It's coming on my favorite time of year . . . .

. . . fall!
We are in our rainy season right now, intensified by the tropical storm activity to our south.
This makes me smile.
Still warm, but with a hint of the cooler temps on the way, the rain pit-pats on the window panes, and I am inside, cup of tea in hand, cookies baking in the oven, the kids drawing at the dinning room table, Daniel puttering around, discovering new things about his old toys.
I watch the sky yield with the lazy hum of dishwasher, washing machine, jazz on the radio, life in the background.
I love the late summer rains.
They bring behind them lavish displays of colorful fall leaves.
In a dry year, everything just sort of dries up and blows away.
But this year we have had our share of rain, and then some, so I am looking forward to the burst of fall foliage waiting in the weeks ahead.
Right now, though, it is still too warm for the leaves to change. It is so humid in fact, that we have had quite a crop of toadstools growing up in our back field.
I see them in yards all over town.
Steeped in myth, you can see why people of old crafted stories about them being shelters for wee folk and fairies and enchanted amphibians.
My own wee folk loved picking them and discovering all their hidden parts and magical mazes.

Along with multi-colored leaves, fall also brings with it football! And soccer!
Yes, dear friends, I am a soccer mom.
And a football mom.
And I love it.
Josiah has had two games rained out so far (there was a make-up on Tuesday. They lost, but Jo played hard!)
Isaac has played two games in the pouring rain and has had myriad practices.
This is Isaac's first time playing tackle football, though he has played soccer and baseball before, and it is Josiah's first experience with playing team sports.
Daniel is a great spectator now, but one day, he'll be out there too.
I am having fun watching them learn about themselves and team and others through this process. They have done so well making friends and learning what they can about their games and how to follow their coaches lead and think about the other kids on their teams.
There really are some good life lessons to be had in sports.
It has been busy here, what with all the practices and games and school and settling into the house.
The house is coming along.
It takes a while to settle into a place, to make it your own.
I am still sorting through boxes, deciding what to keep and what to get rid of.
We still have two rooms under construction here (the family room and a guest room), so there is less space than we were living in and our garage is full of furniture and other "stuff".
What I appreciate about moving is that it offers us an opportunity to assess how we live, what we live with and what we can in fact live without.
Living in this house definitely challenges my "get it all done right now" sensibilities.
There is so much potential here for this to be a great house.
But, it will take time.
I can just see God, smiling up there in heaven, nodding his head, saying "yep."
He knows a little something about the process of renovation.
Here are some pics of what we've done so far . . .
and what still needs to be done. . .
School is going well. Latin II is a challenge for me. Sometimes I think to myself, "I'm teaching LATIN?!!" What is that about?"
But, we are getting through it together, the students and I, and a wise teacher I once met from an established classical school in Iowa told me, any Latin our students get are more than they would have gotten, and God will give the grace to the teachers who are to teach it. I think about that every time I crack open my Latin II book!
I love my seventh grade history and literature classes. We are learning about the beginning of history, and reading Paradise Lost in lit.
The boys like their teachers and their classes.
Josiah's room has an "under the sea" theme, and he is having so much fun!!! His teacher is doing a poem a week and weekly catechism with them . . . all the things I would do if I had that at home.
We went out to the ranch last week. Grandpa came with us!! It was so much fun to show him what we know, and to ride for him.
Rachel saddled up a horse we had not met before, Avalon.
I did not think it was possible for a horse to be bigger than Bounder, but I was wrong.
Wider in girth and a bit taller, Avalon is an eight year old, in the prime of his life, and boy does he know it. Let's just say he is not as . . . docile as Bounder.
So who got to ride him?
Me!
I had Rachel lead me around, though. I was pretty nervous at first.
Then we both relaxed, though, and riding him was like heaven.
That's the scoop here. It has been busy.
Notice I am not saying I promise to write more, though that is my intention.
Right now, though, I will finish my tea by the window. I will breathe in the crisp air, clean. I with breathe out silent prayers of thanks for this moment.
And I will leave you with these three faces . . .

Getting back to normal . . . whatever that is!

It's been raining . . . and raining, and raining.
Yesterday, as we were leaving for school, slogging through the wet grass, Josiah said, "We won't get to go outside today for recess, I can feel it in my gut! I can really feel it" and with that, he tapped his stomach with his clenched fist several times.
Where do they come from?
Daniel will be one in a few weeks. Is that possible? He is climbing stairs like a pro, and even taught himself how to crawl down them backwards. He just has to work on realizing how many stairs there are to go down.

Isaac is ready for school to be out, as are we all, I think. One week to go.
Last week was wacky week, though, so at least it was fun.
Monday was spirit day. The kids had to wear white, black or red shirts to show support to our school.
Tuesday was dress up day. Isaac was a New York Yankee and Josiah was a Knight.

Wednesday was wacky day . . . the wackier the better!
Thursday was pajama day. Everyone walked around in a stupor all day, wanting to take a nap. Good thing we don't wear pjs on a regular basis. Everyone would be tired all the time.

Today was just good old non-uniform day.
Next week is full of fun days and end of the year parties, etc.
Of course, summer break, for us, means settling into the new house, which is still "under construction." Some minor repairs and remodels have turned into some major projects, so we are still waiting it out at mom's and working on the house when we can.
I keep driving to the old house when it is time to "go home." Creature of habit, I guess.
Today was a beautiful day, a respite from the rain and gloominess that can come with it.
The skies were a beautiful blue, the clouds were so white and full and majestic, looming over the landscape, almost touching earth, it seemed. It's like all the rain was a spring cleaning for the sky, and today it gleamed.
Joe worked odd hours today, and the boys and I ate at grandpa's this evening.
The boys took the opportunity to play in the swollen pond. They looked so "Christopher Robin-ish" in their boots.

Gramp is doing well, recovering from the bypass and all the other ordeals.
It is so good to walk into the room where he is sitting in his recliner, to see him there and to hear his voice talking about anything.
A couple of years ago, I wrote the following in a journal, and today, as I passed him in his chair where he was reading the mail, I thought about this passage:

Have you ever been in a moment, and recognized, suddenly, that it is a moment you will remember forever. That it will later, maybe even years later, play back in your mind like a mini movie, and you will see clearly the patchy sunlight falling through the window, across your grandfather, sleeping in his chair. You will smell the early spring. You will see the candle flicker on the dresser. You will again feel the stab of love and sadness at seeing him there, sleeping in the daylight. And you know this, that it will play over again on days when the chair is empty; on days when it will no more hold the napping form of your grandfather.
This happens to me a lot lately. In these moments, time seems to move in slow motion, and there is a certain cognizance that the very moment I am in is becoming an indelible part of who I am. There is a clarity that escapes mere existence in these moments – a sharpness of senses that makes the scene surreal, almost. Dreamlike, except for the fact that I am acutely aware that I am, indeed, awake.
I have come to love these moments, even when they capture unpleasantness, for they make me aware I am alive. I hear the heart beating in my chest. I feel the blood running through my veins, my breathing rings in my ears, and I know, this – this very minute, and every minute like it -- is what it means to be alive.
Spring. Early spring is here, indeed, and we are in it, and I love the way the air smells. Promise. It smells like promise.

Artsy-fartsy Friday

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures." Henry Ward Beecher

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." Pablo Picasso

Due to an opening in our art department at the shcool, I now have the opportunity to teach art to the fourth, fifth and sixth grades for an hour on Friday afternoons.
Today was my third week teaching it.
Last week, since it was right before the first of March, I had the students read and discuss the poem "Who Can See The Wind." Then, we looked at three of VanGogh's paintings in which you can see evidence of the wind. I had the students paint their own pictures that "show the wind" using watercolors.
They came up with some amazing pieces of art!
This week, I brought in several shells and pieces of coral Mom collected at the beach on her trip to Florida last week. I had the students look at them, touch them, study the lines and contours and shapes and shades and shadows, and then sketch them with drawing pencils.
It has been so neat to see the students engaged in creating. I believe we are close to God when we are creating. We are exhibiting a family trait.
Next week I will . . . who knows. Anyone have any ideas? I am building a curriculum for next year, but there is not much time left this school year, so I am sort of jumping around. If anyone has any good ideas, or insights or projects, please feel free to share.
Here are some "Can you see the wind?" pieces. The first one is Isaac's.