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I know Pirates aren't exactly popular in the world these days but they're always popular in our home. Especially when the boys get new swords! I hear them down the basement with the dress-ups and eventually I'm surrounded by treasure hunting wild men. They play the part pretty well don't you think?
The boys got miniature potted plants in their Easter baskets this year. We set them on the window ledge in the kitchen, providing plenty of sunlight. It's so amazing to see a hard little seed sprout such living growth. Even I am blessed by it's wonder when it greets me over coffee in the morning.
Don't you just love Little Bear? I love Little Bear! And even more so when hearing my 7 year-old read it all about him for himself. Peter has been working so hard at learning to read this school year. It was my one and only top priority. He has worked very hard on something that wasn't all too easy for him to accomplish. But he has pressed through with a little bit of work every day and now he is enjoying the fruits of a good 1st grade challenge. And I couldn't be more proud of him!
And some days he can even read through this silliness happening right next to him!
Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. It's getting warmer here and we all know what that means...yard work! Yes, the first mow of the season is under our belt. The smell is always fantastic. A freshly cut lawn is a beauty of memories with every breath.
George wanted to help Andrew with the seeding after running with me to get paper lawn bags. Quite the little helper. Meantime, Nicholas was getting creative with the paper and scissors. And I was enjoying a good book. (I'll definitely be reviewing this one for you later, it's really good!) Of course there's always one who is lingering indoors. Rather unusually, it was Peter that had been drawn into the LEGO world online and no amount of sunlight could apparently rescue his saturation into another dimension.
Spontaneous art at the dining room table. Honestly, art class has always been that "subject" that we will someday get too. This year I just decided to do art lessons through the summer - trying to relieve the guilt! However, in spite of my best effort (haha), my children decided that art would come to them.
Nicholas loves drawing under the inspiration of movies and Lego comic strips. He's not too bad. If I could find a really good drawing class he would definitely love it. Most classes I've found involve more craft enjoyment. Which he wouldn't.
Peter was inspired one day to paint. Fortunately he picked a good time for mom to say "yes". That was at best, a 50/50 shot. But it's always so rewarding to sit and watch your kids at opposite sides of the table totally enraptured by the possibilities of personal creativity. George and I just watched - for now. But I see the day coming very soon where the summer sun and open windows visit us all putting our mark on a blank piece of paper.
I have a little chef in the family. Thank goodness it's not a rat ... Ratatuollie. No, it's my Peter! He loves to help with lunch. Today he's making tuna. Apparently, he has watched me enough to continually tell me, "I know mom" when giving him instructions.
Well, I'll just have to use his sense of independence to good use. Don't you think?
George approves.
My grandpa was a tremendous woodworker. I remember his workshop in the basement of my grandma and grandpa's home. The smell of wood shavings and a old tools was sweet to the soul. Grandpa left us many memories of himself when he went to meet his Savior many years ago. He was a wonderful grandpa so fun and humble. We named our son Peter after him, Lawrence.
But on Easter I have an bit of something more. I love so much to remember all that this holiday is. To understand a risen and relevant Lord both through the scripture and in the present moments of life. It's an extra sweet holiday when I set on the mantel reflections of Easter carved from my grandpa's own hands. For he love the Lord as well.
The wooden cross with symbols of the death and resurrection of Christ is a rare beauty when all I seem to find lovely for this holiday is full of bunnies and eggs. But I love those thing too. Which is why the other objects of his craftmanship are also deserving of a mantel display.
Every year my grandpa would lath a wooden egg. Each unique and a piece of art in and of themselves. He would always carve the date of each year they were made. I loved to see my grandparents mantel covered in these works of devotion to his craft. When grandpa passed away grandma felt we each needed a bit of his love for us within our own home. So every child and grandchild received the wooden egg of the year they were born and then one more that each person personally found particularly wonderful.
This Easter I know, as I have always known, that Jesus Christ lives today that I may have eternal life. But oh, how sweet that eternity when you anticipate a life lived again with those you love.
The couple in the frame are actually my grandpa's parents. It is a picture that graces our mantel beyond the holiday. I included it in the photo because my grandpa was the spiting image of his father.
I remember when my parents first moved from St. Louis all the way up north to Iowa. We held up a sign that year we had made on cardboard and sent the picture to our hometown relatives. It simply said "It's April!" and we were standing outside amongst a snow storm. Snow in April? I marveled at the idea. Ah, but I don't live in Iowa any more and yet living in a city parallel to St. Louis I must confess I'm wondering just how much Iowa is mocking my fun now.
Some of you may remember a post about the Sugar Snow. Little did I know how wrong I was! For you see, this is the snowman we made last week. The first one of the year! It was still trying to melt in the first few days of April. And it had several friends in the neighborhood as well.
All our flowers and blossoming trees were covered in ice and then a thick heavy snow. Sad for spring but an absolutely beautiful hush of beauty in the moment. The pear tree looked like coral bells swaying in the cold wind. Eventually, we came with a rake soon after and banged the ice and snow off in hopes of saving our tree. Fortunately, ours was still standing strong the following day as echos of chainsaws throughout the subdivision told another story for others.
But in spite of the blast of winter making March go out like a lion instead of a lamb and April forgetting that it is rain showers not snow showers we were hoping for, Jack Frost must give up his nights of terror soon. For the blossoms are still growing and we can be sure that spring will be the next act in the stage of seasons.
Soaking in a little sunshine and getting ready for the market to open. The farmer's market that is. I wanted to find something to knit that wasn't confined to the winter months. This lovely kit was awaiting me at the Yarn Shop. It's a farmer's market bag. Perfect for slinging over the shoulder and depositing various plastic bags full of fresh vegetable goodies. Also gives me a free hand to hold a weekly bouquet of fragrant and vivid flowers. Oh, I can smell them already. Along with the scent of spring as it blows through open windows of my home today into every living space laid dormant from a long winter.
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