Happy Easter

My brother is here visiting from Michigan. So he took our picture (serious and silly) before we left for church this morning.

May your day be blessed with the hope of the resurrection. He is risen. He is risen indeed.

Garden pictures

The Garden

My husband and the kids planted the garden today.

He's been reading the Square Foot Gardening book - and today applied what it teaches.

We now have 2 boxes (each is a 4 foot square) in the back yard. The kids helped build the boxes, mix the sand and potting soil, and fill the boxes. Bending the pipe for the climbing plants was a family activity - oldest son and I stood on the pipe while husband bent it.

My wonderful husband planted the seeds. It was chilly here today so I'm thankful that he took care of it all.

I'm married to an engineer so he made a spreadsheet to calculate when the different vegetables should be ready for harvest.

I'm really looking forward to fresh tomatoes and lettuce.

little dancer

We had some friends over last night. The mom was a dancer (even danced in a couple of music videos). So she's teaching our red head some dance. Last night they worked on ballet positions. I think this is third position.

the mailbox

I'm not the great writer that my husband is. So, if you're reading this it's probably because you are a friend or relative. But, anyway here are a few of my thoughts today.

My parents live on a dirt road outside the limits of a little village. The mailbox is near the end of the driveway. So, once a day someone treks out to get the mail. There's not a ton of traffic so someone often sees the mailman coming. I remember sending and receiving letters from my husband when we were teenagers and not romantically involved.

I've lived in many places and I've always enjoyed getting mail. I remember the mailboxes at IWU in the basement of the old student center. They had windows so you could look in and see if you had anything. It seems like someone even got an engagement ring in their mailbox - not me - I made it out of college single.

Well, right now we don't have a mailbox. In our little "village" we have banks of mailboxes. A couple of days ago, at about 2am ours got taken out by a truck (hit and run or would that be hit and drive?). So our mailbox has been removed and is awaiting repair. We have to drive into town to the post office to pick up our mail. So, I guess I won't be making my daily trek to the mailbox today. Husband has the van and I can't get 4 kids in the back seat of the car (legally).

The Children's Museum

Saturday the kids and I went to The Children's Museum.

There's a new PBS show called Word Girl. (The superhero is a young girl who has a great vocabulary.) The kids really like the show and Word Girl was visiting the museum on Saturday. The kids got to see her and tell her they like her show. Of course she didn't talk and Mr. Huggie Face (her monkey sidekick) wasn't there - so it's good that we didn't have to wait in a long line.
We visited several exhibits and rode the carousel before coming home.

At the Robots exhibit my eight year old saw a book sitting on a low table next to a chair and he sat down and read for several minutes. All sorts of hands on things to do and he picks a book. That's my little reader.

yesterday's question

It was "the question" coming from my six year old daughter.

"Mommy, what is sex?"

Well, we stopped for a little anatomy lesson and to talk about "God's design for sex."

I was quite thankful to have, on hand, the book Before I was Born written by Carolyn Nystrom and put out by NAVPRESS. The book is geared for ages 5-8 and seemed to answer their questions. I ended up with all four kids (ages 1, 3, 6 & 8) around me as I read the story.

I hope my kids always feel free to ask me questions and that I'll be able to point them to God's answers.