Creekside

Today we received a delightful invitation out to the Grover Farm- which is located a little past Columbia, Mississippi- to let the kids spend the day at the creek. I said yes, please! and we headed off to spend the day with friends. And that’s how we ended up spending an entire day on a creek bed, munching and chatting while the kids wore themselves out to the point of complete exhaustion. Also, today I got sunburned for the very first time this summer. (Where was Kitty to make sure that I reapplied my sunscreen??) A few thoughts from a delightful lazy day today:

• Kids thrive outside
• Minnows are absolutely worth the effort to catch
• There is nothing better than a line of rope strung over the water to keep the kids busy for hours
• Max loves to throw rocks in the water
• I love my friends here in Mississippi
• I enjoy hearing kids answer their mothers with “Ma’am?” when their name is called
• There is freedom living in a place where things aren’t scheduled to death, so that everyone- even parents with teenagers- can pick up and head to the creek with a couple hours notice
• I adored seeing the older teenagers playing with the little kids
• The creek (which is fed by two natural springs) was deliciously chill- a welcome change from the bathwater temps at the pool these days
• I like the freedom of rural living. The kids can run and run and run and not bother anyone.
• Ernie got to tube down the swift moving creek with the big kids and he loved hanging out with the older crowd.
• There is nothing more interesting to little boys, than looking through marshy grass to see what might be living there (luckily they were really loud and they didn’t disturb any snakes)
• The church is true no matter where you live. It was a blessing to share feelings of hope and faith today while watching the kids play and feeling the cool creek water on my feet.

(I have very few pictures from today since Max kept trying to drag me through the water and I was highly concerned about our nice SLR getting damaged. I really need to buy a small pocket camera.)

Hitchhikers on the Road to Nowhere

Little Ernie told me today that he has had a particular song stuck in his head for awhile now and that it keeps running around in his mind in circles “like bikers circling a hitchhiker on the road to nowhere”. (Excuse me?) The comment left me a bit dumbfounded, so [since I didn’t know what else to say] I told him I was sorry that he had a song stuck in his head and then I complimented him on his excellent use of descriptive language. 

Where do kids come up with this stuff? 

Quote for the Day

When we can say "no" not only to things that are wrong and sinful, but also to things pleasant, profitable, and good which would hinder and clog our grand duties and our chief work, we shall understand more fully what life is worth, and how to make the most of it.- Charles Stoddard

Figs and Blueberries

Ernie scheduled his upcoming staff training at one of my favorite places here in Mississippi: Mitchell Farms. Since Ernie had never actually been there- he needed to drive over and check the place out. We, of course, went with him.

And when we got there I discovered that the fruit I have literally been waiting to eat my entire life was there, with buckets for pick your own! Yes folks, today I ate my first fresh fig and it was succulent and delicious! We picked figs along with the kids and filled a gallon bucket (which cost us $5).

Then we explored the rest of the farm while we waited for the owner to show Ernie a few things.

 

And then this afternoon- not wanting to waste any of the amazing figs, I promptly made fig preserves and some more blueberry jam since I had the canner out.

Watching the Days Go By

Kitty and the kids left last Thursday. I have been sad. While I love all of my friends here in Mississippi- truly, truly I do- it is like the Balm of Gilead to spend time with Kitty, who has been in my life for 15 years now and has been around for every significant adult decision I’ve ever made. It is lovely to spend time with someone with whom you can communicate in half sentences:

“Remember that time…?”

“Mmhmm…”

“I know, right?!”

And an outsider has no idea that we’re both fondly remembering our favorite restaurant. (Chili’s)

So Kitty left, and life has been busy, and the kids and I are beginning the transition for going Back to School. School starts here on August 6. (Yes, in case your compelled to look at the calendar, that’s a Friday).

And we’ve been in the car driving a lot- because… drum roll, please… I have been to the gym every single morning this week! And after not going for the previous 5 weeks- it’s admittedly been a little hard for me to walk most days.

All this driving, combined with no DVD player in the car, has led to some interesting conversations. Nigel announced that he broke up with his girlfriend Darla. Ernie wanted to know why- and Nigel told him that Darla was just too annoying and that he didn’t like it when she would see him in Primary and shout “I love you, Nigel!” across the room. Understandable, if you ask me.

Emmaline told me that she has a boyfriend, Pacey, from her kindergarten class, but that she never bothered to tell him- so he doesn’t actually know that Emmaline has staked a claim.

Ernie let everyone know that he is going to be sure to eat his meat and vegetables so that his muscles can get really big, because he’s pretty sure that when he goes to college and girls see his big muscles- that the girls will faint in awe. Literally- he thinks that they will faint. This led Emmaline to ask me if I fainted the first time I saw my Ernie’s muscles. My answer: No. (But they were very nice back then, to be sure.)

So life goes on. The kids grow up. I make PB&J’s every day. And we love each other.

Good-bye dishes.

It’s a good thing I waited to buy the dishes that I loved. Our garage door broke.

Ah, well. At least I know where I can find the dishes (hopefully) when I have some extra money again.

Here’s to being a responsible homeowner!

Best. Book. Ever.

I just finished 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families and now I am feeling evangelical about it. I want to push this book on everyone I know. (The last time I felt this way was when I read Twilight- but that was for very different reasons).

Steven Covey wrote a completely inspired and insightful guide to families and the book covered every single topic I’ve been worrying over. It was seriously like all the thoughts and ideas that have been swirling around in my head- plus a bunch that hadn’t occurred to me- were all in this book in a cohesive fashion, with guidelines for implementation. Absolutely invaluable to me.

A sampling of the things that I learned:

• Having regular focused one-on-one time with each of your children will significantly reduce sibling rivalry
• Almost all children already know what is right and what is wrong- they just haven’t made up their mind yet to do the right thing.
• You cannot have a productive difficult conversation (corrective or negative feedback) without having a strong positive relationship already established.
• To give myself a pause button before I respond in a stressful situation

I’ve seriously just started my study. I’m sure that I’ll learn much more when I go back and read it again.

Read it- if you haven’t read it already. I’m going to keep pushing it on you until you do :)