So my girls are not the eggheads I’m speaking of–this time. This week marks the three week countdown to the end of our first year of homeschooling and this week is our vegetable unit. It seems kind of silly to me to mark out time to talk about and do these activities for this part of our curriculum. You see, we’ve planted several things from seed already and talk almost daily about vegetables and nutrients, and of course God’s provision and creation of such delicious and amazing things. The more I do homeschooling, the more I realize that most learning at this point is done conversationally–by answering questions and just being there to explain the world around us. The work we do will be mostly redundant this week, but we’ll push ahead and do the work so we teach the girls about finishing strong.

One fun activity we decided to start last week in preparation for our veggie unit was to make eggheads. Basically you just boil an egg, cut of the top and carefully take out the egg white and  yolk. Then you stuff the empty shell with cotton balls, sprinkle the top with mustard seeds (which we just happened to have in the pantry) and keep the cotton balls moist. Oh, and don’t forget the most important part–to draw a face on your egghead. We did this last Tuesday and by Thursday the seeds had already sprouted and today they are at least an inch high! Not only has this been so much fun for us but it will be a great illustration and conversation starter in discussing having faith like a mustard seed. Anywho, check out our “eggheads”.

“So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Matthew 17:20

Although I haven’t been in a flurry of activity lately, the girls have not slowed down; particularly Sophia. She goes through so much paper drawing and coloring. I absolutely love it. The other day she climbed into bed with me and fell asleep, the first thing she said when she awoke was “I’m gonna go get some paper and draw”. She’s had a theme lately. Can you guess? Ding, ding, ding! If you said princesses you would be right. Anywho check out this montage on the wall.

The third one from the left on the top row is a scene from a movie. If anyone can guess which scene from which movie I’ll send you something in the mail. I don’t know what, but it will be really cool.

Oh boy, I’m in trouble.

For the last 12 plus years I’ve been battling anemia–so I’ve developed this pattern where I go through mountains and valleys of energy and motivation. Right now I’m in a valley. I have hardly any energy and a whole lot of responsibility. Oy. I woke up this morning wondering when I would be able to sneak away for a nap. I ordered some Floradix liquid iron and am praying it gets here soon so I can get on top of that mountain of productivity again (and coincidentally the  mountain of laundry that will inevitably be growing). I’m also really anxious to get my blood work done in a few weeks to see if the Floradix does indeed raise my red blood cell count/hemoglobin/hematocrit levels.

So my lists of to-do’s have been really simple lately. Today I want to do schoolwork with the girls, eat some food, do a violin lesson, and plant a few seeds for our backyard garden–and of course a little nap.

photo from here

So I kinda forgot about my little corner of the inter-webs over here. We took a little road trip for a week to Virginia. It’s an annual trip to visit our friends and fill up on friendship and fellowship. I think we accomplished our goal. I do plan to start posting again regularly. For now I have to run a bazillion errands today, catch up with another friend I’ve been missing, and gather my thoughts as it’s hard to have thoughts with 5 kids circling you all day. I have some fun things coming up, including a video of a fun experiment that involves children and marshmallows.  Oh, and happy spring! Seeing all these daffodils is one of my favorite times of the year!

Photo from here

Our dear friends in Virginia that we are visiting have three boys. Caleb is turning 7 next month, Isaac is 5, and Micah is 3. If you could harness all the energy in this house for just an hour, you could probably power a mall for a day. So, it’s been interesting being around these three boys–and noticing the differences between them and our girls. I thought I would do my favorite thing and make a list. I really want a boy, a son, but I realize that I need to appreciate what I do have. So here is my list of what it means to have girls.

1. When I separate my laundry into piles, I have two loads of just pinks.

2. I can kiss their boo-boos without worrying about making them into sissies. They’re girls–they’re supposed to be sissies.

3. I get to pick out or sew pretty dresses for them.

4. Pigtails. Nuff’ said.

5. Princess talk abounds, even in walks through the woods.

6. The likelihood of broken bones is less.

7. I get to plan two weddings. I kid, I kid.

8. Ballerina twirls.

9. They want to make things look pretty.

10. I understand them. Mostly.

11. We outnumber Zac, so when it comes to voting on things I can usually get them to side with me.

12. They rarely walk; skipping is their mode of transportation.