My Two Favorite Quotes From Saturday

On the way home from seeing "Horton Hears a Who", my son said to his daddy and I, "Man, mom, that Jojo had 96 sisters! That's a lot of responsibility, because he's the oldest of course!"

And on the way to said movie, my youngest, who is three, looked at her older sister, who is five and said, "Do you like my tights, sisdah? Do you like my haih bows?" And big sister replied, "Yes, but you should have worn your spotty pants because they matched better with that dress." I guess the fashion sisterhood begins very early!

Then and Now

Last year, for Easter, we were just settling into our new home in London. Hubby and I reflected today on the differences between the two. Here is a comparison.

Last Year
Were in a new (to us) semi-detached home, with little to no Easter decorations.
Were worshiping here.
Took public transport to church with lots of hung-over folks who wondered why we were so dressed up.
Had lunch at McDonald's.
Played at Hyde Park -- no egg hunt.
Couldn't find Easter baskets and kids got Easter bags instead.
Couldn't find jelly beans or many Easter goodies, but the Brits sure love their large chocolate Easter eggs and have them in any theme available. Somehow the Bart Simpson egg didn't really "speak" Easter to us. Alas, we skipped the British tradition!
Had fresh hot cross buns.
Got dressed up for church only to realize that this was NOT apparently an Easter tradition in Britain.
Hubby had a four-day weekend and we spent it visiting the Broadstairs beach and Dover Castle.

This Year
"Back Home Again in Indiana"...(Sing it with me, people. Okay, so if you're not a Hoosier, you don't even know that's a song!)
Worshipped at our home church and sat beside my mama today.
Took our van to church and wondered to myself how could it be full of so much junk, yet again.
Had our traditional Easter feast at mother's -- ham, baked beans, bread, buffet salad, asparagus, cheese potatoes and chocolate pie.
Had an egg hunt in grammy's back yard.
Dug out the Easter baskets that had gone unused from last year.
Jellybeans galore!
I miss those hot cross buns, and all those yummy British bakeries.
Got dressed up for church only to be attacked by a three-year-old weilding a pink chapstick with landed right in the middle of my new dress.
Hubby has a four-day weekend and we spent it shopping for a new vacuum and doing laundry.

Since being back, we find it interesting to play the "what were we doing last year at this time" game. Thanks for reading along!

Happy Easter

"We need to immerse ourselves over and over again for long periods of time and very quietly into the living, speaking, acting, suffering and dying of Jesus; so that we may recognize what God promises and what He fulfills." --Deitrich Bonhoffer

So, Maybe We'll Write a Book

I was on the phone with a friend today while my two girls played outside. I was watching from the back door and noticed that the three year old was chewing something. This is never a good feeling when you're the mommy and you know you haven't given your children anything to eat. And they are outside. Where it is really muddy and yucky. In the middle of our phone conversation, my friend heard:

Me: "What are you eating?!"

Three Year Old: "Ice."

Me: "Yuck!! No, that ice has lots of yucky stuff in it!"

No response.

Me: "Lots of yucky stuff is in that ice like maybe..bird poop!!" (Do other mothers use such exaggeration to get their children to stop doing gross things?)

No response. Child keeps chewing.

Me: Yuck! Spit it out!"

Finally, the three year old obeys and spits out the ice.

At which point my friend said, "You know, we should write a book or something. The things that we hear each other say on the phone, without really seeing what's going on, are just so silly. Imagine if some random person heard that."

It's true, when you're a mother, you could be quoted saying some really, really weird things. I wonder what the neighbors think?

We Stopped In Montgomery, Too, Y'all

On the way to Destin last week, we stopped over in Montgomery for a night. Being the history buff that I am, I made hubby stop at the visitor's center that was right by our hotel. Boy, was I glad that I did! I didn't realize what a history goldmine that we'd landed in. Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., Hank Williams, and the first white house of the Confederacy where all there. Here are some photos:

Where We've Been For the Past Ten Days

After spending nearly two years without a nice warm summer to speak of, we were excited to make our way to Destin, Florida for a wonderful and relaxing vacation with friends. Somehow, the Panhandle was much warmer than the last trip we had made to the beach with the children --to the North Sea in Scotland!

Spring is Coming --The Red-Winged Blackbirds and Robins Are Back!

The red-winged blackbirds are back, as are the robins around these parts. It is so funny how the robin seems such a common bird in spring, summer, and fall, yet seems such a welcome sight at the end of a long, cold winter!

Here is a list of the birds we've seen at our feeder since January:

red-winged blackbird
grackle
crow
bluebird
house sparrow
song sparrow
purple finch
house finch
male and female cardinal
bluebird
black-capped chickadee
mourning dove
brown-headed cowbird
starling
dark-eyed junco

Little House on the Prairie Narration - Ch 1; Pages 1-5

The boy is reading "Little House on the Prairie". Here is his first narration.

"Pa wanted to move West, because he liked to see the deer and the fawns. Pa, Ma, Laura, Mary and baby Carrie moved West. Their cousins waved and kissed them goodbye. And their grandmas and aunts too."

Please humor me as I use this as a place to record little things about our homeschool day so that I can keep track! ;)

Preaching the Gospel to His Little Self

He runs upstairs, something triggering a thought and an excitement to share something good, something very good.

He comes down with this.

He proceeds to read us all a Psalm. We are all encouraged.

He tells us how the Psalms are ministering to his little boy heart. "At night, when I am scared, I read a happy one and it makes me feel better."

Father God, thank you...thank you...thank you. Continue to remind me that it is YOU who is the heart-wooer. I trust you with my boy. Never let go of him. Pierce his heart with your love each day until You consume his very life.

Green Hour Challenge - Week Two - Describing

We took Green Hour Challenge number 2 this week. We had a lovely day with a bit of sunshine and warmer weather today, so we headed out into our yard. I pre-read the assigned pages from the Handbook of Nature Study, and therefore learned about the importance of preparing the children what to look for, etc. I simply told them that we were going to take a nature walk, and that we would be listening, looking, and touching things. I tried to model curiosity and a posture of listening/observing.

I was amazed at the things we were able to see in our very own backyard, which is mostly used for swinging, sliding, and bird feeding! We found evidence of bunnies (you know the little brown kind!) in two places in the yard, and because it was Saturday and daddy was with us, he pointed out the places in the yard that he has noticed bunnies hiding.

We visited a grouping of bushes near the back of the yard where birds seem to gather. There were clusters of small red berries on that bush. We discussed that perhaps the birds like the bush for the berries. Then we took note of the area around the feeder. The birds had been quite messy with the seed and there was much on the ground. We were delighted to see the branches on the tree turning a scarlet red color on the ends!

So, here are the observations that each family member made
DD3 heard birds, saw three birds, and felt soft, little berries.
DD5 heard tweeting, saw spotted leaves and felt nice soft "hay" (aka dead grass!).
DS6 heard chirping, saw red berries, and felt dry, hard grass
Daddy heard hooting, saw a flying kite, and felt a smooth and rough tree.
Mommy heard barking, saw red branch tips, and felt cool, gentle wind.

All in all a wonderful challenge full of fun and lots of noticing in our very own backyard! We have decided to start with a family nature journal with a weekly entry.