homegrown sunshine

Homegrown Sunshine Is Moving

2010-03-20T22:33:00.004-04:00

It is official. This is my last post for this blog (sniff sniff). I have created a new blog at homegrownsunshine.wordpress.com. I hope you all will follow me there. :)

Kindness

2010-03-18T20:14:00.001-04:00

“A kind word is like a spring day.”
—Russian Proverb

What Kind of Insect Would You Be?

2010-03-16T12:35:00.002-04:00

During lunch today, I asked the kids if they could choose any insect they would like to be for a day, what would they be?

(word for word)

Brayden's response: Mommy, I would be a ladybug 'cause they have wings and they can fly high in the sky.

Kalen: I think I would be a bumblebee 'cause they have those hard stingers and they protect themselves that way. And 'cause they have these wonderful stripes, they are so cool. Oh and they have these antennas.

Maddie: I would be a butterfly, because they can fly. I like the way they look and how they flap their wings.

Julian: Definitely a dragonfly, because they are the fastest bug and they can fly.

We have been studying insects within our science lessons. The other day at the library Kalen suggested that we study bugs. We loaded up on library books on this topic. Ah, the joy and freedom of homeschooling. I looked on the web and found this site. I have been winging it (no pun intended) and the kids have really been digging it (okay that was intended). However, today is not our day to actually do science (I had no lesson planned), but I thought this conversation starter might be fun.

Do you all have fun ideas for conversation starters during meals? I would love to hear.

Camping at Hunting Island

2010-03-10T18:07:00.005-05:00

Last weekend we had the privilege of meeting up with our friends, the Kruideniers, and heading to Hunting Island, SC. They had camped there before and suggested we all go when the guys could break from their school responsibilities. We went to the mountains last summer and had a blast. We knew we were in for a treat this go around.

We had wonderful weather at Hunting Island. Sure, it was cold at times, but the sun was out during the day. The beach was simply gorgeous. We had easy access to the beach from our campsites (we had two right beside each other). This state park has a lot to offer; we enjoyed nature trails, a lighthouse (with 166 steps to the top that we climbed), a marsh boardwalk, and a nature center. There has been a lot of erosion, but I found the aftermath of that to be beautiful. There are tons of amazing bare trees lying on a naked beach. They looked like pieces of art. They were great natural climbing structures for our crew.

If you asked any of our kids about our camping trip, they would mention the raccoons. There were several raccoons that go from campsite to campsite in search of food and such. You can see them. The kids even named the ones that seemed to frequent our site. They are used to people, I guess. Our fellow campers beside our tents had to rescue one of my canvas bags of food and my tupperware of muffins. They came in brood daylight, those rascals!

Our time with the Kruideniers around the campfire was just priceless, from the huddling around the fire with sticks to looking at one another with sleepy faces each morning. We enjoyed so much conversation, laughs, great beach walks, and super vegan camp food. Daniel even made pancakes for our final breakfast. Our kids love to hang out with their girls. Daniel, Jen, Ellen, and Arianna are such troopers to want to go on this adventure with all of us. I am so thankful for our close friendship with them.

So, a definite thumbs up from me for camping at Hunting Island State Park. We had a really good time. I forgot how much work it takes to actually camp out, especially with small children, but it is so worth it!

Oh, and do any of you know how to get campfire smoke smell out of hair? :)

Keeping Our Options Open

2010-03-03T16:54:00.004-05:00

A few months ago we stumbled upon a really unique school in downtown Durham. It is a free year around public charter elementary school (K-5). We know several interesting families that have their children enrolled there. Scott and I decided that if we are indeed responsible for our kids' education, we might as well find out about a school that appeals to us. Scott and I are not the type of homeschooling parents that think that homeschooling is the only way to go. I think it would be way too restrictive to assume that homeschooling is the only way our children could or should thrive or be educated. My preference is to have them home. However, I think it is important that Scott and I keep our options open and not close a door to an opportunity that could be both refreshing and a good experience for our children.

Our family went out one morning to visit this sweet little school. We had contacted the school and signed up for one of their tours. Evidently, they do tours fairly often. The students that attend school there were all in there appropriate rooms at that time. We joined a group of about twenty parents and strolled through the halls as a parent gave us a guided tour within the building. My first impression was that the classrooms and the school building itself is cozy. I am not saying that I felt overly cramped. I am truly saying that it felt cozy to be there. Our kids peered in the classrooms just as we did, their eyes wide with curiosity. We even went outside to the playground. Of course, our kids thought the playground was fabulous. I enjoyed hearing about how the school is very project based. I saw evidence on the walls and within the classroom of that. The tour concluded and then there was little discussion period. We walked our children outside with enrollment applications in hand and an open mind.

The school has a lottery system for enrollment. Scott and I decided to go ahead and fill out the paperwork and enter the lottery and see what happened. This past Monday was the actual lottery. We were notified that Julian, Madelyn and Kalen are now on the waiting list at the very top (1-6). I guess that is pretty good for this sort of thing.

Right now we are thankful to have learned about this sweet school. I feel good about entering them into the lottery and allowing ourselves the option should they get accepted. It is good to have options. I don't want our children to ever think that we have boxed them in at home and not considered other opportunities and such. I want them to see Scott and I actively seeking out what is a good fit for each of them and our family as a whole.

Happy To Report

2010-02-24T20:21:00.003-05:00

Scott turned in his comprehensive exam. Whew! That was 6 weeks of intense research and writing. We are so proud of him. Last night we fixed him one of his favorite dinners, put streamers, banners and signs up and spent some quality time with our hero.

He (we) will wait up to six weeks for his exam to be graded. In the meantime, he has student teachers that he advises, assists a class taught within the education program at UNC and will begin brainstorming for his dissertation proposal. Oh yes and he has five presentations tomorrow in Greensboro. He is such an important and busy guy.

As I have mentioned before, Scott wears all of his hats extremely well. I am so thankful for him, so proud.

Considering A Switch

2010-02-23T12:54:00.002-05:00

Blogger is telling me that I have met my limit of pictures for this blog. Didn't know this was possible. In order to continue uploading photos, I would have to pay for space. I am not going to choose that option, so I am considering creating a new blog and have a link on it to this one. It kind of bums me out a bit. Until I make the switch, I will just be writing with no pictures. I am such a visual person, so this is disappointing.

This Day

2010-02-19T09:21:00.002-05:00

The following song lyrics came to my mind today. It is an older song by Point of Grace. (Scott will be cracking up over the mention of Point of Grace) I use to listen to this group a lot in college. It is a song that I remember singing over and over.

This morning I got a call from my mom before 8 am. So, I knew as soon as I saw her name on my phone that something was possibly wrong. She informed me that my great aunt had passed last night. I knew Beulah had been sick, even recently broke her hip. It was pneumonia that took the last bit of strength she had. My breath was taken as I took in this news. What an amazingly strong woman. What a powerful and capable individual. I have such fond memories of summers spent in her and my grandma's company.

Sadness lingers as I go room to room with our children continuing in another day's work. Life here goes on. I know my grandma and mom are super sad and I would give anything just to sit with them right now. My aunt is at peace now, that is what I keep telling myself.

I moseyed over to my computer and found a friend's post announcing that she is expecting her fifth child. I have heard it said that when a life ends a new life begins, this is true and there is such hope in that.

This Day
Words & music by lowell alexander

This day is fragile - soon it will end
And once it has vanished, it will not come again
So let us love with a love pure and strong
Before this day is gone

This day is fleeting when it slips away
Not all our money can buy back this day
So let us pray that we might be a friend
Before this day is gone

This day is fleeting
When it slips away
Not all our money can buy back this day
So let us pray that we might be a friend
Before this day is spent

This day we're given is golden
Let us show love
This day is ours for one moment
Let us sow love

This day is frail - it will pass by
So before it's too late to recapture the time
Let us share love, let us share God
Before this day is gone
Before this day is gone

Thoughts on Love and Recent Reading

2010-02-12T11:04:00.004-05:00

Don't tell the old Anna, but I love reading. Over the past year, I have been reading novels for the first time. For the past 15 years, I have been reading self-help books on single life, faith, marriage, motherhood and parenting. I have picked up a number of novels at used bookstores in our area. Most of the novels have been written in the past ten years. I have been drawn to authors like Bret Lot, Anna Quindlen, and Kim Edwards. The book I am reading now is entitled The Pilot's Wife, by Anita Shreve. It was published in 1998. 120 pages in and I am hooked. Kathryn, a pilot's wife, gets that knock at the door one night. The kind that changes her forever. Her husband's plane crashed. The plot is full of emotion as Shreve presents a character that learns to live with this devastation. Within this story Shreve allows the reader to go into Kathryn's memory of her life with her husband. I want to share several lines from a chapter I was reading yesterday. Kathryn was remembering a fight she had had with her husband. Basically, Kathryn had confronted Jack, her husband, about his behavior at home. He had appeared disinterested and disconnected. They fought and made up and this what was written about the short time that followed.

And the voracious momentum of that night changes, for a time, the tenor of their marriage, so that they look more often into each other's eyes as they pass in the hallway, trying mutely to say something meaningful, and kiss each other with more enthusiasm whenever they meet, in the house or outside by the cars or even , several times, in public, which pleases Kathryn. But after a while, that too passes, and she and Jack go back to normal, as they have been before, which is to say that they, like all the other couples Kathryn has ever known, live in a state of gentle decline, of being infinitesimally, but not agonizingly, less than they were the day before.

Which means, on the whole, she thinks, that it is a good marriage.

I love the language used, but what is being said here troubles me. I can understand what Shreve is trying to allow the reader to know about Kathryn and her thoughts on her own marriage. It touches me. It touches me in a way that makes me never want to line those thoughts up in my mind about my own marriage.

I desire a marriage that strengthens over time. I want to grow more in love versus living in a state of gentle decline. Love takes time, patience, persistence and work. The love that Scott and I share is sacred. It is not always perfect. It can be down right messy. However, we are very determined and enjoy each other very much. Is it uncomfortable sometimes when we argue, fuss or fight? Yes, of course. No one likes to have to deal with the messiness of marriage. But it is there and we have found that you have to push through and choose love. Marriage takes work.

As I read about what Shreve wrote about Jack and Kathryn's attempt to love one another with more enthusiasm just after they made up, I get that. There are times that I feel like I love with more enthusiasm than other times. When I come down off of that enthusiasm, what is it that makes me choose to love authentically instead of give up and just settle for less than what I want? Words like devotion, attraction, faith, servant hood, hopefulness, thankfulness, unconditional, comfort, need, and desire come to mind.

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. America's day to be lovey dovey. I think it is cute. I do eat up any special attention or affection I get. As the word love is thrown around all day tomorrow, what I want is to keep pursuing love and be loved with assurance and delight.

I love being married. Sharing my life with my best friend is really enjoyable. I love Scott. Our life together is better than I could have dreamed up. I am so thankful. I don't want to stop here, I want to grow and enhance the love we share. There's work to be done! I am so thankful for the gift of marriage.

Seed Starting

2010-02-07T13:22:00.004-05:00

This past week we started some seeds indoors. We tried this last winter and didn't do so well. With the help of the Kruideniers (our friends in SC) Organic Gardening, and About.com we have put a lot more thought into this process and taken a chance with several flowers and vegetables.

I am happy to report that days later, we have sprouts. :) We are crossing our fingers that we will be able to transplant lettuce, cabbage, marigolds, kale, and collards in mid-March. These are all plants that would be more tolerate to cooler temperatures. In March we will also be planting other vegetable seeds straight into the ground. Vegetables like sugar snap peas, turnips, chard, kale, lettuce varieties, and some sweet pea flowers.

As soon as our ground dries up a little more here, we are heading back to Carefree Ranch. This is where we go with buckets and shovel up horse manure to bring home for our garden. The manure enriches the soil. I am sure I will post about that again.

One Step Closer

2010-02-01T21:14:00.007-05:00

Today we had our third and final home visit with our licensing social worker. She has been with us this entire past year throughout our classes and all our requirements for certification. This visit pretty much marked the end of all of our leg work for the licensing part of becoming a foster family. Hip hip hooray!

What a journey this has been. A path full of uncertainty, eagerness, anticipation, worry, hope, education, joy, and preparation. In preparation for today's visit, we had to show that an incoming foster child would have a nice living space (bed, place for things, etc.). We made some changes in Madelyn's room to accommodate our foster child.

Now, we get to wait patiently to hear back from the headquarters in Black Mountain once they receive our full application and paperwork sent by our social worker with the stamped approval of other important DSS employees. This will be at least a thirty day process, probably longer. Then if we are approved, our licensing social worker will send us our letter and certificate in the mail letting us know we are officially a foster home within our state. Yay! We would then be assigned a different social worker and put on a list, of sorts, awaiting a foster child. If we are chosen for a specific child placement, DSS would call us and give us the option providing care for that particular child. As you can imagine, this will take time.

As I have expressed, I have experienced many highs and lows within this licensing process. I think those were truly necessary and helpful for me to go through to get me where I am today. I am thankful and confident to have come this far and I am at peace with our decision to do this as a family.

Glimpses of Our Snow Fun

2010-01-30T20:28:00.005-05:00

A Reminder

2010-01-29T09:52:00.002-05:00

On my challenging days, it is often hard to remember to simply smile. Some days I would like to put this sticky note on my kids' foreheads. I know the expression on my face communicates a lot to them. Is it warm, inviting, and loving or is it cold, disconnected or mean?

Now, I do believe that I should be honest with our kids if I am sad or angry. They need to know that those feelings are okay, too. I definitely don't want them to think the world or I am perfect, free of hurt or suffering. As I think about the need to smile more, I am referring to the moments that I am able and choose not to.

I remember some time ago, my grandma telling me that the best gift I could ever give to my children was to allow my face to light up with a smile when they walk into the room. Today, this is my challenge. May my children know that I delight in them, even on my fussy days. Want to join me?

Mars Needs Moms

2010-01-24T21:54:00.005-05:00

Here is the cute little boy in the story, Milo, with his dog.

Milo here holding his Mom.

Kalen, our five year old, loves to pick out library books with aliens in them. Yes, when he was four he would always manage to find the Goosebumps series and bring me a handful of them for check out. I managed to somehow discourage the take home on those. When he brought me Mars Needs Moms last week, I gave it a once over and put it in our bag. This book must be good. Any book that implies that Moms are needed must be good.

My instinct was right. Ever since checking this book out, we have read it daily. It is a wonderful picture book by Berkeley Breathed. I highly recommend it. You'll laugh and maybe even shed a tear or two. I know it will touch you somehow if you can get your hands on it and read it. Oh, and I think they are making a movie out of this one.

Here is a review I found online at The Imperfect Parent website about the book. I couldn't agree more. Read it, it is really good.

Review by Amy Brozio-Andrews

It's a rare occurrence that I'll ever come right out and tell you in so many words that you need to go out and read this book, but, well, here it is: You really should go read Mars Needs Moms. I've read dozens upon dozens of children's books, and Berkeley Breathed's picture book really is something special.

On Mars, there are no mothers. No mothers to cook, clean, or carpool; no mothers to bake, bandage, or baby you; no mother to kiss you, miss you, or even discipline you. And so the Martians have been watching, waiting, and planning. And there's one little boy who cannot for the love of Mike figure out what's good about his mother. She a "bellowing broccoli bully" and a "slave-driving, trash-mashing, rubbish odor ogre." Milo cannot possibly imagine what's so special about her. And after one especially trying afternoon (from both of their perspectives), he tells her so.

Much to Milo's surprise, that night the Martians arrive and decide to take his mother back for their own. He takes off after them, finding himself aboard their ship, where he dons a helmet and waits to arrive on Mars. Upon landing, he tumbles down the gangway, and he makes it just fine, but the helmet doesn't. And so it comes to pass that one little boy, in one quick instant, realizes exactly what makes mothers so special.

Be forewarned, before the book is over, Mom's in serious jeopardy. I distinctly recall having a moment of blind panic while reading this to my child and seeing Milo's mother slumped against her son, safe in his helmet, and thinking, Berkeley Breathed had better make this end well because I am not up to having a discussion about death with my kid just before bedtime. And I breathed a sigh of relief, because he does, and does it well. While the idea of a parent being willing making the ultimate sacrifice for her child sounds really heavy for a children's picture book, in Breathed's hands, it's handled with grace and sensitivity; the specter of Milo losing his mother is brief but quite real, and Milo's realization that his mother is more than just a killjoy is a sweet revelation.

Famous for his Pulitzer Prize-winning Bloom County and Opus, Breathed's illustrations will look vaguely familiar to his newspaper fans. Colorful and stylized artwork speaks volumes; poor Milo's mom doesn't get more than an arm's worth of illustration-time until her slack body is being carried away by the Martians. But when she removes her own helmet to replace Milo's broken one in the harsh Martian atmosphere, we see her through Milo's eyes, and she's simply beatific.

With a nod to classic science fiction (the opening line is a derivation of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds first line) and a real appreciation for little boy's perspective, Mars Needs Moms is truly a memorable story. Breathed keeps the tone and illustrations irreverent enough to save the book from becoming morbid or depressing. While younger readers may not fully understand the implications of Milo's mother giving up her helmet to save her child, they'll still celebrate Milo's overcoming the Martian invasion and abduction of his mother. This is a book that parents and children can share together, speaking volumes about the selfless love of parents for their children, no matter how many times we, like Milo's mother, might have to tell them how inappropriate sister-tinting is.

Attempting to Help the Hurting

2010-01-22T16:57:00.005-05:00

I have typed up two posts that were about Haiti. I couldn't click publish on those because I felt like my words just weren't adequate enough. Here is a one minute message from someone who is and has been highly involved with Haiti and has been there within the past week.

Also, here is a link to Hope For Haiti Now. This is a site that you can donate from. Also, there is a telethon on all the major networks tonight. Here is a You Tube clip about that.

Coffee Chocolate

2010-01-22T16:27:00.002-05:00

That is what they call it. When we have leftover coffee, Scott and I make this drink. We put the leftover coffee (always decaf) in a pot, dump in some soymilk, put a tablespoon or two of cocoa in, and several squirts of agave nectar. We whisk the ingredients together and heat on stove. Scott and I have been doing it for years. It is a fun way to not waste that leftover coffee in the coffeepot. We have started sharing this yummy drink with the kids over the past few years. It tastes like hot cocoa to them. Just thought I would pass it along. Please call it by the cute name they gave it. :)

Chocolate Chip Scones

2010-01-20T22:31:00.004-05:00

As requested, here is a fabulous recipe for vegan scones from The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. I doubled this recipe for my family and we ate on these yummy treats for days.

Chocolate Chip Scones

Ingredients

1 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer (equivalent of 1 egg)

2 tablespoons water (I think warm works best)

2 1/2 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour

1/3 c granulated sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 c of non-hydrogenated nondairy butter, cold ( I use Earth Balance)

1 cup of nondairy semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup nondairy milk ( I use soymilk)

Extra milk or water as needed

2 to 3 tablespoons nondairy milk for brushing tops

Cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling on top

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Lightly oil a cookie or baking sheet or line with parchment paper.

In a food processor or by hand, whip together the egg replacer powder and water until think and creamy. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter to the dry ingredients and cut it into small pieces with two knives or with a pastry blender. You're not creating a paste; you want a coarse crumbly batter that resembles bread crumbs. (To make flaky scones, leave some of the butter pieces as large as peas.) Stir in the chocolate chips.

Add the milk and egg replacer mixture, and keep the mixing to a minimum to avoid developing the gluten in the flour (which produces tough scones). Mix with a wooden spoon, fork, or your fingers just until the dry ingredients are moistened or nearly moistened. The dough will not be completely smooth like bread dough.

Gather the dough into a ball (you may need to add just one more teaspoon of nondairy milk or water, but you will be able to form it into a ball), and place on a lightly floured surface. Pat or roll the dough out to a 1/2-inch-thick (1.3 cm) round, and cut into 8 or 10 pieces - triangles are a traditional shape. Place them 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) apart on the baking sheet, brush with nondairy milk, and sprinkle with some cinnamon and sugar.

Bake until the tops are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on a rack or serve warm.

Yield: 8-10 scones

Scrumdiddlyumptious

2010-01-19T21:58:00.009-05:00

My kids and I are reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory together. Words like scrumdiddlyumptious (meaning really delicious or marvelous) come to mind easily when I think of yummy food. We have enjoyed trying out some new recipes lately. Two of my favorite successes have been this awesome bread recipe from a gal I met here in our city and some chocolate chip scones I tried out from my new vegan baking cookbook. Let me know if you want the recipes.

Psst . . . they are vegan. Shh . . .

Straight from Brady

2010-01-19T21:56:00.003-05:00

My favorite quote of the day was from Brayden. As he was cuddled close to me after dinner tonight he said, "I like you forever, Mommy." So sweet!

Cute Stuff

2010-01-14T08:37:00.003-05:00

Madelyn made this sweet little felt bag. It was her first attempt at making something from her new Cute Stuff book. Jan and Jerry gave Madelyn this book for Christmas, encouraging her to sew (one of her latest passions). I helped her out quite a bit . She used my machine to stitch around all the sides, she picked out the fabric colors and what kind of animal (she chose a frog) applique she wanted to create. She really has a special touch with the machine and with maneuvering sewing materials. Have I mentioned how fun it is doing this with her? To connect on this level of common interest is really cool. She is growing up so fast. I keep telling myself, savor this.

Mostly Better

2010-01-13T08:55:00.002-05:00

I have two little cute boys playfully squealing in the shower. The other two are slowly eating their breakfast. Laundry is at least folded. Homeschooling is almost underway. It is a new day. We are a bit renewed. The sun is shining and I am hopeful.

Yesterday, Scott officially started his six week session of Comprehensive Exams. He was given three questions and he has to give up to fifty pages worth of information, all he knows, pertaining to those questions or topics. This is exciting and stressful for him. I am very proud of where he is and how far he has come in his program at UNC.

It's Not Easy Being Green

2010-01-11T16:31:00.004-05:00

In the course of 36 hours, all six of us have come down with a nasty stomach bug. We are in survival mode right now. As a tiny whirlpool continues to spin in my belly, I can't help but be grateful for all the days I am well and don't necessarily feel the need to pray for wellness.

Kalen and Brayden are eating, drinking and, for the most part, seem to be their playful selves. The rest of us are trying to convince ourselves that we are stable. :)

One Fine Day

2010-01-08T21:38:00.008-05:00

It is so delightful to have a homeschooling day that flows like honey. Yesterday was one of those golden types of days. I am talking about good attitudes, good food, great homeschooling activities and accomplishments, cooperative baking, and even a special treat from someone special.

Brayden practiced his Bs

Kalen is a super hard worker. Here he is doing his Draw Write Now. He is our Kindergartner. His handwriting is really coming along. I sat across from him admiring.

Brayden got creative with PlayDoh. Yes, this makes a mess, but it was worth it to keep him busy and happy.

Madelyn received this awesome keyboard from her Papa and Mimi for Christmas. Maddie and I are learning together at home. It is quite fun! She has a natural touch.

Kalen and Madelyn

Kalen is stirring the dry ingredients for our Chocolate Chip and Banana muffins. I found a new recipe for those in my new vegan baking cookbook.

Brady stirring in the chocolate chips before we put them in the pan.

What a treat! What kid can resist licking the batter? It was especially good batter and the muffins turned out great!

My mom sent us a package in the mail. She knitted all the kids hats and Maddie a scarf. They are gorgeous! The kids were so excited. They were doubly excited to find lollipops in their hats. Thanks, Mom!

We ended our day with a really yummy meal. I made Sloppy Joes, Fries, cabbage and baked beans. Yum!

Say Yes

2010-01-06T10:05:00.002-05:00

Scott has the kids this morning and I am sitting here, restfully, taking in the last few days we have shared here at home. We have started this new year with many aspirations. Our licensing process for becoming a potential foster family is coming along. We have begun talking about expanding our garden and maybe even adding some animal life to our family. We have rooted around in our drawers and taken many unused clothing items to Goodwill. We have been playing outside despite the cold (as evidence from the picture above of Kalen and Brady outside when it was the mere 28 degrees yesterday). These are all good things and dreaming sure is fun.

A theme runs through my mind as I think about the activities that went on during our day yesterday. When my kids wanted to go outside in the freezing cold to jump on the trampoline in the middle of our homeschooling morning, I said yes. It worked. The fire inspector actually came right when they were all bundled up and I was allowed to just do what I needed to do with him (this is part of being a licensed foster home). When the kids came back in, they were so delightful and truly got some energy out. Saying yes is sometimes so difficult for me to do. I want to control things. When the kids asked me if they could go out in the woods to play (knowing that it was going to be muddy), I said yes. That was not easy. I knew as soon as they were to return, I would have to drop whatever I was doing to wipe and shake down each kid. This was doable though. I just had to be available and willing.

Last night, Scott returned from working and the kids all corralled around him, shouting out all the big highlights of their day. Patiently, Scott listened and then it came time for him to chat with me. This takes a bit of effort with four children. I suggested that the kids go upstairs to play until supper was ready. They happily skipped upstairs. Scott and I were able to talk uninterrupted as I heard lots of squeals of excitement and pitter-patter of little feet upstairs. Not long after that, Maddie came down and told me she wanted to show me something. They had made a wall of pillows upstairs in the hallway. It was quite cute. We had dinner and the kids wanted to go right back up to their pillow wall. They gathered all the loose blankets upstairs and draped them over the enormous pile of pillows. Soon, I was asked by Kalen and Brayden if they could sleep there. I hesitated and then told them yes. It didn't hurt a thing to say yes. They actually fell asleep. How fun is that?

It is so easy to say no. No to messes. No to childishness. No to inconvenience. This year, I am challenging myself to say YES more. Will you join me?

2010

2010-01-03T23:04:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year folks! We are certainly enjoying the start of our 2010. Our Christmas was both busy and sweet. We are thankful to have visited with family. We've been getting back into our groove here at home. All the while, the kids have been enjoying their new toys and such. Tomorrow, we will start back with homeschooling and Scott will begin getting himself ready for his comprehensive exams in February. This entails lots of reading. Thankfully, he has completed all of the classwork that is required of him. We are only looking at about 2 and a half more years before Scott finishes up with his PhD work. Hooray! I am so proud of him.

Here's a little of what has been going on.

On New Year's Day, we took the kids out to a soccer field and played for an hour or so. It was freezing cold, but no one seemed to mind. Well, I can't lie. I was ready at the first mention of heading home. We had so much fun playing three on three and having races.

Madelyn has been sewing. Yes, she has really taken to it. It is amazing what kids can do when you cater to their interests, connect and put some trust in them.

She made a sachet and put some lavender in it.

I have been quite fascinated with my new cookbook. Jan and Jerry gave this to me for Christmas. I have already made a pumpkin pie and down below you'll see our DELICIOUS homemade cinnamon rolls.

Of course, Kalen was right in the middle of this baking project.

This was certainly an 'at home day' endeavor. There were many phases to these tasty treats.

Mmm . . . they just melt in your mouth. So good!!

Here is Brayden in one us his dress up creations. I thought it was picture worthy. The kids dress up daily. This one was just too cute.

I received a big waffle maker for Christmas. We made tons of waffles on New Year's Day. The boys are pictured here with Scott, such great helpers. The waffles turned out great. I can share our vegan waffle recipe if you want.

Brayden totally in character here, another costume change worth capturing. The kids are really into superhero play. Yesterday, Brayden came running through the kitchen to Madelyn and said, "Let's go save the world, Catwoman." That funny little quote was the first quote to make it to the 2010 laugh jar.

Remembering Our 2009

2009-12-30T23:08:00.000-05:00

From All of Us

2009-12-24T10:29:00.002-05:00

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2009-12-21T16:13:00.002-05:00

Christmas gift suggestions:

To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.

- Oren Arnold

American editor and free-lance writer (1900-1980)

So Surreal

2009-12-18T16:09:00.005-05:00

surreal

resembling a dream

unreal

dreamlike

not actually such

being or seeming fanciful or imaginary

I am sitting in a coffee shop. It is Christmas time. Outside the window just beside me, snow is falling. Our children are miles away at their grandparents' home. My husband is just across the table, our feet almost touching. Our eleventh anniversary just a day away; love still so strong. Chatter all around from busy coffee drinkers and socialites. Homeschool planning started and half finished. Jasmine tea in a delightful green cup just inches away from my typing hands. Warm and delicious meal still warming my tummy from a lunch date in the heart of Chapel Hill, our college town. Christmas shopping awaiting us. This is surreal.

The odd silence within our home. The uninterrupted conversation. The quietness. The ease. It has taken a bit to be relaxed enough to enjoy the stillness. Our children fill my life with so much joy. With that joy comes childlike chatter and chaos. Life can be nonstop. Taking a deep breath is sometimes difficult. As taxing as those nonstop days are, I love them. Being able to stop, breathe and evaluate allows me to truly appreciate the richness and fullness of my dreamlike life.

As of Late

2009-12-14T13:18:00.005-05:00

Our family has been quite busy lately as we have been enjoying this Christmas season. By the way, the A-door-able Advent Calendar is great, but it does take a lot of effort and time. It has been fun, but things like my blog and our laundry have kind of taken a back seat.

We have been enjoying park play dates, decorating, making crafts, homeschooling, playing lots of Christmas music, going to special church activities, baking and traveling. Here are a few pictures from the past week.

One of our advent activities was late night hot chocolate by the fire. That was fun and cozy. Yes, just call us rebel parents serving up chocolate to our kids after 8pm. Side note, we did catch a couple jumping on their beds just before sleep time. Bet you can figure which two. :)

In Science we studied Snails. We thought we would have a little snail race to see whose snail finished first. Notice that the first picture was taken outside. The little snails didn't really like all the wind that day, so we had to move them in. This is a come back later activity. If you didn't know, they are pretty slow. :) Madelyn's snail finished first. She was delighted.

Just clowning.

One of our advent activities was craft night. We decorated green felt Christmas trees and hung them up in our dining room. I got the idea from Family Fun magazine.

Here the kids are making sugar cookies. I finally found a great recipe that works well with our egg substitute. I packed my patience for this. All kids had flour up to their elbows. They loved it though. I just surrendered to the mess and it was much more enjoyable. Kalen was my buddy. He stuck with me through it all, even clean up.

Nutcracker

2009-12-14T12:55:00.003-05:00

To celebrate Jan's December birthday, the Morrison girls went to the Nutcracker put on by the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. It was amazing. I have decided that of all the Nutcracker performances I have seen, I always walk away thinking that the first few scenes are my favorite. You know, when the families gather together for the party around the tree. All the people are dressed differently, the music is great, and there is so much warmth and delight.

Anna, Jan and Madelyn

Shanda and Madelyn

The kids helped their Nana blow out her birthday candles.

A-door-able Advent Calendar

2009-12-06T14:00:00.001-05:00

I got a great idea from my Family Fun magazine for December. Someone came up with this super cute way to create your own advent calendar. I did some planning and actually was able to do it myself. I took a picture of mine and it didn't come out so well. I will let you just look above at the one I found in the magazine.

Basically, you come up with 25 days worth of family activities to build the children's anticipation during this season of advent. It wasn't hard for me to brainstorm fun activities our kids would enjoy. Some of the ideas I wrote behind the windows or doors were- let's decorate our Christmas tree, game night, let's go to a park, let's make cookies, we are going out to eat tonight, let's go rollerskating, Lego night, and the list goes on.

Thursday morning, December 3rd, the kids opened that particular day's window and found these words camp out in the living room. They were super excited and began their chatter about sleeping bags and such. Here are a few photos. It was so cute and they had a ball.

I let them watch Polar Express, a holiday favorite, before bedtime.

Here they all are just after being tucked in the first time. Notice I put first time.

Madelyn and Julian were such buddies that night.

Guess who wasn't tired.

You can't see his face, but this is Kalen. He had no problems conking out after a night of fun. He passes out when his head hits the pillow. He always gives 150% of himself to his day.

Girl Time

2009-12-05T20:35:00.003-05:00

I spent the day with Torie, Laurie and Gari Leigh today. We picked up right off where we left off. We laughed and chatted for hours. Old friends can be so much fun!

Happiness

2009-12-04T21:25:00.000-05:00

Fair Trade Shopping

2009-12-01T14:16:00.008-05:00

I received a great article today via Sojourners. The article is about buying fair trade this Christmas. The writer, Julie Clawson, writes about a campaign going on by Trade As One. Check it out at tradeasone.com. Down below I have given you some of what I read. Definitely take the time to watch this clip from You Tube. It will only take 3 minutes and will surely help you and I make a difference this season in our own lives, as well as precious lives in far away countries. Enjoy looking through the different links I have provided. I hope you find one you can shop from during this season of giving.

Fair Trade Christmas Lists and Links
by Julie Clawson
So the stores are playing Christmas music and down here in Texas the highs are only the 70s and 80s, so the holiday season must be upon us. But as we gear up for the celebrations, the spiritual reflections, and the traditions, now is a good time to start deliberately planning how we can make this Christmas a just Christmas. In other words, how can we subvert systems of oppression and exploitation through our holiday habits. And while I think some of those habits might need to be reevaluated, some of them are beautiful and hold special meaning. So while I am wary of over-consumption, we still practice the giving of gifts in my family. I just do my best to therefore try to make my consumption ethical.
So I’m excited by Trade As One’s campaign this holiday season to encourage all of us to buy Fair Trade gifts this Christmas. We turn our traditions into a way to help and love others through such purchases. And if enough of us do it, we can make a big difference. They write:
Think about this: Just One Fair Trade purchase from every American churchgoer this Christmas would lift one million families out of abusive poverty for one whole year. Let’s make sure that when gifts are given, they speak of the sort of world that Jesus came to show us — one where the last is first, where the poor are included, the sick are healed, and the captive is set free.
Fantastic idea. And they created this great video to help get the message out there.

I’ve listed some of my favorite sites below. But all it takes is just a little tweak to our holiday habits this Christmas to help show love to people around the world.
Clothing and Accessories
Be The Change Elements
Earth Creations
Ecoland
Fair Indigo
Greenheart
Indigenous Designs
Mata Traders
No Sweat Apparel
Rawganique
Simple Shoes
Tinctoria Designs
Tom’s Shoes
Food, Coffee, and Gifts
Cafe Justo
Equal Exchange
Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee
Natural Candy Store
SERRV
Taraluna
Ten Thousand Villages (Anna's favorite)
Trade As One
World of Good
Other
Fair Trade Sports
Reusable Bags

Giving Thanks With Family

2009-11-29T21:07:00.008-05:00

We spent our Thanksgiving holiday traveling around to see our extended family. We had a great time. Here are just a few of our special moments captured.

This is the Morrison clan just before heading to see the Festival of Lights at Tanglewood.

Jerry rented a coverd wagon to take a hayride through the lights. We made some memories doing this. The kids really enjoyed seeing all the festive lights.

All snug with Scott on the hayride.

Scott and Jerry in the kitchen on Thanksgiving day.

Here are two of our helpers. Kalen and Maddie buttered our bread for us.

Julian chopped up the celery for us for our stuffing. He was a great help and fun to have in the kitchen.

Here's Brayden after he finally got the candy cane he was begging for. He had not had them before. Needless to say, he is a big fan of candy canes.

Jan and Shanda busy in the kitchen.

Loving being in Jan's kitchen.

We went over to Ryan and Stephanie's house to celebrate Thanksgiving with my Dad, Sally, and my brother and his family.

My niece, Anna Kristin with her dog, Toby, and Madelyn

Anna Kristin, Maddie, Kalen, Julian, Brayden and Grayson

Brayden dressed as Wolverine at Ry and Steph's.

Here I am with my Grandma at my mom's house.

Anna Kristin and Kalen enjoyed playing Nintendo DS together.

Scott playing ball with Brady at my mom's house.

Our Tree of Thanks

2009-11-25T12:30:00.002-05:00

The kids and I made this lovely tree of thanks out of brown paper grocery bags and construction paper. We sat around one day after lunch making a list of various things and people we were thankful. I attempted making various kinds of leaves (this is really hard to do) and then I wrote out those things and people that we are thankful. We were not able to get all the things we were thankful for on leaves (I was tired of making leaves). We took turns attaching the leaves to our tree. Those were sweet moments.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. I hope your holiday is sweet and full of warmth.

Giving Thanks

2009-11-24T16:19:00.006-05:00

my husband that truly loves me as I am

Julian, Madelyn, Kalen & Brayden

home

family

beauty

friends both far and near

good health

cute and hilarious things our children say

art

homeschooling this year

my creator

sewing

my blog

nature

Oprah

Durham

laughter

the library

children

my faith

Jasmine Tea

after the kids are in bed

thrift stores

neighbors

holidays

Trader Joe's

hope

books

our church

exercise

Mr. and Mrs. Obama

being vegan

girls from girls' night

freedom

So You Think You Can Dance

chocolate

wine

music

yellow

slow food

blue jeans

uniqueness

girlfriends from back home that never loose touch

memories with my grandma

grace

being a soccer mom

cooking in my kitchen

our garden

cereal

local food

*It is amazing how much more joyful I feel after thinking on this for a bit. I really could keep going. I feel challenged to do this more often. I would love to carry an attitude of thankfulness with me all the day long. I have so much to be grateful for.

Anticipation At It's Best

2009-11-23T16:03:00.003-05:00

Our sweet Kalen wrote up a long Christmas list. It took him well over an hour. He copied words from a LEGO magazine and asked whoever was around for help spelling things. He then went and put his list in the fireplace for Santa. How cute is that? Gotta love this kid.

Maddie's Dancing

2009-11-21T23:58:00.006-05:00

Madelyn continues in dance this year. She takes ballet and is enjoying it still. We were able to sit in on a class and observe her progress. I took some video and some pictures. It is super fun, as a parent, to sit in on these sorts of things. I get rather gitty and smiley.

I took away several things after watching our sweet dancer. Number one, she is so focused. She wears a serious face and is very attentive. Number two, she is the shortest and most petite of her class. She doesn't let her size inhibit her though. Mr. Barriskill has allowed Madelyn into this class of 8 and 9 yr old kids, even though she is 7. Number three, she is a very poised young lady. This is a quality that I had always hoped my daughter would have. I am so very pleased to see it in Madelyn at such a young age.

Towards the end of the class, parents were asked to volunteer to try out what the class had been working on. Scott was one of the first ones to hop up. You'll enjoy his little debut clip.

A New Hangout

2009-11-17T21:47:00.006-05:00

Our city has a new skatepark. We have taken the boys and they love it. It just might become a new hangout for the Morrison crew.

Allowing our children to try something out that involves risks is very appealing to me. I want them to be experimental. It was very natural for our family to go out to this park yesterday afternoon, amongst all the big guys, and try this thing out. I packed my camera, some 365 sodas, a snack, my sunglasses, two skateboards, lots of knee, elbow and hand pads and some extra mommy courage.

My boys learned how to watch out for other skaters, see what they were capable of, and how repetition can be quite a learning opportunity. Did they bust? Sure. Were they devastated? No. They got up and tried again. I looked into Julian's eyes after it had been forty-five minutes or so and I asked him if he was ready to go. He told me, "No, not at all. I want to do a lot more stuff!"

They are already asking to go back. We definitely will. Today, Scott found some skateboarding helmets at the thrift store that are really nice. I am sure those will make the boys' experience all the more exciting.

I have few pictures and a lot of clips of the boys. None of the clips are long. I'm a proud Mom of some really cool skater guys.

Pumpkin Pie Bites

2009-11-13T18:30:00.002-05:00

I found the following recipe off Fat Free Vegan Kitchen blog. The Pumpkin Pie Bites looks super yummy and I thought I would pass it along. I will probably be making these this weekend.

Pumpkin Pie Bites

The topping, which contributes about 10 calories per bar, is optional, though I think the crystallized ginger adds a lot of zing to these tasty bites. They improve with age, so consider making them a day ahead of serving.

Crust
1 1/2 cups quick or rolled oats* (divided)
1 cup sorghum (or other whole grain) flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup brown sugar firmly packed
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup apple sauce or apple butter
2 tablespoons water

Filling
15 ounces pumpkin (canned or cooked and water pressed out)
12 ounces extra-firm silken tofu (lite preferred)
1/2 cup turbinado sugar (or regular sugar)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated)
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon rum extract (optional)
2 tablespoons agave nectar (or other liquid sweetener)
1 teaspoon salt

Topping
1/4 cup quick or rolled oats*
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons crystallized ginger (I used Penzey's but here's a vegan option)

Preheat oven to 375 F. Line the bottom of a 9x13-inch nonstick baking pan with parchment paper.

Crust: Place 1/2 cup of the oats in a blender and crush them to a fine powder. Mix the oat flour with the other dry ingredients of the crust in a medium mixing bowl. Add the apple sauce and water and stir until well-moistened. If necessary, add additional water a teaspoon at a time until all flour is moist. Pour it into the prepared pan and press it into the pan until the bottom is evenly covered.

Filling: Place all the filling ingredients into a blender or food processor. Process until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Pour filling on top of crust and smooth with a spatula.

Topping and Baking: Mix the topping ingredients together and sprinkle on top of the filling. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until pumpkin is set in the middle. Remove from oven and run a non-metal knife or spatula around the edges. Cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting into 48 squares.

Servings: 48
Yield: 48 squares

Pestle, Mortar, and Bananagrams

2009-11-12T12:41:00.008-05:00

This morning, Julian was at the kitchen table playing with his Bananagrams. Sidenote- If you don't know about Bananagrams check them out on Amazon. It is a fast and fun word game that is totally portable. All you need is a table to play it on. If you like Scrabble, you will love this game. This is a perfect gift idea for the young spellers in your family for Christmas. Anyways, when JJ was done using all of his letters to make words, he told Scott and me. We both went over to take a look at what words he had come up with this time. Normally, one of us plays the game with him. This morning he just chose to play on his own as we were all getting ready for our day. We found the words pestle and mortar within this particular crossword he had created. Scott read the word pestle out loud and we both looked at each other puzzled. Scott called Julian over and he asked him about the word pestle. Julian spit out a definition and said he would show us in a dictionary. He told us that he has read that word several times in his books. Scott and I giggled a bit and waited, sure enough he was right. Here is what we learned - A mortar and pestle is a tool used to crush, grind, and mix substances. The pestle is a heavy bat shaped stick whose end is used for pounding and grinding, and the mortar is a bowl, typically made of hard wood, marble, clay, or stone (wikipedia) Would you believe that within the same tiles he had lined up within his game, he also had the word mortar spelled out as well. Yep, I didn't really know what that was either. I had seen this tool before, but never knew what it was called.

I am not at all surprised that my nine year old super reader of a son would know words that I don't. He reads constantly and this is just a great example of some of the fruit that comes from having a love for the written word.

Thanks for the lesson in vocabulary today, Jules. At the end of each day, I feel like I am the one that has had the most lessons learned. My kids teach me so much.

Not Minding Too Much

2009-11-09T22:31:00.003-05:00

Looks comfy doesn't he? For the past several weeks, at around 6:45 am, this little guy comes in my room wanting to get in the bed with Scott and I. I pull him (and Ellie) up into bed and put him in between us. We sleep for another thirty minutes to an hour with him sandwiched in between the two of us. I must say, I am quite fond of this little thing we have going. Our kids have been good sleepers and we all have our own beds. As much as we all need that, I am in no rush of Brayden growing out of this little phase. ;)

Swedish Apple Pie

2009-11-07T21:37:00.002-05:00

Occasionally, I will find a doable recipe in Family Fun magazine. This one involves apples. I recently bought a bag of baking apples at Trader Joe's. I had planned to make applesauce with them, but then thought of this recipe in this month's issue. I whipped it together in about 20 minutes. It takes about 40-45 minutes to bake. You all ought to try it. It makes your whole house smell delicious!

Scott is returning tonight from a conference in Pittsburgh. I thought he and I could enjoy this treat after the kids and I pick him up at the airport. So, I have not actually tasted it yet. I have a lot of confidence in it already because it is a pretty pie and it smells so good. ;)

Swedish Apple Pie

Ingredients

For the filling

2/3 c raisins

3 medium apples (about 2 2/3 cups), any baking variety, peeled and sliced

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

For the topping

3/4 c butter or margarine ( I used Earth Balance)

1 c flour

1 c sugar (cane)

1/2 teaspoon salt (sea)

1 egg, beaten (I use egg replacer)

1/4 c chopped walnuts

1. Heat oven to 350. Place raisins in a small bowl, cover them with hot water, and microwave them on high until they become plump, about 20 to 30 seconds. Drain the raisins, then combine them with the apple slices. Transfer the fruit to a 9 inch pie pan (it should be no more than two-thirds full).

2. In a small bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and sprinkle the mixture over the fruit.

3. To make the topping, first melt the butter or margarine and set it aside. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt, and egg until they've evenly blended. Whisk in the butter or margarine, then spread the topping over the fruit and sprinkle on the nuts.

4. Bake the pie until golden brown, about 40 minutes.

Posters

2009-11-06T23:45:00.004-05:00

I have a good friend that forwarded me a link for these posters. You can buy them and others off of Amazon. Her friend has them on her living room walls. Cracks me up. Moms need these reminders throughout the day. ;)

Can You Relate?

2009-11-03T20:48:00.003-05:00

My kids were quite disagreeable today. It seems just when I would get one fire put out, another one would start. They are all tucked away now. Whew. Tomorrow is new day! Each day is unique, ay? As a Mom, you just have to roll with it. Some days I roll more gracefully than others.

Costume Fun

2009-10-31T21:49:00.002-04:00

My mom and Annette visited two days ago and brought bags full of homemade costumes for our kids. Mom has been making them costumes for Halloween for the past couple of years. This year, she out did herself. She made several things; a dinosaur, clown, princess layered skirt, and a oriental costume. There is no telling how many hours were spent stitching these gorgeous costumes. Thanks, Mom. You love us so well. Thanks for using your special gift of sewing to give to us.

I am sharing lots of photos of us dressed up. Notice I said us. Scott found this awesome wig and we put a costume together for him. Julian is wearing a black cape that Mom made him last year, along with a mask for what he calls a dementor (inspired by the Harry Potter dementor characters). He found the mask at a thrift store. We thought we would let him go with the scarier costume this year. It is what he wanted. We figure you have to let them grow up sometime, right? I decided to dress up in the oriental costume that Mom made.

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Cookies

2009-10-28T21:28:00.003-04:00

Today, the kids and I made pumpkin cookies. I got the recipe from a book I checked out by Deanna Cook at my local library. I thought I would share some pictures and the recipe with you all. Enjoy!

Kalen took a nice shot of the wet mixture being poured into the dry mixture.

Pumpkin Cookies

(I made mine vegan, but you don't have to)

What you need:

1/2 c of butter or margarine ( I used Earth Balance)

3/4 c of brown sugar

1/4 c of molasses

1 egg ( I used an egg replacer)

1 c pumpkin mash or canned pumpkin

2 c all- purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 c raisins or choc. chips ( I went for the dark choc. chips)

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the molasses and egg, and beat well. Beat in the pumpkin mash; set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices.

3. Stir the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture until combined. Then, mix in the raisins or choc. chips.

4. Drop the batter by teaspoonfuls (I used a bigger scoop) onto an ungreased cookie sheet, spacing the cookies at least 1 inch apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies spring back when lightly pressed. Serve with a cold glass of milk (or soymilk). :)

A Prayer

2009-10-28T14:11:00.000-04:00

God, you see your children growing up in an unsteady and confusing world; give them strength to hold their faith in you, and to keep alive their joy in your creation. For peace, for reconciliation, for wholeness, for grace, for love -- may these things characterize your children.

Adapted from the Book of Common Prayer

Quote to think on

2009-10-27T17:12:00.003-04:00

God's acceptance and forgiveness does not say that everything we have done and left undone is all right. It says that we can pick up from here and move on. Freed from the burden of guilt, we can live with our real, sinful selves, accepting ourselves because God accepts us and esteeming ourselves because if God prizes us, how can we do otherwise?

- Martha Graybeal Rowlett, from her book In Spirit and in Truth

Soccer Highlights

2009-10-26T15:00:00.003-04:00

Our kids have really enjoyed soccer this fall. It has been quite the family affair. This weekend, we had games on both Saturday and Sunday. Whew!

Julian and Kalen have both had some super sweet goals this season. Watching them grow within a sport is really fun. Madelyn has dressed out for each of Julian's games, because his team is very low in numbers. She usually gets to play a bit. Sunday she got to play almost the whole game. Actually, when she wasn't in playing with the team full of nine year olds, Kalen was! Isn't that great? Thanks, Coach Scott!

Julian has not been feeling well today. He played goal keeper for his team. He didn't want to not play. I didn't get any photos of him. He looked kind of ghostly. When we got him home, he got nothing but the royal treatment. We have been waiting for sickness to make an appearance this fall. Maybe this will just pass on through quickly. As I hear him coughing in his sleep now, maybe not.

Here is a clip of one of Kalen's goals on Sunday:

Kalen played goal keeper for the final quarter. Here he is making a big goal kick.

After each game, Kalen's coach talks to the team about all the great things he saw as the team played. He calls them all by name and truly praises them. I like that and I know the kids do as well. :)

Green Fire 2009

Kalen is seated fifth on the bottom row

The following clip is of Madelyn. She did an amazing job today!

Pumpkin Pickin' and Tradition

2009-10-25T21:19:00.006-04:00

This past weekend, we spent some time with Jerry, Jan and Shanda. Each year, they take the kids to the same place to pick out their own pumpkins. We made a pit stop at their home first. I snapped some photos outside in the front of their home. The trees in their front yard are always gorgeous this time of year. I have taken pictures of all of our kids, all throughout the years, right by these same trees. I am thankful for traditions. They serve as sweet anchors within our family.

Thinning Out

2009-10-20T21:09:00.003-04:00

This afternoon, I went out to tend to our garden. I had planted many beds of seeds weeks ago. I was delighted to find that nearly all of the seeds that I had planted had come up. I took to the task of thinning out the seedlings this afternoon. I had already thinned them out once, but they needed another run through. The veggies that have sprouted are kale, lettuce, sugar snap peas, onions, and chard.

I am finding that thinning out seedlings is sort of a painful process. It is hard to eliminate even one of those promising little plants, but it has got to be done. Seedlings can't thrive if there are too many in one area. They need room to grow. Tiny seedlings can't grow if they have to compete with other seedlings in order to get their nutrients.

As I was kneeling in our garden today pulling up tiny little growing seedlings, I thought about how there is a need for prioritizing and even eliminating in order to grow and thrive in our own lives. Don't we all have things in our lives that can inhibit our growth more than nurture it? I guess it would be good to think about this whole thinning out thing, as it pertains to my own life, every now and again.

Women's Retreat

2009-10-18T20:18:00.000-04:00

My cup is overflowing. This weekend was so wonderful. I was able to attend my church's Women's Retreat in Black Mtn., NC. It was so gorgeous. Being in the mountains in the fall really made me miss our days in Boone. The leaves were all changing and falling. Blue Ridge Assembly is where we stayed; it is tucked away and very wooded.

The theme for our weekend was about how God is with us and for us. Sounds simple, but really a profound thing. We heard many messages about how people in our lives can truly let us down and not reflect the love and acceptance that the Lord can. Our speaker, Margot Starbuck Hausmann, actually attends our church. I will write about her down by her picture.

I was able to connect with so many ladies that I had been longing to know better. The amount of conversations I had was just endless! I really soaked it up.

I will share some pictures and tell you a little more about my time away . . .

This is just one gorgeous angle of the place where we were.

This is me and my buddy, Emily. We rode up together with a bunch of girls and we roomed together. This is such a fun girl.

This is Margot. She spoke to us several times this weekend. Each message was full of lots of stories, challenges for us and scripture. Just to let you in on it, here is what we were given about Margot before we attended the retreat:

Margot will help us think through what our lives would be like if we truly believed that God is with us and for us. Too often life’s circumstances make it pretty hard to believe that in our deepest places. Margot herself journeyed along a path until she grasped the truth that God was the One who was and had always been for her. She writes, “The New Testament paints a picture of Jesus knocking himself out to convince us both of our worth as image-bearers and of his Father’s unfailing love. As we begin to catch on to the transforming truth that God never leaves us and is entirely for us, as we come to know it in our bones, we’re set free to grow in love for God, others, and ourselves.”

Margot has written a book entitled The Girl in the Orange Dress. After hearing her story, I am eager to get it. She is a very unique and fascinating person. She has a website; click here to find out more about her.

Ali, Emily and Anna

We had lots of free time on Saturday afternoon. I joined a group of ladies and we went hiking.

We had over 80 people attend our retreat. The organizers split us up into small groups that we were able to meet with each day, multiple times. This is my group. I grew to truly enjoy each and every one of them.

As we left, I had to take a picture of the snow capped mountains. Just gorgeous!

Needless to say, I am so glad I went. I am dog tired, but at the same time I feel so refreshed and loved on. Special thanks to my amazing husband, Scott. He held down the fort so well. He even did ALL the laundry!!! Hooray! Time for some Scott time . . .

Packing My Bag

2009-10-16T10:22:00.004-04:00

I am heading out of town today. This time, I won't have children in tow. I am riding with a van full of ladies up to Black Mountain, NC. Our church has planned their annual Women's Retreat. This is the first year I have attempted to go. Scott will be flying solo at home with our troops.

I have butterflies in my stomach as I pack my one and only bag. Leaving my family will be bittersweet. I know this time away will be refreshing. At the same time, I will be missing the home life here. I am a home body. My heart is here. I have days when I want to get away and need some quiet. I am sometimes weary and weak. We all need our space. Mostly though, I crave family life. I can't get enough. Even when I am working towards the bed time hour and the freedom that lies beyond it, I am right where I want to be.

My hope for this weekend is to be encouraged. I am praying for rest and a renewed spirit. I also pray that my family will remain safe and enjoy sweet Daddy time. I would appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Enjoying Nature's Beauties

2009-10-13T21:50:00.008-04:00

One of our favorite places to visit is Duke Gardens. Today we made an afternoon out of it. We were determined to be surrounded by nature and just enjoy it. We definitely accomplished what we were after- and then some.

Scott and I have been discussing the importance of our family enjoying nature even more than we already do. It is easy to numb ourselves (as Scott puts it) with 'stuff' instead of filling ourselves with joy that comes from appreciating and enjoying nature. We are bombarded daily with all things unnatural. We must get back to nature.

We set out with all we needed for our picnic as well as our backpack full of nature journaling supplies and field guides. The most enjoyable moment or taste of paradise for me was lying on our quilt just behind a tree enough to be shaded somewhat while still feeling the warmth from the sun- as our kids climbed a huge Magnolia tree just across from me. They played for a long time, talking, singing and giggling. It was just them and the Magnolia. That is powerful. Much more powerful than what they watched on WordGirl this morning before breakfast.

So, now I will share gobs of pictures from our expedition. :)

We had a Nature Scavenger Hunt. I had found this idea in a magazine.

I am lying on my blanket taking a picture of the big Magnolia tree that the kids were playing on. You can barely see them in the photo.

Bird watching

Brady drawing leaves. I brought some paper for them to do a little reflective nature journaling just before we left.

Kalen was very proud of this huge leaf he found.

Grandma

2009-10-13T21:41:00.002-04:00

We visited with my Mom, Annette and my Grandma for a day or so. Our visit was sweet, minus the van trouble we had. Mom and Annette are so good to us.

Here is a sweet picture of Grandma with Madelyn. Grandma is doing pretty well these days considering all she has been through in the last couple of years. My Mom has taken good care of her. I called her up on Monday and asked her if I could come snatch her and bring her back to my Mom's house for several hours. Of course she said yes. I absolutely adore my Grandma.

Sweet Exchange

2009-10-07T20:37:00.005-04:00

Tonight, I was tucking Kalen into bed and I squeezed him tight and told him that I loved him so so so much. We snuggled and he said, "Mommy, I love you more than anything. (pause) Well . . . mostly, except for . . . um . . . you know (with crooked smile)." I said, "No, what?" With certainty, he said, "God, of course. Everyone should love God most!"

Right. God most. This is a good reminder for me. Thanks, Kalen.

Art Appreciation

2009-10-05T23:02:00.006-04:00

Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, sculpture, and paintings. (Wikipedia)

I remember highly anticipating Art class as I went through elementary school. Whatever rotation Art class was on, it didn't seem to be available enough. I am thankful that I don't have to worry about our Art program being cut out of our school budget here at Carolina Academy of Liberal Arts. We love Art. Whether it is dancing around the coffee table to a CD or attempting to use a medium that a famous painter or sculptor used- it brings us life.

This year we have been studying famous artists like Degas, Rousseau, Van Gogh, and we even went to an exhibit at Duke University's Nasher Museum of Art to see some real paintings and drawings by, none other than, Pablo Picasso.

We have been using the Usborne Art Treasury. It takes an artist, gives lots of information about him/her and one of their pieces. Then the next two pages show us how we can attempt to use that same medium and technique to make our own masterpieces. It brings me so much joy to see my children's fingers dotted with paint or pastel chalk. I love their own interpretations and expressions.

Here are a couple of the paintings they have studied most recently. I need to go prepare for our study of Monet today. :)

Here is Madelyn's owl that was drawn by pencil and later painted. She had studied one of Rousseau's jungle paintings.

Here is Julian working on a jungle scene as well.

Don't you love Brayden's attire? He dresses up sometimes in one of Maddie's old leotards. Here Brady is painting a jungle scene.

Kalen is using oil pastels to create a water like piece.

Julian drew a fish with pastels then painted over it with watercolors.

A Visit From The Walters

2009-10-04T15:30:00.002-04:00

We had company this past weekend. Mandy and her family came for a visit. She and her husband, Jamie, brought their four children. Mandy and I were roommates in college. We have remained close throughout the years. Our families really have not spent that much time together. Our children quickly took to one another during the visit. We ate together, shared lots of giggles, had some good conversations and just lived together for a few days. It was sweet and natural. The Walters are such a fun bunch. We are so thankful they were able to hang out with us for a couple of days.

Here is Abby reading to Madelyn. What a light this little girl is!

I stopped this crew and made them pause for a photo. They were playing Playmobil, just one of the many things they got into during the visit.

Here I am with Mandy and her baby, Liberty.

Can I just say that I LOVED having a baby in the house this weekend. What a joy to hear the sounds of a baby within our home. It had been awhile. Libby is such a cutie.

Here we all are at one of the meals we shared together. I think this is the meal that Jed and Abby were cracking me up with their knock-knock jokes.

Madelyn totally enjoyed having Liberty here. It was sweet to see her hold her.

Almost instantly, they became pals. From left to right here is Jed, Kalen, Julian, Brayden and Joshua.

An Article

2009-10-02T13:00:00.000-04:00

I found a thoughtful article online that I thought I would pass along. It is called 8 Ways to Pursue a Lifetime of Learning.

So Long Summer

2009-09-29T21:22:00.003-04:00

It is officially fall now. I say that because I wore jeans the entire day. Being that I stay home most of the day, I get to change clothes when I want. If it is cooler in the morning, I dress for it and then when the heat comes, I put on my tank top and shorts. Well, today there was a constant breeze. The sky was a gorgeous blue and you could hear the leaves blowing in the wind. I kept my long pants on.

So, goodbye pool days. It was a blast! We went one final time to the pool (pictures below). It was a 90 degree day and we had the whole pool to ourselves. We went right after we got our school work done. Ah . . . the benefits of homeschooling. :)

Thanks to our parents that payed portions of the fee for us to have a summer full of swimming. I am so grateful. It didn't take long for me to learn how to be a pool mom. It was uninterrupted time with my kids. I loved it and I know full well that our kids did as well.

Not sure what this was. He (Kalen) was totally posing though.

This is pre-belly flop.

All smiles.

Love

2009-09-24T22:05:00.003-04:00

Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you

without leaving happier.

Mother Teresa

*photo from the internet

Playing in the Rain

2009-09-23T14:21:00.004-04:00

What a joy it was to watch our kids playing in the rain today. It wasn't just sprinkling, the rain was beating down on them. They were squealing, jumping, having mushroom races (seeing whose mushroom floats down the street the fastest), splashing, laying down, and finding worms to fiddle with. I hope they remember this. They totally surrendered themselves to the moment and lived it up. Next time, I might join them. :)

Yes, he is laying down in the stream of water going down our street.

J, K and B all have their worms laid out on our driveway and they are inspecting them in this photo.

Jesus Wants to Save Christians

2009-09-22T16:04:00.007-04:00

I just finished a book by Rob Bell and Doc Golden. I am very familiar with Bell's style of writing from his other books Velvet Elvis and Sex God. I really enjoy his interpretations and simplicity. This book is entitled Jesus Wants to Save Christians. Yet again I have been pushed to a place that makes me uncomfortable, broken and inspired. I can't recommend this book enough. It is easy to read and it will change your life. I found a comment on Amazon that said this about the book - bearing a message evangelicals need: that Jesus didn't come just to save people for heaven someday but to transform his followers and the physical world now. Rob Bell truly tries to help us see the world through Jesus's eyes. I know that sounds corny, but I am interested in that. Totally.

I would like to share so much more from this book, but here is just one excerpt that spoke loudly to me.

When you give unconditionally, you will be reminded of the God who gives unconditionally.

When you extend grace to others in their oppression, you are reminded of the grace extended to you in yours.

(later Bell writes)

Our standing in solidarity with the single parent, the unemployed, the refugee, our joining the God of the oppressed to work for justice in the world, doesn't just make a difference for those who are suffering.

It rescues us.

Disconnection from the suffering of the world, isolation from the cry of the oppressed, indifference to the poverty around us will always lead to despair.

We were made for so much more.

Gardening

2009-09-20T21:35:00.009-04:00

Our garden needed some much deserved attention today. Just after church and a quick lunch, we all put on our play/garden clothes and made our way to the backyard. Our monster tomato plants had many green tomatoes on them, but we decided to make room for our fall plants. So, we picked the tomatoes with hopes of making fried green tomatoes and pulled up the plants. If I had studied him harder, I may have seen Scott shed a tear. It pains him to say goodbye to our tomato plants. He is one tomato loving guy.

I loved being in the garden today with Scott. Spending time together as we worked on this task was meaningful and sweet- not to mention super productive. We worked for hours as our kids just played in the yard and in the front of our home with neighbors. What a gorgeous day it was!

We pulled up several other plants that were just about done. We left our eggplant. It has ten eggplants growing on it and it is still producing flowers! Scott tilled up the soil and gave us a fresh start for our fall garden. I planted a section of kale seeds and decided to call it a day. This means there will be much more planting this week because we bought onions, sugar snap peas, lettuce, spinach, and chard seeds.

As we worked, our little ones took some photos.

Here is a bowl of green tomatoes, two kinds of peppers and our butternut squash.

Brayden enjoying a caterpillar.

Sweet Maddie cleaning off the slide for her and her brothers to play on.

I Promise

2009-09-18T20:12:00.003-04:00

I Promise

I promise to give you the best of myself

and to ask of you no more than you can give.

I promise to respect you as your own person

and to realize that your interests, desires and needs

are no less important than my own.

I promise to share with you my time and my attention

and to bring joy, strength and imagination to our relationship.

I promise to keep myself open to you,

to let you see through the window of my world

into my innermost fears and feelings, secrets and dreams.

I promise to grow along with you,

to be willing to face changes in order to keep

our relationship alive and exciting.

I promise to love you in good times and bad,

with all I have to give and all I feel inside

in the only way I know how,

completely and forever.

by Dorothy R. Colgan

This sweet poem is dedicated to Scott who holds my heart and to Torie and David as they celebrate their 5th Wedding Anniversary. :)

A Cozy

2009-09-16T20:50:00.006-04:00

This afternoon, after all our homeschooling table work was done, we went to the museum. We met up with a few of my girlfriends from Durham and their kids. Altogether, we had ten kids. It was quite a crew. We had a delightful time.

While we were there, we visited the butterfly house. Within that building, there is a section that features all sorts of bugs. I was hanging out with Brayden and Kalen as they looked through magnifying glasses at the life cycles of different bugs. Now, these were real things, non-living things, but they had once been living and had somehow been preserved for the museum. They weren't just looking at photos. Kalen is an extremely verbal child. I listened as he talked about what he was seeing. He was looking at the life cycle of a moth. He looked through the magnifying glass at the tiny egg and said, "Mommy, there's the egg . . . oh, now this one is the wormy (referring to the larva stage) . . . and Mommy, this one is the cozy (referring to the pupa or chrysalis stage) and there's the big Moth!" It was completely cute. I pointed to the chrysalis again and asked him what it was and he told me it was a cozy. I had to hear it again. How cute is that? A cozy. I love that. This is laugh jar material.

It's That Time Again

2009-09-16T20:09:00.004-04:00

Soccer season has rolled around again. Julian and Kalen are playing this fall. Scott is coaching Julian's team and is an assistant coach for Kalen's team. We make it a family event going out for practices during the week. All our kids have cleats and dress out for practice. We picked up several pairs at local thrift stores and Madelyn's cleats came from a consignment sale I went to. There is something about having on real soccer shoes that is quite inspiring for our kids. Since Scott is the coach for JJ's practice, he encourages and allows Maddie, Kalen and Brady to practice with the team. It is truly fun to watch.

This is Julian's soccer practice. Notice Brayden, the short one in the middle of it all.

This is Brayden and Kalen taking shots on the goal just before Kalen's practice.

Madelyn is an athlete. We have been reassured of this over the past two weeks as she plays hard during these practices. She does everything that is asked and is quite fast. We'll be signing her up in the spring to play soccer.

At the end of their two hours of practices, here is Julian all tuckered out. He is enjoying soccer more than ever.

What? Practice is over? This kid never stops. See those wide eyes? They stay like that until he falls asleep at night. Kalen is an excellent soccer player. We can't wait to see how he grows with this sport this fall.

Here's soccer guy. Brady doesn't need a team in order to enjoy soccer. He is crazy about soccer. Not every three year old could or want to do soccer drills that 9 year olds are doing.

Julian at the Skatepark

2009-09-13T22:34:00.005-04:00

Scott took Julian out to a skatepark in Chapel Hill this past Saturday. Julian did great for his first try at it. What a cool kid! Check out the three clips at the bottom of this post of Julian skateboarding on the ramps.

If Scott or Julian were to have created a post about their experience on Saturday at the Skatepark, it would have been a little more exciting and descriptive. This is just a proud mom's attempt to showcase her son's coolness. :) Thanks Scott, for taking the camera!

Photography and videos by Scott ~ I must give credit where credit is due.

Peek-A-Boo

2009-09-11T21:24:00.003-04:00

Madelyn thought this would make a great blog post. Julian is the photographer. This is for them.

Another Home Visit

2009-09-09T21:37:00.006-04:00

We've been jumping through the various hoops necessary to slowly complete the licensing process of becoming foster parents. Our licensing social worker came by today and we had a delightful and informative time together. She even spoke to our kids. She asked them several things pertaining to fostering a child. Scott and I were in the next room enjoying the sweet and candidness of our children's responses.

We still have several things left to be done in order for this all to become official, but we are getting there. I have learned that this process takes time and that that is okay. The thoroughness that is required is for good reason.

Within the next 180 days, we will be licensed foster parents and have a certified foster home. Then after we are licensed, we will be available for the Department of Social Services to call us. They would call us if they had a child under the age of three (that is the age restriction we gave) that would be suited for our home. They would give us all the information they know about the child. Then we would be given the choice to accept the opportunity or say no. Depending on what is going on in our lives, we could say yes and the child would be immediately brought to our home or we could say no and wait for another opportunity. We will continue to think about the needs, commitments, and desires of our family and try to make wise decisions based on those.

I won't lie to you, we have experienced doubts within the past few weeks. Scott and I have had to ask ourselves some really hard questions. Our willingness to step up to this challenge is breathtaking at times. With those doubts we experience, there is still the desire to provide a child a home and to welcome him or her into what we have here. Hope is still very much alive as we slowly step closer to the possibility of fostering a child someday down the road.

I just wanted to give an update of where we were in the process. I welcome any comments or inquiries. I will keep you all posted. :)

The Eno River

2009-09-06T20:41:00.008-04:00

Saturday afternoon, our family headed out to the Eno River. We enjoyed hiking, snacking, river walking, swimming and more. Whenever we go we say that we must do this more often. We had such a great time just enjoying nature. The hike was long, but the kids did well. What a gorgeous day it was.

Here they all are just before the big hike.

This was the awesome Footbridge.

Brayden was so proud of this acorn he found. Just after he found it he told me that those are what the quirels eat.

Here's Maddie on a log with Kalen. She was the cutest thing out on that river just floating on a log that some other kids had found. I am sure Kalen is talking up a storm at this moment. You can tell by the way his hands are out. He loved every minute of this. All except the hike back to the van, of course.

The following is a clip of Madelyn and Kalen in the river. It was so delightful just watching these two surrender themselves to this. They were so peaceful as they enjoyed the water and all that surrounded them. They each had big logs that they were floating with and holding on to. I love that these two have this memory to tuck away from their childhood.

Yes, I got in the river. I can be adventurous. :)

After three hours of hiking and playing, this is Brayden all tuckered out.

Late Summer Gardening

2009-09-05T20:37:00.006-04:00

We've enjoyed our garden so much this season. Harvesting our own vegetables is so sweet and satisfying.

I thought I would give you a few glimpses into what is going on out in garden.

Madelyn and Julian are preparing to plant turnip and radishes in this photo.

Here is my little helper, Brayden. He is watering a tomato plant. It just so happens this is the plant he waters every time. It is the closest plant to the rain barrel where he fills up his watering can. :) Like the boots? Recent purchase from our local thrift store. I had seen these at Target and wanted to buy them each time I saw them. Patience pays off. We paid $3.

Butternut squash as it was just beginning to grow.

This is the same squash from above. Isn't it gorgeous? We have never grown butternut squash before. We had no idea they were so easy and quick to grow. I saved some seeds from some butternut squash we bought last year from Trader Joe's. I dried them, persuaded by Julian, and stored them for us to plant later. They came up!

Believe it or not, our tomato plants are still flowering and growing taller. They are well over 6 ft. now. We have never had tomato plants to grow in height this much.

This is a harvest from a week ago.

This is an eggplant flower. We have been so surprised by this plant's longevity. It keeps flowering and flowering.

These were our two biggest eggplant yet. We sliced them up and ate them in a tofu scramble last week.

Pictured here is a zucchini and beautiful rainbow chard. We keep cutting our chard off and it grows right back. Did you know that about chard? It is a wonderful vegetable to grow in your garden.

This past week, the kids and I planted radishes, turnips, kale, lettuce and chard. Hopefully they will give us a bountiful fall harvest.

Our Kindergartner Reading

2009-09-04T08:00:00.002-04:00

Kalen, our five year old, is a hard worker. He and I have been working on reading for several months now. He is so delighted with himself when he can read one of his entire reader books. The following clip was taken two days ago. Notice, at one point, one of Kalen's biggest fans reading in the background along with him

This post is mainly for the grandparents, as it is a 3 minute clip of our kid reading. :)

Dinosaur Exhibit

2009-09-02T21:20:00.007-04:00

Yesterday, we took a field trip out to our local Museum of Life and Science. They have a new Dinosaur Trail that we had to see. We were totally excited as we walked up and saw this first dinosaur, a Parasaurolophus. This one was the only dinosaur that the kids could touch and play on. Nice move, I thought, for the designer of the exhibit to put this one upfront.

We kept walking into this late Cretaceous period scenery. We saw lots of life size dinosaurs. Our experience was similar to our recent visit to Kentucky's Dinosaur World. We enjoyed our walk down the path. The weather was perfect, in the high 70's with a breeze.

The next photo is of the Fossil Dig section. I bet we stayed there for over an hour as the kids used shovels, pails and sifters to find real fossils. This type of activity is totally up their alley.

Here is sweet Brayden with his big shovel digging for fossils. He found some coral and some shells.

Here is Julian. This guy is truly into dinosaurs. When he was three, he would sit with his dinosaur encyclopedia and ask about all the details on the page. He could pronounce the dinosaur names much better than I could. Then he would draw these amazing pictures of dinosaurs and tell us how he wanted to be a paleontologist. It was cute watching him get so serious as he looked for fossils. This truly meant something to him.

Kalen was right there by Julian's side the entire time digging and searching for shark's teeth. He found like fifteen.

This is the table that they could take their fossils to and identify them.

Brayden's attention quickly diverted to snacks. Kalen took this picture for us.

I believe Kalen took this photo of his sharks' teeth. Pretty neat.

The High Dive

2009-09-01T14:25:00.004-04:00

Last week we met up with our homeschooling group at a pool with a high dive and twisty slide. The kids had so much fun trying them out. Here are my brave little ones on the big high dive. They are so brave!

A Doozy and Hope

2009-08-31T20:24:00.011-04:00

You know when the day starts with one child telling you that he wet the bed last night and an hour later a child throws up all over the bathroom (including the walls) . . . it is going to be a doozy. Sure enough, I have put out more fires today than my local firefighters (no disrespect intended), cleaned up throw up, dealt with bad attitudes, and fought my own way through my raging hormones. I feel as though I have been a super hero of sorts, leaping from one disaster to the next.

It happens. These days come and go and I eagerly greet the next brand new day full of it's own challenges and possibilities. As a mom, I have grown in my hopefulness. Even through the fussiness of my three year old, resistance from a child growing up, sicknesses, bad attitudes, meltdowns, disobedience, and my own personal weaknesses- there is hope.

I hope that my momentary challenges, those defining moments, will strengthen me and my children. I hope that my responses to my children's childishness can build them up and guide them instead of tearing them down. I put hope in the love that Scott and I have, hoping that it would be a canopy of comfort for the children that we adore. I hope that the conversations that we have here at home about loving one another and serving one another will take life in relationships between our children and people in our family and community. I hope in the Lord and his strength, the strength that pulls me out of my selfishness and weaknesses. I hope that the sun will shine again this week after such a gray and misty day. I could go on and on. There is hope.

Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. Hope is the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.

-Wikipedia

Composting with Scott and Kalen

2009-08-29T12:39:00.003-04:00

A rare post by Scott:

The other day I was working in the garden, and I noticed our compost piles were overflowing. I went to fetch my shovel and was quickly joined by Kalen, who is always eager to help. As Kalen and I shoveled fresh compost onto two empty garden beds, I felt the need to snap a few shots and spread the word about the ease and benefits of composting.

(As an aside, I just figured out that I posted the pictures in reverse order. My apologies.)

As vegans, composting is tad easier because every scrap of food can go into our pile. (Wondering what to compost? Click here.) We simply have a 5-gallon bucket on the back porch for food waste that eventually gets dumped on the compost pile by the side of the yard. (Note: I dump the bucket when it is full or when the bugs become annoying; but the bugs really only come in the heat of summer. That's when I put the bucket at the bottom of the deck. It is more tedious to get to, but Anna hates bugs.)

And that's basically it. We don't have a very complicated system, and it works beautifully. The pictures below explain the rest.

This is a shot of the garden from last week. The tomatoes in the back are still green and producing up top, even though the bottoms look like they've seen better days. The peppers are still producing and growing. The three varieties of squash were planted at the end of July. They've grown quickly with little attention. We've never planted a late squash before. I'm hoping this experiment works. So far so good.

This is another shot of the squash. We planted zucchini, butternut squash, and spaghetti squash.

Kalen being a clown. Nothing new about that.

The soil has a layer of compost on top. Notice how dark and rich it is.

We have two compost piles. When one side gets full we let it sit and then use the other side. This picture below is the active pile right now, the one we dump scraps in daily. There are weeds we've pulled, banana peels, rotten tomatoes, straw, various food scraps, and grass clippings.

Here are the two piles side by side. By the spring, the pile to the left of Kalen will look like the pile he is digging in.

Kalen is a good helper. Really. Not like, "Fine you can help," but then just give him busy work to make him think he's helping. He actually gets in there and does what I'm doing. And he does it well.

These are the two beds we covered. Anna planted seeds in this space the other day. She planted lettuce, chard, kale, turnips, and radishes.

I made the compost frames with garden timbers that were in the backyard when we moved in. I cut them using a hand saw and bought some long nails to fasten them together. Not a professional job, but it works. Now, I will use a pitchfork to turn the pile on the left over a few times before spring arrives. There is a little labor involved, but not much. And the value compost has on the garden is priceless.

Date Night at Home

2009-08-26T17:00:00.002-04:00

Every now and again I put on a nice dress, high heels, and make-up, and I even curl my hair. I look like I am ready to walk out the door, but I don't. I light some candles, make something sweet and have a date night at home with Scott. Make no mistakes about it, I love my husband.

Madelyn was in on it this past week. She saw me getting a dress out and asked me what I was doing. I told her, so she followed me downstairs to see the brownies and help get ready for Daddy. She snapped some photos. I like knowing that she saw my excitement. She knows how much I love her Daddy.

Maintaining a strong relationship with Scott is crucial for me. Each night we have a date night. I don't get all dolled up every time, but we are together for hours just enjoying being together. If you have read the book The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman (highly recommended), you should know that I am very much a quality time person. Scott loves me so well by just being near me each night. I am so thankful for my husband. I am glad that we are continuing to learn about and love each other and that we enjoy being with one another so much.

Mad Skills

2009-08-25T20:49:00.001-04:00

First Day of School

2009-08-24T21:28:00.006-04:00

Our first day back with serious structure went well. I had a lot planned and actually got through almost all of it. The kids were sweet and attentive. I am so thankful. It is nice to be present, playful and involved. I might type up a run through of our day. It is crazy how it all fits together. Here are some random moments captured.

Scott took this little photo of me and the kids before he left at 8 am.

Kalen hard at work as he practices his printing.

Maddie took this picture of Brayden and his tower as she watched him while I was helping Kalen.

These two little silly guys were eating raisins as I read with them.

Brayden at lunch.

Sweet, calm, and diligent Madelyn

Julian sitting with a book as supper was being prepped. Such a cool guy. He did fantastic today.

Brayden and Madelyn helped me make cornbread tonight. We read a book with Five In A Row that is called Down, Down the Mountain. In this very old childrens book, the people eat cornbread with honey drizzled on top. So, we decided to try it out with our supper. It was yummy!

Back to School

2009-08-20T21:56:00.010-04:00

This was the scene of my dining room table last week. I have been planning for the upcoming weeks of homeschooling here at our Carolina Academy of Liberal Arts. Yes, that is the name of our school. You may not know that when you officially register to enroll your kids in your homeschool here in NC, you actually get to name it.

I had planned on having our kids do math and reading/vocabulary workbooks all throughout the summer weeks, but it hasn't happened as often as I had hoped. Instead, we have just enjoyed being whimsical and having fun with our summer. We have had a blast with our pool, traveling to see family, playing with neighbors, shopping at thrift stores, having water balloon fights, enjoying our fresh produce from the garden, having bare feet, and seeing a lot of Daddy.

Monday, we will start back with our daily learning time. Our school days hopefully will start around 9 am and we will wrap up with table work around 1 or 2. We will have many breaks as you can imagine (i.e. squabbles, someone needs help with the computer, phone call, Brayden needs to be wiped . . . you get the point). I now have a rising fourth grader that loves to read and is really crazy about science, an artsy second grader that is very diligent and keeps us all sane at times, a very eager Kindergartner that loves math, and an energetic and verbal family loving Preschooler. I have my work cut out for me, eh? I am very excited! Our kids are all different. It is neat to see them grow each year and notice their bends.

It is tempting at times to enroll our kids in the elementary school just a mile or so up the road. I would just have Brayden at home. I won't say we won't ever take them to public school, but for now I am enjoying the thought of being with our kids at home this year and looking back on our homeschooling experience with no regrets.

Water Ballooning

2009-08-18T21:55:00.004-04:00

We are trying to keep cool on these upper 90s days here at home. The kids love filling up water balloons and playing with them.

Weekend With Family

2009-08-17T17:23:00.006-04:00

We were able to spend this past weekend with the Morrisons. We had a sweet time. Here are a few pictures.

We played lots of games.

Scott and Jerry playing Othello.

We played with water balloons. Here's Grandpa getting hit!

The girls went to a coffee shop to sit and chat. What a sweet time we had.

We went to their neighborhood pool and the kids practiced their diving with Scott.

Jan, Maddie, and Shanda

Grandpa and Nana took us out for a fun game of Putt-Putt.

Here is Brayden whacking at the pop-up sharks. He was quite good.

Kalen could hardly reach the pedal, but ended up winning this race with Julian.

Letting Them In

2009-08-11T21:02:00.006-04:00

Today, as I was trying to prepare our dinner, I was met with these words: let them in. No, I am not referring to the words that come after I hear the doorbell ring; this is something different. I was making pizza. I had all my ingredients--veggies, dough, sauce, spices--and all was well. I had two children in one room playing and the other two wild ones in another. The sun was shining through the windows, and it was shaping up to be a very peaceful moment.

As I began slicing and dicing, Brayden comes in the kitchen and says, "I want to watch you, Mama." I told him to go get the stool in the bathroom and come on back and join me. He was very content to watch me for a bit. Then, I see him getting down and rummaging through our kitchen towel drawer that is just beside the stove. I kept working. By this time I have several different things I am tending to. I hear him say, "I get it for you, Mama. I will get it for you." I turned to see him digging still. "That pin," he said. "Oh! Brayden, you are looking for the rolling pin. Oh honey, I can get it. There it is," I said as I let him in to pull it out. He smiled and hopped back on the stool with the rolling pin. He had seen the flour I had put on the counter to roll the pizza dough out on. He knew where I kept the rolling pin. He started to put the rolling pin down on the flour and I told him to wait a minute. I was trying to saute several things and make our vegan cheese sauce. Then Kalen came in to see what we were doing. He noticed that Brayden was holding the rolling pin, so he ran off upstairs. Soon he returned with the other stool from the upstairs bathroom. He asked, "Can I help, Mom?" I told him he could. I wasn't really smiling. I was focused.

I floured my hands and got the dough out and put it on the counter. I put flour on the rolling pin and started to roll. I looked to my left and saw two very eager little boys that wanted to help but were not saying a word. They were just watching. I thought about those words let them in. I relaxed my shoulders and took my hands off the rolling pins, leaving it in the hands that were already touching it. Brayden began rolling the dough with a very proud look on his face. I turned to continue with the toppings. I looked slightly to my left to see that Kalen had taken over and they were peacefully watching each other have a go at this. The dough was looking great. They were actually doing a perfect job.

It was time to put the dough in the floured pan and roll out another dough for the second pizza. They took turns again rolling the dough out. Once the dough was ready in the pans, I opened the jar of sauce and began pouring it out on the dough. Each of the boys was asking to help spread it out. I gave Brayden the spoon, and then Kalen. We topped our pizzas and put them in the oven to bake. Brayden and Kalen scurried off with floured hands and shirts. I was left with two pizzas cooking, a mess, and the words let them in still echoing in my mind.

Throughout my day I have so many roles and opportunities. I get to be a wife, mother, daughter, friend, servant, teacher, painter, blog designer, cook, nurse, stylist, neighbor, housekeeper, reader, and more. With those opportunities, tasks and jobs come a lot of emotions. I am able to feel sad, happy, frustrated, tired, excited, motivated, angry, joyful, mad, and anxious. As I am learning on this road of motherhood, letting my children into whatever I am doing or feeling will reap great rewards and foster closeness. Brayden knew where the rolling pin was because I have dusted his fingers with flour before, and he has seen me pull out the rolling pin to make pizza or cookies. I let him in. I let him in on the joy of cooking. I let him in on the amount of work that goes into preparing homemade pizza that gets gobbled up in ten minutes. Earlier today I approached Madelyn, venting about how crazy our younger two were being and how it was wearing me out. We hugged and I felt comforted by my daughter. Letting her in on my life, feelings and thoughts allowed her to see the real me, a mom that is frustrated sometimes.

I sometimes don't want to let my children in. I want to be alone or work quicker at whatever it is I am trying to accomplish. There is nothing wrong with that, in my opinion. But, the joy of relaxing my shoulders, breathing deep and surrendering to those moments that I have the opportunity to let them in on what I am doing is just so meaningful. My children are delightful. I think that they should see me delighting in them. Each day I can choose to race to end of it, checking off all of the items on my list and shushing my children along the way. Or I could choose to enjoy the process. Must I be so hard-hearted or short-tempered? Aren't they worth the time and patience? Living, loving and learning as a family, it doesn't get any better than this, right? The process, Anna! The process!

Just before everyone bustled into the dining room for dinner tonight, I felt a little tug at my shirt. It was Brady. He said, "I pulled your chair out for you." It was odd coming from him; quite unexpected. As he pointed into the dining room, I looked and he had pulled my seat out for me. Tears came to my eyes as I pulled him into me. "Thank you, Brayden. I love you so so so much," I assured him. It was a nice visual picture for me. Brayden's act of kindness was an overflow of his heart. A heart that was thankful for me letting him in.

Sundew

2009-08-11T16:21:00.003-04:00

Continuing with our summer of painting, we chose a more neutral color for our homeschool and play room. I am truly proud of myself. I wanted this done before I began planning for our school year next week. I did it! The kids kept busy, and I just painted and painted. I love the color; it is called Sundew, which is quite appropriate since the sun just pours light into this room. Happy, happy, happy.

Scott recommended that we make a unique line on the side wall here. This is because we have an extremely tall ceiling right above our steps. We are not going to attempt to paint up there. We would have to hire someone to doing that for us. For now, we get to enjoy this cool line on the wall. I actually really like it. It gives the wall an artistic vibe.

We did something similar on the other wall.

Dinosaur World

2009-08-07T20:16:00.006-04:00

While in Kentucky we went to Dinosaur World, a little hot spot near Mammoth Cave.

Brayden screams like the dinosaur is after him.

Madelynasaurus

Jules

We walked along this path while reading about the different life size dinosaurs.

Believable? Don't I look afraid? I try.

Best photo award.

T-Rex was a Morrison favorite.

Maddie with Mimi and the Parasaurolophus

This is my Dad. He is such a fun guy.

The kids were able to act like paleontologists and uncover dinosaur fossils in the sand with brushes and shovels.

Here is little Brady hunting for real fossils in the sand. They were able to keep three real fossils from what they found.

Mammoth Cave

2009-08-06T21:03:00.004-04:00

As I sit here this evening, I want to tell you all about my painting today, but I have to tell you about Mammoth Cave. As we were in Kentucky visiting with Dad and Sally, going to check out Mammoth Cave was definitely on our to-do list. Dad had rented a huge van for us to travel around in. This way, they could tell us about all the things we passed and such. It made it more fun and we enjoyed all being together.

Mammoth Cave National Park preserves the cave system and a part of the Green River valley and hilly country of south central Kentucky. This is the world's longest known cave system, with more than 367 miles explored. Early guide Stephen Bishop called the cave a "grand, gloomy and peculiar place," but its vast chambers and complex labyrinths have earned its name—Mammoth. (www.nps.gov/maca)

We took a historical guided tour in this enormous cave. It was a 2 hour tour that covered 2 miles. Needless to say, we were hopeful that our little troopers would do well. Let me say upfront that they did an amazing job. It was super sweet of Dad and Sally to pay for us to do such a cool thing AND have faith in us enough to go down into a cave for two hours with us.

If this picture freaks you out a little, try being there and looking down.

There were probably, I don't know, 60-75 people on this tour. We were right in the middle of them, ducking, gasping, oohing and ahhing.

We took turns carrying Brayden. He could have walked, but I think he wanted to be held. I'd want to be held too if I was a three year old traipsing into a dark cave. He kept a great attitude after the 'lights out' moment. The guide let us see what the cave would look like if we had no light within it. Creepy, but really neat. I was amazed. There were several children on this tour and only one little one got a little freaked out and started whimpering. Really impressed. So, there is my Dad up above ducking down with Brayden. If he were to hold him up at this moment on the tour, Brayden would have bumped his head. There were a lot of times we had to crouch down right much. They named one part Tall Man's Headache and another Fat Man's Misery. Bet you can figure out why.

Up above you can see candle written names that dated back to 1839. There were tons of people that use to visit the cave back then; for church services, get togethers, or to listen to or play music. Then of course there were slaves that would work down in there. Our guide was actually a descendant of a slave that would work in Mammoth Cave. He has some interesting stories to share. It was very moving. To read more about the history click here.

Here are our kids by the van Dad rented. :)

Kentucky

2009-08-05T11:30:00.004-04:00

Our crew loaded up last week and headed for Bowling Green, Kentucky. This is where my Dad and his wife, Sally live and have lived for two and a half years. We have never made this long of a trip with our four kids. It was work at times, but well worth it to visit with family.

It took us 11 hours on Thursday. We took some time when we stopped to let our kids get a good break from riding. Our favorite place to stop on road trips is always Cracker Barrel. The kids probably don't even know they serve food there, because we never eat there. We use the bathrooms, which are usually nice, and let the kids mess around with the toys. I had several bags full of our favorite Trader Joe's and Whole Foods snacks that we munched on in the van. We stopped to eat in Asheville on the way there. Our favorite restaurant, The Laughing Seed, is always such a treat to visit.

Dad and Sally's home is simply amazing. It sits right by an enormous field just beyond the backyard. It is truly breathtaking. They have a huge home. It felt like we were staying in the Ritz. We were so thankful for the time we were able to be in their home and shown around their town. Sally fixed us vegan food and went above and beyond to meet our needs while we were there. Here are a few pictures. I will post next about where the places they took us.

True Blue

2009-07-29T23:04:00.005-04:00

I really like this blue we used below. We wanted to add it within our home somehow. We found a nice nook that is very visible when you walk in the front door. So, when you are looking at the first photos, the front door is right behind me as I am taking the picture.

We love this happy blue. Go Heels! :)

Cute Pool Clips

2009-07-26T22:18:00.002-04:00

We have been loving our neighborhood pool membership this summer. Thanks, grandparents!!

Going Green

2009-07-25T10:23:00.003-04:00

Take a look at our new kitchen. Scott painted most of it. It is a super happy and fun kitchen now. Notice the new knobs for the cabinets.

This is before . . .

This is after . . .