Nothing happier. . .

. . . Then toddlers with bread dough.


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cats in Bethlehem

I took down our tree on Sunday. Angelica as always mourned its passing. This year we were gone for part of Christmas visiting relatives and when we returned the girls still really wanted a tree. There was of course no place left to buy one so we walked down the railroad tracks and cut down a scrubby Virginia cedar. Ben and I decorated one of these the first year we were married so it brought back memories.




This year I kept the manger scene and the lights up. Our parish priest aked us to do this until Candlemas, February the second. Out cultural attention spans are so short. Inside me the desire to have all the decorations put away rebels. But perhaps this is a reminder to me that unlike all the tinselly cheer amidst box store stampedes, our celebration is more than just party decorations and stuffing ourselves with panettone and candy and goose.
I could learn a thing or two from our cat. She still sleeps in the manger scene every morning, happy to be with her Creator who is a baby. Just as he did two thousand years ago Baby Jesus chooses to be with the animals. He knows that they won't tire of adoration.
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The pause in the day. . .

This the view out my kitchen window. While it is one of the best windows in our house it is unfortunately blocked by counter space and a filled in chimney so it is not easy to sit by and enjoy. However the brief glimpses that I am afforded when I turn to put dishes on the drainer after washing them always uplift my heart.



To get through the winter months we really need to find those little places of beauty and light because they are a precious commodity.

I also find that just because this is not a Latin country does not mean that my day does not need some kind of siesta to break it up. I find this difficult to do at lunch because of the demands of the children, the table work and the housework, especially in the winter when the days are so short. The time for it seems to fall between a little before three to a little after four. That is my window. On the best days I prep something for dinner even beforehand and then feel like a schoolgirl running out of the classroom freed from obligation. I usually try to go outside at this time of day, at least for twenty minutes even if it is freezing. Fresh air and walking help clear my head and often put the petty domestic dramas in perspective.

Now if only there was a pub. . .


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New Year

New chairs. . .



New blanket forts. . .







New haircut . . .




New IPad. . .



I hope this blog app thing works. Here goes. Take that 2013!

Novemberings

School (unschool) days pass in a flurry here at home.  We have been doing a good deal of math games and playing with our new abacus which I really love.  I always hated math as a child but if you had given me an abacus when I was seven I may have loved it.   I find something so soothing about running my fingers over the beads.  . . . 

Also we have been attending the Spanish mass at our parish a few time and really enjoying it.  Partially because the language exposure is good for the children, and also I think because we feel so at home with Latin cultures.  With my Italian I can pick up at least 50 percent of what the priest says and most of the responses are the same.  Tonight we went for a full moon walk and looked at our little road all lit up by the moon and Jupiter which was right next to it.    I feel like there is so much to experience, so much to learn and so little time to do it in.  Angelica is good at reminding me to slow down and enjoy the process.  Here is what she did with her math tiles the other day.  She made this mosaic on our table.  

 And here she is reading on the couch in braids, wearing her crystal necklace.   Zita and Julia are probably off playing one of their multiple fantasies together.   There is one person though who has constantly been getting into trouble of late.  This one likes to find her Papa's art supplies and decorate out walls and floors with her own little creations.   I have to work hard to keep her out of trouble.  Part of my solution has been to create a little montessori based corner for her.    Here is Ronia, our maiden of mischeif,  having her first haircut.

Looking forward to my favorite season!  Advent will be with us soon.  I can't wait for the candles, the quiet, the soft lights, reflection and quiet joy of expectation.  I especially love the small feasts, St. Nicholas, Santa Lucia,  Juan Diego and the Aztec Maiden,  and all the cast of characters that visit our house in December.  . . 

PHOTO RECAP!!!!!!!!!!

Hatke autumn in pictures. . . 

         Celebrating Bilbo Baggins birthday with second breakfast.

         Michaelmas dragon bread. . .

             A fall walk, photo courtesy of Zita. . .

    Fall is great clothes drying season. . . Italian drying racks now available in U.S. via amazon!

                                   Pumpkin carving contest.  Yes Ben wins EVERY year.

Ronia and I at Halloween as female Sherlock Holmes and little Miss Watson. 

On travel and change. . .

It's been a  few weeks now since our return to the States and I hit the ground running hard to catch up with all the bits and pieces before diving into the fall activities.

Leaving your home for four months is something I recommend to all.  One returns to ones things and the scales, so to speak, have fallen from one's eyes.  I got rid of lots of nasty clothes and bits, but mostly clothes.

I  feel like one change always bring more changes though.  Its like when you break a glass and you know that three more will be broken before the week is out.  And change is not bad.  It is usually good, as it reminds us that this world is not permanent and we are supposed to be working on getting somewhere much better.  Travel makes us realize that among other things.  Here are a few observations that I brought back from my summer.

1.  You really can live without 99,9 percent of your stuff and get by just fine.
2.  Most people dress, as a rule, way cooler or way lamer than you.  But mostly the first.
3.  You just need ONE GOOD water bottle.
4.  There is a distinctly American way of wearing jeans.
5.    YOur children are capable of way more than you think.  They can climb mountains, learn languages,  eat weird foods, and sleep on train station benches.  In fact, they will do all these things and they will do them better than you.  
6.  The world is full of places where people wait.  For trains, buses, a market, an airplane.  a ticket, a coffee, a wedge of cheese.   These places are like a free college education.   Hang out in them and watch people.  And sometimes. . .  if they are not crazy,  smile and talk to them.

There is, however nothing like travel to bring the zest back into routine and make one's routine a little more bold.  Lots of little changes around here lately.

Back to doing table time and school work in the mornings.  Instituted one decade of the rosary together, me and the girls every morning after breakfast and before we even get dressed.  This is really helping to center us.  

Zita wanted to cut bangs, so I gave her bangs again.  She looks really cute.  Ben's hair also has been cut.  It is shorter but still long enough to be not an office haircut.  He has new glasses too that I really like.

 My current project is dreading my hair.  I always wanted to have dreadlocks and when my old friend Jamie came for the weekend and we both discovered that we had been wanting to do this  we became co-conspirators.   The trick is to make it look artsy and cool and not like you have rats living in your hair.  In the mornings I feel like it looks artsy.  At night I feel like it is a rat's nest.  For the time being scarves are becoming my new best friend.