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Swinging into fall, hats, the joy of soccer, prayer lives, and more (7 Quick Takes)

Rita Buettner September 22, 2017
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

~1~

Between soccer and learning all the states in the U.S., we don’t have much free weekend time. So on Sunday afternoon when we squeezed in a trip to visit my in-laws who live 90 minutes away, I was worried we would feel rushed.

But somehow, even though our visit was brief, we all had a nice time together. And the boys managed to fit in indoor and outdoor play, including time on their favorite back porch swing.

~2~

Tomorrow my husband and I are going to an event through his job, and he mentioned that people were wearing hats. You might think that I have many hats, but all I have are hats to keep off the sun.

I wasn’t sure I could dress up a straw hat since now it is fall. I emailed a friend for fashion advice, and she generously offered to lend me four lovely fascinators.

So I think I’m set. I just need to decide which one to wear—and what to wear with it.

~3~

We just dipped a toe into the Boomerang app here, and it’s hilarious. Our boys have the best time coming up with creative ways to make fun videos where they look like they are bouncing around even more energetic than they actually are. Technology is amazing.

~4~

But even with all the technology at our fingertips, we still have lots of ordinary fun. The boys have been making the most elaborate paper airplanes.

When they throw them, the different planes stacked within one another fly apart into a team of multiple planes.

Certainly I didn’t teach them anything this exciting. It amazes me what they learn from their friends.

~5~

I’ve been in a small prayer group for almost two years now, and last night we gathered to pray. We don’t pray the whole time, of course. We update one another on our lives, but we do talk about our faith journeys and prayer lives. And last night was particularly special. As I drove home, I thought of how God brings certain people into our lives at certain times, just when we need them. I feel so fortunate to be on this journey with my prayer group friends.

~6~

I’m determined to enjoy soccer season this fall, and so far it’s going well. Last Saturday as the boys had their games back-to-back on the same field, I found myself thinking that it wasn’t that hard to balance this soccer thing after all.

Then we came home and I wrote out the schedules for the rest of the season and realized that was the one and only day they were playing on the same field. So we’ll be covering some ground this season, but it will be fun.

Soccer is going to be so much fun, in fact, that we are recording it so we can watch it later.

 

~7~

I had the best time at our first Sunday teaching Sunday School! My friend and I are leading a group of second graders (but not Daniel). When our time ended, they didn’t want to leave. I am looking forward to watching and helping them grow this year, especially since second grade is such a key year.

We started a petition book for the children to include their prayers every week. One of the boys asked if we could draw comic book pages of our petitions, so I have printed blank comic book pages for the children to use on Sunday. Sometimes children have the best ideas. I am already trying to think of how to draw pictures of my petitions.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! You can find more quick takes at Kelly’s blog, This Ain’t the Lyceum.

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Rita Buettner

Rita Buettner

Rita Buettner is a wife, working mother and author of the Catholic Review's Open Window blog. She and her husband adopted their two sons from China, and Rita often writes about topics concerning adoption, family and faith.

Rita also writes The Domestic Church, a featured column in the Catholic Review. Her writing has been honored by the Catholic Press Association, the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association and the Associated Church Press.

View all posts from this author

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