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

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.

In some ways Sophia is a typical little girl. She loves to dress up and is very particular about what she likes and does not like. She owns one pair of pants because she just doesn’t like them and I am tired of trying to convince her that she is still pretty even when wearing pants. Well lately she has been my own personal fashion stylist. She is an early bird (she literally wakes up with the sun) and for the past week has been coming into my bedroom and hanging out in there while we are still sleeping. Being the helpful little sprite that she is, she has been chosing my clothes for me and hanging them on the closet door. As you can see her style is impeccable.

From the bottom up, notice the shoes, which I haven’t worn for at least 3 years. She is thorough, though. I am especially thankful that she not only chose some stellar socks, but that they are already in the shoes, thus elimnating a four step process for dressing my feet. I think from now on I will put my socks and shoes on in one fell swoop. I’m all about efficiency. Next, the dress. Oh the dress. The pretty dress that I ordered online expecting a knee length dress but ended up being an upper thigh length dress. I have never worn it. The dress is the only reason I won’t be supporting this look on my grocery shopping trip this afternoon. Too bad–that sock/shoe combo is really compelling!