in pursuit of wild things

The humid sweltering heat of summer arrived this week. Going outdoors was something akin to strolling through molten waves of sun-kissed steam. Perfect southern summer weather. Most people are complaining about the heat but since I can still vividly remember the fifteen inches of bone numbing snow…I’m still friends with the heat.

After a stormy and rainy Friday this weekend was perfect. Saturday we grilled for lunch and then attended a couple of birthday parties. My husband took Sparkles to a Princess Ariel birthday party and I took the boys to a lovely outdoor party at the park. We spent the evening at home setting off smoke bombs and a few fire-works.

Sunday morning we attended church. I’ve been skipping Sunday School for the past couple of months. I used to chat with a friend and sometimes help her out with some things during the hour. But since she moved I’ve just skipped class and read (The Way of the Pilgrim is my current Sunday book). I usually talk a bit with people and then get out my book as everyone gradually makes their way to class. This Sunday one of my friends came back for me and took me to class. I wasn’t too excited at first but I am glad she chose to listen to the Holy Spirit and returned for me. This Sunday School class focuses on the Scripture passages from the sermon. Since I attend the service after the Sunday School hour I felt well prepared to listen to the sermon. In that moment my Sunday

mornings went from “meh” to “on fire”! My Sunday morning was awesome in a spiritually quiet kind of way. So thank TH for dragging me to class with you…really!

Our school week was great. We are only working on a half schedule for the summer term. I felt kinda sick the first part of the week so the kids had it really easy! Oldest and I finished A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver and started Queen Eleanor, Independent Spirit of the Medieval World. I had no idea of the influence of this past queen on the world.  She is one of those responsible for passing on the ideas of knights and courtly love and the romantic tales of King Arthur. She is amazing! In my own youth I read everything I could find on King

Arthur and knights of chivalry.  This week I learned that Queen Eleanor played a role in passing these stories to us…and eventually to me. I felt a connection with the deep past. I’ve spent this week in my own past remembering my love for Merlin and King Arthur…mourning the loss of my brother…witnessing Queen Eleanor’s fingerprint on my own childhood. Life is strange sometimes. We’ll spend another week with Queen Eleanor in our studies before moving on to Robin Hood.

Sparkles has asked me to dye her hair tips pink. I am not opposed to the idea but I made sure my husband was okay with his daughter having pink in her hair. He is so later this week I’ll post a pictorial and DIY on pink hair tips. After some research I’ve chosen the Kool-Aid method…tell you about it soon!!!

Linking up with: Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Some favorite posts:

Dwane Thomas’s blog He has had some very thought provoking posts the past few weeks.

Beautiful Feet Books Blog I’ve been looking forward to these posts about homeschooling veterans…these ladies have some wisdom to share. I’m also looking forward to Melissa’s journey through BFB’s Modern American and World history since that will be coming up for us next. Melissa blogs at Reflections from Drywood Creek which I have enjoyed reading the past few years.

Nelson Brothers This article into the imaginary play world of the Nelson brothers brought me to tears. I didn’t even realize I was crying until I came to the end of the article. My brother and I had an imaginary world in which we played together. We designed maps, castles, histories, battles, and empires. We spent many hours preparing military campaigns and carefully positioning our mounted knights, infantry, and catapult units. Looking back I can tell that we were heavily influenced by our father’s military position. Some nights he brought his maps home. He would study those maps and their different layers and carefully plot out artillery placement. My mind was thinking on these things as I read the article. My brother survived a motorcycle wreck the summer before his senior year but suffered a terrible head injury. A wound so traumatic that he cannot remember our years of play together. So the tears flow and the boy I call brother is still gone. A doppelgänger resides in his place. Blood may be thicker than water but I think it is the shared memories that give blood its color and thickness.

Habits of the rich verses habits of the poor….something to think about especially as the children get older. Maybe I need to start modeling some of these habits…

The spontaneous, living in the moment mom that just enjoys being right here-right now…yeah, I’ve lost sight of her too. From Finding Joy

The best “how to lesson plan for the homeschooling mom” I’ve ever read from Notgrass

Circe Institute on Redeeming Time “Time lost is time in which we have failed to live a full human life…”D. Bonhoeffer  You might want an extra cup of coffee or two before diving into anything from the Circe Institute or make sure the kids are asleep at least.

old mission

on the road

Capulin Volcano

backyard fun