{pretty, happy, funny, real} -- Bridget edition!

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

{pretty}

  I think that my violin is very pretty.

The card that you can just see a corner of here, inside the violin, says that it's a Stradivarius, but I think it's lying. It used to be my aunt's, who got it from her uncle, so even if it is untruthful, I love it, and wouldn't change it for any other.

{happy}

 I know that she's not quite as cute as Pippo, but...




My puppy makes me very happy. When Will left for college we got Roxie to keep me company. She is so sweet and loving  and though I miss all my siblings she does make it easier to get along.

Will chose her middle name: Replacement.

{funny}

We went to see Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas last Sunday, which was pretty, happy, funny, and (much to my excitement) real. They are both amazing musicians and I was so grateful to be there. All their music is so beautiful and energetic -- and their CD, Highlander's Farewell, is full of wonderful music.

The crowd was very quiet and tame, however, and the musicians seemed a little disappointed with how little feedback they were getting. So at the break I said something about wanting to dance, and Mama encouraged me to in no uncertain terms. I had studied Irish dance for about seven years, first with my sisters and then with certified teachers, and even though I am shy, fiddle music is hard not to dance to.

 So I got up and danced in the aisle, and after that set was finished, Alasdair told me to come onto the stage whenever I wanted.

 So after a few tunes I got up on stage.

This is the only picture I didn't take, since I was dancing :)

It was funny because I am not a very, "get up and dance"- ey kind of person. Also my sock flew off. And also, I look like a ghost, because this picture was taken in the dark.

 {real}

As Mama has told you, messy rooms annoy me. A cluttered room makes me feel cluttered. A room that needs vacuuming makes me feel itchy and dirty and sad.

So it's very real to me that every night Mama takes out this quilt, which is gargantuan, and spreads it over the sofa, and sheds little bits of thread all over the room.

It looks beautiful in this picture and is beautiful in real life, but it still bothers me.

 So Auntie Leila says, "Anyone can quilt!" But Cousin Bridgie says, "No."

Baby Walker (and red hair)

This is just another random little hack, along the lines of my mother's Cuisinart fix.

You see, we did end up going to Ikea a few weeks ago, and while we were there I couldn't resist this cute little walker for Pippo.

Its name is EKORRE. However the heck you pronounce that.

A little housekeeping...

... metaphorically speaking :)

After reading and mightily enjoying all the comments -- every single one! -- on the birthday post of last week, I wanted to clear up some little matters, sort of the way I walk through a room and scoop misplaced items as I go.

Under my photo on the sidebar (taken by Deirdre, who says people should have pictures of themselves doing what they love to do, so naturally I'm there cooking) is the pronunciation key for my name. You might understandably have missed that. Heck, I knew it was there and I had to search for it. "Isn't there anything here that tells about me?" I wondered. Who put that thing together, anyway.

As I mentioned in response to a comment, everyone who isn't an Arab calls me LI-La. Everyone who is calls me LAY-la. I grew up having my father and mother say my name differently!

Happy Birthday to us!

Our family has never been the type to have huge birthday bashes - this might have to do with the fact that the first three kids were born in December. I can certainly see the wisdom of down-playing birthday celebrations when you have three of them (not to mention a new baby every so often!) in the same month as Christmas!

I have a great love for bundt cake. Many years ago, my siblings proclaimed me "The BundtMaster" after one came out particularly well, but my siblings are notorious for saying anything for baked goods, so you can't always trust them. But still: this is a tasty cake.

But we certainly never let a birthday pass without cake (and ice cream, of course). I figured that  if we can have short ribs for Dr Pepper Day, we can have cake in honor of the blog's birthday!

Who really needs an excuse to make cake, anyway?

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

I've been falling down on the picture-taking job lately, except for a few batches that really deserve posts of their own (did you know that Habou came to visit? We had so much fun. I'll tell you about that soon). But this one makes me

{happy}

I found this basket at a little thrift store near my house a few months back. I think it was three dollars. I brought it to the counter and the little old lady who worked there started going on and on about it, and saying how she couldn't believe they hadn't set it aside for the event that was coming up. She called the other little old lady over, and asked her how they'd overlooked it, since it was just the sort of basket they were collecting.

It made me very nervous. There was no way I was walking out of there without my basket. I was prepared to fight them both over it if necessary. (It wasn't.)

The beginning of science is observation!

Bridget's nature journal from when she was about nine years old. As neither drawing nor science is her forte, I was fairly content with her journal. Sibil [sic] was our rabbit.

I realize that posting about curriculum choices in the waning days of September isn't the most helpful thing ever. This is me -- thinking my thoughts about how to educate long after they should have been thought and then posting about them at the wrong time, since everyone knows that good home schoolers get their plans set by June for the coming year.

Only I've never been ready myself at the right time, let alone been ready for you, and I realize I never will.

So here I go to give you my unseasonal, untimely musings on teaching science. Not only that, but I'm lacking in any credentials as well, since science isn't my thing -- let's leave it at that. But when I started blogging I told you I'd tell you all I know, and this is me, trying to do that. Take it for what it's worth!

So here's the thing. Science is about observation. There is not much anyone can sell you in order to furnish your children with this prerequisite for a life of scientific inquiry. To learn observation one must have the habit of... observation! The tools are simple and few.

Egyptian Lasagna, or how come you didn't know I'm a convert?

{Recipe at the end of this post. This photo demonstrates the important principle of Save a Step -- make more of what you are making.  You can see that the salad is for four people, two of whom are not big salad eaters. But the casserole is for eight. Back in the day I would have made two of these. Go thou and do likewise.}


I am not sure why it is that it was a bit of a surprise for you to know that I'm a convert.

Hmm.

This makes me wonder what I've left out. Have you read my "What it means to be a woman" series so far? (You have to read from the bottom up.) I feel like I've let you know a lot about myself in those posts. Maybe I'm not as clear as I thought I was? Maybe we need some bios over there on the sidebar?

Beginning a simple prayer life with children.

As a convert with no collective memory to draw on, and also, not inconsequentially, no prayer life to speak of, I had no idea how to pray with the children! There are many things I wish I had done differently. My ability to produce children was greater than my ability to process that I had a lot to learn, let alone to learn it.

I had high, possibly very unrealistic hopes all right -- and no practical way to go about realizing them.

 My husband, although from a Catholic family, didn't have much to go on either. I'm not exactly sure what went on in his family, but I know that we both, for different reasons, had a very private approach to prayer.

I, because I simply didn't know how to pray with others, or, to be honest, pray at all; he, because... well, I think it's because somewhere along the line prayer didn't seem as lively as other things in life when he was young. So when he recovered it, he did it alone.

{pretty, happy, funny, real} -- Pixie cut edition!

I thought Bridget's ponytail looked {pretty} on this day, and I took a picture so she could see it and know what she would be cutting off. She looked, and still really wanted to cut it off! (If you don't recall why she was considering a shocking change, read here about what her brain surgery entailed, hair-wise.)

After Irene passed through, she (Bridget, not Irene; Irene wasn't actually a person) was oh so {happy} -- and excited! -- to get out on the deck for her haircut!

 It's {funny} how odd and a little heart-wrenching it feels to see the pony on the table, and you are all consoled to know that you will donate it (after it dries, of course).

I think this is {pretty} too -- the {real} is that she wasn't going to smile for the photo, even though she loves her pixie cut!

Kangaroo care/Emergency quilt!

This morning after Mass I found out that my friend is going to North Dakota to visit her son, daughter-in-law, and new baby granddaughter, who is in the NICU with underweight, difficult body temperature, and possible kidney issues.

I came home and felt that, even if it means that she has to use it as a headrest on the plane or wrap it around herself as a cape (I wonder what they would make of that in the security line?) she has to take the baby a quilt. An emergency quilt.

Well, You Twisted My Arm: The Ring

Thank you so much for all of your warm congratulations, well wishes, prayers, etc.! John and I have been receiving so much love ever since he popped the question. I think it's a really good deal: you make your love public (and if you're the girl, you get a pretty ring!) and then the public rejoices with you! So encouraging and such a blessing.

My roommate Liz indulged me the other night by using her fancy new camera to take a few glamour shots of my new piece of jewelry. "The Bling," as she likes to call it.

The first few days after the big night, I'd come down in the morning and Liz would ask, "Hey Deirdre. Hows the bling? Is it blingin'?" I've certainly never owned anything so exquisite!

Even with these high-quality photos (Thanks, Liz!), it's hard to capture the detail. The diamonds are set in 'petals' like flowers and the band has two strands that twist together like a vine. 

Posting this will be a little bit of consolation over the fact that, tomorrow, John and I are going to go back to the jeweler who made it to get it re-sized. Apparently we'll have to leave it there for a week. A week! Alas - it's just a bit too large for my finger.


By the way, John is anxious that you all know that he didn't make the ring himself, nor was he solely responsible for designing it. He found this brilliant artist, Marcos Teixeira, consulted with him about crafting something for me. From what I can make out from my fiancé (yes, I do just throw that term in because it's still very exciting to use it), designing it was a joint effort. John met with Marcos on a few different occasions to discuss and to sketch, and this is the result. As much as I'm reluctant to hand it over, I'm excited to meet the craftsman behind my beautiful ring! 

Right after coming home from the picnic John set up. Doing my best to capture the ring without a camera around!

I am such a lucky girl. John is more than I ever could have imagined. This gift is just the icing on the cake... some icing! :)

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

You saw Deirdre's big news, right? We're all so excited. (They make such a good-looking couple, don't you think?)

We had a lovely Labor Day weekend here; lots of relaxing and getting things done around the house. We also went on a whale watch, which was a lot of fun. A friend tipped us off to the fact that the whale-watching place has a half-price deal on the evening trip once a week, so we decided to check it out over the long weekend.

In other words, the theme of this week's {phfr} is Baby on a Boat!

{pretty}

The sun was setting on our way back into the  harbor. I find it pretty tricky to take pictures at sunset that capture the colors in the sky as well as the foreground. (I imagine sunrise is similar, but heaven knows I'm rarely taking photos then!)  But the sunsets here are so beautiful that I'm getting in lots of practice.

{happy}

Our little munchkin did a good job on the boat. He spent most of the trip in the carrier, but on the way back we found a fun spot where he could climb around and pretend to be a sailor.

(His little sweatshirt says "Captain Adorable." I'll say.)

I have to include this one, too, because I love his little face!

(Hand knit hat credit goes to my mom, who will appreciate how well equipped we were for the temperature change out on the high seas. We were prepared for every contingency!)

{funny}

Squirming around, Pippo ends up upside down in his dad's arms. He looks pretty comfortable, don't you think?

{real}

Wild sea creatures are not always very obliging about posing for pictures. The whale we saw didn't even flip up his tail for us!

Another elusive shot: all three of us in one photo! I'm so often the one taking pictures that I have to remember to hand over the camera to make sure I get in them, too. (The Lt does a nice job; he got some good shots of me and Pippo on this trip) Both adults at once is a feat. 

This was a family self-portrait, taken awkwardly at arm's length. Not bad, I think. (Especially since I didn't know the Lt was in the frame when I took it. A happy accident.)

Deirdre and John, engaged!

Well, you are an astute bunch, I have to say. You weren't really fooled by that whole "my boyfriend and I eating dinner on the patio" thing, right?

More to it than that, you said.

And you were right!

Oh, it's happening!

Let us introduce you to John!

Just the right person for our Deirdre! 

A couple of weeks ago he made the trek to ask Phil for his permission, in the approved manner. Wasting no time, he popped the question scant days after, skillfully avoiding a hurricane delay! Way to get a jump on bad weather, John!

John and our Joseph are classmates from Notre Dame. Isn't falling in love with your brother's friend a good way to go? Especially when your brother looks out for your welfare. John teaches high school art and is already an accomplished artist. He designed her ring!

"It's very elvish," Rosie commented.

"They're very elvish!" I replied.

{Elvish in a Tolkien-ish, dignified kind of way, of course.}

{But this is Deirdre we're talking about, so not too terribly dignified. But some.}

Congratulations Deirdre and John! We couldn't be happier for you!