MISTY'S MORNINGS

Outside my window These summer days have been beyond beautiful. Today is the last day of June and I hate to see it go. I had a fun hashtag on IG #juneswoon2014 where I documented all the lusciousness of this month. Time to switch over to July and full-blown summer heat, patriotism and travels. I need a new hashtag... Reading One of the best parts of summer is the freedom to read. For fun, whenever and wherever we feel the need. As always I have many books going at once. My books: The Little Oratory  Still participating in the read-along here but have yet to formally set-up my oratory. Bread and Wine  Almost done. It's good. What To Wear for the Rest of Your Life  I love the section on organizing your wardrobe. So need this. Poser  Can I quit this one yet? I'm bored. Done : A Cook's Guide to Knowing When Food Is Perfectly Cooked  Always have to read at least one cookbook and this one takes me back to basics. Audio Books The Secret ...

One of the fun things I am doing for myself (and for my family) this summer is the Summer in the Little Oratory book group at Elizabeth's blog. We are reading the book and coming together on Wednesdays to share our thoughts about each chapter. There is also a   free podcast with Leila Lawler , one of the authors, that adds much to the reading. This week was the Introduction and Chapter One "The Christian Life". While I was busy reading and underlining this section, my youngest son, Kai, was eagerly looking over my shoulder at the illustrations. He even took the book with him for the day and paged reverently throughout, gazing at the simple but beautiful black and white drawings which help illustrate the components of creating a little oratory or prayer corner in your home. Kai is now fully on board and eager to create this nook of our own. This is the power of a book with illustrations and I must say, even as an adult, I adore these added details to this book...

Looking up (and dreaming of Springtime) Listening to The boys are off from school today in honor of MLK Jr.  so right now I am hearing dangerous sounds of wrestling and rough-housing from the upstairs playroom.  Sadly, I have a general rule that the three boys are not allowed to play in there at the same time.  It just gets too rough and always ends in crying and more than once a trip to the ER for stitches. Today I am letting it go a bit but will soon have to put the kibosh on their "fun".  The kibosh is always followed by my instructions for them to "take it outside".  Somehow the wide open outdoors keeps the hand-to-hand combat from happening like it does in a confined space. Will I ever get used to being a mother of boys? Reading Stacks are piling up around here as my eyes once again get to big for my ability to read all these wonderful books.  I blame Amazon for my over-abundant bookshelves. It is just too easy to pop over and order a...

See that smiling face right there? That little boy ripped through the entire cache of wrapped Christmas storybooks I wrote about here .  Graciously, my older boys didn't mind and now we are simply enjoying all our Christmas stories in one huge bunch.   The above scene occurred spontaneously while I was making lentil-mushroom soup for Sunday Soup Night (on Monday!).  It has been so rewarding to hear my older boys reading to their little brother.  I know that these snuggly storytimes will be a big part of their memories of Christmas at home.  I wonder which books will be the ones they must pass on to their own little ones someday saying, Grandma Mimi always read this book to me when I was your age .   The most requested books right now are the following: Note: Click on the picture to go to the link for each book. #1   Jan Brett's books:    *In the Gingerbread Friends book there is a recipe for ma...