WATCH THIS

Go out and get this movie and then pass it on to others to watch as well....you will be glad you did.

A quote from Plugged in online--READ IT, "Eduardo Verástegui knows his little film (he also co-produced it) won't dominate the box office. But he doesn't mind. "I was caught up in the stardom and money of this business, like so many actors," he told us, "But I was drawn to do this. To just do something worthwhile." Thus, he and his fellow producers stepped away from successful careers to pursue an independent film with no guarantees. He said with emotion, "What I'd love to see happen with this film is to someday have this 12-year-old knock on my door and say that her mother was going to have an abortion. But she saw this film. That would be my Oscar."

From the official site CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.

Back to 'normal'

You may ask, "What is normal?", and I will respond with--"I HAVE NO IDEA!" I can't tell you how many times I write out a schedule of everything I want to get accomplished in a week, of the chores I want the girls to complete on their own, of all the cleaning I want to get done, of the many things--in the school area--that I want to teach them, my meal plan written out and the free time to read, relax, whatever....It is Sunday night, after writing out that schedule, I feel 'normal', and then comes Monday morning....
The breakfast dishes are left in the sink to deal with behavior issues with the girls. The girls attempt to help me clean, instead of just putting their clothes away they decide to pull out all the others clothes to organize them a bit better, that is fine--I needed to get to that eventually anyway. Time to wash the floor, they want to help, which leads to an extra load of laundry from all the towels that were used with helping me. (no time to finish organizing all the clothes, too much on the schedule to get done)We head outside for a small nature walk, which turns into playing in the creek, which turns into more laundry, which also turns into time passing quickly and it is time to make lunch. Lunch turns into more dishes, which are left to deal with more behavior issues. Oooppssss, need to get that laundry going, well---I should attempt to get some schooling done today, more behavior issues...who knocked over the open shampoo bottle? Lets sit outside to read some books, look at that butterfly...grabbing our nets and jars we head off on another expedition. Oh no, it is 4:00 already!--forget the meal plan I guess we are doing breakfast for dinner, everyone needs a bath, book time is a must--we hardly read a thing today. Girls are in bed, I finally get my dishes done, move the clothes into the dryer but have 2 more loads behind it. I surface clean...and sit down to write out my schedule for Tuesday by moving over everything from Monday that I never accomplished and then get ready to start all over. Only Tuesday involves babysitting in the morning, playing with friends till about 2, leave for drama class at 3:10, home by 5:30 and packing whatever food I can grab quickly into the cooler or little hands, in order to make it to Tball at 6, which lasts till 8, after running errands--home by 9, kids in bed and the schedule is forgotton under all my piles of papers that need to be filed on my VERY messy desk....and there we go, back to 'NORMAL'. You may ask, "What do you prefer?" and I believe there is a correct answer to that, but it can only be answered if my perspective is correct....the dishes can wait, the laundry will be there for the weekend, the schooling can wait for a rainy, slower day, food is food--who said it has to be on a plate, involving 3 food groups(every night)....there are butterflies to catch, creeks to explore, hands to hold, and a time to scold. I think it is great for them to learn to be on a schedule and get things accomplished, but that does seem to be the abnormal (during these young years, at least). I think I would have to answer your question with....
"This is the 'normal' I prefer."(yes, that is a worm that I found just sitting on my kitchen table)

THE WEEK that I wished would never end...

No place to go, nobody to see....
a quiet week with my girls...
plenty of rain and gloom to make things a bit more cozy...
watching things come to life

holding hands and taking walks
listening to the music of the rain
making messes not rushing to clean up


taking full advantage of those cool windy dayslearning
creating, playing, laughing, relaxing....
It was the week I wished would never end, but... after having a taste like that, I think I will be scheduling more days--just like it.

Spring rain

"Let the rain kiss you.Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.
Let the rain sing you a lullaby.The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk.The rain makes running pools in the gutter.
The rain plays a little sellp-song on our roof at night--
And I love the rain."
- Langston Hughes, 1902-1967, April Rain Song

Cooler air and Catechism

Saturday was simply beautiful. It was sunny, but windy and cool. We looked around for bugs, flew kites, and I made a wonderful veggie soup, which I enjoyed while sitting under a tree with my girls reading book after book.
I try to do Catechisms with the girls at meal times and they occasionally come up with some really cute answers. This particular time I realized that we have a bit of confusion between fairy tales and bible stories. I asked them what was the sin of our first parents and the response I got was..."they ate the poison apple."

Robert Frost, with thoughts on April...

"The sun was warm but the wind was chill.You know how it is with an April day.When the sun is out and the wind is still,You're one month on in the middle of May.But if you so much as dare to speak,a cloud come over the sunlit arch,And wind comes off a frozen peak,And you're two months back in the middle of March."

- Robert Frost

...Isn't that usually true for New England! (80's one day, 50's the next) Get the warmer clothes back out for the weekend, but no worries 'it' will be back.
(baby pics--Alei Sky growing up fast)

Earth Day

The girls and I cleaned up a bit around our place and then headed to our path in the woods, and cleaned up a bit around the water where we play. We live across the street from the high school so the kids walk through our area a few times a day leaving trash everywhere. So, this has been more like 'earth week' for us...
Hannah caught her first frog of the season. When we let him go she told me that we HAD to come back and visit him very soon.
Happy cleaning to you all!