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After the kids struggled through a mild stomach bug over the weekend, we had a great week filled with lots of picture books from our homeschooling curriculum, lots of pig tails for Miss Lucy, lots of playdates and field trips, and the occasional cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows on chilly nights.
Coming Up in the Liturgical Year: The Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas next week! I loved Sarah’s post about her plans to celebrate. Hoping to have a Little Holydays celebration at our home, as well. I love St. Thomas. If you haven’t read Chesterton’s St. Thomas Aquinas: The Dumb Ox, you should add it to your list!
Pregnancy Update: Not much to report! Feeling and looking pregnant. Also, waking up every morning at 4:15am? What’s the deal with that?! I am completely wiped by 9pm (in other words, dead asleep by 9pm), but glory, hallelujah the morning sickness is almost gone!
Book Love: 2/3 done with my re-read of Wuthering Heights from my 2013 reading list. Now I’m dying to re-watch the BBC miniseries I watched when I was pregnant with Lucy.
(Benjamin trying out the new chicken coop before we moved the flock in. He wanted to sleep in there but I vetoed that plan.)
The Quotable Benjamin:
Me: “Hmmm….if I could only find the whisk so we could make pancakes…”
Benjamin: “Oh, I know! It’s under my bed!”
Me: “?????????”
B has started referring to himself, Lucy, and Baby Gwen as “our kiddos” (“that’s the sorta thing that our kiddos like,” “there’s three of them just like our kiddos”) and it completely warms my heart.
On the Homestead: Tons of greens in the garden! Does anybody have recipes to share for using up lots of mustard and collard greens? New chicken coop for the layers! Compliments of my talented husband. The meat birds are getting “harvested” this weekend. Please don’t tell them. Also, don’t make me pluck anything. Plucking is the worst. But I must say I’m excited about lots of chicken dinners in future!
Quote: Love this one by G.K. Chesterton that Christy posted the other day:
“But what strikes me as truly extraordinary is the implication that there is something low about the objective [of sex] being the birth of a child. Whereas it is obvious that this great natural miracle is the one creative, imaginative and disinterested part of the whole business. The creation of a new creature, not ourselves, of a new conscious center, of a new and independent focus of experience and enjoyment, is an immeasurably more grand and godlike act even than a real love affair; how much more superior to a momentary physical satisfaction. If creating another self is not noble, why is pure self-indulgence nobler?“
Links:
On Raising Little Women (or men): What we can learn from Marmee by Simple Homeschool (You KNOW I couldn’t resist linking to this. Little Women!)
How I stopped being a hipster and finally gave e-books a change: Hannah of Dualing Moms (A good defense of the e-book by the lovely Hannah. But I am NOT ready! I just can’t give up holding a real book in my hand. Have you embraced the e-book?)
Glowing Motherhood, The Rest of the Story: Molly Makes Do (A brave post and important reminder to be supporting the pregnant women in our lives. I didn’t even know about ante-partum depression [APD] until getting to know Molly and hearing her story.)
Why My Support for Abortion Was Based on Love…and Lies: Jennifer Fulwiler (This is one of the best pieces I’ve ever read on the topic. Be forewarned that there is some description of abortive procedures. The author doesn’t include it for shock value, just as part of describing her journey and shift in thinking.)
Happy Weekend! Lucy is having her first slumber party ever at her grandparent’s house tonight and it will be our first overnight separation since her birth. We wanted to try this out a couple of times before Baby Gwen’s arrival when I’ll have to spend a couple of nights in the hospital. I’d hate for her to freak out and blame it on the new baby! So, Daniel and I are having a legit date night tonight. Dinner, a walk around our favorite lake? What sorts of things do people do when they don’t have to put the baby to bed at 7pm?!
“I feel as though someone’s handed me the moon and I don’t exactly know what to do with it.” – Anne (with an “e”)
Love,
Haley
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Loved the abortion article! Her description of the whole process was incredibly insightful, not only regarding society’s views on abortion, but also on our culture’s general view of childbearing and child rearing.
Me, too. I thought it was so insightful and illuminating.
The Real Simple magazine for February had a spread on recipes for various greens, including collard and mustard. They looked good:)
Ooo, thanks, Rachel!
Perhaps cut them up and add them to a quiche?
I’ve defended ebooks for my patrons, but until Pip came along, I’d only read them myself so I could get free classics on my iPod Touch when I ran out of books in Uganda. When Pip arrived, though, I found it’s much easier to hold up a lightweight Kindle while nursing than a heavy library tome. I do a little of each now
You’re making “the dark side” seem a lot less dark to me, haha.
Thanks for featuring my article
I have to admit, whenever you blog about gardening in January, I do long a bit for the Southern life!
We’ve been debating chickens for the past year. So far, two of the adults in our house say no, and two say yes. I’m hoping this summer might be the one we convince the naysayers! One concern: did your family ever get attached to chickens you planned on “harvesting”? How did your little ones handle it?
I’ve actually been thinking about writing a chicken post, haha. To be honest…it’s really hard to get attached to a chicken. Not trying to disrespect any of God’s creatures, but….they’re real dumb. So we’ve never really had a problem with “harvesting” except for the sadness that comes with ending the life of any animal. It’s always no fun at all! The first time Benjamin watched, he was real excited about the idea but decided he was ready to go inside after the demise of one chicken and we had a big talk about how it’s ok to feel upset and why it’s sad, etc. This past time he thought he didn’t want to watch, but then decided he was really comfortable and say the whole thing. He also hasn’t seen Charlotte’s Web so I don’t think he envisions anthropomorphic minds in animals, haha. With layers for eggs, you keep them around a couple of years (and you could just keep feeding them after they stop laying eggs if you want to avoid the slaughtering).