Not Quite Ordinary Observations

For Today...Tuesday, September 27,2016

In the great outdoors...autumn! Really and truly! (For a few days, at least.)

Within our four walls...windows are all open and fresh air is wafting through the house. We all enjoyed sleeping under blankets last night instead of tolerating being half-covered with sheets.

A heart of thanksgiving...for the cool weather, for friends, for technology, for the discovery of new ways to help my kiddos conquer fall allergies without having to feel constantly drugged

A heart of prayer...for a church couple who welcomed their first child yesterday afternoon, for several other church members in the hospital, and for our church as a whole

Random observations...we reorganized the chore schedule recently. It’s amazing what a little tweaking can do! Chores have gotten done better and more efficiently every morning. YAY!

My silly son...loves his dog. And his dog loves him. It’s fun to know that God’s timing is perfect. I can’t imagine a better dog than Cookie for Steven, but there’s no way Steven could have truly enjoyed him as a younger boy. He would have been too overwhelmed. Cookie likes us all, but it is obvious in his every movement that he’s absolutely delighted when he sees Steven. Cookie will gently push Steven over, then lay on top of him, but never hurt him. He fusses if we’re doing anything with the burn pile and Steven gets anywhere near the fire (he doesn’t do it with anyone else!). And, if Steven is doing school work on the porch, Cookie will nudge him a bit for play, then lie down at his feet just to be close to him. It’s really precious, and just what we’ve prayed that God would provide in His timing.

Thoughts from the kitchen...soup weather is finally making an appearance. Last night I made the menu plan for October and added a couple of soup options every week. I know some days it will still feel too hot for soup. This IS Arkansas after all. The 90’s have not left us. But, we are excited to work it into the plan anyway!

We also had to make sure to work in Oriental meals. My kids beg for them (not that Doug and I don’t crave them, too!), so we’re trying a few new recipes this month to keep the mix fresh. We found Mongolian beef and cashew chicken recipes, and we’re going to look for something Szechuan.

On my bookshelf...trying to decide what’s coming next. I’m still slowly working through the same books, but I’m getting closer to the end!

Projects...Angela’s antebellum dress is in full assembly mode, but she’d doing pretty much all of it herself. I helped her prep to cut it out since we had to do some size merging, then I helped her make sure the bodice was going to fit. And, since this will be her first time to install a zipper, I’m sure she’ll need help on that. But, otherwise, this is her project. I’m so proud of her!

So for me? I’ll probably pick a sewing project this weekend. Still not sure about Christmas gifts, but I’ll think on those as well.

Oh, and I’m back to making progress on my temperature afghan. Still slow, still only knitting through April temperatures. But, now that it’s getting cooler, it won’t feel so awful to have the project in my lap. 

Sounds of the moment...the vacuum cleaner and the washing machine again. They are overpowering the faint birdsong outside my window.

From Hibbard Academy...I got caught up on grading! Yay! Steven’s finishing up Civil War studies, so we’re about to move on to more exploration and expansion studies. And Caddie Woodlawn. I’ve always loved that book!

A favorite thing from last week...learning to rest again.

The planner...band night for the high school tonight, church tomorrow, pastor’s conference at OBU Thursday followed by grocery shopping, then a few weekend activities.

Because visuals are fun..Angela has discovered Pinterest. And braids on Pinterest. And her sister is the guinea pig! 2016-09-22 15.58.50Olivia might not be a 100% willing guinea pig, but she’s been very patient with Angela’s experimentations. And the results have been quite lovely! I wish I had a picture of the one Angie was working on above, but I can’t seem to find the one I thought I took. So, I’ll give you this bun instead.

2016-09-21 18.08.08

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