Sukie's wedding dress story.

Click on the pictures to go to Nicole Montmarquet Photography. 

Hello from newlywed land!

It's Sukie here!

First of all, I want to thank you all for your prayers and well wishes for our wedding. We are so happy! It was amazing to have so many friends and family together to celebrate us that day, and then to think of all you people praying for us as well...phew!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

{happy}

Pippo got a DVD in the mail the other day! It's a recording of his daddy reading stories to him.

Have you ever heard of the program United through Reading?

I hadn't until after the Lt had already left, and my neighbor mentioned that they offered it at the base in Afghanistan where he was headed (she knew because her husband was already there, and had sent some stories home himself).

Before and after: Card Catalog Desk

On our anniversary weekend last year (yes, I've been meaning to show you this for a while now), the Lt suggested I come with him as he shopped for my gift, as he was planning on visiting our local antiques mall to find me a card catalog.

(Not a traditional 2nd anniversary gift, true, but he knows me well. I go crazy over card catalogs and, really, anything old and with lots of little drawers or compartments.)

Naturally, I was touched by the sentiment and excited about the idea, but I warned him that it was not going to be so easy: I'd had my eye open in all my second-hand shopping for months and months, and found nothing. You can't go out one day and buy a vintage card catalog just like that, I explained.

Men without chests, or, what C. S. Lewis made me think about.

“We make men without chests and expect from them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.” ~ C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man

Sometimes you do your best and things don't go right. That's parenthood in a nutshell, I suppose, even when it's done properly. We're all operating under the cloud of Original Sin, and those kids are going to give us heartache.

Or, as my girlhood friend's Italian mother would put it when we would get on her bad side, "You're nothing but an aggravation."

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!


{pretty}

On Sunday, Bridget made herself this snack (with the very last of the wedding bundt -- Almond and Rosewater, which had been in the freezer, and yes, Rosie needs to tell us about that), and then thought it was just so pretty. She took this photo herself, and I am borrowing it.

Ask Auntie Leila: Raising our kids together now that they are older!

Okay, Auntie Leila, we need your input!

My friend Jen and I have been reading your blog a while, and have benefited from your humor and down-to-earth advice on parenting. Particularly helpful has been your wisdom of parenting 12 -year-olds!  ( I also love the "What Would Ma Do?" question!) [For the context of this question, see my post on how you might consider being less patient with your children.]

I have 5 children. Jen has 10. Our families, along with several other dear families in our community, have enjoyed raising our kids together, and our children have played countless hours in one another's back yards while moms have had coffee and solved the world's problems. Most of our close family friends also homeschool, and we are very blessed to have a community of mostly like-minded families.

Over the last year or so, we have seen a marked shift in the way that our children interact with one another, as many have crossed over into early adolescence. Flirtatious behavior, hurt feelings, insecurities and a concern for feeling okay and accepted have somewhat overshadowed the easy play times that our kids used to enjoy. I realize that this is normal, as hormones rage and our children transition to adults. However, I am wondering if you have any practical advice for helping kids negotiate peer relationships, within the family setting, in a more graceful way during these years. Already, we largely go against the norm by homeschooling, and our kids' peer time is usually, almost exclusively, at our homes, with parents. We are here to help, but sometimes I just don't know how. 

What is your best advice for moms with a house full of 11-15 year olds...their own and their friends'? 

Thanks!

Shawna

PS: Congrats on two beautiful weddings!!!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

{pretty}

Well, we made it back! It was sad to leave everyone behind after such a long, busy, happy visit. But it also does feel good to be home again. We're settled back into our routine and looking forward to keeping busy during the last stage of this deployment.

I snapped this photo through the plane window with my phone somewhere just east of Las Vegas, I think. There's nothing like flying across the country on a clear day. I just look down and think, "I can't believe we have places that look like this!"

Okay, this is the salad post.

When Deirdre and John were here this weekend and telling us about Paris, I was remembering times I spent in Europe, back when mothers went to the market for the day's food, carrying a straw bag and bringing home enough for the meals and a little more. My aunt actually married a German man and lived this life.

Marketing in the morning, large meal at midday, light "collation" in the evening, warm rolls delivered early to the doorstep, eaten for breakfast with unsalted butter and coffee (although I personally don't like coffee. I know).

We were thinking about how, if the mother is the manager of her home, the family eats simply but well.

I don't know why being the manager of the home (leaving aside being its heart, and just purely looking at things job-wise) is considered... nothing.

Have you been to a hotel recently? Maybe to stay, or for a reception? Can you imagine even thinking, "This hotel is great. It's comfortable, welcoming, clean, and refreshing. The food tastes homemade. It's wonderful that this hotel has no manager."

The amazing thing about being the manager of your own home is that it's just such a pleasure. Listen, everything has its downside; nothing is perfect. But the freedom to decide when, where, and how to do things, taking into consideration only the opinions of those you love, why, that's a pleasure.


Well, it can be!

Not about salad.

I hope I remember to change the title of this post before I post it, because the one I have up there ("working title" we call it in the business, which is the business of not accidentally posting a post with no title at all, which is lame) is lame. It ("Saving steps vs. work avoidance") isn't clever or funny or even particularly searchable. So hopefully I will come up with something that is those things soon.

I hate post titles.

A photo unrelated to the (even ostensible, as outlined in the bad title) theme of this post, which is that I have a secret for making killer summer salads:

Isn't that an awesome door? A door just absolutely pregnant with mystery and promise and magic? I took this with my phone at the farm where we get our milk. It's a nice farm, clean and run by perfectly fine guys who try to make a living farming near us, but, well, let me say that this door was unexpected.

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

Rosie and Pippo are gone.

This makes my house very... quiet.

Practical civics through partying.

Well, I should say celebrating, not partying. I hope you have something fun planned for the Glorious Fourth.


If you aren't used to an old-fashioned Fourth of July, an impromptu gathering with a few other families can work, or just your own family -- you just need watermelon, something to grill, and a few games -- even simply throwing water balloons fits the bill. Badminton, volleyball, horseshoes -- if you want to get fancy. All American.

I'm remembering how I used to think of Independence Day. Fireworks and the above-described party, perhaps. Phil's parents, whom we lived near for many years, had a rather staid commemoration of the day -- one which included salmon and peas (a traditional New England Fourth menu, and I hadn't heard of it either) eaten in the dining room, and the hanging of a small replica of the Declaration of Independence from the fireplace mantel with some scotch tape.