Just a Little Reflection

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

nor are your ways My ways," declares the Lord.

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways

And My thoughts than your thoughts."

~ Isaiah 55:8-9 ~

This isn't deeply profound. Just something I've been thinking about lately:

When something comes into my mind and heart that really surprises me—especially when total peace surrounds it—I know it is of the Lord. It is not me. It is Him. Because in my humanness, I would never come up with it on my own.

He gives me courage when I normally would be scared. He gives me peace when I otherwise would feel unsettled. When I am open—even a tiny bit—to His plans, His will, He pours His grace upon me. Giving me what I need to do the seemingly impossible.

This never ceases to amaze me, and I guess that's because our Lord truly is, well, amazing. He is never going to stop surprising and amazing us, leaving us in complete awe. All because He just loves us so.

A Boy and His Cars

This boy of mine has loved car-cars for awhile now. (BTW, that's what he originally called any type of vehicle with wheels. Car-cars. That affectionate name is slowly starting to go away, as he gets older. The same for trains. He calls them choo-choos right now, but I know that will not last either. A bittersweet sign that he's growing up.)

So, when you add a garage (made out of a cardboard box, a bucket, the crayon bin and piles of books) to his growing car collection, look out! The imagination runs wild with endless possibilities for car playtime. Including making a choo-choo track out of chunky puzzle pieces and car ramps out of bin lids and flooring samples (for our new house).

After raising three girls past this toddler/preschool stage, it is really fun to see how very different he plays. I can't get over how delightful I find this little guy! And the boy things that he finds so interesting, I can't help but enjoy, too. Which surprises me (being the only-child girl that I am). Which is why it is so absolutely wonderful.

The End is in Sight

While we don't have an exact close date, yet, we are getting close. Maybe a month or so left. So much is done. What remains includes finishing details, such as floors, cabinets, trim, etc.

The exterior is nearly completed. Where the blue house wrapping stuff still shows is where stone will be soon. Stone also will be on the bottom of the porch columns. We had to do a bit of landscaping in the front. A boulder retaining wall. This was not in the initial plan, but after seeing how the land was not so flat, it became necessary.

Inside, it has been fitted for all the plumbing and electrical lights and outlets. It also has been sheet-rocked.

(This is our kitchen, looking at it from the family room.)

And painted (first coat only)! We are still trying to get the kitchen paint color just right.

(This is our family room.)

A second retaining wall is in the backyard. It will almost be like we have a two-level backyard. The top part of the retaining wall, and then it will slope in the back and open up to a nice, flat yard. The possibilities are endless in my mind ~ a veggie garden, a Mary garden, plenty of space to run around and play, not to mention spots to sit on quilts and read ... Oh! I can't wait! (We will eventually build a deck, but that will be phase 2 or 3 ... or 4 of our plan =)

Getaway

On the Superior Shore. Savoring the last days of summer. Just me and my husband.

There was no need to be busy. We're always busy with work and family life. We didn't feel the need to be busy on our mini vacation. Plus, we've been here before, we've seen a lot of it already, and we'll probably be here again. Not to mention, we were a bit tired-out of sightseeing after our family trip.

So, we spent our time sitting on the deck. Enjoying the view. Reading. Talking. Playing card games. Cooking together. Going out to eat, too.

Restful and rejuvenating. That's what we were going for. And that's exactly what we got.

Savoring the Crumbs

I am on a Eucharistic e-mail list, and once in awhile I post the quotes from that e-mail list here, when they inspire or encourage me enough to share them.

Looking back in the archives, I noted the Feast of St. Jane Frances de Chantal last year. And I am doing it again this year. I do not know that much about this special saint. But I really like her quotes =)

Here is the beautiful one I received today:

In prayer one must hold fast and never let go,

because the one who gives up loses all. If it seems that

no one is listening to you, then cry out even louder.

If you are driven out of one door,

go back in by the other.

If you are told, as was the Canaanite woman,

that you do not deserve the grace for which

you are asking, then reply like her that you are

not seeking unusual favors, but are hoping only

to eat the crumbs which fall from the divine table.

Oh, and I like this one, too:

Hold your eyes on God and leave the doing to Him. That is all the doing you have to worry about.

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St. Jane Frances de Chantal

Feast Day ~ August 12

France ~ 1572-1641

Widow of the Baron of Chantal

Mother of seven

Founded the Order of the Visitation Sisters with St. Francis de Sales ~ 1610

Honored by the Church for the holiness of her youth, of her married life, of her widowhood and of her life in religion

St. Jane de Chantal, ora pro nobis!

Starting the Siding

Hopefully, the siding will be finished in a day or two. So more photos to come. Inside, it has been insulated, and now the sheet rock is going up.

Progress, progress, progress! Yay for progress!

20 1/2 Weeks ...

A few, kind folks recently have asked how the baby is, how I'm feeling and all that. So, being that I'm at the half-way mark of this pregnancy, I thought a quick update would be nice ...

I will tell you that I have never been one to take a lot of "belly shots" during pregnancy. Look through my children's baby books, and you will find a couple, but not many.

That's just me. Maybe some of you can relate.

Since I am half-way through, though, I did muster up the courage to take a couple photos recently. Maybe I'll take a few more this weekend when we venture up north. But then probably not again until I near 40 weeks. And at that point, it will be one, maybe two. And that will be all.

I am feeling good overall. The summer heat (92 with a heat index of 96 today!) hasn't been too tough on this pregnant mama, as I've been in the air-conditioning a lot lately. But it is August. And I think a lot of people are doing the same thing, staying indoors or near a cool body of water. Regardless of being pregnant or not.

Thankfully, I haven't been swelling too much, which was a pregnancy symptom of mine for three of my past pregnancies, the ones that occurred during the summer months.

The baby is growing and moving about quite a bit! In fact, during today's ultrasound, the baby was extremely active for the technician. A good sign, I think!

Oh, and that lack-of-swelling that I just spoke of ... that was my only "hunch" regarding the gender of the baby.

And my hunch was right ...

My son's Christmas wish is coming true ...

He's getting a brother!

We're having a boy!!

Last Day on the Prairie

(continued from here and here)

Day 2

After our delicious, homemade breakfast of French toast and fresh fruit that I mentioned here, we headed to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society for a walking tour of some historic homes. While we couldn't take photos inside the homes, it was really neat to have a guide explain more detailed history of the Ingalls' life in De Smet, and to see, firsthand, some of the places Laura describes in her books.

To be honest, I have not read all of the Little House books. Yet. But as a family project, all of us are reading them together. Even my husband! In an effort "to be on the same page" with what our children are most enjoying at this time. We're not necessarily reading out loud to my oldest daughter, as she is really starting to enjoy reading alone. But we're making it a point to read them all (roughly) at the same time. We're even including the My First Little House books, such as this one, for my Kindergartener.

First up on the tour: the original Surveyor's House from By the Shores of Silver Lake. This little porch was added on in an effort to preserve the original exterior of the house. Going through that screen door, the exterior wall is in its original wood.

Next stop: a replica of the Brewster School, where Laura taught, in an effort to raise enough money to send Mary to a school for the blind.

My daughter and her new friend from a southern state. They exchanged addresses in hopes of being pen pals.

We then headed into another one-room school house. This one being the first school of De Smet. This is where Laura, Carrie and Grace actually attended school.

A few blocks away stands the home that Charles Ingalls built as a final house for him and Caroline. Mary, Carrie and Grace also lived here, but at this point Laura and Almanzo already were married. We could not take photos in this home either. There are a lot of family heirlooms within it, which were neat to see.

After our walking tour, we headed out to the Ingalls Homestead. This is the land on which Charles Ingalls set claim in 1880. You can read more about its history here. But this portion of our trip was probably the most "fun," because of how many hands-on activities there were to do, including making corncob dolls, learning how rope was made, practicing sewing on an old-fashioned sewing machine and more!

The actual spot where the house stood.

Playing music on a "pump" organ.

Learning how clothes were washed, wrung and dried way back then.

Visiting with horses and ponies. The biggest highlight for my animal-loving six-year-old.

Taking a covered-wagon ride ...

... through the cornfield,

... to reach the one-room schoolhouse for an actual mini-school session. My oldest was in her glory. She. loved. this.

On our way to our second B&B, we drove past the five Cottonwood trees that Pa planted. And we then had a very relaxing night of hanging out, reading and playing games, before we ventured back home (a five-hour drive) the next day.

But before we packed up our "covered wagon" for the last time and headed home, we enjoyed another homemade breakfast. This time, my girls were treated to pancake men, just like Ma used to make.

For breakfast there were pancakes, and Ma made a pancake man for each one of the children. Ma called each one in turn to bring her plate, and each could stand by the stove and watch, while with the spoonful of batter Ma put on the arms and the legs and the head. It was exciting to watch her turn the whole little man over, quickly and carefully, on a hot griddle. When it was done, she put it smoking hot on the plate.

Peter ate the head off his man, right away. But Alice and Ella and Mary and Laura ate theirs slowly in little bits, first the arms and legs and then the middle, saving the head for the last.

—From Little House in the Big Woods, pages 79-80

Little Town on the Prairie

(continued from here)

Day 1

Two hours (about 110 miles) west of Walnut Grove, Minnesota is the small, quaint town of De Smet, South Dakota. It is here where the family of Laura Ingalls Wilder moved to in 1879. It is here where her books By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years and The First Four Years take place.

There is a lot of Laura history in De Smet. As well as a lot of hands-on experiences ...

... like learning about Braille

... and how to make homemade butter.

There are plenty of landmarks, too. So many that I decided to break-up the De Smet portion of our trip into two separate posts!

We had the opportunity to visit the gravesites of Charles, Caroline, Mary, Carrie and Grace Ingalls (and husband Nathan), and Laura and Almanzo Wilder's baby son.

While Pa's store is no longer standing, a sign where the store-site was is present.

It was great fun to meet new friends, mules Susie and Sally, and it was so kind of them to pull us on our wagon ride.

And as the sun was setting across the prairie sky, it was time to see our second pageant, this one re-enacting The First Four Years.

It was another late, late night. But thank goodness we had the comforts of a B&B to "come home to." Our family suite even had bunk beds, which the girls thought were so neat! And what could be better than a homemade breakfast, while on a road trip? We savored every delicious bite of French toast and fresh fruit!

Our second day was even busier! So, stay tuned for more prairie fun to come ...

(to be continued)

Must-See Movie!

This is a wonderful movie on the lives of St. Clare and St. Francis. What I really liked about it was how the friendship between Clare and Francis was portrayed. She played a major role in his life ... and he in hers. And it was captured so beautifully. Going into the movie, I did not know a lot about St. Clare, but what a marvelous woman! I loved learning more about her.

This movie is available through Netflix.

Stillness

When Holy Mass is properly celebrated, there are moments in which the voices of both priest and faithful become SILENT ... That stillness, proper to the most beautiful things in existence, dominates a quiet area of attentiveness in which the beautiful and truly important reign. We must earnestly desire stillness and be willing to give something for it; then it will be ours. Once we have experienced it, we will be astounded that we were able to live without it.

—Romano Guardini

Preparing Yourself for Mass

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The Canon of the Mass guides us silently to the heart of the Mystery. In silence we go to meet Silence. We wait "until He comes" ... God is a Secret audible only when self is silent.

—Maurice Zundel (1897-1975)

The Splendour of the Liturgy