First Saturday of Spring

After a bit of school this morning, we headed to our picnic spot. Spring is a wild and crazy ride! You just never know what the weather will do. Today was sunny with a touch of warmth. Yeah! We will take it!

Can you spot the little people?

 

Thankful for these days of slow living.  

Saw:

Buttercups

One bumblebee

Elk poop

Pine cones from multiple years

Tree roots

Heard:

Pine cones falling

Buzz of bumblebee

Kids telling stories

Soft breeze

 Chips being crunched ;) 

Felt:

Rough grass

Pokey pine cones

 Sun's warmth

Kisses from the Lovers

Tasted:

Turkey sandwiches

Chips

Tomatoes

Apples

Water

Smelled:

Fresh air

Elk poop 

Not a Fail

This may surprise you, but I see myself as more of an "indoorsy" girl. When I started to learn more about Nature Study, through the Charlotte Mason philosophy of education, I was challenged. But also inspired. 

 We live in a beautiful place. We are surrounded by nature. We literally can open our front door and be on our merry way to seeing, observing, hearing, and feeling all sorts of lovely plants and animals. But really, just about anyone can. 

This morning we woke up late -not surprising!- and my sweet niece was all ready for her first nap. Instead of trying to make all the rest of the kids be quiet, we quickly got our shoes and jackets on and plodded down the road. 

It was slow goings. The little one didn't want to walk. Two others were on bikes and the other two were in their own world playing a game they made up. 

 We weren't observing. 

We weren't listening to the birds. 

We didn't stop and wonder.

One of the kids on a bike rode home by herself. My one pointed question was, "How many earthworms can you find?" They looked for maybe one half of a minute and were then sucked back into their own game. 

BUT, we were outside! We were in nature! We might not have consciously noticed any minute detail, but we weren't inside with our faces zoned in on a screen. And for that I say, "We did not fail." 

This whole nature study thing is becoming a habit. It's getting us in a different atmosphere and changing the rhythm of our lives, and what my brain is thinking about. It's not always idyllic, with us drawing or figuring out the Latin name for lichen, but it is idyllic in the sense of it becoming more of what makes up our days and how it is forming our thoughts of creation and the world we live in. 

I am thankful for nature study. I am thankful for the beauty that this Earth is made of. I am thankful that my kids are still young and we can do this together. 

Remember (mostly talking to myself ;) ), it doesn't have to be perfect to be able to be enjoyed. Taking steps, DOING, is so rewarding. 

We chose adventure

A few nights ago, Micheal and I were talking about our next order of business on our little cabin in the woods and he reminded me that "we chose adventure!" Yes, we did! And this weekend's adventure was putting me to rest by taking a tree down. A huge tree. A huge, dead tree. Right behind our house.

Our house was built with one side basically right up to the side of the hill. While we love the idea of a hobbit sauna, we wanted our home to have a walkway around the whole thing, so naturally we dug it out last Summer. And quickly thereafter, saw that one of the trees was dying. We had chopped apart one of it's main roots. Every time a gust of wind blew, I would lie in bed and fret over that huge tree killing my whole family.

A friend of ours is in the "Hey, I climb trees, and fall them" business, so he and another friend and their two awesome wives came over this weekend and helped us out. 

With boots on and snatch blocks set to go, up the tree he went!

This was super fun and nerve wracking to watch. He cut the limbs off as he went up and the crew would gather them up in a pile. Then he chopped the top 1/3 off and then the rest.

There she goes! He expertly fell the tree in between all the others, missing anything and everything. Truly spectacular to watch!

I am relieved to have this behemoth down and happy to have one cord of wood for next winter already.

This was the beginning of this years home projects. We have SO MUCH to do but are enjoying the process. Next up is a new kitchen!

Morning kindnesses

I remember the times of old

I meditate on all Your works

I muse on the work of Your hands.

I spread out my hands to You

My soul longs for You like a thirsty land. 

                                           Selah

Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness 

in the morning

For in You do I trust;

Cause me to know the way in which I should walk

For I lift up my soul to You. 

Psalm 143:5,6 & 8

Nature walks

Our side of the mountain is soggy, heavy, wet. 

The rivulets race down the hill. Who will win? 

Little feet jump the puddles. Over and in. 

Mud is caked on the soles and tires, ready 

to be washed off by the steady rain pouring 

down, down, down. 

 

As my 3 year old's narrative is shared with the hundreds of birds, mine is internal. 

"How has homeschooling shaped who I am?"

"Would I be interested in all this if not for homeschooling?"

"I am embracing my PNW side, here, walking in the rain."

"Look at that floating mountain!"

...........

 Spring in almost upon us! We are outside more and more. There is so much to explore right outside our front door. We don't always investigate what is what. Mostly we walk and jump, stop and look, talk and show. Then we head home. 

This weekend the big kids went with their Dad on a little road trip to see family. Liam and I weren't feeling quite up to it, so we stayed home. We took walks, watched movies, read books, swam and snuggled. It was lovely. It was quiet. It was just what we needed.

In the last few weeks we have been walking more. At first the little lovers would whine and cry, and ask to be carried barely into the walk. We kept telling him no. We took our time. We aren't running races. ;) This weekend, we took three walks. Once we walked 3/4 of a mile to the pool, swam, and walked home. He didn't whine once! He explored. Poked mud. Ran! It's been so, so lovely. I'm not the type to strap my baby on me and hike so this has been a long time coming. 

Now, we rest. He will sleep well tonight!

Holy Spirit, talk...... I'm listening

When God puts something on your heart to do, you better believe He is going to provide a way for it to happen. 

It's been a great winter here in the mountains, but as with any winter, it gets long. And we do live in the mountains, somewhat secluded from others. Sure we have neighbors, but most of them don't live here all year. 

And we home school, which means we are HOME most days. ;) 

So, as 2015 was ending and a new year beginning, I felt God whisper, "Community."

 "Okaaaay." 

Sunday comes along. I sit in church and hear a lovely friend talk about the need for help in the Good News Club she leads. She approaches afterward. I know where this is going. I say, "Yes." 

Now the kids are in basketball and we have committed to GNC and I think all is well. Well, it is going well. I am being stretched but enjoying it. We are getting all the things done and feeling pretty excited about it all. 

Cue Monday morning phone call. 

Tuesday's piano lessons are canceled. No problem. We can make them up.

Cue another phone call. 

Tuesday's story time at the library needs someone to lead it. 
  
 "Hmmm. I get it Lord." I say, "Yes," again. 

So, there you have it. Listen to those whispers. It is the Lord fulfilling something and it's pretty fun to be apart of! 

This week

Outside this week. 

In nature. 

Walks. 

Cleaning the front room. 

Kids making a house. :) 

Jumping in melting snow puddles. 

Finding lichen and realizing it's not moss. 

Finding more lichen! 

Drawing lichen. 

And pine cones. Those are hard! 

Reading Why I Wake Early by Mary Oliver.

Thoroughly enjoying those poems. 

Daughter entering art into an exhibit for kids. 

Selling one of her pieces. 

Playing basketball. 

Piano lessons. 

Cabinet maker came to measure kitchen. 

Cooking dinner with husband while listening to French cafe station on pandora. 

Drinking tea with honey. 

Nap on Sunday afternoon. 

These are the things I am thankful for this week. 

I count them and remember. 

I am humbled by this life filled with such things. 

I am happy. 

No, I am more than that. 

Content. 

Joy overflowing. 

 

Behold & Engage

What I have learned in life is that you can become opened to an idea and take a wee little bit from it. Then as you go along, you might find it keeps popping up and you get the joy of acquiring more from that topic, like a building snowball rolling down a mountain. Or as I like to think of it,  connecting dots and creating constellations in your brain.

You don't start off with too many dots and therefore aren't seeing too many pictures, or constellations. Maybe things don't make sense. But after awhile you find you have a few stored away and they just keep growing. I mean, COME ON! I am with a 3 year old day in and day out and am constantly amazed at what he knows! He's got a lot connected up in that brain of his, but he has got a lot more to learn! As do I.

So, when I had the words Behold & Engage a couple years ago for my New Year's theme, I posted it in my house and I walked past it every day. Sometimes I thought about those words and what to do with them, but most of the time I didn't think much on them.

Until, this year!

Funny how they were flung back into my brain. Actually I found the poster I made in our shed the other day, and then I came across this article. The wheels were turning.

Behold........... the Lamb of God.
Who is the Lamb of God?
What did He do?
Why did He do it?
How did things go for Him? How did people respond? How's could go on and on...


Engage.......... in what God engages in.
Be about His business.
 Love what He loves. Hate what He hates. Look to Him as my example.

Then go engage in the world where He has placed me. And repeat as well as I can, by the grace He so willingly gives. 

Behold & Engage has grown to mean more to me than it did two years ago.  I understand it more because I have spent more time with those words, contemplating what they mean and what to do with them.

More dots have been connected. I see more pictures. I am reminded I have far to go, but have come a long way, also.

I humbly behold and humbly engage. Any other way and it won't be like Christ. It won't get the desired results, which is love and relationship. Let's be honest here; I struggle. I'm a sinner saved by grace that is still being saved and sanctified daily. I don't always get it right. I'm sorry for that. But I (we!) must keep going.

So, in a nutshell, I behold Christ by spending time with Him, reading His holy scriptures, praying, asking, repenting, praising. 

Then I engage with the world around me every morning when I wake up and see happy little people excitedly sharing their dreams and thoughts, and every time I go to the store for yet another bunch of bananas. And even at church with fellow believers.   You get the idea.

I must be careful what I behold because it will effect the way I engage. Filling my mind with Truth, Beauty, and Goodness, will shape my thoughts in a way that I can share Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. 

And vice versa with Lies, Ugliness, and Harshness.  

May we all choose rightly, what and how, we Behold & Engage. 

My 2016 Reading List

This is a shorter list than other years. But in all honesty I have never made a list. I usually have an idea of some books I want or need to read and then I read whatever the wind blows my way. 

This is where it's at right now, but I will add random books that come up on my radar that I just don't want to pass up or wait on. Like, Me Before You, so I can watch the movie this June!

Hoping more than anything that when I read I will also take notes and stay steady in my commonplace book. My kids saw me highlight yesterday, that's not a bad choice either.


Jane Eyre
Jayber Crow
The Great Divorce

The Screwtape Letters
Till We Have Faces  (re read)
The Count of Monte Cristo
Famous Men of Rome ( Read aloud with kids)
Augustus Caesar's World ( Read aloud with kids)
Bruchko
Consider This (re read)
Poems for a Happy Life
The Iliad and The Odyssey 
Understood Betsy ( with daughter)
A Long Walk to Water ( with kids) 
Wildflower
The Supper of the Lamb
The Orchardist 
Brooklyn 
Nazi Officer's Wife
Why I Wake Early



 Cheers to reading!

Delight

"Push pause!", I called out. 
 "Come outside with me, the sky is gorgeous." 

Living in the mountains, surrounded by tall Evergreens doesn't provide the best sunsets, but we still try to take in what we can. 

One of the things I have tried to fit into our homeschooling days this year is nature study. I got us all notebooks and we really do attempt to draw what we observe, even if it's out of a book or off a computer screen.  

Tonight the sky was beckoning to be seen and enjoyed. The pinks and oranges were beautifully reflecting off the slow, wispy clouds. It changes so quickly. One minute you are in the middle of a light drenched forest, the next moment all the light has flitted past and darkness is fast approaching. 

August grabbed his notebook and colored pencils. Grace and I snapped a couple pics. The rest just took it all in through their naked eyes. 

It was a lovely few moments together.