In The Heart of a Seed...

In the heart of a seed, 

Buried deep, so deep,

A dear little plant

Lay fast asleep.

"Wake," said the sunshine,

"And creep to the light."

"Wake," said the voices

Of the raindrops bright.

The little plant heard;

And it rose to see

What the wonderful

Outside world might be.

-- Kate Brown

A seed is a small small thing. 

When my girls and I find ourselves in a burst of gardening glory, seeds end up strewn everywhere, falling from the cracks between fingers, out of the gathered bits in a pinch-too-big, from the crease of the tilted packet...

and in time, some blow away from the dry cracked hard-packed ground, some catch a spot within reach of the irrigation, and some end up in the soil we'd prepared and may just grow. And the magic happens. 

Without them falling to the ground, and finding some little spot- nothing will ever grow...so I learn that the big hurdle is to get out the seeds and get them in the ground. 

I can do that.

Hanging a print of fine art on the wall in the bathroom is a small thing.

It's not a labor intensive art appreciation lesson, that I don't feel prepared for so I'll procrastinate on doing, it's a SEED. A seed of beauty, perspective, emotion, opinion-formation, inspiration, story, history... 

It's and ENCOUNTER.

I can arrange that.

Repeating 4 lines of Shakespeare a few times a day(like meal times) is a small thing.

I may not even get it completely, nor grasp the full meaning in each brilliantly chosen word, but I can repeat it, maybe print, and perhaps hang it inside my kitchen cupboard. Seeds of understanding language, metaphor, the power of memorization, the rhythms of poetry are planted...in 4 lines.

I can manage that.

Singing (or making a joyful noise) to our Maker is a small enough thing. It doesn't take a lot of time or effort- its a visit to YOUTUBE, or selecting from a playlist, or looking in the hymnal~ but it plants a seed of truth, a seed of joy, a seed that forms priority, a seed that sets the heart right.

I can do that.

So can you!

Just a small seed of SOMETHING good, true & beautiful...plant one now.
Don't wait for the right time or the best plan...get to planting!

He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.

1000 Reasons to Procrastinate

I've got a thousand reasons to procrastinate but I'll tell you about them another day.

No. 
I'll share a few now. 

NOW, I tell you!

I procrastinate because of analysis paralysis.
I procrastinate because it may be messy.
I procrastinate because Ineed more supplies.
I procrastinate because I need to do more research.
I procrastinate because I am lazy some days.
I procrastinate because I am nervous.
I procrastinate because everyone in the house is grouchy. including me.
I procrastinate because I am unfamiliar.
I procrastinate because it might hurt.
I procrastinate because I don't know Shakespeare or poetry, even.
I procrastinate because I may not have time to finish.
I procrastinate because I don't have all the answers.
I procrastinate because
                              because
                                     because.

But what if: I "do it now".
I heard once that wildly successful people have been known to drive to work chanting the mantra:

 do it now. do it now. do it now.

Every grandma has told us (ad nauseum) "no time like the present".
They're right, too.

There really is no time just like the present and when the present moment is gone, it is gone forever. No getting it back.

so what if we: 

get out the paint, 

read the book, 

start learning the poem, 

have the tea party, 

cut down on the chocolate,

begin learning mandarin,

snuggle a little longer,

throw out the some stuff we don't need,

give away the some decent things that we only shuffle,

wear a bathing suit and get in the water,

go for a power walk,

smile,

breathe,

just 

do 

it. 

[thank you Nike]

here's when i did it "now"- 
[I wish the collection was bigger]

made the Pinterest project with the girls..

let a 2 year old do the gardening

fixed all the Barbie's hair

had a spontaneous picnic and story time

jumped in a stream on the way somewhere

went cherry picking in 104 degree heat

grew a chia pet

made portraits from veggie sticks

made stick gingerbread dudes that taste terrible

went dumpster diving at 10 pm with a 3,5 and 7 year old

tried to make some art

made pretzels from scratch

let mini munchkins paint my toes

I'm not gonna lie- 

it was all very hot, messy, took time, wasn't on the to-do list.

but it wasn't as hot, messy and time consuming as i thought it would be...and the memories- well- they can't be replaced.

we did it. and lived to tell about it, rather than think about perhaps doing it one day.

Huh.

Gotta try that again.

It might not hurt too bad. 

It might work.

It might not.

And we'll live if it doesn't.

Morning Time: The 'WHY' and 'HOW'

Morning Time: The 'WHY' and 'HOW'

What in the world can help our morning before homeschool? Why do most days start off rushed and irritating? Another day of forcing schoolwork? Kids arguing already? Is that even allowed before breakfast *coffee*?  In my book- NO.

Enter MORNING TIME

Morning time is simply a way to start the day off right.  A way to all start on the same foot.  A way to focus on what is important first.  

This is what our Morning Time looks like right now:

We all gather around the table as we do Morning Time during breakfast.

• We start with a family devotion.  Now, we each take a day to read out of Leading Little Ones to God by Marian M. Schoolland.  This was published back in the 70's and is dear to my heart because I remember going through this book at night with my sister and dad.  It teaches an aspect about God and ends each day with a hymn and a prayer.
• Fine art appreciation.  This is made so simple by Enrichment Studies.  Literally all the work except for choosing and printing is already done for you.  Our latest Artist study is titled "Women Artists of the Renaissance".  I have printed the pages, which show a piece of art and give a little background about the artist and the piece itself.  Thats it.  Exposure.  done.
• Next, we read aloud- and by we, I mean "I".  Right now we are reading on a loop.  2 days, we are reading from Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain and 2 days we read from Life of Fred.  Because we meet for Classical Conversations on Fridays, we only do our Morning Time Monday through Thursday.  While I am reading aloud, the kids each have a clipboard with blank paper that they can draw, doodle or whatever they want as long as they are listening and sitting quietly.
• CC review- We take a couple minutes to review our Classical Conversations material that we
   learned that week and the weeks prior.  I get out a map, we sing songs, list etc.  The whole
   review takes about 15 minutes.  Done.

By the time we are done with our routine, everyone has finished breakfast and gathers their dishes and puts them in the sink (we will aim for the dishwasher soon).  All the kids gather their clipboards and pencils/colored pencils etc and puts them in our "Morning Time Basket"....

Enter HAPPY HOMESCHOOL DAY

Its not a cure-all, but it sure helps us!  By the time we get down to the nitty-gritty, we have already learned a little about God together, sang/read a hymn together, prayed together, listened together, drawn together, and learned together.  Together is the best way to start the day.