Etymology of Sorts

Livia is a tad confused when it comes to dissecting words and names. Last week she told me, out of the blue, that "Ala" is the first name and "Bama" is the last name. Tonight I read a book where the goose makes a bed out of eider. I asked Livia what she thought eider was. "Oh," she said, and paused. "The first name is "Ida. We can say Ida for short instead of EIDER."

I Feel So Gardeny

Owen is holding today's fresh produce (minus the cherry tomatoes that the boys ate before I could get a picture!). Thank goodness Rhyle is "allergic" to snap peas, or there would hardly be anything at all in the colander.

It brings me great joy to find delicious things in our garden. Eating our first beans gave me supreme joy. My taste buds instantly remembered fresh green beans from the gardens of my memory. I haven't had anything like it for years. . .warm and earthy, crunchy and tasty. I feel like I can truly taste the power of the sun and the amazing life that real, live food gives. Yum!

Short Circuiting

Well, don't you think it's about time I gave a little update or something? Last year at this time I had to post more regularly because everyone was wondering when "the baby" was going to come. This summer I haven't seemed to find time to sit long enough to type and my brain hasn't had enough quiet moments to process anything and the little snippets and blessings that happen throughout my day are stored improperly in my mind and are, therefore, irretrievable even when I do have a quiet minute to sit and type. But we're all okay. Whew!

We (the kids and I) got back late (10:30) last night from a 3 day Classical Conversations practicum. (We left Monday morning at 5am!) More on that later, but suffice to say that my brain is on overload. I'm excited about the program and eager to get started. . . but I've also had my tearful moments of exhaustion and feeling overwhelmed by the intensity of classically educating our children at home.

And home. . . the lights aren't working properly (did I mention that before?). The roof is leaking. The copier is out of order. I need to mow the lawn and work in the garden. (Hallelujah! Even after being gone another 3 days I still have a garden with peas and beans, herbs and tomatoes!) It seems a bit like everything is going fritzy on me. Is there a way to take the current down a notch?!

Thinking of Daddy

We have made it for 5 weeks without Daddy, but we miss him! It has helped us to stay busy (like we were at the farm) and I was greatly helped with the children by my parents. We have been back in Virginia for a little over a week while Braden is still in Alabama clerking for the Supreme Court there. He says he misses us. I miss him, but I don't have much time to think about it! (Though I do think of him a LOT as I try to take care of things that he would normally tackle: the van needing repairs, taking the car top carrier off, putting the bikes on and off of the van, lifting down the bike trailer, replacing fuses, driving garden stakes in, and in general, repair and maintance!)

I know that the kids are thinking about Dad, too. Sometimes it comes up in ways that surprise me. Yesterday morning I had my glasses on; as soon as Livia saw me she exclaimed, "Our Daddy wears glasses!"

Last Sunday during the offering Livia pointed a few rows in front of us and piped up, "That man [Mr. Crowe] looks like OUR Dad!" (This is a compliment to Mr. Crowe, who is probably older than Braden by 10 or 15 years. But he does have dark hair and was wearing glasses, too. Generally similar to Braden, I'll give her that.)

We were working in the garden today and Rhyle reminded me that "Dad and I are both allergic to snap peas." (This is interesting because my children don't have ANY allergies that we know of. Rhyle just had a singluar bad experience with a sugar snap pea.) "Dad likes sugar snap peas," Owen contradicted. Then they went on for a few minutes about the things Dad does and does not like and insisted that each could remember better.

So, we'll keep on. . . but life just isn't as sweet (or easy? Can I say that without sounding horribly lazy?) without Dad. We can't wait to see him again!

Snippets Overheard on a 900 Mile Road Trip

Rhyle: "Grandma. Do you ever wonder why bums are bigger than heads?"

Owen: "You drive, Mom, and Rhyle and Livia and I will look for a hotel. And Tate will look, too."
Me: "Well, that won't do much good; Tate can only see one that's behind us."

Rhyle: "Isn't it time for something sweet?"

Me: "Can't we turn that GPS girl OFF?" (okay, maybe that was only in my head.)

On M&Ms

I need to recount a conversation that Andrew (my cousin) and L had poolside last week before we left IL. It just ties in so nicely with her previously divulging that chocolate is her favorite food.

Andrew and L were talking about snacks. L grew very excited and said, "Yeah, and we got M&Ms!"

"M&Ms?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah," L replied, "lots of them!"

"What's your favorite color M&M?" Andrew queried. "Red? Green?"

pause.

"Do you like the blue ones?" Andrew questioned. "Which color do you like best?"

"CHOCOLATE," said L. And we are not surprised, are we?

Lost Tooth

This is Owen's first lost tooth (you can see the hole!). We noticed a few weeks ago that the front two teeth were coming in behind his baby teeth. So, this is the first of many. Doesn't seem like something to make a big to-do over, but it does give my heart a little pang to realize how big my big boy is getting.

Serious Silliness

Do you think we're having a great time? Look at these big kids! We love Grandma and Grandpa's porch swing. What a blessing to be outside at the farm!