Thought of the Day.....

"God gave us eyes to see the beauty in nature....and hearts to see the beauty in each other"  <3

Siblings AND Friends....

This is one of the reasons I LOOOOOVE homeschooling.  My four children of varying ages have all day to spend with one another...getting to know one another....becoming friends.  Whether they are playing in the creek, riding bikes, unloading the dishwasher, folding clothes, or just lying in the grass watching the clouds go by, they are doing it together....  I soooo <3 to watch the relationships forming and and the bonds strengthening.  This makes my heart happy....makes me smile.  :)

Conversations from the Flower Bed.....

As I got started cleaning out the flower bed, Sarah shows up and says "Oh!  That looks like fun.  Can I help?"
Me:  "Sure."
{I am loosening dirt and weeds with a trowel, Sarah is throwing out the weeds I loosen}
Sarah:  "Your job is more fun."
Me:  "Is that right?"
Sarah:  "Yes.  I'm bored."
Me:  "Okay, you take the trowel."
Sarah (after working the trowel for a moment):  "How'd you do all that?  Do you work faster than me????  {Pause}  No, maybe it's because I'm just piddling."
Me:  {smiling}
Sarah:  "When we finish this, can we do something I want to do??  Something *fun*?"
Me:  "Like what?"
Sarah:  "I don't know.  Like, play tag?  Will we still have time?"
{pause}
Sarah:  "How long is this gonna take??"
Sarah:  "Me and you should go shopping again.  We need to go to Kohls and Target and Cookout to get a smoothie."
Me:  "You mean a shake?"
Sarah:  "Yeah, a shake.  That's what we need to do....go to Kohls and Target and Old Navy...wait, did I say already say Kohls?"
Me:  "Yes."
Sarah:  "Nevermind, let me start all over again.  We need to go to Kohls......."
Sarah:  "I'm bored.  Why can't I play with the water hose?"
Me:  "Because you will be colder than you think after you get soaking wet."
Sarah:  "No I won't.  I'll be fine, Mommy.  I wish I could get in the pool.  What should I do?"
And so on......


Malachi:  "I got a video of myself talking.  I didn't know I sound like that when I talk.  Have you ever heard yourself?"
Me: "Yes."
Malachi:  "Don't you wish people heard you sound like you *think* you sound?"



And then.....
My husband, who had just picked up a load of chicken manure to put on the garden, passes by and says, "Hey, you can get you some of that chicken poop off the back of the truck for your flower bed if you want it....just don't use it all."   Ummmmm...thanks honey.  :)
 

Spring Cleaning the Flower Bed

A funny thing happens in a flower bed...  When the summer and fall flowers have finished their brightly colored and exuberant dance, folded their little petal heads, and drifted off to sleep, someone else comes in.  The flower bed appears dead and barren all winter.  There seems to be no sign of life....and then!  They appear.  All these tiny little green spirits...covering the ground.  It looks as tho a little colony of doily clothed ladies slip in, fluff their dresses out around them, and settle down in nice cozy spots all over.  They don't settle in deep...perhaps they know their moment on stage will be brief.  They aren't planted there....they just appear....almost like an opening act for the wild array of color and gaiety that will soon follow.  At any rate, that is what I spent much of today doing....removing those little ladies from the bed to make room for what is to come.  There is something invigorating and cleansing about getting your hands in the dirt for the first time every spring.  Something about clearing away the barrenness of the prior season  that makes you breathe more deeply and see more clearly.  Comes close to making you contemplate the things in your life that you need to clear out so that you can make room for the beauty that is to be.  Ahhhhh.....nothing like working outside to get you thinking.  :)

Lessons I've Learned While Homeschooling My Children

Lesson Number Two:

 Never plan out loud and in public to do anything once a week.

Case in point....my declaration a few weeks ago that I would present a weekly post regarding my lessons learned.  Consider this both my apology and lesson #2.  LOL!  As soon as you say, "I"m going to do ......(whatever) ...every week", something will most assuredly come up.  Especially when you plan to do something as passive as updating a blog.   :)