Filling Up Fast

An afternoon storm took out the power and it has just returned. We cooked spaghetti on the turkey frier and George boiled water for some coffee with his camp stove equipment while the children watched wide eyed. A science lesson I suppose. We've gone through candles since we've moved. Our emergency candle collection nearly didn't make the trip to Florida because we've never used it, and George was sure it was good to have. Good to have and glad to have it!

This last week has been so wonderfully full. We started out last week meeting some new friends for a swim. Swimming is crucial here. We are still always looking for swimming holes!

Wednesday I took the children on a quick a trip to Columbus, Georgia to visit with my dear friend Clare and her family. We soaked in boat rides, tea parties, art projects, animal visits, sand piles at the site where they are building their new home, great food, more boat trips, dirt digging . . . Clare is filled with project ideas. She is filled with joy and life always. It was such a beautiful time. Until we were 20 minutes from home, the children thought we should return for a longer visit! Clare blogs about her adventures at www.thegreengate.blogspot.com.

Amelia took this. We just laughed and laughed!




George Wilder dressed in scrubs from Aunt Mary

One of the many beautiful shade trees at the lake!



Rain Dance

First Rain Dance with First Blueberry Feast Stains

Spaghetti dinner cooking on the front porch during the storm.


We returned here to Cousin John and family (George's dear cousin that the children only know as "Cousin John"). Their two year old Smith kept right up with our two on the trampoline, with the chickens, bike rides, and a trip to our nature museum to visit with the red wolves, visiting Madagascar Lemurs, Panthers, Black Bears, Massive Alligators and more. Kim kept up the pace beautifully with baby Owen.

This week we've already played with new friends, taken a dip at the local lake, discovered the Fresh Market, danced in the rain storm, and moved William to his own room.

George has a record playing almost always with wonderful music he has started collecting. The children love to take turns picking out records.

We've found a fantastic Goodwill up the road, a stable where Amelia can take horseback riding lessons, and George has already found some fellow musicians to jam with.

Amelia is crazy about art projects, so George and I have started in on a few with her. He has painted a beautiful bird on a piece of tin he cut like a bird and I painted with some collage work behind it.




Comments

  1. Ashlie JohnsonJuly 18, 2012 at 6:34 AM

    I love that tin bird!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. DonnaJuly 24, 2012 at 11:30 AM

    Amelia is quite the photographer (though William may disagree one day) :-) Great pics and great art projects. Also liked your description of the dinner made during a power outtage. I can see that Gulf storms will be no challenge for you. Think tough!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Love Them. Feed Them. Talk To Them. The Rest Is Icing On The Cake.

Image
We've been homeschooling for ten years. At LEAST once a week I think that homeschooling is the worst possible thing on the planet. I look at my kids and think, "I've got nothin'!" It is scary. It is hard. How many hundreds of times have I called my extremely patient husband and yelled, literally screamed into the phone, "I CAN'T DO THIS!" There was a day, in the middle of a lesson that wasn't going well at all, that I walked out the back door, walked to the pool, jumped in fully clothed and yelled as loud as I could under the water. I got back out of the pool, calmly walked inside, changed my clothes and continued with the day feeling much relieved. George, my husband and biggest cheerleader - also a major part of our homeschooling life, is diligent to walk me off the cliff of homeschool despair. When I feel like I am failing our children, he offers me this morsel... Before I give you his advice, I would like to mention at this poi...
Read more

Child's Play

Image
Amelia wanted to have a coffee shop party for her friends to celebrate her birthday. We planned it all week. We named the coffee shop, "Amaruma Coffee." George Wilder says it means, "Good Coffee". We made the logo. Of course it included a tree (Amelia draws trees constantly) and coffee beans. We made decisions about what to serve and how to serve it.  Then Amelia decided to make a castle. She found some bricks in the yard and started making a wall/castle. George Wilder was responsible for making the mortar from ash and water and dirt. They worked on the wall/castle for days. The coffee shop became the side show and the castle would be the center of play. They walked through exactly how the day would go all afternoon Thursday. It was nearly impossible to do any school work Friday. They looked longingly toward the castle/wall. There was work to do. It had to be finished and decorated and set up for extensive castle visiting. There were problems to be sol...
Read more

Wilderness Whines

Image
When the "but I want . . . " sirens wail and "just one more time. . . " voices ring in chorus, and the "when will we be there?" interrogations press hard against ear drum, we stop and talk about the power of wishing for something that isn't ours to have and how it is debilitating and hard and caused an entire nation to get stuck in a desert for 40 years and if they would have just seen past the "when will we get there" they might have enjoyed the journey and found glory waiting without so much turmoil. We are cuddled and there are lots of tears as I explain the weeding of the whine and how it must happen now. And suddenly I realize that perhaps I've been wandering around. Yes, I have. I am in a desert of whine. It is bedtime and we turn off the lights and pray for grace for the next day. The next day arrives quickly. I lace up and head out the door for a morning run and prayer. It comes to me as I put one foot in front of the...
Read more