Choosing to Celebrate ~ Home

home collage
Originally uploaded by hsmom2luge

Sorry to miss yesterday ~ here I declare a week of celebration and *I* end up in bed with a migraine!
But on to today. Today I celebrate home. I've talked about our home before here two years ago nearly to the day.
Now, I feel a bit like the characters in I Like Where I am (which is also from jessica harper's album, Rhythm in My Shoes ) .
I like where I am...

PJs
Originally uploaded by hsmom2luge

Tonight
I am celebrating
a very, very quiet house..

Choosing to celebrate ~ friendship
Originally uploaded by hsmom2luge

Tammy at daisy yellow blog kicked off her week of celebration with "coffee in a cafe with a friend" and oh that struck a chord with me! What a wonderful thing to celebrate. I love love love time spent with friends.
Tonight I'm celebrating a few dear friends ~
Starting at the top left ~ my friends Annette and Sheryl. (Sheryl is the inspiration for my love your kids post. ) The three of us met as much as possible in 2005 & 2006 to solve the world's problems. They could have talked all night & I would have been good to gleen everything I could.
Next is my sweet goddaughter Reese and her momma, Emily, nearly out of the frame... I couldn't find the photo I wanted!
Emily stepped into our lives 13 years ago and is my "step up" friend.
She has stepped up and helped sooooo many times. She has filled the gap when others couldn't. She has taken over as godmother to my children when their godmothers have bailed.
I am eternally thankful for her love and prayers for my children and I'm honored to do the same for hers.
Second row, making popcorn are my Lutheran friends, Liz and Laureen! We are sisters in the Lutheran hood, in the homeschooling hood and prayer partners.
The next photo is of Laureen (again) and Michelle. Michelle and I have been close close friends since I was 19 (that's us in the third row). She is my coffee buddy.
We just met last night for coffee, purused Target, discussed the economy and her husband's upcoming surgery. There are nights that it only takes a phone call and we drop everything to do that.
Sometimes that's what it takes, isn't it?
The last photo is of the POTP gals. POTP stands for Prayer On The Porch. My small group that often meets on my front porch for prayer, study and snacks.
This photo is from a retreat we took last year with our daughters.
Such a special get-a-way.
I am so blessed with the amazing support of these
beautiful women. Absolutely something to celebrate!

Choosing to Celebrate

sunrise 2005
Originally uploaded by hsmom2luge

I love watching the clouds capture morning's glow..
it's a moment to celebrate!

Remember, you can choose to celebrate something every day. It doesn't always have to be something big!

Creation gives us a chance to celebrate each morning! I love rainy & dark mornings too, but those days when the sky is stripey and clouds are laced in gold..... those are mornings in which we can be filled.

Check out these blogs joining me in a week of celebration:
in the common hours
Holly's Joy
daisy yellow

You can join us too~ just leave a comment & we'll be happy to see what you choose to celebrate!

G'morning!

morning
Originally uploaded by hsmom2luge

Pull up a chair, I've got more tea & will be happy to get some toast for you!
The china? It was my great-aunt's.. "ma". The coupon? yikes, it's expired, of course. The candle? sometimes we just need a little more cheer in our daily chores, don't we. The Christmas mug? sorry, it's just the right size! I'll probably use it all year...

Thank you so much for all your comments about Grace's birthday. You have no idea how much they meant! So much encouragement.
There are days, days when the child has bounced so high off the wall that she's crashed square on my head. Days when I think of Bill Cosby....... "Gonna tell me to do something when I tell you to do something. I mean you MOVE when I say move! Think I carried you in my body for nine months so you can roll your eyes at me? I'll roll that little head of yours down on the floor."...days when I quote him right out loud..
But for every day like that, I get days when I hear Grace so beautifully playing her cello. When Lucy & Parker are so deeply involved in the story they are creating that they forget lunch and everything else around them. Days when I actually have the laundry caught up AND the living room dusted!

But tis good to celebrate in all things. What do you choose to celebrate? Let's have a "celebration" theme, shall well? Beginning
next Monday, share each day (through Friday) something you Choose to Celebrate. It doesn't have to be a big long post, or a huge project... but just share with others what we can celebrate each and every day.
Post in the comments if you'll be joining my week of celebration so we can all visit your blog!

PS ~the cookie cutters? I found mine at JoAnn!

13

13
Originally uploaded by hsmom2luge

I'm Embracing the teens - I'm excited - I admire her!

Everyone seems to be rolling their eyes, making comments like, "Oh, now the fun begins... it's all downhill from here....."
I am nothing but proud, excited, curious and ready to watch her continue to step toward adulthood.
I loved my kids' babyhood, enjoyed their toddler days, and am soaking up their childhood years.. and now I embrace the teens!
Folks, this is life. You can choose to spend it complaining about your kids and spouse, or get out there and love them! Enjoy them! Celebrate them!
I choose to celebrate.

- Glossy tempra paint
- white gel pen
-composition book art journal
- and inspiration

Think
Originally uploaded by hsmom2luge

I stumbled upon Think a while back (I think through the Crafty Crow). I subscribed to the blog and get weekly challenges through my email.
Last week, week 23, the challenge was to place 8 spoons, 8 knives, and 8 forks on the table. Make a tower that is as tall as possible. Perfect for Lucy, the builder.



I've also be thinking about my little "recipe" for unschooling (posted yesterday). I don't like that it is titled unschooling. I don't even know that I am liking that title of "unschooling" at all. Jon and I have talked about this a lot lately and I guess what I see is,
that we are.
Just that.. kind of like ~
It Is What It Is.
We just are.

When I look at the recipe, it is simply what we..honestly, what *I* have done. I have tried everything. I have thrown it away (curriculum, texts), I have added love, and willingness. And that is no minor feat. I had to break away from the authoritarian parenting of my own mother. I have to be willing to go, to try to do what my kids want to do. And I had to open exploration.. it went hand in hand with willingness.
I think trust should be added too. I have learned to trust my children.
This is my road. It might not be yours, or hers or his.. it is mine, and I'm just not sure that it is called, "Unschooling road". I think it just is.

microMovements ~ check
Originally uploaded by hsmom2luge

A week ago I shared Sark's microMOVEments idea that inspired me ~ here's an update!

1 composition book art journal started
2 Melia, a fairy for a story I'm writing, sketched
3 posterboard purchased
4 work on third panel completed (not pictured)


Here's a closer look at the art journal page ~


It's a bit of a recipe
1 cup of "try everything"
crack it and throw it in the trash
Next add love and willingness.
Open exploration, mix well.
Leave it alone, it will rise.