What's In My Teapot?

You know how it feels when you're playing Candy Land, and you're making progress and feeling pretty good about things, and then you draw the card with the little plum on it and you have to go aaallllllll the way back to the Gingerbread Plum Trees at the very beginning? It's downright disheartening, right? Well, that's a little how we're feeling today, and here's why: We got word this morning that the contract on our house was terminated, and while we certainly knew it could happen, especially after the home inspector went over the place with the perspective buyer, a fine-toothed comb, and a magnifying glass, it still leaves us pretty discouraged. On top of that, another family that is interested- and has been since August- finally had a contract on the home they're trying to sell and thought they might be able to make an offer on our house, only to have their contract fall through, too. It's not a lot of fun to be carried back to square one af...

Today has been a day for sharing. Gavin shared a piece of gum from his personal pack with each of his siblings, minus Finley. Parker shared little candy balls from the tiny toy gas pump that he loves to operate, wherein the candy rolls down a small track and lands with a clink at the bottom when you turn a miniature crank on the side of the pump. Elasa, Gavin and Parker shared a bit of their time and energy with the neighbors across the street by raking some leaves out to the curb, where the leaf truck will vacuum them up later this week. A friend from church who drove past and saw the children out raking leaves stopped and shared from  the stash of smarties he keeps in his work van, giving them each a pack. Elasa in turn shared her smarties with Finley, biting them into small pieces to make them more consumable for a one-year-old. Parker saved one smartie to share with Daddy upon his return from work. I love seeing my children share, and the attitude of generosity be...

Ever have an urge to write on a rainy Monday morning when it its high time to get school started, and the dirty laundry is giving you reproachful looks, and the beds are unmade and rumpled, and the baby is still in his pajamas even as the clock strikes 9? Me too. I have learned that if there is such a thing as a Writer's Law, it certainly includes this: a writer will always and forever have his or her most inspiring thoughts at the most inconvenient times! Indeed. Ten times out of ten, my best thoughts for writing come to me either in church, as I am walking into Wal-Mart, or when I am zipping about the house in the midst of a crazy morning when I don't even have time to finish my coffee, much less sit down and write. This is why setting aside a time every day or even every week would not work for me! Faced with a spot of time when I could actually write, I am always faced with another, darker problem: a blank head! So what is the solution? Apparently, some of the t...

Thanks to a rainy day, we had the perfect weather for Poetry Teatime. Thanks to a simple scone recipe, we had the makings of our favorite treat. Thanks to my Mom, we had the delight of fresh red raspberries. Thanks to a carton of heavy whipping cream, we had scoops of heaven on our plates. Thanks to The Random House Book of Poetry , we had a marvelous selection of things to read. Thanks to homeschooling, we had this ritual at lunch time on an ordinary Wednesday. Now, there are days when I am quite certain that homeschooling is not for me. I crave quiet and order, and my mornings are anything but. Rather, I jump from one child to the next, from one subject to another: answering questions here, giving a spelling test there, and often with a cantankerous toddler on my lap all the while who is trying to write on the teacher's key with a pilfered red pencil. If you envision homeschooling as a calm, peaceful endeavor, with children bent sweetly and studiously over there w...

The first day of August seems a bit early in the season to call a halt to summer vacation and get back to school, but since we're still up in the air with our move, it seemed prudent to start sooner than later. The thought is that if we move, I will need some time off and starting early will give some wiggle room, and if we don't move, well, who minds getting out a little earlier in the spring? I don't feel as prepared for the beginning of school as I would like, but some of that will happen with time as we work out a schedule and learn a few things by trial and error. I am realizing that homeschooling is an ever-changing scene, and that no two years are alike! Yes, you learn things that stand you in good stead from year to year, but other things have to remain flexible. Last year I had a new baby; this year I have a very busy one-year-old, a house on the market, and the possibility of a move in the fall. Last year I had two scholars, this year I have three! He...

I don't know Andy Williams. I only know that he was sadly mistaken when he wrote the lyrics to a song claiming that Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. Apparently he knew nothing of summertime in Pennsylvania. And surely he could not have written those words in good conscience if he had experienced fields winking with lightning bugs.  Salty lips after eating corn right off the cob. The agreeable collision between children and wading pools. Ice cream in a bowl, on a stick, or smothered in sundae syrup, with the only requirement being more . Foot freedom better known as flip flops. The smell of rain on a sun-warmed street. Meadow tea, the most refreshing drink in the world. Babies who have no need of shoes and who are learning to walk on grass. A cool shower after a hot work out in the flower bed. The luxury of lingering over coffee in the morning as there is no math to teach. Watermelon juice gracing the chin. Reading books by the drone of t...

From this To this In one short year. Amazing!!! When I consider how quickly the past twelve months have gone, the only thing I can wrap my mind around is a question: how did that happen?  A year may sound like a long time, and for many things it is, but it's not very long to go from a helpless infant to a toddler who is capable of babbling, going up steps at the speed of light, wreaking havoc in the pantry, plowing around the house behind a little push toy, standing up in the bathtub, and putting anything but food in his mouth. There's so much happening- and so much ground covered- in that first year! Add to that the fact that Finley has been such a delight, and I think I am beginning to understand why it feels like time has gone so fast. Last evening we had a birthday party for Finley at the park, which included both sets of grandparents and some aunts, uncles and cousins. I had fun with a woodland theme, having picked a fox for Finley...

I know I shouldn't be sitting down to write when there are dirty dishes on the counter, fresh- baked cookies to put away, sticky spots from an iced tea spill on the floor, wet laundry in the washer, and a wreck-of-a-house to clean and tidy before a house showing tomorrow morning, but I find that the crazier my life is, and the longer my list of things to do, the more I am drawn to my keyboard. Maybe it's because the words look so orderly on the screen, and with our cupboard doors off their hinges and most of my kitchen stuff packed into boxes while we paint the cabinets, my world is less than orderly. Maybe it's because writing is a way to process and communicate when my opportunities to do either seem so slim and interrupted these days. Maybe it's because I am feeling a little desperate today and would like for you all to join me in praying for a breakthrough with this whole house-selling ordeal! Whatever the reasons, I am glad for a blog on days like this when...

Aunt Sara is gone. The reality is there, echoing down the recesses of my mind, lodging behind the lump in my throat, but it still doesn't seem right. We knew it was coming, knew that after a three year battle with cancer, the disease was taking it's final toll, and we even had the mercy of getting to hold her hand and say Good-bye, but I still want to turn back the hands of the clock and find her sitting on the couch at a family gathering, her good humor filling the room. Aunt Sara was a grandmother figure, and especially so since by the time I married into the family, Wesley's paternal Grandmother, Aunt Sara's mother, was already gone. She, therefore, made it her business to love and bless her extended family in a way that succeeded in endearing herself to all of us. It is therefore no mystery why we will miss her so very much. There were the homemade cards to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and new arrivals. And these weren't just any homemade card...

Let it be known that we were not looking for a house to buy. Nor were we planning to sell our current abode. In fact, only days before we decided to do both, we were cleaning out our basement and making long-overdue plans to remodel the space into a school room. Then our neighbors put a sign in their front yard and we looked out our window and began to wonder about the possibility of relocating our stuff across the street. After all, their house has a larger yard, four bedrooms instead of three, a laundry chute, and a window seat in the master bedroom. Best of all, the basement is already finished, with a room that could be perfect for school, which is quite appealing right now, since neither Wesley or I just love DIY home-improvements. (In fact, there are MANY other ways we would rather spend our time and energy, given the choice!!!) Also- there's the yard thing. When we moved into this house on the edge of town seven years ago, we knew the yard wasn't huge , but ...

Today is the day, I told myself firmly, that the silence will end. I have written (or started writing, shall we say?) various posts, but in the end they never came to be, and the longer it goes, the harder it is to break ground. Dry ground does not yield easily to a shovel. Especially when the shovel is a garden spade and the ground is the Sahara Desert. I envy writers who can plow through all manner of obstacles, from busyness to brain blocks and everything in between, but I have proven to myself- and the world at large- that I am not numbered among the stalwart. Rather, I have turned this space into the very type of blog that I despise- a dormant one . It is not fun to awaken to the fact that you have mastered the very habit that you most feared, but I have pondered my options and have come to the brilliant conclusion that I have but two: to quit or not to quit? Indeed, this is the question. I could fold this blog into an envelope of the past, and maybe someday, if I e...

When Wesley came home for lunch today, I asked him who invented this day. I knew, of course, and I also know that I am to be glad and rejoice in it, but I still asked the question in the same spirit that I sometimes ask who invented home-schooling. I was just coming up out of a chilly basement where I had been sorting laundry, and since I was at a kid's consignment sale this week and brought home clothes for 4 children, there was a mountain instead of a mound. Plus, while I was sorting, the boys turned the new baby monitor into a walkie-talkie (the person who designed the "talk" feature on these units must not have had boys...) and Elasa complained bitterly that she almost had Finley asleep at one point, but that the boys made so much noise they woke him up again. It was also raining cats and poodles outside, and for some reason, while weather like this makes me more sluggish, it seems to energize my brood. Sometimes, when the noise crescendos and the floors shake, ...

I feel somewhat responsible for this snow, having prayed for it at the behest of my children for most of the winter, a nd even though it came in the middle of March, instead of January or February when it would have been more proper, I must say, we were all rather pleased with our answer to prayer! We even got a special bonus with our snow day, when the shop where Wesley works closed and he got to spend the day at home with us, so that was a rare treat!!! The children got a shortened school day, plus a lot of time outdoors shoveling and sledding, Wesley worked on the taxes and made his specialty snow-cream, and I had more peace and quiet in the house than usual and was inspired to make a double batch of   Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls , so I think we all took advantage of what we were given! Indeed, it was one of the best snow days I could have hoped for, complete with a fire in the hearth and one of my favorite foods on earth (think wa...