Thursday, when we got out to the courts...

someone had started a fence to separate us from our bunny friends. We were late and the bunnies had given up on us. Mrs. Bluejay watches our every move on the courts. It is hard for me to catch a picture of her wingfeathers because she flits so fast.
It is backhand week and I have 2 nominations for the Phyllis Wheatley and George Washington Carver award of the week. They have to have been up with us everyday and teach some health skill to the little ones such as hand washing and or shoe tying(for the health of the mother, since it gives me heart disease to watch my children walking around with shoes untied). Evvy and Enoch have taken me up on this and are handling the afternoon camp activities while the older ones run the aerobics portion of the camp with music therapy and jumping or boogy sessions at different points through the day. It gets the job done and our summer is rolling along famously.

Penelope and Peter Pony were out that morning and romping in the cool of morning. Their parents, who haven't yet introduced themselves, are very protective and watch their every move as though they are surprised that they are not falling yet on those little spindly legs of theirs.

Aleph,Beth, Gimmel, Daleth...

We went out to the park yesterday. It wasn't too bad, the heat. The children were complaining that it was too hot to run around. I didn't find it so. We played at the park and attempted our hand at Frisbee Golf.
Ezra was learning to swing on the big swings and he felt insecure. He said "Don't say Gimmel" which meant don't tickle me right now or I will fall off the swing. He is so witty. Now we have a new catch phrase for tickling, say Gimmel.

Ms. Bluejay is becoming a much better friend...

than Mrs Robin ever was. A friend in need is a friend indeed and I will never forget the befriending time that Mrs Robin took in the thick of things, but Ms Bluejay is such a but-in-ski that she is everyday in my business and offers practical and pragmatic advice to try to keep me out of the thick of things.
She has a very healthy self image and is always showing off. Trying to tempt me to do the same, first with my children and then with others.
She says that her children don't ever harass her, because at first bicker she shows them her wing feathers. Sometimes flying and sometimes backhanding them.
That was her advice for our backhand practice this morning. She said, your little ones didn't get that lesson at all. If I were you I would take a whole week just at backhands...She knows better than I about the use of the backhand muscle. So, I guess we'll be practicing backhands for the week!
SHHH, don't tell Mrs. Robin, she'll never talk to me again...

Too late for the sun...

By 7 o'clock the bunnies are in hiding from the hawks and the heat and we were out trying to catch a glimpse of the morning dew, before it evaporated into thin air. Enoch was sneezing profusely, and I must keep him from sleeping on that couch at night. It is not good for his sinuses. He has a headache this morning. But we did our hour of power tennis. The courts were not empty and I am seeing real skill development occurring in him and Ev. who enjoyed the time in spite of herself.

Daleth?

We missed the sunrise this morning! Sad to say, the old knee was a ripe excuse for not tending to the weeds of sullenness cropping up in my kindergarten. I did cajole my sonny-boy to a small volley in the yard, with some yielded accomplishment. Perhaps, he'll finally "feel" the backhand grip.
Dancing with my little wolflings is a hard task. They were howling at the full moon, last night and made a tent in the loft to howl together. This made them slow at rising with the dawns. I will have to implement bunny schedules of bed time for them to get the hang of rising and taking the sun at the top of its toss!

I cannot seem to drill into their heads the importance of closing the gate behind them at the tennis courts! The balls roll out and we have to run after them and I am frustrated beyond words that they can't see that. Those were the types of things that my dad didn't even use words to tell us. If you didn't understand the look or severe glance, a forehand to the back of the head would do... They don't get it yet. It saves time, it saves steps, chasing the balls. I have to pull out my "Book of Virtues" He had a poem somewhere in there about some Gore boy who never closed doors.

Mrs. Bluejay, here and there flits about as if to tempt me to show off more in front of my children..."Show off your wing feathers" she says everyday to me. "They can't see their own wing feathers until they are flying, so show them yours" OK, I said, I will.

Gimmel Day

Teach me O Lord! We made it for the after breakfast cleanup with the bunnies. Later and later in the day we are out there on the tennis courts. My 1/3 quiver in tow, I had a number of rallies with them and they are growing to be a fun contention.
Catching the day on the rise is an important lesson that God is teaching me in the rearing of my Walkerlings and in the rearing of my own soul out of the slough...

A Quarter of a Century of Conceptualizing

Halleluia What a Savior!

As I Truly lament my ineffectiveness as a gardener, I celebrate the reality of commitment to my home garden. 25 years of my husband tolerating my squabblings and squaller.
In the next quarter of the game, we've decided to conceptualize things that are a little less high maintenance items. Let's just try enjoying one another's company and see what happens.
6 pieces of beautiful bubblegum for a quarter... I am very grateful!
God please help us to stay committed! Alot is leaning on this.