Looking Back

My oldest daughter insisted that I add this photo...for posterity's sake.  I am NOT a blogger and don't think I ever will be, but I really enjoy looking back at this old blog that I created years ago.  Reminiscing is a wonderful pastime.  Maybe I'll add a few more posts as the years go by.  I look forward to looking back.

King Solomon's Metaphors

 We are much impressed with not only the vocabulary of our 4 year old but with the wisdom he has that reminds us of King Solomon of old.  Just when you assume that he is just another rowdy, car-loving little boy, he comes into the room saying, "I think (my sister) C____ wants to be as skinny as a cow's tail."  And where, you might ask, has he seen a cow's tail?  And what would make him think that his sister wants to be like one?  I can only answer the first question.  We did visit an homestead last week with our homeschool co-op and did see several cows, including a week old calf, who was very soft to the touch.  Yet, when I asked our young king how he knew what a cow's tail looked like, he responded that it was from a book we had read.  Hmm....  
To share another metaphor from our young king, one night he questioned his father with a peculiar question at bedtime.  Daddeo had stated if all the kids got in bed he would read a short story.  With quick reply, Solomon asked, "As short as a chicken's leg?"

Silliness aside, I do see some real cognitive growth in our little guy.  It's quite amazing to get a glimpse of the person each one of our children is becoming.

Waking

This morning was one of the few where I actually got up before the children.  I forced myself to set my alarm to get up and get some 'class' preparations done before the school day starts.  I can't say that I am enjoying the early morning yet, but being prepared will make up for the groggy feeling I have.  Last night while helping the children with snacks before bed, I was feeling tired and grumpy.  Then Solomon came in the room and while telling Justus something, he was giggling.  His joy is so contagious. With that one giggle, I was smiling.  I love how he spreads his 'boing-boing' joy to those around him.

Speaking of joyful folks.  I have two boys who are awake now and one of them is giggling. I best go and giggle with them.

A few days ago, near the end of our game, Mouse Trap, S didn't want J to catch Mama's mouse so he stole it. We were all a bit annoyed, but Mama just used another blue plastic piece to sub-in for the blue mouse he took. Sure enough, J captured E's and Mama's mice and he won the game! After we had picked up and placed most of the game back in the box, S came bounding up to Mama holding out the blue mouse and exclaiming, "Mama, Mama! I saved your life!" Now that's just AWESOME! This (below) is S showing us his Christmas gum and his great smiles! He often has 'hearts shooting out of him' when he is happy....or so he tells us!

We are thankful for all the family and friends we got to see over the holidays....missing the ones we didn't get to see... and building a new house with our Lincoln Logs. Yippee!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Okay, I realize how silly this looks, but I feel like it says so much. Of course, I can be really dramatic, but I wonder if from under the silliness out creeps some real emotions. With the beginning of this school year, homeschooling again, I feel the stress of having to 'whip' the kids into shape after summer's long play. Math is SOOO hard! Children want to sneak out the back door and ride away on a bike. We DO enjoy our learning, but we are not ready for it to keep us inside. So today we hunted crickets in the yard, but only caught a tiny caterpillar and a HUGE rolly-polly. We dug through long grasses, but the crickets eluded us. We gave up and came inside for lunch. It wasn't until much later in the day that I was trimming grass around my flower bed when I happened upon a tiny, hopping cricket and snatched him up. We put him in a jar for a short time, but he was not too exciting. No singing... I might of squooshed him a bit when I caught him...he didn't jump anymore when we let him go just a little while later. We have a better plan for tomorrow. Big J says that there are always loads of crickets under the trash can in the morning. We'll have to find a big, hardy one to catch and keep for a day. Crickets are good luck, aren't they? Maybe my stress will go away. I'm sure that a bit of a nap and a dose of prayer would do the same trick. We'll just have to try it all.

Here are my spring flowers. Yes, I find that my little ones have absorbed so much of my dance improvisational skills. I love seeing the movement and symmetry in these photos. Amazingly, in the first picture the girls were posing but the boys weren't. The sun was in J's eyes and S did not really want his picture taken. Ahh, this growing business is beautiful, but hard.