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Open Window

Summer fun, sushi, Pokemon, Italian ice, board games, and fencing (7 Quick Takes)

July 14, 2017
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

~1~ Our sitter from last summer started back with us this week, and the boys have had a blast. They are staying busy at playgrounds, riding bicycles, baking, building ropes out of duct tape, getting snowballs, going to the library and the dollar movie, and doing who knows what else. The other day they caught […]

What’s for dinner? Just wait and see.

July 10, 2017
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

When I came home at the end of a full day, our children were stalking the kitchen, looking for food. And I had no idea what I would be making for dinner.It’s a good thing I always have chicken in the freezer, I thought. As I pulled it out, though, I noticed the date on […]

Being a tourist in our own town, Pokemon fun, chili paste, the Fourth of July, and more (7 Quick Takes)

July 7, 2017
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

~1~ Do you call those flying insects that light up fireflies or lightning bugs? I call them fireflies, but my mother says they are lightning bugs. I can’t decide why I don’t use the same term she does. ~2~ I have been off from work this week and enjoying my staycation with our boys. This […]

Catching fireflies and memories

July 5, 2017
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

Dusk is falling as we head outside. It’s time to catch fireflies.Our boys run around the yard, chasing the fireflies as they light up and then fade into the dim evening light. Their little hands reach into the bushes, down toward the grass, and up into the sky, as they try to capture the magical […]

Summer in full swing, snowballs, and socializing at kids’ birthday parties (7 Quick Takes)

June 30, 2017
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

~1~ With 12 full weeks between the end of one school year and the start of the next, we have a carefully woven tapestry of sitters and camps and time hanging at home with my husband and me. This week included Bible Camp, and the boys had even more fun than they expected to—though I […]

Waiting on our hydrangea and learning a lesson in patience

June 28, 2017
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

What is it about hydrangeas? I can’t say they’re my favorite flowers because I’ve said that about azaleas and forsythia and roses and tulips, and I’m obviously very fickle.But we did have hydrangeas on the tables at our wedding, lovely blue blossoms I cut from the bush in my parents’ yard and inserted into dollar-store […]

My journey from Platform 9¾: How I first encountered Harry Potter

June 26, 2017
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

As a young newspaper reporter in Southcentral Pennsylvania back in July 1999, I was assigned to go to a bookstore on a Friday night for a book release party. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was coming out, and dozens of children were expected to attend—in costume and full of excitement.I had heard of […]

Summer reading, a drawing of the Easter Bunny, Father’s Day, and water balloons (7 Quick Takes)

June 23, 2017
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

~1~ Summer is really here! We went to sign up for summer reading at the Enoch Pratt Free Library. The boys’ aunt (my sister) works there, so we always register there. It’s a terrific program—and I would say that even if we didn’t have an aunt working there. We always stop to see the fish […]

Why I love my Catholic faith

June 21, 2017
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

I love that as Catholics we can go to any Mass anywhere in the world and—even if it’s in another language, it’s the same. I love the beauty of our faith, the statues and the symbols, the bells and the candles, the holy water and the music.

Movies, baseball, cousins, Dutch Wonderland, and our noodle jar (7 Quick Takes)

June 16, 2017
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

You know when you get a haircut and no one notices for weeks? Or they finally notice and it has been so long that it’s already time for you to get another?

You don’t have to have a glove

June 15, 2017
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

Our sons were still full of energy, bouncing around the house, begging to go outside and play in the heat. I saw only one option.

Special delivery: Giving and accepting hugs and kisses

June 15, 2017
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

How often do I look for ways to spread love and affection among the people I encounter?

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