Simple Joys-Signs of Spring

What a great joy it was to walk out on my balcony this week and find little leaf buds on the stems of my rose bush!  Even on a cold day like today seeing this is a reminder that spring is in deed on its' way back to us and that soon there will be lots of things growing and springing forth with blossoms out there.  What hope and joy!

What is your simple joy this week?

Simple Joys-Community

You might ask what a picture of Toadstool with a bandage on his poor little head has to do with community or joy.  Well, the bandage is covering four stitches that he got this week after falling at the park while there with his class at school.  My poor guy.  Not too joyful yet....huh?

Anyway, our school and the community around it is amazing as was evidenced yet again by the whole situation.  We were so supported by the whole community through this...from Toadstool's teachers to the office staff to the other parents they were just so wonderful and helpful.  A staff member from the school even went to the ER with us till Papa could get there and his teacher called several times that afternoon/evening to check on him.  My mama friends from the school were so supportive too.  One of them had alerted me to call the school as we pulled up to where we were meeting.  We had lots of folks checking in with us and got some wonderful suggestions from other parents (this was new uncharted territory for us...amazingly this is the first time I've ever had to deal with stitches with one of my children).

In the end Toadstool's injury wasn't that serious.  We think his forehead was cut by a piece of mulch when he fell running from one part of the playground to another. It's a good cut and did need stitches but there wasn't a knot or a bump or anything with it.  He's healing well.  Lot s of joy over that.

I'm grateful it wasn't worse than it was and I'm also grateful for all the support our family received   It is a true joy to be a part of that community and I value the friendships and relationships we have at our school so much as well as the true sense of community as we all work together to make it a beautiful safe, loving haven for our children and by extension, their families!  Knowing we are a part of this special community brings great joy for our family.

What are your simple joys this week?

Simple Joy - My Rosebud

This week the simple joy I am focusing on is watching my darling Rosebud as she grows and changes and hits milestones.  We've been under the weather this week and I kept Toadstool home from school for two days.  It's given us a little extra time at home as we recuperate .  Today we used some of that time for a little extra tummy time and to practice a bit with the camera.

Toadstool and I delighted in watching Rosebud as she surprised us by rolling over for the first time!   I was lucky enough to capture photos of her first roll .She happily repeated this new skill over and over.

What Simple Joys have you enjoyed this week?

My Wild Colonial Boy

I've been working on this post for three days, but keep getting interrupted, but with no further ado, here's the post about my Wild Colonial Boy.  

W was dubbed the "Wild Colonial Boy" by one of our fellow visitors to Mount Vernon a few visits back and it really seems to fit him. Of course, the song Wild Colonial Boy is about an Irish boy who goes to Australia, but at our house we've changed the words for W to make it about a little boy who lives in Virginia.  It works well for us and W loves his song!  I sing it to him whenever he puts on his tri-cornered hat.

So, with that in mind, here are some pictures of our latest trip to Mount Vernon.

W was able to help sift some of the threshed wheat. 

And then we saw how to remove the kernels from the chaff.  

I didn't get any pictures, but he also got to shell black eyed peas which he loved!

Checking on the much loved lambs.

Our favorite lamb.  He's appeared on the blog here before, but look how big he has gotten!

Visiting with the adult rams.  W loves them too!

W looking at....

...the mama pig and her sweet 1 week old piglet.  Not sure if she only had one survive, or if they are keeping the others cool somewhere...but this little guy is CUTE!

And of course we have to visit with the oxen!  To find out if they've been pulling...

....the plow we found down in the fields.

 We took a walk through the garden down at the farm area.

 And saw them growing broom corn....

...and sunflowers among other things.

Of course no trip there is complete, unless we stop to play in W's favorite tree.  

Look how huge these roots are!  It's like a little house in there! 

 A perfect place for imaginative play!

Okay, W has told me what he was doing in the following pictures.  I love the versatility of a good stick as an open ended toy!

Going fishing

Marching with the fifes and drums.

Waving the flag!

Simple Joys: Family Time At The Beach

My husband grew up in a bayshore town.  So, during our visit to Nana and Granddad's house this past week we had to make a trip to the town beach and then to a nearby ocean beach as well.  W has been very excited about going to the beach since I gave him the Gerda Muller Summer book last week.  This photo only added to his excitement, though I had to prepare him that the beaches we were visiting would not have cows.


The town beach on the bayshore was a real treasure trove.  The waves in the bay are much more gentle than the ocean waves and W felt comfortable getting closer to the water there.  Also a creek flows into the bay at these beaches providing some comparatively still water for W to play in as well.  Oh how he loved it!

Looking inland at the creek bed.

A boy exploring the beach.

Of course a boy has to find a stick!

Throwing rocks and shells pieces into the water was a favorite beach activity.

W loved playing with rocks and shells in the calm creek water.

We found that the bayshore beach was teaming with shells, rocks, beach glass, drift wood, birds and sea creatures.  It was the perfect place for a nature walk.

I'd love to share a few of our favorite finds with you.

A Tiny crab that had washed up on the beach.

Driftwood

This horseshoe crab proved to be very interesting.  

We found it on it's back like this and flipped it over.

We found that it's back had quite a few snail shells attached to it.

It was still alive so Daddy put it further down on the beach and 

we eventually were able to watch it start to swim back into the water.

  

We thought a whole large clam shell was a pretty good find!

The beaches on the bayshore were much better for shell collecting than the ocean beaches.

Duck footprints in the sand. 

Birds on the Bayshore.

Later that day we made a trip to the ocean beach.  We found relatively few shells there, but I was able to find some beautiful shell fragments, rocks and some beautiful pieces of beach glass there  all of which had been worn down and had edges softened by the waves.  I loved how much more powerful those ocean waves seem as compared to those on the bay.  I found as I walked along the beach I would stop, and look at the ever changing nature of the beach.  As the waves would come in around my feet, and then go back out, they would scatter the bits of rocks and shells on the beach into new patterns.  

I loved looking at this piece of seaweed with the ocean foam still clinging to it.

W was more nervous about those strong ocean waves and preferred to stay further up on the beach, though he did ask me to take him down to wade in the water just as we were leaving.

W would occasionally come up close to the water 

and then joyfully run back as the waves came towards him.

Note the little sand soul patch he is sporting here!

He loved walking around the beach with his shovel and bucket.  

He filled the bucket with sand and rocks and shells 

which he would then dump out and ask me 

to get him some water from the ocean.  

He took the ocean water up to the dry sand and would spill it all out.  

We did this over and over and over again!

Unfortunately, our beach day was a bit on the chilly side, so there were no bathing suits and Daddy would not even take his shoes off to stick a big toe in the water 

(which was warmer than the air).

 In the car on the way home, W told us that the beach was "great fun"!