The Call: Christmas Cheer — Jessica It’s clear to me that it has been a long and tiring weekend. Response: Night Snow — Cheryl It’s clear to me that Henry loves being outside — no matter what the weather.

The Call: Blue Beauty — Cheryl Each year, I’m stunned by the simple beauty I can create with Christmas lights and crystal or glass. The Response: Tomb of the Unknown — Jessica Today my daughter’s American Heritage Girl troop went to Arlington Cemetery to help out with the annual Wreaths Across America. It was quite […]

The Call: Time to Clean — Jessica The most important thing I learned from the FlyLady is that you can’t clean clutter. I try to de-clutter. I try to clean. I am just like Sisyphus, pushing that boulder back up the hill. Clean is not my strong suit which makes me the black sheep of […]

The Call: Just Enough Snow — Cheryl We’ve barely gotten any snow, but that hasn’t stopped Henry from sledding in the front yard. Watching that kid living life with gusto brings me great joy. The Response: Decoration — Jessica Last Friday, as I was busy attempting to make paper snowflakes with the little boys, my […]

The Call: Christmas 2012 — Jessica I don’t know if I could say that 2012 was a fabulous year, but it was much better than 2011. Response: Shiny — Cheryl Every year, Dennis groans when I unpack the gold tinsel sphere that decorated my parents’ living room each Christmas. I, however, thinks it’s just fabulous, […]

The Call: The Difference — Cheryl Bernard Schopen was one of my favorite professors at St. Anselm College, and his words have stuck with me for more than two decades. The Response: Let Me In — Jessica I muttered, knocking my knuckles through the glass, and stretching an arm out to seize the importunate branch; […]

The Call: Fortune Cookie Truism — Jessica Beauty is the gift of God. — Aristotle Wrapped in Ice — Cheryl If you have to drive anywhere in freezing rain, it’s difficult to find much about it that’s positive. Seen through the lens of a camera, though, frozen rain becomes beautiful, shiny gift wrap.

The Call: An Animal of the Genus Bos — Cheryl Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord. Praise and exalt him above all forever. Angels of the Lord: bless the Lord. You heavens: bless the Lord. Sun and moon: bless the Lord. Stars of heaven: bless the Lord. Every shower and dew: bless […]

The Call: Detail From an Embroidered Banner at St. Catherine of Siena, Great Falls, VA — Jessica Sometimes, when you look at something very closely, you see the amount of work and skill that went into making the object so beautiful. That was definitely the case with this embroidered banner at the parish where my […]

The Call: Supper at Emmaus — Cheryl When I began teaching my kids at home twelve years ago, I became interested in art history, and while I appreciate works from many different periods, I find myself especially drawn to painters who seem to be especially drawn to light and shadow: Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Vermeer. Of those […]

The Call: One Little Word — Jessica Last year I got the bright idea to pick a word for the year. I suppose I knew it was doomed to failure — after all, how in the world do you get silence in the midst of seven children including a rambunctious two year old and a […]

The Call: Legos are Everywhere — Cheryl My house is bursting with evidence that children live here. The Response: Toys — Jessica With lots of children, come lots of toys — round every bend, under every footstep.

The Call: Bud — Jessica I finally took the plunge into homeschooling. I’m really just testing the waters because I’m only teaching my eleven year old daughter but it’s a start! So, today, for our science lesson we were continuing to work on plants and cell growth and differentiation. I picked a bud off of […]

The Call: Artist at Work — Cheryl This afternoon, the kids and I bought supplies for making Christmas ornaments. I envisioned an hour or so of contented crafting and sharing. I should know better. Even if the kids had been completely cooperative, I probably would have ruined it. I feel a cold coming on (no […]