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first date

By on September 26, 2015 in Natural mothering

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IMG_7433IMG_7437IMG_7452Thursday,  a special thing happened here.   A first date.   A few weeks ago we were reminiscing on the girls as babies, toddlers and every other stage and the realization that their days of girlhood are so short and precious and we came up with a plan.  A plan to do something special that they will remember.   We know now from experience how short our time with our children really is and we don’t want to waste any of that time.

So Poppa asked Erica if she would go to dinner with him.  The date was set and he made a plan.  The day of, the girls spent quite a bit of time getting the perfect dress picked out and hair done, the perfect earrings and shoes chosen.  She had no clue where she was going to go but her date with her poppa was the topic of the day.  At 6 pm, the doorbell rang and there he was with flowers in his hands and a box of chocolates for his sweet girl.  The boys got into the action by giving their father all the usual warnings one would expect before a date.  Be on time bringing her back.  Wear your seat belt etc.  We all got a good laugh and then Erica and Poppa left.

During their date, Poppa did all the gentlemen things he has always done for me.  He opened her car door, pulled her chair and all the other things that I hope she will expect from her special someone some day.  They talked and laughed and ate really good food.  The evening was complete with a drive and walk in the park.  He did get her home on time as promised and her brothers were waiting just like they said they would.

In the days that have followed, that date has been spoken of so many times.  My hope in this is that she will always remember that her poppa did this for her.  My daddy is the most amazing man.  Truly.  When I met Poppa there were so many things in him that reminded me of my daddy and I knew he would be a good husband.  My hope and prayers have always been that he will be as good a father  to our children and he has never disappointed me in that respect.  His relationship with his girls is so precious.  I think sometimes its a tight rope act where he is making up the next move as it happens but he makes it all look as though it was part of the plan because in the end, this is all part of Gods plan and we just try not to get in the way.

Veronica and Olivia are now waiting for their turns and Poppa is once again making plans.  Perhaps though, I will steal him for myself while he makes those plans and talk has come up of Momma going out to dinner with each of the boys soon.

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on the first day of fall

By on September 24, 2015 in Natural mothering, Outings

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IMG_7543 IMG_7554 IMG_7568 IMG_7569 IMG_7580 IMG_7582 IMG_7587 IMG_7589 IMG_7595 IMG_7611 IMG_7615 IMG_7629 IMG_7630 IMG_7648 IMG_7649 IMG_7656Yesterday I woke up early.  The birds, I am sure, were still in their nests.  I sat up and realized that Poppa had already gone to work and then the feeling that I should get up since he was up and out in the world hit me.  I had about 2 hours until my early risers would be awake.  What should I do to make today awesome.

Then I remembered it was the day I have been longing for all summer, the first day of fall.  At that moment, I banished all notion of school work and began to put a plan together.  A plan to wake everyone up with the news that we would spend the day together outdoors celebrating this new season.  We are blessed to have many places to spend today but picking pumpkins, I reasoned would be best.

A quick internet search pulled up one of our favorite farms and I then surveyed a few things.  The pantry to see if we had enough food we could take with us to eat there, the pile of laundry to see if I could afford a day away from it and my calendar, in case I was meant to be somewhere else.  When all the possibilities seemed perfect I woke everyone up.  We made quick food, (a yummy lime cilantro dip for raw veggies, sliced cheeses and crackers, a few sandwiches and some cookies and fruit)  filled the water jugs and headed out.  An hours drive with 15 minutes going straight up a steep mountain and we were there.

Mateo has lately developed a love of anything that has wheels, cars, trucks, buses but tractors seem to be really cool right now.  He was so excited to get to ride the hay wagon pulled by a green tractor and it was a little bit of a challenge to get him to sit when he thought he could run around on the back of the wagon.  A few words of love from his favorite sister and we were off to the pumpkin fields.

Everyone picked  a pumpkin and we voted on the best 3 for our porch, table and a pie of course.  Once halloween is over we will put the other pumpkins to use ( I will let you know in a future post our method to preserving the pumpkins so that we can still eat them the day after Halloween.   It makes me sad to see food go to waste so we carve our pumpkins morning of Halloween and then we eat them the next day).  Once inside the farm store we found a few other things like a banana butter which was surprisingly good and I must try to replicate at home.  Everyone got a honey stick and we all planned to go outside to eat and feed the ducks in the pond.  On the way to the door a huge fishtank caught Mateo’s eye and we spent the next 20 minutes glued to the fishtank.  I think I might entertain the idea of getting our own at home because seriously, he could have spent all day there and has not stopped talking about the fishies.

The rest of the afternoon was spent climbing up into haylofts and sliding down big tunnels.  So much fun and I wonder where I could add something like this at home.  That great big tunnel would be so awesome heading down from our upper outdoor deck and purposely pointed towards the steepest side of our house so it could be really far down… I wonder if Poppa would think I’m crazy.  Back to the pumpkin farm.   My farm boys were of course attracted to anything high or made of straw and with a little team work the little boys figured out the fastest way to the top of the rolls of hay.  (Note to self:  these boys needs haircuts)

They all kept to the business of being children, small ones, big ones and really big ones while I kept to my duties as momma of watching and listening and with each passing moment, taking all of this beauty in.  The beauty that comes from this little world of love and partnership we have somehow created or rather been gifted with.  I hope to always remember all that we did on this first day of fall.

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