The Big White Farmhouse

Around here, I have been:

telling the kids lots of memories about my grandmother.  Since the baby is such a horrible traveler and the kids needed to be in school, I wasn’t able to make 10-hour trip to the funeral.  So hard, but I tried to make up for it by baking chocolate chip cookies (one of her favorites) and sharing lots of funny stories about growing up with her.  I’ve been trying to put into words what she meant to me, but I only seem to come up with a feeling: the overwhelming feeling of being home.  She was a strong lady who loved with her whole heart.  I hope to live my life much like she did hers.

celebrating two big projects getting checked off the list last weekend.  We had a junk removal service come and take a bunch of random over-sized crap we’ve been piling up in our garage for months.  It was gone in 10 minutes and we now have our garage back!  We also managed to sell our old bed on a Facebook yard sale site, so we’re just a little bit richer too. (Hah, just kidding.  It’s going into the groceries fund.)

reading a handful of books.  For my Lenten reading, I’m slowly going through Scott Hahn’s Lenten Reflections from A Father Who Keeps His Promises and St. Josemaria Escriva’s The Way.  I’m also reading The Precious One for book club and then a random library pick called Black Friday.

gathering supplies for a re-emergence of snail mail.  I think a part of my “Year of Slow” should be about making the time to collect my thoughts and hand write them to friends and family.  It’s also a great opportunity to practice a little creativity  – I can use up a bunch of scrapbook/paper goods that have been collecting dust!  I finished my first letter on Wednesday and can’t wait to make letter writing part of my weekly routine.  (P.S. Let me know if you want to be penpals!)  A few fun links I discovered this week:
+ Write 30 letters in 30 days in April
+ Bring Back Snail Mail Challenge
+ Pocket Letters
+ the #snailmailrevolution hashtag on Instagram
+ 1000 Postcard Project (I want to do something like this!  Maybe for 100 Little Things list vol.4?)

rediscovering one of my favorite Catholic bands from when I was a teenager….like 15 years ago. (How did I get so old?!)  Crispin was funky, fun and still devout.  Fun fact: I learned how to pray the Memorare from their song, Ave Maria.  I also love their version of Were You There?  A fun trip back in time.

Big White Farmhouse notes:
+ Meal planning menupads are 10% off, no code needed!

A collection of our ordinary days, recorded every week.

Around here, I have been:

laughing at Sophie after hearing her brothers talk about skydiving: “There’s just one thing…I’m scared of heights.  I don’t want to fall to my death.”

finishing The Appalling Strangeness of the Mercy of God: The Story of Ruth Pakaluk and Necessary Lies.

falling into the rabbit hole of education.  Mark and I had a few conversations about the pros and cons of having our children in public school this year and – you know me – now I’m reading and listening to all the things related to schooling.  I started reading A Charlotte Mason Companion and watched a handful of TED talks, including this one from Joshua Katz and this one from Tawana Weiker and this one from Chandra Shaw.  Lots to think about.

starting something new.  I recently read an article about the Pope and how he puts all his worries at the feet of St. Joseph and is able to sleep at night.  Inspired by him, I’ve started writing down the things that cause me so much stress and anxiety and placing them at Mary’s feet.  Somehow the physical practice of writing it down really gives the spiritual idea life and gives me peace.

beginning Lent!  Two Internet articles I really liked this week:
+ This quote from a post on Team Whittaker: “But, truly, if our Lenten promises are transformative, we won’t have to shout to the world what we gave up because at the end of 40 days people will know. They’ll see the change. More importantly, we’ll be changed, and our Beloved will rejoice.”
+ 5-Minute Sacrifice for Lent

listening to Sophie “read” The Lady with the Alligator Purse over and over.  And over.

watching D’s curiosity.  He was home sick with a stomach virus for two days, but by the afternoon of day two, he was back to normal and anxious to do something.  We have an old, broken laptop and in passing, he asked if I knew what the inside of a computer looked like.  Imagine his surprise when I said, “Why don’t you take the laptop apart and find out?” !!  He was so focused and spent at least an hour working and examining all the pieces.

praying for the repose of the soul of my grandmother, who passed away on Thursday.  She was so, so loved.