tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-359467822024-03-12T17:28:49.668-07:00his little wifeSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.comBlogger703125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-84076865380416330332021-05-07T18:52:00.004-07:002021-05-07T18:52:28.991-07:00Retreat and Advance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5GoPA91-g4U/YJXn3cxyk0I/AAAAAAAAQxQ/vdpIeqtpXYIZrZrP6B3WFXhEIbr0Xqo-gCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_9446.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5GoPA91-g4U/YJXn3cxyk0I/AAAAAAAAQxQ/vdpIeqtpXYIZrZrP6B3WFXhEIbr0Xqo-gCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/IMG_9446.HEIC" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_mfUAVvBPTg/YJXn-QUv54I/AAAAAAAAQxg/T-Q_YEMhaqAS2NRRiodO-yrBcwTihh1AwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_9464.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oZ3XZ4hsPN8/YJXoM7A65TI/AAAAAAAAQyQ/UnJf2SZFkhAxcirIV1VLX3oQhqBpEZgSwCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/IMG_9516.HEIC" width="480" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rVmLssfijEQ/YJXoRcK8W_I/AAAAAAAAQyg/QcaCzScQqLYASDlR2WvsFaoCODoKmGJQwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_9517.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rVmLssfijEQ/YJXoRcK8W_I/AAAAAAAAQyg/QcaCzScQqLYASDlR2WvsFaoCODoKmGJQwCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/IMG_9517.HEIC" width="480" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nJ2lir1kTxc/YJXoREIltdI/AAAAAAAAQyc/rvFz8RfCS6AwQoIyfypCgidBD4DYXkV6QCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_9524.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nJ2lir1kTxc/YJXoREIltdI/AAAAAAAAQyc/rvFz8RfCS6AwQoIyfypCgidBD4DYXkV6QCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/IMG_9524.HEIC" width="480" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nIInEadt0i4/YJXoQnGNVAI/AAAAAAAAQyY/gcX0VK8fnbk8lXmV86MTSx8_x6FCx8okACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_9528.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nIInEadt0i4/YJXoQnGNVAI/AAAAAAAAQyY/gcX0VK8fnbk8lXmV86MTSx8_x6FCx8okACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/IMG_9528.HEIC" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;">The day has come for me to begin to write again. Oh, how I loved to write in the past; I loved recording our days, using this space as a journal to record the beauty of our days. It helped me to <i>see</i> the beauty, to know it and remember it, and still to see it when I look backward. But because of the restrictive environment I was living under in our ministry life, it became an uphill emotional battle to sit and make public the thoughts of my heart and I reached a point where I no longer felt up to the task, but to write dishonestly was worse than not writing at all. Being in a community where information could be a weapon to be wielded against me or my loved ones, to be fodder for judgment and criticism, it became difficult to share information and meditations of my inmost thoughts.</span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><div><span style="font-size: medium;">We have, through dramatic and unlooked for means, been removed and freed from this oppressive situation, one we didn't fully or consciously recognize until we were out of it. I don't really feel ready to divulge many more details for the public eye although if you are reading this and want to ask me personally what has gone on in my life, I am comfortable talking about it. However, I have, for too long now, yearned to write again, to share my life and let myself feel I have something worthwhile to offer the world still. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Life is messy, isn't it? Hard. Sweaty. Baffling. Painful. Lonely.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">But it's also beautiful. Breathtaking. Surprising. Friendly. Worthy of dancing and singing over. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">It's not like this year has been easy for anyone, with COVID devastating so many, and political strife and polarization breaking into even families and churches. It's been an especially difficult year for everyone for a myriad of reasons, and our family is no exception. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">We lost friendships, our ministry, many dreams, and pieces of our identity. We weren't really looking to lose those things or even move on from any of them, but the Lord, in His mercy, knew what was best for us, even if the road to it was rocky. Jesse now happily works in our same community, developing after-school technology and discipleship programs for the ministry Swan Vocational Enterprises, a vocational training ministry/economic development organization, which separated from Sacred Road Ministries early last year. We are so blessed to have had a soft place to land gently with such kind friends when the rug was suddenly pulled out from under our feet, when we were left reeling and surprised at what we were learning about our past and present. I am still walking through a great deal of anxiety and depression related to past events in our life, but am thankful for a great counselor and many beloved friends who have surrounded me, prayed for me, and cared for me tenderly in my sorrow and wounding. When I feel things are dark, the Lord continually encircles me with Himself and His children who have been inordinately kind to me. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">We felt it was necessary to have a quiet retreat as a family after such a hard year, and slipped away to the Oregon Coast last week. There were ups and downs as every family vacation holds - family irritations, a broken tooth to stress over (mine), money worries (when will I learn to trust the God of abundance?), but it was, at the same time, restful. Peaceful. A retreat. Our souls are weary, our troubles threaten to overwhelm us, yet He is faithful, a <i>very present help</i> in trouble. We are not overcome, we are not drowned. He has set our feet in a large room, He has drawn the lines for us in pleasant places and ultimately always has. I am a witness to that, even as I struggle to believe it. It is a fight worth fighting. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">I am so happy to be writing, to feel the freedom to write unrestricted. It is a like a piece of myself I lost that I am digging around again to uncover. I can't even explain what it feels like to write. It sparks a jolt of joy.</span></div></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-91646882288730699832020-03-14T08:06:00.004-07:002020-03-14T08:06:31.789-07:00Watching for Beauty<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is surprising how quickly so much can change. But even when everything is topsy-turvy, a great deal remains the same. The sun still rises. The night comes faithfully. People still must be fed, hugged, read to. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't have any unique words of encouragement. I am, like you, watching the unfolding of worldwide pandemic with confusion, sorrow, and a measure of anxiety. But I can focus on the beauty around me, on the things that build up rather than tear down. I choose today to see the good here and not just the scary and unclear. I choose today to trust that God has not forgotten us. I choose today to thank Him for being with us, for being The God Who Sees - and not just Sees, but Loves. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We continue to do school when so much else has quieted. We keep reading beautiful books together: <i>Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire</i>; <i>Little Women</i>; <i>A Wonder Book</i> of Greek mythology. We make brownies together, play Chinese Checkers, watch a movie, drink coffee, knit, draw in our sketchbooks. Maybe these things will become part of what we remember. Maybe with practice we can remember to watch for beauty and be filled with joy yet even when the trumpet of doom sounds loudly all around us. </span><br />
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<br />Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-63183046112779849562019-08-26T17:21:00.000-07:002019-08-26T17:21:00.858-07:00summer evening<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just a quiet summer evening walk. We finished up the dishes and headed out the door and saw our friend and neighbor out with his boy ahead of us walking so we just joined right in and wandered the country paths around the pond and back again. When we got back, Jesse read a chapter of <i>Swallowdale</i> by Arthur Ransome (the sequel to <i>Swallows and Amazons</i> - a big favorite this past year) and everyone crashed into bed after a long day. I like this kind of summer evening. </span>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-73992764720469634402019-08-26T16:54:00.001-07:002019-08-26T16:54:13.268-07:00summer ballet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although we do NOT school year round, we continued on with ballet class through the summer because it is such a beloved part of each week. The girls' ballet teacher, Miss Lisa, is amazing and I have seen all three of my daughters grow so much this summer in their dancing ability, but also in their perseverance and confidence. I reminded Millie the other day of how far she has come even though she had to miss several months of lessons this fall when she broke her ankle! Now that feels like a faraway bad dream when she arabesques beautifully across the room, turns, and, running, ends with a grand jete leap to the corner. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All three girls auditioned this week for a part in the Moscow Ballet Nutcracker that will be here in town one night in November. All three were cast! Rosie and Millie will dance as Snowflakes and Lyddie will dance as one of the children at the party. To say they are excited is an understatement. I am so proud of them and their courage to audition and we are all eagerly anticipating the fun of them being up on a big stage in front of a huge audience and dancing with real grown up ballerinas from Moscow! </span>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-67012270550721188952019-08-26T16:32:00.001-07:002019-08-26T16:32:37.226-07:00it's okay<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>With my parents, my three brothers and two sisters-in-law when we surprised my dad by visiting for Father's Day</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Jesse made this, taking a quote from a favorite Switchfoot song</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The girls and I made summer book recommendations for each other and Rosie's list got rather long! I'm not sure how many she's read but I think it gave her confidence to start reading longer chapter books!</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <i>Saying the Junior National Park Ranger Oath at Mt. Rainier NP</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My babies are getting bigger now. My baby girl is starting first grade soon and my other two girls are in third and fourth grades. I never would have imagined my motherhood road passing by so quickly, especially since I always pictured myself with a longer journey through each stage and maybe with more children and maybe a little more spaced apart. But with my three girls all born within 3 1/2 years of each other, I storm through a stage and launch into the next with the dust swirling around my feet and blurring my vision. I basically blinked and was done with toddlerdom (honestly, not sure I am sad about that one going by quick). The preschool years that I adore slipped away and now I have all these elementary aged girls and am starting to peek ahead a little toward the next stages with joy and -let's face it - trembling. I have (mostly) loved each stage for what it is but they disappear so quickly and I'm left a little breathless and wishing for a little more time with at least one of them. Every motherhood road is different with its own challenges and joys, but wouldn't we all be lying if we said we didn't sometimes envy the grass on the other side that seems just a little more lush than our (weedy, overgrown, toy-strewn) yard? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was told last year by a trusted counselor that it's okay for me to grieve the passing of a season, especially as my youngest whirls through it. Until we had that conversation, I didn't realize that I was harboring this dragon of guilt that flew around and exhaled fire in so many directions. Every milestone or birthday for my youngest daughter was riddled with guilt - the guilt I felt over grieving something as GOOD as her growing and changing, guilt that I was -still- sometimes grieving the fact that I wanted more children but that doesn't seem to be the direction our family is going to head; and guilt that I was even feeling guilt since I know there are many women who would give their right eye to experience that milestone with their own child. There's a nugget of truth in so many of those thoughts I was having and that guilt was burning all these little fires that I couldn't figure out how to put out each time I saw and noticed a new development ("this might be the last time I'll ever give one of my children a bath!"), every new stage ("someday they might not even want to hold my hand!"), every new birthday ("this is the last sixth birthday I'll ever throw as a mother"), even day to day when I saw her outside playing alone with her doll ("this is passing and she won't do this someday!"). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I wasn't done with guilt. I had an unconscious fear: what if my older two saw my grief attached to their little sister and construed it as more love for her than for them? The flames were licking closer and I was sweating and cranky and trying too hard. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then the counselor's words that were the stream of water to me. <i>It's okay to feel grief at the passing of a season</i>. OKAY. Not bad. Not terrible. Neutral.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whew. That sure gave some breathing room to feel and think without judgment. Removing judgment allows me to do my best and be free to be a restful mom even as the days and stages and Christmases and birthdays fly by. I can relinquish the control I was attempting to exert over these feelings that I had labeled BAD and remember that the grief I feel that coincides with the milestones of my youngest daughter is really connected to all my daughters growing up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To help me be able to this, I have a little notepad in the bathroom. Yeah, by the toilet. And a pen. And when I go to the bathroom, instead of opening up an app and hiding in there scrolling for 10 minutes in the quiet, I grab the pen and jot down a few things I am thankful for. Usually just four at a time and sometimes I have to think hard to remember what the blessings are in my life when money is tight, or the car has broken down, or bickering has taken over my life, but those four things are a lifeline until the next time I have to visit the water closet where I can hide in the quiet and meditate. So here's a few from this week:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Beautiful wood floors revealed when Jesse pulled up the linoleum in the kitchen!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*All three girls cast in the Nutcracker!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Finished knit scarf</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Evening sunset walk with friends</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Rosie, first thing this morning: "I just love snuggling with you."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am thankful, and that thanksgiving helps combat the guilt and move through the mother-grief and perfectionism that still dogs me. You know, I still have to fight it and sometimes I fight better than other times. The thanksgivings help peace to wash over me, like I'm coming up for air and can dive back into the fray again for a little while again and try to enjoy the mad pace of time as it passes. </span></div>
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Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-77525052063391239172019-06-01T17:20:00.001-07:002019-06-01T17:20:54.458-07:00Zion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good things grow in barren-looking places. In the crevices of the red red rock sprouts life abundant, pressing out through where there is no soil to where there is only glaring sun. Hanging from the rocky ceiling, the gardens creep along the cracks fed by misty drips from the last rain. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am reminded of home, where maybe it sometimes seems like no good thing could grow but a where really a veritable garden of good things are rooting and pressing upward and outward. </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Taken on our trip to Zion National Park in April 2019</span></i></div>
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Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-5529269443200946922019-01-15T23:40:00.002-08:002019-01-15T23:40:51.015-08:00stir crazy January<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The days are dark and short. I struggle to wake up in the darkness because the sun doesn't rise until we are eating breakfast at this time of the year. Every one of us are all doing a lot of reading here in the dead of winter. With no garden to tend to, no flower beds to water, my attention has been mainly indoors, but we are starting to go a little stir crazy. Today I insisted that the girls and I bundle up and spend time outdoors, even if it is cold. I (practiced) splitting firewood which the girls stacked, and then we played tag as little snowflakes quietly drifted around us and our laughing, squealing game. Hot cocoa on our return inside and more reading. In the evenings we are listening to Daddy read <i>The Open Gate</i> by Kate Seredy, and I am reading aloud Betsy~Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace - a favorite from my childhood, and one we've already read 3-4 times, but now Rosie is old enough to "be Betsy." Kate Seredy is another of my childhood favorites, although I have never read this book of hers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For school, Lyddie and I are reading <i>Children of the New Forest</i> and it is so full of children's innovation and ability to accomplish big tasks that we both are dreaming of how to increase our garden, how to get a milk cow (coming soon, we hope), and so on. I love books that expand our view of our own abilities. Another book we recently read that did that very thing is <i>Swallows and Amazons</i> in which the parents allow their children to do a lot of hard things and the children's world just grows and grows. Of course both of these books are fiction but they provide a great jumping off point for self-confidence. Because of the chapter we read, Lyddie helped me make dinner tonight (this <a href="https://www.wellplated.com/chicken-and-wild-rice-casserole/">Chicken and Wild Rice casserole</a> which was delicious!) and cooked the chicken and vegetables and made the salad by herself with just some supervision from me. This evening I created a few recipe pages as a beginning to a "Kids recipe book" that we can add to as they learn new recipes, until they are each able to plan and cook an entire meal regularly. That's been my goal for awhile, although we haven't worked diligently at it for some time. Being cooped up in the cold provides the perfect time for it and mental stimulation when we otherwise start to get a little crazy and wild. Searching for the good and beautiful in January helps make the time until we see the sun and warmth seem less interminably long.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">{For those interested, the game we are playing in the photos above is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Plaid-Hat-Fantasy-Flight-Games/dp/B0774X4J44">Stuffed Fables</a>, a really fun kid-oriented story-based role playing game we first learned about from my sis-in-law, Holly. The girls got it for Christmas and it's already brought several hours of family fun that we each genuinely enjoy. Check it out!}</span></div>
<br />Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-89924617470566187932018-12-28T23:27:00.002-08:002018-12-28T23:27:58.476-08:00people I love at Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My pictures from this Christmas are pretty much just all of my favorite subjects: people I love. I didn't take any pictures of presents under the tree, very few of the numerous baked goods I made, or decorations. I pulled up my photos afterward and glanced through, smiling to see just face after face. Usually I am self-conscious or forget to use my camera during holidays or celebrations, but I decided to go for it this year and now I'm glad I did!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Over the actual days of Christmas we were with my family this year, and it was so joyful and fun. We got to spend a significant amount of time with each of my brothers and their wives, as well as my parents, and extended family all tucked into three days!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This year after watching White Christmas, sweet Rosie came to me and said, "Mama! I looked in the mirror and I look like the older sister in the movie! What's her name again?" -- Betty, I said. Her joy was made complete when my mom told her the important detail that the real name of the actress was Rosemary, just like my girl! Our little Betty was so much fun this year, being so interested in Christmas, and so excited about the gifts she was giving. She was more excited for me to open her gift than she was, I think, about anything under the tree with her name on it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lyddie had been begging for a new pillow because *embarrassed grin* her old one was so flat. So I sewed each girl their own new pillowcase and surprised them each with big fluffy pillows! She is changing so much, a little self-conscious when she is goofy but not so self-conscious that she ISN'T goofy. Which I love. She is helpful and kind and beautiful and loved her new American Girl doll from her Mimi and Poppi. Rosie wants to be just like her big sister. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Millie told me this year that she enjoys giving gifts more even than receiving them. She likes how it helps her show people that she loves them, which rings true since she is always leaving me little gifts and drawings and notes on my pillow. She also is very concerned right now with being different than the other two girls, which seems to me like a very middle-child thing to think about. She was very excited that she got the blue china tea set when the other two both have green. Also she is relieved that her cast is off and gone and she is back to normal. Praise the Lord for her healing!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I loved spending the time with all our family this week and continue to be excited to know my adult siblings. I moved away when my youngest two brothers were still young and they are all such grown men now, fun to be with, kind and strong, and loving to our girls. We are so loud, and so fun, and so rambunctious, our people. I miss them when I'm away! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Since coming home, I have sat and been still for long amounts of time. It is so tempting to try to tackle all the cleaning and tidying and unpacking and laundry all at once. Instead, I have held myself back, allowed an hour or two of tasks and then done something restful. This is good for me. Motherhood and ministry at Christmas means a flurry of constant activity beginning in early November, and I realized I am tired out. So now I knit myself a hat, cross stitch a little spring time sampler from <a href="http://www.posiegetscozy.com/">Posie Gets Cozy</a> and think about doing some drawing, my newfound interest. As if I didn't have enough to keep myself busy lately, I find myself thinking about and planning little drawings for when I might have time. I never knew I enjoyed drawing and painting so much and have never identified myself as artistic - and not that I'm very good at all, but it is a source of happiness to me that I think I will develop more this coming year. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So now we prepare to push on into the new year, and who knows what it may bring? </span></div>
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<br />Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-40150731289589524632018-12-03T23:57:00.006-08:002018-12-03T23:57:43.772-08:00O Christmas Tree<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">For a couple years after we moved to the Rez, we got our tree at a corner lot in town because they were affordable and easy to find and there were no other more fun options that I knew of. One year, the tree we got at that spot completely died and began losing its needles about a week later, so we ditched it, (cried a little at how irritatingly difficult life can be), bought a new one, redecorated and that one made it a couple more weeks through the season. We began buying them at a local farm and garden store after that, and even though they were a bit pricier, the trees were always nice and lasted most of the month. As I look back at photos and read old blog posts from those times (<a href="https://hislittlewife.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-messy-beauty.html">2014</a> and <a href="https://hislittlewife.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2015-12-19T23:14:00-08:00&max-results=7">2015</a>), the memories flood back from the different years and times we walked through, many of them very hard. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Now the Lord is doing something new in me and in my loved ones. Our "new house" (of two years) is a symbol in my heart and mind of the promise He makes to restore to us the years the locusts have eaten. This home is not my home, and the beauty He surrounds me with every day is only a pointer to the great Beauty of His own heart. He is doing a new thing and a very old thing and it shouldn't surprise me but it surprises me just the same. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">For the past couple years we drove by a field full of spindly little trees on every trip to town. In the summer they looked like nothing but slowly they are growing to something. This year I noticed a big sign out front: "U-Cut!" Yesterday afternoon we hopped in the car and headed those five minutes up the road. Free cocoa, a wagon ride, a glimpse of Santa's reindeer, and several games of bean bag toss later, Jesse was loading our tree on top of the car and the girls finished up their last game of ring toss before clambering back into the car. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Decorating the tree is a big special deal in the Dempsen house. The lights are dimmed, a spread of exciting food is placed on the table: deli meats, fancy cheese, chex mix, cookies, crackers, fruits and veggies and dips. This year</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> we made a new addition: fresh tamales from our favorite place in town and we're never going back!</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> We munch and spend the evening together, reminiscing about ornaments as we pull them from boxes, recalling the times of plenty and the lean times, and finally, sitting and gazing at the twinkling lights, and making fun of mommy who keeps secretly moving ornaments, we rest and admire our adorned tree. We've carried the tradition on from my own family (even from my mama covertly moving ornaments and being lovingly jeered at). Rosie, who has the fewest ornaments of anyone, hung hers and was more interested in cuddling with her daddy on the couch while the other girls and I kept playing with the ornaments. I loved glancing over and seeing her with her arms around his neck, nestled into the crook of his arm. They both looked so peaceful and at home together. Millie, in her walking boot with hardly a limp, smiled her toothless smile so big, and I noticed a new tooth just peeking through the top gum. And Lyddie, flitting here and there, asking constantly where this or that ornament came from, picking her favorites, never silent, always looking for just the right spot on the tree.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">This tree, another new thing, another unlooked for joy. All those hundreds of days driving by, this tree was growing and waiting for us and we had no idea. And most likely next year's tree is tucked in among the others waiting for us still. Gifts are waiting around the corner in unexpected places and I look forward to seeing the new things God is clapping his hands over like a parent on Christmas Eve, just eagerly anticipating the look on his daughter's face when she realizes what He's done now. </span></div>
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<br />Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-80413360110547844122018-10-25T23:04:00.000-07:002018-10-25T23:08:45.985-07:00Swallows and Loop Scheduling <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span id="goog_1466180563"></span><span id="goog_1466180564"></span>To remember:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The moment we realized that Able Seaman Titty (in <i>Swallows and Amazons</i> by Arthur Ransome) was going to be the hero of the day by unforeseen circumstances. Peals and shrieks of excited laughter, rolling around the couch with excitement because all had seemed lost and then... it WASN'T! If you've read it, you know the moment I'm referring to! If you haven't read it, you should. That's that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Is it really nearing the end of October again? The girls are creating all kinds of drawings of mummies and vampires and Frankenstein's monster and leaving them scattered around the house. Break Week finally arrived and I've been rapidly trying to plan out the next seven weeks which will take us to CHRISTMAS!! This weekend really has to see the end of the Red Riding Hood Cape I'm making for Millie since Halloween is speeding toward us so fast. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My Auntie and her daughter sent the girls a box of goodies with blessings for Millie's healing, and I'm so thankful! I had hours of peace today as they played with reusable stickers and imagined stories. What a blessing to be loved so well by our dear ones. Thank you, Jodi and Hannah. </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Here's a little chat about homeschooling and scheduling while I have a moment. </b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://hislittlewife.blogspot.com/2018/10/how-to-remove-sap-from-hair-and-almost.html"> </a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://hislittlewife.blogspot.com/2018/10/how-to-remove-sap-from-hair-and-almost.html">I indicated that I'd try to write a little about loop scheduling if I had a chance</a>, so I'm going to give a quick rundown of what that is. I was intimidated to mess around with a different way of scheduling because ultimately, scheduling our school traditionally (e.g., planning out what exactly we'd be doing each day of the week) technically was working for us, the girls were learning and we were working through what I wanted to accomplish each year thus far. Only it wasn't really working, because I was always feeling behind and run down - or cracking the whip and rushing through things so we wouldn't get lost and "behind." That's not how I wanted our school days to go. Enter loop scheduling. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A. We have our daily subjects: math, spelling/phonics, copywork, foreign language, Scripture and poem memorization, poetry. Those are easy to schedule per day. But we have many books to read, and lots of beautiful rich elements to the curriculum that I felt were getting pushed aside or lost because I never had a good "schedule" for them. For example, I longed to teach the girls piano lessons last year but it never seemed to happen because I didn't have a good way to plug it into our school day, and I didn't have a lot of non-school hours to devote to more formal teaching. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">B. This year I made a list of all the "Riches" (the beautiful, enriching parts of the curriculum). For the riches, I just listed them on my daily plan with a check box next to each one, so we have things like Drawing, Piano lesson, Composer Study, nature study, picture study, handicrafts, etc in a list together. Three mornings a week we spend an hour working on one of those things: whichever is next in the list to come up. We don't skip, or move on without working on each one. This has ensured that we are actually doing all I'm planning. Even in a week where we only get to our riches twice, we just do the third one at the beginning of the next week and so on. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">C. As for the other subjects like history, literature, natural history, science, geography, I also made a loop but some subjects need to be included more frequently than others. Namely, we tend to have twice as many history and literature readings in our curriculum as we do each of the other kinds of readings, so I made a list where history shows up twice, literature shows up twice and the other subjects show up once. Then we just work through as many as we can in the daily allotted time for scheduled read alouds. Voila! Actually doing it this way has a) given me a sense of freedom and comfortable control instead of always feeling like I was fumbling my way through at breakneck speed and b) we are surprisingly "ahead" of where I expected us to be at this point of the year and I'm considering whether we should slow down a little here and there to make sure we're really absorbing the material, but I think we already are. The girls are making beautiful progress in piano compared to last year when I just couldn't find a chance to squeeze things in. I am marveling at the beauty and simplicity of taking the Ambleside curriculum and just rescheduling it in a way that fits our needs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">D. The last thing I wanted to mention is that even though math is a daily scheduled subject, I'm expanding the freedom I've experienced with loop scheduling into math. I realized one of my girls is really struggling to remember the math addition facts for larger single digit numbers so rather than try to get through one lesson per day, we are going to take some time to just practice rote memorization of the facts, play some math games, and take the lessons more slowly. I might even set aside the curriculum and use Life of Fred again with her for awhile. I would rather slow down and have her really know and understand the math than worry about grade level and placement which doesn't matter to me at all. She is smart and I know she can catch up, especially if we match her work to her needs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I hope that's encouraging to you, friends. Let me know if you have any questions. I ran across the conversation in the Wild + Free podcast today that was about loop scheduling so you might<a href="https://player.fm/series/1394005/219416431"> listen to it here</a> or in any other podcast app you use. The loop scheduling topic begins around 15 minutes in. It's been encouraging to me, and I suspect I'll need to look back at this post in February when I hit the homeschool doldrums. Isn't February the worst? It should be October all school year!</span>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-7587711078852590642018-10-19T12:00:00.000-07:002018-10-19T12:00:06.560-07:00how to remove sap from hair and almost die from chili peppers<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CUjOYT6YfIE/W8lFoiZnfVI/AAAAAAAAP8c/yhBIe3M74GUEiFlx9WZZUKtrbviPxRJEQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4389.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CUjOYT6YfIE/W8lFoiZnfVI/AAAAAAAAP8c/yhBIe3M74GUEiFlx9WZZUKtrbviPxRJEQCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_4389.JPG" width="640" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Okay, so first of all, tree climbing in pines means sap everywhere. Hands, feet, hair, clothes, forehead, cheeks, arms, belly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I've ruled it out for now. However, here's a handy tip if you ever, like I, have children with sap all over their hair: Crisco. Yes. It sounds disgusting. Frankly, it kind of is disgusting. But just trust me: smooth a tiny bit of shortening into the sappy hair and comb it gently out. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Then wash the hair with dishsoap before actually showering with real shampoo. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It works. I promise. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Besides removing a whole lot of sap, this week I frozen several gallons of fresh and roasted peppers. I read that you can freeze whole peppers raw, and since the internet was the source of the sap tip AND the peppers tip, I assume the peppers have to come out fine. Of course the texture won't hold but since they're spicy peppers I wouldn't eat them raw anyways. Actually, I did eat a bite raw as I chopped them -with my bare hands- before I remembered that I was dealing with chili peppers. While putting a nibble into my mouth, I must have also touched my chapped lips with my fingers, and then in response to the burning, I seem to have rubbed my hands all over my face, which subsequently burst into flames. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Not really. But while I like spicy foods, this pain was extreme. Meanwhile, Jesse took a bite, chewed and swallowed and looked at me like I had lost my mind as I flew around the kitchen yelping and in search of some remedy to chill the burning. I honestly thought I must be going into anaphylactic shock as an allergic reaction because there was no other explanation that could enter my mind at that moment for the intense pain I was suffering (not even the obvious explanation of touching my burning face with my chili pepper hands). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We had to leave the house 10 minutes later, and by the time we arrived at our destination, I wasn't sweating anymore and I could feel my tongue and face again. All was well. Needless to say, I plan to use more caution when using the rest of the chilis.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This weekend is green-tomato time, where I pull a hundred tomatoes off the vine and leave them in boxes scattered around the house to ripen. I'd like to say they are in a logical place like a root cellar or a garage, but since we don't have either of those really, there will be boxes in closets and crawl spaces and in the laundry room until we slowly eat through them until January. It's a relief by the time they're all ripe and eaten, because I get my house back from the garden produce. Maybe there's a better way, but I don't have time to think of it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Millie's ankle is healing and she will be in the cast for just four more weeks. Five weeks for a fractured ankle? Children are amazing. She is cranky and pretty unpleasant, truth be told, but after a week of mostly immobility, she is now navigating the stairs carefully and can join her sisters wherever they are indoors. She can't climb trees with them thank heaveans (see above regarding sap) but the weather is cooling off enough and the season is changing so that they are turning toward indoor afternoon activities more often. Legos and puzzles have been our lifeline this week!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We are finishing our seventh week of school tomorrow, or what I call "Term 1A," which just means the first chunk of time before our first Break Week. OH BREAK WEEK I'M DYING FOR YOU! I can't wait. Maybe I'll get a few minutes to catch up on housework! Plan ahead for the next half term until Christmas. I usually do six weeks and then a break week and now I remember why: week seven everyone is CRANKY (including me) and ready for a breather. We do work pretty hard on our school weeks and the break is well earned. I don't have time to write about it now but I switched to using a Loop Schedule for many of our scheduled subjects this year and love it. I feel way less stressed about staying on a schedule and trust that we will just get everything done - and we are staying right on track in spite of a half week off in September for vacation and a little spotty week last week with Millie's ankle. Feel free to leave a comment if you want me to write more about our loop schedule, or just say hello! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> I am really happy to be back to writing - my amazing husband forces me to take the night off on Thursdays when possible so that I have time to write or work on my shop or do whatever my soul requires. </span></div>
Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-91779651532337937512018-10-11T21:30:00.004-07:002018-10-11T21:33:46.148-07:00Fractured<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Well, glancing at the pictures I had of Millie from the past month, I now realize that the broken bone was inevitable. I began to laugh as I flipped through the images looking for what I wanted to add to this post and nearly every single one was of her doing something up off the ground: climbing trees, sitting up on the bales of hay in the haybarn, and so on. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So it should have come as no surprise to me when she decided to take a flying leap off the roof of a shed this weekend and, of course, fractured her ankle. She is quite embarrassed about it now so I will spare her the details of why she decided she could do that without harm, but suffice it to say, it still came as a surprise to me to discover she had really injured herself. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We really strive to have an attitude of unfettered childhood exploration in our parenting, and I am convinced that we have actually had so few injuries (this is really our first one ever) because they have each had so much practice climbing and hanging and swinging that they are typically good at knowing their limits. Oh my Millie girl, I imagine that she was lost in her imagination-land and didn't really think things through in spite of all the other kids she was with admonishing her not to jump. Jump she did, and she landed right into six weeks of non-weight bearing and a nice firm cast to keep things from shifting as the bone heals. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">No climbing. No jumping. No running. No ballet. No.... no.... no...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So here we are.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">She was the bravest little trooper ever, laughing and smiling through the pain and finding all kinds of humor as we sat for hours through medical exams this week together. When I had lost my ability to laugh, she was able to make me laugh again anyway. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I am so thankful it wasn't worse, since the height from which she jumped really could definitely have led to a head injury or other much more serious injury. As it is, the kind of fracture she has sometimes requires surgery if the bones have, I guess, shifted, and thanks to the Lord, hers don't seem to have, so the doctor was reassuring that he thought the casting would be sufficient. We'll know more with additional x-rays in a week to check on things. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is hard as mama to watch her suffer, even the loneliness of being stuck fairly immobile and the sorrow of missing ballet, the true highlight of her week. The first couple days on crutches were difficult and uncoordinated, but she motored on fearlessly and now she is realizing they're substitutes for her leg and started to cruise around a lot more quickly. I am proud of her and proud that she is making it through. We are making it through. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">P.S. If anyone wants to come sit and listen to her chatter away for an hour some afternoon to give my ears a break... say the word! Ha! </span></span><br />
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Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-44020510389279208392018-09-05T21:44:00.005-07:002018-09-05T21:49:27.876-07:00beginning again<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Beautiful Lyddie who is close enough to resembling a young woman these days that I get glimpses of the stunning woman she is becoming. Funny, witty, so so smart and curious, she loves to explore the world around her, focusing on the external things and how they work and how they relate to her. The way her eyes light up with wonder at the most interesting things: the way a hermit crab hatches just the size of a pencil dot, the fact that Magellan's crew sailed around the entire world and how she traced the route on the globe three times with her finger to make sure she really understood the enormity of that feat. She does everything fast, wanting to move through life at a clip and I try to breathe deep and let her fly on through, feeling, touching, tasting, experiencing everything before her. Am I ever spreading a wide enough feast of learning for this one who is finished with everything before I've hardly begun? I aim to teach her to slow her pace just a little at times, to really take everything in, which is just one of the thousands of reasons I am thankful for the thoughts Charlotte Mason put forward about really going slowly enough through the Things of education that they can be savored and digested and incorporated into one's own self. She gets so frustrated by the limitations that have been historically placed on women as we do our work of learning together, that I just cheer her on to press into the freedom she has as a girl made unique and beautiful and strong in His image. Oh how I am proud of her strength! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Precious artistic amazing Millie, who, with her toothless grin lights up my life with new understanding and appreciation. She and I are so different, about as opposite as her daddy and I are, but I hope maybe we share a closeness made possible by those differences. All she does has a touch of grace to it, whether it is dancing, handwriting, reciting poetry, telling jokes, swinging on the tire swing, or wrapping her arms around my neck in an embrace. She is a contradiction: soft and delicate and easily bruised but also hard as flint and stubborn as a boulder. How can this be? I wonder and watch and learn from her how to see the world in new ways. She needs quiet spaces and moments, and I am learning that she needs time to think her thoughts before she is ready to share them; another difference between us, since I am more like her big sister who talks her thoughts as she thinks them. Today she made up her mind that she wants to become a professional ballerina and her life goal at the moment is to someday get the part of Clara in The Nutcracker. If anyone can set her mind to this thing and achieve it, it is definitely my Millie, and I am her biggest cheerleader as she chassés her way there. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">(the first year Rosie has had a real stack in our back-to-school reveal celebration!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cuddly imaginative laughing Rosie who makes my heart yearn for days past when she was truly my baby and who I couldn't delight in more than I currently do. Rosie is in kindergarten this year and, true to her personality, is ecstatic to finally be "doing school" like her sisters. Kindergarten here is very gentle: some reading lessons as she is interested, reading aloud beautiful books, and taking part in all the "riches" of the curriculum that we do, like drawing lessons, Spanish, gentle piano lessons, composer study, poetry, Scripture memory, etc. She declares that she wants to do reading lessons, but I can tell she is not yet ready to think of herself as A Reader. Indeed, I don't think she quite has made the connection that when she can read, a world of books will open to her. Her sisters both innately seemed to have this understanding by age four and were desperate to read for themselves, but Rosie is content to go at her own pace as long as she feels she is participating in the same things they are. I love this independence in her; she is content to play and entertain herself for long stretches of time if no one is available or interested in her chosen activity. She wakes early in the morning and comes to cuddle with me as I read through Scripture, climbing up and tucking herself under the throw blanket on my lap. She leans her head against my chest quietly as I continue to read. She now knows that if she chatters too much at this early hour, I will have to send her away because I truly need a few minutes of quiet waking time, so now she waits patiently until my eyes have actually opened all the way before she launches into telling me her unusual dreams and any other thought that flits through her mind. The growing up happening in our house has the tang of bittersweet to me, but Rosie's growing up is especially so, as she is my baby and possibly the last time I will get to experience these mothering joys and struggles. I have come to recognize that this is not a form of favoritism but a letting go in trust that the Lord has given and the Lord can take away and can give back again, and it is okay to grieve and rejoice at the same the passing of a season of life. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">These are three of my chiefest earthly blessings. </span></div>
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Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-82467445168923579572018-06-15T00:45:00.000-07:002018-06-15T00:45:26.982-07:00summer begins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The spring has given way to summer. The garden spills over with green and beauty. Peas are climbing the teepee and producing so many that we can't keep up with picking them; the same is true of the raspberries, though I'm doing my best. Green tomatoes appear where yellow flowers once were, and I'm on my second planting of salad greens since it got warm enough that they all bolted. One of my favorite things in the garden this year is the new square raised bed where I just scattered wildflower seeds for now until I plant perennials to make a cutting garden. I've always tried to grow wildflowers here and there but with no success until this year. I now have Bachelor's Buttons, orange poppies and big floppy red poppies, calendula and other beauties in a riot of color. It's really pretty. </div>
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Above our porch steps, on a branch of one of our birch trees, rests a tiny cup of a nest where Madame Hummingbird rests for mere moments a day, when she's not visiting our feeder, our snapdragons, or resting atop the bean trellis in the garden. I wish we could get a peek in the nest which should contain two tiny white bean-sized eggs, but we must content ourselves with watching mama zip back and forth above our heads all day long. </div>
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The hay is cut and lays in the field waiting to be baled. The red-tailed hawk "chicks" have fledged and make the most unsettling cry all day from the branches of the maple in the nearby pasture. I planted three little Rose of Sharon cuttings in the yard today. The girls read and read and play and play. Lyddie has found some "science" experiments in a book and decided to try the old vinegar/baking soda "bomb" activity today. Carefully, all girls stood three feet back from the plastic bag containing their explosive, and watching with rapt attention as the contents foamed and sizzled, and finally "<span style="font-size: x-small;">pop</span>" went the sandwich bag. A little anticlimactic if you ask me, but if you ask them, it was high entertainment. I love that they're smart enough and big enough to completely independently gather the materials and measure it all out and follow the directions to stuff like this now. Well, mainly Lyddie, still, but the other two were excited, too.</div>
<br />Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-76886665069148772212018-06-14T23:56:00.001-07:002018-06-15T00:48:22.451-07:00ballet recital<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This spring held our first ballet recital for the older girls. It was delightful to see how excited they were to be on stage before an audience; rather than having stage fright, they both were so disappointed to only have one performance! We were so thankful for dear family and friends who came and spent the afternoon with us. I couldn't love these dear girls more. </span>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-39998036747765590122018-05-05T16:36:00.001-07:002018-05-05T16:36:09.831-07:00one of a kind<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">MillieKay, MilMil, Milliebug, Amelia Kay. Your personality is so big that you need several names to go along with it. Seven. You are seven! As you like to remind me, just three more years until you turn ten (followed by peals of maniacal laughter since I always tease and say you're not allowed to talk about that yet.) You are so creative and such an artist at everything you put your hand to. You are graceful in ballet, and drawing seems to be a second language to you. You have been adding regularly to your nature sketchbook all the beautiful finds you are making, like puffball mushrooms and lilac blossoms, and Southern Dogface butterflies. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">You begged to have your "own party" this year, not shared with your sister like we have always done. I conceded that your other option was to invite three friends (plus sisters) to the trampoline park and then out to Dairy Queen. I guess that was acceptable because we piled in your friends and jumped for an hour before getting chicken strips and ice cream at DQ. At the trampoline park, I watched you run, giggling, playing Follow the Leader in a line with your friends along the trampoline floor and I was so happy that you have these friends in your life and I said a prayer for many years of happy memories together with them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">You are one of a kind, my Millie girl, and I am so glad I get to be your mama. Life with you has always been and, I am sure, always will be, an exciting adventure as you balance your enthusiasm with your sensitive spirit. Love you bunches and bunches.</span><br />
<br />Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-46484736527127369062018-05-05T16:07:00.001-07:002018-05-05T16:07:18.557-07:00F*I*V*E<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">My Rosie, you are so big! Your smile during your entire little birthday celebration lit up the room whenever you were in it. You came up with the guest list of your little friends and asked for a "flower birthday" that was "teal and pink." Your sisters and the other big sisters of your friends were welcome as Helpers and they were really good at helping so that mommies could visit and eat and sit with their babies. It was your idea to "Pin the stem on the flower," although I changed it a little by making it a bee we were pinning to the flower because I thought it would be easier to decide who was the winner that way. I loved watching you and your friends decorate and create flowers, and eat sandwiches and play on the tire swing. What a happy day!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">You loved your pink cake and I overheard you taking your friend Rex over to see it, saying, "My mommy made it for me!" Birthday cakes are a fun tradition now in our family and even though they might not always (or usually) turn out exactly the way I had hoped, YOU loved it and that's what is important to me because I want you to know that I am so happy God gave you to our family now and always.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">When I look at your face I can see that you are not a baby anymore but are a big girl. I know I should just plain be happy about this, and oh, I am so so happy about how big and smart and special and beautiful and funny you are growing up to be, but I also remember all the times when you were littler and how special those times were and I miss them. I feel this at all your sisters' birthdays too. Time is a funny thing, how it slips away, and no matter how carefully I am trying to treasure up the time and the days, it still escapes my grasp, and I am left breathless waiting for the day when I will catch up and feel like I understand how you are growing. I don't think that day will come, but somehow I keep waiting for it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">So now you are five and as wonderful as can be. You love to entertain us with stories and songs and little plays. You love to dig in the dirt and make people laugh and you say the most beautiful original prayers in the way you know that God really hears you and cares what you have to say. Your prayers are a good reminder to me of how to pray. You are learning to read after begging to be taught, and then oh, boy, the joys of reading will be open to you so soon! I love you, my darling Rosemary Joy. Grow straight and true and be brave.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Love,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Your mommy</span>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-25326809235211581152018-05-01T23:11:00.000-07:002018-05-01T23:11:03.520-07:00life giving<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ballet pictures tonight. I've loved watching them grow in skill and courage this year. <br />
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This month I now have a 5, 7, and 8 year old. If someone could explain to me how this happened, I'd really appreciate it. <br />
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I've struggled to keep updating here because, frankly, my computer is so slow that it takes me three times longer to upload pictures than it should. Eventually I'll have something new and then using this space as a little journal will be easier again. I suppose I could just write without the photos but life is so full right now that I don't think I have time for a lot of writing. It's a good thing to look forward to someday. <br />
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Little things I am finding life-giving right now: <br />
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-getting my hands back in the springtime soil while planting beans, peas, potatoes, greens, carrots, and then watching them push through the earth. I feel a little like a seed buried in the soil in the dark these days waiting for the light to warm me and draw me upward. Growth requires a death of sorts and if that's true then I'm all kinds of growing right now. <br />
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-friendships and sisterhood. This year has been a year full of encouragement in friendship for me. I am overwhelmed by the place the Lord has brought me to where I have true sisters that hold me up and allow me to hold them up before our Father, where we enter His presence together. There was a time when I thought that my loneliness would overwhelm me for all my days, but I should have known better. The Lord is so kind, so compassionate, and longs for his children to be in unity with one another. I have been so blessed by the sisters and brothers in our church family and why should this joy surprise me? It's a pleasant surprise, really, like a gift you weren't aware you were going to receive and then someone drops a thing you have longed for in your lap.<br />
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-animals; Jesse has been working really hard to prepare our pasture for animals so we don't have weed-filled acreage this year. That has meant repairing missing fencing, devising creative ways to add fencing in places where the soil has eroded into the neighbor's property from an old gate and pathway, and stringing electrical wire. We looked at a pair of Nubian cross doelings (goats) this week that we are planning to bring home very soon, a long-time dream. A steer may be in the future as well.<br />
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-reading in the evenings before sleep. I prefer to have several books in process at once nowadays. My favorites most recently have been <i>Station Eleven</i> by Emily St. John Mandel, and the <i>Time</i> series by Madeleine L'Engle. We spend an inordinate amount of time reading as a family and during our school day, which means so many books at once that are enriching my heart and mind, like Pilgrim's Progress and Howard Pyle's Robin Hood. It's really true for me that educating my children is educating myself all over again. <br />
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-making. Knitting and sewing and stitching give my hands something to do while my brain works out the many things backlogged. My current favorite are little sundresses I'm making for the girls which have knitted cotton bodices and calico skirts in bright and colorful prints. I'm hoping to make some additional dresses to tuck into the shop very soon, the poor shop which has fallen behind in these busy spring months. <br />
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Those are some of the happy things of my days. Life isn't easy or straightforward and there are many troubling things in my world that one day I will share, but I can choose to celebrate the beauty around me in this space where I record the joys. For the past five years I have realized that recording this beauty in a place that I can easily look back upon only spurs me toward thanksgiving and peace in my daily moments now. God is gracious. God is so good to me.<br />
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<br />Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-10046149876073362018-03-14T21:40:00.001-07:002018-03-14T21:40:51.055-07:00Springtime School<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We are headed into the third and final term of the school year and it's been a really happy school year. Those girls are getting big so fast! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Millie is in the middle of her first grade year and we've been reading some beautiful books together, including British history (as a natural precursor to American history), some interesting historical tales like Cincinnatus and William Tell, Paddle to the Sea (geography of the Midwest) and other interesting simple biographies, then poetry by A.A. Milne! Tales from Shakespeare! She likes to walk around the property with the bird guide trying to identify some of the new birds migrating back from the south. To get some extra practice, we're taking a little time to play more math games to solidify math addition and subtraction facts as well as reading "Life of Fred" at teatime (something they BEG for). She is incredibly artistic and our drawing lessons are a source of joy and sometimes angst when it's not going exactly the way she is hoping.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Second grade with Lyddie is as interesting and fun as the first year. In many ways it is a continuation of last year's work, and I can see so many specific ways that foundation is being built upon. Even many of our books are the same into next year (third grade) with a several additional books to go along with them. We just finished reading<i> The Wind in the Willows, Heidi</i>, and are finishing up <i>The Little Duke, </i>the true story and adventures of young Duke Richard of Normandy. The latter has been a really interesting experience together, in part because it was a real challenge to wade through the language at the beginning of the school year but is no longer what seems like an insurmountable mountain. Along with drawing, both girls have been knitting and weaving looms and practicing piano. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Rosie participates in a lot of the "riches" (picture study, composer, poetry, drawing); she just memorized the poem "Daffadowndilly" by AA Milne the last few weeks and is so cute reciting it as she goes about the house working on her chores. She is learning to read, my little baby learning to read. How is it all going so fast?</span>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-45502907693493099702018-01-05T22:24:00.000-08:002018-01-05T22:24:25.272-08:00Yarn Along cozy January<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">What a sweet thing to learn that the <a href="http://www.gsheller.com/2018/01/yarn-along-324.html">Yarn Along community</a> is returning to Ginny's blog after a year's hiatus. I have missed having a simple place to connect to other knitters and their projects! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I am mainly knitting right now for <a href="http://www.thecleverhen.etsy.com/">The Clever Hen</a>, (yes, I opened up a little shop this past fall and have been kept busy!) and am thankful for the orders I've received. Currently on the needles is <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/566840736/anthropologie-inspired-handknit-laced?ref=shop_home_feat_3">a hat I designed from an Anthropologie-inspiration;</a> I wear my prototype (second picture above) all the time and hope that others will too. The big, feminine ribbon is able to go in the side or back. I'm planning to make others in gold and gray and a romantic dusty blue too, and I've toyed with the idea of producing the pattern for sale eventually. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I'm also working on a chunky cable knit hat in teal that will be topped with a big cream or gray pom pom... also for the shop...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">And I <i>just </i>cast off a huge chunky cowl with the cutest bobbles; I love that cream with the glittery gold thread running through it so subtly. The (free!) pattern by While They Play Designs can be found <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/whitman-cowl-2">here.</a> I've knit three of these over the years over the years as gifts and LOVE the pattern. This one is going in the shop too (do you sense a theme to my January knitting?) along with a dark gray with a silver thread. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I'm (obviously) excited about the different ideas and goals I have for the Hen this year. <3 a="" been="" but="" cross-stitch="" few="" font="" for="" have="" haven="" i="" knits="" knitting="" lately.="" m="" much="" myself.="" nbsp="" needles="" not="" on="" personal="" t="" the="" them="" too="" ve="" when="" worked="" working=""></3></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I've started my reading game strong this year; I'm on track to finish all three of the books pictured by the end of January. Robin Hood is a pre-read for school, the others are just for me. I <i>love</i> the Madeline L'Engle series and was glancing back through my book journal for an entirely different reason when I realized I last read them almost exactly 11 years ago. I couldn't believe it has been that long; it felt like only a couple years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">So happy about all the links I get to click through at this first Yarn Along of 2018 at <a href="http://www.gsheller.com/2018/01/yarn-along-324.html">Ginny's Yarn Along</a>. </span>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-84928816049827204362018-01-05T21:36:00.003-08:002018-01-05T21:38:28.017-08:00tidings<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-top: 8px;">
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Tidings of comfort and joy</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">The heavy winter days have descended and there is sickness, sorrow, pain, death. In contrast to the lights and the happiness that seem to be out around and everywhere during the holidays, grief is outlined all the more against the backdrop of joy. It may be my own grief or it may be my neighbor's this time around, but the darkness of sin and its consequences stand darkly silhouetted. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Remember those words the angel said: For behold. </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Oblique; font-size: 16pt; font-style: italic;">Behold. </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Stop and look. See here! he says. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">I bring you The Good News. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">I bring this Best news for </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Oblique; font-size: 16pt; font-style: italic;">all of you</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">yeah you</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">the one shivering in the cold with nowhere to go</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">the woman about to stick a needle in her vein in her vain search for comfort and joy</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">the tired mom who starts to suspect that she really never will be enough</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">the outlaw hiding from everyone he knows </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">the child huddled under a blanket on the floor with his siblings</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">the ex-con who can't find work or purpose</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">the garbage collector</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">the prison guard</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">the Walmart bagger</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">the trucker on the lonely road, </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">the executive trying to depend on himself alone, </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">the soldier far from home in a lonely land </span></div>
<span style="font-size: 21.3333px;">you</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Oblique; font-size: 16pt; font-style: italic;">All people. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">This is </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Oblique; font-size: 16pt; font-style: italic;">the only, {I'll say it again, THE ONLY}</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> comfort and only joy we can find in the face of the great suffering included in human existence. "Look at this. The virgin will conceive and bear a son and they will call his name Immanuel which is 'God is with us.'" (Matthew 1:23)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">God is with us. Now bust open that sky with light and celebrate with love and hope and joy, not just last month around the tree but every day because every day brings the same good news that the angel brought when you have Jesus.</span></div>
Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-15562967923270265762017-12-11T00:23:00.001-08:002017-12-11T00:23:30.512-08:00The Clever Hen, open for business!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winter is upon us. Here in the Northwest the trees are barren, the skies cloudy, the garden is asleep. The water for all our animals is frozen every morning, so we haul out warm water to thaw it out. We begin our first week of winter break and hopefully will spend the days preparing of Christmas in our home and in our greater community on the Rez. This year this has involved making several dozen sugar cookies and making a nearly forty fleecy gifts for the children who come to Kingdom Kids, which are now piled high in our guest room, aka Santa's workshop. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am delighted to share here that I have opened <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheCleverHen?ref=seller-platform-mcnav">a little Etsy shop</a>, The Clever Hen, for selling handknit items for all ages. Over the years I have had so many friends and family members ask when I will begin to sell some of the things I make and I always shrug and end up deciding I haven't had time to knit what I wanted to knit <i>and</i> knit to sell. Now that my little girls are a bit older and I squeeze in knitting during school hours and evenings, I took the plunge and listed a few of my favorite things in the shop that I actually reserved and began to dream about five years ago. This has actually kept me so busy that I am just now catching up on all the private local orders I've had! I've sold several custom knits to local friends this month and have a few more in the wings, not to mention a lot of exciting plans and ideas for the types of listings I want to create and list once there is a lull. I am prepping an adult Anthropologie-copycat hat in a soft pink with satin ribbon (so pretty) and have a chunky cowl in mind after that. I am still working on sprucing up the shop with photos and announcements, and eventually will host a few giveaways, probably through my Instagram, so if you think you might be interested, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sarahdempsen/">go follow me over there!</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have made firm guidelines about which toys the girls are allowed to play with in a given week and they must ask to bring anything out besides the toys assigned for the week. I was discovering that I either needed to pare our beautiful toys down a lot (which I hate to do because I LOVE high quality children's toys which is why we have several options) or create a loose system that avoids five different expansive play options all out in different rooms at one time in one afternoon. Beyond the logistics of cleaning and tidiness, I was suspecting it would bring increased focus to their play and sure enough, that does seem to be true. It is my sincere hope that having fewer toy choice at one time will make this winter survivable ... for me. I am not yet really very good at keeping such a large house tidy while also balancing motherhood, homeschooling, and ministry. While I'm the first to acknowledge what a delightful problem that is to have... it's still a problem! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So happy December to all of my friends who have found me here. Let me know you stopped by so I can visit you back! Check out my shop and see what I've been working on! </span></div>
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<br />Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-53781688982237286282017-09-26T23:03:00.000-07:002017-09-26T23:03:03.635-07:00...motherhood is fierce and wonderful... (and my lengthy current booklist!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Fall colors, fair fun, moody skies. School days fly by with lots of books and drawing and music and math. Millie is learning about ancient British history, which is a pre-cursor to the (closer-to-home) American history Lyddie is now learning. I am reading through a lot of the girls' books ahead of time so that I am a little ahead of the curve. Homeschooling is really a part-time job, did you know that? It takes me several hours every day to prep, teach, clean up, and prep for the next day. It means I have to pick and choose what I'm able to accomplish or participate in <i>very</i> carefully to leave time for keeping up with running the home, spending time with Rosie, managing my friendships that I cherish, and maintaining one or two things that are mainly for <i>me, </i>like knitting or cross-stitching or reading or, yes, exercising (my least favorite but probably most essential renewed "hobby"). If something doesn't make the cut it doesn't mean it's not wonderful or important but just that I am so completely aware of my finite abilities that I know I won't do anything well if I add it in. What a balancing act. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We are participating/helping with Kingdom Kids two afternoons a week. All of us girls really enjoy going and being with the kids and having fun. I find it <i>really</i> life-giving. I try to keep an open hand with whatever the Lord has put in front of me, knowing that my main priorities of mothering this stage may call me elsewhere, but I feel thankful that my little three are doing well and enabling me to participate in something outside of our home that brings me such joy and delight in the long run. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I haven't done any canning or preserving of any kind this year, which is really unusual but unsurprising, so to make up for it, I bought two boxes of peaches that I'm quickly trying to can so we have several jars to grab this winter to go alongside soup dinners. Fourteen jars in and I still have another whole box to put up. I also have a cantaloupe I want to make into jam from <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Food-Jars-Preserving-Batches-Year-Round/dp/0762441437/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506490584&sr=8-1&keywords=food+in+jars">Food in Jars</a></i>- a recipe I've been wanting to try for a few years because we really love melon. I plan to do some applesauce too, if I can, and that's about it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We had a surprise batch of chicks hatch from a broody free-ranging hen and they are just the absolute cutest thing. Although we weren't desirous of any more chickens, (we already have about 17), I never get tired of watching them trail after their mama, who is as protective as can be and fiercely fluffs her feathers up and will fly at anyone ostensibly posing a threat to her brood. Motherhood is fierce and wonderful. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">As long as I'm just writing a rambly post, I'll note my booklist: </span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Patrick-Rothfuss-Name-Wind/dp/B00N4FM9PW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1506491184&sr=8-4&keywords=name+of+the+wind">The Name of the Wind</a> </i>by Patrick Rothfuss is a really well written novel in the fantasy genre but is what I'd call "gateway" fantasy. The story is very good and it doesn't really fit all the "tropes" that some of the fantasy series rely so heavily on. Jesse also picked it up to reread it after I started, in order to beat me to the second book, which, since I did give it to him last year as a gift, I guess I should defer to him.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> I'm also reading <i>Harry Potter: The Order of the Phoenix,</i> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Slowly making my way through<i> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Pilgrim-Tinker-Harper-Perennial-Classics/dp/0061233323/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506491377&sr=8-1&keywords=pilgrim+at+tinker+creek">Pilgrim at Tinker Creek </a></i>by Annie Dillard, </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Reading <i><a href="http://www.amblesideonline.org/CM/toc.html#2">Volume II: Parents and Children</a></i> of Charlotte Mason's Home Education series (excellent and full of Aha! moments!)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> finally nearing the end of listening to <i>The Count of Monte Cristo</i> along with the <a href="http://www.crafting-a-life.com/craftlit">CraftLit</a> podcast</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">and delighting in listening to <i><a href="http://hcforgottenclassics.blogspot.com/2017/05/episode-349-green-jacket-ch-1-4.html">The Green Jacket</a> </i> along with the Forgotten Classics podcast</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">For the girls' school pre-reading, I just read </span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">Pinocchio</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> for the first time ever and</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">Otto of the Silver Hand</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> by Howard Pyle, which is a book I remember really loving when I read it as a child for school and I think Lyddie is going to love it when I hand it to her as a free read, </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Now I'm working on the <i>Crimson Fairy Book</i> of fairy stories compiled by Andrew Lang. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> I don't know how I'm squeezing in so much reading; I'm not really, I just fly through the school books in a couple days each, and my own reading is much slower than that. How lovely it is that there are so many delicious books.</span>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-83395778499367823612017-09-13T23:12:00.002-07:002017-09-13T23:12:22.979-07:00September is nice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Back to school! Busy as can be, I wake up early every morning and head to bed a little too late, just to stay on top of things right now. The sky turns to dusk earlier and earlier so that by 8:30 the sun has set and it's quite dark, and I get so disoriented; surely it's time to turn in but there's still so much to do. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Homeschooling two in these early years is surprisingly not much more work than one so far, especially since I spent a significant amount of time this summer preparing and planning. We start school at 8,break for chores at 9, and are done with most everything by noon. The mornings are jam-packed with a great variety of short lessons: Bible, poetry, memorization, drawing, spelling, math, literature, history, geography, natural science, a variety of music, penmanship, and other happy things. Rosie loves to join in sometimes and other times she's making her own fun in the mud or on the swings or in the sensory bins I have put together for her. Afternoons hold splashing in homemade mud puddles while swinging, knitting**, stripping bark from walking sticks ("Daddy's going to give it an oil finish if we get all the bark off!!"), cross-stitch, playing with frogs, digging in the dirt, a bit more pleasure reading... September is nice. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Lyddie and Millie had their very first ballet class this week and couldn't have been more delighted. Rosie will be well prepared when it comes to be her turn in a couple years since they have spent all kinds of time talking and teaching her what they learned. And they are just the sweetest little ballerinas in their dearly loved leotards. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">** I am working on a little knit dress for Rosie that she picked out called <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/anakhoreo">Anakhoreo</a> by Taiga Hilliard, who designed the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/SarahDempsen/rio-dress">Rio dress </a>I made for Rosie when she was an infant, and which she was able to wear until she was probably three. This is a very similar pattern but with a cable panel rather than a seed stitch panel. Part of why I loved the Rio so much was the yarn - frog tree pediboo was delightful and totally held up like a dream. This is just knit picks swish which I like - it's a good quality for the price, but which will probably not hold up as well and it definitely won't have the same soft drape as the Pediboo. But it will be sweet all the same!</span>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35946782.post-66350456428578960482017-08-10T22:42:00.001-07:002017-08-10T22:42:09.770-07:00august 10 glimpse<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Suddenly the light stands out to me everywhere. I realized I am not photographing my children, or my surroundings. I'm photographing light. That sudden lightning bolt has affected my mental process behind the camera recently and I am always looking to capture the light. I know that it is a very basic and simple photography concept that took way too long to really click into my head but it's not really my head it clicked into; it is more my heart and my understanding of light and shadows and how their interplay makes up the world around us. There's a metaphor there. I doubt there is any visible difference in my pictures, but the consciousness is there and ready to be stretched and developed. I really love the way a camera captures beauty, sorrow, fear, disgust - all these things that can be contemplated later and remembered with a sigh or a laugh. It is my life that I am capturing with the light. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I accidentally capture my children's personalities - Lyddie trying out whether she likes to perform for the camera or ignore it, Rosie mostly unconscious of me in the background looking for the light, Millie deliberately ignoring mostly, but eager to see the pictures later and smiling at the memories they hold. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">My favorite current book holds the same light and shadows. <i>Lila </i>by Marilynne Robinson does not disappoint after having read <i>Gilead </i>by the same author. I am swept along in Lila's thoughts, and it is fascinating to hear her story from her own perspective after having read the other book from her husband's point of view. Her childhood of neglect and rescuing, her early adulthood of abandonment and sorrow, her mature womanhood with a pinprick of faith alongside all the mistrust and doubt that come naturally after traumatic experiences. I really do get lost in her memories and reflections as I wander the outskirts of Gilead with her. It is reminiscent of Wendell Berry but rather than writing about fairly healthy and functional communities that are evaporating, Robinson seems drawn to the beauty <i>in the midst of</i> the brokenness. Not that Berry doesn't succeed in the same things, but they are different in that way. If you like Wendell Berry, you will probably like giving this author a go. If you do or if you have already read her books, drop me a note and let me know what you think in the comments. </span></div>
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Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12598559862646004257noreply@blogger.com3