lovely day....

Ah, my morning walk. Three days in a row! Of course I expect the scale to start being my friend again immediately, but the key here is patience...

Here are my homeschooled kids this year: Jonathan, Kathryn Grace, Suzanne Eleanor, and the little girls, Camille and Miss Char.

Homeschooling is everything I had hoped it would be, so far. Kathryn and Jonathan are pros at it, but it is new for Suze and the princesses.

Yesterday we made Jello jigglers and cut out the letters of their names. It turned silly, then messy. Our poster-making turned quite silly too, and just as I was tempted to put my foot down and restore some order, Charlotte Claire said, "This is so much fun! We never had THIS much fun in art class at school!" So, I let them have fun. They do their quiet morning work first, spelling and math and writing...then the fun starts, apparently.

Today is a wonderful day. Sunny and warm already, going up to 80-ish. We are thinking of going to the beach after morning work.

On my walk this morning, I thought about thoughts. You know the saying, "You are what you eat."? That may be true, but more accurately, "You are what you THINK." It's the thought life that determines how I am and how I react. If I focus on things that other people do that bother me, I can make a whole court case against them in my thoughts. Now, I can't help if a thought pops into my mind. But it is my choice whether I consider it, roll it over, agree with it, let it take root...or reject it. Other people can't see our thoughts (thankfully...can you imagine being like cartoon characters?), but God can. There is nothing hidden from Him. When I am faithful there in my thoughts, to forgive and be kind and be hopeful for others instead of just judging and critical, then there is a blessing. I don't have to just be bitter and short sighted and short tempered and miserable.

I was also thinking about having hopeful thoughts for me! I know I am capable of exercising self-control, of staying away from sugar, because I have done it. My morning walks are excellent for those little pep talks.

My first pep talk of the day starts when I start reasoning why perhaps today I should just sit down in the quiet instead of putting on my sneakers:)

My kids stayed up too late last night. Jonathan has been going to the library in town with Margaret, he has his own library card. He is obsessed with Star Wars, and was waiting on one of the movies to come in. Well, it came in yesterday. So I let them watch it after dinner, and those movies just go on and on and on. Seriously, the dialogue is so lame. But they love them. Jon would pause the movie to explain things to his sisters, and kept saying, "I called that! I knew that was going to happen!" Anyway, they finished the movie and got to bed after ten. oops.

Emily visited last night, then Mirielle came in.

Well, these girls are bugging to start morning work....