September Daybook

Outside my window... It is warm and oddly muggy.  Late afternoon sun hits our backyard patio and makes me feel very lethargic if I sit there.      

I am wearing... A red knit shirt, a light brown skirt with green and peach flower pattern.  Bare feet.

I am thankful for... Confession.

I am thinking about... How hungry I am and how I am unmotivated to cook - related to the mugginess, I think.

Learning all the time... Bluejay is ready for some of the Thornton W. Burgess books.  I am so excited to start reading them to him.  We've just started with Bedtime Stories, but I need to get more Burgess books.  My mom has a quite large collection of first editions, but they're in line be given to my brother Gabe, as they were some of his absolute favorites, so I'll need to acquire my own.  If anyone ever visits Sandwich, Massachusetts, I highly recommend the Burgess museum there.  We visited it when I was nine years old, and if it's anything like it was almost 30 years ago, well, I can't recommend it enough.

From the kitchen... As previously mentioned... unmotivated today. So I'm heating up Coq au Vin from Trader Joe's and making mashed potatoes as a side dish.  I did make a delicious chicken tortilla soup earlier this week.

I am creating... I finished crocheting the blanket for Chickadee!  I'm using the leftover yarn to make a small matching blanket for her dolls.  I think she will love that. I just need to finish the edging but it's not easy to find time to work on it these days. I purposefully did not finish weaving in all the loose ends in Chickadee's blanket because I didn't want to be tempted to give it to her before I finished the doll blanket (or I would NEVER finish that one).

I am working on... having less stuff.  It is a big goal of my husband and I to decrease the things that we have, so that our life can be simpler.  I am not jumping on any minimalist bandwagon.  But, there are a lot of things in our house that are neither useful, beautiful or meaningful.  The children have too many toys to clutter up their space and minds.  Yesterday, I asked them to pick up the balls in the back yard.  They picked up two balls.  Therefore, I think two balls is all they need.  This is being largely driven by Aaron, but I am finally really on board.   

I am going... to preschool co-op three times a week with Bluejay.  To a feast-day party for our little goddaughter's first name day.  Hopefully nowhere else.  Trying to simplify our life too. There are too many things to do these days. And they're only babies!  I sometimes question preschool. But he does love it so much.  

I am hoping... to see as much of my family as possible and that all our visits are smooth, as they have been lately.

I am reading... The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.  Really enjoying it too.  I still need to pick up Everyday Saints and Other Stories.

I am praying for... My big boy going to preschool.  Some relatives.  My husband.

I am hearing... Pete Seeger singing the Tree in the Ground. Chickadee narrating her life to me.  Man can that girl talk.  She's gone through a phase of fake baby talk for the past month or so, which I find very annoying.  I try to ignore, I try.  But these last few days she's gone more and more back to her real voice, and that voice? is adorable.  Her speech is quite sophisticated too, as spoken through her raspy little two year old voice.  Everything has a "shh" sound in it.  Today we were looking at an animal book and there was a picture of a macaw. She has most of the animals memorized but when I asked her that one, rather than saying "I don't know" she said "It'sh boo (blue).  It hassh a back (black) beat (beak). And yewwow awound it'sh eyesh."

One (ok two) of my favorite things... Reading my favorite books to the kids and seeing them learn to love them too.  Seeing how delighted Sparrow is when he sees me.  He has a killer grin.

A few plans for the rest of the week... One of my brothers is coming over today to play with the kids.  Working from home tomorrow.  Bluejay's second day of preschool.

A few picture thoughts I am sharing with you... 

   

The Simple Woman's Daybook