Covering part of the kitchen table in butcher paper and leaving a few types of crayons out before going to bed is a good way to prepare for the next day. Cleaning my room and then sitting down to start a new project is also very good. (It’s best to ignore the fact that there are already several similar unfinished projects floating around. One must follow inspiration where it leads, and mine is currently coming from this book. Supplies purchased here.)
Jonny and I are both completely obsessed with bees right now. We are trying some new things and having fun. We are trying to focus on learning rather than outcome. I just finished reading a book called Increase Essentials at the same speed one might read a thriller, the fastest I’ve read a book in a long time.
I am saving money on groceries by…(drumroll) not going to the grocery store as often!! Saturday night was my shopping night. I picked up about ten days worth of food including ingredients to make our traditional Easter treats: lemon cupcakes and homemade peanut butter cups (recipe at end of this post). I have no idea how that evolved, because I am not even able to eat one after the other. Lemons and peanut butter just don’t go together. Of course, my kids don’t struggle with that issue at all. We also have a scavenger hunt on Easter every year. There is typically a clue and a gift at each stop along the hunt. But this year I didn’t buy many gifts ahead of time, just a couple of card games and a new book. Saturday night at the grocery store I was struck with inspiration when I saw blueberry plants for sale outside along with Easter lilies. Those were added to the hunt as well. I wasn’t sure how that would go over. But you know what? The kids seemed just as happy about plants as anything else! Especially Beatrix.
The best part of the weekend was singing the Alleluia at Mass with thousands of others. That is when I always “feel” Easter. It amazes me the way that something inside just lifts. Nevermind that I forgot to buy new Easter shirts for any of the boys, and that we were pretty much a wrinkled motley bunch with the younger half of the family helping us to define the phrase “family circus.”
Job is sleeping a little better some nights, but the sleep department is still not the best. We feel more settled about the grown up decision stuff, but it still feels scary. Hopefully I can talk about that more soon. Stitches, bees, and lemon cupcakes aside, I found my cure in the Alleluia. Thanks so much for all your encouraging words last week! I hope your weekend was a good one.
(Oh, and in case it isn’t obvious, the beehives that the kids were looking inside are empty. And I thought I might also mention that Gabe says I have enough pictures of him- in case you have been wondering where he is. He is typically standing somewhere just outside my frame.)
Samantha Disch says
… Beautifully written mama! As always, enchanting photographs of your sweet family…. always inspiring! In regards to your project of cross=stitch….. just lovely… I must pick up that book, thank you for the link! Those Japanese craft books are delightful aren’t they?
Take care and take it easy! You are such a super mama!
Blessings…..
xoxo,
Samantha
avelina soria gonzalez says
Precioso todo¡¡, me gusta tanto todo lo que escribes y lo que haces, te felicito. Besos desde España
Ramona says
Oh well, it seems that nobody said anything about the last picture. Hello, Intruder! How is your life, lately?
(He’s just so cute)
Brooke says
I have given up on Easter outfits. Everyone wore their favorite clothes this year. I am pretending….well, it’s just going to have to work this year! We too have a newborn in the house (one that takes forever to get to sleep). I consider new babies give us a free pass. Happy Easter!
emma says
Gosh, when you make a batch of cup cakes you really make a batch of cup cakes!!
Love your kitchen table – there’s always so much going on there!
Grace says
Always loving your pictures. Do you photo edit them or it’s just a good camera (and photographer eye) that you have? I’m saving up for a good SLR but have to contend with my iPhone and a normal small digital camera for now. Also interesting to know how families like you do groceries, I have, in the past few months left my kids at home (with daddy) to do groceries myself, it’s pretty enjoyable. 😛
KC says
That green thread is luscious and oh my how many cup cakes!
Sue says
Aww, such lovely pictures again! Your kids are so beautiful and full of life!
I still can hardly believe how different and grown up Silas looks with his hair cut. Doesn’t look like the same child! 🙂 Bet you miss his hair too – or have you adjusted by now? 🙂
And little Job, such an adorable little guy – he looks like he is a “ray of sunshine”. And with that little tongue and laughing eyes – maybe even a little mischievous grin in that picture. 🙂 So darling!
Lauren says
The rest if us bee keepers want to know what expirament you’re working on with the super divided into three sections? Please share! 🙂
Ginny says
That’s called a queen castle. We put a capped queen cell along with some brood and honey into each section. The queen cells were in our hive that swarmed. We left quite a few in that hive as well. Best case scenario we end up with three queens in the queen castle to start new colonies along with a queen in the original hive. Worst case, we just recombine.
gracey says
I did wonder where Gabe was….I really love the pictures with him and the younger kids…he just looks so happy and at ease with them…also want to thank you for introducing me to LuSa…we are loving their soaps, as I ordered the soap of the month club for the Hubs for Christmas….
Ginny says
He has moved into that teenage phase of extreme self consciousness. I think I may have given the impression that he just doesn’t want his photo on my blog, but actually he doesn’t want me taking photos of him at all. I am trying to sneak them in here and there though because one day I really think he’ll want to remember himself at this age!
I really love LuSa soap too!! I’m so glad that you are enjoying it!
Sandra says
Hi, Ginny: I find cross stitch to be so relaxing – can’t wait to see how your newest project progresses. And the photo of Job with Jonny is about the cutest thing I’ve seen in a long while! Your photos are so wonderful. I love how they seem to capture the spirit of your children and complement your writing so well. Glad to hear things are going better.
alisa joy says
tell gabe that we all miss seeing his gentle spirit.
Ginny says
I will 🙂 I’m hoping this is just a short phase linked to his age, although he may never decide that he’s comfortable having his photo on the blog again and I respect that. He objects to me taking any photographs of him at all right now. I’m trying to sneak a few in though because I really think he’ll be glad to have them one day.
Rachel Marie says
very sweet pictures 🙂 my kate has the same blue and white dress as Beatrix!
Rachel Marie says
oops- i meant larkspur.
meghann says
Beatrix looks so grown up in your photos all of a sudden. (I’ve noticed the same thing about my Julia over the last week or so, and I think they are very close in age so it must be just a typical five-year-old growth thing.) xo
Jessa says
That is so funny because I was thinking the exact same thing. I had to scroll back up to look at her again to make sure it really was her.
Ginny says
She really does! I think it must be something that happens around 5 1/2!
karen says
I felt the same way at the Easter Vigil mass this weekend. There is something magical and wonderful being able to gather together and celebrate 🙂 I think the wonderful weekend weather helped with my mood as well. Abundant sunshine goes a long way!!
Elizabeth says
Thanking God that because of Christ’s Resurrection we can sing Alleluia! Yes, pain is missed in Praise (which I think Emily Dickinson wrote something like this (?))… Sounds like your Easter went very well! Just all being there as a family is huge… So glad to hear you are both at peace with the big decision things; It’s not easy to know how to make the ‘big stuff’ decisions and often we have to make them right when a million other things are going on (like Lent for instance)… God bless and keep you all!
Elizabeth says
Ginny,
I am always inspired to learn to cross stitch when I visit your blog. Any advice on where to begin?
Ginny says
Here’s a great tutorial! http://posie-rosy-little-things.myshopify.com/pages/cross-stitch-tutorial
Suzy says
Looks like a wonderful weekend! Happy Easter!
tara says
What a fun idea to give plants! Blueberry trees are the gift that keeps on giving 😉
I’m excited to hear about your grown-up news… and also slightly afraid haha.
There are never enough photos of Gabe! Tell him to get his handsome face in the photos!
Ginny says
Sneaky too–I wanted those bushes! And-I’ll tell Gabe you said so!!
Leanne New Zealand. says
Happy Easter to you and your family. LOVE your Easter Hunt. And tell Gabe my kids won;t be in blog photos either – they do so grow up. This year I’m getting to grips that the homeschooling years have ended. It went fast. I get such joy reading your blog as it makes me flick back in my memory of what our kids were like at around your kids ages.
Love Leanne
Tasneem says
Lovely pictures, as always! Thank you for sharing. ~x~
Nicole Spring says
Oh Ginny, I feel the same exact way! Tears of joy filled my eyes when we sang Alleluia! Oh what an amazing feeling comes over me. Even my oldest felt it. XOXO
Gretchen R says
I’m starting a cross stitch pattern right now too! I completely don’t have time for it right now, but I’m just in the mood. That stitch books looks beautiful. I love your pictures so, so much! I feel like I take a million pictures all the time and just get a handful to share. You have so many breathtaking ones all the time. What talent! God has gifted you with an amazing eye for beauty.
Ginny says
Oh trust me–I take a ton of photos too and then delete, delete, delete 🙂 Thank you, Gretchen!!
Erica Saint @ Boys, Books, and Balls says
Oh yes, singing the Alleluia at Mass with the Church family is a balm to my soul.
Gabe sounds like my oldest son, Holden. I still make him stand in for a couple family pictures but he always look so miserable in them – not like his normal happy, handsome self!
Happy Easter, Ginny!
Barbara says
Love that little tongue! Oh my.
And, yes…Alleluia!
Ginny says
I know–that tongue! He’s so funny!
Monique says
I love seeing your pictures. They are always so calming and peaceful to me although I am sure that is not always the case when they are taken!!
Amy says
I love that – “I found my cure in the Alleluia.” Yes! That “lifting” sensation of Easter is so …compassionate. I don’t have a better word. Happy Easter to you and your family!