Simply Footprints Daybook

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...it's late and dark and quiet and the ground is still wet from a good soaking we had late this afternoon.
I am thinking...Actually, I'm trying not to think too much these days.  Such big questions loom for us in the days ahead and trust and perseverance seem to be only roles in finding the answer. So I am trying to turn my thinker often and my prayer on. 

I am thankful for...my husband.  After eight days away and Father's Day Eve return, I realize just how I better off I am in his company. He makes me better in so many ways.

From the learning rooms...I had planned to go full force until the end of June, but we are summarily stalled.  So I spent last week considering the balance between simplicity and richness I want in my homeschool while I cleared and decluttered our learning spaces.  And I realized that book lists and a few good art supplies are really all I need for the richness I desire.  I pulled the core subject books for everyone and they all fit one basket.  I made a basket full of main lesson and notebooks.  We have plenty enough. Of everything we need to have.  A weekly library trip and fresh watercolors will round out my shopping for next year.

From the kitchen...there is a summer menu rotation underway.  Last week, I committed myself to shopping smart and healthy.  I shopped the perimeter of the store and grabbed the very few items I needed in the aisles at the very end.  There were fresh blackberries and blueberries and nuts for snacking this week, and even with Daddy away, I fed the kids cooked, healthy food every day.  I think we all feel so much better.  I am obsessed with having summer fruit on the table at each meal.  Can't seem to get enough of watermelon and berries and nectarines.  This weekend on a quick run, I spotted fresh pineapples, and now I can't wait until it's time to restock the fruit.

I am wearing...navy and white sleeveless top, wide legged khaki chinos, and a haircut I gave myself the other day.  I don't mean to brag, but it's cute. Really cute.

I am creating...a purposeful environment in my home.  I have been compelled to conquer one room at a time, rearranging furniture, reconfiguring wall hangings, and moving things around with a point to clearly understand the place and the purpose of each item in the room.  I love my bedroom after its makeover and seek its cheerful quiet often throughout the day.  I'm hoping that soon each room will feel this way and that it will bring the same peace and cheerfulness to my family as it does to me.

I am going...on vacation in July.  With my siblings and their families and my mom and her husband.  And I can't wait.  I am ready to lounge and laugh.
I am reading...Little Talks With God by St. Catherine of Siena.  I need some reading inspiration.  I've been in a funk for a while now. 

I am hoping...that God will begin to clarify His will for us and that we will be able to give a wholehearted "yes" to whatever he asks.

I am hearing...quiet. Finally. My kids were up until midnight.  Hence this post. But now, silence.  Ahhhh.

Around the house...I feel like I am getting my footing again.  When we eased into summer mode I assigned the three older boys one task that remains theirs all the time (maybe I'll switch it seasonally) and one area of the house to keep straightened.  Quinn handles trash duty and the front living area.  Gabriel handles the dishwasher and the boys' bedroom.  Brendan handles laundry switching and the den.  It's so easy to keep them focused and to keep things moving with this in place.  It leaves me to train Evan to straighten the bathrooms (which will become his area when he is ready), to keep my bedroom tidy, and to handle the cooking and kitchen wipe down as well as folding and putting away laundry.  That is a fairly reasonable distribution of daily work.  If we add in one bigger weekly chore each day, like dusting or mopping or changing bed linens, things stay pretty well on course.

One of my favorite things...when a child who has struggled mightily to learn to read snuggles up beside and slowly, painstakingly sounds out every word to the first chapter of a Magic Tree House book.  And the bashful smile that tugs the corners of his mouth when he realizes that he has done it.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Spiritual direction, one dentist appointment, and a 12th birthday celebrate.  And that's enough for me.  Baseball season has ended, and while we all had a blast, free evenings are so, so lovely.

 

Visit Peggy for more June daybooks.