The fruit of our labor

The older boys and I felt rough for a few days. We seem to be recuperating well. Almost 100%, with just a few setbacks! Here are a few pictures of what life has been like the last few days. Enjoy...I have!!

Colson is enjoying his first ever ear of corn...straight from our garden. Aren't his feet cute!!

Play time. With mommy sick for a few days, this probably looked a bit more appealing than the cluttered toy room!!

Asher being Asher.

An empty boxes connects with imaginations. Dad, this is a stove. We need burners. Colson had to be in the "center" of the action!

Look! A new toy!! What does it do?

Ezra is absolutely thrilled to be sharing this time with his brothers.

Colson is into climbing!! Delton and I are discovering our different thresholds of tolerance. Delton: "Babies are so flexible". Charity: "Delton!!!! Watch him! He could fall off of that!!!"

Ahhhhhh....boyhood.....

I'm about to attempt a dangerous climb. You might not want to watch this, mom.

Here goes...

Notice the worm...

Today's tomato harvest, minus one that was a part of supper!

Ezra's creation. "Dad, I put it far enough back in the yard so you don't have to move it when you mow."
Good job, Ezra. The only problem is- how are we going to get the mower out of the garage?
"Oh. I can take this apart."

"I have marker on me? Where? I want to see it!"

Brothers

These are the golden days...I never want to forget the joy of these moments.

Getting things accomplished

I started to write about how much I have been getting done the last few days...only to have the boys start fighting. Then they stopped fighting. There is a quiet tension in the air. Screams now. I am writing with one part of my brain, trying to head off confrontation with the other.
A truce of some sorts...

My baby!

 Colson in the park

 One year old!! Yeah, Colson!

 Grandpa Lehman at Renfrew to celebrate Colson's birthday and listen to the Navy Cruiser Band

 Grandma Lehman

Box day! Our school curriculum arrives!

My parents on the 4th of July

Both yesterday and today, I have been able to accomplish household tasks, allowing me to feel like my house is at rest, rather than desperately out of order. I can't understand why...I find it interesting (and frustrating) that schedules change, children change, sleep routines change, so that what worked one week, one month, no longer works. Colson still takes a morning nap, and the boys are beginning to play independently quite well (forget the first part of this post). So, I am able to clean.
But, tomorrow, Colson may stop his morning nap, the boys may be sick and fussy, and I may be over-tired. But for today, there is peace in my home and in my spirit. I belive there are other factors involved in that peace, but that is a subject for another time.
The boys and I had an Art lesson this morning, critiquing fine art. :) We went through a book called "Come Look With Me- Enjoying Art with Children". We had so much fun looking at a few great works of art and deciding whether we liked them or not, what we saw in the picture, and other simple observations. This kind of "school" seems to work well for both Ezra and Asher.
"We're waiting. We're waiting. We're waiting." Ezra is sitting beside me, reminding me that my mommy duties are being called on. Not necessarily to do anything, but simply to be available.
Have a great day!

Some pictures from long ago...

We recently bought a scanner. I was excited to scan some of the pictures of my mom that I brought home the last time we were with them.

Love you, Mom!!

Father's Day Joy

Here are some fun photos of the past week...

Brotherly affection...

It seems like Asher is realizing that he has a little brother. Sometimes this means he exerts his size to his advantage...look, I'm bigger than somebody!!

Asher's creativity and coloring has really started to take off. Do you see how many of the letter "A" he drew on that yellow piece of paper? I think there are about 22!

Introducing the boys to Mary Martin's Peter Pan. They were intrigued. Ezra asked...mom, do Indians always act like that? The movie's presentation of Indians is a bit, shall we say, overly stereotypical.

Colson can move, and boy does that make him happy. My clean dishes end up on the floor. The dirty ones go in his mouth.

Father's Day afternoon. What is Father's Day without a fight between knights?

Wait...two against one! That isn't fair!

Asher is sooo delighted!

Sticks in motion...and no one got hurt!!

My brave men, Father's Day 2011

My husband, the best father to our boys!! Love you, Delton!!

Gardening and other simple pleasures...

We have a garden. Just saying that is so satisfying. We are at the point where growth is visible. The potato plants are flourishing, the tomato plants are growing wonderfully, we are eating our lettuce and spinach at meals, and our onions have flavored some meals and are now simply being allowed to grow!

When we began this experiment, I was afraid that this would be a humbling experience. We had two gardens...one small, one big, and for a while, the word garden didn't even describe them. They were simply two squares of plowed dirt. Would they remain plots empty of seed, finally giving over to weeds once more?

Slowly, slowly, a garden has emerged. Through the faithful, constant work of Delton, we now have two gardens that are planted. Hot peppers, green peppers, corn, popping corn, beans, peas, melon, basil, cherry tomatoes and cucumbers have now joined the ranks and most are pushing up through the dirt, visible and promising.

Our corn has required some patience and extra work. The first seeds never sprouted. For about a month we waited. Hardly "green thumbs", we wondered, we hoped, that the green foliage we were seeing would materialize into corn stalks. We finally gave up hoping as the grass grew, but the corn didn't. A second planting is now in the ground, with little shoots evident beside the very few stalks that did manage to survive the first planting. We have one stalk of popping corn coming up. Will it be enough to pop? We hope so!!

Our cucumber seeds also failed to sprout. Just this morning I found an unopened packet of cucumber seeds and planted two short rows. I think Delton planted some tea this morning before I was outside. I planted one row of cucumbers next to some tea plants I don't think were there yesterday..will we have minty tasting cucumbers? We'll see!

Each time we are outside, enjoying the beauty of summer, working in our yard while the boys run, we overflow with gratefulness to God. He has done marvelous things in our life!

 One of life's milestones....

 Asher in a pensive moment...

 :)

 Ezra drawing...

 He loves to draw maps.

 Asher has jumped into drawing with both feet. It took Delton and I by suprise!! He is growing and changing!

 Our small garden...

The big garden is by the road, behind Colson...when the corn comes up there will be something to see!