Nature's Cure

We are in week three of this quarantine, and even though I am still enjoying our time together, the constant togetherness at home is starting to wear a bit thin in a couple places. The boys miss their friends and being able to go places. So do I.

We loaded up Wednesday and headed off to a hiking trail we had scoped out a week earlier while on a family drive (to get out of the house). We headed off through some very tall pines and along a very easy trail, hiking about a mile before reaching the first overlook to the Cahaba River. The second overlook was another quarter mile down the trail and a bit more challenging to reach (uphill!), but we made it and enjoyed a break of PB&J sandwiches and water.

Baloo also made the trip since he’s a great trail dog – Callie is NOT good on a leash nor on a trail so she guards the house with extra jerky snacks when we make these trips.

Nature is a pretty amazing cure for most ailments, especially the cabin-fever we were all facing.

Gated

Last week the boys talked me into walking to our local little ice cream spot for a sweet. We headed off through our precariously-barely-hanging-on back fence gate and through the woods on the trails that lead us to our downtown area, leaving our two pups in the backyard.

After a hot, 20-minute hike and waiting for our ice cream to arrive, I received a phone call from an unknown number. Apparently, our escape artist, Baloo, was hanging out in the woods behind a home in the neighborhood behind ours. The woman called us because of the number on his collar. Luckily, the tall, lanky teenager was able to quickly run home and find the brown beast in the woods and secure him back in the yard. I’ve lost count on how many times these pups have skedaddled into the woods since we’ve moved in.

The latest escape was motivation for Brian to fix the gate over the weekend. With a good section of the back fence threatening to fall over, and the post securing the gate rotted and broken, it was time.

All four boys got to work pulling and digging and hammering and drilling, and before too long the gate was fixed, with a new post sitting in freshly poured concrete.  

Just try and get out of this gate now Baloo and Callie! (Not really, please don't.)

Customers

We had our first, feathered friends visit the seed spot over the weekend. It has been fun to watch for them to swoop in and eat. Isaiah will watch for them and inform me when we have customers. Sometimes I’ll try to sneak over and get a picture of them, but even through the back window, the birds see me and are spooked off.

I did manage to grab a few photos of them, though I’m not really sure what kinds of birds they all are. Finches? Doves? Eh, I told Brian I was officially entering “old lady mode” because I really want a bird book so I can sit and watch and identify them.

It sure does bring us joy to watch them. 

Full Days

The front yard received its first haircut of the year in the early morning coolness, though it wasn’t cool enough to keep the sweat from happening. Folks, this summer is going to be a doozy I think.

The boys all emerged after the front yard was done, and spurred by a desire to surprise their Dad (so he wouldn’t have to do it this weekend), we went to work on the back yard. Since I had all three helpers willing and able, Jace cut the hill (the hardest part of the entire property!) while Sam and Isaiah picked up all the odds and ends strewn about in the grass. Once that was done, we went ahead and plotted out where we would set up our garden and moved the large (and heavy) planks of wood that I had been planning to use to build the raised beds. Of course, as we were moving them I realized that they are not going to work as I’d hoped… blah. In the process of moving the lumber, we needed to move the toppled wheelbarrow which was full of gravel and had a flat tire. Tire pumped, barrow moved, we shoveled thorough the gravel because we found some earthworms to rehome in our compost bin. We also found a couple black widow spiders and decided yardwork was done!

I ran out to get some groceries and passed by wild birdseed in the dog food aisle, which I went ahead and snapped up. Speaking of groceries, do you realize just how much you touch at the grocery store? With all that’s going on, I’ve been hypersensitive about just where my hands are touching… along with everyone’s else’s. Then you leave the store and touch your keys, door handle, steering wheel, etc.

If only we could spread love like we do germs, huh?

Once home I found the giant bird feeder and filled it, fulling expecting a rush of birds to overtake me – there are birds everywhere in our back yard! Cardinals, doves, even a little blue jay family that moved into a birdhouse attached to the fence. We set the feeder on the back porch and Isaiah kept lookout for any birds, and not a single one visited for a snack. Maybe today we’ll see them.

We finished the afternoon working on the fort. This fort. When we go, we go big! This thing is so massive. When the boys all grow up I may insulate it, install electricity and call it my studio! We worked on hanging siding on the back wall siding and got about 3 feet up before calling it. From the inside the siding is only about three feet high, from the outside it’s about ten feet! Jace has been our ladder man, with Sam supporting from the second ladder, or handing the tools over from the inside. Isaiah is our go-er, we send him to go get water, or go get an extension cord, or go get whatever. It’s quite a production.

At the end of the day, I crawled into bed even before dinner was all eaten, sore and exhausted, but happy. These days are so full, and that is so, so good. 

An Eggs-ident

Isaiah loves making scrambled eggs. Several months ago, he watched a YouTube video of a chef making them, and he now considers himself an egg connoisseur (if I even try to deviate from the exact way he makes eggs, he scolds me!).

Yesterday he went to his brothers and asked how many scrambled eggs they would each like. Of course, the man-teen Jace needs at least three.

Isaiah sets to work carefully lay out all of his ingredients. He successfully cracks the first egg into the measuring cup. I feel he has the situation under control and head to the living room. I hear a second crack, then a groan, then…

"Um, Jace? There's been an incident. You're only getting two eggs now." 

Lemonade

Y’all know that quip, “Making lemons out of lemonade” right?

Here’s the thing… I like lemonade, but I’m not about to go eat a lemon. Lemonade works because the goodness of the sugar mixes with the sour of the lemons and changes it.

This virus has canceled some of our plans that we’ve been really looking forward too. Jace was all set for a Philmont trek that was called off two days before they left (he should be in the mountains right now in fact). Sam and I were all set and fully paid to go on his 5^th grade trip to D.C. for a week. Cancelled. Fishing trips and sleepovers with Nonie and Dudad. Not happening right now. Soccer, art club, scouts, camping, school. Done until further notice.

But God. He took all those sour chunks of lemon and breathed LIFE into our family.

Don’t get me wrong, we are a pretty tight little family full of love and life, but {up until two weeks ago} we were also a pretty busy little family. The distractions of the day-to-day have been steadily increasing over time, and our calendar was full every night. There were times when I would look at Brian and say, I miss you, even though he was right in front of me! There was always somewhere to be and something that needed to be done, and at the end of the night when we were all finally home together it was time for our heads to hit the pillows.

Having our entire social and extracurricular lives unexpectedly halted sure felt like sour lemons - at first. Yet these past two weeks at home with our boys with nothing expected of us AT ALL have been amazing. We have worked on projects together. We’ve stayed in our PJs all day (or just underwear in one 8-year-old’s case) – not every day, but a couple. We’ve hiked. We’ve built things. We organized the garage. We’ve made art. We’ve worked together on the fort. We’ve played and laughed and argued and apologized and just loved each other. We have energy and time to cook real food. When Brian gets home from work we don’t have to rush out, so we sit and talk and retell funny moments of the day. These moments have been the generous heaping bucketsful of sugar, and it is good.

God is so, so good people. He’s been taking all the sour lemons being squeezed into our current lives, pouring in His holy word, adding in a heaping scoop of sweet moments with our loved ones, and stirring it all in together in our homes.

This is some of the best lemonade I’ve ever had.

Awake

Is anyone else finding it difficult to sleep right now?

Whew. It’s been at least a week full of restless nights here, filled with crazy dreams that have nothing to do with a respiratory virus, and everything to do with random bits and pieces of my past morphed into crazy, unrealistic storylines that don’t make a lick of sense once I wake up.

It’s 6 a.m. now, but I’ve been awake since 4ish. I heard one of the dogs pawing a door and jumped out of bed, horrified that we’d left someone outside all night. That wasn’t the case, the big girl just wanted to snuggle with the biggest kiddo, who keeps his door shut at night specifically to keep her OUT because she is a bed pig. But once I was awake, that was it, and even after Brian left for work and I had all the pillows to myself it still wasn’t enough to lure me back to sleep, so here I am.

With the global commotion and complete topsy-turvy of everyone’s “normal” lives, I’ve been searching for my own purpose in all of this – searching for my, “what-can-I-do-to-be-helpful-and-shine-God’s-Light” in this season of uncharted waters.

The answer has not yet been revealed to me, BUT, I do see how my sweet little family has been prepared for times such as these. Truly, we are prepared. Military life has conditioned us to be flexible and adaptable as life comes at us. Our previous years of homeschool life have prepared us for handling the announcement yesterday that Alabama public schools will finish the school year online. God led our family to this location and Brian to his current position in the civilian world, and he is still able to work and provide all that we need. We are believing and praying victory over this virus (and all illnesses), and have declared in Jesus’ name that it will not take root in our bodies. Our faith in God is keeping the world’s insistence of anxiety, fear, and terror away.

Of course, I have moments of what-ifs – I am human, imperfect and a sinner – but those are the moments I am praying to God, “Lord, take this _______ away from my mind and my heart, and fill it with Your goodness.” That’s what I’m praying in the middle of the night as I wake up from the nonsense dreams, but perhaps God is wanting more conversation with me in those times, that’s why the restlessness?

Perhaps.  

Exploring

Some days you just need to get out of the house, and so we did.

An email came across from the library about a Storybook Walk at a local nature center we had yet been to, so on a spur moment we loaded up and headed out. Storybook Walk is more for younger children, as a picture book is literally taken apart and 2-4 pages of it are laid out on a trail for you to walk - reading the book as you go. Sweet idea.

We ended up at Northlake Nature Center, which is a beautiful little gem about 20 minutes from where we live. Loads of trails to hike, from boardwalks, swamps, open areas, and still woods. It was a refreshing day we all needed.

There were a lot of piggy-back rides going on...

Louisiana Fall colors

These stones were everywhere and fantastic identification markers for the various plants.

Can you tell... all of these photos were taken on my phone :)

Birthday Adventures

October is officially the beginning of the birthday season around here. This year, we have some rather significant birthdays as we are celebrating a brand new teenager and brand new decade!

As it is each year, Jace leads off the season with the "first" birthday. It is hard to comprehend or even type it out... but he is officially a TEENAGER this year. Whoa.

Visiting Baton Rouge, September 2016

I rather prefer adventures over gift items (aka toys), and this year Nonie and Dudad provided the entertainment. We (lied) told the boys we were tagging along with Dad on a work trip and were going to take them to a huge book fair. They were actually okay with that!

We took off midday and arrived about 5 hours later to our destination of Columbus, Mississippi, where we parked and took a stroll along a wonderful revitalized Main Street. Wonder upon wonder we happened to find a DUDAD and NONIE wondering along the same street (wink wink)! It took a while to get into the restaurant (but absolutely worth it - the food and service were incredible), so we found a quaint spot to sit and catch up.

Jace was so surprised when he found out that he was going to the Auburn / Mississippi State game the next day (along with Dad, Dudad and Sam)!! Thank you Nonie and Dudad!

Rocking some new shades

"We're going to the game?!?!?!?!"

He's THIRTEEN folks!!

At the game!

The next morning the big boys all headed off to the game, while Nonie, Isaiah and I took ourselves off to visit Waverly Mansion. What a special place. The home was built in the mid-1800s and home to the Young Family with their ten children (yikes!). After the last grown child died without any children of his own, the home was abandoned for about 50 years where it was THE romance spot for all the locals. Eventually, a young couple named Snow learned of the abandoned mansion in the woods, bought it, and moved in, bats and all. That was in 1962. 

The Snow family still open up their home each and every day to visitors. Melanie (one of the 4 children Mr. and Mrs. Snow raised while renovating the home) was such a treat to listen to. She loves the home, the history, and the property which is evident in her story-telling. She was also a little taken by Mr. Isaiah I think, as she plopped him up on the "King's Bed" shoes and all for a photo op! If you're ever in the area, HIGHLY suggest visiting Melanie and her magnificent family's home. 

The view from the Grand Entrance looking up - it was stunning!

The King's Bed

Touring the gardens

After our tour, we took ourselves back to Main Street Columbus and did some window shopping before finding a wonderful little place to eat lunch and watch some of the game... spoiler alert... Auburn won big time! 

Later we met back up with the boys and headed our separate ways back home. An amazing and blessed weekend we had!