While The Hoolies are Away...

I cannot remember the last time that I had my home utterly and entirely to myself for a good span of hours.  Seriously - I think it's been years.... possibly pre-children.  I've had pockets of time here and there, but usually when the kids are up at Grampy and Grammy's house, it's because of some trip that we are taking for work or ministry.

This week has been different.
Mom and Dad - in their own words - were "craving those boys," so we handed them over for a couple of days.  Thus, giving me an entire day home alone yesterday.

Oh my Heavens. 
It was lovely.
This is where I stayed planted until about 10:00 a.m.:

Two cups of coffee, one blog post, and a check up on the Facebook world later, I roused myself out of bed, went for a wee little run, sat and stared into space for awhile and marveled at the silence, took an uber long shower, and then got down to business...

My dear friend Esther-la-Visa, aaallllmost convinced me to go and pick blueberries with her, but I resisted, knowing this gift of solitude might not come around again until I'm 80.

Our next school year is almost upon us, and at least for this next year while our lives look the way that we do, we are going to homeschool for another round.  Their big ole box of books has been sitting in the kitchen corner waiting for such a time as this, so for the rest of the afternoon, the OCD organizer within me was in my glory sorting, chucking, rearranging, and getting ready for homeschool year #3.

We have no schoolroom, per say.  Our kitchen is where ALL of life happens.
And I mean ALL of life.  So, I need it to be as productive and as simply organized as possible.  First, I conquered the craft cabinet.

Oh Heavens.

All three boys are in here every single day of life - which I love - but she had gotten just a wee tad out of control...

Better.
I expect this to last for all of one week...but at least I know what's in there now....
And even when it gets trashed again, I can just shut the door, and the mess will all go away.

The beautiful thing about doing this on my own what that many MANY things that the boys (hopefully) won't remember and wouldn't allow me to throw away if they were here....got chucked.  An entire trashbag full, to be exact...

And THEN!!!  we moved onto school...
Just the tiniest of plugs...
THIS is why I love Sonlight Curriculum:

 Our Read Alouds...

 Our Science...

 Kaden's readers...

And our Bible...

Sonlight is purely Literature driven.  There are no textbooks and very very few workbooks.
I have a deep, deep love for books and for reading, all of my boys love to be read to, and none of them love to sit and do workbooks....so this curriculum suits us well.  Plus, the teacher's guide comes with lesson plans for each and every week already drawn up.  My lesson planning is literally minutes on a Sunday evening, and over in these here parts, time is money.

AND - while it is one of the more expensive homeschooling curriculums, over 90% of it is re-usable for your next child.  When it's time for Jesse to enter these grades, all I will need to purchase for him will be a Math and a Handwriting book, and the same thing will go for Ransom, as well.  So when you look at it that way, and depending on how many children you have, the cost gets cut dramatically...

I am actually an "unschooler" at heart, and I firmly believe that all of life is a schoolroom - you just take a couple of hours each day to do textbook learning.  So, if we continue on this homeschooling journey, and as I get braver, I can see myself moving farther and farther away from structured, pre-packaged learning.  However, for the here and now, and while I am such a newbie - this is perfection for us.

Kaden's corner:

I hate junk.  I hate clutter.  But all of school fits into three little wooden boxes, so I am totally cool with school happening in my kitchen.  I actually kind of love it this way.

And finally....onto other news....

Right before I went off to work for the evening, I put the final touch on my puttering day at home.  Whenever the boys leave us, they know that there will always be a tiny little gift waiting for them on their beds upon their return.  It's usually never anything big - just a token gift letting them know that we missed them and are excited to be all back together again...

THIS is their gift this time:

NOT the whale....the cat food...just in case you couldn't find it.... Oh, the surprise is going to be DEE-licious!

Birthday Blessings...

I'm going to be thirty-five on Monday.
Thirty-freaking-five.

But, you know what?  I'm totally cool with that. 
Age is just a number, and you're only as old as you feel, right?
Can I get a witness?  cough.cough.  *crickets chirping*

Okay.   Bad example.  There are days when I feel like I'm 100.....
Let's just take "feelings" out of the equation.

What I'm trying to say is that there is going to be no mid-life crisis this year...
I'm happy.  I'm healthy.
I still tuck my babies into bed each night.  They still all live under my roof.  Kev and I are still the center of their Universe.  We are surrounded by family and friends - who are also happy and healthy...

And right now....in this moment...life is good.
It's simple.
It's sweet.
And it's safe.

Today, a couple of new baby kittens solve the deepest wounds of my family's little world.
Today, we have our health.
Today, we are able to hold each other and our family's close.
Today, our marriage is healthy - and our friendship is strong.
Today, we have a roof over our heads and food in our bellies.
Today, we are free, we are safe, and life is good...

I am fully aware that others do not share these same luxuries.
And there are no guarantees of what tomorrow may hold.
For any of us...

So, in this my thirty-fifth year of life, what more could I ask for?
What birthday gifts are needed?
I am filled to overflowing with these gifts....these graces already...that were never mine in the first place!

Being happy in all of the little things that God gives...
Well, that is me being able to gift back to Him - in the only way really possible...

"Gratitude bestows reverance, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world." ~ Sarah Breathnach

4072.  Grammies and Grampies who beg for their grandbabies to come and stay for a few days.
4073.  For crazy happy little boys who can't wait to go!
4074.  For still feeling like a kid at Christmas when I get time alone with my man.
4075.  Two sweet babies at the Animal Shelter...now new members of our family.
4076.  For never being able to replace Smudge...but to be able to help heal the hurt.
4077.  For a day completely alone....in my own house....in utter silence.
4078.  For friends who almost convince me to go and play!  (Esther-la-vista....)
4079.  For sleeping in until 8:00...and then staying in bed throughout 2 cups of coffee.
4080.  For four-mile runs....although not pretty to watch, I am sure....I am thankful for my health.
4081.  Long lingering showers...
4082.  For sneaking away with my Love...
4083.  Conversations at work.
4084.  Honest friendships forming.
4085.  For Bridge building...with seekers and Jesus lovers alike...
4086.  For summer and sunshine.
4087.  For the gift of Motherhood...I'm crazy when they're with me...and I miss them like crazy when they're gone....
4088.  For my Jesus...who loves me anyway.
4089.  And for my Husband...who does the same.
4090.  Thirty-five years of LIFE.
4091.  Thirteen of them with my best friend.
4092.  Eight of them as a mother.
4093.  All of them healthy. 
4094.  And all of them wealthy, indeed.
4095.  Life journeyed with Jesus, deep friendships, and a wonderful family.

Blessed.
Beyond measure.

Unto Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond all that we could ever have asked for or imagined.....

"A Tail of Two Kitties..."

When the Littles are up visiting with Grampy & Grammy for a few days...

And when the Mama is kind of missing them...

And when she remembers the last conversation that she had with Jesse went a little like this:

Jesse:  "Mama, sometimes I cry about Smudge in my bed at night...."

And when I have an afternoon to myself and a set of wheels to boot....

Well...things happen.

 Oh Heavens.

 Have mercy.

And when you have a husband who predicted this a million miles away...

And when he gets a call from the shelter that not one but two kitties need a home...

And when he's super cool and sweet and doesn't bat an eye at your crazy requests...

Well...more things happen.

 Oh goodness.

 Can't help it.

And when it's your birthday coming up soon...

And when your two biggest boys each really want a pet "of their very own"...

And when you make a vow to keep these pets inside for all of their days...

And when you can call these fuzz balls "birthday gifts" and "super fun surprises for the hoolies..."

Well...that's a two for one deal if I ever did see one!

And when there's a little picture obviously drawn by a little person beside one of the kitties with a note that they had to take her to the shelter because they were moving...and when I think about how my little boys would have felt if we had to move away without their little pet...well....that's just about enough said in my book.

The babies come home on Tuesday.
And it's tippy top secret.....

Have mercy on us all...

Family Day.

 Little loves for today...

::  Coffee and Cribbage to start our day.
::  Barefeet in the garden.

 

 ::  The Bangor City Forest.
::  Four mile family bike rides... not bad for the littles.

 ::  My $20.00 beast of a bike!

TRY not to be jealous...

::  Three little boys in helmets.
::  Sweet conversations.
::  Simple pleasures.

 ::  God's creation - vast and wild...

 ::  Three small hoolies - also wild...

::  Hand picked snacks and suppers.
::  Pickles curing in the sink.
::  All of us on the swingset.
::  Chicken sausages and burgers over the open fire for supper.


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::  Tents in the backyard.
::  Long naps for late nights.
::  Backyard looking well-lived in.
::  Boys running through sprinklers.



::  Sweaty, sleepy, happy boys.
::  Homemade chocolate tapioca once they are all asleep....
::  Perfectly sweet and simple Family Day.

"Happiness is not a station you arrive at...but a manner of traveling." ~ Margaret L Runbeck

Mary Mary Quite Contrary...

It's been awhile since I've done a garden post, and while I'm well aware that this may thrill no-one's soul but my own, I do like to document my progress each year, so that hopefully each year I can learn a bit more and get a little bit better at what I do.

I also have a wretched memory, and I tend to lose my garden notes that I write from year to year.  So, maybe if I record my notes and my tidbits of "Wisdom from Lew" online, when it comes time to plant again next year, and when my memory fails me as I'm sure it will, I will have a go-to spot to come back to...

I plant peas solely for my boys.  This is their favorite summertime snack.

This year was the very first year that I did everything all by my lonesome.  So, while some things haven't done amazingly, and while I've had to do a cucumber replant five or six times, my expectations were so low at what might actually be a success - that I'm actually really thrilled with the outcome.

This year, I had two main goals:
1.  To plant only what we really use and need, so as not to waste space.
2.  And to have things spaced apart enough that the boys could roam freely and not crush things.

I still planted a boatload of tomatoes, but I have half of them in heavy duty cages, and the other half staked and tied up with t-shirt ties.  As they continue to grow and sprawl, I continue to tie more t-shirts onto them.  Last year, my tomatoes were a complete jungle, and everytime the boys went to pick one they were either crushing the fruit or completely breaking off the branches, which made me crazy.  This year, it's much better.

Tidbits I have learned:

::  Ideally, (according to Lew), I learned that one should rotate where they plant their veggies every seven years.  Also, tomatoes and potatoes carry the same blight disease, so they shouldn't be planted in the same spots, either. 

::  Cukes and squash shouldn't be planted side by side as they can morphe into some pretty funky mutations of each other.  Learned that lesson last year.

::  Ideally, corn should be planted in rows of four.

::  Green peppers should be planted close enough so that their leaves can touch each other.  Cross pollination - methinks?

::  Pick thine potato bugs religiously, else they shall kill thine potato plants with great ruthlessness.  And hill them faithfully.  Next year, I need to leave more width between my potatoes and the next row.  We didn't have enough dirt to keep on a hilling.

::  Next year, I need to make my mesh wiring for my peas about three feet higher.  And stronger.  Strong enough to hold up delicate pea plants from ravenous hooligans ripping the peas off of the plants.  Also, once the peas go by. (next week?), plant a row of derby green beans.  Later crop for more winter canning.

:: If at first your cucumbers don't grow, keep on a replanting them until they do.  This will also give you perpetual cukes all throughout the summer.

Grow babies, grow!  And yes, they are WAY too close together...but....GROW babies grow!

::  And, if at first, and second, and third, and fourth, and fifth, and sixth attempts..... your zucchinis and squash don't grow....but your pumpkins do....  accept the fact that your children are praying for no squash and zucchini this year, and God has answered their prayers.

The pumkins are the gloriously growing veggies at the back.
The weinie plant in the middle is my squash saying, "I think I can!  I think I can!"
And the teensy weensy plant by the stake is my zucchini saying, "Just give it up!!!"

And final notes....
This year my ten rows are as follows:

1.  Potatoes.
2.  Snap peas, regular peas, green peppers, hot peppers.
3.  Beets, carrots, cilantro, basil, tons of lettuce, kale.
4.  Cukes....and tiny baby cukes.
5-8.  Four rows of corn for two-thirds of the rows.
5-8.  Twelve tomato plants for the last third of the rows.
9.  Green beans.
10.  Zucchini, squash, and pumpkins. 

Thus endeth this garden report for now.
Tell me, what tidbits have you learned that you can pass on to the rest of us?

Christmas in July.

Why-ever not?!

Upon cleaning out my wretchedly mouse infested cupboards the other day, I came across a wondrous stash of unused Christmas-y food-y decorations, and a Gingerbread decorating kit to boot - and I said to myself:  "Self.  I think we should have ourselves a Christmas in July party."

Ransom's works of art!



And so that's what we did today.

Jesse's creations.

We found ourselves company-less and stuck inside because of the rain, and this was a perfect rainy morning in July activity.  Every year, I buy a Gingerbread decorating kit, and nine times out of ten the Christmas season flies by without us ever getting around to using it, so it either gets sold on a yardsale, or heaved in the trash during one of my crazy culling days.

And Kaden's artwork.

This, though.
I think I'm onto something.
A tradition has been made in the Booker household...complete with Christmas music.

Twas fun.

Next year, there's going to be a big old party.
Want to come?

P.S.  I just looked at the calendar.  I guess it's August now.  My bad.