prayer

from Valley of Vision:

O God the Holy Spirit-

When Thou didst first hover over chaos, order came to birth,

beauty robed the world, fruitfulness sprang forth.

Move, i pray Thee, upon my disordered heart;

Take away the infirmities of unruly desires and hateful lusts;

lift the mist and darkness of unbelief;

brighten my soul with the pure light of truth;

make it fragrant as the garden of Paradise,

rich with ever goodly fruit, 

beautiful with heavenly grace,

radiant with rays of divine light.

Be my Comforter, Light, Guide, Sanctifier,

take of the things of Christ and show them to my soul

applesauce

i picked up some extra apples this weekend, hoping to put some up- my next step to becoming an actual canner.



so i borrowed this fantastic contraption from a friend



and started peeling apples.





it was so satisfying- to see the apple spin round, become white and spiraled. and then there was this pile of beautiful peeling at the end:



all i could think to do with it was take a picture. so, there it is.

as i started the applesauce on the stove, i tried to ascertain from my kids exactly what kind of applesauce they would readily eat.



i asked samuel, "so, do you like it when i add spices to the applesauce or do you like it plain, like it is straight out of the jar?"

answer: "i like it straight out of the jar. but mostly, i like it how Great Grandma makes it."

tall order. very tall order. but it made my heart rise to think that my six year old knows his great grandma's apple sauce. the same apple cause i knew as a six year old. what a gift.

and she makes seriously good apple sauce.

i tried.



the kids tasted and the verdict came: "good! just like Great Grandma's!"

not sure that's true. but it made me feel oh-so-nice.

weekend

we had a weekend. oh, we had a weekend.

we filled it till it spilled over.

the girls met the boys at the apple orchard on friday. the afternoon found us at the campsite.



just us. just the four that make us what we are.

we went out for a tour of the place and saw so much of His wonder.







why does deep green moss so frequently and immediately conjure up ideas of fairyland?



i so enjoyed being outside with my people. being all together and breathing in a bit of the wilderness. good medicine.

early saturday morning, samuel, kate and i went over to the lake to greet the day while jason tended the breakfast fire.



magic.

good to get away. good to be together. good to minimize all the noise and just be.



happy week-start everyone.

fireside

good morning.

kate and i are dusting off the night and greeting the day.

our boys are in the mountains. they camped overnight- a birthday request that has finally come to fruition.

this afternoon, my little miss and i will join them and we will sleep a night beneath the stars. our first foray into family camping. yup. we'll see how it goes.

while i'm unsure about the quality of sleep i will receive and a bit nervous about the cold that will greet me with the sun tomorrow, i am really looking forward to a few things.

all four of us cuddled up in the same space.

dawn.

a fire.

and, most of all, sitting around a fire with my one and only.

life has been a bit harried of late. running here and going there. nights of being left at home while the other goes elsewhere. we've been doing good things. good things. but not together things.

i miss him. and we seem to be more often teetering over that arguing cliff these days.

i think we need a night of easy conversation, sitting beside a fire.

happy weekending to you and yours. hope we all get to greet fall saturday morning with a hot drink in-hand.

autumn

fall is coming, friends. oh, it's coming soon. saturday.

we have a quilt that we usually have on our bed during the warmer months, and a comforter that goes on during the cool months.

and i couldn't wait. so today our bed changed from this:



to this:



and i'm so excited to sleep under the extra warm-weight tonight.

the air is starting to cool and crisp up a bit. i found a legitimate fallen leaf on our driveway today. ginger snap cookies were pulled from the oven today. this weekend i will hunt and find apples for canning and, come saturday, the few pieces of autumn decor i own are going up.

exciting stuff.

you may think i'm a little over-excited about this upcoming season change. but i'm a minnesota girl. these summers in south carolina are hot and sticky ones. and, once again, i looked around during the last week or so of august this past summer and wondered why me and my children were so cranky. why is everyone whining and going a little crazy?

as the first glimpses of cool days rolled down my street, i remembered: i'm used to having cabin fever in march. down here, i get it in august.

and today was glorious. a day that ended in cooler breeze and a white and blue sky. a perfect day for building a nest. in a wagon, apparently.





we are happy. come, blessed autumn. we've been waiting.

back

oh monday. good to see you.

my weekends (and weeks) have been so recently full. and i've found myself longing for some regular.

a little laundry. a candle lit in the kitchen. a satisfying stack of school books to start the day. pj'd kids and a tall cup of black tea.

monday.

this past weekend i was leading worship for a women's retreat in the mountains of north carolina. (i have to occasionally stop, gasp, and give thanks for where i live and the incredible things i get to see-- incredible)

the retreat was lovely. women of all ages gathering together. it's such a beautiful thing. this gospel- this Jesus- brings us all to one place. where we have everything in common.

yesterday we drove down from the mountains, and i found my babes waiting in the car to take me home.

after a weekend of craft and art, followed by a weekend of women and worship, i will be glad to not sew anything today, not plan anything- just be. with these little faces.





happy monday.

a little miss.

i got to do a little baking today with my little miss. just me and my girl.





and it got me thinking.



i remember when samuel was a few years younger and would help me bake. he was careful and cautious. he didn't really like sitting on the counter unless i stood right in front of him. he would slowly pour an ingredient into the bowl, watching it mix together.

and then came this one.



so very different. full of so much... else.

she bounds onto the counter, barely needing my help. pretty much tosses dry ingredients around (cocoa powder, flour, you get the picture). she cracked an egg today and was very successful. where, samuel would be afraid of breaking it, so would end up with tiny fissures in the egg and never really be able to get the good stuff out.



my girl tries it all. she doesn't sit still much as she has other ideas- more important things that need attention.



believe it or not, i was on the edge of getting frustrated with this little face during the process. i wanted cupcakes. i saw the goal being just that: a cupcake. with my coffee.

and while we all know a cupcake is a worthy goal, i was missing it. missing what should have been the obvious goal. sitting in a mess of flour and face full of batter right in front of me.

a chance to better know this adventurous, fabulously vibrant, curly haired wonder.



almost missed it.

indie craft 2012

well i'm home. a few boxes are unpacked and my head is starting to clear.

what a year at indie craft. such a fabulous show. so many beautiful vendors and lovely people. i was blessed with great booth neighbors and had such kind friends who sat with me at various points, to keep the lonely away.



we set up on friday (huge thanks to my friend tab who created my whole booth display. would have been lost without her). when jason and i arrived for the show opening on friday night, i was armed with my camera, ready to take pictures. and, you probably already know,... no batteries. so you'll have to see through the lens of my phone.

apologies.



poor jason will also have to forgive me putting these blurry pictures of him out into the world for all to see.



luckily, he likes me. a lot.

shows are so interesting. each is different and you never know how one will feel or turn out. i don't do a lot of shows (very few, really), so, i suppose i'm not really an authority on the matter. all i know is myself and my own experience. and this year was a success. i sold things, yes. but the biggest reason this year felt successful was that i relaxed enough to enjoy it. 

i enjoyed getting my work out there. i have now settled in to the fact that things like this weekend do not really represent my daily life- most of my time is spent maintaining my home and teaching my kids. that's okay. for a scarce-few weekends/evenings a year, my world gets to revolve around stitches, yarn and pretty fabric. and for these past days, i've reveled in it.



reveled.

it was oh-so-lovely.

and tomorrow will bring laundry, school and dinner-to-be made with...... yeah.
all that work is good and i'm glad i get to do it.
really.



but this weekend was good too. and i'm so very thankful i get to do both.

stress

stress is a funny thing. sometimes. 

in the middle of work and worry rests my oh-so-familiar friend stress. 

and i'm not the best at managing the presence of this friend. 

my answers to kid-questions get shorter. my head gets fuzzier. and old fears rise up and haunt. 

today i did my best to stand firm. to stand on the white(ish) tile in my kitchen and remember the truth. 

in the middle of work- beautiful work- i remembered aloud: 

"i have trusted in the steadfast love of Jesus; 

my heart will rejoice in the salvation He has given. 

i will sing to the Lord, 

because He has dealt bountifully 

with me."

                  - taken from psalm 13:5-6

and it's true. my blessings are bountiful. His hand is present and evident. there is nothing to fear. 

nothing to fear.