The Dreaded 28 Foot Rope

My husband is a Crossfitter.  He LOVES Crossfitting.  One of the items used in their workouts is the rope.  So he bought one and he somehow managed to get that rope thrown over and tied to a branch twenty-eight feet in the air.

And then he climbed it.

Then our darling boys took over.

For some reason swinging causes them to open their mouths.

 

But it is not the swing or the open mouths or the loads of fun they are having that causes me pain.  It's the dust.  All of that dirt beneath the big tree gets kicked up and rolled in and brought into our house.  

If I weren't afraid of heights, I'd chop that thing down.

 

~R

I just noticed the difference in the trees from a couple of weeks ago to now.  Wow.

Weekly Update - 5/6/11

In my life this week... I've been bored out of my gourd.

In our homeschool this week...Just plugging along.  Should be finished by the end of the month.

Places we're going and people we're seeing...we had our last homeschool PE this week.  It was a field day with goodies at the end.  Lots of fun.


We also visited BN's parents this past weekend and the boys got to hunt for shark's teeth with their grandma.  It's one of our favorite things to do when we visit.

My favorite thing this week was...Got to hang around horses and breathe country air.

What's working/not working for us...lack of social activity. 

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...getting ready for the homeschool convention.  I normally order my books online, but always like to go and see what's available.  I always take a price list with me and if the booth has it for cheaper, then I buy it there.  This year I'm planning to take BN and the boys so they can see what it is all about.  I think when they see and know what I have to wade through in order to pick the very best books for them, they have a better understanding.

~R

I've been thinking...

this would be a good time to take the batteries out of the smoke alarms.

...about a lot of things.  One recurrent theme is selfish and it revolves around a being a stay at home mom.  Wondering what could have been?  How successful would I have become in my career had I put the kids in daycare and then school?

And then once I get over my selfishness, I wonder about my children.  Should I have put them in school?

And I look ahead to when my children are grown and have children of their own and wonder how they will raise them.  Will they want to homeschool?  Will they want me to help and would I be willing?

BN always said that had I continued on my path, I'd be running the company by now.  But back to my questions?  What would that mean for me?  For my family?

And is that our goal in life?  To be at the top of the company we work for?  To "have it all".  What does that get us in then end?  Whether you believe there is an afterlife or you reincarnate or that there is nothing at all after death, why are we here and what are we doing?

I wonder about the purpose of life and realize that all of these concerns can be answered if I find that purpose.

the fire trucks should be bearing down on our house right about now.

I received, in the mail, a christian homeschool magazine.  I don't know how I got it, but there is was and since I'm nosy and love to read, I decided to take peek inside.  About half of the stories I skipped immediately.  Stories about being a "help meet" and "subordinate to my husband" are not stories that interest me.

But one story, amid all the brainwashing, did use a few words I could understand.  She spoke of the seasons of life and how one "can't retire now at age 30-something and then bear children at 60".  And how the seasons of life are "fleeting".

To appease my wandering mind and answer my own questions, I feel like I'm where I need to be.   While there is a tiny part inside me that wants all the recognition (blog much?), it is tiny and as the years pass, that need gets even smaller.

And rather than worry about what ifs of the future, I'll tend this season that I'm in and let the future seasons develop as they will.

~R

Giddy Gardener

That's me.  I love this time of year when we plant goodies in our garden.  I love sitting on my deck and admiring our work.  And watching things spring from the ground and grow.

Lots of things are coming up right now.  I love when beans and legumes come up.  The beans that we planted have split open and are growing what will eventually become the bush beans and limas.  I love how the original bean tries to cling on for as long as possible.

One of the first things to break ground this year was our corn.  It was a race against the squirrels and their voracious appetites and we won...this time.

And a little surprise was this tiny fellow.

Last year we tried to grow asparagus and we had these beautiful fern-like stalks that filled their little square.  And that was about it.  So in preparing the garden this year, I pulled the still beautiful fern-like growth out.  I thought I got all the roots but gladly, I did not.  I may have to pull out the silver to dine on this delicious little morsel.  I think I'll designate a permanent location for asparagus now that I'm learning how it grows here.

~R, the Giddy Gardener.

Do You See What I See?

First.  Let me set the stage.  I finished breakfast, walked to the sink, used the dish brush to get rid of breakfast residue and placed my plate and fork in the dishwasher.

I left the blue-handled brush in the sink for ease  of locating, left the dishwasher open and sat down at the computer.

Then my sons walked in.

I think you can see what bothers me about this photo.

But forget about what is on the counter.  Do you see that fish painting on the far wall.  RePete (age 7) did that.  Just gorgeous.  I look at that after I look at the counter and all is right with my world.

~R