a settled place

We tore out our dining room floor the other night, and I got some video footage that is worth sharing. :) https://vimeo.com/188933618 It was one of those projects where we decided at 7 p.m. that it might be a fun family activity. Underneath those five layers of flooring, we were hoping to find something worth living on. We actually didn't, but we're living on it anyway until the new floor comes. Also, by about 1 a.m. it wasn't such a fun family activity anymore, but it does feel good to have it done. Somehow that, sewing, two fall family weekends in a row and then Blake & Kris here on the third weekend have kept us busy for the entire month of October.

I am feeling so overwhelmed and grateful this morning for God's grace and strength in the past few days to venture out into something new... cotton and corduroy cottonandcorduroy.com

Just before naps, the kids and I were reading It Takes a Village by Jane Cowen-Fletcher. The library has become a favorite destination and my eyes are being opened to all of the amazing children's literature that is out there! What a rich place. It Takes a Village is about a little girl who went along to the market with her mother to care for her brother while they sold mangoes. The little boy got lost, but the story is about how he was in such good care in the hands of the other villagers who pitched in to meet his needs. It is a beautiful book, so reflective of where my thoughts have been going lately... I've been working on a major project, and it's been such a lesson to me in how much I need and appreciate the other people in my life. The African proverb goes "It takes a village to raise a child" but honestly, it takes a village to do most things. Collaboration and gracefully accepting constructive criticism are not things that come naturally to me... but th