Simple Woman's Daybook

Peggy at Simple Woman hosts this lovely excuse for visiting kindred spirits every Monday. Run over there to catch up on everyone's Monday morning thoughts and plans!

Outside my Window.... It's very dark, not even a wink from the stars tonight, due to cloudcover, but there are a couple of house lights shining from the porches of two houses away to the east of us.

Which reminds me of a story, one of those ones with a permanent perch on a branch of the family tree. (This story bird is on Catherine's branch.) Most of our children grew up out here on our farm-ette, far from city lights, familiar only with the nightlights of stars and moon and distant houses. When we moved to a semi-suburban street a few years ago, Catherine, who was about five at the time, looked out the window in wide-eyed wonder the first night we slept there, and whispered in awe, "Look at the MOON! Look how close it is!" And, of course it was a streetlight. Her first experience with such a thing!

I am thinking... I miss our semi-suburban street in one of the world's most beautiful valleys, but there is much to be thankful for living right here where we are, back on the farm. I'm thinking I need to remember God's wisdom and blessings ~ and I think I need to make this a week focused on gratitude.

From the learning rooms... We are having fun with our daily journals this year, patterning them after some of the creative blogger ideas we've come across... So: Monday is our "Simple Girl Monday" where the girls fill in a daybook entry similar to this one. Tuesday is "Tickle Me Tuesday," the day the girls write about something funny, draw a funny picture or relate a joke or riddle they've heard that made them smile. Wednesday is "Wordless Wednesday," where they find or draw a picture that has meaning for them. Thursday is "Thankful Thursday," a day to record special thoughts of gratitude. Friday is "Family Friday," when they plan or remember special family outings, stories, or traditions.

I am thankful for... My Faith, my family, my friends, the roof over my head, the food in my fridge, my children's silly sweet faces, twenty-two years of highly blessed marriage, and forty-four years of wonderful life.

From the kitchen... Well, um, I'm going to show my gratitude for the blessing of having a plentitude of food to feed my family by cleaning out my fridge ~ an overdue job, I'm afraid...

I am creating... We'll be finishing up our decorated 3-ring binders for our schoolgirls' daily journals and hope to start our Christmas craft planning this week.

I am going... Nowhere special, everywhere special...

I am wearing... Teal striped pyjama pants and a teal green tee.

I am reading... The new Victorian Trading Company catalogue. Better than a novel!

I am hoping... To be purposeful in making this week a good one.

I am hearing... Absolutely nothing but the tapping of my fingers on the keyboard; it's the wee hours of the morning and everyone is sound asleep.

Around the house... We have an orphan kitten named "Cloudy" that we are hand-raising. Our seven and nine-year-olds have taken on the job, feeding the little guy every three hours through the last two days. I'm so proud of them for steadfastly taking this responsibility, and am touched by their tenderness.

Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... Monday, cleaning and chiropractor appointments; Tuesday, French and piano for the two oldest girls; Wednesday, a blessedly free day; Thursday, my birthday (I don't know what to do with that day yet!); Friday, Shelly's schoolday in town and hubby still away on business trip, Thursday 'til Saturday night. (It's sort of therapeutic writing it out here like this on the first day of the week!)

Here is a picture thought I'm sharing with you... Prices are coming down here ~ some of them, anyway. It's now significantly cheaper to buy a gallon of gas than a gallon of milk. We're seeing around $3.59 for regular gas at most stations around Denver right now, but it was $4.04 to get a gallon of milk the other day! (Ouch! I really miss my dairy goats right now!) How are prices where you live? ** Kitty picture coming today, as soon as I recharge my camera's battery!

**Update** We had a heartbreaker early this morning. Theresa (10) got up to feed little Cloudy, and discovered that he'd died. Poor little thing. We had warned the children not to get too attached. Usually when a mama cat has rejected a kitten it's because she has a good reason; we expect she knew this kitten would not make it. Such a hard reality for little girls! Still, one we have faced fairly often raising animals on a farm, and a good lesson in understand the cycle of life. We can talk about the fact that our animals do have souls, as anyone knows who has beloved pets, but that they are not immortal souls. And we're grateful for our animals for their help, comfort and sustenance; we have a responsibility to God to care for them as His gift to us. They are not on a par with our immortal human souls. Still, we cried for our little orange kitty today.