Valentine Fun

A beautiful mess.

This table was clean before the making of the Valentine mailboxes.  

It was very clean.  Even delightfully clean.

 I didn't really feel like I had time to facilitate Valentines boxes this year.  It just felt like too much.

But, they found their inspiration and told me the supplies that I needed to purchase, which basically amounted to millions of cotton balls and a dollar store trash can.  

After that, I just needed to make sure we saved boxes and milk jugs.

I was so glad we did it.  Amongst the mess, I enjoyed facilitating and directing their projects.  

The mess was worth it!  The extra details and time were worth it! 

While they were crafting, they reflected on the boxes they had created over the years.  I specifically remembered only a few of them, but they remembered so many more than I did.  

I'm reminding myself:

That's why we make the messes.

To make the memories.

This is true quality time here in the beautiful mess.

Glue guns, cotton balls, and paint.

And memories.

Check out these adorable Valentine shirts they crafted with Grandma last weekend.  Now, we are fully prepared for our traditional co-op class party.  

Behold the power of tradition!  

When we returned home, laden with candy, cards, random pencils, and creative treats, we said, 

"NOW, we feel like we had Valentine's Day."  

 Dominique

Some Cozy Tea Things

Our solution to everything around here is to make some tea.  

When I was in Hershey recently, I was tickled to snag this tea kettle from a thrift store there.  It's for tea time at our Ladies Bible Study gatherings.  Everybody feels a little more at home with a hot cuppa in their hands.  

For my birthday this year, my sister got me a holiday box of teas.  Personally, I enjoyed the Reindeer Drool and Frosty's Winter Brew blends the best!

And this tea infuser!  The snowman charm makes me smile every time I see it!

A friend gave me some fun tea signs that brighten my kitchen up too!

I've even enjoyed coloring about tea lately.  The Blossoms and I were relaxing around the dining room table and coloring the other evening.  My page was inspired by the blue and white porcelain that is so quaintly beautiful.

I enjoy winter more when I celebrate the little things!

Where is the Good in February?

February, 2022 ~ How can this be?!  

Deep in the throes of winter, with whites and browns around us, I heard Blossom4 gleefully announce yesterday, "I love winter!!!"  She was scampering through the woods, returning from a venture to their fort with sisters and cousins clambering about her.

I suppose she approaches it with childlike simplicity.

She sees the good things.  And maybe the struggles pale for her.  

Yes, there truly are struggles for the Blossoms.  Caring for their micro farm livestock in this weather is not an easy task.  The ice makes chore time treacherous.  The layers are bulky.  There is extra work to make sure everything is warm, dry, and well fed.  And yet, she loves winter?

It could be the hot chocolate and muffins, or the sledding.

Watching her, I'm leaning on her childlike approach to February.  

While I did sled the other day (it hurt), the secret isn't there.  

It seems Blosoms4 focuses more on the good.  She must be honing in on the blessings of each day.  

So, today, I lingered a little longer as I gazed out the living room windows at each beautiful shade of crisp white, brilliant azure blue and all the calming neutral browns that no fashion designer can put together as well as the Great Designer.   Even the mud yesterday was a deeply intense sepia color that Bob Ross couldn't duplicate.

I celebrated that although the schedule for a family of six is always busy, I have a Valentine's date with my Rugged Mountain Man to look forward to.  There are yummy things on the menu and it will be just us two... finishing thoughts left and right!

I let my heart feel full as I watched the Blossoms troop out to feed the animals this morning.  Garbed in their off brand Carhartts, hand-me-down camos, and dirty muck boots, they laughed a little and lugged their buckets.  Their moments of camaraderie bless me.

I inhaled deeply the fragrance of homemade rolls baking and I reminded the Blossoms that mama has been making this recipe with her mama ever since she was a preteen.  

I smiled when my brother pointed out that this is a prime time for looking at animal tracks in the snow.  We found it fascinating to follow tracks to and from the creek with the Blossoms on Saturday.

And there's always tea... with cozy blankets and thick socks.  

When the schedule gets busy and the snow keeps coming, I'll take a lesson from Blossom4.

Dominique

 

When the Drama Finds You

Why do I sweat the small stuff?  

I want to keep the big picture in my mind every moment of the day.  That seems like a lofty goal to attain to, but loving and living for Jesus reminds me daily that this life is about so much more.  

I hit "end" on what turned out to be a confrontational phone call.  I wasn't expecting it.  I could barely breathe.  I was struggling to keep my voice steady.  The emotional aftermath was the usual rush of tears, which I fought hard to keep in check. Because the confrontation was over a disagreement in one of my volunteer "side hustles."  

I think someone should have done something one way.  They think what they did was totally fine.  Now it means a boatload more work for me.  Time already allocated for other more important things and not for this.

The Blossoms are all around me.  I can't focus on any task.  They want to know what's wrong.  

Right now, I have friends who are battling through scary sickness.

I have family members who received horrible news from the doctor and are going through incredibly hard things.

I stepped out onto the porch, breathed deeply, and groaned aloud in frustration and anger.  The porch is sometimes my prayer closet.

And clarity crept in.

Despite my big, big feelings, this truly is a small, small thing.  

Dominique

Around a Crackling Fire

My dream job is right where I am right now, but that doesn't mean it's always dreamy.  

Daily I strive to embrace the beautiful, unique nuances that characterize our every day (different) life so that the hard parts don't eclipse the goodness.  

It's the freedom to savor a crackling fire in the fireplace on a frigid winter day.  The Blossoms cheering when I agree to schoolwork in the living room reminds me afresh that it's the simple little things.

It's the flexibility to have a one-room schoolhouse feel with my Blossoms all around me all day.

It's the fun we have when we can watch a few minutes of the Bama/Auburn gymnastics meet that we missed last weekend over our lunch of party leftovers, supper fragments, and spur of the moment cooking.

We laugh together over last night's youth group conversations and shenanigans in between microwaving our food and making another cup of tea.

We curl up on the floor together and work through assignments.  I cheer them on when they just don't feel like it... and when I just don't feel like it.

When Blossom4 finishes a subject, we celebrate by teaching her how to safely add a log to the fire "all by herself."  

We plow through spelling and math right alongside our monstrous houndish family members, even if they step on a school book.  

We go on Tom-finding expeditions in between science and celebrating a fabulous hard-earned test score for Blossom3.

We discuss writing assignment topics from the couch and through the kitchen and over the wash and oh, just here and there.  

It's exquisitely mundane and it's quintessentially wintery 

and it's lovely when I look at it like this.

Dominique