Yesterday, I received an unexpected gift. A box containing two precious loaves of bread: one white and one whole wheat. These are not just any loaves of bread…these are from the Passionist Nuns in Erlanger. Every time I toast a piece of their bread I remember the monastery kitchen…the smell just takes me back to my days when I lived among them. I love the sisters and my bonds of love with them are stronger than with any of my blood-relatives (especially now that my grandparents have passed on). My strength to be a good wife and mother was born within their cloistered walls.

Over the weekend we enjoyed The Homeplace at Land Between the Lakes. We just happened to be there when the staff who works the living-history farm was preparing for their Harvest or Thanksgiving meal. The ladies were busy in the kitchen cooking delicious smelling food and setting the table. The staff had been preparing for this feast for three days. Sparkles asked lots of questions in the kitchen and learned how much easier her kitchen chores are today compared to what they’d be in the early 1800’s. We wandered around the farm looking at the animals and buildings. Oldest’s favorite place is the smithy but it was closed up for the day. He did find someone in the tool building to talk to and learned about the carpenter’s bench. My crew was invited to chop wood for the cooking stove and that was fun to watch! We went out to LBL because we wanted to enjoy the fall colors…winter will be here all too soon. We enjoyed a beautiful day together. Once we begin to study westward expansion we will likely take part in some of the workshops.

This week we reached one hundred days of school. We celebrated with our friends at the local donut shop on Monday afternoon. At this point we are halfway through our school year…yikes! I will need to start planning soon. Oldest will be in his last year of elementary school. He will spend next school year preparing for middle school…wow. Sparkles and Middle Boy will be third graders and Littlest will begin preschool next fall. I will need to begin preparing and planning soon. After Christmas 2013 is a memory I will begin to plan. My first step in planning is in prayer. I will also be going to the big convention this year in Cincinnati so I hope to have next school year’s plans done and spend time looking into middle school resources. I expect to be overwhelmed by the numbers of people and the vastness of the city. I do not mind big cities so much…as long as I can stay in the vehicle and just pass through…

 

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