MISTY'S MORNINGS

This disheveled heap of blankets and pillows which has taken over my kitchen nook symbolizes one simple fact ~ school is out for summer. My boys are home, all day, everyday for the next three months and I am ready to slow down, sit still and savor their ultimate boyishness. Even if it means I have to sip my coffee elsewhere for a while. {this moment}                             

Sometimes you have to slow way down, lean in closer and really look at the magic that exists all around you.  Every bead of rain left clinging to a petal or a windowpane can become a mini-microscope revealing an entire world within. People are like that, too.  Each one a world unto him or herself with so much to teach us if we would only slow down, lean in and really see them for who they are within. Sharing at 52 Photos Gallery

Is Springtime flooding your soul yet?  Every year at this time I am amazed at the sense of renewal the simple fact of increased sunlight, budding trees and blooming flowers brings to my spirit.  It may be trite but I really do feel like anything is possible when the world is displaying it before my eyes.   Last night at a meeting, a friend was discussing something her therapist had told her during a bout of deep depression following a tragic event in her life.  He told her,  "Out of crisis comes renewal." Each of us took a moment to let that reality sink in. We began to agree that that is the message of any crisis.  We are so busy living our lives in the moment when we cannot make sense of things very well.  Understanding comes only in retrospect.   Not until we have moved out of the crisis experience can we begin to see the ways in which we have grown or the unforeseen blessings that may have come to us as a result. We spent Ea...

I just pulled a loaf of this bread from the oven and the house smells lovely and warm with cinnamon spice. Because it is so very easy and makes excellent toast, I wanted to share it again today on St. Patrick's Day .  Even if you aren't Irish , your family will kiss you for it! {from the archives}     I feel kind of sorry for that plain, pasty looking round of Irish Soda Bread.   Taking it out of the oven and setting it down beside the cinnamon sugared version made it look like it came to the party and forgot to get dressed.   Let me just emphasize how  utterly delicious  this bread was.  It reminded me of the cinnamon scones I used to buy at Starbuck's years ago.  The crumb is dense and if you eat it while still warm, it is as moist as a buttermilk biscuit.  To think that from start to savor it took...

Outside my window... Recent  sunsets have been stunningly beautiful.  The pinks, blues and purples look like watercolor brushstrokes across the twilight sky.  Every chance I get, I dash outside on the deck and snap a picture with my phone. This one was so brilliant that it took me a moment to make sure there wasn't a fire in the distance. I am thankful... for two weeks of rest after a busy basketball season.  Track began last week and both older boys will begin soccer this week.  With  choir practice thrown in that makes for nine individual practice times per week.  Hmmm.  Better get the cooler packed for dinners on the run. I am thinking... about my schedule. (see above)  From March to June time always seems to speed up.  Every weekend is booked with soccer games and track meets as well as our MOMS celebration dinner, the school's Spring Gala and two weekends of Christ Renews His Parish. Not to mention Holy Week, Easter...

Deep peace of the running wave to you. Deep peace of the flowing air to you. Deep peace of the quiet earth to you. Deep peace of the shining stars to you. Deep peace of the gentle night to you. Moon and stars pour their healing light on you. Deep peace of Christ, of Christ the light of the world to you. Deep peace of Christ to you.

PRETTY RW and ZJ were born twelve months and two days apart.  It was the most amazing déjà-vu I have ever had ~ returning to the same hospital ward, the same nurses attending, the same doctor, at the same time of year, to the same overwhelming memories of surgery and recovery and new life and heart-smacking love. It was the best. It seems so appropriate that every  February we get to celebrate Valentine's Day and the next day the birth of our firstborn son.  Two days later we celebrate the birth of our second son (and three months later the birth of our third). February is certainly a love ly month for us.  On RW's birthday we surprised the boys by taking them on a whale-watching boat ride on the ocean.  It was a gorgeous sunny afternoon, unseasonably warm and perfectly calm for a day on the water.  We saw small boats, naval ships, Coast Guard cruisers, gigantic cargo ships (clearly from China), lighthouses, beautiful h...