June

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I think June is my favorite time in the garden (ask me in July and I will probably tell you that is my favorite month in the garden! I love my garden). I love the newness of everything, the roses start blooming and the vegetable garden is just starting to show its potential.

Come take a walk with me.


The yellow roses are a particular favorite of mine
Dadzoo bought this bush for me when we bought this house.

Living Simple

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What does it mean to live simply.
I have been mulling this about in my mind for a while. I like the idea of living simply, today we are too busy rushing here and there that we don’t live. I want to live. I want life to flow past me quietly, softly, each day a precious pearl in the strand of my life.

How does one do this? In all the hustle and bustle that we call life. Some days it seems like all I do is go from one mess to another, putting out fires here and there. Some days it seems like all I do is think of cooking, cook and clean up after the cooking, without really tasting the fruits of my labors. Some days the endless core of laundry seems to take over the house and my life! In the middle of all the chores there are children to raise and nurture and a husband to love and I come out harried and exhausted!

Where do I find simplicity in all this?

I have come to the conclusion that simplicity isn’t something that happens, it is something that is sought.

Simplicity is a choice. When life gets busy and crazy, give something up. I don’t do much if any volunteering at my children’s school because I am not a person who juggles a lot of activities effectively. My first priority is to my family and home and I am not as effective when there are a bunch of other things I need to do outside of my home. I use to feel a lot of guilt for this, but as I have become a better mother and homemaker I have let the guilt go.

Once you have trimmed the extra stuff how do you find joy and simplicity in washing dishes and sticky faces? Once again it is a choice. You have to find the simplicity and joy. When washing dishes there can be beautiful music playing, or a conversation with children. Sticky faces and fingers…learn to laugh and give that clean face a kiss once the mess is gone. Folding laundry ( I feel like I am forever doing this!) be quiet and feel the calm of the repetitive process and pride in neatly folded stacks. Have a child join in with you and talk over the socks, more information is given and secrets shared when hands are busy. Almost any chore can inherit the air of simplicity if a little thought is given and a little more time taken.

What do you think living simply means?

The Big Purge

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Today I became the meanest Mom in the
whole
wide
world!
Since my kids are out of school
(the ones that go to public school that is)
I decided it was time to
clean
and sort
and most of all
throw away!
I gave each child a box
(more on that later)
and told them that all their personal toys had to fit into that one box, everything else needed to be tossed. That is why I am so mean.

Really, making my 4th grader throw away the half used notebook from kindergarten….cruel, so very cruel.

I took before and after pictures of each of my daughter’s bedrooms, I am ashamed at the before pictures. I know you all think I am this fabulous housekeeper that has a tidy house all the time…haha….NOT! Here is the proof that I really am kind of messy, I do a lot of homey kind of things, but keeping the house picked up…not my strong point. (I will say that my house is clean…cluttered…but clean). I don’t like living in a cluttered house, but when you have so much stuff hanging around it makes things a little harder. So hopefully the great purge of 2009 will usher in a new era of cleanliness.

Here are the before pictures of Punk #1 and Punk#4’s bedroom.


Yes, it really is this bad…I am so embarrassed!

Here are the after pictures.. and I am proud, we threw away about 90% of all the clutter on the floor.

It all looks so much better, and most of all, it feels better!

O.K. pictures of punk#2 and punk#3’s bedroom.

It is pretty bad…and these are my “clean” girls.

Now the after pictures.

Much better
(although I might need to do a refresher course on bed making skills)

As I was taking pictures I noticed a little problem with the floor under the bed
sigh
I guess I can’t expect total perfection from 9 and 7 year olds!


As a reward for all their hard work and fairly good cooperation we made cookies!


On the docket for tomorrow:
The Basement
(aka “the pit”)

Wish me luck!

Bits

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Nothing particularly interesting has been going on around these parts.
We have been happily going about the business of the day.

I thought I would share some photos I took today.

This is my little man, he is 2 1/2

I can’t believe how big he is.
Unlike a lot of people I enjoy 2 year olds, I think they are the funniest things on the plant,
and they still love their mama’s.
While I am doing school with his big sister, he likes to feel a part of the action.

Today he got his own white board, and I let him use a marker, it was a big day for punk#5!


This is my oldest.
This is my homeschool child.
This is the girl who hated to read.
This is the girl who couldn’t and wouldn’t read.
This is the girl who would cry and cry during reading time,

and this is the sweet reward for the many weeks of teaching her to love reading.

The rewards of motherhood are simple, but very sweet.
(see the doll on her chest, she loves babies and baby dolls, I love that she is able to enjoy her imagination. She wanted to know if I use to read like that when she was a little baby, and you know what? I did!)