Leaving his mark

This morning I watched my guy leave for Blowing Rock School for the last time. Ever since I knew him, he has been teaching there. He put in 11 full years.

Scott definitely left his mark at this school. He was quite the activist. He made huge statements with his vegan meals each day for lunch. Then there was his commitment as the leader of the recycling program. Ahhh and the door. The front and back of his school room door was not decorated with bulletin board paper and cute cut outs. His door was decorated by bumper stickers that indeed had a voice of their own.

Scott has taught many subjects in his sixth grade classroom. I believe I could speak for him and say that his favorites have been social studies and reading. He has read so many novels with his kids, all of which he has read aloud to them.

His years have been full of students that truly adore him. The girls have had crushes as the boys have wanted to be like him and think he is the coolest. School functions were always fun as students would gather around our hero and speak so candidly. I believe he has been truly respected and liked.

So, we say goodbye to Blowing Rock School. The last thing Scott did today was leave a painted hand print above his door, there in the middle school hall. Scott is so good at leaving his mark.

Way to go, Scott! We are so proud of you! You have been such an amazing and dedicated teacher. I really look forward to our future! I know you are going to do great! I believe in you , , , I believe in us!

The Party

What fun we had! We were truly honored as our greatest Boone friends all gathered to say goodbye to our family. We had vegan desserts and just played and chatted. There were 18 kids and five families. We are so extremely thankful for these wonderful people.

Playdate

Yesterday, Madelyn and Julian went over to the Greene's home for a playdate. This would be the last playdate with these friends for good while. We have consistently gotten these kids together each week for a very long time. It has been a great oulet for each family, as we are all homeschoolers.

I know our children will greatly miss their buddies. We are already trying to plan our next time together. Saying goodbye to these folks will be the hardest part of leaving.

These families are giving us a sweet going away party tonight. I am sure I will write about it later. I am confident I will be teary and all of this moving business will really hit me. We are going to soak up this night with our friends. It will be sad but sweet.

Taking it all in

Today was a full day. We attended our church for the last time. Scott and I have attended Alliance Bible Fellowship since 1997.

We took in another hike today. It was gorgeous. The trail is called the Green Knob Trail. It is located just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, near Price Park. We had been told by a couple of trusty friends that this would be a great trail to try. It is a challenge though, being 1.9 miles long.

We took the challenge. The trail was so beautiful. It had several stream crossings, several inclines, tons of rocks, amazing greenery, and meadows. It was amazing. The kids did wonderfully. One hour and 45 minutes later, we still had smiles on our faces. I call that sweet success.

We rewarded ourselves with a trip to Blowing Rock's Mellow Mushroom. Yum!!

What a day to remember.

Another word from Mother Teresa

"Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."

Starting to say good-bye

Last night went over to the Mortensen's home for dinner. They wanted to have us over one last time before we leave. It was bitter sweet.

This family has been a sweet match for our family in Boone. We attend the same church, they love the mountains and hiking. Todd and Miel have three children; Ella Jane, Leif and Laurel. They all are so much fun to be with and their home is a haven. Miel always cooks up the best vegan meals. We'll miss living close to them.

We had dinner, dessert, the kids played, some got in the hot tub, and the adults got to have a good chat. Fun was had by all.

Madeyln and Ella Jane have had several play dates. We tried to do it every week. Sometimes a new little one would enter the family and we would take a break. These two girls love each other deeply. It made me tear up watching them hug each other all night long. Ella Jane gave Maddie some of her things to take a long with her to her new town. We thought that was so sweet, especially Madelyn.

It is becoming increasingly more real that we are starting a new chapter and leaving. We are still hopeful about the road ahead. I am still packing daily. It is not too overwhelming yet. Ask me next Wednesday and I may be singing a different tune.

She is retiring!

Weeks ago, I got a call from a friend of my moms. She wanted us to come to Mom's last day of school and surprise her. They were to do a special luncheon and then honor her in various ways. At the end of this presentation, a couple of ladies did a "Letterman-like" top 10 reasons to retire. Number 1 would be spending time with her family, including six grandchidren.

The kids and I did venture down the mountain to be a part of such a sweet celebration. We stopped by my grandma's house first for lunch a little quality time with her. That was a lot of fun. We left for Mom's school and arrived on time. We met up with my brother and his family and we waited for the sign to go into the lunch room to surprise Mom.

With roses in hand, we all paraded into the room, without Mom's knowledge. She had her back to us. She was more than surprised when she turned to find all six grandchildren at her feet. She screamed, cried and well . . . cried some more. I do not think there was a dry eye in the all of the faculty. She truly felt honored.

We decided to go on home with her. The kids had a ball playing outside and eating ice cream (soy delicious). Mom was just beaming. I have never seen her so extremely lively.

We are proud of you, Mom. Happy Retirement!

Sharing some recent encouragement

I am reading a book entitled The Mom Walk by Sally Clarkson. It is a book written to encourage mothers. The other day I was taking a moment out for myself and read a chapter that really spoke loudly to me. I want to share . . .

I need to remember that I am to lead my children in being a person who celebrates the joy of life. I am to model what it looks like to enjoy God and His creation. Often, in the midst of the duties of life, moms can easily become focused on the right things to do, correcting the immaturity of children, and inadvertently portraying God as a strict moral judge just waiting for them to fall short.

It is vital we realize we are a model of God to our children and we must take care that we present His light, beauty, humor, love, and joy. I love this verse in Proverbs: "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones" (Proverbs 17.22)

Though this probably applies to an individual, I have seen how it applies to our family as a whole. Every day of my life as a mom is filled with chores, duties, problems, issues, and responsibilities. If I allow my soul to become overwhelmed by these things all the time, my spirit becomes dry and depressed, and I pass on my disparaging attitude to everyone in my house like a virus of darkness. Each day I must learn I have a choice to make. I can focus on all that is unjust in my life, on all the ways my children fall short, on all the demands each day makes of me, and end up with a complaining, griping spirit.

But a broken spirit dries up the bones!!

I realized that one of the roles God wants me to play in my children's lives is a conductor of joy, happiness, and celebration. After all, God designed our need for these things into our very hearts. We were made to enjoy life and our Creator, and we were meant to choose to live in His beauty and provision.

Quote from Madelyn

The quote of the day definitely goes to my dearest Madeyln. We were outside playing for a couple of hours this morning. At one point she said, "I am soaking hot." I think my children are in for a real treat in Durham. It is probably a scorching 75 or so, hee hee.

Living it up in Boone

Yesterday, we decided to really enjoy our little town that we will soon leave. We don't usually eat breakfast out but we did! We went to a sweet little resturant in downtown Boone called Melanie's. We ordered up a feast of oatmeal, a stack of pancakes, tofu scramble, grits, potatoes, and homemade bread. It was all vegan and all absolutely delicious!

Later after some packing and much needed naps, we took off down the Blue Ridge Parkway. We were heading to one of our favorite hiking destinations called Beacon Heights. We were all siked and really ready for some nature exploration.

We took our time up the trail. With four children, there is much to explore. We all climbed rocks, picked our own sticks and rocks and got a great workout hiking up to the big rock. The end of the Beacon Heights trail brings you to a massive rock that appears to be hanging off the mountain. It is huge. Needless to say I was a bit weary of my children gayly walking and running around, enjoying the views. It was fun and I eased up a bit. We snacked, talked, and just tried to take in the amazing beauty that was before us.

Our trip down the mountain was just as much of a journey as the trip up. We found new paths and had major outdoor potty experiences. Really, do not ask me about the latter.

We had a grand time. We could not have asked for more. We will miss living so close to the Parkway and the amazing overlooks. God has blessed us so richly here in this beautiful town.

Appreciating Life

Yesterday, I checked the headlines and saw how a father had put his 2 month old baby in a microwave. I just sat with total amazement and horror. I wondered what would lead one to do such a thing. I had to quickly redirect my thoughts for the anger that would soon overtake my mind.

I am thankful for the lives of each of my children. I appreciate their life. They give so much. They are all little wonders that I get to witness each day. Each one is unique. Each have their strengths and weaknesses. All of them have good and bad days. They all have moments of glory and moments that they really are needy. They are dependent. Each one of them are dependent on Scott and I to provide for them. We are to provide food to sustain them, love that will nurture them and discipline and training that will grow them. Sure, it is work, work well worth it.

As I am packing up our house, I am tucking away precious items for my children. I have made a bin for each of them. Each bin contains various keepers from their time of birth until now. I find myself finding more and more things to store for them. We have so many wonderful memories of our time raising our children. We want them to know that they are so loved by their parents and we truly appreciate their existence.

Butterfly Garden

How to create your own butterfly garden

By Rebecca Cole
TODAY

A butterfly garden is an easy way to both see more butterflies and to contribute toward their conservation, since many natural butterfly habitats have been lost to urbanization and other development. To begin, simply grow the host plants listed below that the butterfly would lay its eggs in. The caterpillars will like to eat the leaves as well. Plantings of host plants preferred by butterflies does not require any sacrifice of flowers or colors because they also require nectar plants such as yellow sunflowers, pink Joe Pye weed, purple coneflower, purple verbena, rudbeckia, red bee balm, and wild aster (to name a few) that provide plenty of color.

Avoid the use of broad-spectrum pesticides sprayed all around gardens. Alternatives are oils, soaps and microbial insecticides. But keep in mind that oils and insecticidal soaps kill caterpillars if sprayed directly on them. A good side effect of the decrease in pesticide use is the increase of natural enemies. These are insects such as spiders, lacewings and ladybugs and these bugs will keep the aphids away.

Butterfly garden basics

1. It's easy to attract butterflies to your garden. You just need the right plants.

Need host tree/plants and nectar-producing ones

Pick sunniest location for the latter

2. Butterflies need larvae host trees or plants for the butterflies to lay eggs in sheltered areas; once a caterpillar, it feeds on host tree.

Locate these host plants in an out-of-the-way area because of the munched on leaves (willow, poplar, apple, sycamore trees to name a few, and fennel, dill, parsley, and clover.)
Nectar-producing plants should be placed with design, height, size, color and blooming period considered.

3. Once a butterfly it will need nectar-producing plants to feed on.

Plants that bloom in mid to late summer when most butterflies are active.
Summer annuals and wild perennials are particularly good (coneflowers, sunflowers, bee balm, lantana.)

4. Butterfly gardens can be planted from mature plants, annuals and seeds both in the ground, in raised beds or in containers.

5. The more blooms the better.

Water regularly
Keep the soil moist with 'Soil Moist'
Feed with a bloom booster plant food (the middle of the three numbers will be higher, it represents phosphorus.)

6. Grow plants in good organic soil and do not use pesticides, butterflies hate pesticides!

Even organic soaps and oils can kill caterpillars when sprayed directly on them.
Use beneficial insects such ladybugs, lacewings and spiders.
Do NOT use praying mantises; they eat the butterflies as well as the bad bugs!
Added bonus: all these things attract hummingbirds as well.

Host plants:

alfalfa hawthorn sassafrass
aspen hollyhock sunflower
autumn olive lomatium sycamore
buckeye milkweed sweet fennel
clover nettle thistle
cottonwood ornamental cassia willow
deerweed pawpaw
elm poplar

Nectar-producing plants:

Shrubs and trees Annuals Wildflowers Perennials
buddleia cosmos butterfly weed aster
butterfly bush impatiens coneflowers bee-balm
mock orange mexican sunflower ironweed black-eyed susan
pear nasturtium milkweeds boltonia
plum sunflower new england asters bugle
privet queen anne’s lace spearmint coneflower
redbud verbena thistles coreopsis
rose of sharon zinnia verbena daisy, shasta
spirea daylily
viburnum carlesii false indigo
gayfeather
goldenrod
hibiscus
hollyhock
lantana
lobelia
mountain mint
passion flower
phlox
sage
sedum
yarrow

Quote of the day

We fear so deeply what we think other people see in us, so we talk in order to straighten out thier understanding. ... One of the fruits of silence is the freedom to let our justification rest entirely with God.

- Richard Foster
from Celebration of Discipline

My Favorites

Doesn't it feel good when someone asks you what your favorite ______ is? I mean, it really feels like they want to know you. They are 'into' you. Often, when I am at a loss for conversation starters with my kids, I will ask them what their favorite _____ is.
I decided I am going to put my favorites out there, for anyone who is interested. This is a new challenge for anyone wanting to know themselves a little better. What are your favorites???

Anna's Favorites:

Color~ Yellow
Shape~ Oval
Smell~ Popcorn
Snack~ Cereal
Person~ Scott
Musical Artist~ Alison Kraus or Nora Jones
Getaway~ Folly Beach
Memory~ My honeymoon and the births of my children
Word~ Sunshine
Board Game~ Cranium
Card game~ UNO
Drink~ Coffee with soymilk
Food~ Pancakes
Dessert~ Anything Vegan!
Animal~ monkeys or kittens
TV Shows~ Oprah, ER, American Idol, Andy Griffith Show, and LOST
Household Item~ Baskets
Thing to do~ spend time with Scott and the kids
Book of the Bible~ Proverbs
Fruit~ Banana

Tuesday's Tantrum

I had it all planned out. I had the canvas bags, my shopping list, my pocketbook with keys, and a big ol' smile. I was ready to take my kids to the grocery store.

We finished a yummy homemade lunch and we were off. Kalen surprised me and buckled himself in and was ready to go. Weather was gorgeous. What a successful mommy day.

As we approached our grocery store, I (as I always do) prepped the kids for what is expected for our time within the store. I also told Kalen that I would be putting Brayden in the backpack and he would ride in the front of the cart. This is the best way, for now, I can keep everyone somewhat controlled in as we shop. He was not bothered at that moment and said, "okay". We walked into the store and I wiped off the cart. Then, I told Kalen he needed to come here because he was going to ride in the cart. Well, he proceeded to whine, then fuss, then stomp some, then . . . oh yes, screaming while crying he said, "no". Whew. This was not a nice moment. My other children were just in silence watching their brother lose total control. What was I to do? It was not fading. He wasn't giving up the fight. I decided to step on out with my children, so we could better deal with the situation. So, now all of the outside world around us was able to witness a real shining moment for my three year old Kalen.

I thought about just canning it all and putting them all in the van and going home. I really didn't know if he would stop wailing. Oh, and my one year old was starting to fuss because his bigger brother was.
Well, to all my readers that do not have four children, it is a huge effort to get everything ready for such an event. Yes, grocery shopping with my children is an event. I didn't want to have to do it all over this afternoon or tomorrow. We needed groceries, I had a list, by golly . . . I was going SHOPPING!!!!

I informed my son that we were going to continue shopping and that was that. Of course, I had been and continued to tell him his behavior was totally inappropriate and his DADDY would help me to deal with this and give consequences. He had calmed down enough so I could enter the store again. We had given all shoppers and employees a real show.

I did get everything on my list. He did stop crying, that is until later I informed him it was naptime. Whew. Tantrums are no fun. It is a true test and challenge for me to love the current unlovable. As my heart was in my throat and my anger was apparent, I actually was able to see the tiny little boy that was there before me that the Lord had gifted to me. I thought I had the entire experience planned out and it would be a 'perfect' day out. Little did I know the curve ball that would be thrown to me. Ahhh . . . the adventures of parenting.

Weekend Away

My good friend, Elizabeth, was married on Saturday. We were attached at the hip in high school. She was married to Clay, another friend from high school. It was a beautiful outside wedding in Pilot Mtn. Mom kept the kids for Scott and I. It was nice to have the evening to ourselves.

Sunday, I was able to see several special mothers in my life. We spent some time with Mom, Grandma and my mother-in-law. It was a full and special day for me. It was so sweet being surrounded by my four children all day. I am so thankful to be a mother. However hard it is at times, I would not trade this role for anything.

May 10th

Hooray! I am 29 years young today!! Scott left me a little note this morning that said he wanted my day to be full of sweetness and sunshine. I can truly say that I have experienced just that.

More than anything, I wanted the sun to shine today and to be able to take the kids out somewhere and enjoy nature. I decided to take them to one of my favorite places here in the mountains. We took a little 15 minute drive to Bass Lake. It was gorgeous today. We were all overwhelmed by the beauty and life that surrounded us.

A lot of times when we take nature walks the kids take their clip boards and sketch somethings they see that they observed in nature. I caught a picture of Madelyn sketching. She looked so amazing there within the scene I was looking at. Julian and Kalen had their clip boards, too. Charlotte Mason would be proud. I really want them to love nature and be good observers of it.

We watched geese, picked flowers, picked up sticks, walked, talked and threw rocks in a little stream. It was just heavenly.

I am thankful today for the life that surrounds me. I am grateful for my cup that runs over every day with countless blessings. God has grown me and changed me. He is still molding me and making me (daily) into who he wants me to be. I hope to never be content with who I am. Not only do I hope to grow to a very old age, I pray that those years will be full of change, growth and beauty.

Lord,
Thank you for life. Thank you for how you have grown me up. Thank you for not giving up on me. You have been patient and showed me your unfailing love time and time again. Thank you for Scott, the love of my life. Thank you that he is a man that adores me and cherishes me. Thank you for four amazing and healthy children. Children that are joyful and appreciate life and beauty. Thank you for family that supports me and for friends that lift me higher than I could ever reach. Thank you for a home to homeschool in. Thank you for that sacred freedom that you give me each day. I am nothing without you, Lord. Amen.

A Father's Love

I enjoy watching Scott with our children. He has a way with them. He is fun loving, gentle, caring, devoted, creative, and silly with each of them. He is careful about when he chooses to discipline them. He knows when to be firm and when to let things go. He is patient and forbearing. He is a protector and positive presence. His children adore him.

From the moment Scott arrives. All eyes are on him. Everyone wants to talk to him, touch him, and listen to him. Just to be near him is what we all have been waiting for all day long.

These observations make me think of our relationship with our heavenly Father. I know that God desires the best for us. He is gentle, creative, and loving. God delights in us. He likes watching us grow and laugh. He is patient when we do wrong and knows how to draw us to himself. I want to follow my children's example and crave being with my Father.

The Party

A year ago yesterday we shared the birth of our fourth child, Brayden, with so many family members. This is not uncommon for us. With every birth, every close member of our family has packed bags and headed for Boone to celebrate a new little life. These family members all care about sharing life together. They all have special roles they play out in our family and we are so grateful for the many ways they all love us.
We invited our extended family up again yesterday to celebrate our four growing children. They all have birthdays relatively close together, so we just decided to haveone big party this year, with all that is going on in our lives this Spring. It is so refreshing to be in the presence of our parents and siblings and have them be truly interested in sharing life together with a deep love and devotion. I am growing each year, each day, each moment and learning how blessed I am to have such an amazing and unique family. Thank you, Lord, for a family that I can celebrate life's greatest moments with.

Might I add that my dad and stepmom, Sally traveled all the way from Kentucky to be with us. They recently moved out there because of Dad's new job. We were so excited for them to be here.

We all just hung out here yesterday. We ate a lot, let the kids open presents, looked at pictures of our new house, chatted, had cake and shared lots of laughs with one another. I know our children were just tickled to have all their closest loved ones in the same house all celebrating with them.

On a sad note, we realized that this would probably be the last time our family would travel up here for a birthday party, or at all to see us. Sniff, sniff. We sure glad we have all the memories.