Enjoying the little things the summer brings.
1) running down hills
2) washing the car with lots of bubbles
3) not caring if the car actually gets clean
4) looking for bugs
5) playing in the dirt
6) riding bikes
7) eating ice cream
8) making smores in the fire pit
9) playing in the sprinkler
10) catching fireflies
One of my favorite moments this summer is when the kids head out to the front porch first thing in the morning to look for bugs and to feel the weather. Sometimes I feel like I should be saying " You might be a redneck if your toddler runs around in the yard in a cloth diaper and black bottomed feet." But maybe I am just old fashioned instead. P.S. I secretly love the fact that my kids never like to wear shoes.
what are 10 of your favorite things about summer?
Posted at 06:27 AM in Family | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Baseball season is now officially over for us. It is a bittersweet end to something that has become a yearly tradition in our family. When the weather warms up we all get exited in anticipation of picnics and cheering beside the baseball field. Next year we will be adding another player that is if she is still interested when the time comes. This year Alex made the All Star team, and Rhea despite scraping her leg pretty badly kept on sliding for the sake of the team. What a sight to see them so full of pride and determination. During the season we read the book Hey Batta Batta Swing! Which is both funny and very informative about the history of baseball. I am so proud of them and love the fact that they are learning that the real winning happens when you are truly having fun.
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Here are our potato plants which we started from some old potatoes that we had in the cabinet. I was a little worried about these at first because it took a while for them to come up. I am wondering if they are too close together.
and our green beans which our growing on one of the stick tepees we made.
I have found that while playing with the kids outside or in it is helpful to have some nice music going, it sort of helps to keep the mood "happy" if you know what I mean. At least I think it does,but I find that there are zillions of children's cd's that will do exactly the opposite, no matter how happy they sound. Its the sort of happy sound that just adds chaos to the day and drives me crazy, like having a marching band in your living room while you're trying to figure out what for dinner. I recently about this...and so I went to the library, and checked all the cds out by Elizabeth Mitchell and that was that. Finally music that Mama can enjoy too.
Posted at 08:20 AM in Family | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
I didn't get the chance to write this yesterday, but Happy Mothers day to all the mothers I know out there.
I am thankful for you and all the great inspiration I get from you. I hope you had a great day yesterday.
We had a great day in the woods yesterday and collected some great stuff for our nature corner. I stood by while I watched all but my littlest baby climb trees and navigate their way through the woods. Benny chose to throw sticks in to the lake instead.
Recently there were some new babies born at Cosley Zoo here are pictures of some mothers watching over their babies.
Posted at 11:29 AM in Family | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: cosley zoo, mothers day
Hello, I am here again, really has it been since October that I have written anything? I am so sorry, not only to you if you are reading but also to my self. I am realizing I do need this space. I need it as a place to write down my thoughts, and to reflect and maybe just to bounce ideas in to the air or off of other people.
I have been thinking about what I want to focus on here, and my answer is everything I guess. My life is so full of everything. One of the keys things though that I keep coming back to is determination. I do have a lot of it, but is has to be something that I want and believe in. If it is I won't give up, I will make it work to the best of my ability.
In our decision that I would stay at home with our little ones we knew it would be a struggle as we do not have the typical income that a family generally needs to have one parent at home. It has always been something that we wanted and needed. When I was working full time outside the home we felt a great misalignment in our family. Our kids needed me and I them. It took a huge leap of faith for me to let my job go because I knew that we would be giving up that income which was mostly going towards paying some else to raise our children.
Then after many long years of public schooling and putting our original dream of homeschooling on the back burner we were shown that it was clear that we needed to go back to what was originally in our hearts. We are nearing the end of our first full year of homeschooling. It has been challenging at times, but our dynamic is changing, we are each finding our groove and recently I have begun to see the changes happening in my boy. He is more confident to make new friends and to learn about what interests him. He is generally happy. That is all I want for them. Happiness, in this job of motherhood I may not always be able to make everyone happy, But I may be able to teach them how to find it, even when the chips are down.
Right now homeschooling makes us happy, and even though our finances at the moment don't allow for much, we are determined to make it work, and so.. by the power of me I will keep trying so that we can do what is important to us, and not give up..
Posted at 08:50 AM in Family | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: determination, finances, homeschooling, single income
One of my favorite things is the way my baby slightly pulls and plays with my hair just before he goes to sleep. Ever since he has been able to control his hands he has been doing this to him self and now has started doing it to me (or who ever is rocking him to sleep). Just look at those droopy eyes. So sweet, I never want to forget that.
Posted at 03:00 AM in Family | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Today is the birthday of one of my most favorite people in the world. Not just because she made it possible for me to be alive, but because she is my best friend. Of course during my teenage years this was not so, but I have grown to be quite like her.
She taught me to sew and cook and to be kind and forgiving (even though I didn't always deserve it).
She is one of the most beautiful people I know, I always secretly wished that I had blue eyes like hers, but I was given what I was given, and she always made sure that I knew she thought I was beautiful.
I have learned from her that I can do anything I want to if I put a little time, and effort in to it. I have memories of her single handedly remodeling bathrooms and gardening a huge garden, shoveling snow in the winter and putting up very large real christmas trees. It's amazing to me all that she did when we were growing up with little or no help from the peanut gallery.
Its funny how these lessons our parents teach us, they teach us by just being, somehow they seep in to our personalities with out us knowing it. On the other hand, the things they actually try to teach us seem to go in one ear and out the other or simply stay with us through repetition or otherwise known as nagging. I wonder what things my kids will take with them in to adulthood and insert in to the lives of my grandchildren.
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