Happiness. Lately. (vol. 3)

Happiness.  Lately.  August.  My monthly collection of "Happiness" - appreciating God's goodness in the little things and seeing his grandeur in the simplicity of my life and "Lately" - what I've been into and up to.

Happiness is...

the Chardonnay and Cracker Jacks I'm enjoying while writing this.  I'm serious!  See...

"Do they still really have prizes in Cracker Jack boxes?

...That's nice to know... It gives one a feeling of solidarity, almost of continuity with the past, that sort of thing."

** Seventeen gold stars to you if you can name that movie **

(one of my favorites!)

Actually, if you know it don't name it... just leave your favorite quote in the comments to play along :)

mini crochet bunting in my kitchen...

fresh summer fruit on ice cream...

fresh summer fruit for freezer jam...

plastic roller skates...

brothers enjoying their new basketball hoop from Dad...

Little Miss Action Shot...

kids' morning snack on a day when was feeling particularly generous and sweet-toothy (I don't even like bananas, but that didn't stop me from having some peanut butter and chocolate chips :) )...

Lately...

We've been blueberry picking and blueberry baking...

We enjoyed our family tradition of going to the Erie County Fair on opening day... We do the fair on a budget - opening day is $2 parking, free admission with a canned good, kids are free, we are that family that brings a packed dinner comprised of healthy foods like vegetables, everyone gets to go on one ride, and we buy a snack (or two!) to share - pretty much always cotton candy and kettle corn:)

I've been making up some cotton dish cloths...

a gift set of three dish cloths and a hot pad :)

The boys spent a week building an awesome gift for their grandma's Birthday (my parents were married in Paris, so those crazy international love birds appreciate this sort of thing!)  (the guys used this non-Lego set)

We've spent a couple mornings at the creek - one of our favorite places on a hot day!

James first time in the creek :)

Gave my guys end-of-summer haircuts.   They were getting a little too shaggy-dog for my taste.  Here's a little something fun we do mid-haircut...

I've been reading...

    Still Perelandra, C. S. Lewis
    Starting These Beautiful Bones: an Everyday Theology of the Body, Emily Stimpson
    

    Books with the kids... some great Usborne "look inside" books that I ordered from Molly!  Look how much they're into them, Molly!  Thank you! 

We had read about the Sydney Opera House in "Inside Famous Buildings" and about a week later the kids identified it
*without any prompting from me!* in a frame at Hobby Lobby!  Be still my beating homeschool mama's heart!!  

I've been listening to Loreena McKennit's haunting and beautiful version of The Highwayman quite frequently.  Like... probably daily.   I love that poem, and I think her musical setting is perfect...  

                        

I have an illustrated picture book of the poem that I got a library book sale.  I wonder if the kids are old enough yet for such a poem??

My Dad and sister planned a birthday party for my mom's 60th!  The exact minute the party "started" it started to downpour.  My Dad leaped into action getting the "walls" up on the tent in their yard.  He was awesome!  I really wanted to share more pics, but I'm pretty uncomfortable putting up pics of people, even family, w/o checking with them first, and checking with them was the furthest thing from my mind during such a fabulous party...  So here's just a few.

Hero Dad!

James partied hard =)

And finally, lately... James has been up to some new tricks during his diaper changes.  (You're lucky he had one on when I snapped these shots ;) )

**  Feel like joining me in reflecting on the past month and sharing some of the moments that made you happy and the things you've been up to?  Link up your August list of Happiness. Lately.  I'd love to have you join me! **

A Beautiful Lego Mind (Embrace the Ordinary :: vol. 6)

This week I'm sharing with you an unexpected joy of motherhood: the oft Lego-strewn floor and the intensely creative brain of the child engineer who could build, build, build and still come up with new ideas all day long.   Aaron has a unique brain.  I think.  And I get to see it shine when he's in his Lego universe.  What a blessing it is to be his mom and to watch him at something he enjoys so thoroughly and is so skilled at!

I had no first hand exposure to Legos when I was a child and always thought of them as the toys that strange little boys played with. It certainly never occurred to me that they would be a favored item in my own home one day.  It appears I was wrong in my assumptions, and I now understand that Legos are the toys of fantastically awesome little boys!  

I love "Embrace the Ordinary" at Someday (Hopefully) They'll Be Saints!  It's a gentle nudge each week to intentionally seek out God's goodness in the seemingly mundane. 

I was so very happy to co-host with Gina these last two weeks!  Please join her and me in celebrating the little things - the blessings sometimes in disguise - and link up your own story or photo of "embracing the ordinary" things that make every-day life awesome!

"...there is something holy, something divine hidden in the most ordinary 

situations, and it is up to each one of you to discover it."

St. Josemaria Escriva, Passionately Loving the World

The Things They Do With Yarn (a kids crafts show and tell)

A few weeks ago there was an explosion in our living room.  A yarn bomb went off and we're still wading through the aftermath ...

I've taken up crocheting again recently.  It's a nice activity for the chilly winter months, and it's something I can work on without sequestering myself in my attic sewing room.  But once the yarn comes out, the kids go nuts.  They have to be in it, around it, on top of it.  Last year I tried to teach them to crochet but they didn't have the coordination (read, I didn't have the patience.)  So I've been trying to come up with other yarn-related projects for them so that they can join me without needing my help every. twelve. seconds.  (So far, we're at about every 32 seconds, so we still have a long way to go before we're all crafting away in peace and quiet.) 

I love this picture because this is what is supposed to be happening...  I have my work and they craft quietly nearby!

I have bought so much yarn in the past few weeks, the majority of it cheap-o kid craft yarn.  With materials from around the house, we've made pom-pom makers and homemade looms.  The boys are able to complete projects on them mostly independently, so that makes all of us happy!  They wish I'd get the camera out of their faces and craft projects but that's not going to happen!  So here are a few photos of the work they've been doing...

The pom-pom makers were sturdy cardboard squares with the centers cut out so that we could tie a string around
the middle before cutting the ends.  

We made looms by gluing together random pieces of cardboard - to keep it stiff.  Then Russ sawed the notches into the top and bottom and glued on wood paint stirrers cut to fit.

Dominic's project

Aaron's project - he's tying it off in this picture

Aaron's other project involved building a manually powered "sewing machine."  He used it to thread his loom for his second weaving, but for some reason I can't get the picture to load :(
Seriously, what did seven-year-old boys do before Legos???