Gardening

Gardening is giving me a good nights sleep. Unfortunately going to sleep early... I wake up earlier. and then get tireder and go to sleep even earlier... etc. In the past week have planted an Almond tree, six blackberry bushes, two hydrangeas, 9 lilac bushes, 2 butterfly bushes and 7 rose bushes. Perhaps, I won't have to wait until our other house is sold in order for this place to look landscaped. But, even with all that it is a drop in the bucket. The question is... should one try to landscape three acres? The land is so beautiful and the trees... love the trees, I'm not really going for anything other than natural with a little stamp of color. The answer is no, of course don't try to landscape, just adding a bit to the natural beauty. Funny, didn't know I would enjoy gardening, but then didn't know I would love cooking or many other things... life is just beginning in my forties.

So I am doing this workshop for our homeschooling conference coming up this weekend. The workshop is designed to teach and encourage moms who are homeschooling while managing the needs and wants of toddlers and preschoolers. They say the best way to learn something is to teach others.
In preparation for the talk I have rediscovered all the tools which I used when I had 4 children under the age of 4 and older ones I had to teach. Ironically, it has re-inspired me to use the menagerie of activities and tools which I have surreptitously collected. I used to keep a list of these posted in our schoolroom. Not just to remind me of all these wonderful items, but so that I would actually pull them out and the little ones would benefit from their use. However, I find that posted list has disappeared and I have been rediscovering resources and having a grand time with my younger ones.
Of course, many of these things even the more common ones such as playdoh and blocks with pattern cards are adaptable to some of the older kids and this has engendered alot of none video playtime with their younger siblings. So Thankful for a task which has born so much fruit.