Thomas Merton From Thoughts in Solitude

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following Your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You and I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.

And I know that if I do this, You will lead me by the right road although I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust You always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death, I will not fear, for You are ever with me and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Let the Frames Begin!

Another house-progress post. I hope you don't mind so many. But this is the biggest part of our family's life right now. And isn't that (one of) the reasons for a blog? To post things that apply to the most important aspects of life?

Framing started last week, Wednesday ... And we stopped by Thursday, just before I left for my retreat, to see the progress.

basement from the back of the house; my mom's suite

front-left corner and left-side of house, when looking at the house from the front.

Yesterday, when I got home from my retreat, which by the way was fabulous, I actually got to walk around on our main level! No interior walls are up, so it was still a little hard to figure out exactly where things were going to be. Like where the mudroom stopped and bathroom started. And where was the pantry going to be exactly? But the main areas, like the family room and kitchen, were quite obviously there!! And I walked around in them! With the blue sky up above. It was surreal.

view of the front, main level. (the garage will be on the far right.)

that same front-left corner and left-side of house ...

outside my kitchen window, looking into the backyard. don't you see the endless possibilities?!

standing in the kitchen looking across the house into the dinette and then family room.

back of house.

Into Silence ...

... I go this weekend.

And I admit, I am a bit nervous ... I have never been on a silent retreat.

What will I really hear in all that silence? What does God really want to communicate with me? How will I be able to enter into the silence, when my life is so naturally non-silent?

I am hopeful and trusting in God's love. In His plan. In His way of speaking to me.

As the mom of (almost) six children, I think, deep down, I need the silence to be able to truly listen to Him, even if we wants to speak with me about the not-so-pretty stuff, too ...

Through the silence, may I learn to be more of the woman, the daughter, the wife, the mother He wants me to be. To not get stuck in my rut. But to grow in Him ... and be able to give of myself more fully and with greater love.

Mother Teresa said, "We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature—trees, flowers, grass—grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence ... We need silence to be able to touch souls."

VBS

During this first week of summer, we are enjoying a fun week of Vacation Bible School (VBS). This year's theme is Cool Kingdom Party: Mary Leads Me Closer to Jesus. It's a Cat Chat program, and it is fabulous, as are all their audio show CDs. (We are big fans in this house.)

I am grateful that our parish selects VBS programs of quality as well as authentic Catholicity. Past years' themes have been St. Catherine Laboure and guardian angels as well as St. Patrick and the Trinity, both from Growing with the Saints.

My children always come home filled with knowledge, joy, excitement, and of course, lots of crafts and catchy, little songs. There also is a service component incorporated into the week. This year, we are collecting personal hygiene products for Mary's Place. Some of the Mary Mother of Christ sisters will join us on Friday to collect the items.

This is certainly our busiest week of the summer: getting up early, eating lunch late and trying to have more relaxing afternoons.

So, that's what's going on around here. What are you doing during this first week of summer?

Making Progress

These photos may not look like much, other than some cement blocks, technically called the footings, which you can't see, and the foundation, which you can see.

But to us they scream "progress!"

We drive over each night we know the builders have been working to see what they have done. Even if it seems small, we know that each tiny building step is one step closer to living in this house. We can't wait. (I think I've already told you that, but it's worth repeating.)

my husband explaining to my oldest what is what on our house ... the square closest in the photo is our garage ... the one behind it is our house ...

the front, garage side

on top of this portion of the foundation will be our main living spaces

Next week, the framing will begin. To get a visual of what framing is, just look at the house (third from right) that is behind our foundation, in the photo above.

Other than our building project, our summer-y days have been fairly simple. We haven't been doing too much, other than hanging out, crafting, doing workbook pages, swimming, reading lots of books, and going out for ice cream. One of the blessings of living in a rented townhouse is that we have no house projects, nothing that we have to fix or do. This frees up a lot of time for us to spend together. It'll probably be the only summer that is like this. And although the cramped quarters can drive us all a little crazy from time to time, we are trying to savor the simplicity, easy living and togetherness.

Little House in the Big Woods

Once upon a time, sixty years ago, a little girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little gray house made of logs (Little House in the Big Woods, page 2).

Pepin, Wisconsin is only about two hours from our hometown, so we decided to take a day-trip to visit the birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

By the time we reached the little town on the shores of Lake Pepin, we were very hungry! So, before exploring, we ate lunch at a quaint cafe. Homemade sandwiches and soups did the trick.

Afterward, we went to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum. It contained a replica of a one-room school house, in which my girls wanted to spend most of their time. We pulled them away for awhile to show them photos and other memorabilia. Some of it was of Laura's family, and some of it was just from her era. Nevertheless, it gave us a better idea about what life was like way back then.

a letter written by Laura when she was in her early 80s

From the gift shop, I purchased a darling children's book about Laura Ingalls Wilder (and had it stamped with the museum's insignia) as well as some Laura-inspired scrapbook stickers, for when I finally get around to scrapbooking this event. (Did you know I am at least two years behind in scrapbooking?)

Oh, and we could not leave without buying some old-fashioned stick candy, now could we?

Next, we drove about seven miles to the site of Laura's birth. A log-cabin memorial (that you can actually go inside to get a feel for what it would have been like to live in such cozy quarters) stands there along with a sign describing Laura's life.

On the sign, one quote of hers really struck a chord with me. It begins, "Laura Ingalls Wilder is loved, both for her delightful writing style and for her good homespun philosophy. Reflecting on her rugged frontier youth, she said, 'It has been many years since I beat eggs with a fork or cleaned a kerosene lamp. Many things have changed since then, but the truths we learned from our parents and the principles they taught us are always true. They can never change.'"

The one thing we didn't get to do was wade in the shore waters of Lake Pepin. By the time we finished up with the museum and memorial, we needed to hitch up our wagon (not really) and head out, as we still had one more (non-Little House) stop to make before driving home. But that's already on our to-do list for our next trip to Pepin, perhaps for Laura Ingalls Wilder Days in September!

Diggin' in the Dirt

We broke ground this morning on our new house! Never have I been so happy to see so much dirt.

Mama's Day Off

Yesterday morning, my mom packed up all of the kids, and they headed over to Wisconsin to spend the day with my mom's sister and her five-year-old granddaughter. Yes, the entire day away. All of them.

They had plans to go to a park, have a picnic, watch a movie, make graham-cracker sandwiches with frosting and enjoy plenty of play time.

And do you know what that meant for me?

A day off! A real day off!

I promised myself that I wouldn't clean or tackle an organizing project. I could have gotten a lot done yesterday.

But no. If they were playing all day with no chores and no naps. Then, I was going to play all day, too. That's what a day off is for, isn't it?

As they pulled out of the driveway, waving and blowing kisses, I slowly walked back into the silent house. It was weird, at first. I grabbed some books, my journal and a prayer book, and I left the house, too.

I knew I needed some prayer time, and I was afraid that if I stayed at home, I'd be too distracted. So, I drove to our town's Catholic parish and found its tiny little chapel that housed the Tabernacle. Even though I don't know why the Tabernacle isn't in the main church, this was such a quaint little chapel with kneelers surrounding the Tabernacle. And I was the only one there. Just me and Jesus for 50 minutes. It was bliss. And also convicting. And well, just what I needed.

Afterward, I headed over to Panera for lunch. I ate on the patio, and finished my chapter in Grace and Gifted and read a little further in Simplicity Parenting. I'd say I was there for an hour or so. A nice leisurely, quiet lunch. Ahhhh!

Then, I found a nail salon and treated myself to a French pedicure. I usually get a pedicure once a year (if that). Usually it's tied into Mother's Day. But yesterday was the perfect day to relax in one of those massage chairs and be pampered.

After that, I went on one errand. To the local scrapbook store. I am working on a summer incentive project for my trio, and I needed a few sheets of cardstock and some stickers to finish it up. (More on that later.) I chose not to go on any more errands, because I didn't want to do anything that could possibly stress me out. And sometimes shopping stresses me out ~ LOL!

I returned home to a quiet house, and worked on my Twirly Skirt for the remainder of the afternoon. I am knitting the last color on the front side. Then, I will repeat the entire thing for the back. And I watched Leap Year. A cute movie.

My husband arrived home from work, and we went out to dinner together. And talked. It was a wonderful way to end my mama's day off!

Thank you, Mom, for giving me such a wonderful gift. And for treating the kids to a day full of fun. We love you!

Treasure Trove ...

... of maternity clothes. At a maternity consignment shop.

Ever heard of one? A maternity consignment shop, that is? I hadn't, but when I stumbled upon one last week, I was so excited. I thought, "What a brilliant idea! And quite possibly my life saver."

You see, before we moved, I got rid of a lot of my maternity clothes. Some were going on eight years old and were starting to look a little outdated. They had been worn by me for multiple pregnancies, as well as by friends and sisters-in-law for multiple pregnancies. They were starting to see their day.

And admittedly, I wasn't expecting to become pregnant anytime soon, so in my mind, those clothes would be at least 10+ years old by the time I'd wear them again, if I'd ever wear them again (a big if).

The clothes I did keep are in storage. I cannot get to them without making my husband spend a half-day searching for that one, lone bin. I warned him that I'd have to go shopping, but not having to search was worth it to him.

With this being my fifth pregnancy and sixth child, there was no way I'd wait to start showing until my second trimester. Ha! That's just not realistic. So, I tried Target, Kohl's and Maternity Motherhood. I had forgotten something: maternity clothes are expensive. And I had none. I thought I'd just have to surrender to having to spend a lot to get through these summer months.

And then I found Bellies to Babies, a cute, little maternity consignment store. All shirts are $6, all pants are $9, and all dresses are $12. Everything has to be three years old or younger, and in quality condition (i.e., no stains, no odors).

Upon entering the shop last week, I was handed a cup of sparkling water and one saleswoman was constantly taking my items and putting them into a dressing room for me. At my visit, I found a T-shirt, pair of capris and a cute jean dress. And I spent less than $30. (And $30 at one of those other stores would have bought me one item, and that's it.)

Their return policy is even reasonable, which is the opposite of another certain maternity clothing store (that shall remain nameless).

The one and only draw back was that the summer clothing was very picked over. Which is understandable. It's almost summer. And it's been warm here. But they had tons of things for when we enter the fall and winter months; I just have to remember to return there before it's all gone. Or maybe by then, I'll have found my lone bin.

I realize this little review will only be beneficial for Minnesota readers, but it may be worth a little google search in your corner of the world to see if you have your very own maternity consignment shop.