Precious Jewels

When I was a little girl in first grade at the local private Seventh-Day Adventist school, I learned a hymn that has stuck with me forever. I sang it with fervor then, I learned to play it on my recorder, and I hummed it while nursing my babies at 3 in the morning. Now my kids hum it to their baby friends, and play it on their recorders. The hymn refers to little children, but it has become such a lexicon for me, I find it pops up in my head at the funniest times. I may not be the most spiritual person you know, but every once in a while, I surprise people with it, not the least, myself.

Like when my Mama, my Girly, my Boy, and I are all in the kitchen, singing rounds in harmony, and working all together to can peaches. I feel so blessed, listening to their bright voices, hearing them laugh, watching them interact with their Gramma, listening with rapt attention to her oft-repeated stories about canning with her Mama. I didn't get to know her, so this makes it even more special- that my kids get to enjoy working and being with her, and that she lets herself enjoy them, vision or no. May not sound like much, but it is huge. My mom and my kids' moments together are as precious to me as gemstones. They shine and shimmer- like opals (which I have always prefered over diamonds) glowing in the sunlight that streams through my finger-printed kitchen window.

Then I am reminded of the song again, when the counters and kitchen table are covered with sparking jewels of jars, in a rainbow of gem-like colors. The red of tomatoes, that came from my garden, the dark purple-blue of blackberries we picked from the back and side yards (and we have the scratches to prove it!), the reddish-yellow of Rainier cherries we got from the food bank (even if the jam didn't gel and I have to re-do them sometime this week, they are so very pretty!), and the pure golden yellow of orange-peach marmalade and canned peaches, made with peaches from my sister-in-law's peach tree. A table full of sparkling jewels that we all put the effort into making, and will all enjoy this winter.

And Auntie Pam, the Boy ran scraps out to the chickens, washed jars, peeled and pitted, and when he couldn't stand to be in the kitchen without making wierd screechy noises, mowed the lawn. He is a great helper, too. And he is still singing to us, even though his voice is changing from that sweet high clear little boy voice to a deeper, mellow young man voice. Another gem.

TTFN,
LB


When He cometh, when He cometh
To take up His jewels
Precious jewels, precious jewels
His loved and His own
Like the stars in the morning
His bright crown adorning
They shall shine in His beauty
Bright gems for his crown

Whew!

Picture three generations of females in the kitchen, canning together. The blind Gramma peeling the tomatoes, the long-haired helpful 11 yr old pitting them (and re-peeling some of Grammas without saying anything, bless her heart), and the round, sweating, but cheerful 41 yr old mama dealing with all the hot water, keeping the tomatoes scalding, boiling empty jars, filling them with garlic, toms, vinegar, and salt, then putting lids and rings on. Then while the jars process, they all curl up on the couch and in the recliner (and on the laptop) and rest. We prepared 10 quarts and 4 pints in less than two hours!! Then we went out for burgers, and a trio to the dollar store. We are invincible! And now we are pooped! ;-)

Tomorrow, we will conquer blackberry jelly, and peach jam. Funny how it has been 65 to 70 degrees for the last two days, but goes up past 80 when we decide to can. Now I am off to make Gramma's bed up on the couch, and tuck her in with a kiss on the forehead. I love it when she sleeps over.
TTFN,
LB

Jack Sparrow attractive? I think not.

Okay, there was a lot of talk on the WTM boards when the Pirates of the Carribean (both the first and second) movies came out about how attractive Johnny Depp was as Jack Sparrow, but I just have to say no way. Come on, ladies, what is so attractive about an alcoholic man with no morals whatsoever, rotten teeth, unwashed dreads, who hasn't washed in goodness knows how long, and who either gets very little sleep or has an addiction to heavy black eyeliner in all the wrong places? Hmm, I ask you, what is handsome about that???!!

But other than that, I did enjoy the movie yesterday. After being at a funeral for several hours, it was fun to laugh at silliness, and be terribly scared at the crakken. The Boy had to hold my hand during the scary parts. 'Course I had to pry his fingers out of his ears (the loudness during the scary parts is what gets him) in order to hold his hand, lol.
TTFN,
LB

Comparative Religion Studies

Yesterday, we went to a Catholic Funeral Mass for a cousin of the Papa Dude who passed away last week. As this seems to be the year for comparative religious studies, the church visit fit right in. Let's see, so far we have been to a Presbyterian church, a Unity Church, and a Catholic Mass. On Sept. 9th, we will attend a wake for the same cousin. We also have plans to try to visit a synagog, a Buddhist temple, a Seventh-Day Adventist church and maybe even the Mormon temple in Bellevue. We shall see what all happens, but so far the kids have really been enjoying this.

It's funny, but when they were little babies, I said that when they were teenagers, I was going to take a whole year to visit churches, and let them form their own decisions about what, if any, formal religion worked for them. Then I promptly forgot about it. Then this summer, I started seeking for my self, feeling a hole in my spiritual heart. During the same time, I realized, that through the children's history studies, they have read about so very many religions, but that they really didn't know much about Christianity. Hence the searching together. It is neat that I am now exposing them to all these interesting thoughts and ideas, when it had been my intention to do so now all along. Funny how fate/divine intervention/ life can work that way sometimes.

One of the resources we are most enjoying right now, is the Victor Journey through the Bible. It has wonderful pictures and maps, to put the Bible stories into the historical context my kids so enjoy. We will also be reading The Jesse Tree, and I am also looking for a study Bible to use this year, for my own studies. I haven't been reading as much for learning this summer as I have been for fun (lots of mind candy, I am afraid), but am looking forward to getting back into it. I will be finishing Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis this September, as well as The Journey: Our Quest for Faith and it's Meaning by Oz Guinness.

Anyhow, it is late, and I need to rest. But this may be fodder for additional posts, as I continue my reading and seeking. And I chose not to link to any of the book titles tonight, but you can mind them all at Amazon, I think.

TTFN,
LB

You've got to be kidding.

Last week, I found this written on the little paper that wraps the Always pads: "Have a happy period." What? Are they kidding? Shouldn't it say something more to the effect of, "Don't worry, it will be over soon? Maybe some women like their pads talking to them, but it was a little much for me. It is nice to actually be having cycles again, but sheesh.

I took the Boy down to the High School to register him for his Band class, and they had already transfered his records from the middle school, and noted that he would only be there for one class, so that's done. He won't be able to take drama there, as that class is at the same time as Band, sigh, so I have to find a way to get drama for him. Next Monday he has orientation. Today I bought him a backpack and a wallet. He is only two inches shorter than me. He is growing up.

I just got home from physical therapy, and it was a bit taxing today, so I am crawling into bed. The Girl has instructions on how to make supper. She is growing up too. I am hoping I can at least get a subject or two planned while I am resting. I am so behind in my school planning!

TTFN,
LB

A Friday Five on Sunday

I am trying to get back into the swing of regular blogging. As an easy way to start, here is the Friday Five from Miz Booshay.

Five things in my freezer:
ore-ida crinkle cut french fries
pot-stickers
meat, meat, and more meat
blackberry juice (to make jelly with someday)
many chicken carcasses for my husband to make stock with


Five things in my closet:
several Indian kurtas
lots of scarves, hats, and bandanas
my 20 yr old stained suede bomber jacket that I can't part with
my suspender collection
a long, of-white woolen dress coat I am saving for my daughter


Five things in my car:
latin and math books
change
garbage
20 or so cassette tapes
my straw sun hat


Five things in my purse:
wallet
receipts
my fave pen
my cell phone
my huge key ring


Five things on my mind:
where will Boy go to college?
How long has that child been in the shower, and will we have time to watch movies tonight?
getting the Boy registered and oriented to high school tomorrow
can I really get all I want accomplished this upcoming school year?
looking forward to tomorrow's Physical Therapy, as my neck and back have been aching all day.

There, that wasn't too bad!
LB

The book was better than the movie

We watched Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea last week. It wasn't bad, really, but some of the characters were better casted than others. Peter Lory (sp?) as Conciel just wasn't believable- he was too old- and his character wasn't faithful to Professor Aronax, like he was in the book. I thought Kirk Douglas did a fabulous job as Ned Land, and like Dy, I thought the musical scene was great. I also liked the kissing seal, lol.

The book was fabulous, though, and I highly recommend it. I am not sure what Papa is going to read next. I am trying to find The Pickwick Papers by Dickens, but he may end up reading some other Dickens. Lately we have been watching movies instead of reading.

Last night, we watched Treasure Planet, and I thought it was quite good. It made me want to go back and read Treasure Island, though.

Gotta go- I am figuring out my curiculum orders and getting ready for a monster bill-paying session tomorrow!
TTFN,
LB

Update

Hey all,
I am still here. It has been crazy busy here for the last two weeks. I have had a weekend of single parenting, followed by a week filled with so many Dr., physical therapy, and music lesson appointments, it was all we could do to get any school done at all, but we did. We then had a very hot hot week, and an impromtu get-together at friends' house last weekend. We also watched a couple kids of some friends of ours whose family got attacked by a nasty virus, and now both my kids are fighting it- raging high fevers and very sore throats, headaches combined with upset tummies.

What else have we been doing? Planning meeting, going to a new church, and visiting with Gramma. Hanging laundry on the line, chasing chickens out of the front yard, and baking zucchini bread with big fat squash from the garden, and cherry pie with cherries given to us by Papa's sister. Oh- the tomatoes will all be turning red soon!

We are busy planning and trying to figure out the kids's school situation for this fall. It may be drastically different this year. I will let you know details when I have any- we are still in research/planning stages on this.

On top of all that, I had to scurry to get invites done for the Girl's recital next weekend, and it is Papa's birthday today. The poor sick kiddos are upset because they haven't been able to fuss over and focus on Papa, even though he is reassuring them constantly that just the fact they are thinking about him is an amazing gift in itself.

Other than the fact that someone gave me a huge compliment the othher week by thinking I was my kids' big sister, and that Papa's sister was his wife,lol. that's about it.

Blogging is just taking last place in life right now, I am so busy living it is is unbelievable! Very good, though.
TTFN,
LB

Friday Five

These came from Donna over at Quiet Life, and I have to say, they are some of the strangest questions she has ever asked us! I'd love to see what answers you come up with.

1. Would you be willing to commit perjury in court for a close friend? What if your lie would save his life?
It would really depend- is my friend guilty? Is the court fair? Probably a no.

2. Would you be willing to eat a bowl of live crickets for $40,000?
I would be willing to give it a shot. Call this a yes.

3. Would you have one of your fingers surgically removed if it guaranteed immunity from all major diseases?
Why was this one the hardest for me to answer? Probably a no.


4. Would you be willing to give up all television for 5 years if it would induce someone to provide for 1,000 starving children?
Absolutely yes. This one was the easiest to answer of all the five.

5. Would you accept $1 million to leave the country and never set foot in it again?
Probably not, but maybe I would for $5 million. Gotta remember I can't be far from my Mama.

Those were thinking questions, Donna!
LB

Homeschool post alert

Boy wrote a good post on snails on the GD blog. Check it out.
LB

Whirwind weekend update

Well, I have been wanting to post since Friday evening, but haven’t haqd internet since then. Phooey. So I am doing this in word, and hopefully I will have DSL by tomorrow. (Edited to say Yay, I have internet again!)

The kids actually had all their school work completed by 3 pm on Friday, so we packed up 4 lbs. of cherries and some leftover chicken, drove over and picked Papa up from work, and went over to Lincoln Park. We sat in the shade and talked, played on the great swing-slide, and had cherry-pit spitting contests. We headed home after traffic was over, curled up in our bed with the fans pointed right at us, each of us with a hunk of Sculpey in our hands, and listened to Papa read a few chapters of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

At first you might think this is a scientific story, and to a point it is, but it is also a great character study: Take 3 dudes, put them in an underwater box, and see what happens. One hates it and feels like a prisoner, one is enthralled with the experience of being surrounded by the science of the underwater world, and one could go either way, sometimes siding with his science-loving master, sometimes siding with the whaler who can barely take another minute of captivity. Fascinating. The kids love it. (Added Monday evening-We only have 3 chapters left! Can't wait to see how this story ends!)

Saturday, the Girl and I went to the feed store, getting feed and a few supplies for the chickens. There was a young man (13 yrs old) working there who has convinced both the Girl and I that we can successfully keep all ten chickens, and won't have to give any to Mr. B. at all (That had been our original plan- to keep 4 to 6 of them, and give him the extras.). In fact, the Girl is trying to convince Mr. B. to pay her for raising another set of chicks for him- she had a lot of fun with the wee ones and wants to do it again. We shall see.

This young fella at the feed store gave us a great tour of the store, took us out back and showed us their coops, and gave the Girl a ton of good avice about chickens. She got to pet tiny new kittens, tiny fresh chicks, and saw several varieties of chickens. I was surprised at how many she knew, just from reading the chicken books from the library. She really has a way with animals, too. It was cool to watch.

Sunday, papa got up early and was working out in his cottage garden, but he let me sleep in to a blissful 10:00, at which time I awoke to the wonderful smells of bacon, taters, and eggs. Wonderful! I really needed that. Then he and I worked in the veggie gardens in the blazing sun. My tomatoes are like a jungle- so are the potatoes, and the pepper, cantelope, and cucumbers were just not getting enough sun, so we transplanted them into another bed. We had a ton of cantelope seedlings left over. We potted them up, left some on our next door neighbor's porch (today I found 3 corn plant starts on my front porch- neighbors are so cool!), and took the rest over to the B family's house. We had another one of our harvest parties. We brought fresh picked peas, lettuce, and the veggie starts.

We dropped off some of Papa's homemade potato salad at Gramma's, and gave her quick kisses, before heading to the harvest party. We brought the ice cream maker, and made a batch of strawberry ice cream. We picked tons of fresh raspberries, thinned carrots, and had a good time visiting. Only a couple families showed up this week, so it was nice and low-key.

Today, Monday, the Girl had a two hour long piano lesson. She has her solo recital on August 12th, and she is working very hard with her piano teacher. While they worked, the Boy and I had a baby snack. Girl's teacher has a sweet, roly-poly 11-month old boy, whom Redal cannot leave alone (Hey- who wouldn't rather play with a baby instead of working on your latin? LOL)

Once we got home and cooked lunch, most of the day seemed to be gone. I worked in the garden again, even though I should have been focusing on schooling the kids, but that's okay. They did what they did, we will deal with the fallout later this week.

After Papa got home and we had supper, we helped our next door neighbor poor some concrete, and she let us put our handprints (and her dogs' paw prints!) in the fresh concrete. The kids are tucked in with freshly brushed teeth, one listening to Pooh, and one to Jim Weiss telling Greek tales, Papa and I are tucked in too.

TTFN,
LB

A gift in the mail

Not only did I receive the rest of my order from Brimwood Press (that is a picture of Marcia on the website, and yes, she is as nice as she looks!) today, but there was a surprise in the box as well.
Remember me telling you about the fabulous Worldview class the kids and I took last month, and how that evening several moms sat around having a fantastic philosphical discussion? How we had many religions represented- from Orthodox to Christian, to Bahai, to little ol' me who holds dear elements from Seventh-Day Adventist to Budhism, and we all had a dispassionate yet lively conversation. Well, Marcia sent me something to help with my journey of faith. It is a book aptly titled The Journey: Our Quest for Faith and Meaning by Os Guinness. I just made myself a cuppa tea, and am headed for the recliner. Thanks, Marcia.
TTFN,
LB

Something new!

An update for you. I have started a homeschool blog. It is called The Green Dragon Academy, which is the name the children chose for our school many years ago. I will use this blog to practice writing transcripts, to keep track of grades, and other business-type stuff. I am hoping the kids will use it also, to record good stories, essays, and to post pictures of projects. I am also going to be teaching a class on homeschooling in the fall at S.S.C.C., so I will use the homeschool bolg to post information and thoughts on that, as well.

I hope this works for all y'all. For awhile I have felt a lack of focus in the area of homeschooling, and I also feel guilty when I post stuff about art quilting in one post, then homeschooling in the other. Since Blogger won't do categories, I will try it this way for awhile. Wish me luck!
TTFN,
LB

We're back.

Well, we had a great time, being half-eaten alive by mosquitosw being the worst trouble we had (Girly had over 40 bites when we came home). We had a delightful time, lots of good food (remind me to tell you about banana boats!), and lots of good company. I learned how to play Spades, soaked in the sun, and waded in the creeks. Drew a tiny bit, but not as much as I would have liked to.

We had a family meeting Friday night, and ended up staying at the campground instead of packing it up and driving to Soap Lake for the fireworks and birthday party. The Girl ended up having a nightmare that involved her Godparents being upset with her for not showing up! Poor baby. I told her they love her no matter what and that everyone knew it was going to be a tough decision for us as to whether or not we would actually make it to the lake. That seemed to make her feel bettter.

Today was our official first day of Summer term. It could have gone better, it couuld have gone worse. I am hoping tomorrow will be better. I have a couple of fun things planned.

I should write a bit more tonight, but my neck and shoulders are very sore- I had a hellacious massage therapy session today, and it is all I can do to type! Oh baby, make it hurt so good!

I will talk to you in more depth tomorrow- I am hitting the pillow now.
TTFN,
LB

Off to the wilderness!

Well, we had a busy day today, with piano lessons, shopping, errands, laundry-folding, training chicken-sitters, etc. The kitchen and living room are clean, the laundry is all done, so I will come home to a clean house. Yay! I wish I had been able to plan our summer school term, but at least that will be all I need to focus on when we get home next week. We are almost ready for our summer vacation. We take off tomorrow for Icycle Creek, near Leavenworth. This is our yearly big early summer camping trip. I think we have between 6 and 8 families coming this year. After a couple days there, we head to Soap Lake in Eastern WA, to celebrate a friend's 40th birthday, which coincides with the town's 4th of July celebration.

Some of the things I hope to enjoy/experience this weekend are in no particular order or correct grammar phrasing:
Fireworks
A birthday party/brunch
the rushing of the river
sitting in the hot sunshine with an icy cool Mike's Hard Lime in my hand (I rarely drink- this is a splurge for me!)
watching kids (and a few foolhardy men) play and swim in the icy river
listening to birds and watching the clouds over the mountains
enjoying the company of good people and laughing a great deal
drawing in my nature journal
eating lots of good food- lots and lots of good food
singing around the campfire

I know there will be more, but right now, I still need to pack up the food and my clothes. I will talk to you soon, off to enjoy the wilderness, my kids (wish me luck on tomato-staking while camping-should be interesting!), good friends, and not having to worry about teaching (much).

TTFN,
LB

Tending my little tomatoes, kids, and chickens

Hi. It is Tuesday evening. Kids are reading and playing piano. They will soon be getting into jammies and brushing teeth. Papa is out weed-wacking the back forty. I am sitting on the front porch listening to the sprinklers, the piano, and the baby wrens in the nest here on the porch. I had a donation sitting on the porch in a brown paper bag, and these adorable little wrens made a nest in there, on top of an old acrylic toilet seat rug-cover-thing. Now there are 5 (that I can see) little peeps in there, and whenever I sneak a peak at them, they all have their little mouths wide open, making lots of hungry peeping noises. Today Sassy Cat got out while we were working in the yard, and knocked the bag over. Girl came running out to me in tears. I set the bag back up, and touching them as little as possible, put the babies back in their comfy spot while the kids found the cat. I watched for a few minutes, and the mama wren (I call her Jenny, after the wren in the Burgess Bird Book) did come back, with a bug in her mouth. She took her own sweet time getting back to the nest- darting here and there to distract any possible predators, but she did go to them and feed them, so I am hoping that means they will all be okay.

Today the kids and I did a lot of yard work. They weed-wacked the back field while I weeded my asparagus bed, and transplanted some lettuce, basil, and pepper plants I got the last time we partied at the B family's home. It has been hot, hot, hot here. We let the chickens out while we were gardening. They are getting so big! About half their adult size now. It is fun to watch them interacting with each other and exploring the yard. The bad thing, is that they like my gardens. They nibble tomato leaves (I thought they were poisonous?), eat my blueberries right off the bush, and poop on my lettuce plants. Sigh. I think I may have to put wire around my gardens. If they eat blueberries and tomato leaves, they will probably try to eat the tomatoes when they ripen. I do have several tiny green tomatoes on the 5 ft tall plants. That is cool!

After the kids sweated and worked hard, we had a nature study class. We drew the trees we have adopted, and hiked up to the little waterfall. Good but sweaty time. Tonight it is much cooler outside than it is inside- much better than last night.

Yesterday morning was not good here. The kids were disobedient and rude. Soooo, we cleaned the kitchen. They scrubbed floors, walls, backsplashes, cupboards, the sink. They washed the table and chairs, and did the dishes at least 4 times. It took all day. In the afternoon, they did music practice. Other than that, all they did was pushups- every time they backsassed me or spoke out of turn. This parenting gig is harder than it looks. I hope I am doing okay.

Well, the piano has stopped, and so has the weedwacker. I best go supervise the tooth brushing, and let the Papa Dude know it is time for Twenty Thousand Leagues.
TTFN,
LB

Aarrgghhhh!!

Remember how proud Iwas of the kids the other day- that they had folded an entire couch-ful of laundry while I was laid up in bed with a bad back? Remember how I positively glowed about how full of integrity they were? Guess where I just found my favorite short kicky summer skirt? Under- that's right, I said UNDER the couch with a whole lot of other clothes.

Sigh. Guess what the kids are doing today? The training never ends, does it.
LB, off to physical therapy and a much needed lunch date with another mom of tweens.

Oops!

Well, I got the quiz to post, but I didn't do something right, cuz I can't link to it. Here (hopefully) is the link to the quiz.
LB

Guess who I am?

You Are Ernie

Playful and childlike, you are everyone's favorite friend - even if your goofy antics get annoying at times. You are usually feeling: Amused - you are very easily entertained You are famous for: Always making people smile. From your silly songs to your wild pranks, you keep things fun. How you life your life: With ease. Life is only difficult when your friends won't play with you!

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

How did you live today?

Inspired by yesterday's post at Mental Multi-Vitamin, here is what I did today:

I took a long hot soak in the tub. Washed and brushed my hair. Went barefoot all day.

I put a buffalo roast in the crockpot, and a load in the clothes washer.

I listened to my son practice Mozart's Horn concerto, and my daughter play Chopin with such feeling my eyes teared up.

The kids and I all snuggled in my bed together, all reading our own books, and sharing good bits.


I hand-fed and petted my daughter's chickens. I put drops in one of the cats' eye, and played fetch with him.

I took a two hour nap and awoke to find chamomile flowers laid on my nightstand by my daughter.

I snuck two oreo cookies, twisted them open, put the creamy sides together and dunked the double cookie in a mug of rice milk.

I read a challenging book. I looked up two hard words in the dictionary.

I ate popcorn and orange juice in front of a movie with my kids. Afterwards, we discussed the moral integrity of the main characters.

The kids and I met Papa after work at the local Japanese Gardens. We hiked up to the waterfall. I kissed my mate on the bridge over the koi pond.

I opened a can of olives, lovingly bought as a surprise by my husband, to brighten our crockpot dinner.

I called a friend and we made a date for a Mom's only lunch out tomorrow.

I told my children that I loved them. I called my Mama and told her I loved her, too.
I rested, loved, and lived.

What did YOU do today?
LB