February 30 in 30 Picture 3, 4, and 5

Spent my painting time working on winter skies. It's the best time of year for colorful sunsets!

For more 30 in 30 pictures head to this website.

February 30 in 30 Picture 2

Practicing winter sunsets...second painting in the February 30 in 30.

To see everyone else's paintings, check here.

Spring Just Might Be Here

Spring break is here and as of yesterday it seems that spring might just be on her way too! I've decided I really like this "balanced calendar" for school -- two weeks off every nine weeks helps to break up the year and give me a rest of sorts. Of course what are breaks for but to get those things done that you couldn't do during school, right? 

So what have we been up to this past school term?

Laura started a little ballet class at a local church in January. She loves it!!! It's fun to think that Rachel attended the same class 7 years ago when I was pregnant with Laura!

 We have to put in a large amount of volunteer hours at the kids' high school each year. One of the ways I do that is to do volunteer sewing for the theatre production. This year it was "Pride and Prejudice" and the costumes were pretty and fun. I sewed a couple of gowns and two lined jackets. This occupied many January and February evenings.

 And provided good opportunities to improve my sewing skills! :)

We had our annual Church Bowling Outing in January. The kids love it!

And Valentine's Day always seems to roll around before we know it!

Yay for sweet little valentines.

Every week at piano lessons I visit this little mouse (well, he's a rat). He's so cute and in 30 seconds I get my "pet fix."

Speaking of cute things, have you seen this adorable book??!!!

And while we are on the subject of cute books, you have to check out The Mouse Mansion -- so much fun!!!

The third week in February was the production of the "Pride and Prejudice Musical". I got to go opening night and see Rachel in her scenes (see below underneath the hanging picture first person on the left). It was so much fun!!!!! And everyone was terrific! The drama director is such a wonderful mentor for these kids to have!

Our annual church women's retreat was the last weekend in February. We all met at a home and spent the night there, enjoying food, fellowship, and hearing one another's testimonies.

Two sisters: they are so cute! And they are both growing up far too fast!!!

A few weeks ago we paid a visit to a friend to welcome the newest member of her family! She had lost a beloved pet in the fall and when Fiona was found and brought home we needed to meet her! Fiona is part Turkish Van which means she LOVES water! Believe me, it is so fun to see a cat who truly loves water.

It's that time of year when Prom is approaching. That means prom dress shopping!!! I can't post the final one here until later in April but we had a great evening with the aunts and found a lovely dress! In just a little over a week we are having an exchange student arrive from Spain for a month! We are all going to have fun with this international guest! She's also very excited to be introduced to an American Prom!

Laura had the special chance to go with my mom and me to see the repertory theatre's rendition of Stuart Little. It was terrific! We followed this with lunch at our favorite place: Wildwood Market.

Decaf coffee and a little chocolate? Yum yum yum.

Once Rachel finished theatre it was time to jump into "Spring Spec" with her choir. Yikes! These poor kids and the amount of time it takes to rehears for these things! But, it was all good fun and lots of learning too. Rachel is on the far right below.

We had the strangest weather in February -- very warm. So warm the daffodils came up and bloomed right at the beginning of March. Then winter decided to come back which gave me the guilt-free opportunity to pick every.single.daffodil.there.was.

Wow these flowers brought so much happiness for those few days!

I almost thought peony season was here the way I kept grabbing my camera and taking pictures.

The color yellow is so essential for the month of March.

I felt like a millionaire having these flowers to look at:

Three weeks later and the daffodils that were still in their buds are just now blooming again.

Reading and hot drinks (and a little chocolate) still seem to be the best way for me to re-charge. This winter has been harder health-wise for me than I've dealt with in a number of years. I'm glad the warmer weather is here and hope that perhaps my energy will pick up a bit.

 At the beginning of March I headed with a few kids to my mom's church for their annual THINK conference. This year we heard from Erwin Lutzer, pastor emeritus of Moody Church in Chicago. He spoke about the reformation. It was such a great weekend and so fun to go with others from our church as well as my mom!

It's also tradition to go to my mom's place for lunch on the Saturday of the conference!

The kids tried a new tradition for St. Patrick's Day this year -- Shamrock Shakes from McDonald's. Very festive!

Of course you've heard ALL about our trip to Vermont in February. Mom thought she'd miss out on her trip to Maine this spring but circumstances arose that had her on a plane to Lily Brook Farm before we knew it. She's knee deep in snow, the unpredictable joys of lambing season, and navigating the hardships of real life with her cousin.

Check out these beautiful orange beets! The colors of food are so inspiring to me!!! Sometimes it's hard to eat the food -- I just want to stare at it!

Last Sunday we had a traditional St. Patrick's Day feast. Delicious!

And afterward we had a cake-eating tea time. Fortunately there was a Dundee Cake left in the freezer from Christmas.

And now that it is spring break I'm working on this, and a ton of other projects. I've had to sort through and cull my felted wool collection (anyone nearby need any felted wool for projects? I have lots and lots of red and dark colors). I've managed to get my closet back into control and half of it looks awesome. The other half will be tackled this week.

The first day of spring snuck up on me. We have a family tradition of tea on the spring equinox. Somehow these traditions were so much easier when the kids were little and life was SLOW!!! I should have thought about how life would speed up and become more impossible before beginning all these "traditions."

Sometimes it's good to just let things go un-done and sometimes it's good to just put in the effort and do it and remember that little-by-little these memories are building up emotional energy that will feed these kids for years to come.

I did manage to tidy up my linen shelf (middle shelf is to-be-ironed and is normally stuffed to the gills). I have yet to clean the laundry room it resides in.

James has been working on chain mail for his raccoon. Each link has to be made individually! Good thing he has lots of patience!

Often my house feels like a wreck -- at least in many places, and I am too quick to notice the ten-year-old paint on the walls that is chipping or dirty, or this or that (or the disgusting white cushion covers on the couch below) but if I close my eyes to the dirt this little snapshot of the living room makes me happy for all the bright colors and flowers.

Here is Laura having a tea party with her little friends. David is so kind to create these parties whenever I ask him.

And now it is time to get out the vacuum and cleaning supplies and try to bring some order to the downstairs. It will be nice to have the windows open to do this and maybe there are a handful of daffodils I could bring in for the table. Have a good weekend!

Mondays are for Grace

"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home."

-- Edith Sitwell

Mondays are for Grace

"March is the month in tatters,

Clothed in winter rags,

With nothing spring-like

To dress up in."

"March is the Tea Time Month!

When life gives you MARCH: make tea!"

-- Vivian Swift, When Wanderers Cease to Roam

January is for Home

There is something I love about January, despite the darkness and the cold weather. I love that it is, ideally, a month for being at home. Everyone is worn out from Christmas, the days are short, and no one wants to go anywhere. The weather might even cause an enforced stay at home. Yes! This is just what I want.

I want a place to rest and rejuvenate for the year that will only get busier and busier from here on out. I want a private hibernation filled with hot drinks, piles of inviting books, a fire in the fireplace, and some knitting by my side. I actually want winter.

Of course my hopes are always higher than my realizations, especially as my kids get older and their lives require more running around. And this year the weather is not cooperating! Fifty-two degrees Fahrenheit this week! What is going on? I need my snowed-in-for-a-week weather.

Here are some of the ways I love to celebrate "home" in the winter:

Hot Drinks -- Of course there is tea, but there is also coffee, hot chocolate, spiced cider, and, no doubt, all sorts of other concoctions you could discover and make. Part of the fun is how these are taken -- on a tea tray with china or a fun tea cozy, by the fireside, how about out of doors? You can add some excitement to your winter by finding a few new drinks to enjoy.

Home -- I recently read Charlotte Moss' "Winter House" in which she advocates adding a few decorating touches to your home just for winter -- turning it into a sort of retreat. Of course she had the privilege of actually buying and creating a winter house just for winter. Nevertheless, she realizes not all of us can do that. But, we all can give our homes a little attention, bringing out cozy blankets, adding a candle here and there, rearranging furniture to suit a more cozy atmosphere. Here are some decorating books to consider:

Winter House -- I admit that Moss' choice of colors and decorations were not all my style. But, I still loved this book. Perhaps it's because books are an instant vacation for me and while I was reading this I was miles away in Moss' Aspen house reaping the benefits of a winter retreat without having to pay for one myself.

  Novel Interiors: Living in Enchanted Rooms Inspired by Literature by Lisa Giramonti is the book I am in the middle of now. Oh this is right up my alley (or shall we say "cottage lane"). Novel Interiors is a decorating book arranged around our favorite novels with chapters such as "Shall I Put the Kettle On?" (think Dickens, Austen, Gaskell), "Remembrance of Things Past" (think Wharton, Waugh, James), and "Oh, the Glamour of It All" (think Fitzgerald, Maugham, Nichols). Giramonti includes quotes from all these novels interspersed among the lovely photographs of homes that suit the atmosphere of these books. And, there is a wonderful annotated bibliography of novels at the back (a perfect reading list!).

Dreaming -- winter is the perfect time to dream about the months and year ahead. Start a diary or journal, jot down ideas, or just muse in your head. It's time to just think and not do!!!!

Food -- winter is the time for soups, roasted vegetables, pot roasts, and hearty comfort food. I enjoy checking food books out of the library as well as finding new ideas online or in magazines.

Books -- reading is the best past-time in the winter, especially when you can spend hours sitting in a cozy stuffed chair with your feet close to a fire and plenty of tea or coffee by your side (you can probably tell I'm dreaming here). Do you have a favorite winter book? Mine would be Winter Holiday (Swallows & Amazons),  The Long Winter (Little House), and  The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 2).

Correspondence -- since it is harder to see people in the winter because of bad weather and poor travel conditions it makes it the perfect time to hibernate at home. And, the perfect time to write a few real letters for a change! You may have heard me mention the book quote letter exchange I participate in throughout the year. Once a month I am sent the name and address of someone around the world and I send them a little note or card with some quotes my current reads. I also get one in return from someone else. It's lots of fun and not too big of a time commitment. In case you are interested, our organizer has just put out a call for new members! Check out the blog post here.

Handwork -- and how can we forget knitting, crochet, or sewing (or whatever art form you most enjoy)? For many people, winter is the only time of the year where they get time to enjoy this hobby. I can't believe how many online groups there are for these activities (Ravelry especially), and how many people are making podcasts that you can sit and watch. There is inspiration to be found everywhere!

Now we don't want to get ourselves so busy with all these delights of winter that we defeat the purpose of resting and rejuvenating! On the other hand, for many of us, it is a necessity that we work hard to shake the winter blues that so easily stretch out their icy hands and pull us down if we aren't vigilant.

As with any season, we must set aside the things that aren't and focus our enjoyment on the things that are! Happy January to you all!


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