Thirteith Monday

Ann wrote, "If you can really see--- the weight of Glory always tips the scales for joy." 

The scales tipped heavily in joy's favor this past weekend as I saw...

Community
Laughter and games
Sweet sons working hard

God's work in M's life
M's moving words before his baptism yesterday
Father to son, "I baptize you my brother...."
encouraging words from those who were themselves encouraged

lots of sandwich fixings
watermelon cheesecake at Matthew's request
friends - young and old, silver and gold
friends - who stick around all day and even after you go to bed

backyard pool
created games
impromptu swimming instruction
hanging out in the water and at the water's edge


movie discussions
sitting next to Coty on the futon

a good night's sleep
a good morning's walk

helpful suggestions
time to read, time to plan
plethora of good books
a  loaner not often loaned out

hum of cicadas
lightning flashes
crape myrtle full of blossosms
fresh peaches - again - another whole basket full!


It has been easy to give thanks these last few days.  God's gifts have been abundant and they feel good.  

His gifts to us, however, are not always so easily seen and felt as good.  Even then, when we have to look harder to see the beauty, strain to see Jesus, strive (with His energy) to trust that He is good, yes, even then we are called to give thanks.  In all things.  All the time.  Without ceasing.

#'s 1145-1172 

It's a good day for...

gazpacho.

Thank you, Charlotte, for the reminder.  I'm pulling out that old bread and bringing in cucs from the garden right now.  I don't have enough fresh tomatoes, so tomato juice will have to suffice.

The next class

Laura asked.  So let me tell you.  All this reading is for my co-op class for the coming year.  It's a change, though. I'll be teaching middle schoolers!  Since we are at a point in the life of our co-op where no one is quite ready for high school biology and since the older kids have all done both biology and anatomy with me, I'm switching gears.

I won't have any of my boys in class this year.  In fact, Joel will be the only Pinckney student in co-op... the only Pinckney high schooler left!  I know the kids that will be in my class, but not well.  I've been warned that I have some strong personalities and some that like to go on bunny trails.  Well, I intend to take them on plenty of trails...and we'll probably see a bunny or two.

The class is called Field Biology and Nature Study and it is being developed right now.  Our amazing co-op leader, Heidi, asked for syllabi from the teachers by the end of June.  Oh, dear.  Sorry, Heidi.  But she knows I've been working away and have a plan.  It's just a matter now of narrowing down what we will do, picking and choosing, and confirming dates for a series of great field opportunities for my kids.

I feel quite privileged to live near several colleges and universities and have already gotten a commitment from a professor who researches  barred owls and who will speak to our class.  I'm also talking with the folks at the Herp Lab at my alma mater for some spring time herp fun!  We have a great local park system that offers a variety of classes/hikes/field trips as well as the Audubon society and their local birding expertise.  And that's just a sampling of what's available. 

If you're really interested in knowing what I'm doing with this class, I'll send you the overview document.  Just leave your email address in the comments.

And now, here's a question.  I'm having a hard time finding a good "spine" book for the kids to read.  I thought this book might work, but it's a bit too technical at this point for this particular group.  It's a great resource and we'll use it, but I'd love it if there was something similar at a little lower (for lack of a better word) level.  Any ideas?   I do plan to have a class resource library and will be encouraging individual research and reading from the public library, so maybe we don't need a spine book.  But if you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them.

If you want to read a bit more about my thought process as I work on this course, check out this post that I recently contributed to the ChildLight blog.

I would also just like to say a thank you to M-mv (some of you know her), for reminding me that some of the best thinking and planning comes in the idle moments.  (do click over and read this short post - it might make the rest of your summer more enjoyable if you're a homeschool planning mom).  Honestly, I've probably done more actual "working" on this class on my morning walks than any other time!

And now, after my 6.23 mile walk in which I began noticing more about the pine trees in my neighborhood, I am off to swim a few laps and then soak my tender foot in ice water!  I should be able to get some good reading and thinking done!

The stacks

First there was this stack, from the library and my own shelves....

And now there is this stack, just arrived today (except Local Wilderness and  Tree, mine and library).

All these great books... and some I hope are great (haven't read them yet - the reviews say they are!).  All resources for this year's co-op class which starts in ... a month and two days!

I think I will hie me to the hammock and read.

Cabarrus Creamery

I am a very big fan of lemon ice cream.  When I lived in Williamstown, the only flavor I ever got from the local ice cream shop, Lickety Split, was lemon mousse.

I have come close to replicating that flavor in a dessert I make in the summer time.  It's easy.  Take a half gallon of good (I'm talking Breyers or the like) vanilla ice cream.  Let it thaw just a bit.  Add to the soft ice cream a thawed 12 oz. can of frozen lemon or limeade concentrate.  Stir well.  Pour into a 9 x 13 glass pan and refreeze.  If you want, you can line the bottom of the pan with a graham cracker crust, but the dessert is just fine without it.

This dessert is good, but it isn't Lickety Split lemon mousse.

Last night, though, I found the ice cream of my dreams. (Actually, I don't dream about ice cream.  I don't even eat it that often.  But when I do, I want it to be worth it).  Well anyway, Matthew, Andrew, Olivia, and I went to downtown Concord, which was quite sleepy and quiet at 7:15 PM.  The creamery closes at 8:00 during the week, but by the time we got there, they were depleted of most of their flavors.  Except, thankfully, for the one I went for...lemon slice.

Oh, my!  Tart.  Sweet.  Little slivers of crystallized lemon with the peel right in the ice cream.  Perfect summer deliciousness.

I'm glad I walked six miles yesterday morning.  And glad I don't live on Union Street in Concord.  That would be dangerous.

Anyway, if you like lemon, if you like small towns, if you are craving hand scooped ice cream, visit Cabarrus Creamery.  And if you don't like lemon, you could always try the Moon Pie ice cream.  How southern is that?!

Twenty-ninth Monday...

...which was yesterday, of course, was a day for basking in the glow of a lovely, full wedding weekend.  (No, not one of mine this time, but dear friends in our church).

It was also a day for reading, thinking, and mulling over ideas that have been percolating about next year's biology class.

Why I didn't sit down and write my usual Monday post, I don't know, except that I think my body was tired and my brain was full.   It didn't really occur to me til I was about to go to bed that I hadn't posted.

So, here I am on Tuesday afternoon...giving thanks for....

Josh and Shelley and their sweet families
A God-honoring wedding service
Beautiful music - cello and guitars
Our church family who gathered round to help and celebrate
Lots of laughter, lots of good food, lots of dancing (even the oldest among us, Catherine and Earl!)
Fun, even with the clean-up

Reminders on Sunday morning of God's work in far away places
Fellowship time made even sweeter with leftover wedding cake!
Lazy afternoon with a nap on the porch
Quiet evening with Coty

The way that ideas percolate and gel
Helpful conversations
The library!
Book ordering and the anticipation of helpful resources
Co-op
Long morning without interruption to get thoughts on paper

And this morning....

A long walk followed by
Fresh peaches!

#'s 1127 - 1144

More from Rascal

"Our biology teacher had her own method of inspiring our class.  She taught instinctively.  If wild geese were noticed crossing the October sky, she would call us all to the windows to hear their distant clangor and to watch the V-ing southward."    - Sterling North

Hoping to inspire this year...

"Music to remember"

I'm re-reading the children's classic, Rascal, by Sterling North.  Do you know it?  The story of a boy and his pet raccoon; the boy whose mother died and who lives with his somewhat distracted but loving father; the boy who is building a canoe in his living room.  I'm loving this book again.  I think it might just spark desire to see, hear, observe in my middle school co-op biology/nature study class this fall.

Today I read this...

"Kumlien could start the whippoorwills any night by playing his flute," my father said. "Far across the fields we heard them, the old man with his flute, his son playing the violin, and hundreds of whippoorwills calling - that's music to remember. (italics mine)

It made me sad that I could not have known Kumlien, and walked the woods with him, learning every bird, flower, and insect.  I had been born too late, it seemed, even to hear a whippoorwill.

My father looked at me for a moment as though he were really seeing me.  "Let's take the day off," he said.  There must be a pair of whippoorwills around here somewhere."

I have music to remember.  It's the call of barred owls from the woods behind the house after dark.  One will start, "Who, who, who cooks for yooooou?"  and another will answer right back with the same question.  And then the pitch rises and the pace quickens til it sounds like a couple of crazy dogs barking at each other.  Sometimes they leave off the caterwauling part at the end and just call back and forth.  That's quite lovely music.  I want my students to hear it and love it, too.    

Twenty-eighth Monday

What a weekend we have had!  On Friday, I drove up to camp to deliver the fireworks.  Matthew and Kennan had driven to SC to buy a pack of  Primo 12 fireworks (can't buy those in NC), and I was the pyrotechnic courier.  I also got a sneak preview of the proposal site and ran into Asheboro to pick up a few more candles, flowers, and other miscellaneous items that Thomas needed.  Then the hour drive home and the wait for the news that she had said yes!

Saturday included going to the church for instructions on helping with Josh and Shelley's wedding decorations, and then in the afternoon, the first annual DGCC Summer Family Picnic!  What a lot of fun we all had, all ages, all sizes, everyone, running the obstacle course, water on the head and dump into a bucket, and silly dress up races and more.  And what an amazing spread of delicious food shared in the evening!  After our meal, it was back to the field for the slip 'n slide for the little ones and speed volleyball for the big ones.  So much laughter, lots of good time to sit under the shade canopies and visit, plenteous food, and sweet cooperation in pulling off a splendid picnic.

Sunday morning, I was so happy to sit between two Joel and Thomas at church and occasionally glance over at the sparkle of diamond on Kay's finger.  Matthew played the piano and nephew, Kennan joined the worship team playing his ukulele.  That was a first!  Coty preached on the fifth commandment and gave us much to think about and discuss in our Wednesday small groups. We shared the Lord's Supper.

In the afternoon, we pushed back the furniture to make room and a crowd joined us to watch the World Cup final.  A bit of friendly Spain/Netherlands rivalry in the room will result in someone who was pulling for the Dutch dancing a tango at the wedding this weekend.  Or so I heard! 

After the game people swam, nibbled at snacks, rested, and talked.  At 9:00, the ones still here watched a new Poirot on Mystery. 

At the end of the evening, a little cleaning in the kitchen and then I fell into bed.  Happy.  Tired.  Full.  Thankful for...

1092.  Kay and Thomas and all that is ahead
1093.  Thomas's friends who helped with the proposal
1094.  I get another very special daughter-in-law

1095.  Josh and Shelley
1096.  Getting to spend time with them the last few weeks
1097.  Sweet families planning a special wedding together
1098.  Amy, amazing Amy! (everyone should have such a helpful, organized friend to plan their wedding)
1099.  So much joy surrounding this upcoming day
1100.  So many in our church family helping in various ways - makes me so heart happy to see it!
1101.  Boys, excited about being ushers for their good friend, Josh

1102.  Lori, the picnic mastermind!
1103.  So many helpers - many hands truly made light work
1104.  Little ones and big ones all playing together
1105.  People being willing to look silly with water spilled over their heads and crazy costumes and all the laughter and cheering.
1106.  So. Much. Good. Food!
1107.  A church family that makes new folks and internationals feel so welcomed and loved
1108.  Chinese young women throwing water balloons!
1109.  Soccer chairs and sitting in the evening quiet with just a few to talk and relax
1110.  Clean-up helpers

1111.  Worship
1112.  Scripture read aloud
1113.  New faces
1114.  Old friends
1115.  Families with lots of children
1116.  Singles welcomed into families
1117.  Compassionate ones who care deeply and listen, rescue, and open their home to a hurting one
1118.  A glimmer of a smile on a hurting one's face
1119.  God's mysterious, sovereign purposes in an incidental meeting almost two years ago
1120.  Singing
1121.  Sharing the bread and wine
1122.  Coffee time conversations all around

1123.  Banter of good friends
1124.  So many who just walk right in
1125.  Treats shared
1126.  True fellowship

Yes, it was a very full weekend.  My heart is glad, rejoicing in so many good gifts.  We have prayed for Thomas and Kay and God's leading in their lives.  We have also prayed for greater closeness, bonds of friendship, sharing of burdens and laughter in our church family.  God's answers to these prayers were so evident this weekend in so many different ways.  I give thanks! 

The big news of the weekend is...

...I'm getting another daughter!

Thomas proposed to Kay on Friday night.  Their evening started with dinner on the covered bridge at camp.  Fellow counselors prepared and served the meal, one read a poem he had written about Thomas and Kay, another stood at the easel and drew a (very funny) picture of them, and others sang for them.

I'm pretty impressed with how those guys transformed the little covered bridge into a romantic dinner spot for the evening!  I also love the pickle jar cooler!

After the meal, they walked to the boat dock and got into a candlelit rowboat.  Here's Thomas's version of what happened next:

"In the rowboat was a small cooler with two cups of ice cream in it. Brandon and Drew rowed us out into the lake over near our outdoor chapel while we ate our ice cream. Stationed at the outdoor chapel were Ben Starnes and Calvin Lindsey who played guitar and sang Come Fly with Me by Frank Sinatra. About this time Kay got near the end of her ice cream cup and decided she didn't want the rest so she handed it to me. Well this left me in a little bit of a predicament because when we first started going out over three and a half years, Kay had told me she had always wanted to find her engagement ring at the bottom of an ice cream cone. So, I dug my fingers through the remaining ice cream and pulled out the ring, got to my knees, managing to kneel directly on top of the ice cream cup I had dropped ... and asked Kay to marry me. As I asked her to marry me my "twin brother" Brad Vaughn began setting off fireworks from the pier. SHE SAID YES!!! I carefully placed the sticky, beautiful, ice cream covered ring on her finger."

Isn't that a wonderful proposal story!  Thomas pulled off such a thoughtful, romantic, sweet, memorable proposal...with the help of his buddies at camp.  What great friends he has!  I'll get to see them when I take Joel to camp this morning and thank them for making it such a special evening for T and K.

Isn't it funny...July seems to be the month for proposals around here!  Remember last year?  Jonathan's proposal to Kandyce in India and their engagement party?  And now, Thomas's covered-bridge-at-camp proposal to Kay. I think we're going to have another May wedding, too, though no definite date is set yet. Stay tuned!

And now...

they've taken to sleeping in the hammock!  

A different boy each of the last few nights.  I'm not sure who's out there this morning.  I took this picture of a sleeping Joel on Tuesday morning,

The music of cicadas serenades them and the stars are their night light.  There's just something quite special about sleeping outside in the summertime.  I think it's about my turn.

Fourth of July

We had a house full.  Cooked on the grill.  Played and watched pool games.  Built a fire. 

After most of the crowd left, some of us sat by the fire and listened to...

ukelele music.

Twenty-seventh Monday

Today was a family day.  A whole day with my guys, away on a day trip and then home to swim, eat a good dinner outside on the deck, and play cards til bedtime.

Today, I have savored time together.  A whole day.  Rare.

Our summer rhythm has changed.  Gone are the lazy days stretching from pancake mornings til firefly evenings.  We now have working sons and summer school and schedules that change from week to week.

We have to carve out time.  We did it today.  And I am thankful for...

time away
a car to drive
a small town to visit
picnic food
a rocking chair in the shade
mindless knitting
quiet car conversation with Coty while boys sleep
jokes, riddles, teasing when it's gentle
turkey vultures soaring on thermals
a mountain and a trail
beautiful weather
long views
the pool
creative game players
biscuits and colorful salads
candles on the table
dinner on the deck
reading together
questions and answers
praying together
card game laughter
today's music - wood thrushes and katydids
family memories, the ones we have and the ones we make now

#'s 1069-1091

I love days that start like this...

An early morning 4.4 mile walk/run

Push-ups and stretching on the deck

A stroll in the garden, drinking in the colors of caladiums, impatiens, and...

healthy perpetual spinach....

Good coffee in a beautiful mug that makes me think of J and K, homemade bread, and a handful of dried cherries for breakfast on the porch

Long quiet time with my Bible and journal

Reading together with Coty and the boys, the Bible and this book and a bit of easy knitting while we read.

Watching World Cup soccer with my guys. Yeah, Netherlands!