Living Seasonally
In rural Nebraska it’s hard to not be affected by the seasons and what they mean for our community. Fall is clearly Harvest Time here. You can’t ignore the combines, balers and dust all around. And for the first time since we’ve lived here there is a ton of color everywhere and it just makes me smile!
Giving Thanks
1) Cooler days 2) Orange, Yellow and Red 3) Laughs and beer on the back porch 4) Warm sweatshirts 5) Still eating watermelon out of our garden 6) Squealing and running through crunchy leaves 7) The newness of a child we eagerly await
Thinking Deeply
Is it possible to “think deeply” at 37 weeks pregnant? Thinking just makes me so tired…
Turning Pages
I am reading right now, still Game of Thrones. What? It’s a big book! And I occasionally open my well used What to Expect When You’re Expecting book, just to make sure I’m “expecting” the right things. It’s fun to remember how I poured over that book with my first pregnancy. How I read everything about pregnancy that I could get my hands on back then.
Establishing Rhythm
I think I’m finally getting used to this new rhythm of life with “school days” and little people having to be ready for this and that. Of course with baby on the way all this will soon be changing into a completely different rhythm I’ll have to get used to all over again. I suppose that’s how the last 4 years have been for our family though, I suppose that’s how it is for most families, just when you settle into one rhythm of life, change comes.
But for the most part our daily schedule is being followed and we’re sticking to our chores each day as best we can. I’m happy with that.
Cultivating Simplicity
It feels like life is always rushing by. I’m always planning (unless it’s supper, then planning is not the word I’ll use!), thinking “what’s next for us”, what should I be working on now. But when Fall and Winter finally blow in I’m always given over to that yearning to slow down, soak in what’s around me, snuggle deeper into something warm and wait, just wait quietly with no expectations. That’s not always possible during this season of my life, but I want to challenge myself over the next couple of months to do just that.
Creating Beauty
I love when it’s finally time to bring pumpkins home and place them around the house. Does orange make anyone else as happy as it makes me?!
Nurturing Hearts
Bible Time in the evenings can be hit or miss sometimes depending on the mental state of one or more of the babies and mental state of one or more of the parents, so I decided to make Saturday mornings our main Bible Lesson and Catechesis Time. Last week we learned about Ezekiel and them “Dry Bones“!
Scary Bones craft idea from HERE, perfect for October.
Nurturing Minds
Our Weekly Alphabet themed lessons are going along well. There are days we don’t get to lesson time since our neighbor friend is back and has Lily come visit in the mornings on occasion. But they’re becoming something she really looks forward to and, if I’m organized enough, I do too. It’s one hour a day that I just spend with her and Gerhardt (if he’s in a cooperative mood), writing words, reading books, listening to a composer, painting or talking about the life of one of the saints. Everything else is on hold for at least that one hour.
Nurturing Senses
Each month I choose one hymn for us to sing every (hopefully) night so that it will become very familiar to all of us. This month as we prepare for the upcoming Reformation Day, our hymn is “Thy Strong Word” from our Lutheran Service Book, #578. You can hear that HERE.
Nurturing Hands
It’s a lot of work to get and stay organized, it seems constant and I’m obsessed with it right now. My hands have been very busy going through boxes, purging and sorting and restructuring lately. I’m addicted to gathering organizing ideas for my very unorganized house. Unorganized isn’t totally true, but more order and less stuff is definitely needed right now especially with baby #5 on the way and with him or her… all that stuff that needs organizing and storing. So I spend way too much time collecting ideas around the internet for the massive amounts of stuff I live with. See my Pinterest page for proof! And this:
Goodbye rice boxes…
Hello paper storage organizer thing!
Idea from HERE and I’ll warn you once you start repurposing cardboard boxes into storage containers you’ll never see a cereal box the same way again, or an oatmeal container or a tin can or a toilet paper roll or….see?
Capturing Time
Perfect.
Such a thought provoking post! I know you are so glad to see the beautiful tree change colors! And it’s so fun to see Lily and Gerhardt playing in the leaves!
Great photos and great meanderings! 🙂