I’ve been enjoying the gardens this spring, more than I ever have. I think it’s because for the first time in almost 2o years I don’t have any children younger than five years old. Although with Seth in my life it is still questionable whether I should turn my back on him…for the most part the children can be trusted to play while I lose myself in the garden for brief periods of time.
I want to fill the house with vases of lilacs.
This is six year old Seth in the stream, peering into the pipe that allows the water to run under the road near our house. He was looking for snake skin. It is common knowledge to the boys that the local snakes use these pipes to pull dead skins off themselves. He counted six of them but after reaching one, he would not get the rest because he also saw a spider.
This morning Seth had a hard time waking up and getting motivated for a day of Kindergarten. He tried the typical “I don’t feel good” but I wasn’t falling for it. I put together his backpack and was quite pleased that I made him a nice lunch and remembered to put the strawberries in his bag for tomorrow’s event. I hung his bag on the doorknob right where he could grab it on his way to the bus. 20 minutes later the bus came…..and what in the??? no backpack to be found–was I going crazy?….I started running around the kitchen as the bus sat and waited. “WHERE is your backpack?” “I don’t know!” “I’ll bring it to you when I find it!” Seth looked at me in shock when I (GENTLY) pushed him out the door. He couldn’t believe that he had to go to school without it. It took some persuading to get him on the bus.
I found the backpack LOCKED IN THE BATHROOM.
I had to drive it to school.
When he gets home I am going to have to talk to him about problem solving, creative thinking, telling the truth, responsibility, and the fact that the little trust I had in him is now damaged.
Anyway, back to the snakes. After pocketing the one snake skin that he was able to reach from the pipe, and the two of us talking a lot about how a snake takes it’s skin off like that and whether humans also shed skin (hard to explain), we entered the field not far from our house. I was on a quest to see if the wild rose bush was in bloom.
The wild rose bush was neatly clipped off at the end of each branch (deer?) with no buds to be seen on it (so disappointing) but we did find some wild strawberries.
Little ruby treasures.
There was spit everywhere…..inside of the spit there are little spit bugs to be found…
….they look like this.
water reflections in our pond
the daisies are in bloom
There was a nest was nearby and he did his best to keep me away from it by constant chirping.
This morning I have a cold, Sarah is coughing up a storm, and Ethan is home from school feeling wretched. The entire outdoors is in gloomy suspended animation as we wait and wonder if it will rain. A cool breeze blows through now and then, causing the wind chimes to flutter and play it’s notes.
“He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.” Psalm 107:9
“….but encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today….” Hebrews 3:13
Over the last two days we have had four inches of rain. This is good news considering the lawn was already turning brown and it’s only June 2. It’s been so nice not to have to carry water to my flowers.
I’m sharing miscellaneous photos today, like the one of Grace’s rabbit, who was allowed to explore the outdoors for the first time a few weeks ago, with Grace nearby, keeping a sharp look out.
I’ve been turning over lots of logs as we walk in the woods…we find lots of friendly little woodland creatures, mostly the large beetle many legged kinds, but sometimes we get to say hi to a lizard or two, they have the loveliest earthy homes. So cozy. And then I gently turn the logs back over for them.
All the women in my family love wild lady slippers.
water balloon fight on a very hot day
Rich was on a business trip last week and I was at one of many little league games. I watched the games and kept a casual eye on Seth and Sarah but at one point I couldn’t locate Seth. I walked all over the place trying to find him. I finally asked Dave, who was in the dugout at the time, if he had seen him…..and yes, it turned out he was up in the score box hanging out with the scorekeeper. He’s wearing the bright green neon shirt in the picture.
Much to my dismay, Mr.R, our neighbor whom Jacob works for, gave the boys a HUGE old TV to play with. They took it apart this weekend and it was nice, after all, to see them busily doing a project. There are now baggies of copper wire and what-not in my cupboard, and they very neatly put the pieces they didn’t want into the garbage.
With Rich in my line of vision, and the three youngest in the pond, it was hard to concentrate on my book.
Then the rest of the children marched by, on their way to what they call “the murder scene” far away in the woods…..Jacob, Emily, Grace, Zac, Ethan, and Dave.
The new chickies are growing nicely. They are now in the coop with the seven hens, which makes for a slight difficulty as I am very protective of the chicks and keep them shut in the coop tightly (all sorts of creatures love tender chick meat). I go down in the morning to let the older chickens out to roam around. Therefore, the hens can’t get back in as usual and have no where to lay their eggs and I don’t know what they are doing with them.
Snickers smiling on the front steps.
The late-bloom lilacs are blooming. They smell divine. I have a bouquet of them in the kitchen.
Emily gave Sarah presents for her birthday.
Time for Birthday Cake! Will Parker the dog get some? He looks so sad.
Five candles
We gave Sarah a scooter for her birthday and she loves it.
She loves the little knee and elbow pads, and the little gloves. We bought her a helmet, too, but when we went to put it on her we realized it had a crack in it already so we have to take it back.
She took her scooter to David’s late game on Saturday night. It was great fun watching her go all over the place on it. The wheels light up as they turn, so it was especially exciting for her as it got darker outside.
“Let us fix our eyes
on Jesus,
the author and perfecter of our faith.”
Hebrews 12:2
There is so much to be thankful for, especially the holy Spirit of God within our hearts, turning our dissatisfaction to contentment, our bitterness into love, our “poor me” attitudes into confidence and joy. He gets all the glory forever and ever. He makes all the difference..anything and everything that is beautiful is because of HIM alone.
A sense of humor is more valuable for a busy woman than all the latest inventions for making housekeeping easy. The patent dish-washer, the self-feeding and self-shaking range, the washing-machine, the bread-mixer and the egg beater all put together will not help “mother” through Saturday morning so well as the ability to laugh long and heartily.
Unfortunately, there is no school where this accomplishment can be learned. The giggling girl is not so sure to grow up a laughing woman. She may regard herself and her own affairs with a portentous seriousness. Egotism is fatal to a true sense of humor. So is a lack of imagination. So is that morbid conscientiousness which is our least desirable inheritance from Puritanism.
That family is fortunate indeed where the mother is first to see a joke and to lead the mirth. In too many homes her sole share in merriment is her dismal “I’m sure I don’t see what you’re laughing about!” The mother, an invalid for years, who could answer an inquiry about her health with a quizzical smile and a quick “Sick abed, and worse up!” was not a burden but a joy to the children who found her room “the jolliest place in the house.”
A nonsense rhyme, a droll conundrum, a lively repartee, a story of misadventure may all serve as sauce for a dull day. The appetite for fun may be coaxed to grow by what it feeds on, until the mature woman, laden with responsibilities, can smile at her own small trials and help others to follow her example. She will learn first not to cry over spilt milk, and later will master an even more useful accomplishment, and will laugh over it.
Youths Companion, 1903
We laugh a lot at our house. I mean, honestly, there are gloomy times as well like just yesterday when they (not I) decided upon the idea of going to Subway for lunch after church…ordering subs for 11 people and overtaxing the employees can put a damper on any joyous attitude.
However, in general, we are constantly laughing over things…like, for instance, the funny things that the little ones say. Yesterday Sarah was riding in the backseat with her brothers. They were playing with toy animals when we overheard her little voice saying pleadingly, “Will you please give my ear a little nibble?”
We read humorous stories from the latest Reader’s Digest out loud on the way to church.
We love watching funny movies.
Sparing back and forth with my husband…we get ourselves laughing and happy to be together. Like last week when I had to use the bathroom twice in the first half hour of church…as I pressed myself past him during a song he said sarcastically, “What did you do, drink a gallon of water before church today?”
I make up funny songs and sing them to the kids…like this morning when Sarah was trying so hard to look sad because she hasn’t seen a baby calf and I sang, “Sarah looks sad but her Mother think she’s funny!”
After the initial shock, we even laughed about the applesauce.
“Sauce for a Dull Day”
The other day, Seth wanted some applesauce so he brought me a new plastic tub of it from the pantry. I was busy making dinner with several children around me underfoot. “Seth, we already have one open, go put that back.” I told him rather impatiently, only to hear a loud crash when he went to do it.
“What was that?” I cried as I left my dinner preparations to walk to the pantry. I met Seth on his way out with a very messy jar of opened sauce. “What did you do?”
“I threw it in the air and didn’t catch it,” he explained with no remorse.
There was applesauce across the floor, into the cat food dish, and on the front of the freezer. A couple of days later I happened to look up and there was some dried to the ceiling, too.
Emily helped me make him clean it up, I was silently seething, but by the time we got done with the mess I had found my sense of humor again.
“Now, what was I doing before my son decided to throw applesauce into the air?” I asked, as Emily pretended to throw her own imaginary jar of it, sky high. We laughed together at our crazy little boy who is so impulsive. Later on when Rich was home, I took Seth to him and said, “Seth, tell Dad what you learned today. About applesauce.”
“I learned not to throw applesauce too high or it will ‘splode.”
(six words too long of an answer)
I believe in happy people, happy Christians…joyful hearts…giggling in church…life is hard and dreadful at times, so we need to laugh as much as we can…it’s the best medicine in life!
*******
I put the morning’s egg collection in Sarah’s bike while she played and I gathered rocks to surround a flower bed down by the woods near the long pond. (thinking of Aunt Carol as I did so).
This is what the baby toads look like now. Growing so fast, they spend their days swimming.
Violets as delicate as purple tissue paper.
Strawberry blossom.
More violets…our property is overrun by them, to my delight.
We decided to go for a little walk with Dave, who was home from school with a stomach ache. While Sarah hesitated on the other side of our makeshift bridge, David dissevered a baby lizard in the water (unphotographable) and……………
a small snapping turtle!
He picked it up carefully by the tail. It’s little arms and legs spun around and around in fierce anger. His neck stretched out so that he could face his foe:
Oh he wanted a piece of Dave so bad. David left for home with his prize while Sarah and I continued on our walk.
I wanted to see the violet patch in the field by the edge of the forest. There were thousands of them blooming all at once.
There were also a great number of bright dandelions, fully opened with nice thick stems. I taught Sarah how to make a dandelion chain with them and she had no trouble making me a wreath for my hair, as I made one for her, too.
You can see that she was smelling them..her little nose is yellow. I tucked an apple blossom into her wreath, and some violets, too. She looked so pretty.
When we got back home, Sarah wanted to see Dave’s turtle so bad. Dave had put it in a bucket by the pond so we ran down to look inside. It was gone, completely gone, David’s head turned this way and that in disbelief. When we told Jacob later on he spoke with experience, “Oh snapping turtles always escape from buckets, every turtle I ever put in a bucket got out. You can’t keep them unless you put a lid over it.” And we wondered. How can a turtle climb out of a bucket?? And now that snapper is no doubt in the pond waiting to bite off the toes of my children this summer as they swim.
There was a box on the porch from a friend…with beautiful fiesta dinner plates contained inside! And an encouraging note and card: thank you Jami, from the bottom of my heart. God bless you.
ex library books…beautiful books…library bindings, hard covers, oldish copies of good, wholesome, living stories for my own collection of the best books for my children and someday grandchildren. all for a song at the thrift store. TWO DOLLARS!
Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs, by Tomie DePaola
Such a heart warming, sentimental story that David was very touched by that day he was on the couch with the stomach ache and I made him read all the books.
A wonderful story: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by Steig
and a funny one : ANIMALS SHOULD DEFINITELY NOT WEAR CLOTHING
“because it might make life hard for a hen”
Happy Monday, my friends! Hope you have a great day with lots of belly laughs.
We love to laugh Loud and long and clear We love to laugh So everybody can hear
The more you laugh The more you fill with glee And the more the glee The more we’re a merrier we.
“I’m sure I shall always feel like a child again in the woods.” L.M. Montgomery
Isn’t this a really cool picture? David, my 12 year old, caught a couple of these frogs so far this spring and both times brought it to the house to show me and wonder what it was. I said, “Take a picture of it and we’ll research”. Turns out it’s a spring peeper. He catches them down by the stream. He put it in a glass to take the picture…
Seth was using his Dad’s golf club which was way too big for him. He and the boys really enjoy hitting golf balls lately. I found a shopping bag (yellow in the pic) of balls at a tag sale, used, for only one dollar!
Oh Sarah. She’s just thrilled to “take a bath” in the pond, which is what she calls “swimming”. She’s a little more brave this year and will walk out to her waist in water. She is still bragging that she knows how to float (with a life jacket, mind you).
Do you remember that I got 30 new baby chicks almost 2 weeks ago? One of them started ailing and unfortunately died the other day, which was so sad, but the remaining 29 are growing so fast…eating and drinking like little machines.
One day Sarah played on a rock while I read a book. She loves making up little games and stories with her plastic animals.
I found a profusion of tiny fragrant white violets down in the yard by the stream. There are hundreds of them.
One evening last week, I went for a walk with Grace, Dave, and Seth. We went to a part of the stream that spreads out more like a very small shallow pond. David had fun walking around in the water catching toads.
The sun was going down, and I think the way the sunshine is glowing behind the trees is so beautiful. We had such a nice time on our walk, enjoying everything we saw. We even got to eat some wild onion stalks that I found.
Grace with the hems of her jeans wet from wading. As soon as she got home she found tweezers and worked on getting slivers from the soles of her feet, which are tender from winter.
There is an old beaver lodge there and we noticed that it was covered with downy feathers. I wondered if something had caught a bird and ate it. But then, we saw that there was an egg about 8 feet away, along with the remains of two other eggs, just the shells cleaned completely out. Perhaps licked?
David was thrilled with the egg. He picked it up and said, “Grace! I have a baby!”
We carried it home and found out it was a wild Canadian Goose egg. Their nest must have been vandalized by predator. Since Canadian Geese are as common as the cold, we felt bad, but not too bad, about the loss of their descendants. David blew the egg out and carried it to school the next day in a shoebox to show his Science teacher.
Marsh Marigold: Cowslip Caltha palustris
“The flowers of this showy spring plant resemble those of large buttercups rather than true marigolds, of the aster family. The leaves are sometimes used a potherbs but require several short boilings with changes of water between; they should not be eaten raw.” ~ National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers
Bluets carpeting the lawn next to the pond.
My son’s girlfriend Emily babysat David, Caleb, Seth, and Sarah for us on Monday while we went to Grace’s Spring Music Concert. Later on that night after everyone was home again, she texted me these pictures from a walk they went on.
Pretending to be Knights, and a Princess
“….be still and listen….the earth is singing….”
“And at the end of the day your feet should be dirty, your hair messy, and your eyes sparkling.” ~Shanti
Spring in general is quite distracting and I mean that in the very best of ways….after a quiet winter all nature is alive with growing things, singing birds, visiting ducks, opening buds, blooming flowers,,,,,,,and procreating toads.
I have an affection for toads. Thanks to the fabulous Handbook of Nature Study, I have learned some charming basics of their simple yet fascinating ways.
“Whoever has not had a pet toad has missed a most entertaining experience. Toad actions are surprisingly interesting; one of my safeguards against the blues is the memory of the thoughtful way one of my pet toads rubbed and patted its stomach with its little hands after it had swallowed a June bug.” page 170
Every time I read the above quote I am filled with longing for a pet toad of my own. I need an aquarium and a toad. This would currently be the ideal time for finding a toad, I could take a pick from a very many many many of them right out of my own pond. But soon they will be done with laying eggs and hop away again and we will only come across them randomly in the woods as we walk along.
Toads lay their eggs in very long strings of black dots. Soon a jelly will form around the eggs and the tadpoles will develop, tiny at first and then growing little by little until soon a miniature toad will be perfectly formed about the size of a pencil eraser. When that happens, they will hop out of the pond to make their way in the world. It’s so fun to watch year and after year.
Male toads are smaller than the females, which are plump with eggs. All the single males sit on the side of the pond and sing a magnetic song….with the purpose of calling to himself a lovely female.
I sat and watched this one for quite a while, it never moved, and never attracted a female. I hope it had success after I left.
The males are so ready for action that when the kids catch one it immediately hugs their hand or wrist, and needs to be pried gently off. Interestingly, if a male tries to “hug” another male, he knows something is wrong right away and lets go almost as soon as it grips. “begs pardon”
Our dog Parker came to investigate along with us and caught a couple of toads in his mouth. While Sarah and I were yelling at him, he rushed away up the bank with his prize. But very soon he dropped them and started gagging repeatedly and foaming at the mouth. I was telling my friend about this and she said that her dog did the same thing. She found out that the toads spit some kind of nasty fluid which make the dogs drop them….a lovely defense mechanism.
I learned more this morning: “The warts upon the back are glands, which secrete a substance disagreeable for the animal seeking toad dinners. This is especially true of the glands in the elongated swellings above and just back of the ear, which are called the parotid glands; these give forth a milky, poisonous substance when the toad is seized by an enemy, although the snakes do not seem to mid it.” page 173
Other toad facts:
It eats insects and worms.
It doesn’t drink water, it absorbs it through its skin.
It burrows into the ground, typically staying there during the day and coming out at night to eat…also, it burrows deeply into the earth to sleep all winter….awaking in the warmth of spring.
It breathes air by swallowing it into the lungs.
It sheds its skin as it grows, and eats it.
It likes having its back scratched gently.
Its chief enemy is the snake.
(all facts from The Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsword Comstock—a highly recommended book for all nature lovers)
Dandelions and Violets
Please pet me, little girl. ~Billy Cat
I like to sleep in the garden amongst the tulips. ~Snickers
This little boy SETH is recovering from ear infections, bronchitis and a cracked nose (trampoline collision with Caleb)…but nothing slows him down…usually has a glove and baseball at all times and dirt on the knees and under the fingernails. Very rare boy, one of a kind really, and belongs to a proud mama and papa.
Guess what I am listening to right now? You’ll never guess so I will tell you.
a hundred, give or take, TOADS.
You see, every spring, toads hop to our property to mate in our two ponds. Part of this mating ritual is the continuous singing and calling sounds that they make to gather each other from hither and yon area lands. The sound is a long sustained high note that falls a half step. Sounds kind of scary, sort of sci-fi. In fact, it makes me tense. I’m trying to enjoy it, though, because it is another sign that spring has in fact arrived.
I’m sitting on my bed with Billy cat grooming himself next to me. My windows are open and gusts of wind blow through, making the wind chimes rattle on the porch. I hung clothes outside on the line for the first time this year.
This weekend was nuts. This was our agenda for Saturday:
1. Take Ethan to SAT’s half an hour away.
2. Target for much needed supplies
3. Doctor’s appointment for Seth, where we learned he had double ear infections and bronchitis.
4. Little League Opening Day for David and Caleb
5. Baseball game for Ethan
6. Pick up prescription at Pharmacy
7. Grace to be at the H.S. at 4
8. Mom and Dad coming from out of town.
9. Go to H.S. for Grace’s play: Tarzan.
And this was just Saturday. Rich and I had to work separately, so he took Ethan to the SAT’s while I did numbers 2, 3, 4, and 7 by myself. No one went to E’s game. Rich was also preparing to preach on Sunday. I went to half of the opening day, and when Rich arrived I left in order to be home to greet Mom and Dad.
David in the parade. (the only player looking at me is my Dave).
And Caleb. It was fun, the weather was great, and thankfully Jacob was home to watch Sarah. I only had to keep track of Seth…who is a special challenge these days because he can hardly hear, what with the ear infections. They aren’t slowing him down any though.
Dad and Mom with my two youngest. I love it. Mom brought me a bunch of perennials from her garden for which I was extremely thankful. Dad played some whiffle ball with the kids outside.
Mom and I
Jacob with his Grandma, who was laughing over the height difference. 🙂
Mom and Dad at the High School.
Sweet Emily and Jacob.
The drama kids performed Tarzan this year. Grace was a gorilla, a spider, and a plant. She also performed sign language for one of the songs. Here is a video of it, but it is important to note that she is not doing the SINGING, only the SIGNING.
I wish it were taped better but this at least gives an idea of the beauty of the song and signing.
They did so well, it was wonderful, I was so proud of them all.
Mom hugging Grace after the show.
Dad and Mom with Grace the Gorilla.
Yesterday was the final performance of Tarzan and I attended it with my brother Isaac and his wife Cassandra.
Meanwhile, I have baby chicks. The post office called on Friday morning at 5:15 am and I went down to get them.
There are 30. And they are so very cute right now. We like to go in the garage and just sit in front of the cage and watch them.
Do you see in the very back of the cage, there is a dangling piece of cardboard paper…little chicks take turns trying to get it off. It’s so cute.
This is what I have:
FIVE each of Barred Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island Red, Brown Leghorn, and Easter Egger. Then, I have NINE Cuckoo Maran, and I am most excited about these because they lay a darker shade of brown than any I’ve owned previously.
Discovered in the woods as I picked up trash this morning.
wildflowers
As I was walking by the edge of the pond I scared a toad (not this one) into the water where a fish promptly grabbed it by the legs and went down deep with it. I gasped as I watched it happen… the poor toad was held by both his back legs, which were half inside the fish’s mouth. It’s little front arms were straight out to the sides with stiff fingers, it was the picture of terror as it was carried away. I watched for a while and it appeared once again with two fish in hot pursuit. I don’t know the ending to the story. I sat by the edge of the pond for a while and also saw a turtle. But the horrors continued when I put my hand in the grass to stand back up. I narrowly missed putting it down on two disemboweled toads! It’s truly a life and death world out there……..
Last but not least, Mom, as I promised I did plant all the plants on Sunday.
This is a little garden Rich made for me a few weeks ago. It was empty and I ordered the animals and flag from amazon. I bought 2 perennials but all the rest were from Mom.
so happy to find a screen cover @ Pier One Imports 13 dollars
lily’s dress
really great soup recipe
He shall sit up on the arm of the couch in a sunbeam.
He shall sleep & stretch under the coffee table….not doing a great job of hiding from us.
poetry comes to life: “her early leaf’s a flower, but only for an hour” Robert Frost
moss growing on a fallen tree
blue sandwiching green
I shall sit in the woods and watch the hens scratch with purpose.
Back inside: nature bits gathered from the woods.
W H I T E T U R K E Y C H I L I
1 T. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
2 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped up fine
1 lb ground turkey
salt and pepper to taste
1 can cannelloni beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 16 ounce jar salsa (your choice)
1 15 ounce can tomatoes with garlic and onion (or add extra seasonings if you only have plain)
In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until translucent, add turkey and brown, salting and peppering to taste. Add the rest of the ingredients and heat till bubbly and completely heated through.
I triple this for my family, so we can enjoy leftovers. I use mild salsa, the guys pass around the Franks Red Hot.
This recipe is from a cookbook that has literally changed my life, Saving Dinner, by Leanne Ely. It contains recipes for delicious main dishes for each week (6 days) of the year WITH the complete shopping list (!!!!). It is organized by season. All the recipes are as healthy as can be with typically a fish, beef, chicken, slow cooker recipe, meatless, casserole. Each recipe includes side dish recommendations and nutritional content. I don’t use the cookbook every week, but I’ve used it a lot over the last couple of years, (all spring this year so far except the 2 flu weeks). This week I am making Chicken Parmesan with steamed broccoli, Mexican Lasagna with a salad, Beef and Spinach Pitas with baby carrots, Chicken Broccoli Soup with a salad and rolls, Halibut Piccata with steamed broccoli, sweet potatoes, and baked potatoes, and lastly, Greens and Beans with a side of brown rice. Buy it! 🙂
Earth day. A day to thank God over and over for this amazing created world that He made from words….beginning with these….”and God said…let there be light, and there was light.” Genesis 1:3
LIGHT is my personal word to study and meditate on this year. Every year in January I wait for the Lord to impress upon my mind and soul a particular word (it’s so much easier that way). LIGHT came to mind and wouldn’t go away, so LIGHT it was. And let me assure you, the study has been marvelous so far. The Bible and Christian resources, books, hymns, are full of this wonderful word.
The Light of the World is Jesus
The whole world was lost
In the darkness of sin,
The Light of the world is Jesus!
Like sunshine at noonday,
His glory shone in.
The Light of the world is Jesus!
No darkness have we
Who in Jesus abide;
The Light of the world is Jesus!
We walk in the light
When we follow our Guide!
The Light of the world is Jesus!
Ye dwellers in darkness
With sin blinded eyes,
The Light of the world is Jesus!
Go, wash, at His bidding,
And light will arise.
The Light of the world is Jesus!
No need of the sunlight
In Heaven we’re told;
The Light of the world is Jesus!
The Lamb is the Light
In the city of gold,
The Light of the world is Jesus!
CHORUS:
Come to the light, ’tis shining for thee;
Sweetly the light has dawned upon me.
Once I was blind, but now I can see:
The Light of the world is Jesus!
It’s nice to sing “The light of the world is” and then point to your child and let them sing “JESUS!”
Before I remembered that it was in fact Earth day, Sarah and I meandered our way outdoors and found a pair of mallard ducks in the stream. They come every year at this time so we are old friends, however they are always shy of us. We sat by the edge of the stream in the sunshine and tried to be still and quiet. Sarah had a very hard time with the quiet part.
“I want to be a duck.”
“Everybody should be ducks, right mom?”
“I’m the girl duck.”
“Mom look at this stick! Can I pick it?”
“I don’t like dirt.”
“I hear a plane.”
“Where are my ponies??” (she was carrying around My Little Ponies)
“Mom, there’s a spider on you.”
“Let’s sit here and wait until they swim in the pipe. Can I go through the pipe sometime? Seth went through the pipe. I want to go through the pipe.”
“Can I throw this stick in the water?”
Sherlock our cat was watching them with us.
Look how funny they are with their bottoms up in the air at the same time. Notice the pipes, we waited and waited and in fact they looked as if they really would take the tunnel through to the other side of the road. But do you know what those silly ducks did? They got out of the stream and waddled across up on the road, on dry land. First the Male went, waiting and looking carefully for cars, and then walking softly and throwing himself in the stream on the other side. The Female slowly went up the bank and stood there nervously until her mate started quacking in impatience. Only then did she rouse herself and cross. “Ker plop” we heard her join her husband. Sarah and tiptoed over to see.
Man duck stood proudly on a rock, the lady duck was there, but hidden in the water. She seemed to enjoy the faster water and would go completely under. Soon our motions made them nervous and up they flew.
They flew all the way over to the pond, so we followed them again. Parker the dog was barking at them, too.
I got comfortable on the dock in the sunshine while Sarah climbed pine trees. I saw a pair of cardinals and some other little birds.
It was getting to be lunch time so Sarah and I went over to see if there were eggs before going in the house for lunch.
There were two lovely smooth eggs, I put one in each jacket pocket. Billy came over to say hello.
And we saw the first of the violets. For all the February babies like myself and friend Cynthia.
“He himself gives to all mankind life life and breath and everything. And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward Him and find Him. Yet He is actually not far from each one of us, for ‘In him we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17:26
Good morning! I was awakened this morning by Jacob knocking at my door at 6:21 in the morning because I had promised to write him a check for seventy dollars for the prom. As soon as I stood up, the all too familiar chills and flu headache appeared. I wrote the check and tortured myself by stumbling back to bed even though I knew I couldn’t sleep anymore…I had to wake up Seth and Caleb.
So here it is several hours later. The smell of roasting chicken is in the air, as I am getting a head start on dinner later which will be Chicken Divan. Little Sarah is pattering about upstairs getting dressed.
I was sick an entire week and indeed, I am not yet quite well.
However, God is to be praised and glorified because He delights in caring for His precious children and I felt his love so much over the last week. Rich had a business trip from Tuesday to Thursday and I was so sick I had to send out a distress call over Facebook. My friends came through for me in such generous ways! By eight that morning four of the children were taken away……Caleb and Seth to my friend Diana’s house, and Grace and Sarah to my friend Heather’s. And each of these ladies had four children of their own at home, too, not to mention one year old baby boys. Heather took the girls to the Science center and gave me a candle, card, and jelly beans (which I gave to Jacob to take with him to his track meet). Diana had the boys spend the night and when she brought them back she also gave us dinner. Which reminds me, I really need her bread recipe.
My friend Barb came over with essential oils and took the boys to their orthodontist appointment. She bought me a box of tissues.
I carry the baggie of oils around with me, they are so very therapeutic! My sense of smell is returning!
Last Monday for whatever reason I very dumbly decided to go for a walk with the children. My only excuse is that I had taken three ibuprofen and felt that I was getting better (oh how I laugh now) …. anyway, the reason I went was because Grace came to me and said, “Mom, I thought I heard ducks but it was really frogs. They’re back.” Namely, Spring Fever.
The happy frogs were down by the rushing stream in a quieter tributary, laying eggs. I’m not sure what type of frog they were, they were NOT the bullfrogs. Once we were that far, we decided to keep on going and walk up the dam trail.
David was jumping on the trampoline being unsociable and Ethan was at practice, so it was Jacob, Emily, Grace, Caleb, Seth, and Sarah.
Jacob shot a tree with an air-soft gun (I know, this was bad of him) and we all ran over to taste the sap. He looked around for a Maple tree but could not find one.
It was a little cold for Sarah so Jacob and Emily left with her and Seth. They also had bare feet and the grass was hurting them. Grace, Caleb, and I continued to the old beaver pond in the woods to search out some more frog activity.
We saw a new bird species as we entered the woods by a tiny stream. We didn’t notice it at all until we were almost upon it, it was so well camouflaged. The pictures I took are truly pitiable. If you lean in very close to the computer screen you can see it…a small bird about the size of a bantam hen, with an upturned tail, black eyes, and long beak.
You may have to take my word for it. It flew away reluctantly in three brief flights; the third one being the last attempt we made to “get a little closer”. I looked it up later on and decided it was perhaps a Water Rail.
We sat down by the beaver pond to watch the frogs. Grace was right next to me. She had bare feet and said, “What in the world is under my toes.” It turned out to be a tiny tree frog. Then, she climbed a tree and just as she settled in the branches she saw a red spider. Nature loves Grace.
Dear Caleb. He proudly wears his waterproof boots.
Eastern Skunk Cabbage blooms. It really does smell like skunk…the kids call it stink weed.
bright green moss on a boulder in the woods.
Skunk cabbage growing through a leaf.
Walking with boys ALWAYS involves a few battles with sticks.
Heading home. Caleb was our silent third party while Grace and I chatted and laughed all the while…….
When I got home I decided to open the last bottle of blackberry/sage Kombucha. It opened like a shot and Kombucha pulp sprayed all over the ceiling. I had to walk around on the island with clorox wipes to clean it off. If the cork wasn’t held on to the bottle by metal hardware I would be typing this blog post with only one eye.
I never even drank it. I could not taste it and couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t spoiled. I’m sure it wasn’t, but after cleaning up all the pulp I lost my appetite for it. It sure got fizzy, right?
After Monday I didn’t pick up my camera again for four days (this is impressive for me). I did have my phone so I took a few pictures with it:
I was in the cupboard trying to find something to snack on when Grace saw the word flu. We had to laugh at the irony.
Jacob and David, I’m so proud of these sons of mine.
Caleb after a few days of neglecting to gather the eggs.
The glorious sky on Friday which prompted me to touch the camera again. The day was dark and gloomy until the very end when the sun came out briefly. I love the dark sky and the sunshine trees.
Snickers asleep on the porch.
Seth playing football by himself.
On Sunday I thought I saw the football down by the pond but then realized it was a Muskrat of all things. It sat at the edge for a while, I think it was eating, sometimes the force of it’s digging made its long tail come out of the water.
walking away
Lastly, I took this picture of Rich reading to our youngest two last night before bed.
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I have two book recommendations for you, if you are interested. The first is titled A Room with View, written in 1908 by Edward Morgan Forster. It’s a free download on the Kindle. After you read it you can watch the lovely movie adaptation.
The second book is one that I am currently reading. It was written by a Romanian Lutheran pastor who was imprisoned for 14 years of his life in different prisons because of his Christian belief. It’s titled In God’s Underground and was written by Richard Wurmbrand and is a one dollar book on Kindle. Here is a quote:
“The prison years did not seem too long for me, for I discovered, alone in my cell, that beyond belief and love there is a delight in God: a deep and extraordinary ecstasy of happiness that is like nothing in this world. And when I came out of jail I was like someone who comes down from a mountaintop where he has seen for miles around the peace and beauty of the countryside, and now returns to the plain.”
That’s not to say that he did not experience satanic temptations, torture, and deathly illness, because he did. But in the midst of it all he experienced over and over again God’s amazing sustenance. What a beautiful testimony this book is and I think EVERY Christian should read it to get yet another idea of how awesome God is, and what is available to us as believers.
Here is just one more quote and then I will close this post for the day.
“Words alone have never been able to say what man feels in the nearness of divinity. Sometimes I was so filled with joy that I felt I would burst if I did not give it expression. I remembered the words of Jesus, ‘Blessed are you when men come to hate you, when they exclude you from their company and reproach you and cast out your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!’ I told myself, ‘I’ve carried out only half this command. I’ve rejoiced, but that is not enough. Jesus clearly says that we must also leap.’
“When next the guard peered through the spy-hole, he saw me springing about my cell.”
Dance for Jesus today, my friends! Rejoice and leap for joy!
Good to be Home 