you fill them with spaghetti.






Finally, one last look at part of my tea cup collection. You're probably not surprised that my dear husband started this collection for me years ago. I'll blog about it someday, but I will say it was truly the most heartfelt present he ever gave me. A lot of love went into purchasing and choosing each of these tea cups. The tea pot in the back is from my grandma. I don't use them very often because I'm not the graceful sort that can hold a saucer and tea cup and not spill something, but we've built beautiful memories of tea parties with Birdie and her grandmothers, aunt and I.

If you haven't been totally put to sleep by a look at my hodge-podge collection of dishes, you can check out other collections at Rocks In My Dryer.

Something to Bark About

Do you hear a dog barking? Do you live in Northern Virginia?

It could be our dear Wink. It's 6:30 am, and I am sure we have neighbor's that would really like to sleep. However Wink has some kind of rather large critter treed next door. Oh, he's safely behind a fence just barking and jumping, but the raccoon/oppossum is sticking to its instincts. I can't tell exactly what the animal is because it is definitely clinging to the tree on the opposite side of our yard. I do have to say it's big enough that I'm glad it's on the other side of the fence.

Since the barking isn't stopping, I suppose I should put on some boots and wade through our yard and drag Wink back inside. It poured last night and our back yard has turned into one huge puddle; which is why I haven't ventured out to get him yet. I guess the neighborly thing one be to stop his barking...at 6:30 am.

I'll probably get a better look at that critter. I'll let you know how it goes.

I never got a better look. Wink had stopped barking and the critter had escaped. I'm pretty sure it was a raccoon from the fluffiness and color of its fur. A really BIG raccoon. I'm just glad it wasn't a skunk!

Maternity Wear???

I decided to pop into Old Navy this morning and check out the sales rack. I could always use a few new t-shirts or even a new sweater. As I perused their spring fashions and clearance racks I ran into a few personal difficulties. (I'm not picking on Old Navy in particular; I've seen this style issue many places.)

Can someone please explain to me why empire-waisted, tie-in-the-back or front, flowing blouses are fashionable for non-pregnant women? Equally perplexing is the fact that when I finally found a long length, slim fitting t-shirt it was marked "Maternity Wear."

???????

I understand that pregnant women do not want to look any larger than they already are by adding to their girth with a large flowing top. They'd prefer to let everyone see their growing bump at precisely it's t-shirt form fitting size. As a mother of three, I get that logic.

But making people wonder if, you're pregnant or trying to hide too much ice cream with a flowing top?

That one I don't understand.