jennifer, Author at Hopeful Homemaker

A bunch of random thoughts

August 16, 2011 jennifer Musings on Life and Beauty

My mind is all over the place lately, darting from place to place like a pinball mid-game.

Want a sampling?

1. I haven’t spent much time in the yard for a few weeks. Yesterday I noticed my dahlias are blooming. Isn’t this gorgeous?

What’s not to like about a flower more than 7 inches across?

2. My two year old just knocked over the ironing board. To see if she could. I’m glad it didn’t hurt her and am shaking my head over her constant activity.

3. Speaking of her, does anyone know how to get expo dry erase marker out of something you love? Five days later, I’m still not ok with this:

I wasn’t home when it happened. I don’t even want to know how she got it off the wall. Don’t worry, she covered the custom frame in marker, too.

3. This blue and orange place setting is beautiful to me. I love the bright orange band in the place mats and the beautiful blue and white china… amazing. Image from House of Turquoise.

4. Speaking of beauty, I really want to join Pinterest, but I really don’t want to join Facebook. And so I’ve done nothing. Plus, I’m afraid I’ll spend too much time looking at beautiful pictures instead of working on making our home a beautiful place.

5. I gave my kitchen table some TLC. It feels good to take care of things.

6. Today I took care of all the school fees for my oldest two students. Add to that the usual back to school shopping (which I’m really trying to minimize) and we’ve got a good-sized dent in our budget this month. Ugh.

7. This morning my ten year old son told me I use my children as slaves and don’t do any work myself. (He was asked to load the diswasher.) Lovely. If only he knew it was more work to get him to work than it would have been to do it myself.

8. Last week a friend brought this cookie creation over for my two August birthday girls.

My favorite part? The little rosebuds made from gum drops and fruit roll-ups. Aren’t they cute?

9. I’m trying to eat really well, which means I’m eating a lot of salad. Lately it’s been boring and I’ve avoided making them. I’ve learned, however, if I just make one anyway, as soon as I start eating I’m reminded how delicious they are and am perfectly happy with my meal. Lesson: just make the salad!

10. I didn’t expect to see any more blooms from my delphinium this summer, but a few dazzling flowers have appeared:

The bright blue with tinges of purple is so pretty to me.

11. Today I made quesadillas for my children for lunch. I turned around and more than half of them were laying on the kitchen floor with their heads and shoulders under a chair. Their plates were under the chairs with them and they were all eating… without hands. I inquired about the new trend and was informed they were all being dogs, eating their food in their respective dog houses. Hmmm, interesting. At least they have imagination.

And there you have ten minutes’ worth of my random thoughts today.
What are you thinking about?

Hopeful Homemaker

3 comments 8 kids, gardening, life

The Raspberry Patch

August 15, 2011 jennifer Uncategorized

We had one unscheduled day last week and took full advantage of it by piling in the car and driving south to a pick your own raspberry farm .

Baskets in hand, I taught the children how to find and pick ripe berries as well as teaching them which berries to leave in place. For the most part they did quite well and I was pleasantly surprised to see my little one following instructions (and showing no qualms about reaching deep into the bushes to pick a berry).

I loved it. I loved the opportunity to work alongside my children, harvesting berries together. No, we didn’t grow them, but they still learn lessons about the law of the harvest when they’re out in the hot summer sun getting their arms scratched while picking berries.

At last the little ones declared their limits in no uncertain terms. My baby said to me, “I want my car seat right now.” We weighed and paid and I nearly had to drag my twelve year old daughter out of the rows. She loved it and didn’t want to leave. It was a morning well spent and the raspberries we’ve been eating all week are a sweet reminder of our little adventure.

If you live in my area, I highly recommend a trip to The Raspberry Patch . If you don’t, do some research and find a pick your own farm near you. It’s a perfect family field trip at this time of year, not to mention the delight of eating fresh food straight from the fields.

Yum!

Hopeful Homemaker

A Year of Habits, no. 32

August 14, 2011 jennifer Helpfulness of Habit

I just read an email with a funny comment in it: It’s half-past August. So it is. I’m pretty sure the rest of the month will feel about thirty minutes long, too.

I find myself looking around with mixed feelings. I’m looking at my Helpful Habits list from January, seeing progress in some areas, feeling disgusted in others, and wondering what I was thinking in yet others. I’m looking at my summer list with heart torn between all we did and all we didn’t get to. I’m looking at the back to school rush already underway wishing I could stop it while knowing I’ve already been swept away by the tidal wave of activity and expectation which August always brings. The result? A mixture of satisfaction, longing, disappointment and determination. And stress. Lots of stress.

We had a good week, although a busy one. We went to the elementary school to look at class lists. Three days were spent at a soccer tournament which ate up most of my housekeeping time. It was enjoyable and I love watching my children play, but it did feel like a sacrifice. I wanted to do so much more.

We celebrated a birthday this week. It was wonderful but brought it’s own bittersweet emotions to sort through. I am grateful for my children. I squeezed in some creative efforts as part of our celebration which always brings some satisfaction.

A soft reply. I definitely struggled in this area. I let the stress I’m feeling get to me and it influenced the way I responded to my family. Yesterday I was downright grumpy. This is #1 on my list of things to correct in the coming week.

Finishing. This is an area that makes me a little discouraged. I thought I’d finish more projects this summer than I have actually completed. I don’t like that.

Health: I’m still working on eating well and have lost some weight but hit a plateau that I haven’t been able to shake for a few weeks. Time to re-focus my efforts and be more diligent.

Work. I feel like we’ve improved this summer in the work department. The children are doing more around the house, and generally their attitudes while working has improved as well. We’ve got to keep at it but we have made progress.

The house. It’s relatively clean but every time I feel like we’ve mastered something I turn around and discover another mess somewhere. My two year old is a terror. Twice in the last 24 hours she’s found markers or ink of some kind and done real damage with it. Grrr. Good thing she knows how to say “sorry” so sweetly. I will admit to shedding tears over something she ruined. Nothing valuable, just meaningful to me personally.

We did have a good week. In spite of soccer games, practices and scrimmages, I managed to get my oldest son to three different skate parks in three different cities which he loved. I took the children on a little adventure (more on that tomorrow) and we spent an afternoon visiting cousins. We hung out with my brother and his fiance, spent time with neighbors, invited friends over for root beer floats, and I had my first four hour around town driving session since June. We made homemade frozen yogurt, played outside with neighbors, planted two pear trees and read good books. I am grateful for little moments in the midst of it all when I look around and see children happily interacting with one another.

Another week beckons us with things we still want to do, things we must do, and fewer blank spaces on the calendar. It is what it is. I can’t hold back the tide, so I need to take a deep breath and jump in. I’m working on it.

Have a great week!

Jennifer