a childs mind

A child's mind thinks "if I can't see them they can't see me".
A child's mind does not think that there may be slime and germs in the dogs water bucket. A child's mind thinks "i am hot, i will cool myself with this wet water".









A child's mind is a beautiful thing.

to be grateful

I cannot recall the inspiration for circle time although I remember the excitement of the first night we began this family ritual. Now each night, I light a candle on the floor of the boys bedroom. They gather and circle around it's warm light. We sit for a moment and reflect on our day. Then one by one we share what we are grateful for that day. When we have finished we blow out the candle and it is re-lit for the next. We have so much to be grateful for and here is a short list of the things I can recall that my sons were grateful for at this nights "circle time"

"that i get to play baseball"
"that Tucker gets to play baseball"
"that Daddy gets to be here for circle time"
"that we have a good strong house"
"that we have cozy warm beds to sleep in"
"that daddy has a good job and makes money for us"
"that we get to do circle time"
"that we got to see nanna and poppa today"
"that Nanna and Poppa like their new house"

Flowers from Rollin

Rollin hurried up to me with a handful of flowers. It was really very sweet but I happened to be in the middle of helping Thadeus get our chicken coop and his truck un-stuck from the mud. So I asked Rollin to set them on the picnic table. I forgot about them and they had not even crossed my mind again until the following afternoon when I saw them in a jar with water on top of the piano. Sweet, sweet Rollin.

easy afternoon at the park

Well Trained

Koda is sort of like my furry side kick. Rollin and I have lovingly nick-named her Koda Coyote because of her appearance. I often call her my fury ball of sunshine because she is always happy. Every morning when I let her out of her crate and feed and water her she is so excited she bounces around constantly checking in with me. She doesn't even begin to eat her breakfast until I walk out of the room. She follows me around through out the day while I do chores and tend to the children and sometimes she rests her head on my feet while I am washing dishes or sitting down to eat. A couple of months or so ago Thadeus and I noticed that when Koda began to bug the boys the would shout "call Koda" and of course we would call her to alleviate their frustration. Usually offering her a pat on the head when she came or maybe a small food treat if it was handy. The interesting part was that she picked up on their command. Now when the boys shout "call Koda" we don't actually have to call her she she retreats from them and comes to find one of us. This evening I was cleaning up the kitchen and Fynn called from the other room, "Mommy" I took my time and as I turned the corner I caught a glimpse of Kodas' rear end heading into the room where he was. She almost always follows me when I go to them if they call, but now she was ahead of me. She looked so proud when I walked in and she was already there checking on Fynn for me.

bedtime grooming

Tucker was combing his wet hair across his head and I was joking about it being a "comb over". The boys were all confused so I began to explain what a "comb over" was. Tucker was shocked to learn that a mans hair can fall out! He said "I thought they just shaved their heads"! I had a good laugh and Tucker appreciates his hair a little more now.

Fynn was also brushing his hair, and his teeth at the same time. He asked "mommy how do I look" then as he continued, he lifted the wrong hand and brushed a gob of toothpaste right through his hair.