Thankful Thursday!

~Early morning Little Love snuggles under soft downy sheets.


~Rich smell of coffee brewing, promising a respite from the cares of morning.


~That time with DH as we sip coffee and plan our day... and then continue with our work, he upstairs in his "home office", me downstairs with the madness of schooling children.


~Free homeschool gym classes from our Rec Center... kids can romp and yell and play, adults can chat and smile.


~Plans of family arriving from the west. Cleaning and scrubbing and baking. Working out my cares and worries with vacuum and mixer. Focusing on the here and now.


~Because it all is so deserving of thanks.













:)

Who Else Needs to Hear This Today?

I sure do.

And I suspect many more of us do too.

OATH.... Only Adjectives That Help/Heal.

All is not as it seems on the outside. We all have our own tortuous recordings, and we need to turn those negative sound bites off.

Even better, we have our Faith that assures us of the unconditional love of an Almighty God.

:)



h/t Elizabeth

Musical Mindset

When scrolling through my last two posts, you can see how I ended one with a BNL song and started the next with another one. Long time readers will not be surprised in the least by this. They will remember the days when I had a song widget on my sidebar, filled to the max with all things BNL so that, upon opening my blog, you were greeted with some amazing tunes.

Well, that was my attitude about it, anway.
:P

Somewhere along the way, the widget malfunctioned, and I never found a replacement. Also, I started to write serious*. uber-Catholic*. mommy bloggy. stuff* on other sites, and felt weird about people clicking over to my blog and being greeted by not-so-very-religious music blasting their ears off. (*totally being tongue-in-cheek here) Sadly, I abandoned my overt love of all things BNL and continued writing.

But the truth is? I am still head-over-heels for all types of music. In fact, it shapes my mood and my life like nothing else. (except for my Faith, which should-I hope!- be obvious) Whenever I feel down, or unmotivated, or overwhelmed... I say a few prayers and then pop in some upbeat music. Soon, I am be-bopping around like nobody's business, and things are getting accomplished.

Superficial? Probably. But it works for me. I can identify with music, in fact, it's part of my "personality info" badge on the sidebar there. I was surprised to see "musical" as #1 on the "multiple intelligences" part. I have never considered myself to be an exceptionally musical person. But music affects me. Usually, pretty profoundly. I find meanings and nuances that might normally be overlooked. Sometimes, it's the best way I have of decribing something... feelings or emotions. I send sound bites to friends, and they respond politely. :) They are so tolerant.

Not surprisingly, my kids love music. Sports Fan picks out tunes on the piano. So does Little Dear and Little Love. The Star Wars theme, certain BNL songs, something Dad was playing earlier... they all work hard to imitate by ear. It's pretty amazing.

Action Man especially is showing the most signs of having a special affinity for music. These days he is filling his newly-purchased mp3 player with the super cool music from his Mom and Dad's Simon and Garfunkel collection... along with BNL, of course. But all along, he has listened to music with a discerning ear. Not the "classical music only" type of discerning ear, but one that listens to comprehend. The lyrics, the beat, the different instruments... he tries to pick them apart and understand how the sounds meld. He enjoys Classical music, too, don't get me wrong. He will sit enraptured during his online music program, letting the sounds wash over him. And then he'll play it again. And again. And again. Until I am literally biting my tongue off and his siblings are about to stage a mutiny.
:)

I find that when our house is on it's edge and tempers are short, it's because music has been lacking. Once we plug in the iPOD or put some cd's on, the rough edges are smoothed over. The soundtrack of our lives has become unified, and we can once again be-bop along the same track.

:)

Daybook: The "Surely It's Going to SNOW?" Edition

:)

Outside my window...

Cold, sunny, and insanely windy. A cold front blew in last night and has decided to keep on blowing. My kids are certain it will snow and are demanding hot cocoa and winter hats.


I am thinking....

Actually, I am shell-shocked. My parents come in one. week. One! Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Seriously? I think I lost a week.


I am thankful for...

People I can bounce things off of, who reaffirm that I am not losing my mind. Not yet, anyway.
What a relief. :)


From the Learning Rooms...

No Study Halls or quizzes. Yay. I woke up this morning in dread of the juggling I do every week. My kmail (means of communicating with our "teachers") this morning was a welcomed sight. I felt a weight lift. Now I can breathe.



From the Kitchen....

Beef stew and homemade bread. Hot chocolate when the kids are home from co-op. Maybe we can take a break this afternoon and do some read alouds.



I am Wearing...

Jeans, Mary Jane Crocs, Cream button-down sweater. I'm about to head out into the frigid day to drop the kids off at their religion class.



I am Reading....

Sexual Authenticity by Melinda Selmys. It's for my book club. I chuckle as I wonder what y'all must think of my book club. We read some interesting stuff.
:)



I am Hoping...

I can get all my chores done. DH was away last weekend as well as the weekend before... and doesn't our house show it. I need to get motivated.



I am Listening to...

Little Dear's Latin lesson. It's an awesome online program, lots of fun games and vocab. She and Sports Fan love it.


Around the House...

Cleaning. De-cluttering. Madness. What else is new... we homeschool. :P


One of my Favorite Things...

Get-togethers with friends. My calendar is filling up. All fun evenings with people we thoroughly enjoy. I love the holiday season.




A Few Plans for the Rest of the Week...

Bookclub, Bunco, an evening out with DH.





Here is a Picture Thought I am Sharing...
















The Ninjas are deadly and silent
They're also unspeakably violent
They speak Japanese
They do whatever they please
And if you tear off their masks they'll be smilin'

~BNL

:P

Kindness in Word and Deed

It's hard to keep your mouth shut.
Harder still to make noise.
But we can't have perfect 20/20 hindsight
That our fate enjoys.

So save me from a villainous imagination.
Deliver me from my friends.
If I said something to make you mad
I will take it back.
I will take it back.

~BNL Take It Back

Charlotte asked some awesome questions on my last "real" post. I had made some reference to a lesson I thought we bloggers could benefit from learning. My wording was admittedly vague, and Charlotte rightly called me on it.

I think it would behoove us to investigate further.

Here's what I said:

I am grateful for... good true friends. A bit of disillusionment going on over here. I am just so grateful for those people who listen to understand, not condemn. Think about that for a moment. It's invaluable wisdom to ponder, especially for us bloggers. Take that into the real world, and you've got yourself a mission for life.

And here are her questions:

No stranger to disillusionment you have sparked some curiosities... does listening to understand mean never disagreeing or just not giving voice to it? Is listening to condemn really listening?

Awesome questions, and well worth some ponderings.

My own answers would run something like this:

Listening to condemn is not truly listening. It is hearing what the other person is saying, but hearing only in the sense of how we would respond. And it is not giving the other person the benefit of the doubt.

Listening to understand would be truly listening, putting yourself in the other person's shoes, and giving them the benefit of the doubt. This is extremely hard to do, given the medium through which we bloggers communicate. The written word can be read with so many different inflections and tones... we have to be discerning about what we write and how we write it.

Can we disagree with the opinions of others? Of course. But this is where we have to be careful. Very very careful. The women who type out these mommy blogs are intelligent, purposeful and hold high standards. We hold our opinions firmly and close to our hearts. So much so, that sometimes we take personal offense when someone disagrees with us and it quickly becomes a moral issue. We need to keep in mind that the women we are conversing with here (for the most part, I know that there can be those who troll around just to make trouble) are well-intentioned. However, we also must keep in mind that they have an entire background that we may not know or understand, and this influences their thoughts and reasonings. Speaking harshly about their views may open up hidden wounds and cause a fierce backlash. Most of the time, these are benign subjects we are dealing with here, things that have no moral culpability... and we need to be comfortable with agreeing to disagree. It is not worth upsetting our peace or the peace and friendship we have with others.

This advice is something I am trying to hold onto when dealing with those I encounter IRL who make decisions I wouldn't have made, or hold views I don't hold... none of them detrimental to the state of anyone's soul! But sometimes, again, the arguments are taken to a moral level, and there is no need for that. Charity and understanding must prevail. Always.

Writing is a responsibility we bloggers take on. As soon as our written word is published, be it on our own blog or on someone else's, it's ours to defend or recant. And so we must be super careful as to the content. I have seen posts by bloggers I thought I had come to know, saying some uncharitable things in other forums. It angered me greatly, and I felt betrayed. And I vowed never ever to let my words be unkind or cause scandal in this way. I hope I haven't ever done that, and I am truly sorry if I have.

I probably have not covered all the bases here. I am sure that more can be said. Please remember that charity must be the word of the day. I am not claiming expertise or superiority of word or thought. I have a long way to go. I'm simply striving like everyone else.

Weather Words

There is nothing that lifts my sinus-clogged spirits like these words on my weather page:

Abundant Sunshine


:)

Rhetorical Question

So, how much schooling do you think is being accomplished today?

:P

Thankful Thursday Thoughts

Playing along with Barbara today, this gorgeous sun-and-cornflower-blue-sky day!

I'm thankful for:

~THE SUN. Yes, I know, but really. Our back fence was getting moldy. Moldy! But this past week has been absolutely gorgeous. Deep blue sky, warming sun. I spend the afternoons schooling on the back patio. Everything burns orange.

~Good true friends. A bit of disillusionment going on over here. I am just so grateful for those people who listen to understand, not condemn. Think about that for a moment. It's invaluable wisdom to ponder, especially for us bloggers. Take that into the real world, and you've got yourself a mission for life.

~ My family, near and far. Connectedness keeps a person grounded. Even something as simple as watching the Yankees win the World Series... I knew my entire extended family would be watching (and I imagine some of them were in the stands at Yankee Stadium) I could almost hear my Uncle Frank: "Geez, Pettitte! Can you believe that? I'm tellin' ya, 'Meg." lol
We need family. It shapes our world.

~Busy fall days. Every week during this month we have an "event" hosted here at the Nut House. I love it. It keeps me accountable, it keeps my house clean, it keeps me busy. Not to mention it always involves bringing loved ones together.
















Here we are at the very soggy State Fair of Texas last month.


:)

Literally.

Why I feel like my children's candy is staring at me:

:)

Happy Hallowe'en!

... a day late.

But here are the pictures, so you'll forgive me, right mom?

:)




















Little Boo decided to go as the Grinch... surprised?

















Little Love was Snow White... after deciding not to be one of Santa's elves. Are my kids anxious for Christmas?

















Here are the rest of the masses. Action Man was Aragorn, Sports Fan was a Hobbit, and Little Dear was Padme.


We had some family friends over to enjoy homemade pizza (6! different! kinds!) and good ol' fashioned neighborhood Trick-or-Treating.

Afterwards, to burn off energy, the kids set up their own disco/mosh pit (complete with circulating glow sticks and colored flashlights) in our homeschool room and rocked out to BNL.

The adults took refuge behind glasses of red wine.

All I can say is... thank goodness for sugar-crashes and daylight standard time.

:)

Have a glorious Feast of All Saints!