Post Category → just life

november 15

Today was:

Coffee, laundry, prayer, Bible, chatting with my 6 year old mister.

Walking to the tune of freezing face and appendages. It’s really cold out there! (I’ll be laughing at myself in a couple of months, when the thermometer is struggling to reach 0 degrees!)

Breakfast that took too long.

Devotions, where every word I spoke to the boys turned right around and convicted me. Some days it’s just like that. I need Jesus every bit as much as they do.

Cleaning bedrooms: The dust in mine was horrific. Convincing Jameson to throw away the pile of junk on his dresser was traumatic.

Walking to my mom’s house for Jameson’s 1912 literature class, where we learned about Jim Thorpe. Life is very sad and very hard. Heaven is a good promise.

Waving good-bye to our very wonderful neighbors. Sure, we only have been neighbors for 2.5 years, but these people have been a presence here in town for much longer than I’ve been alive. Long before I knew their names, I knew their familiar faces as they passed our house on their daily walk. We’ll really miss them.

Lunch of PB&J.

Lots of discussions on not harassing little brothers, not being a tattle-tale, being quick to forgive and move on, obeying even when Mama is not in the room, and saying NO to foolishness. (Lots.)

Naps, quiet, Christmas shopping online.

Coffee for me (and a bit for the 6 year old) while we cuddled up and watched this.

Math, coloring, vacuuming, reading.

Lighting candles and pj’s.

Lastly, pizza, root beer, and Star Wars 6 (with Daddy manning the remote controls. We like to skip the scantily-clad Leia scenes. Ick.)

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november 13

So, yes. The weekend flew by, and somehow swept Monday right along with it. Unseasonably warm weather, almost the whole Sinclair family in one house on the same day, and husbands with the day off convincing the rest of us that we, too, should take a vacation day results in, well, a vacation!

Today it’s back to being 40 degrees, give or take. So the boys drew fantastic pictures of “November is… bare trees”, and “November is… football!” My boys do not just sit and draw, unless it’s the beginning of the school year and there are all new drawing utensils (of course). I usually have to assign such creative pursuits — and once assigned, they throw themselves into it. (Hmmm. I think I need to come up with drawing assignments more often.)

*****

Jameson lost his first tooth Sunday morning. He exuberantly bounced into the kitchen, eyes beaming, mouth full of blood. Ha! We dutifully saved his eensy-weensy tooth, and then Ryan told some elaborate tall tale about a tooth fairy tapping on the window and fluttering around the room while they slept. William, who is far too clever to fall for such yarns, declared that he “knowed” the tooth fairy did no such thing; he would have heard the rapping and woken up. So there. We’re not sure whether or not he realizes the tooth fairy is completely non-existent, or if he’s just quite confident in his sharp hearing skillz. Either way, he’s ridiculously cute, and we’ll keep him. Also, Jameson will keep the dough, regardless of the realness of said tooth fairy.

*****

Sometimes, like today, I go into my room to check on my sleeping babe, and I find a wide-eyed, smiling, frowsy-headed darling. Her cheeks are irresistibly pink in the morning, and her chubby arms and hands are just that much softer. Over a year later, she’s still greeted with joy and celebration by her brothers every morning. She just may feel like the most special girl in the world. (And that wouldn’t be far from the truth. As we read at naptime, God said, “Let there be Beatrice”, and then saw that it was good. Pretty special, if you ask me.)

*****

Our school day routine includes devotions after breakfast. This is when our home turns into part church, part circus, part tyrranical-toddler-grabs-every-candle-while-her-mom-is-trying-to-memorize-scripture. I love it. We’ve had such wonderful little conversations, Ryan has been able to teach their little hearts so many important truths, and we get to pray for so many people that we love. I’m not kidding about the toddler part, though. After being told many times to sit down, here she is. Gotta love a little spunk, right?

*****

Day after day. Weeks, months, years. I’m alternately exhausted by the big events, and worried that the small days are amounting to nothing. My worry knows no end, when allowed to run its course. Thankfully, thankfully, my job is not to orchestrate our lives. There’s the Holy Spirit for that sort of thing. He weaves and guides and creates beauty in ways I’m astonished by, in ways I’ll not even know the whole of until I’m looking at Time from Eternity. For now, faithfulness is my portion: being faithful to believe, to repent, to trust, to live for Him.

november 9

Fridays are a special days in our lives. Busy, but special.

It begins Thursday night. Jameson sets out his school uniform (and Mama realizes his jeans/polo/whatever isn’t clean. Grrr! Better hurry and get that laundry done!)

Friday morning, I skip my walk and jump right into the shower instead. Jameson bounces out of bed with extra excitement (I say extra, because there’s always excitement), and hurries through his morning chores. I make him a sandwich, label a brown paper bag, fill his water bottle, and feed him breakfast. One more uniform check before we leave, and every week I’m stunned by how grown up he is. Such a good, good boy.

I wave good-bye to William, reminding him to keep an eye on Beattie, and drive Jameson to the church. I’m in a long stream of minivans and SUVs, as families from all over the county drop their home schooled children off for a morning of enrichment activities. Jameson hops out of the backseat, shouts goodbye, and joins the throng of children excitedly bounding up the steps and through the front door. He’s confident. Just last year, he wanted me to hold his hand and take him inside. Not anymore.

I drive back home and join William and Beatrice for breakfast. We tidy the house, get baths, read books, and prepare for errands together. Today, we picked up the last of our CSA and grabbed a few groceries. People ooohed and ahhhhed over William and Beatrice at the grocery store, of course. “Are they always so good?” I smile. “They really are blessings.” (How do you answer that question, anyway? Right?)

We listen to Psalty in the car and play William’s favorite song over and over. Usually he has to take turns choosing songs, but today it’s just him. Live it up, kid!

Back to the church, where the three of us open our own paper bag lunch. PB&J! Quickly wipe off sticky fingers, and drop William and Beatrice off at the nursery, where a couple of home school moms volunteer to watch teachers’ children. Then I grab my music folder and head up to the choir room. Soon, the thunderous sound of 40 2nd-4th graders is heard in the hallway, and then they are bursting through the door, chatting and laughing, bright eyed and pink-cheeked. Happy, happy kids. So far this semester, we have learned efficient ways of getting bathroom runs out of the way, how to answer respectfully when I take attendance, and that a singing voice is different that a talking voice. Several of them are also learning harmony lines, and though they’re deeply nervous about it, watching their faces when they hear their voices blending in harmony is just fun. Bell rings, and without too much stampeding, they head down to assembly. The morning is over.

Last year, Jameson would come home and not remember a single thing that had happened. “It was fun.” Really? That’s all you’ve got? But this year, he tells funny stories from lunchtime, sings snippets of his choir songs, gets really excited about his art projects, and remembers all about storytime and character class. He’s so much older!

William just loves that he gets to go see Aunt Bettia in the nursery. (That’s Brietta, for those of you who were stumped.)

I’m really, really thankful that I get to home school Jameson, and I’m also really thankful for a great program on Friday mornings. This little corner of the world is really blessed, and I don’t take it for granted!

*****

Also, because I forgot to post anything yesterday, you get a photo for free. Totally unrelated. But absolutely adorable.

november 7

I haven’t said anything here about the presidential campaign, and I don’t have much to say about the election results. Well, I do, but I won’t. I’ll just say: Peggy Noonan was right when she said that this cake was baked awhile ago. I was truly shocked when Obama gained traction during the campaign; I am not shocked that he was re-elected.

We needed Ron Paul, and got the opposite. But then, doing hard things doesn’t seem to be my generation’s forte.

*****

Last week, my mother-in-law braved several miniature planes and flew in for a visit. We love, love, love when she visits. Beatrice was especially smitten, and they were practically inseparable.

*****

Frost really and truly hit this week. I checked the temperature before setting off for my walk: 24 degrees. Brrrr! Cold, and achingly beautiful. That’s the North Country for you.

*****

Less daylight in the evenings just means cozier dinnertimes. Summer always was my favorite season, thanks to green grass, gorgeous flowers, balmy weather and bare feet. But the longer I’m a mama, the more I grow to love these months of being hemmed in by darkness come late afternoon. Candles, music, the smell of dinner, laughing children finding creative ways to enjoy the confines of a house: these are lovely things.

november 4

My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, and blood
support me in the ‘whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way
He then is all my Hope and Stay

When He shall come with trumpet sound
Oh, may I then in Him be found!
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before His throne.

On Christ the solid rock I stand!
All other ground is sinking sand—
all other ground is sinking sand.

Single in focus, single in passion, single in trust: that’s what I yearn to be. Christ, my only hope, my priceless treasure, my great reward.

november 3

This girl.

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She’s quite the personality these days. Quiet, dabbling in “trouble”, trying to put on any shoe she finds, determined, belly-laughing, offering slobbery baby kisses to all of us all the time. We love her.

She’s my little doll. I love having a baby girl, but sometimes, as I’m holding her close and enjoying her cuddly warmth, I realize this baby doll is on her way to being a woman. And I am asked to play a large role in this shaping. My example will help her with definitions, understandings, values. For now, that means holding her gently, tending her faithfully, giving to her selflessly. This, Beatrice, is how a woman values life.

Precious.