Clover Lane

*affiliate links used

 Thinking:

I know I will never regret not watching the news, reading Facebook posts about current events or political opinions, or listening to talking, talking, talking, about nothing.  It has brought such peace and quiet to my life for years and the world keeps turning.  It's called cultivating a life where neighbors help neighbors, and communities come together and everyone stops wasting time on scrolling and getting angry and upset about things, but most then do nothing.  Talk is cheap.  Love thy neighbor.

Playing:

*affiliate links used

 Thinking:

About how much TIME solves any concerns we have with our children.  Spending time one-on-one and talking, whether they are old enough to have an adult conversation, or young enough for us to just listen to, whether at home, or on a special date, or at bedtime, helps me as much as it helps them connect, and communicate and puts worries at ease.  It's all kids really want.

Thinking:
I've been listening to this podcast by Father Timothy Gallagher and I'm loving it.  I ordered his book also, which looks heavy but I want to reinforce the podcasts that I am listening to. 


Playing:
We've been baking lots of cookies and I'm slowly putting my house back together after getting new carpet.  Doing all this one-handed.  It's not easy and so slllooowwww.  Which is annoying to me.  Because I was getting so frustrated I made a future and now to-do list.  My future to-do list is 38 items long but that doesn't overwhelm me-it's getting them off my brain and onto paper that is have the fun and feels so good.

I am trying to get my Top Ten gifts ideas ready for after Thanksgiving-hoping typing gets easier. 



Meanwhile one of our favorite winter activities are puzzles-the big ones that everyone can sit down and work for a few minutes or hours on boring nights and weekends.  Our library has lots on loan.  It is easier for us now without toddlers-I know that's impossible when little hands are reaching up and can take down weeks of work in one quick minute. :)


Reading:

We are reading this book for our book club this month and it's JUST my type of book, and I can not put it down.  I have to keep reminding myself that this is a modern day book-it seems like her experience in North Korea had to happen in the early 1900's-just the level of violence and starvation and mistreatment of humanity.  It's a really good book.

Thinking:
Of how busy October was and how much I struggled with that busyness.  I don't like when I am forced to say "Next week will be easier" to myself . I know sometimes that is just the way life is-one week I think had six or seven doctor/dentist appointment between me and the kids, and as all moms know, those can really throw off the entire day.  I have been also working on getting a new better routine going with work while the kids are in school, but still keeping myself happy with what my own expectations are for my home and my brain.  I was writing out a list this morning of what is most important to me.  That's for another blog post but just taking the time to meditate and write on that helps so much.

Playing:
Well it's been cold and rainy and now it's dark so early.  BLAH.  TV rules are enforced because that seems always the draw and is frustrating when we have a house filled with quality toys and games.  Janey has been playing school so much lately and leaving little notes for us everywhere.  She is going so strong on the reading-sometimes getting frustrated especially when she wants me to help or doesn't want me to help.  I have to guess.  We worked out a system where she taps the table if she wants me to say the word.  No tap, no help.


 Reading:

Just finished the most amazing must-read book.  It's a tough one in terms of so much suffering but this woman is amazing.  I have so many pages turned down of quotes I want to write in a journal. 

Basically this is the lesson in the book:

"It's the first time I see that we have a choice: to pay attention to what we've lost or to pay attention to what we still have."

It is the PERFECT book for November.

Thinking:  My goal this school year is to do all these things-get outside, take a nap and get enough sleep at night, fresh air!, exercise and eat right.  A walk talks care of sunshine, air and exercise!

THINKING about...

Thinking:





Reading:

Thinking:
We've been enjoying quiet winter days and a really relaxed (of course still busy) season of life with just three at home.  I've been to Florida twice over the last two months, and feel so lucky to soak up the sun.  The memories are fading from the horrific last winter thankfully.

I am asking for massive prayers for two close friends (Kate and Ann) who are suffering from cancer, and in the middle of chemo and its side effects.  Mothers just like all of us, trying to stay faithful and boy is that difficult when it seems like there are setbacks.  I think I say "thank you" hundreds of times a day in my head, and have learned to say it much more to those around me, as I am incredibly lucky to be finished with that awful experience, but it is bittersweet when I know that there are still battles being fought.

Playing:








Reading:
We've been reading so much around here.  Janey and I decided to go through her whole shelf of books this winter, reading every story.  We are making headway!  She is just on the verge of reading herself, but that little "click" I know happens, hasn't happened yet.



I have read and LOVED:

Thinking:
About how sad it is when older kids leave for college.  I never really realized the deep sense of loss and even mourning that follows that departure, and maybe with the first two it was just busy for me to notice (or I probably ate chocolate to stuff it all?).  It really is a grief process.  When I talk to my friends who are experiencing the same, it is also a time of deep reflection and a little too much of that reflection probably.  Did we do enough?  Do they know how much we love them?  What should/could/would we have done differently?  Were we too tough or not tough enough during the high school years?  And mostly...
WHERE THE HECK DID ALL THOSE YEARS GO and WHY DOES TIME FLY?  I look at their baby pictures as I walk down my stairway every day and my heart aches for those days when we were all together in this house and worries were small.
I think maybe it is even weirder for me because I still have little ones here and the truth is-you just do it every day and you don't really think about the time.  And you never ever will get it all right and never ever do it perfectly and never ever appreciate every minute because that's all so impossible.  You just do what is best and what your life can allow to happen at the time.

Playing:
We always have a puzzle going in winter, and the kids latch onto a game that the whole family gets into.  Here are some of our favorites.  This year it has been Monopoly-just the old-fashioned one.  It has really helped the younger kids understand money and finances too-yuck! :)
The rest of our favorite games are here.



Reading: