Thankfuls and simple joys....

Edouard Vuillard, Interieur a la Table à Ouvrage 1893

It seems everywhere I go in the Blogiverse, everyone's reading it.  One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  I am too.  I'm not too far in yet, but it's a book to read slowly.  Slowly is mostly how I read anyway, so that's good.  Somebody said, "Ever forward, but slowly," and I think it's a fine way to read or to live, even though I sometimes go forward fast, or should that be fast-forward?  Anyway, the author challenges herself  to be thankful,  to take joy, to live fully in the moment,  to see God's hand on all things.  Throughout the pages, she lists simple joys -- actually writes them down in her journal, no matter how silly or trite they might seem to someone else.  These, I am supposing, will be the One Thousand Gifts.

Back when I was homeschooling a passel of children every day at our kitchen table, we would take turns reading a chapter of the Bible every day aloud.  When we were done, we would always pray together.  Each of us would choose one person to pray for and then give a *thankful.*  A *thankful* was just that.  A thankful.  Whatever you happened to be thankful for at that very moment.  It was the prayer that we all wanted to pray.  Thousand Gifts is like that.  And my list below is a list of simple joys or thankfuls, for to be thankful brings joy.  Don't you think?

Simple Joys

Spring.... new bird arrivals daily, baby calves, warm days followed by snow and frost.  Wild winds which will eventually bring more warm days to us.

Edouard Vuillard

Lack of sleep.  Everyone takes their shift to check the first-calf heifers through the night.  Sleep deprivation  makes going to bed a joy and sleep comes easily.  "O Bed!  O Bed!  Delicious Bed, that Heaven upon Earth to the weary head."  ~Thomas Hood

Cold cookies thawed perfectly from the freezer.  A blend of cold, yet not frozen, and chewy, not crunchy.

I love you's and thank you's and kisses on the cheek from the people I live with.  (They are the best of people!)

Spot and Big Boy just joined the bum lambs after their mother died.  Big Boy has always sucked the bottle, but not Spot.  Spot just started sucking yesterday and he is so happy to have milk now.

Wet snow.  I really don't want any more snow, but I know that snow is good.  It makes grass grow and fills up our stock ponds with fresh water.  There are so many folks in the USA who are drying up and blowing away and experiencing fires.  I've been there.  I don't want that, so I'll take the snow.

Steak and eggs and toast for breakfast.  All homegrown, homemade things.

A little time to read in my bed with my cozy shawl wrapped around my shoulders and a cup of herb tea on my nightstand. 

Edouard Vuillard, The "Voiles de Gênes" Boudoir

Art.  I feel so blessed to be able to enjoy lovely art like Vuillard's on my computer.

Deviled eggs.

Wool-fleece lined slippers.  There's nothing like them for comfort.

Holding hands.

What simple joys are you thankful for?

Fine Art, Mary Cassatt...

 

Mrs. Cassatt Reading to her Grandchildren

 As a child growing up, we did not have any sort of art appreciation courses in school, and we did not live near art museums so learning about great art was non-existent.  Art class, yes.  We learned to use paste, scissors, water colors, crayons and such, but art appreciation was not a part of my education until I had children of my own.  As a home school mom, I loved the fact that I could pick and choose the type of education my children would have and I knew theirs would include art.  Yes, cutting and pasting, painting and drawing, but also being exposed to beautiful fine art.  This would be my education as well, and that is the beauty of home education --the teacher oftentimes learns right alongside her students. 

Mary Cassatt became one of my fast favorites because of her many, many pictures of women and children.  Our own children grew to love her work and could recognize her paintings.   It was exciting for me to think that our children would eventually be able to pick out some of the great artists from a group of paintings, but my utmost goal was that they would simply have a love and appreciation of beauty that is truly art.

 Breakfast in Bed

Is this not the way to awake every morning --a cup of coffee or tea and the joyful  innocence of a child beside you in a cozy bed?  Those were the days!

 Young Mother Sewing

I love this picture of a diligent mother fully concentrating on her sewing while her daughter leans on her lap.  There is no disruption, but a sense of "being together" that is enough.  Likely, the disruption came later on.

 

 Louise Nursing Her Child

What's not to love about this picture?  Both are fully captivated by each other.  What a bond!

Little Girl in a Blue Arm Chair

This picture became one of my daughter's favorites.  She requested it for her birthday, if I remember correctly, and she proudly hung it in her bedroom to look at every day.   She still has it hanging in her own home today.  If you would like to view more of Mary Cassatt's art, click here.  All paintings viewed here were selected from Mary Cassatt Complete Works.

If you are considering studying fine art with your children, I recommend looking for large coffee table books at your library of various artists' work.  Casually flipping through the pages and stopping at favorite pictures to look deeply is one of the best ways to learn to love art.  Ask questions like:  "Why do you like this painting best?   What part of this painting does you eye focus on most?  Where does it seem the brightest?  The darkest?    You might also like to play the game of Eye Spy while studying a picture.  If you have access to art museums, pack a lunch and go!  Even a half hour can enlighten the mind and soul!

Art and Nature...

 

"Baby Owl"

by Andrew Wyeth

Museum Syndicate

This picture reminds me of the many times the children and I found a dead bird along the way, took it home, and proceeded to really observe it, really look it over -- its feathers and the colors of them, its beak shape and the legs, and how the eyes were set. Then we would try to sketch it in our nature journals.