Play Silks

If I had to pick only one toy for my kids, I really think it would be play silks. That doesn't exclude books, of course.  You see books don't really classify as toys.  It goes without being said that we obviously need lots and lots of books.
For literally years I wanted to buy play silks, but I was put off by the price.  Seriously, at $10.00 a piece that really adds up.  I won't argue that I may be too dollar conscience at times. But, what if my boys wouldn't think they were as awesome as I did.  Then one day not too many weeks before Christmas, I was struck with a sudden and unusual stroke of genius.  Surely, somewhere I might purchase these silks in plain white and dye them myself for a fraction of the cost.  So trusty Google lent a hand and I found the perfect place to purchase the silks and the dye, as well. When my lovely package arrived it was stowed under the bed until one night after everyone was tucked into bed and fast asleep and Mr. Man was at his martial arts lessons.  Then out came my big pot and wooden spoon and I began to dye these lovely 22x22 squares of fluttering softness into vivid colors of red, orange, gold, blue, purple, brown, and sage.  I strung a line through the dining room and hung them to dry.  It wouldn't have been hard to imagine myself as a gypsy just then. Months have passed and the silk are showing signs of much love and hours of play.  I wish I had pictures of a girl playing with them.  I am sure there are many wonderful feminine uses for these creative play things.  Here are some masculine uses. 

Enjoy! Maybe you will be inspired to dye some lovely play silks for the littles in your life.

*Note: The basic dye colors of red, yellow, and blue, are all you really need. You might want black & brown, maybe.  I found that I had a good deal of  fun mixing my own colors and sampling their shades by dipping 1/4 cup out of the pot and into a small glass cup.  The dyes are very vivid and I have plenty of leftover dye for many more scarves.

Hospitality

Tonight I found a blog on hospitality that really inspired and challenged me. 

"Hospitality is {not} a Dirty Word "

My favorite quote from this blog:

"The biggest challenge that God has lain upon my heart through my journey to understand what hospitality is and is not, is that hospitality does not ask me to be impressive - with my home, with my food, with myself. Lay the measuring stick of perfectionism aside, and open your doors wide. Simply share with others what God has blessed you with – no matter what that is or looks like. When we choose to practice biblical hospitality we will soon learn that it is a lifestyle that spills from our heart."

 That I needed to hear again.  Why is it so easy to forget and turn our focus inward?  I'm glad for reminders, because I surely need them.

"When hospitality becomes an art it looses it's very soul." 

- M. Beerbohm

" In hospitality, the chief thing is the good will." 

- A Greek Proverb.

If you have never read
"Open Heart, Open Home" by Karen Mains
do try to get yours hands on it.  This is truly a great book and changed the whole way I look at opening my home.  It is inspiring and challenging at the same time.

Moments of Quiet in a Whirlwind Life

I am so completely exhausted lately...  every single day!!!

My life is moving at a frenetic pace.  It is all craziness, but there doesn't seem to be one thing that I can do to change it.  Or maybe I am just blind and can't see it, that is possible, too.

I am trying to carve out little moments of quietness here and there.  Tonight was one of those moments that I intentionally stopped and took the boys out for a walk/bike ride.  It was lovely, the afternoon storm had cooled the air and made everything feel so much nicer than usual.  The guys biked, explored, dug in the clay, found a moth and deer tracks and generally had a great time.  I was reminded once again that I really need to do this more often for them, and for me.  It was great to just spend some time walking, praying, and singing, and just leaving the to do list behind for just a short time.  Yeah, I will probably have to get up at 5AM tomorrow, but my kids are truly more important.

Even in the middle of this hectic time I am getting some things done that I have wanted to do for a long time!  Actually tackling a bucket list item! I am .... learning to SWIM!

Imagine that!  Really, it is Quite shocking to me, too!
It is all because of  a lovely friend who happens to have background as a life guard and when she discovered that I didn't know how to swim (blush) she absolutely insisted that I let her teach me.  She is a fabulous teacher!!!!   Though I really "didn't have time", last Wednesday afternoon was carved out and I had my first swim "lesson". I surprised her and myself, as well.  This week we will give it another whirl.  Of course, with three boys diving around me it creates a bit of turbulence and gives me some extra little learning curves, but it's all good. :-)  I'm really excited about this week, and the boys are counting the days, since they absolutely adore water.

Dh will be home again any moment, so off I go to do a last minute quick tidy of our room.  Goodnight!

Sunflowers are so Happy...

...they make me smile just looking at them.
  This is probably the reason that I have quite a few sunflowers in the garden this year. Some, have chosen to grow to shocking heights of over 10 feet tall. The bees seem to love them as much as I do, and are constantly buzzing around them or busily crawling about their surfaces. (not that I do that, of course)
Next year, I think I shall plant a host of small sunflowers too. The variety that are perfect to cut and keep in a big pitcher on the kitchen table. Ah, lovely!

Summer is fully here and it is hot, quite HOT!
I am embarrassed to admit that I am already thinking longingly of September and October days.  Is it truly hotter this year or does it just seem like it is?
Even with the heat, we still spend a good deal of the morning and many evenings outdoors.

"Never be indoors when you can rightly be without"  Right?


 Some of this is actually more by necessity than by desire.  Highly influenced by a garden to tend, animals to feed, and a fence that is still not quite finished and really should have been finished several weeks ago.
I have discovered that those "little rolls" of barbed wire are quite heavy when new.

Did you ever run barbed wire along the top of livestock fence? 
I never did before, but I have now! And I have learned quite a few things in the process.
First and foremost, would be a new respect for fences and those who install them by hand.  Now whenever I drive by miles of fence, I suck in a bit of air thinking of all the hard work that went into that. (not to mention money, ouch)
I am comforting myself that all of this hard labor has really been a great workout.  It includedes weights, squatting, resistance training, etc etc.  I haven't touched my workout videos in weeks! Honestly, I have no intentions of touching them for quite a few more weeks.  For now our many projects will suffice, if not overwhelm.

All of this merited a break and we headed to Lake Murray for some swimming and relaxation.  FUN!!!

Our next big project is now underway. Yes, we seem to be very good at starting new projects while old ones are still unfinished.  Maybe it is because we have options then, we can choose what we want to do.  Work. Work or WORK.  Very funny, I know.
Anyway. our new project is a large root cellar/storm shelter.
 

We are excited about this project and I hope to update photos as the work progresses as we have time and money.  It is hard to come by both at the same time.  :-)
So there you have it, a peek into our most recent adventures.  TTFN!

Life is Good

... and entertaining too!!!
This picture makes me smile, their energy just leaps out of the photo. I find it hilarious that they each wrote, "Ha" on their foreheads.  Well,  Ha ha, and enjoy your life today. :-)