A Morning Basket.

The days were a whirlwind. For a couple of weeks the weather was so beautiful, that even before the kids were dressed they were outside for the day playing in their pajamas. In so many ways it was wonderful. Our summer season in MN is so short, and letting kids out to play is something I don't want to restrict. However, playing outside with children for the better part of 12 hours is definitely exhausting.

The blur of summer fun was starting to take its toll on me. I was tired. Really tired. In the winter months our days have structure. We have plans, places to go, and a general outline to give our days some depth. In the summer when the sun starts to rise at 4am and doesn't set until nearly 10pm, it can easily seem like the days run together in busyness.

Something had to change. Reading one of my new favorites, I got an idea. Our own Morning Basket! Tailored to our very needs as family, as we sit down for breakfast, our Morning Basket has a few small books and some little prayers that we can say together as a family.

We've been doing our Morning Basket for two weeks, and it's quite apparent that it benefits me much more than the children; giving us an anchor for the day.


(Thank you, Mom, for the peonies!)
Here are the functions of our Morning Basket: (We don't do it all everyday, just what "Lil' P" allows)
1. Prayers, a Morning Offering, Prayer of St. Michael, Anima Christi, Hail Mary
2. Poetry. Right now we are reading through "When We Were Very Young," for the second time.
3. "Saint of the Day" This is in two volumes and was my husband's when he was a child. A half-page bio on the life of a Saint is a GREAT conversation starter.
4. Bible. Mark has this *COOL* Bible that acts as a comic strip. He, who is not a big reading-lover, tells me that he used to take this very same Bible to bed and read it. What a great way to retain stories! This is Luke's favorite part of Morning Basket.



We take about 10-15 minutes to do this in the morning, sometimes around the kitchen table during breakfast, or while the kids are playing dinosaurs/animals on the floor. Thank you again Jen over at Wildflowers and Marbles for this great idea!