No it’s not that but half my family is wheeling their way to the midwest as I type this morning and I feel like I am missing large parts of my life. I AM missing large parts of my life. 

Allen’s parents are scaling back their farming operation and had lots of materials they no longer needed. We, being in the building up mode, had need of them so they graciously offered them to us and he went to bring them back.  Colin went along since he is leaving in a few weeks for the new college (brace yourselves for a weepy post!) as did Moira and the "little boys" as Aidan and Kieran are affectionately referred to.

I had to take another son to town yesterday morning and was in such a rush to get his paperwork together I totally wasn’t connecting that the little ones would be gone when I came back since dh was leaving before that time. They were packed and ready but *I* wasn’t ready and hadn’t passed out hugs. When that hit me on the highway I was devastated. As I was when I came back home some hours later and the trailer and family were on their way. As I was last night passing their neatly made (hey there is your first clue something is amiss around here lol!) empty beds.

After he helped with chores,Asher and I filled the evening downloading new piano sheet music (his passion) and wrapping up his math course so he can dive into the new one.  Alannah and I had learned a new crochet stitch (thank you Becki!) and we got out the paints for a very pleasant evening posing as Susan Branch wannabe’s. <g> Actually we weren’t half bad and the process had a profoundly relaxing effect. We sat on the bathroom floor together later while the baby was bathing and wound yarn balls, a tedious but necessary job that goes much better with a friend. Soon we can begin the new baby’s project.

It got me thinking. (dangerous I know – that means she isn’t done talking…..) So many of us are trying so hard to make quality time for our children. We know we ought to, we know it is the right thing to do. Yet, how many of us are ENJOYING ourselves??  I am tellin’ ya, if you aren’t having fun something still needs tweaking. What is holding you back?  Is it the mess in the school room/kitchen/closet eating at you?  Is it fatigue? Is it upset over another relationship?  And better yet what steps can we take to eliminate those joy-robbers?  Because that is what they do. They suck the joy out of what can and should be one of the happiest times of our lives. This is not a time to survive.  This is a time to thrive and to relish.

Have you painted lately? Not with art store hair brushes and expensive oils but with a buck fifty plastic Crayola watercolors and a small notebook?  That is all I have experience with but it is darn good fun.  Even with the baby threatening to eat the dog’s rawhide the whole time lol! Have you sat with a toddler in a high chair for all of the ten minutes they can sit for and showed him a book and a toy and talked about his fingers and nose?  Because next month he may be beyond that and this window will be closed forever. Don’t miss it. 

One never knows what one is going to do.  One starts a painting and then it becomes something quite different.  -Pablo Picasso

God’s in charge of the flowers and seeds. And I am in charge of all the weeds…

If yours is like mine it grows without a lot of help from its gardener. ; o   Oh I always start out with good intentions, but before long the weeds are outpacing the veggies.  Despite my firm resolve, they both usually grow together, like the wheat and tares, until we harvest.  Still the sunflowers are peeking out now and the lettuces are growing well again this year.  We have had some wonderful salads that gave no hint of the mess of a garden from which they sprang.

While living in VA we visited Monticello and saw Thomas Jefferson’s incredible vegetable gardens. Row after row of neatly manicured vegetables that were as beautiful to see growing as they were delicious to eat. What attracted me even more were his meticulous gardening notes. He was fascinated by the whole process.

Edith Schaeffer shared Jefferson’s feelings about vegetable gardening.  In the Hidden Art of Homemaking she writes:  "God not only created all the flowers, trees,shrubs, ornamental plants and fruits to put in it, he He actually designed and planted a garden. He designed it so that is might contain things that were good to eat, but they were also to be pleasant to look at."

If you are so inspired you may wish to keep a gardening notebook as well to document these horticultural wonders. Missy from the Homesteadgardens shares her garden notebook plan to include seed packet snippets (in business card pockets – check it out!), sketches for future garden layouts, wishlists and notes about growing conditions and the garden’s successes.

Another fun garden find was Susan Branch’s Garden’s Little Book Particularly fun to peruse if you, like me, prefer the IDEA of the garden to the cultivation thereof. : )

If you are homeschoolers don’t forget to visit Elizabeth Foss’s Down the Garden Trail post.

  Last but not least, if you find yourself with a boatload of lettuces, such as these, here is the trick to making a spectacular green salad: How to Make a Great Green Salad  If I can’t make the garden pretty, in this a baby year, I can at least make the salad so!

Since this "garden" of mine can always use weeding also, I leave you with this advice for growing the most important garden of all:

For the garden of your daily living, plant three rows of "peas":

1. Peace of mind
2. Peace of heart
3. Peace of soul

Plant four rows of squash;

1. Squash gossip

2. squash indifference

3. squash negativism

4. Squash selfishness

Plant four rows of lettuce:

1. Lettuce be considerate

2. Lettuce be generous

3. Lettuce be patient

4. Lettuce be kind

No garden is complete without turnips

1. Turnip to help one another

2. Turnip for service

3. Turnip with a smile

To conclude our garden we must have thyme:

1. Thyme for each other

2. Thyme for family

3. Thyme for friends

Water freely with patience, fertilize with understanding, and cultivate with love because you will reap what you sow.  (author unknown)

Sandy Clough came to my attention today when we visited the scrapbook store.  Her beautiful watercolors stopped me in my tracks. I came home and surfed her site.  Lovely!  Full of images of delightful things that make a house a home. It makes one feel restful just to look at them.

If you are a tea fan you will especially enjoy. 

I ran across this article today and it articulated well many thoughts that have floated through my head of late.  Some dear friends and I have been hashing out our thoughts about the writings of a well-known ministry who have taken great pains to expose the aberrant behaviors of too many people.  While we must be educated there was something that was rubbing me wrong about these articles, namely the vulgar descriptions which left nothing to the imagination.  We DO need to be informed.  We do not need to be assaulted.

Peggy Noonan’s article hit the nail on the head.  She issues a plea for a return to dignity, particularly that dignity that used to be reserved for ladies.  She explains that as a society we are becoming desensitized to this vulgarity in both language and behavior. She also helped me to feel less embarassed about my embarassment if that makes sense.  Check it out if you have a moment: Embarassing the Angels

Whew!  What a week or two. My mother was in town last week and I think we were out every day travelling around Colorado.  Saw some awesome places – between the rain lol!  The prairie has recieved so much rain in recent weeks we actually are growing mushrooms! That latter part was a boon to us since we are smack dab in the middle of a plant unit. Everything is suddenly green for which we are eternally grateful.

We moved the last chick into the coop this week much to her chagrin. She really had no idea what a chicken was, having never seen one. She has bonded with Alannah and does indeed hop on her shoulder like Jen’s sister.  She spent her first night in the coop huddled in a corner only coming out to leap on Alannah when she checked in on her.

Speaking of chickens, Bleu Cheese the rooster has met his maker. : /  He was a beautiful bird by all accounts but he got it into his bird brain to attack the baby.  Can’t have that. So that was the end of him unfortunately. 

My first baby boy turned 20 last week moving us into our third decade of parenting ; o  Of course you now know what a youthful bride I was thanks to dh’s post lolol! I still can’t believe he did that.  But yes, we had our anniversary last week also and thank you for the lovely wishes!  Colin was born the same day the next year.  He is in the thick of prep to leave for Arizona next month. Hopefully his mother can pull herself together by then. How DO people manage that whole thing??  Be prepared for a long sobby note afterwards. : (

One quick link – my friend Genevieve sent the Little City Kids Lesson Plans page to me this week.  What a treasure trove!  They sell Montessori supplies but also have a day program I believe.  They have recently uploaded a couple months worth of daily plans. They are unit studies essentially with Montessori work woven into each day.  They are a great resource if you have multiple aged students.  If you only have younger kids they may be of mixed value. I intend to use them though not as written exactly.  Of course I don’t use ANYthing as written lol!  My impression is that you may not be able to get to a hands on art project each day though these beg to be fit into the schedule some time during the week. Also, the finger plays and action work are very appropriate for little people.  The history and science lessons are sometimes written above their level.  Perfect for a varied age group, less so for strictly preschoolers.  But do take a look and see if they work for you!  I love the layout of the plans and think the template would be very adaptable and useful for homeschool planning. Thanks Gen!

Will leave you with a few pics from the past week of the Cripple Creek Gold mine district, the Renaissance Fest (a bit more Goth than Renaissance : o   )  and the kids’ new caterpiller.  Or maybe I won’t. My computer is on the blink and upload seems to be stuck now too.  It is making a noise similar to the one my son’s car makes.  Considering the computer doesnt have a muffler I am guessing that is a bad sign….. 

To my dear wife

Memories are forever…

Imperfect 4-inch underwear squares

Pay phone marriage proposals

UW-Milwaukee one day, Germany the next

Autobahn hospital drives with no muffler

Fast deliveries

Child #1 on Anniversary #1

Life between boxes – 14 houses in 18 years

9lb, 10oz baby boy

Goodbyes at the airport…Joyful hugs 4 to 6 months later

Missing baby Brendan’s birth

Arguments over unfolded maps

Unexpected home delivery–you should have listened to me

Dad’s 21 gun salute—you holding my hand

Flooded house, emergent surgeries, car accidents, 3^rd trimester pregnancies, broken down cars – all by yourself

Seeing your smiling face… Marathon finishes, College diplomas, Military promotions, Retirement day, Every day when I come home from work

Goat “assisted” deliveries

Baking in the hot sun during wheelchair track meets

Search for the infamous septic tank

Moira’s coffee burn

I’yi and Aushaus (so, how do you actually spell that?)

Tennis racquet’s do in fact make a mighty fine weapon

The constant sound of a piano

Broken down Suburban’s at 3pm on the 3^rd of July in the middle of Nebraska

Our 1^st girl

Neighborhood kids in our yard, even when we’re not home

RV camping

Russelsheim, Dayton, San Antonio, Layton, Newport News, Colorado Springs

Nutrisystem

Honey Do’s

My dream truck – too easy!

Checkerboard manicured yards and flowers

2am ceiling collapse

Star Wars and lightsabers

Hoover, Blue, Charlie, Chelsea, Lucy, Satch, Emma, Angel, Ruby, Wally – need I say more?

2 male neighbors with swimming pool

Lizards on the wall

Nightly rosaries

Eating baked chicken at Whole Foods

Palmer Lake reservoir

Flintwood Ridge – our 1^st house

B&B’s

Annual Turkey Dance

Happy Anniversary Hon.  I love you so much!  Allen

You meet some of the most incredible women online! And if you’re lucky you get to meet them in person too.  I ran into Michelle Quigley http://www.family-centered.com/  in Denver this month and was able to have a lovely dinner with her. I also have one of her planners in my hands now. Wow!  These are truly beautiful and I am excited about putting it to work this school year. I needed the bigger spaces to write in. My little bk isn’t doing the job.  And now I will have these inspiring illustrations to boot!

Dani and I have been on the same little Catholic homeschool email list for a lot of years now. She is mom to four boys who have somehow gotten WAY too big. She is an incredible digital artist. You can ck out her work here: http://www.dani3d.com/blog/

Rebecca is new online friend who shares my passion for gentle parenting.  In fact, she has devoted a whole blog just to the littlest people and those who love them.  Check it out!   http://www.agypsycaravan.typepad.com/babylove/ 

Gotta get started with school so my list will have to pause for now.  I hope to get my links updated shortly!

I don’t have a lot of words today. It’s been a long week and we are all tapped out around here. I thought instead I would share with you some of the things that made me smile this week.

Sixteen Candles      Asher turned sixteen this week.  I can hardly believe it. Guess I say that every birthday. My mind rushes back to Dayton, Ohio. It was a long painful labor and I would physically completely break down for the next two years. But this was one sweet baby. Through it all he was my reason to keep trying to get better. Now he is thoughtful young man, devoted to his music and literature. He still has this happy-go-lucky nature and makes everyone around him smile. His name means ‘happy and blessed’ and we feel we have been both since the day we got him! Happy birthday sweetie!

My Left Foot  This is one of those silly pics that moms out there have to be able to appreciate. Kieran came running in wanting his shoes on so he could catch up to everyone. He asked if he had them set up right and I said, no, you have the wrong feet. You need to switch the feet. So…… he did <g>

The Grass Really IS Greener over the Septic Tank hence we are taking the goats over to feast for a little bit everyday.  You can see how big the doe kids are getting.

This pic is blurry because the kittens wouldn’t hold still and I can’t tell you how much THAT makes me smile this week. They are transitioning well to the goat’s milk and cat food.  Or so we thought. One morning this week we awakened to find the little guy on the right barely moving nor able to even hold his head up. We figured he was not long for this world. We filled him up with the eye dropper and then had to go fix the fence because the neighbor’s horse had jumped it. by the time we finished and got back to him he was alert and walking if wobbly. He seems fine now after a day of dropper feeding.  Apparently they aren’t quite able to sustain themselves from the bowl just yet.

Nature Notebk  the girls were observant enough to notice this tiny gopher in his hole.  I wasn’t sure if the camera would catch him, but here he is.  These little buggers dot the Colorado countryside in summertime. Frankly we don’t always find them adorable – like when they are burrowing through the pasture.  I couldn’t resist that little face though. Something about little live things that always get to me.

Enough Said …some pictures say it all. Water. It’s a wonderful thing. We don’t have all the kinks worked out yet but for now it’s on. What a blessing. We are so abundantly blessed in this age we often don’t even stop to realize it until something we take for granted is no longer there. However, running water is something Our Lord and most of His children have done without for most of time.  We are so fortunate!

Smile …a ‘just because I am a camera happy mom’ picture.  This shot of Kieran in the grass just makes smile. A lot. <g>  Hope you all had a great week!  God bless : )

……what are…. "things that break when your husband is away."  You also get a Jeopardy point if you answered, "Things that keep you from blogging." <g>   Historically electronics, plumbing, and children tend to act up when dad is gone.  Not sure why but its right up there with death and taxes as a sure thing. 

Most of the above are back in working order now and we are looking forward to Allen’s arrival tonight.  I hope to update the site with some great new things afterwards.  Til then I leave you with a pic of the Ranch Foreman directing traffic. ; ) 

God bless!  Kim

So the series is over.  Did you watch?   The only word that comes to mind is embarassing.  I was truly embarassed for the women on the show, not because their ‘potential’ was not realized, not because they were not granted 21st century ‘respect’. I was embarassed because they made ninnies of themselves.  Their incessant chatter about women’s rights could not hide the fact that they were not pulling their weight.  Worse than that was the ranch wife’s systematic humiliation of her husband and the subsequent demise of the ranch project. 

The whole fiasco was summed up by the historians’ assessment at the end.  Mrs. Cooke had the opportunity to *attain greatness* but instead she *quietly undermined* her husband’s efforts and the interpersonal relations among ranch staff.  Wow!  There is lots of fodder for reflection there. I have been thinking about this since the show ended.  What kind of wife am I?  I do believe her choices are those available to all women.  We can attain a singular greatness as mothers and wives.  We can shape and mold our families and our words can strengthen those around us or devastate them.  No small responsibility there!  But it wasn’t PBS’s idea.  Scripture said it first:

Proverbs 14

1 The wise woman builds her house,
       but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.

My hope is that this example will stay with me and I will guard my words, which have a tendency to fly before given sufficient thought. : p 

Kim