May Saturday

This has been a busy month so far, with lots of yard work and outdoor time. Our yard is making progress, and this week we'll start on planting things -- tomatoes, peppers, herbs and flowers. The boys and I will also be planting sunflowers and working on a couple of crafty birdfeeder projects to make our backyard more bird-friendly. Can't wait to get all of those lovely blooms in our yard:-)

School is slowing down for the year. Trent is nearing the end of his grammar and reading assignments, as well as biology. We will continue with algebra and spelling through the summer, and we will read several novels together. Luke commented the other day about missing Huck Finn. Both boys loved it when I read Huck Finn aloud to them last winter. Looking forward to The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and a Charles Dickens novel. Both boys also want me to start on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer aloud, so we may have to squeeze that in too! We'll continue with math and phonics with Luke throughout the summer, and a new school year will be here before we know it!

Both boys have been sketching birds in their Nature Notebooks, and Luke is definitely improving because they draw together. It's a fun activity both boys can share. These lovely boys are so talented:-)

Carl has a week's vacation next week, so we will kick the yard work into high gear. I am so lucky to have someone who shares my love of flowers and plants and the outdoors. Lovely guy, my Carl:-) While Carl is on vacation, we also hope to garage sale in Omaha and take a trip to the Strategic Air and Space Museum to see some airplanes and celebrate Armed Forces Day on May 17.

Happy Mother's Day!!!!!

Hello Friends

I wanted to say hello to all of my friends out there who I didn't mention in my 'Friends' blog post the other day; I know some of you read this blog, so I didn't want you to feel un-appreciated! These people make my life so rich and fun. Some are old friends, some relatively new. Please know how important you all are to me:-) My mom, Debby, Farzad, Nedda, Ann K., Jen, Debra, Amy, Diane, Betty, Erin, Mary, Michelle, Jodi. Some of you have given me very sound homeschooling advice, some of you are fellow politicos, some of you are just plain wonderful to talk with. Without your individual perspectives on life, mine would be much less rich and interesting.

Of course, I must mention my Carl here. He is truly my BFF. Not only do I love him, I actually really, REALLY like him. Ditto for Trent & Luke. Ditto for my big, lovely extended family:-) Ditto for Melissa Pratte -- fellow clothes horse, lipgloss junkie, garage sale maven, literature lover and Billy Collins fan.

This weekend is filled with garage sales, yard work, hopefully some time to read and bake, and a trip to Clarinda, IA to celebrate Trent's birthday. Lovely spring weekend!!

And now, a poem:

Introduction to Poetry
by Billy Collins

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.

New Life

It's a rainy, chilly Friday, but I feel very sunny. My sister-in-law just had a new baby (April 30th), and mama and baby are going home today and doing wonderfully. I am so excited to see this new little girl, and I know Carl and the boys are excited as well. Can't wait to breathe in that new baby smell:-)

My season of garage sales has officially begun! Yesterday I shopped a sale where a woman was selling stock from her scrapbooking store!!!! Tons of bargains, lots of lovely goodies with which to work. This weekend, I hope to do more sales and find more lovely bargains.

Not a lot more going on right now...jsut gearing up for the boys' summer activities. I'm not even reading a book this week -- just an assortment of magazines. Oh well, something will catch my attention soon, and I'll be off on another voracious reading jag.

Two friends and I are starting our very own Jane Austen Book Club, after watching this movie. Probably won't be as much romance and heartbreak in our little club, but how lovely to read and discuss literature with two people I came to know in an English graduate program. We all sat through so many lectures on postmodernism and discussions of themes in the works of Toni Morrison, Shakespeare or the author de jour. Now we're done, settled and able to meet and discuss on our terms. Lovely thing, this reading obsession:-)

The boys are I are loving this show right now:
Jon & Kate Plus 8
Every one of the little sweet things on this show has captured our hearts.


Creative Inspiration for the Day:

Ali Edward's 365 Photo Project

Hula Seventy

Ali Edward's Art Journals

Trent Drives!!!

A lovely spring day for my son Trent's 15th birthday. We woke him early for peanut butter brownies and presents. We gave him a beautiful watch and a new set of binoculars for birding as well as an autobiographical journal just like his dad uses. The grandmas called, and he got cards in the mail. Best of all, he got his driving permit! A bit scary, but a fun morning of riding with Trent as he fulfilled his (literally) life-long ambition to drive! He did well, although we had one close call with a mailbox. No big deal. I just closed my eyes and used lots of caffeine, and we made it through:-)

So proud of this beautiful, charming, smart, funny, handsome guy. We'll party seriously Saturday with all of the family, a big cake, and yes, an electric guitar and amplifier for his 'big' present. Can't wait to see him take off with this musical adventure!

A shout out to my friend Melissa Pratte, who is in Kansas City, living the good life. Restaurants, sushi, stuffed grape leaves, a potential summer job at our favorite spot. Oh, did I mention she is an awesome English teacher and literary scholar? Now if we could just find her a lovely man....

Organic Love

A glorious spring morning, and I'm thinking organics. My husband, Carl, and I are big fans of the t.v. programs Endless Feast and Chefs A'Field, which promote local, organic, sustainable farming and food. As self-confessed foodies, we are interested in knowing exactly where our food comes from, and we want our boys to know the value of good food. Do we still breakfast at McDonald's sometimes? Yes. Do I love California Pizza kitchen frozen Thai Chicken Pizza? You bet! But our family continues to make strides in eating locally, organically and healthfully.

We use organic, free-range eggs, and we buy organic everything we can get our hands on, from Horizons milk to applesauce to raisins and cooking spray. This summer promises to be the summer where we enjoy our own fresh vegetables, and those of our local farmers, all summer long. My goal is to freeze much of what we can't use immediately, so we will have healthy fruits & veggies all winter.

We are still learning as we go, and we have a lot to learn about natural, organic and sustainable, but we have found many people who share our interests and are eager to discuss their experiences with these issues.

Here are some lovely links, both local and non-local, concerning organics and sustainability:

Pawnee Pride Meats, Steinauer, NE

Double K Organic Farms, Clarinda, IA

Excited to read:

Certain Girls, the new novel by Jennifer Weiner

It's a New Day!

Another warm, sunny, lovely day here in southeast Nebraska. Our Luke is feeling much better. He was up early and ready for breakfast, phonics and math. My goal, now that warm weather is here, is to spend as much time as possible outside. So I've moved all of Luke's usual crafty, messy fun outside. This morning I sat his bean box and cups, spoons, etc. out on his picnic table so he could play in the sunshine while daddy worked in the yard. I plan to buy him a new sand and water table when I go to Omaha next week, but until then he will be doing his "water experiences" on his picnic table.

The best thing about spring and summer, for me, is the ability to get outside with Carl and the boys. In the winter I detest playing in the snow, but spring and summer mean fishing, playing, birding, exploring and much more. Trent is getting a new pair of binoculars for his birthday, and I must stop at our local nature museum to pick up a copy of the "Birds of Otoe County" checklist so we can check off all of the birds we see this summer. We've already been on several picnics, and we plan to eat and play outside every day possible.

All of this play and fresh air does wonders for our bodies and spirits, and the ability to be outside so much helps me make it through the long, cold winters here in Nebraska. How lovely, these warm, green days:-)

Some links to my favorite outdoor places:

Henry Doorly Zoo, Omaha, NE

Steamboat Trace Trail, Peru, NE

Indian Cave State Park, near Falls City, NE

Waubonsie State Park, Hamburg, IA

Mozingo Lake, Maryville, MO

Lake of Three Fires, Bedford, IA

Mormon Island State Recreation Area, Grand Island, NE

Quote of the Day:
"Reflect on your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."
Charles Dickens

Sick Day

It's a terrific warm spring day, and my little Luke is sick. He woke up feeling yucky and now seems to have deveoped a croupy cough. He'll just rest today and hopefully be back in action tomorrow. Also just lost his second tooth, but feels too horrible to spend his money from the tooth fairy right now. By tomorrow, hopefully, he will be begging to take a trip to Wal-Mart:-)

Doing lots of yard work and preparing to plant lots of things. Preparing for a scrapbook page on Trent receiving his learner's permit. Planning for Trent's 15th birthday party. Reading voraciously. Shopping online. Teaching children. Cooking and baking. Completing spring cleaning. Missing Carl while he's at work. Planning a new photography project that involves documenting our lives every day for a month, tentatively titled "A Month in the Life."

Spring is here, all three of my boys are lovely, life is good:-)