Kitchen Window

Summer is coming soon, though some of us are still getting rough weather, we are praying for warm, sunny days to soon come.

Here in Northern California, we had some cloudy days and showers.  The kids do not get out of school until a few more weeks.

Meanwhile here in our home, I'm beginning to change the decor from Spring to Summer.

Starting with the kitchen window.  I was thinking of a theme for the summer and decided on this:

I had found 3 similar valances at a thrift shop and sew them together to make a longer window covering for the laundry room.  I took one apart from the other two and now I have one for the kitchen window and the other two will go in the home office.

I love light houses.  They remind me of Jesus being the light of the world, and my guide.  The eagle reminds me of the scripture, " and you shall mount up with wings like eagles" Isaiah 40:31

And the flags well 4th of July is coming up next month.  I am thankful to God for being an American Citizen by birth.  And that my children are now second generation Americans.

Thank you Lord Jesus for the "Dream Act", a chance for students not born in USA to be able to fulfill their dreams of higher education.

The kitchen window display helps me to meditate in God's word and pray.  When I'm washing my dishes, I like to pray for others.  It is a time of relaxation for me.  I offer up my works to God.

St. Therese will offer all the little things she did to God.

When I am cleaning my home, I am blessing my family.

What do you have near your sink that inspires you?

Thousand Gifts Journal

#47 Helping decorate the chapel for Holy Thurday.

#48 Using my white lacy panels from my own home.

 

Daughter's Easter basket

 #53. Easter Blessings, #54 Easter baskets

Son's Easter basket.

#60 My Tupperware Website Activation

#64 Working this week, at sister-in-laws taco truck all week.  Extra income.

Visual Colorful Journals

About nine months ago, I came upon a post that Ann Voskamp shared on having prayer journals.  She has a unique way of journaling.  She uses clippings from magazines and add them to her journals. 

I thought this was very unique and interesting.  Perhaps I could do one , to use as a family journal.  One were we can share our moments in life.  I shared the idea with my children and we decorated the front of a notebook, with items we like. 

Daughter is into fashion, son likes all the fun outdoor activities, I added some scripture.

I forgot to take a picture of the cover, but here are some of the entries from back in November 2009.

Here is an entry that my daughter made in the journal.

November 5, 2009

My back is doing a lot better, here is a diagram

before and after ( I think)

Please continue to pray for me and support me!

Love,

Marah

We kept the journal on the coffee table, in the living room.  And it was mostly my daughter the one that made entries.  What she wanted for Christmas, our family tree and what she wanted her room to look like.

The journal was later tucked away under a pile of things and I just forgot to make entries in it.  Until today.

                                    

A few days ago, I took out all of my journals out of the box they were stored in for future reference.  I labeled the front cover with dates of first and last entries.  I then ordered them, and I counted them.  I have now 17 journals, including my current one.  Not including the family journal. 

I have a new pocket journal, that I will be using for while on the go.  I got this idea from Ann.

And I also have a reading journal. For taking notes while reading a book.

My prayer journal is for my Quiet time with God.  While reading the scriptures, I will be writing down what I hear God saying to me.  I will write down special prayers, inspired from the scriptures and the psalms.

I hope that I make more entries in the family journal.  It takes time to go thru magazines and cut out the clippings, so I will probably do this on those days, I have plenty of time for this new way of journaling. 

The Family Journal will stay on the coffee table.  My prayer journal inside my tent (tote bag), along with my bible and other inspirational books that I am currently reading. And the pocket journal, well, inside my purse of course.  Ready to be used at the right moment.

My Fashion Girl

There you see her. All dress for school. This picture was taken a few weeks ago. But that is how she is all into fashion. Even though she has to wear a uniform, she always finds something in her wardrobe that makes a statement.

10 years old. Not even a teen yet but almost there. She reminds me so much of me at her age. Her long hair. I always had long hair when I was younger. My daughter is thin, I was more chunky.

She looks normal to anyone, but underneath the clothes you find a hard plastic brace holding her straight, preventing her spine to curve any further. I am so proud of her because she has been wearing her brace all day. The only times she takes it off is to take a shower. She sleeps with it, takes it to school. Nobody knows it on there. Doing the job it has to do. I need to buy her larger clothes now. She is growing more this last few months. She is entering the puberty years. She asking more questions. Why this? What that? I already gave her the talk, in terms she will understand. And a friend gave us two books on the subject. She has read those too. But Mother and daughter time is valuable, unreplaceable. I remember my grandmother giving me the talk. We were spending our summer vacations with her that year. I was about my daughter's age or maybe a year older. Grandmother explained what will shortly begin to happen to me. What should I be aware of and gave me the warnings. I am not going to give all the details. We women have been there and now what I mean. And in case there is male readers, I will spare them the details. But it is the course of nature. The seasons come and go. We all change. The trees grow leaves in the spring time and loose them in the fall.

Back to my fashion girl. My joy, my struggle sometimes. (sigh) Yes, she has a strong will character. I have had my hard times with her. But now is getting better. Her room is coming along. I do not worry about her school work. She is gifted in that area. She loves to read. That is why I need to get her good books that will help her instead of filling her head with nonsense and fairytales. I am not saying fairytales are wrong. But lets face it they are fairy tales. Not real. Good literature, with good use of words, no slang language or weird ideas, those are the books I want her to read. And I will do the same for son too.
That is my new goal. To enrich the knowledge of my children with good literature. Fun family activities. And enrich their Faith formation too. Learning about saints, about great leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. , Mother Teresa of Calcuta. Also learning about other cultures not just our own.

Our New Family Journal

Yesterday was the Back to School night at their school. I got some great information from both teachers with great family activities to help the children learn and enjoy reading and writing. And idea that I had already read at Holy Experience was given in one of the school's papers. Making a family journal. A fun family activity. A great way for kids to express themselves in writing and share with the family something about their day. Not just with words, but with pictures. So I found a new notebook. And we decorated the front of it with quotes, bible verses and pictures that kids picked from a magazine. We will keep the journal on the coffee table and I will have the magazines, scissors, crayons, pen, pencils, and glue stick near by in a basket. When they return from school they can share something with us in the journal. Find pictures in magazine or draw a picture of themselves. On Fridays we will share our stories by reading out loud to each other. Sound like a great idea. Starting a new tradition that will at the same time improve my children's reading and writing skills.
You might also like to read this post regarding a mother's journal.