In an attempt to make up for the long, long silence, here are some pictures. First, the “man pit” that Craig build over the old (dug out hole in the grass) fire pit. It is now an oven and stove. I picked up the brick off the curb, in my church clothes, no less. Dad would be proud.
The roasted (in brick oven) vegetable quesidillas (cooked on brick stove) were really, really good.
We have done a little planting. We’ve had several dafodills bloom, and the tulips and iris are ready to bust.
Here are the first photos from the Great Christmas Card Photo Round-up. Thanks, Veronica, Tom, and Clark! If you want to send a cool family picture with your home-made card by Lucy (or if you have not received your card and want to remind me to hurry up!) send me an email.
And here’s the card with their lovely description:
“I think it looks like Winnie the poo walking towards the right while holding a stick with a beehive on it, and bees following him.”
So I was thinking…we didn’t take any pictures of the Christmas cards that Lucy is making before we sent them out. But it would be really cool if she got to see who they went to, so…if/when you get yours (there are still a lot to go in the mail and if you think I forgot you or don’t have your address, just email me) if you could send a picture of you and your family with the card, I could post them on the blog (if you don’t mind, of course) and that would be really, really cool. Maybe we could put up a map too, and make this a regular geography thing. Anyway, I would enjoy seeing your beautiful faces with Lucy’s beautiful artwork. : )
Well, I thought I needed more poetry in my life, so I wrote some. (By some, I mean one short poem.) And subscribed to the Writer’s Almanac RSS feed. I’m not done being grumpy with NPR, but it’s hard for me to stay mad a Garrison Keillor for long. In other news, the girls and I have all had a simultaneous cold, but the suffering should be over soon. As should school – two more days and exams for me! Despite how ready I was for the end, it has snuck up very quickly. And without further adieu or any more sentences beginning with conjunctions (don’t tell my English teacher)…here is the poem, incomplete, perhaps, and titleless as yet, but my first in a very long time.
…is something I think I need more of in my life. Fortunately, Karen Edmisten puts a little something up every Friday. I thought this one was worth passing on. I’m going to have to look for more of Anne Porter’s work!
So I have found a new almost-all-consuming pastime. (!) Searching for kid-friendly, good music which does not involve Disney or the same fifteen songs over and over. Or anyone licking up baby bumble bees. That’s just weird.
And I should profess again my love for NPR. Last weekend we were driving to Baton Rouge and happened to hear the music review at the end of the Friday edition of All Things Considered. Lucy was dancing in her car seat, and I was cracking up.
I wish everyone had gotten to hear the homily I heard tonight for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Father took us through Mary’s life, from her “Yes” to becoming the mother of God, through a desperate journey to Egypt, through giving up her son to his public ministry, to watching him die on the cross. I had to imagine giving birth in a stable – suddenly a hospital doesn’t look so bad! I highly recommend this as a spiritual exercise, especially for mothers. Put yourself in the Blessed Mother’s place for some of these events. Remember losing sight of your child at the park? Imagine losing him in Jerusalem! Anyone know of a book or web site which does this well? If I can’t find one, maybe I’ll have to write it!
It’s strange to have the impulse to write again. For so long, I would say years, in fact, I have felt that not only do I not have anything to say, but even if I did have a topic to address, my words were doomed to inadequacy. Somehow, the birth of my second child has cured me of this fear, even if it has not given my words any more actual potency.
Loyola Kids Book of Heroes: Stories of Catholic Heroes and Saints Throughout History by Amy Welborn
Metamorphoses (Penguin Classics) by Ovid
The Long Winter (Little House) by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Next to Godliness: Finding the Sacred in Housekeeping by Unknown
