May 1st

No pictures to share, but our May Day was full of good stuff......

cleaning up the playroom....it feels so good to be organized and neat (at least for me), reading some books that we haven't seen in awhile (If You Give A Moose a Muffin), eating our own asparagus for lunch, watching men cut down a few dead trees in our side yard, listening to the Spring rain fall outside of our open windows, watching the world turn green before our very eyes, playing Jenga and Connect 4, creating nature creatures out of treasures collected from our yard, playing tons of Webkinz, talking to friends on the phone (both myself and my children), cutting lettuce from the garden for dinner, eating pizza with mom-mom and pop-pop, flying down a wet, grassy hill on trikes (wheeeeee!), reading stories by flashlight.....and finally, night-night (and time for mama to blog and daddy to tinker in the basement).  

Happy May! :)

"Living is learning and when kids are living fully and energetically and happily they are learning a lot, even if we don't always know what it is. "

~John Holt ~ in a letter to Joan Pitkin, October 22, 1971 
From: "A Life Worth Living, Selected Letters of John Holt", 
Edited by Susannah Sheffer

Our lives have been all about Webkinz lately!  All four of my children are crazy about it!  We only have one computer but they literally spend hours in front of it.   Sometimes, I worry about this.  I call myself an "unschooler," but I still worry what my children are "learning" from Webkinz.  How could it be good, I sometimes think, to be in front of a computer screen on a beautiful Spring day?  
Well, why not?  They are so PASSIONATE about this game!  They are excited everyday to see how they will do in their favorite game (spelling, math, reading, hand eye coordination.....says my old worried self who tries NOT to see school subjects in our day).  They can't wait to see if they can afford a new style of bed for their Webkinz room (again, math, budgeting).  They cheer each other on, we have family tournaments, they watch mommy play her favorite, "Zacky's Quest," which reminds me of "Frogger" from back in the day.  It is all GOOD!  It is so much FUN!  And, it is their current passion!  Besides, they still had fun today running outside in the beautiful sunshine.....after they each had their turn on the "Wheel of Wow!"

April Showers.....

April showers bring.....

the yeasty smell of rising raisin bread, 
book club, 
working with clay, 
lots of Monopoly playing, 
fresh Spinach from our garden, 
beautiful daffodils, 
and watering future tomato and pepper plants.

Our Kitchen Table

This is a picture of our kitchen table.  The place that we come back to time and time again throughout the day.  It is where we begin our day, to nourish our bodies.  We often nourish our minds as well, as we play games, draw, paint, create, bake, talk over tea,.....  It is where we hold hands every night and give thanks for our food and the time that we can spend together. 

As we sat together a few minutes ago, eating grilled cheese and planning a future family business, I thought how lucky I am to  share all of my meals with all of my children.   

What a gift, I think.

I have missed this.......

It has been so long since I've written on my blog.  I really haven't felt like it.  Lots of little illnesses, nothing serious thank goodness, but difficult just the same.  Well, I'm back and loving it! What fun to document our day with photographs and words.  And, I am grateful for this day.....

A morning hug from Ben, still warm from his bed and smelling of sweet sleep.
A relaxing morning to stay in pjs and snuggle on the sofa.
Our busy breakfast table...Guess Who?, Mancala, and bread kneading.
I'm so glad that our bread machine isn't working.  And, I am grateful for the yummiest raisin bread ever!  Thanks for making it, Maddie!  It was the best, warm with butter and honey!
Chef Leah felt like baking too!  Yummy brownies in her own bakeware.
Beautiful daffodils from our yard!
This is my grandmom's old record player along with records passed down to us.  What fun!  The kids loved using it and listening to the oldies but goodies like "Grease," "Saturday Night Fever," .......
An afternoon spent running and playing and telling secrets with good friends at the park!
And, a check on my little lettuce and kale plants who were getting some sun today!

A perfect day!

Namaste

In India, when we meet and greet and we say "Namaste", which means: I honor
the place in you where the entire universe resides, I honor the place in you
of love, of light, of truth, of peace. I honor the place within you where if
you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is only one
of us. ~Ram Dass

Who Has Time for School?

With a morning spent playing with friends.....American girls, pirate play, and muffin eating too....and an afternoon full of....

chemistry experimenting with red cabbage juice indicator,
(acid, base, neutral???)
making cool salt painted dragons,
experimenting with ink spots dabbed on coffee filters,
and of course lots of computer time for Amelia (blogging and Webkinz).

All in all, a day well spent! :)