Speaking of Trees

Up a Tree Posing

So, another thing about trees is the protection they offer, along with a feeling of comfort and safety.  I wonder whether that was part of the reason Zacchaeus climbed the tree.  The emphasis is always on his height and his desire for a bird's eye view of Jesus but, given his status as public outcast, he may have also wanted to escape the notice of his neighbors and even our Lord, participating in the scene as a silent observer.

I can relate to sometimes wanting to step back and observe for awhile, to stay hidden and just breathe.  And when the break I'm taking is up a tree, the change in perspective can also be helpful.  (And if I'm really lucky, it takes a little while for the kids to find me :)

Up a Tree Waiting

So, you may have noticed Frodo Seven's new theme--or maybe not because of the super-small font in the header.  In any case, as I mentioned in an earlier post, 2010 got off to a fairly rocky start at Casa Doyle and life has changed a bit since then.  "Stepping Out of the Boat" didn't really fit anymore.  "Up a Tree Waiting" refers to another of my favorite stories about Jesus.  You can probably guess which one.  It involves an invitation and an eager response that changed everything for a lonely, sinful man.  

I have always loved trees.  I spent hours up the tree in our backyard growing up.  I would stand on the picnic table, swing myself up, perch and read.  I finished A Separate Peace, Little Women and Pride and Prejudice among others up there.  I nodded off once and almost fell out which would certainly have involved broken bones but fortunately, I woke up in time to avoid that.  As I said though, I love trees and being up one is a peaceful place to be.  And I do feel a certain peace in the aftermath of the recent struggles our family has  gone through.  Things are clearer somehow.

Then there are the big decisions looming on the horizon.  Between homeschooling, Chris working at home and our big family, we have outgrown Casa Doyle.  Space-wise, we could certainly make it work.  It's the multiple uses of the space that are a challenge and Chris has had a darling daughter burst in on one too many teleconferences.  So, we're replacing our roof, doing some painting and making the place shine as we prepare to put it on the market.  Please pray for a good buyer who will take good care of CD.  We will miss it.

"Up a Tree Waiting" is a good description of where we are right now.  Waiting for an invitation or at least the next step.  Waiting in preparation and enjoying the peace and blessings in our lives--in particular, each other.

(I will finish my re-introductions when we get back to Texas and I can take pictures of two of the three of us left to be featured.)

Photos of the Day:

Tara, our 8 kids and I met our cousin Rebecca and her five kids at a big, beautiful park in Haymarket today.  Mia and Grace made fast friends with Rebecca's two girls, Sophia (9) and Helen (7).  Mia and Grace typically share their friends so it was fun to see them head off in pairs.  It was crazy windy and parts of our picnic lunch blew away more than once.  Rebecca filled me in on the homeschool scene in rural, VA and it was great to catch up.

Rolling down the hill

Cloud Gazing

Girl Power

These guys are second cousins.  Tara and I have 30+ first cousins on our mom's side.

Niñas, niñas

Hello again and welcome to Day 2 of re-introductions.  Today, we are featuring Doyle Dames #2 and 3.  Below is Grace of the many names.  I call her Maggie G, Baby G, Gracie and Graciela (Graciela is my personal favorite).  She is a rough and tumble, spunky 5.5 year old.  I think it's fair to say that she is responsible for the development of most of our especially creative parenting/ survival efforts.  She has a great sense of humor that her sisters don't always appreciate.  She loves to be outside and enjoys animals of any kind.  She has recently started asking some interesting and slightly random questions.  My favorites center around the amount of gas in the car, whether we need gas, what would happen if we ran out of gas etc.  She also wants to know when I'm going to take her to Paris (not sure where that came from).  I'm trying to steer her toward Ireland or Spain but who knows--maybe we'll make it to all three.

The bottom of Grace's Easter dress.  Technically, it's an Italian scene but it reminded me of her dream of going to Paris so we'll pretend.  Chris voted against matching dresses this year so they all had their own unique dress for the first time ever.

Amelia Rose "Mia", age 8.  The picture above was my favorite of her birthday photos.  Mia is a quiet, sensitive kid.  She has been telling us for awhile that she plans to be a nun and has been asking me about the different orders.  (Grace wanted to be a nun for awhile as well but has decided she doesn't want to live too far from us--we'll see how long that lasts).  Mia is a spiritual kid who readily participates when we say the rosary and always has a list of intentions ready at the end of the day.  She is thoughtful and generous and loves it when she can spend time one on one with big sis' Madeleine.

A few bonus photos of precious moments in VA.

At the top of the Woodstock tower.  It was a gorgeous day.  We saw hang gliders, blue skies, spring flowers and Camp Kreitzer from the top.  Grace got nervous on the drive up as she looked at the sheer drop on one side of the road and I had respect once again for my crazy siblings who have done the "Tower Run" more than once.

Photo by Mia on the walk back from the tower

Me and G

My little brother, David, soccer coach extraordinaire.

Chris had a great time helping him out at this practice.

Finally, best buddies, Lauren and Sophie.  We are at my sister Tara's right now and the two of them are inseparable.  Despite appearances, they have a lot in common.

OK that's all for now.  Ciao.

Let's Try This Again

OK--I'm going to try this again.  Getting back in the saddle of regular blogging has been a challenge but I'm not giving up!

Since it's been awhile, I'll start with re-introductions of our cast of characters for anyone who needs a refresher.

Meet Ella, age 2.  Here she is in her Easter dress.  I couldn't resist the tulle.  Ella is super-sweet, polite and, surprisingly, very compliant.  She loves her sisters.  She pals around with Sophie, shares her room with Grace and lets Mia and Madeleine carry her around and help care for her.  She loves animals, especially dogs.  She sings and dances and enjoys Mickey Mouse, Elmo and Big Bird.  She's cuddly and often says spontaneous "I love you, Mommy"s.  She recently got her very long hair cut into a cute bob that makes her look just like big sis' Madeleine who sported the same do at age 2.  Here's a look at the back.

Sophie Ruth, age 4, is definitely fun-sized.  I joke with her that she joined our family one morning when we walked outside and found her in the dew under a leaf.  She is all-girl and would wear a dress and fancy shoes every day if I she could.  She loves princesses, dancing and her sweet rag doll Harriet who is much more rag than doll--we're all sure she is "real" by now!

Here is Sophie hunting for eggs at my brother David's house.

It was so warm that all of the kids played in the water and then hunted in their bathing suits.

And, Sophie never, ever wears her shoes on the right feet, something I have resigned myself to. 

Bye for now.  Stop back by to meet more of the Doyle dames.

Sister Love

The girls have been doing a lot of unassigned letter-writing lately. On a recent trip to the Hallmark store, I let Mia and Grace pick a package of stationary to share. Not long afterward, I received a couple of "I love you, Mommy" cards on which the crayola masterpieces rivaled the cover art. My favorite though was this note from Mia to Sophie. It said,

Dear Sophie,
I love being with you. I am so happy you are my partner*. You love pink and I do too. You are so sweet. You are my BFF and I am yours. Stay sweet. I love you.

Love, Mia

*I usually pair Mia with Sophie when we're out and they recently became roomies (though Sophie will probably end up in our room until she's a teenager!)

So, this is why I love being the mom of five girls. As they get older, they'll have their own sisterhood to name and cherish. And fortunately for their Daddy, besides being all girl, they're all able to appreciate March Madness and Astros baseball as well!

Coming Up: A quick trip to the Texas shore.

Fun Photo

I thought I'd share this photo that almost made it out on our Christmas cards this year. It was taken just inside a building at the University of Kansas and I like pretty much everything about it, especially Sophie's cute tummy poking out! The girls are big fans of the tiaras and wear them on their birthdays so I bought a few extras and brought them along as props for the photo shoot. We got some great individual photos of Madeleine that I still need to order and post. She used some props of her own and looked like a teen model. Picture day was cold and blustery so we called it quits before getting individual photos of the other girls. That's still on my to-do list for the next few months.
I hope all is well with you this week. Spring break is coming up for us and we're still working out our plans but it will be nice to have a few days close to home together. Take good care!

Stories

A couple of months ago now, I began a new blogging year with a special theme and a post or two working toward an explanation of the theme's meaning in my life. Halfway through January, I was interrupted by a period of illness that turned our lives upside down. Frodo Seven was frozen where I'd left it and I haven't given it much thought until the last few days when I decided it was time to get back to this part of my life.
When I first started the blog, I resolved to write as close to daily as possible and I think I'll try to manage that again. I love the thorough record I have of our lives over the last year. I've spotlighted each of the girls at special times like birthdays or events such as races they've won or piano performances they've given. I am looking forward to holding my first blog book and enjoying all of the work of the last year.
This year, my focus may be a little different. I still plan to write about our weekly happenings but I will also write about other things--whatever comes up. My first project is to write a little bit about what has happened in my life over the past couple of months. Some of you know a little bit about that. I can only think of a few who know any details. So, I have a story to tell for anyone who's interested enough to read it.
I'd also like to get back to the story from Matthew that I was exploring when I went on my sudden hiatus. In studying it, I have been reading it differently than I've ever read it before. I have a different interpretation that most people will probably disagree with but may have a hard time disproving. I'm going to spend a little more time developing the idea and then maybe I'll share it and ask for opinions.
The one thing I will say about "Stepping out of the Boat" is that I was most interested in what Peter felt in the instant he stood gazing at Christ across the water. If I had to sum it up in one word, I would say it must have been "freedom". Freedom from himself and his worries, freedom from fear of the storm, even freedom from natural laws like gravity. And above all, freedom to love Christ fully. How amazing that must have been.

OK that's all for now. See you back here soon. Alice