Those days that shoot an arrow right through a Momma's pride.

I climbed out of bed to find a boy in pain.
To the Doctors we went right down the lane.
But in the end there was nothing to gain.

Two brothers would fight.
There arguments were trite.
Giving this Momma quite a fright.

She thought she would lose her head,
At 10:30 AM she began counting down 'til bed.
Maybe they just needed to be feed.

They sat down to eat.
Hoping this day they could defeat.
After all, lunch was quite sweet.

They laughed,
They played,
And friends were made.

As they left, just like a flame
Without any shame
Grinches they became.

Once in the store
They laid on the floor
Whining for more.

Momma all red in the face.
With her eyes like ice
She pleaded for grace.

No fun was found,
As seeds went in the ground.
In there hearts anger continued to mound.

Without any love,
Unlike a dove,
He gave a great shove.

The red drink fell.
Her ears rang like a bell.
Him she wanted to sell.

Into the bath they went.
Momma needed to vent.
To Daddy three texts she sent.

As the day came to a close,
Joy finally arose.
She realized she needed at least one pose.

With one great hug,
In there bags all snug,
Stretched out on the rug,

As they were tended,
Hearts were mended,
And the day happily ended.

Rain. 3rd time's a charm, and I wasn't even trying.

We wanted to see how rain worked.  Learning about condensation, hot and cold air, and density we tried a few different experiments to show us how rained worked.

First we took a glass of water with shaving cream on top and slowly added food coloring until the shaving cream couldn't hold it any more dropping the color into the water.  While that experiment was fun it wasn't really showing us what we wanted to see.

Next we took a bowl with warm water and sat an empty glass in the middle.  Then we covered the bowl with plastic wrap putting a few marbles in the middle to help the water drain into the cup.  While we did collect water, we still didn't really get the effect we were looking for.

We pretty much gave up on the idea that we could find a way to make it rain.

On the first day of Spring we started our seeds for this summers garden, covered them with a plastic dome and sat them in front of the window.

Today when we went to check on them, finding that most of them had sprouted.  The boys said, "Wow look we made it rain."

And my lesson for today, sometimes I don't need big and exciting I just need the simple stuff in life to teach my boys the big and exciting.

3 weeks

That's how long it's been since I opened my Bible.

My friend and I we sat across the table talking while the snow fell and the wind blew.  We sat until the place closed.  We shared our hearts, the joys and the pain.  We both looked tired and we both felt worn.  In the end we realized we shared the same problem.  We tend to fool ourselves into thinking we can steal time.

Never in the moment.
Never in the here and now.
Always thinking ahead, convincing ourselves it's a good thing.
All the while becoming more tired, more worn, and more lost.

Now it's the first day of my work week, I should be teaching.  Instead I sit in my pajamas on the couch while it snows...Again...You boys play.  I'm more tired and more worn today then I was yesterday, and I was more tired yesterday then I was the day before.  Always trying to catch up.  However, today as it snows, and you play, I choose to sit, desperate to remember the Maker.

My fingers, feeling those pages that seem so foreign, fumble through looking for a start.  I want to be amazed, to remember why Jesus is such a big deal.  I want to slow and see, to know and be known.

I begin on page 817 where four friends pull a roof apart slowly letting a paralytic down in front of Jesus so he can be healed.  Jesus heals.  Flipping the page Jesus heals again, and then again.

I can't help but notice that as Jesus heals, people are amazed, and more go to him and more are amazed, and I sit amazed too.  But how do I find Him and who do I tell and how am I healed?...Because obviously I am broken.

I notice too that He never plans to heal people or find the broken, but they find Him and He always has time.  He says yes to the interruptions.  He says yes to the moment, the here and now.

I hear your feet pounding the stairs as you fly up, stopping next to me so you can look over my shoulder.  "Oh your reading your Bible," you say to me, and away you go taking your younger brother.

I wonder if maybe this morning in my pajamas, here on this old couch because I said yes to the moment, allowing the interruption that I am finding Jesus. Maybe He is healing me, and maybe I am telling you about Him.

This dear boys, is where I'm at.  God is big, and He is good, and I am amazed.

Density

We started learning about density back when we were studying rainbows.  (Which you can find here, and was super fun.)

Now we're into the weather cycle.  We're learning that when the clouds become so heavy or dense it begins to rain.  Here's a fun example of density.

Pictures are from the second time through.  We started with clear water.

Fill a cup a little more then half way through with water.  Add oil until you have about a 1/3 of an inch sitting on top of the oil.

Add one drop of food coloring.  It will fall through the oil sitting between the oil and water.

Add a pinch of salt and watch the food coloring fall to the bottom of the cup.  the very first time through it fell in a straight line exploding on the bottom...The salt making the food coloring the heaviest causing it to fall through the water instead of simply mixing into the water.

But when you dump a spoonful of salt onto that drop of food coloring...

It takes not only the food coloring...

But forces the oil down as well.

And then we get to watch the oil float back to the top.

The boys loved it, we did it about four times.  Up next making it rain...We hope.

Day 100

Today we celebrated our 100th day of school.  I think this is the first time we've all four done school together.  It was a day of celebration, starting with a big breakfast and ending with our favorite take out from Angelo's and a lot of counting in between.

The boys each had a large bowl filled with 100 pieces of food for snack, but before they could eat it they had to sort and count it.

Then we decorate tee shirts using 10 colors to fill the gumball machine with 100 pieces of gum.

I think the part of today that we all enjoyed the most was using 100 cups to create with.

First we divided the cups up and we each created our own buildings to make a cup city, and then we connected them all together.

We counted by 5s, 10's and divided them in the stacks of 25.

Then we built a tower taller then Man of the woods.

With the extras we built walls around Laughter....And of course in boy fashion the towers were destroyed.

They're already talking about what kind of things we'll do next year on the 100th day of school.

The first of many.

This 6 almost 7 year old boy lost his first tooth.

About half way through breakfast he noticed that his mouth was bleeding.  He tried and tried to pull that tooth out but it wouldn't come.

Then we had a date just the two of us and when he was eating his snack it began to bleed again.  Just after dinner he asked me to pull it out.  His initial reaction was, "Did you do it? Did it come out?"

A moment that needs to be remembered.