{this moment}

{this moment} - "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember." See Soulemama

Sunrise Sunday Morning

The Big Trip 2010 Post 1

(I'm only about 4 months behind on posting... It's tempting to just jump in with current goings-on, because I've been pleased with our homeschooling so far, and excited about books that I want to mention. But the summer held too many wonderful things not to record, so I'm going to try to simultaneously back track and talk about the summer and catch up with what's going on right now.)

We went on the longest vacation we've ever taken this summer. Experienced more amazing things, saw more natural beauty, had better visits with family and friends, and went to more historical sites than I thought possible in five weeks. Aside from a few minor meltdowns and minor sibling "issues", there's really not a bad memory from the trip.

Fort Mountain State Park, Georgia

It's hard to list favorites, because everything we did was so diverse and had different tones and settings. Throughout the trip, we were treated to all types of natural beauty. It's easy to think it's all gotten spoiled and that there truly is a Starbucks and Wal-mart on every corner. But, thank goodness, it really doesn't take traveling that far to truly feel remote, away from it all, and renewed. And even in urban environments pockets of green can be stops along the way that ground you in the earth.

Artichoke bloom at Monticello

I always feel more content and in tune in the mountains, and it turns out I live with several males who are never happier than near water. Our trip to the southeast held something for everyone.

Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina

Atlantic Beach, NC

More stories and photos to come...

First Frost

brief snow flurries yesterday...head colds...first frost this morning

the childhood they deserve

I sometimes/often worry that I'm not giving my boys the childhood they needdeservewantshouldhave.

I long for my idealistic early parenting days when people complimented me on what a good mom I was and our living room was sprinkled with gentle, beautiful Waldorf toys rather than Legos and light sabers. (While some could rightfully say I've caved and given in, there are people in my life who I'm sure are glad that my inner holier-than-thou dogmatic parent has been humbled and taken down a notch as I continue on my parenting journey.) Some days I focus on where I've fallen short, and how far the day-to-day reality of our lives seems to stray from the ideal I'd like to create.

But then I come across a photo like this one, taken a couple of years ago at my parents' house, and I remember that sometimes, on some precious days and for at least a few moments, they are having the childhood I would wish for them.

boys on dock, just lookin'

hiding in the garden

Calling the neglected corner of our backyard is a bit of a stretch at this point. It's wild and untended. The destruction wrought by scraping off the topsoil in order to create our subdivision was pretty severe. We have nuisance plants like poison ivy and some type of thorny vine that really like it there. On the upside, volunteer horse herb and some yaupons have come back on their own, and I've had good luck spreading seeds of scarlet sage in this shady spot. And I've had great fun seeing plants that I'm not familiar with bloom and surprise me, like this flower.

It may actually be a weed, but I'm not sure I care...

Summer has officially begun

While the heat of some April and May days felt like summer, I now know that summer has officially begun. In the last couple of weeks we've:

• had poison ivy/oak
• seen just-hatched baby swallows on our front porch
• been to the local municipal waterpark
• gotten sunburned
• seen the first bloom of the morning glory vine.

I think we're off to a great start!

Wordless Wednesday

Wildflower Gathering

I am fortunate to have a husband who has a long standing interest in Texas history and nature, and particularly Texas naturalist Roy Bedichek. In a former lifetime, before our messy family life, he regularly went bird watching and would capture photographs of Texas wildflowers. He is now so busy working, enabling us to stay home and indulge in our homeschool lifestyle, that he rarely gets to get outside and pursue those interests, or join in our homeschooling fun. He is a fount of information that we get to enjoy all too infrequently.

This morning my younger son got a rare treat. He and his poppy went out, all alone, to identify the numerous wildflowers dotting the roadsides near our house. They were able to identify:

Coreopsis
Mexican hat
Indian blanket
Bluebonnet
Antelope horns
Bull Nettle
Frog fruit
Wild potato
Silver leaf nightshade
Prairie verbena
and Stiff-stem flax

His dad's old, much-loved and used Wildflowers of Texas by Geyata Ajilvsgi and our newly purchased 100 Texas Wildflowers by Dorothy Baird Mattiza came in handy identifying a few that we weren't sure about.

They even sweetly brought back a few flowers to make a small bouquet for me.













It was one of those mornings that it's easy to remember to be thankful!