where are thou? I blame the bedbugs...{2017 beauty hodge-podge}

What have we been up to you ask?

1. BED BUGS ~ read about this family adventure here.

• Some day I may not see pictures of bedbugs in every article and newsfeed on my phone. I was researching how to deal with these little monsters so extensively, bedbug extermination tips and related businesses are apparently the only advertisements I will ever see again. Irritating. Salt in a wound.
• Bedbugs did not exist before the fall of man, or maybe they were more like ladybugs, but I digress...
• The above picture will soon be hanging in my laundry room. This is how I felt and how very tempted I was to crawl into an industrial dryer, click my heels and get out of OZ.

2. Oh life...

• new company for my husband 
• new classes and so much lovely learning for me 
• + so much of the every day ordinary ups and downs and messy beauty.
• Oh, and my kids are doing PARKOUR! My brother may have placed bets on how soon and how often we will see the inside of an ER and/or Urgent Care. But my youngest girl is a delight to watch ~ like she found her home planet.

3. New projects afoot...details to come, but most often you'll find me on Instagram: @literaturethreads.

• I saw an Instagram site once that said "Instagram killed my blog". I totally get it.
• But how do I love Instagram? Let me count the ways...

4. Speaking of poetry, we have been placing Poetry Tea Time into our weekly rhythms. We all love it so much. A few links for you:

• Brave Writer // @juliebravewriter & the blog
• Instagram // @poetryteatime
• Build A Path for the Soul: 12 Poems, 12 Hymns, 12 Scripture Passages 

5. With all that pulls on my heart, mind, and physical abilities, I think of how to savor my moments ~ in solitude and with my people. 

• Breathing new life into your time with God
• Why You're Off the Hook for Making Every Moment Matter

• I really enjoyed this book about Denmark this summer ~ I did not come away thinking Denmark was amazing. Like every country, it holds claim to great strengths and deep weaknesses. But still, great read.
• I most like the Danish concept/practice of Hygge. 

6. I haven't forgotten about my 300 days of beauty. I will finish, but was much too ambitious for last year. (In this post I stated that I was realistic to pick 300...delusional/optimistic might have been more accurate!)

I hope this post finds you well, encouraged and choosing hope. 

(Some pictures of our recent months...)

Soft boiled eggs and hot cocoa for breakfast...

Poetry Tea Time

It's important to buy pretty cakes sometimes.

More Poetry Tea Time with homemade maple cakes by Cece

Many nights called for sparkling cider in stemmed glassware just because.

Brother-sister sugar-cube pyramid creation

This version of audio fairy tales is just lovely...

Dinner party using only recipes from Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist.

When you don't have a fireplace, Netflix delivers. Hanging with D during a wintry cold day and loving it.

Laundromat pizza picnic (one of many)

This is how you save a table in the laundromat...evidently. No one sat here ALL DAY. I know because I was there ALL DAY.

 

 

my love-hate relationship with summer (plus 300 days of beauty, days 65-82)

summer garden beauty

I confess, I sometimes feel that I hate summer. I also confess that I wrote most of this over one month ago and then disappeared down the rabbit hole that summer schedules tend to be. I've never like Alice In Wonderland.

Each year I walk through the same diagnostic state, evaluating why summer is so very challenging. Several reasons: the randomness of summer activities and options, constant people (I do like people, but need time alone too...), and kids who suddenly see unlimited potential in every moment, every day.

I can be random and spontaneous, but my brain cannot keep track of the amount of outings and appointments that are so far above our normal level. I would consider myself a social introvert—I love people, but need “hermit days” to rest and recharge, which summer does not oblige. And my adorable, wonderful kids, whom I love to death, ask me 50,000 questions before 10 in the morning and have a hard time accepting that fun cannot be 24/7. Real life still exists. I wish Mary Poppins were a real person, but she is not. The house does not clean itself.

I began the summer ridiculously overwhelmed. Burned out from the year, transitioning to summer—like being on a pot-holed highway and hitting a rocky, washed out dirt road. Now (in a flash) I have arrived in August. And I would say that we have lived in a happy-exhausted-flurried-blur of summer scenes. Family, friends, neighbors, food, laughter, pool days, books, gardens, parks, rivers, walks, hikes, bike rides, iced coffees and ice cream cones.

We've had good days, hard days and the messy beautiful sprinkled and scattered throughout. I have not settled down to write in this space, but have been capturing beauty in each day through my camera lens and my phone (Instagram is wonderful, but may have killed my blog...). I also have decided to declare the first three week of June “no man's land”; not belonging to spring or summer, a time to plan, rest, and see what we want our summer to be. I realize not everyone has this flexibility. I can choose my summer because we homeschool, others cannot. However, I think a space with no pressure or expectations, even if just for a week is a sweet gift for a weary heart and frenetic pace of life.

In spite of the layout of my schedule, I've grabbed my moments. Time to be still. Time to savor. Time to breathe. Summer and I have come to a generally peaceful truce. We still have adventures ahead as we plow through August. I'm thankful (and still tired). And I may or may not have been dreaming of winter yesterday...

Here's snapshots of our summer beauty:

swim team, swim meets, and pool days

laughter--meaning she had the grocery store laughing. She has found unique ways to hitch rides in the grocery store since birth. I think I may have finally given up fighting it.

summer sunsets--I know, right? Breath-taking.

My kitchen has looked like this...often. Filters make it look almost artistic. There is a beauty in letting go. This is where we were for awhile and it's okay.

breakfast parfaits and morning devotionals...I do like lazy summer mornings...

river vistas and time with family...the Missouri River...

Costco date with my girl who LOVES hotdogs!

mini-bagels and cream cheese--I kid you not that we have mostly survived on these...devouring bags upon bags and tubs of cream cheese (cooking is at a minimum in the summer)

lots of reading...we read wherever we go... #ohtheplacesweread

visits to my hometown to be with family

when "pop and pizza" place settings look artistic--more than that, this evening was spent with my brother and parents with conversation and laughter (and lots of pizza!)

when my daughter uses the steam from my coffee to warm her hands in the morning...still makes me smile... "It's SOOO toasty warm!"

lots of tree-climbing--all of my kids use the trees to have a quiet space for their hearts...

paddle-boating--laughter and LOTS of geese (geese not shown...;-))

when Jack and Jill went up a hill...cousin time

water balloon baseball...no need for the catcher, D hit nearly EVERY ONE...

I love windmills.

300 days of beauty, days 52-64 [kaleidoscope]

I know, I know, I disappeared. I've been known to do that from time to time. May vortex, time spent in hospitals, general life exhaustion, and I can even blame it on the rain (which has fallen in exorbitantly copious amounts...I don't know if I can use all of those words together, but anyway...).

So this evening as I prepare to travel once again, I am determined to display a fraction of the last several weeks. All from my phone (couldn't find the cord to download from my camera...sigh), all from my ordinary life. A kaleidoscope.

And as a side note, the half-marathon I had been training for has been downgraded to a 10k. I know that sounds much like hurricane terminology, but the prospect of running a half-marathon was starting to feel much like a category 5 storm. The training was worth it, but this was not the season. I would like to try again, but for this weekend, I will enjoy running a 10k with my brother, spending a weekend in Chicago, and seeing a much-beloved cousin.



Alright, now for the parade of randomness...

My son is training for a 10k and asked to go on a run with a stop at the store. Not his usual request, but I agreed. He ran to the store just to buy me a honeycrisp apple because it was National Teacher Appreciation Day. He came back, panting and sweaty and placed this on the table next to me. I nearly cried I was so very touched.

We studied geography by taste-testing single source chocolate from different countries around the world. We savored it and will continue this study over the next couple weeks. LOVE.

I never tire of these gorgeous blossoms. They survived far longer than I thought they would.

We read on the front porch ALL DAY. The weather has been cruddy, so we relished this day.

A GORGEOUS tranquil evening and a date with my husband. We walked and talked for miles through our city, along our trails.

I was sick, so so sick. My sweet friend dropped these supplies off for me. I'm rich in friends, no doubt.

Back to the front porch and sweet Belle looking through her picture Bible. She loves Moses and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

We hadn't had the best day, this daughter and I, but in the evening, this is what I found written on her mug of tea. We don't have to be perfect, we can't be. We can give love and grace and mercy to one another even in the messy times.

Love my girl's window art, especially against the rain splattered backdrop and the newly unfurled spring leaves.

Again, the front porch...I sip coffee, eat breakfast, and read out there most every morning (weather permitting).

The zoo is always fun. Belle was on a mission to sketch flamingos on this zoo trip.

And tonight...my husband was helping with all sorts or "to-do" items. I'm exhausted after being gone most of the week and spending much time at the hospital and in a car. I'm chugging through one item after another and he writes this for me. A cup of warm tea and truth. What can be better for my very weary heart that desperately needs rest?

300 days of beauty, day 51 [faithful]

I did survive the hut trip. I came back sleep deprived and filthy and not quite ready to start a new week. Right now I categorize it as a unique and valuable experience. There was much laughter and much quiet time to read and reflect, beautiful vistas, and again, more exhaustion than I could handle. It didn't help that my husband left for a business trip at 3 a.m.-ish Monday morning. But, I have beautiful pictures to share...still on my camera.

My sweet grandma is in the hospital and I will be headed to see her tomorrow. I'm looking forward to some time with her. I love her a lot. 

Life doesn't stop, and the last several weeks have been a blur. Tonight, I'm working on a writing project, icing my knee from running, and watching North and South, which I love.

Tonight, I'm thankful that God is faithful. I feel that I'm not functioning well and I have much on my mind, but He is faithful in the daily everything that I face.

And I'm thankful that our spring blizzard didn't take down (literally and figuratively) my beloved cherry blossom trees. It's the little things.