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Friday, April 20, 2012

One Week

I think that spring air causes productivity. At least in this lady. I can often be lackadaisical but I feel motivated by all the things going on outside - plants growing, birds chirping, neighbors running about doing yardwork.

So this week the Shepherd's hopped to it.

Monday morning we planted our first-ever vegetable garden. We chose beans, peas, carrots, radishes, potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce and spinach. Spencer even said he might eat something green if we grew it! Woo hoo!  It's not a huge patch, and it's definitely an urban garden, but it was a blast digging and planting together.

Okay. This isn't really my garden. It belongs to this person.

This really is my garden.


On Wednesday we had a field trip to New Harmony for Heritage days. We've been studying American colonization in Homeschool Land so it fit perfectly.

candle dipping
more candle dipping
Liam was sooo tuckered out!

Every Thursday we get together with another homeschool family and have a history discussion. We also throw in geography and art. This week was no exception. Then the kids had an extra long bike ride through the neighborhood. I'm talking for HOURS. This is a novelty for them as our current neighborhood is the first place we've lived that's kid-friendly, at least for bike riding.

All week I've been working on slimming down the volume of stuff we own.  This can be dangerous territory for me, as I've posted before. I'm pretty pleased with my progress. Less laundry + less stuff to dust = one happy mama.

A couple of the things I finally allowed myself to say goodbye to have been hanging with me for a looooong time. Too long. A sweatshirt, a pair of jeans, and dress to be exact. I have moved those things 4 times. The sweatshirt was just ratty, so that wasn't hard. But the jeans and the dress were a little more difficult. You see, they fit me at one time and I  kept holding onto them thinking that there might be another time in the future that they would fit again.

Do you ever do that, hang on to something in hopes that things could be like they were?  The truth is, though, I've changed in more ways than curves.  I've moved on and those clothes were just a reminder of who I had been.  In fact, those clothes weren't ever going to let me be who I am now. They were always going to be saying, "You can't change. We know you better than you know yourself. Just quit trying."  I'd look at those clothes and feel defeated, as if there were no point in exercising or eating better. They were lurking in my closet, I tell you!

Well, maybe I'm being melodramatic.

Really, what happened was my fourteen-year old daughter saw me wistfully debating the usefulness of said clothing items when she said, "They don't look like you. You shouldn't wear them. Ever."

Enough said, so off the articles went, and I feel better for it. In fact, I went and bought a pair of brand spankin' new running shoes that I have already put to good use.

I am thinking this post looks suspiciously like one of those dreaded Christmas letters - but it's my blog, so I get to pick the topic.

There is a moral, though, and it is this:

Plant a garden, take a trip, and lighten your load. You'll feel better.

At least I do.




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