This week, we...

Went to Cheekwood,

watched Moo try to wrangle Daddy's crazy eyebrow hair,

giggled when she was successful,

ran screaming from the billions of leggy mosquitoes that have taken over Tennessee,

breathed a sigh of relief over the completion of Moo's moedim lapbooks, enjoyed "snake around the pole" bracelet making,

entirely lost our youngest in the Trenton Lee Stewart Mysterious Benedict Society series,

watched our salad greens poke their little heads up out of the earth,

let orange rinds steep in vinegar for a natural cleaner (you strain them after 10 days, and use on surfaces),

watched the rhetoric on the kitchen whiteboard turn ugly,

played around with the Cricut,

ate some homemade blueberry muffins that the girls worked on,

used self-control to not eat them all,

and, speaking of self-control, kicked the coffee habit.  I don't have a problem...and I can quit at any time...and I almost never drink coffee alone...but still, it was time.  :)  I was constantly presented with the struggle over what creamer to use in my coffee, and I was tired of it.  If I use the real-sugar variety, then I don't feel really good...that constant "drip" of sugar each day just makes me feel icky.  However, switching to a fake-sugar variety makes me feel like I am taking my life in my hands (only slight hyperbole here), and makes me have an integrity crisis every time I embrace some other "all natural" thing.  So instead of trying to transition to stevia or something else, I decided to SIMPLIFY my life and just drink tea.  My headaches are just about done, and I am feeling good about this little change in my life.  

So, that was our week.  It was a good week, and now we are preparing for Passover.

Beauty at Cheekwood, 2012

This week we took a fieldtrip to Cheekwood Botanical Gardens in Nashville.  What a lovely place to visit--and what a lovely time of year!

So many things were in full bloom.

My girls were a delight.  I love that I have two little adults who can accompany me on such journeys, and who can talk with me about things on a quasi-adult level.  It is very, very nice. 

This was our dear herb garden tour guide.  We learned a lot from her, and identified a lot of plants that I had only heard of (for instance, we identified the flax plant spoken of in Proverbs 31--now, HOW to make it into fiber and then into fabric; well, that's another tour!).  She was very knowledgeable and quite friendly (of course--it's the south!).  It made it very easy to overlook her quirky pronunciations...like "Mediterraneum"...or perhaps she was just speaking of a type of terrarium found in the Mediterranean.  Oh please, may this be the case...

This was the entrance to the sculpture trail.

Strange little succulents.

This poor kid will never be able to take a picture in the sunlight.  Lisa Rubel--take note.  LOL

Outside of the pet cemetary...weirdly placed on the grounds of the estate.

Belle of course had to stop and read every headstone.

I was instructed that I just had to get a picture of the trail ahead.

We almost walked right by this sculpture. 

Moo was taken by this little patch of color among the green carpet that covered the floor of the woods.

It is warm enough already for the cacti to be alive and well.  A few weeks ago, we drove out to view some acreage for a possible future home building site.  As we walked the property, I was stunned by all the cactus corpses that I found smashed around the property.  Some even had 2 and 3 inch needles on them.  In Illinois, it was a kind of ouchie experience to step on a 'sticker bush'.  Here, well, OUCH!

Another sculpture on the trail.

Too bad they are so serious all the time.

On a bench along the trail.  There was a joy that came from walking through this kind of eden, and seeing that if we could only return to living in and off the land in reverence and humility, that we may just be okay.

The Japanese gardens.  There were giant walls of bamboo along the entrance and exit of this area, and when the wind blew, it sounded like rushing waters.  It was wonderful.

As I took this picture, one of the girls said, "Too bad that the camera can't really capture the real awesomeness of the view here.".  Yes, too bad.

Our Latest Addition

Today, we went down the road to Shiloh Music to pick up a mandolin for Moo. It has been a purchase that we have been pondering for awhile. The violin and the mandolin are both keyed and fingered in the same way, so frequently (at least down here in Nashville) there is a lot of cross-over between violin/fiddle players and mandolin players. 

For us, it's just another way to have music in the house...and the topping on the cake is that it is being made by a couple of our favorite musicians. :)

Crazy eyed smile.  ;)

Bourree duet with Miss Sara, Nov. 2011

One Night as the Queen: Purim 2012

What a good time we had last night!  It was LAMB's Purim celebration, and many memories were made.  First impression: what an amazing number of girls were sporting Esther/Hadassah costumes! Of course, what young lady wouldn't like a celebration that EXPECTED one to dress up like a queen??

Ah, what a special bunch...don't you think??

One of my favorites for the night: Tom as "Osama ben Haman".  Neither the beard or the crocs are part of the costume...those are just part of who Tom is.  :)  Here he was asked to read a portion of the book of Esther.  We sat for a reading of the entire book, which would seem like a time that the kids might get bored...but not when they are listening for the names of different characters so they can respond to the reader.  When King Ahasuerus' name was read, the audience yelled out "G-d bless you!", Esther's name brought "Awwwww!", the mention of Mordecai brought the cheers of "Hurrah!  Yay!" and the name of Haman was drowned out with noisemakers and boos and hisses. 

This is the children's dance that Miss Mary directed.  They practiced for weeks on this, and did really well.

The older teens had their own dance.

The costumes are judged...

...and the prize goes to "Jonah", leaving these Esthers/Hadassahs/Vashtis left to hope again for next year.

Moo was in the 13-18 category, and initially her competition was Queen Vashti and the Roman Centurion of great faith.

Then more teens slowly made their way up to the front...yes, a couple more Esthers...

...and one King Xerxes.  As much as I was pulling for the redhead, I was okay with the prize going to the Roman Centurion.  After all, it takes guts for a guy to wear a skirt, even if it is a cool centurion skirt.   *snicker*

In the adult category, the Page and Turner families got past the "biblical character costumes only" policy on a technicality.  You see, they look like they are "Fruit of the Loom", while claiming to be "Fruit of the Spirit".  Love them.

Speechless. 

The party ended with a hysterical version of "pin the nose on Haman".

Here is a video of the girls' dance that Miss Mary taught them: