What's Been Happening Around Here

Every now and then I miss taking—and posting—daily photos for Project 365, which I did faithfully for a whole year. I still take photos on a regular basis, but I often neglect to post them. So here's what's been happening here for the past month or so…

Darth Vader hung out for awhile. I love when my kids dress up. I love when they take themselves so seriously in their costumes—sadly only Duncan does that now. (I should probably be glad, actually, that Jesse at 15 doesn't dress up in costumes anymore.) I love those moments when they actually believe they are Darth Vader or an army guy.




We've had some lovely weather: tree-climbing, book-reading, bird-watching, jump-roping warm days. As much as I miss a few big snows, I wouldn't trade the early Tennessee springs for anything.


The kids got to attend another 5-day class at a local Montessori school. The school hasn't opened yet, as it hasn't quite reached its enrollment minimum, so they've been offering occasional 5-day classes for homeschoolers. In December the kids did Journey to Japan; in February they had a blast with "Bluebirds, Bats, and Bark." In the photo above, they are looking for animal tracks in their tracking pit. For the sake of the school, I hope they get enough participants soon, but my kids sure have enjoyed the classes there! And wow, did I ever get a lot done during those 5 days!



Laurel and Dr. H. got to attend our first annual American Heritage Girls Father/Daughter Valentine's Banquet. We've been talking about doing this for years. This year our high-school girls are working on their dance badge, and it fit in perfectly for them to plan this special banquet. It was an absolutely beautiful night (I helped set-up, wash dishes and clean up so that I could scope things out!), and I know those girls and their daddies will treasure it forever. And now we are committed to making this happen every year!



Sometimes you just have to get into the mountains, especially when they are covered in snow on a crystal clear day. We took a quick drive to the Foothills Parkway one afternoon while Jesse was at piano lessons. I love that we live so close that we can take a drive to the mountains and back in just piano-lesson time.




We had the Pinewood Derby! I have to say here that Dr. H. is so amazing. He had soooo much to do this past month, but in the midst of it all he took time out of work to get all this Cub Scout stuff ready and make sure it all runs smoothly. We have a fantastic group of parents in our pack, including one engineer dad who created this amazing timing system for the track. It took the derby to a whole new level and cut down about half the time!


Spring is palpable. The celery is a science experiment for Laurel's botany class; the impatiens I'm beginning to root for planting soon. Daffodils are everywhere in our yard now, and I'm beginning to shake off that winter shroud. It's been a rough winter, filled with too much death. I lost a lovely college friend in January and then without much space between a good friend's mom died, Randy's bio dad died, a church friend's son died, and another college classmate took his life at the end of February. I was thinking today that I haven't posted my "Three Beautiful Things" in awhile, and I need to get back to that. Casting off the heaviness of sadness is easier with spring, though, and the re-greening that ensues.