i can see!

when i wake up in the morning, most mornings, first order is coffee. It should be glasses, but it isnt. so my brain wakes up a little but my eyes still see the unclearly. The edges of the world around me are fuzzy and non distinct.

i CAN see without my glasses, i can read, i can operate my phone and computer, i can get the kids breakfast, make the bed, do laundry, etc. but i become increasingly irritable as i am unable to see depth, pattern, and words clearly. often times it takes hours for me to realize what the problem is. by then i have snapped at the children, fussed and groused about nothing at all and just generally been a cranky, unkind person.

all of that can turn around in a second by doing 2 things: Recognizing my problem and taking steps to fix it.
in fixing it i can see all the good stuff....and all the not so good stuff, like the crumbs and chunks of food that need swept up from under the table, but now that i can see it i can fix it. coffee spilled on the tan counter top, i can now see it, and fix it.

so being vision impaired is great if you want a good excuse to ignore the junk that needs work, but its really no way to go through life.

going  between VBS in the mornings at one friend's church and evening VBS at another friend's church my kids have been busy, and tired. i have been helping out at the morning VBS and when i come home, i am TIRED, this week has been a whirlwind and i am so ready for a long, long sleep.

i captured these shots of Rosalie playing at the "blue playground" after i dropped the boys off at evening VBS.

Dan Zanes radio on Pandora. My kids love it, i like it, the only station that they love more is We Built This City radio, which Ken started as a joke and the whole family took to immediately.

Dan Zanes uses loads of different instruments including but not limited to Ukulele, harmonica, concertina, kazoo, of course, guitars, fiddle and penny whistle....penny whistle.
and listening to this has inspired me to pick up my penny whistle again, and keep trying, again.

what i reallly desire is to be able to fiddle but i tend to stray long term projects, like learning to properly play an instrument.

so i will stick to penny whistle.

A nugget from a fictional sailor

As spoken by the seafaring heroine Jacky Faber, of L.A Meyer's Bloody Jack series "A life of adventure is ofttimes better in the telling of, rather than in the living through."
Well said, Jacky, well said.

Back Again

We just had our last day of our first year of homeschooling. im already looking for summer units to teach. the littles, miles and rosalie will be learning about weather, dominic will be learning about the bill of rights.
so my last 2 days have been spent looking at pinterest, pinning stuff and dreaming about this afternoon when my kids are napping so i can learn to use my brand

spanking new laminator!! yes im excited about my new laminator.
im sure that lessons are going to be so much more fun with laminated pages, cards, charts, shapes and such. my kids might beg to differ.

sometimes we all need a little help. sometimes we need to be left alone for a while to work things out with personal prayer and meditation. a lot of the time what we need falls right there in the middle.

friends, dont be too proud to let other people help you through your valleys, there is no reason that you need to walk that dark walk alone. your friends might not understand exactly what you feel, but they are your friends, they love you and they want the best for you.

Rosalie's first birthday