nature

I Almost Said No

~ Stacy ~ 7 Comments

It has been rainy for the better part of two weeks around here, and while we’re grateful the river is high and the green beans are watered, we’re just a little bit over cloudy skies and 60 degree temps.

Yesterday, during a downpour, my six-year-old approached me with a handful of fishing lures (no hooks) and asked for a bowl of water.

I almost said no. I was in my mess of a basement packing away winter coats (finally) and trying to figure out which water shoes from storage will fit my third son (and going blind doing it because all the size labels are worn off). I wasn’t sure I could navigate through my fortress of plastic totes to the stairs if I wanted to.

And honestly, I didn’t want to deal with the request. I didn’t want to stop what I was doing to go upstairs for a bucket and a towel. I didn’t want to clean up water messes or hear the post-water-play whining about wet shirt sleeves. I wanted the boys to find something quiet and orderly to do while I got stuff done. Something like Latin flash cards. Or piano chords.

Ha. Continue reading →

Busy Heart

~ Stacy ~ 12 Comments

Take your busy heart to the art museum and the

chamber of commerce

but take it also to the forest.

The song you heard singing in the leaf when you

were a child

is singing still.

-From “What Can I Say” by Mary Oliver

 

This evening, at what should have been supper time, I felt called down to the river.

I stifled the urge for a few minutes, knowing there was laundry to be folded, lunch dishes piled beside the sink, books scattered across the dining room table from the day’s lessons.

But the murmur of the river is persistent. It drowns out the beep of the answering machine and the swoosh of the washing machine and the buzz of the neighbor’s weed whacker.

Continue reading →

Fawns and Chicks: A Promise to My Son

~ Stacy ~ 10 Comments

The lake was calm, except for our speedboat with you and your noisy brothers in tow. You requested more chips, then scoffed at my expected Eat-some-more-grapes-first reply.

“Is it time to swim yet?” you asked.

“We’re heading to the swimming hole now,” Daddy answered.

In the glare of late-day sun, I noticed something on the water ahead. Squinting, shielding my eyes, I called to your father to slow down.

“What is it? he asked.

“I can’t tell – some kind of birds.”

Continue reading →

The Book Basket: And Then It’s Spring

~ Stacy ~ 8 Comments

Welcome to The Book Basket, a place for sharing seasonal reads and other literature we are enjoying in our home.

Reading to my three sons is hands-down my favorite thing to do with them. Reading time is bonding time and learning time rolled into one.  When we read together, we slow down, regroup, and connect.

It’s the best part of our day, every day.

I have a large collection of books sorted by season and theme that I rotate out every few months, and I’m always particularly happy to see this book when I reach for the spring stack…

Continue reading →

First Morning

~ Stacy ~ 12 Comments

We closed on our new home in early August, moved our stuff in, then turned around and went on two long-before-scheduled camping trips with friends and a road trip to the Minneapolis area to visit my family.

Uff da.

We are so DONE, guys. Done with summer travel. Done with DVDs in the car and graham crackers on the floorboards.

I’m even done with s’mores. Continue reading →