Stewart turned 12 yesterday.  There wasn’t much fanfare.  There was no extravagant outing.  It wasn’t proclaimed, “The best birthday ever.”  But he was okay with that. 

On the whole, birthdays were lower keyed this summer.  It wasn’t an intentional effort to bring things down a notch, but just how it turned out. 

We did the traditional “wake-up”-the birthday-kid. 

And he asked for his gifts before breakfast.  Sure.  Why not.
He was really looking forward to the Adventures in Odyssey CD he was hoping for.  He spent all day listening to it.

I’d made some yummy pastries for breakfast and they all wanted thirds.  I said they had to eat a piece of fruit before they could have more pastry!  So they did. 

Around 4PM we met Nan, Nene, Ba & Poppy at the park.  Sadly, the bees were menacing and we stayed only a short time, eating as we walked around…

He opened a few gifts there, as well. 

And rode the swings with …. Poppy???

We ditched the bees and headed home for cake.  Lemon cake per his request.

The little boy who made us parents 12 years ago is growing up.  He loves Odyssey, Narnia, and still dabbles in lots of little boy activities.  He is a good reader, but a media hound – a desire he will undoubtedly work hard to keep in balance as he matures and is left to discipline himself.  He’s a good egg with a lot of Bible knowledge who is easy to talk to.  I’m eager to see what the next few years hold for him.  He’s sharp and has a good sense of humor, but he’s not really ready to be kind to his siblings.  He doesn’t complain too much about school or chores and does a lot of his work independently these days.  I miss the one-on-one time… but I love that he is trustworthy.

He’s been great kid to practice parenting skills on… and is a person whom I genuinely enjoy talking with.

I KNOW I am not the only homeschooler who hears the mostly-genuine, sometimes-judgment-laced, “I don’t know how you do it.”  Frankly, most days, months and years I do not know how we do it, either.  God.  Just God.  ALL God.  HE is the author of our days and when we remember to surrender them to him, they tend to go better.

But a lot of days are still rough.  Really, really, rough.  They humble, stretch, and grow me… and the kids.

I don’t know how we will do school for grades 7, 5, 3, 1, and keep a busy toddler engaged and stimulated.  I don’t know how we will do this while all the while mom gets bigger and bigger and more and more tired and more and more grouchy.  I don’t know how we will do it when, God-willing, Ducky arrives in February. 

I don’t know.

But God does.  He knows.  He will help.

And we are starting out with this plan of attack.  It will undoubtedly change, morph, evolve, self-destruct, or otherwise disappear.  But it gives us somewhere to start. 

And even if we blow it ENTIRELY I get to spend every day with my kids.  All day.  Every day.  Together.  I don’t know how I was selected for such an awesome opportunity.  But I am glad I was called to it.  Grammar and all.   

Surprisingly, the new chart was met with no gnashing of teeth or renting of clothes.  As a matter-of-fact, they were down-right chipper about the whole thing!

Does that mean I could have added more? 

(The manager’s job is to go around as dinner is being worked on and see that all the chores were done.  This is the time to remind someone if their chores haven’t been completed.  I’ll let you know how it works!”)

The calendar had “Laura Ingalls Wilder Weekend” written on it for the past six months.  We had planned on it being a family day.  Yesterday, John jokingly asked if he had to go.  Later in the day, Marie asked if she had to go.  Hmmm.  Really?  Marie?  She LOVES Genesee Country Village & Museum.  Yes, really.  She said she didn’t want to go tomorrow.  Hmmm.  Okay.  Later I came out and asked Nigel.  He said, “It’s fun, but I’d rather not go tomorrow.”  GET OUT!  Still later, I asked Stewart.  He said he’d go if he had to, but he’d rather stay home. 

I was astonished. 

This left Tabitha and I.  We were both VERY eager to go.  I now think God was taking the longing out of the hearts of my other children so that Tabitha and I could have a special day together.  Once she realized it was just going to be she and I, she couldn’t stop talking about our special day.  This morning, as I was coming down the stairs, I heard her say to John, “I hope Mommy wears a dress.”  She had on her pioneer dress.

I know I’ve said it on here before.  But I LOVE the Genesee Country Village.  I love it.  I wonder if I would ever get tired.

So we packed a lunch and headed there for our special day.  We held hands and we rode the “trolley” (tractor-pulled wagon) – two things we can’t do when I have a stroller.  As a matter-of-fact, we rode and rode the trolley.  As in, all the way around the circuit.  It didn’t really take us anywhere.  I let her be the one who decided the order we did things, and I didn’t even complain when her routes had us ricocheting around the property. 

She helped make corn meal in a pioneer kitchen.

And cooked me dinner in an 1850’s home, too.

Soup.

And bread.

She stopped to sweep the hearth.

Before putting on the finishing touches.

She ironed.

And we took a stagecoach ride. 

We had a picnic lunch in the car.  She got to sit in the front.

And we met some 13 month old oxen.

She tried out a wagon both as a driver and a passenger.

And we paused for some coloring.

We visited a 1700’s school house and I forgot to take a photo.  We later visited the 1800’s school house.

She cleaned up to help prepare bread, then decided she’d skip that.

And instead she did some laundry.

She helped a man count cucumbers that he was preparing to pickle.

And made butter with his wife.

Mommy was getting tired.  As we peeked in at some chickens I calculated how much energy I had left.

And I determined only ice cream would give me enough pep to finish up and keep me awake to drive home.
She ate Road Runner Raspberry and I had Peach Cobbler.  She decided mine tasted, “Way much better.”  She might be right.  The Peach Cobbler was amazing.

And we stopped by the store to let her have a peppermint stick for the ride home.  Unprovoked, she asked if she could take four home for the other kids. 

During the day she opted not to participate in the races and games.  She opted not to be in the Children’s Promenade.  She kept things low key and I could see her taking in EVERYTHING.  I expect to see her playing it with her imagination in the days to come.

In all we had six hours together.  Actually – more than seven if you count our chatter-filled rides to and from.
Her exhaustion set in about 2 miles from home when she started to cry that she couldn’t get the elastic out of her braid.  The tired tears rolled as we rolled down the driveway.  She pepped up a little when we looked at these pictures and she started sharing stories with her Daddy and siblings. 

My favorite part was the stagecoach.  No, actually, my favorite was one-on-one with my Easter Bunny. 

I had two emails from two dear friends today.  Both dealing with hard stuff.  Let downs, disappointments, misunderstandings.
They are wresting with the enemy.
They will wait on God. 

For my friends I will pray:

Romans 12:12
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

James 1:12
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Can you see the pails of water, and the jump ropes tied to the bike and scooter?

That’s how Tabitha secures and waters her horses.

🙂

Can you see the pails of water, and the jump ropes tied to the bike and scooter?

That’s how Tabitha secures and waters her horses.

🙂

A quick jump in the pool before mom goes to work.

Some leftover pizza on throw away plates.

Summer stuff, ya’ know?

We had not known where our parachute was since sometime last year. We thought maybe we took it to the beach, but truly we were not 100% on that either.

I’d been thinking a lot about it this summer. I asked God to help me remember who I had lent it to. Nothing.

Yesterday I prayed that God would help me find it if it was lost.

Today, I did not think about it once. Then as I was hanging laundry and needing hangers I opened the rarely used front closet and reached for an apparently empty hanger. But it was heavy. There was something attached. A nylon bag.

With a parachute.