I leaned over the porch railing to have a conversation with my boys, who were jumping on the trampoline way down on the lawn (I had to yell).  I wanted to know if they were interested in going out with me to run errands and go to the playground.

Sarah was next to me holding Gentleman Gray, our kitty, who must have gotten scared about getting too close to the railing.  Did he think he would be thrown over it?  Was he afraid he would fall?  Was mama yelling too loudly?  Regardless, he panicked and scratched Sarah as he leapt from her arms.

Now she was crying hysterically saying she didn’t want to go anywhere.

***

About half an hour later, we were driving down the road listening to tunes.

We made our way to the Salvation Army, where I prowled around looking for dishes and the children picked out new-to-them stuffed animal friends.

***

Back in the car, we had conversations about childbirth and animal abuse.

Part of the reason why I love taking the kids places is because of the random conversations we have.  Seth had all sort of questions about childbirth, “Does it hurt?”  “Does the doctor cut anything?”  “What is a cord?”  “What does the cord look like?” “Is the mother asleep if she needs to have a c-section?” “How does the baby come out of the mother?” “Did you have the numbing medicine?”  “Do you want any more babies?”   and so on, all very natural and cute…….meanwhile, 11 year old Caleb was groaning in embarrassment.  He did perk up when I told him he was my easiest birthing experience and thanked him.  “Yeah, but he was your ugliest baby,” Seth interjected in typical brother fashion.  “None of my babies were at all ugly!” I squealed with a laugh, and steered the conversation toward how much everyone weighed at birth.

Caleb was feeling disturbed about rhinos and elephants being killed for their tusks.  I was in complete sympathy and assured him the the keys on our piano were NOT ivory.  He was also offended that so many people hate snakes and destroy them.  As I tried to explain that it was all Satan’s fault for choosing to indwell a snake in order to trick Adam and Eve in the Garden, Sarah piped up and said if SHE was Satan, she would have chosen to be……a cheetah.

*****

Next we stopped at Goodwill and guess what?  I found six white fiesta teacups.

Next, Rita’s ice and custard for dessert BEFORE lunch.

And then, the meat market.

Lastly, a long visit to the playground, where I sat in the sun and sleepily read a book while the children played with the stuffed animals (after I assured Seth that “who cares what people think!” when he was hesitant about being seen playing with them and maybe being embarrassed.)

I watched as my children were completely absorbed in their play, making up stories and never stopping their imaginative stuffed animal adventures.

After they had played for a long time, we left the park and I headed for a quick stop to return milk bottles and to get more bottles of the raw milk we recently discovered.

Once home again, Caleb worked on legos, the little ones played, and I took some photos of things that made my lonely (for my husband) heart happy.

***

“The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.”  Henry Miller

“Any activity done with love and presence is a spiritual practice.”

“I perceive God everywhere in His works; I sense Him in me; I see Him all around me.”  Jean-Jacques Rousseau

“Because He bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!”  Psalm 116:2