Christmas (High) Lights

I thought I'd share some December highlights with you.  It's always a busy month.

We enjoyed painting ornaments with friends.  There were lots of girls hanging out at our place a few weeks ago.  The paint was abundant and the creativity soared.  It made my mama heart happy.  

Despite my best efforts, one girl got paint on her new Christmas dress, which served to remind me that amongst the happiest, most contented feeling moments, there is still sometimes trouble.  I must always strive to sip the good from each and every moment.

Christmasty gatherings with friends make me smile.  I love to break out the festive red plaids and set the girls loose in the kitchen!  They love the decorating with what we have.  They enjoy the special recipes.  The teamwork is always a work in progress.  

Some days wesqueeze walks in.  The fresh air and vitamin D is always a win for us.  We meandered over to a favorite park to wander around the nature trail there.

Creations with cousins remind me of Seuss-mobiles!  Additionally, there are board games, jokes, and laughter.

Festive food is fabulously decadent!  That homemade chocolate mousse is a family recipe.  It's a winner every time!  My oldest nephew made me happy when ate an entire plate of it.  Being that he is a 17 year old athlete, I was a teeny bit jealous of his ability to do this.  

The girls were loose in the kitchen again.  It's funny to me that our cookies look a little 80s and a little Seuss inspired this year.  This baking day was tiring but blissful all at once.  My FAVORITE times are when we're all in the kitchen together.  

Birthday thrifting finds are delightful as well.  Mom and I tried to keep up with the Blossoms.  Thrift stores are like candy stores to them.  I was thankful to find this classy coat hanging on the end of a rack, just waiting for me.  The Blossoms were grateful for a fun haul of shoes and coats as well.

Birthday tea party breakfasts are so special and so much different than the bowls of soggy cereal and plates of sliced apples I used to receive for breakfast on my birthday when the girls were younger.  

Homemade cinnamon rolls and crispy bacon with tea prepared just to my liking hit the spot.  They've got some swagger in the kitchen!  I also enjoyed being able to stay in bed while it was prepared.

Take a peek at the above pic and see if you can sight the wise men making their journey around our home toward the manger.  This is one of our Christmas traditions.  Some folks call it "Star from Afar."

Christmas lights displays made for memorable family time last week!  We sipped hot chocolate and joked around while we waited to get in.  It was worth the drive!

Merry Christmas!  Hope your December was special!

Growing in my Heart

After a week, Jake and Rory are back to normal.  No more messes in the house.  No more making mild and tempting canine food for upset stomachs. No more 24 hour Mom surveillance of all canine bathroom habits.  I'm thankful for that.  

The Blossoms did their craft show on Saturday.  It went well.  They almost don't even need me.  I mean, I drive them there and physically help with the set up.  That's about it though.  I sat there, knitting and reading and thinking and people-watching while they interacted with their customers and made change.  I'm thankful for that.

When we got home, everyone pitched in, tidied up the house, and put away all our dog treat gear.  They may have had an ulterior motive ~ that meant we could put up the Christmas tree.  It made supper late getting on the table Saturday night, but we put up the tree!  Now, we're enjoying basking in its Christmas beauty.  I'm thankful for that.  

After several instances of crunchy pinto beans despite following the normal directions for soaking, I bought new beans and decided to make them in the instant pot.  We had delicious, wholesome pinto beans that were NOT crunchy.  Tonight's chili was comforting and savory and NOT crunchy.  I'm thankful for that.  

Blossom4 thanked me for helping her remake her bed and bringing her a tissue and fetching her a cup of water and giving her TLC lately.  It's nice to be thanked sometimes.  I'm thankful for that.  

We've been playing the Christmas program and choir songs on repeat lately.  I love the sounds of harmony and melody I hear throughout the day and especially during supper cleanup.  Singing together makes my heart so happy.  I'm thankful for that.

A friend has taken some time lately to troubleshoot my knitting project and teach me a few things.  It saved me hours of time and research to figure out where I had gone wrong.  Instead, I was able to knit and relax when the moments have presented themselves today.  I'm thankful for that.

I saw snowflakes today.  They were exquisite.  I'm thankful for that.  

My parents are back safely from a big trip.  I'm thankful for that.

At the end of the day when I'm drained, if I dwell upon these beautiful little things, gratitude grows in my heart instead of discouragement, making it fertile soil for whatever God wants to teach me next.

Dominique

Tidbits

It's little miscellaneous thoughts that I have today.  

Just hodge-podge tidbits in a hickly-pickly sort of way.  

The dogs have diarrhea (like the war zone kind of diarrhea that always ends up on the carpet and never on the linoleum) and a friend shared this supplement with us.  I wish she could share her lovely hardwood floors with us just as easily.  Nonetheless, aside from helping Jake and Rory out, we were also tickled because many of the ingredients are good for rabbits too!  Another weapon in our herbal animal arsenal!

The busier we get, the harder it is to get out for our daily walks.  I bet we're making it only about 50% of the time or less.  We made it out today though.  We take the victories wherever and whenever we can get them and we try not to let past "failures" paralyze us.  

The girls have been ordering makeup, clothing, hair accessories and such from Shein.com.  Though it takes about two weeks to get our orders, I must say, we have been pleased every time.  It's affordable and trendy stuff!  Today I'm rocking a jaw clip in my hair that I "borrowed" from Blossom1's purchases that came yesterday.  Girl moms have access to multiple diverse closets!  In any case, the jaw clip was a nice change from the scrunchy messy bun that I wear 98.99% of the time.  

Blossom3 came out of some head cold fog the other day.  When she's foggy, math is next to impossible and ridiculously frustrating for both of us.  I took advantage of homeschooling flexibility and had her do other things instead.  Today we sat down and did some review, learned a few tips and then, she aced two tests in a row!  I generally shoot for checking off each subject each day, but when someone doesn't feel well, it's so nice to be able to adjust accordingly.  

I always chuckle over word problems.  Sure, maybe your kiddo doesn't care about finding the percentage of the kids that rode the bus to school today, but maybe they can envision and grasp the sale percentage of a mini backpack at Walmart.  Sometimes word problems just need to be a little more relevant to make sense.  Blossom3 does best when she can imagine herself in the situation.  Then, she can rock it!  

I bought these adorable brown paper labels a few years ago.  I've found them to be so handy lately.  Blossom1 is always mixing up hair and cosmetic concoctions which are usually stored in mason jars in the fridge... just like the pancake syrup, chicken broth, salsa, pumpkin spice syrup, and the garlic salve.  Voila!  Pretty rustic labels!!  Besides, I don't want chamomile apple cider vinegar hair rinse on my pancakes.

It's about that time to turn block Amazon Stores or turn off notification on your child's fire tablets.  Ahem.  Blossom3 notified me of this AFTER I started ordering Christmas presents.  Thanks for that.  She assures me that she didn't see anything.

Hope you're well, friends.  The Blossoms and I are doing their annual dog treat craft show this weekend.  Lots of wheat flour and peanut butter around here lately!  

Have a lovely weekend!

Dominique

Pics were snapped on one of our favorite jaunts across the creek by our cabin.  We were checking out the flood damage.  Oddly enough, even though the weather has turned cold, I have just as many urges to sneak away to the cabin when it's cold, as I do when it's temperate.

My Life Lesson

In the hardest situations, in the most frustrating situations, I am still called to obey God.

My children's foolishness or emotionalism or disobedience or poor decisions, never give me a license to disobey God.

Admittedly, it's much harder to obey God when you're just plaid tired of dealing with the same character issues all day long.  

I'm trying to teach them the same lesson that I've been mastering my whole life.

Obey God no matter what.  

No matter who else obeys.

No matter how you feel.

No matter who is or isn't watching.

No matter how others are treating you.

No matter who listens.

Obey God.

"Turn away from evil and do good.

Search for peace, 

and work to maintain it."

I Peter 3:11 NLT

That is the challenge of being a mom.  

To turn away from evil, to do good, to search for peace, to work to maintain it, 

in my life and in this house

when it's just plain hard.

I am still called to be Godly.

May I never forsake His call to holiness!  May it resonate strongly in my heart each day!

Dominique

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

From Faith to Fruition

Sometimes you see the fruition of Scripture and sometimes you take it on faith.  

I know that children are a blessing.

I don't always feel like children are a blessing, if we're being completely honest.  

I operate from the principle that children are a blessing.  

I spend time with my children, 

I love our children, 

I discipline our children, 

all the while, knowing that children are a blessing.  

In the midst of chemistry 

and scholarship applications 

and math tests 

and not feeling like doing schoolwork 

and daydreaming

and not hungry for what we have in the house 

and them wanting to go back to bed 

and irritating one another, 

I KNOW that children are a blessing.  

What I see in this very moment does not shake the Truth of what I know.  

And so I soldier on,

armed with grace.

Dominique

SURPRISE!!!

One speckled Sussex hen kept flying out of the run and hunkering down under the deck.  While we were afraid that predators would get her, we know from experience that this usually means there are chicks on the way.  

It's frustrating to try to catch her 19,237 times, so sometimes we let them do their thing.  

On Sunday afternoon, Blossom3 and Blossom4 encountered her in the yard with some black bumpy things wiggling underneath her.  

After careful investigation, screams of "CHICKS, CHICKSSSSSS, CHICKSSSSSSSSSS" could be heard all throughout the Hollow.  

I jogged out there expecting maybe three chicks.  

We grabbed a cage to help relocate her and her new brood to a safer place.  The threat of coyotes and birds of prey is especially heightened this time of year.  

Gleefully we counted as she proudly clucked and cooed her joy.

One... two... three... four... five... WHAT? 

six... seven... eight... REALLY? 

nine... ten... eleven... FOR REAL? 

twelve... thirteen... FOURTEEN???!!!!

Yes, Lady Catherine the Bird* hatched FOURTEEN chicks and is teaching them how to forage already. 

Watching hens teach their chicks is one of my most favorite micro farm experiences.  It speaks a lot to mamas training their children in their future roles.  A female hen will actually make a very similar crowing sound and do drop-wing motions when training her male chicks.  It's the only time you will ever see or hear her do these strictly male-type actions.  She teaches all her chicks how to eat by making special clucking sounds to get their attention and then they learn by imitating what she's doing.  It's so intentional that it's absolutely fascinating.  

We're thankful we have been able to observe the process thus far.

*Props to you if you caught the veiled Pride & Prejudice reference.  This is a house full of classics-loving girls, after all.

Vacation with Fred and Flooding

Hurricane Fred came through while we were on vacation at the cabin this year.  

I don't usually mind the rain much when we're on vacation.  We truly try to embrace it all there.  The creek is equally enticing whether the water only flows beside you or whether it also falls from the sky.  

There is also a fabulous screened in porch and I'm perfectly content to curl up with a blanket, book, and a cup of tea.  Just writing about it now makes me long for such woodsy, fresh-aired luxury.  

It started raining that Tuesday night... and rained and rained and rained.  The sounds on our little cabin roof makes for deep, drool-worthy sleep.  We snuggled down in contented happiness.

We had our normal leisurely morning with a hardy breakfast and quiet time on the porch.  Then, we ventured out in the rain to go slopping in the creek. Sure, the levels were up a little, but it certainly wasn't anything dangerous at that point.  After meandering to all our favorite spots, we made our way back to the cabin, and settled in for snacks and some more indoor relaxation.  

Mama quickly realized that, due to the lack of a dryer and the onset of indefinite damp weather, it was necessary to institute a new rule:

"You wear wet clothes outside and you wear dry clothes inside," which means that next time you venture out, you do it in your previously damp clothes.

We went out gallivanting again and came out to this!  

Our little mountain stream had transformed into a raging monster in a matter of a few hours!!!  If you don't remember what it looks like, click here, here, and here.

The creek had risen SEVERAL feet in only a matter of hours.

I had to restrain Jake from swimming in the beloved swimming hole, though he was sorely tempted.  

I found myself remembering lines from quaint old board book favorites I read to the Blossoms when they were little:

"It rained and it rained and it rained.

'It's a little Anxious,' said Piglet, 'to be a Very Small Animal, 

entirely surrounded by water, and I can't do anything.'"

~A.A. Milne, Piglet is Entirely Surrounded by Water

So began our hourly "Fred checks."  We ventured out often, donning our wet clothes each time, marveling over the speed of its rise and cracking jokes about Fred.

We determined that we were never in any danger, though we did have to move our neighbor's swing to higher ground.

There was no more swimming for the rest of the week, though the rain finally stopped Wednesday night.  The water crested some time that night, rising even higher than these pictures.  

We made sure the girls knew how dangerous raging water can be.  Although we couldn't spend hours upon hours in the creek like we normally do on vacation, there's still plenty to do... including yelling across to the creek to other campers who were stranded (with plenty of food), or visiting with the neighbor from down the lane and his springer spaniel.

By Saturday, we were able to tube down our creek - a rare treat!  Usually, the creek levels are far too low by the dog days of summer.  We even got to do some kayaking that Saturday!

Although Fred made our vacation unique, it was still restful, and memorable too! 

Dominique

It Was Only a Straw

It was a straw that broke that poor camel's back...

Not a load of bricks.

Not a burden of stones.

A straw. 

Just like a million small things seem to be what overwhelms a mama.  

And my latest philosophy is:

"Do what bothers you."

All the little things snowball and lead to loads of discouragement.  And when I'm discouraged over the insurmountable tasks that need to be done, I tend to waste time avoiding them.  (I know, it really doesn't make sense.)

Lately, I (re)send the girls off to do what they are supposed to be doing, and I do something that's bothering me.  

Even if it's only the five minute version of taking care of what's bothering me. 

If you think your house is loaded with cobwebs, at least start with knocking down that one that you can see out of the corner of your eye while you're grading math.  

If the dusty baseboards are bothering you, at least wipe down the ones in the bathroom that have been tormenting you while you do your business.  

If the wash seems like it's out of control, at least throw in the load with the jeans your daughter needs for Bible Quiz practice tonight.  

Maybe it doesn't seem like much, but I've found that it snaps me out of my overwhelm and helps me see that the journey of a million miles truly begins with a single step.

Now, I'm back to sipping my tea and doing a few things that bother me. 

Dominique

Photo Credit to the Blossoms. They were wielding my camera up at Grandma's house up on the mountain.

A New Hook

Lounging in a sumptuous couch after teaching my Crazy 8s math class at co-op, I chatted merrily with old friends.  Our conversation jack-rabbited in our typical fashion from writing to fiery crockpots to the National Guard to ants.  

Yes, ants.  

We reminisced about the time Blossom4 ate an ant.  On purpose.  The story goes something like this:

Go ahead, pop over there and read it.  It's a classic from 2017!

One of my friends is teaching a writing class and she's been working with the students on their "hooks."  You have to get the readers' attention, bulldog tight, from the get-go!  I love a good writing challenge, so with my classic parenting story, I brainstormed a few more first lines for it.  

~Sobbing.  Sniffling.  Weeping.  Over the wrong color ant?

~Speechless.  Virtually speechless.  All because of a fire ant.

~She's four.  She's blond.  She's a pixie.  And she ate an ant. 

~I wanted to teach them survivalism, after all, but I'm not sure ants in the sandbox were what I had in mind.

~There's protein in ants, right?  Asking for a friend.

~This is definitely going on my list of things I'd never thought I'd say as a mom.

I think the protein one wins, in my book.  

The whole exercise made for a good laugh and a fun little stroll down memory lane. 

Be assured, Blossom4 is older and wiser now (EIGHT), but you never know...

Dominique

Those Words Though

There seem to be seasons of conviction for me.  God works on one area and then turns His attention to a different area.  He is never done with me!

He speaks through His Word to me, through the wise words of family and friends, through a sermon, through His still, small voice as I wait in silence in my times of quiet.  However He brings it about, my heart is continuously open to His molding.

We're studying Proverbs in our Ladies' Bible Study and a friend mentioned that she really like The Passion Translation.  I sailed over to the chapter we'd just completed on Thursday night and meandered down through the familiar words.  

I didn't get very far.  

"Respond gently when you are confronted 

and you'll defuse the rage of another.

Responding with sharp, cutting words will only make it worse.  

Don't you know that being angry can ruin the testimony of even the wisest of men?"

Further down,

"When you speak healing words, 

you offer others fruit from the tree of life.

But unhealthy, negative words do nothing but crush their hopes."

Proverbs 15:1,4

There are ups and downs in family life, mountains and valleys.  Sometimes in them, it's harder to be gentle, to speak healing words.  I'm finding the Holy Spirit prompting me to speak gentler, to focus hard on the quality of what I'm saying and the life and love that flows through those words.  

God can do mighty things through the words of a mama.  As He works on me, I'll keep mulling over these verses.

These pictures are from my kayaking adventure with Blossom1.  We saw otters frolicking about in the lake and observed mergansers, eagles and heron amongst a charming low-lying fog. It was magnificently splendid and we cherished the peace together.  

Teenagers are good company; I don't care what anyone says!

All Scripture quotations are from The Passion Translation®. Copyright © 2017, 2018, 2020 by Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ThePassionTranslation.com.