Welcome!

2011-12-28T11:45:00.005-08:00

Merry Christmas!

Sing to “O Little Town of Bethlehem”

O little town, Raleigh, NC
Where sleeping children lie.
Under hypoallergenic sheets,
They dream of gluten free pie.
Do they remember screaming
On Great Wolf Lodge's slides?
Or riding horses at Hope Reins farm,
Clinging to shaggy sides.

Do homeschooled kids dream of the zoo,
Making crafts for the fair?
Or when their Mommy went to France
To visit her brother there?
Do they remember Daddy
Fixing our sparking stove?
I'm sure they remember Asheville stays
With relatives that they love.

I hope they dream of gymnastics,
Piano, art and friends,
Of gardening in our big backyard.
The fun here never ends!
Fishing for newts and crawdads
In our most wonderful stream,
The Honey Harvest, Pottery,
And making jewelry that gleams.

We hope you too dream beautiful dreams
Of a wonderful year gone by.
Of friends and love and family.
(It brings a tear to our eye!)
We send you hugs and greetings
From our North Carolina crew!
Even our cats and dogs and fish
Hope your Christmas dreams come true!

Chris, Heidi, Eloise and Kailee

Spring

2011-05-05T11:47:00.000-07:00

Honestly, I don't have much to post today. However, I though I should just do a posting anyway, since the last time I did this was at Christmas! We are in the midst of spring here - school is out, birds are singing, the screen door is in use. Our garden is just peeping up (lettuces and radishes are in). This should be a very interesting year - Heidi and the girls just started treatment for low thyroid. So watch out world - the Grables are about to get an energy boost!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-16T07:32:00.001-08:00

Another hour, another day,
Another literary attempt.
Please bear with me as I write.
How fast this year came and went!

What did we do with all our time?
Oh Shutterfly, please remind me!
I’ll leaf through photos, refresh my mind,
And in memory lane I’ll find thee. (alphabetically!)

A is for apple picking,
In the Asheville mountains!
B is for beach trips
and new shells (fountains)!

C is for chickens
We raised for Uncle Nick
C is for camping at
D for Disneyworld (click!)
(LOTS of photos now that the kids
can man the cameras!)

E Eloise loves pottery,
And F is for fishing.
G is for gardening,
For food for our dishing.
(Yeah, I’m reaching for that rhyme –
Just ignore that and keep going)

H is for horses,
Which the girls just adore.
I is for ice skating,
So they won’t hit the floor.

J is for juggling
(Daddy is in the know).
K is for Kailee,
Who draws like a pro.

L is for lottery,
Which we’d all like to win
(no, we did not, but we’d like to!)
M is for museums and musicals.
We see plenty of them!

N is for nifty,
Which is just a neat word.
O is for oompa loompas,
In the girls’ play that we heard.
(Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)

P is for pool,
And R for rock climbing.
S is for science and state fairs,
And T is for timing.
(Which it took much of to enter
10 projects/kid in the fair)

U is for upstairs
Of which we have none.
V is for very
Cause we have very much fun.

W is for women
And here we have three
X is for Bee-Xing
For Chris, King of the Honeybee.

Y is for yesterday
At which we have looked.
Z is for zoo,
Hope this poem had you hooked.

And now we are done
With our new Christmas card.
All that rhyming was easy.
No, I’m kidding – it’s hard.

We hope you have warmth
And meet many new friends.
And that YOU have wonderful memories
Of the year as it ends.

Perry

2010-09-10T12:16:00.000-07:00

Warning.... this will be sad. I'm writing it for myself, to be quite frank. People have all different ways of coping. My way of coping with a pet's death is by writing and remembering. I've met people who swear they will never have another pet - losing one hurts too much. And other people just don't understand - why get upset? It's only an animal....

Be that as it may, this is how I will mourn for my Perry, my Periwinkle. I remember when I got him in college. I had a cat who was suffering healthwise, and the vet suggested that I get a companion cat. A friend knew of Perry - at that time known as "PJ" - who needed a home. He had been abandoned at a vet clinic. They tried to use him as a transfusion cat, but he had clotting problems. He had also been abused, so he was terrified of men. The vet was going to put him down, but instead, he came to me. He and Sprite hissed at each other for 3 months. Perry spent his days under my bed, creeping out only at night for his litterbox and a little snuggle before slipping back under the bed. After 3 months, I found him sitting in a chair with Sprite - Sprite's paw was on his head and she was grooming him. If he dared to move, she held his head in place with her claws. Sweet Perry - that was how his life went from then on - whatever Sprite wanted, Perry gave her. He adored her.

Perry was a good boy. Sounds trite, but doggone it, it was so true. He hid any time someone came into my apartment, until he met Chris. It was love at first sight with Chris. Until then, no man could touch him. I tried getting any male who entered the apartment to lie on the floor and feed him treats as he hid under the bed (Perry was always a chow hound). But he did not budge in his dislike of people in general and men in particular. But Chris.... immediate bonding. So I married him. No - that wasn't the reason I married Chris ;) But it just shows that Perry was an extremely good judge of character! Even up to his death, Perry spent most of his days sleeping. But when it was time for Chris to come home, Perry's day began. He loved nothing more than to sit at Chris's feet (well, he loved me too, but it was nothing short of miraculous that he adored a MAN so much).

Perry did not get into much trouble - especially compared to the rest of my pets. I do remember him getting stuck in the utility closet once - he freaked out and knocked a few things over... I had to rescue a very bedraggled cat, dripping in Windex. Poor fellow. And another time he leapt out of my car. In a once in a lifetime moment of hand/eye coordination, I reached out, caught him by the tail, and whisked him back into the car. That night I dreamed that he jumped off my balcony and I caught him again. But this time his tail came off (like a skink) and I was left holding his twitching tail. Ew. I always thought his tail looked just like Grover's friend Georgie the worm on Sesame Street. All stripy and cute. And once when I moved, I thought we had lost him - the apartment was empty -no Perry! After a very stressful 30 minutes, we found him - wedged up under the sink on the pipes!

Another memorable moment - Chris came with a ferret. Maggie did not like anyone but Chris (I spent much time leaping around attempting to avoid her wrath.) I was watching her for a bit, so we let her lose in my room, carefully checking under the bed to make sure no other pets were around. I was not aware of the fact that Perry was hiding in a hole in my boxspring. However, Maggie was aware of that fact. She ran in and out ran Perry, Maggie holding his scruff like a rodeo rider. When we tried to get her, Perry assumed the worst and took off. It was a while before things calmed down. (Just fyi, it turned out my other two cats were in there too - as we took Maggie off Perry and tossed him into the hallway, Maggie came out riding the second cat. And again on the third cat.)

One other very funny memory of my boy - one night Chris and I were having a date night. We lit a candle. And let me tell you. Nothing, I mean NOTHING detracts from a romantic moment like realizing that your cat is on fire. He was fine, just minus a lot of tummy hair. Never stand over a candle if you are covered with hair.

Perry was a romantic - Sprite was his love. When she died at age 12 (they were the same age), he mourned fiercely. He paced our hallways, crying out his anguish. So we got another grey female, Paisley. Perry was thrilled, and the yowling stopped. He never snuggled with Paisley, but he was happy for several years. After my surgeries, Paisley disappeared and the howling started again. Eight weeks of howling. We finally broke down and got another cat. We didn't plan it, but Karina was indeed another grey girl. Perry was happy again. He went deaf when he was about 14 - best thing that ever happened to him. He had been skittish, but no longer. Perry would stroll around in the middle of a party, happy as could be with all of the nice quiet people.

Perry loved me. He had these big liquid eyes that just dripped with adoration. He was always ready to get and give love (and get food). When he could hear, I just had to call his name and he'd come running. After he lost his hearing, I just had to wave at him to get his attention and he'd be by me in a second. He was never a lap cat. He just wanted to be near me. I'd look up while I was writing my thesis and he'd just be sitting there, staring at me and purring. Always always purring. I will miss that purr. I will miss that orange and white fellow with the golden eyes and huge pupils, that love that was always ready to be given. He came to me in 1991, a frisky but serious young fellow. He left me last week, a serious intense fellow, still full of vim and vigor. He kept me company when I lived by myself. He was there each day and night when Chris and I made our home together. He sat by me when my baby had colic, when we went through illnesses, when I had surgeries. I have been through so much of my life, all of my adult life, always with Perry waiting for me when I came home. Twenty years is a long time. Half my life. Tonight I will bury my little friend under a persimmon tree. And when I go inside, he will not be waiting.

If only we were upside-down!

2010-07-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

I've been listening to the most delicious conversation.

Look at the ceiling - wouldn't that be a cool floor? (this said while dangling heads off the couch, upside-down)
Yes! It would be like a playground!
We could slide down the ceiling (the vaulted ceiling)
And you would jump down into the entryway ceiling!
And the living room ceiling looks like a carpet on one side and a sandbox on the other side.
We'd have to climb the walls to turn on the lights.
We could reach the ceiling fan and use it to fling our dolls around!
And wouldn't it be cool to ride the ceiling fan!
Yeah!
a little moment of silence.....
But then we couldn't reach the stove.
another moment of silence.....
But we could reach the lights - we could use those for grills, I'm pretty sure!
It would be odd to have white floors and brown ceilings.
I wonder if the dogs would walk around on the ceiling or the floor? Do you think the fish would fall out of his tank?
Hmmmm..
And would the outside be like that? Would we ride our bikes on the trees?

They've wandered off now to go pet the baby chicks.

Conversations with a Six Year Old

2010-06-14T17:44:00.000-07:00

Tonight I prayed with my six year old.... "Amen."
"Mom?"
"Yes sweetie?"
"Don't you think it would be better if you said 'in His glorious Son's name' instead of just Amen?"
"uhhh... yeah, yes, that probably would be better."
"Mom, can a tick really swell up to the size of a blueberry?"
"Yes.."
"Oh, that would be like me swelling up to the size of my room. I don't think I want to be all swollen up. If I ate the house I'd be all swollen up, wouldn't I?"
"Yep, probably."
"If the whole house was made of jello and I ate it, I'd get all swollen up I bet. But, you know, just the house, not the dogs. Or the cats. Or, well, anything alive - just the house would be made of jello. Mom, are people or dogs smarter?"
"People."
"Yeah. Cause people can get through mazes much better. People are smarter than dogs. We're smarter than pigs too. AND we do not push dirt around with our noses. And we do not have little corkscrew tails. In fact, we do not have tails at all. Mimosa doesn't have a tail either, but we are smarter. We're not all furry either. Yawwwwnnnnn."
"Time for bed."
"Yep. Goodnight Mom!"
"Goodnight sweetie."

This is how it should be, this is how it is.....

2010-05-20T18:55:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those days you wish you could capture with a camera. But a camera just can't capture perfection.
It started with a gorgeous blue sky, a warm but not hot day. And continued with a story read on the couch, sandwiched between two of the best listeners ever. Nothing like a good snuggle to start your day right. Then it continued - a two hour art lesson in the kitchen with a friend, then out to catch crawdads in the stream - 11 of them! Then a hurried panicked search for one that was dropped in the grass, and a sigh of relief when he was safely returned to the stream.
Next we scrounged about for lunch - leftovers and gifts from the garden, along with a few just picked strawberries from the backyard. Then off to a park with more friends, a hike through the woods after playing in a giant sandbox. And the prize at the end of the hike? Our own private "island" with sand and waves - good friends and fun! Then back home for dinner and one more story about a little canoe making its way to the sea. And finally, out into the yard in boots and pj's to capture the nighttime fairy lights in a jar. Then sitting on the porch, letting the little lights crawl up our fingers and drift off into the night ... one by one by one...
How can you possibly top that day?

Gardening

2010-04-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

I was so enthused a couple of weeks ago - the garden was in! Yeah! So, I was musing out loud to my husband while making lunch...
"Wow, that was so easy - just plant the seeds and they will give us veggies!"
"Well, I mean, you have to go out and water."
"Well, yeah, and weed."
"And we did have to put in two years of backbreaking labor to break up the soil."
"Oh yeah, and we had to remember to compost our waste, turn it over, then wheel it over to the garden..."
"Oops - almost forgot... Chris had to work two springs setting up the infrastructure - fence, rabbit wire, electric wire for the deer."
"And we had to plan just the right place to put the garden. In the sun, in a protected area..."
This was starting to sound an awful lot like a spiritual journey...
"Yeah! I believe!!! It was so sudden! Now things are great!"
"Well, I mean, I still have to do daily devotions to keep my head straight."
"Well, yeah, and do daily maintenance when I mess up.. which I am unfortunately quite good at..."
"And I did go to bible studies, read books, talk with other people about their beliefs for several years.."
"Oh yeah, and I have to remember to do what is put in front of me - daily duties - in a manner giving glory.."
"Oops, almost forgot.. God spent about how many years setting up everything so that I came to this point in my life?"
"And He had to give me faith at just the right time, just the right manner for me."
Yep, sounds a lot like that....

James 1:22-25

2010-04-05T17:55:00.000-07:00

God's light is searing
       revealing what I long to hide.
Showing me no shades of grey
       merely God
                       or not God.
No fuzzy edges.
Sharp delineation.
   so sharp
           it cuts me to my very soul.
If I open my eyes and look
       then I must go forward.
For now I can see the path.
If I close my eyes
       the shades of grey
       the watercolor world of me
             closes back in
       surrounding me
             with its cold familiarity.
Hiding from me the chasms...
       the clarity of the real world.
Is it safer to close my eyes
       to the danger?
To live
       in false security?
I am no ostrich.
I will open my eyes
Though now I must step forward...
And in doing so
                              I make my choice.

Proverbs 1:20-21

2010-04-05T17:48:00.000-07:00

A voice is calling
calling for all to hear.
Only a fool would close her ears...
only a fool.....

Proverbs 4:4-8

2010-03-24T14:49:00.000-07:00

My words are a ladder
falling down to you
down there
   in the dark.
My words shine
like life itself.
Follow them and they will become
life
    itself.
Embrace them.
Drink them up.
before you perish.
Clutch them
white knuckled.
They are the only light
you have ever known.
And now that you know,
How can you turn from them?
They show you yourself.
You scream.
You would run
   but how can you.
   how could you.
Though you are unbearable,
Though you have nothing to give,
Nothing to trade...
Hold tight.
Hold tight.
Hold tight to the glory
   to the wonder
   to the awe.
Tho you fall to your knees
   and are dragged through the dust
Hold tight
   and smile
       in the warmth.

Proverbs 3:1-2

2010-03-24T14:43:00.001-07:00

There is a simplicity
in obedience.
Simply follow
and you will live.

Proverbs 4:20-22

2010-03-24T14:41:00.000-07:00

Shhhhhhhhhh......
                        listen......
Do not lose what you hear.
These words are precious.
    beyond a price...
Hearing them has cost you much.
    All.
Would you throw that away?
Misplace it carelessly?
    No.
Grasp it with all your might.
   frail tho your strength may be.
The words themselves have power
   enough
To hold you
If you only try
To hold them.

Proverbs 9:13-18

2010-03-24T14:30:00.000-07:00

Addiction drowns out all other voices.
That is her only defense.
Should the voice of reason...
The whisper of wisdom...
   ever slip through...
Folly would shatter.
So she screams in desperation
    and like fools we listen.
We think that words we hear easily
    are important.
    worthwhile.
    that secrets bring power.
Yet the silence of a secret
    hides a shroud of ice.
Addiction is proud.
But her only companions
    are the dead.

Isaiah 55:1-2

2010-03-11T05:57:00.000-08:00

You who are worth nothing
Who can never have enough
Who can never be enough,
Quit trying to measure up.
Giving up is blessed relief.
Admitting that nothing you do
                      nothing you have
Will ever be perfection
Will ever satisfy
Will ever fill your emptiness
                  or break your isolation.
Just
   Listen
Be
Still
Take what has been freely given
Fully paid for
Accept that you are undeserving
but
    Beloved.
Let the light fill you
And the insanity will slip away
If you
          just
                  let
                      go....

Friends

2010-01-26T19:01:00.000-08:00

Today I cleaned out my attic. Well, ok, that's an exaggeration - I cleaned out a small part of my attic. Why have I carried an old curling iron through three moves? Do I really believe that it will be handed down through the years, an heirloom for my kids to boast about? Hmmmmm....

While I worked, I pondered a bit on my friend. My friend who is watching my kids while I clean out my attic. She has an attic of sorts. It's really a third floor, a floor that I did not realize was even there until she showed it to me. My friend is an artist. I am too. I think all artists look at life through tinted glasses. Do you remember the special artwork on cereal boxes, the ones that came with red or green glasses? You could only see the picture through the colored plastic. That's a bit like artists, I think. They all see special pictures through their own special glasses. Or goggles - I think mine are like those old driving goggles, maybe.

Anyway, I thought of my friend up in her workroom. She is a singer, a wordsmith. I like to imagine her up there, with all sorts of butterflies fluttering around her. You see, she has a gift. She takes all those butterflies - the grand big orange ones, the fast shiny blue ones, the pale translucent ones that you're not sure you really see, the sweet delicate yellow ones, the tiny fluttery pink ones that are probably the pets of fairies.... she uses her pen, her pencil, her computer and transforms them. She can capture them, change them to words, to words that float and flutter, that inspire and delight. She sees a certain order to them, one that most of us would miss. And they fly to her gladly - they know that she knows them, that she can make them change into their true form. What is their true form? Ahhhhhh. That is the most glorious thing. You only see them when she sings. When her music plays and the words fly and flutter from her mouth, they become the stars in the eyes of her audience. A hope, an inspiration, a promise. Something that can stay with you forever. That is truly a gift.

Yet there is something more about this friend of mine. It took me a while to learn what it was. I'll see if I can explain..... hmm... ok. This may baffle those who do not love animals, but nevertheless, it is what comes to mind. Imagine for a moment that you are a dog (I'll leave the breed up to you). You have a warm house, full of those who love you, feed you, keep you safe. Then something terrible happens - you are lost, perhaps hurt, starving, cold. Other animals attack you, people throw things at you. You cower, shivering. Then another dog walks by - and wait. What is that? The smell of your old home! Where is it coming from? The other dog! Somehow, somewhere, they were at your old home! You creep along behind, because you hope against hope that they will go back, that they will lead you home.

I'm realizing that I must clear up something here. My friend is not smelly. And I do not creep around behind her. That would be.. well.... creepy! But when I am around her, I somehow feel like she has been somewhere... somewhere that I think may be home. Or something. Something that I wanted more than anything. Anything. What was it? Not her marriage - her husband is a dear, but I managed to marry my very very best friend in the world. Not her house - it's bigger than mine, and I can barely manage to take care of what I have! Plus, I just love my kitchen. Not her kids - they are splendid, but I just adore mine. What in the world?

I came to know what it was by a different path. I won't go into that right now - that's a long story, or a short one, depending on your point of view. But I developed a relationship, one that filled a long-empty void. One that brought me home. And then I knew what I saw in my friend. Christ. (No, that was not an expletive. ) She never really talks about God, unless you ask. And her songs are not the "God how I love you let me count the ways" type that drive me batty. But I can see Christ in her, in her songs, in her love for her family, her friends. She is not perfect, thankfully. She has paint on the floor, tape on the stairs, kids in tutus dancing in the grass in 30 degree weather (with my kids out there too in flip-flops, granted). She has her own frustrations, her own worries. But behind that, quietly, Christ shines out. That is her truest gift. She has learned the gift of stepping back so that others see something that can fill that God-shaped hole in each of us. Thank God for people like her.

And, if you want to hear the butterflies, here is her website: http://www.christawells.net/. Her album "Frame the Clouds" is.... awesome. I love to listen to it while I'm painting - it is absolutely inspiring. You can look to the right in my links to find a direct link to Christa's page.

I can't eat that!

2010-01-05T17:44:00.000-08:00

“Mama, at my birthday, can we just have food that I can eat?”
That’s something I hear every year – it’s what happens when your kids have multiple food allergies. Kids look at them oddly – kids in the cafeteria carefully scoot away – kids at birthday parties ostracize those who can’t eat the pizza and cake…. At least, that’s what some kids do. But then again, the responses of some kids make you want to run up and swing them into the air (in a fun way, not in an “enter another orbit” sort of way). These other kids lean in, ask what your kid is eating, wonder what it tastes like. Some of them light up when you ask if they want to try it out. Some sit staunchly by their friends, laughing bravely as the other children melt away.

Enter homeschooling – not somewhere I ever imagined that I would visit, yet here I am. Why homeschool? Hmmm… loaded question. Many reasons, one of which was, yes, food allergies. It seemed that everything rewarding at school involved food that my children could not eat – graphing with chocolate and gummie bears, decorating cookies at Christmas, candy in the valentines in February, snack bags at the zoo, pizza and popsicle parties when class goals were achieved… the list goes on from there. Sour grapes? Yum, yes please! Oh, you mean, was I mad? No, not really. We had terrific teachers who really bent over backwards to help us. But at what cost? The teachers were overworked and understaffed – mistakes that were no one’s fault happened. My child learned that she was different, that the fun things were usually something she could not have. She learned caution when she should have been running around giggling. She learned that she was a different sort of animal – one who did not fit the puzzle.

So, we took her out. Has it helped? Well, last year I asked her if she’d like to apply to a charter school with one of her best friends. “WHAT?” she yelled, “No way! I LOVE homeschooling!” And I must admit, it has made life so much simpler. No more scrambling to find food that she can eat that won’t make her look strange. No more ruined zoo trips from the wrong snack on the bus. And friends…. that is so funny to me now. I spent an entire summer worried that I would socially stunt my child. My child who now has 2-4 playdates every week, adores drama, attends co-op, giggles on the phone with her buddies. Her friends are interested in her – they understand her allergies and love to try and find things for her to eat. Now she has the freedom to pick friends who love her for who she is, instead of dealing with the kids who happen to be in her class. Cool.

Our allergies combined with homeschool teaches us something every day. Why are eggs good for us? Why are they bad for someone who has different allergies (we have a cousin who is basically allergic to everything we can eat)? What is protein? What is calcium? What kinds of food have calcium? What things are best raw? What happens when you add too much baking soda? Our lives have had to slow down, since their food needs to be cooked from scratch. They see where their food comes from – we garden, visit farms, learn about beef cattle.

On one memorable occasion, we even learned about deer. We drove waaaay out in the country to purchase some venison. Never having done this, I was a teeny bit nervous. I mean, we had read Little House on the Prairie, but this was a bit too much like a reality show, homeschool style. I drove up and left the girls in the car, explaining that I wasn’t sure what it would look like inside this… barn-type slaughter house. Understand, I was a vegetarian for many years. This was a huge step for me, and I wanted to shelter the girls a bit. I went inside and got the meat (neatly packaged in plastic and processed to look like something at the grocery store – whew!). As I got into the car, my oldest daughter asked “Mom, why exactly did you want us to stay here?” “Oh, I was worried there would be dead animals around.” “Like those?” she asked, pointing. Oh ding dang darn. I had parked them beside another barn. The door was open, showing about 12 deer hanging upside down, in various stages of ... gross. With my tunnel vision and nervousness, I hadn’t even noticed. I moaned weakly and drove away. But we ate that deer. And I must admit, it was very very good.

Food allergies and homeschool, who would have guessed? Instead of a high paying job in the science field, I hike up my pj’s and read stories about famous scientists to a very avid audience. Instead of dropping by a fast food joint on the way home from after school programs, we pack a picnic lunch and spend the morning at a museum. Instead of time to myself, I have found myself. Gluten, sugar and dairy are, for us, bad. But life, life is good, so good.

Buzzzzz......

2009-08-26T07:00:00.001-07:00

Today I found a ball of beeswax under my youngest daughter’s bed. She ran up, grabbing the golf-ball sized lump and cradling it in her hands. “Don’t you just love the smell?” she smiled, “I like to sniff this every night before I go to bed.”

Life as a homeschooler has been as simple and as complicated as that ball of wax. Life is easy and sweet, amazing in its reduction of the world down to utter basics. And at the same time, it is as intricate as a honeycomb, as full of life and business as a hive in the middle of summer. Our bees have taught us so much over the past year. Here is some of what we have gleaned from the life of our honeybees…

Life is simple when you do your basic duties.
We all have our chores, our responsibilities in our family. When a worker bee stops work, it does so because it dies. Those who do no work (the drones), are kicked out from the hive in the winter. Although our kids know we won’t kick them out (probably), they have been endlessly fascinated with the story of the drones who do no work, who hang out and get other bees to feed them. Not only are they kicked out of the hive come winter, if they dare to return then their wings are unceremoniously clipped off. Then they are carried to a far away place and dropped, never to be seen again. Life can be brutal. And yet, when you do what you are designed to do, there is a purpose to life. Each worker bee begins life by cleaning out its own cell, then helps those around it, feeding and cleaning to sustain the hive. As it ages, it enters a new stage of life, flying on its rounds each day, doing small menial jobs. Without those little bees each doing her own job, the hive would fail. Our family is like that. If Mom quit cooking dinner, if Daddy quit going to work, if we all quit working together and went our separate ways, our family would fail.

Nothing is free. But some rewards are worth the cost.
Honey is not free. Frames, smokers, bee boxes all cost money. Even if you find it “for free” in the forest, thousands of bees gave their life in pursuit of that honey. A single bee works her whole life to produce about a teaspoon of honey. As individuals, we may only do little things – not everyone is famous or important, at least not in the view of society as a whole. And yet… and yet. A single bee made a teaspoon of honey. A hive a bees made three gallons of honey. Imagine what a little girl could do by making some small contribution. Imagine a generation of little girls who can change the world, one teaspoon at a time.

Failure does not mean we quit – it just means we move on.
My husband has worked very hard to increase our bees and our subsequent honey production. Still, we have lost hives. He worked for hours one day, saving bees from the eaves of a house. He made them a beautiful new home. But the next week, they left. No honey, no thank you letters. It happens. Our kids were sad, but they quickly moved on as they saw us move on – time to take care of the hives we still have! Another hive had a queen that did not seem to be doing her job. My husband re-queened the hive (showing mercy by giving the old queen a new, tiny hive). Did we give up on the first hive when production stopped? No, our children saw the whole process and also observed the endpoint – two new hives, as the old queen decided that her new digs suited her perfectly! Life thows us curve balls – sometimes we lose, sometimes we win. In either case, we move on.

Simple tastes best.
Nothing in the world tastes as good as fresh honey. And it is the simplest of sugars, a monosaccharide. It is the only sugar, other than those in fresh fruit, that my children can eat. They are sad sometimes, when others eat foods that would harm them. So much in our society revolves around food, a fact which becomes unavoidably clear when you have children with multiple food allergies. And still – would I change it? No no no. Never. Would we have bees now if we could live the easy life, snacking on goldfish, ice cream and jelly beans? Probably not. And without our bees and our allergies, we would never have entered the truly simple life. I would have missed the joy in my kids eyes as they excitedly peer at returning bees in the spring, vying to see who spots the first full pollen sacks. I would have missed watching as they proudly explained the life cycle of the bees to their friends. I would have little girls who screamed as bees landed on their food, instead of little girls who lean in to see if it is one of their beloved honeybees. I would have missed running around wildly with a butterfly net, honing my skills as a beekeeper in my kitchen (always always close the windows if you are a beekeeper’s wife who is making honey candy on the stove). I would have missed the moment when they tasted that first sweet spoonful of honey that we spun out of the combs in our living room. I would have missed that moment when my five year old daughter said “Don’t you just love the smell? I like to sniff this every night before I go to bed,”

June 2009

2009-06-10T07:27:00.000-07:00

Happy summer!

Yeah! I finally am updating my website - goodness only knows when I'll next update, so enjoy!

Merry Christmas!!!!

2008-12-17T10:16:00.000-08:00

December's here already
The days are flying fast.
We have to really scramble
As the kids go sliding past.

We must announce sweet news -
We are so very pleased!
The new addition to our family -
A thousand million bees!

The new girls keep Chris busy
And make honey by the hour.
Now Chris plays drums and guitar
And waits for trees to flower.

Heidi's doing pottery.
She loves to work with clay.
And in between she trains the dog
And writes and draws each day.
(yeah... more like tries to each week,
but that just didn't rhyme.)

Berry picking, 4H clubs,
Camps, classes - museums too,
Skating, travel (to Canada, eh?)
So many things to do!

Homeschool’s been a fun wild ride.
We wake up when we please!
Spanish, art and science -
The girls cover all with ease.

Mom is sometimes frazzled,
Dad bravely steps into the fray,
But we are thankful for our family
Each and every single day.

We are so very happy,
We have so much you see -
When you have enough love around you,
Who cares 'bout the economy?

And so our wish for you
On this cold December eve,
Is that you too see your riches
And in the important things.…

Believe.

Working on the Recipes

2008-04-21T12:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, still working on the recipes :) They are now on a new page - there's a link from this main page. They are all still in one big lump, but I'm working on separating them into sections. Enjoy!

Heidi

The first post

2008-04-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is, the first post of our blog. It's been a long time since I've been online - my father in law pointed out the other day that I had not updated my other webpage since April 2006. Yike! Two years!!! How time does fly when your computer is acting up, you have young children and you're not feeling well!

So, welcome to our new webpage! I will keep this one updated much more often, I promise! If you are looking for our recipes, they are now located at the bottom of this page.