Survival

 

Last weekend, Noah and Joey wanted to practice "Survival" out in the back yard for a night or two. The idea came from a book Noah read not too long ago called My Side of the Mountain. The boy in the book runs away from home and lives in the Catskill Mountains, living only off what he can forage in the wild. It's a perfect 'boy book'.

So my boys decided they would take a few supplies outside (some apples, blankets, water, camping chairs, tarp), build their own shelter and see if they could survive. They weren't supposed to come inside except to go to the bathroom; which I'm pretty sure they didn't do since boys think it's fun to pee outside....sigh...... They did pretty well at first, built a great fire and ate some food - can't remember what they took out there to eat besides apples....?....

About 11:00 pm, Lance told them they needed to quit stoking the BONFIRE they had going because it was time to quiet down for the night. I think they fell asleep sometime around 1:00 am....Charlie the dog was in heaven, sleeping in the shelter with his two best buddies -  and the boys were in heaven because....well....they were outside!

I think they woke up around 6:00 am and took a walk around the neighborhood....I hate to think who they might have woken up at that hour! They came back and gathered some food to eat - dug up potatoes from the garden and some fennel. Noah said he roasted an apple and a potato over the fire. He even got some onions from the garden and put some onion juice on the potato! Not too bad! I think Joey just ate his apple, a raw potato and some fennel. (Fennel is an herb that tastes like licorice.)

Lance asked the boys to clean up the shelter for a little bit so that Noah could mow the lawn - and then they could set it back up again. As they were cleaning it up, Noah forgot that he had left his VERY SHARP, VERY DANGEROUS knife stuck in the ground under the shelter......yup....my barefoot boy walked right into the knife and sliced his toe!!!! He didn't even really feel it, just noticed A LOT of blood pouring from his foot. Fortunately Lance was there because I took one look at the blood and started silently panicking......

Lance got it all cleaned up - I did manage to give him some Blue Yarrow essential oils, which stopped the bleeding and caused the skin to close together, LOVE essential oils :) - the cut didn't look like it was deep enough to get stiches but Noah was pretty freaked out that he almost sliced his toe off.......

So....long story short, 'Survival' was cut short (haha...cut.....hahaha) and it may be a while before they get to have that adventure again!

BOYS. Never a dull moment.

Growing

The garden is planted. Very much scaled back from last year. Less time = less garden. Oh well, the important things are in. All the fixins for Lance's famous salsa. YUM. CANNOT WAIT FOR THAT!!!

The lilac bush we planted last year is blooming for the first time. We planted it in memory of my sweet Momma who has been gone for 2 years now. Can't believe she's been gone that long. I REALLY miss her. But I love seeing that bush and thinking of her. Lilacs were her favorite.

             

We also decided to put in some sunflowers this year. We lined the garden fence with them, so hopefully there will be lots of them and they will grow big and tall and strong.         

                                          

And speaking of big and tall and strong.....look at these beautiful babies. Not one of them is a baby anymore. Even the baby is a little girl now. They are growing too. It seems like almost every day I am noticing something about them that seems more grown up.....Noah is about 1/2 inch away from matching me in height and he is being more responsible in many ways. Joey is getting better at reading and is such a sweet big brother to Anna. She adores him! (He will still play house with her which is a huge bonus for her!) And little miss Anna is such a joy to have around. She wakes up smiling and is starting to form her own opinions about what's right and wrong and isn't afraid to voice it!

I guess along with the garden, we're all growing. Growing together. Physically, emotionally and spiritually. Each child is figuring out their role in our family and Lance and I are trying to guide them, love them and help them on this journey of life. Sometimes it's incredibly hard, often slightly confusing and always beautifully rewarding. 

How blessed we are to witness and experience GROWTH, in ALL it's forms. The plants in the garden that will produce yumminess (physical growth), the lilacs that remind us that our loved ones are always with us (spiritual growth), the sunflowers that give us hope of things to come (emotional growth) and the children who remind us of ALL of the above.

True Love

I've been thinking about this since Valentine's day.....

I remember being in kindergarten and having my first 'boyfriend'. His name was Jeff Tate and at that point in life I am pretty sure that I didn't really know what a boyfriend was.....but I think I told my mom that I loved him.

Fast forward to 6th grade camp. This is where I met my next true love, Scott Berg. He was 'such a babe' as we used to say way back then. He had black hair, brown eyes, tight wrangler jeans and nike tennis shoes. The only thing I could find wrong with him was that he was slightly shorter than me. On the last night of camp at the dance we danced together and I think we kissed behind a clump of pine trees. Heavy sigh......I was totally in love with him and signed my name "Lee Ann Berg" for months after that. I talked about him to all my friends and I was pretty sure we were going to get married someday. Never saw him again.....

I had lots of crushes on boys in junior high and high school - some 'serious' boyfriends. There were boys that I even got into fights with other girls about. There were some really nice boys and some not so nice. Some that I was totally and completely and absolutely in love with and swore that we would get married just as soon as I was out of high school. Thank the heavens I didn't!!!!

In May of 1991 I met THE ONE. Tall, dark and handsome. (Okay, he's tall compared to me.) Dark brown hair, beautiful blue eyes. And this time, it was for real. You've read on this blog how we met and that whole story. We were married and have been working on that whole happily ever after thing. It really is true when cute, old married couples say "We love each other more every day"..... Not that we are particularly cute and definitely NOT old, but you know what I mean.

And then we started our family. I have been completely, totally 100% in love with every child that God has blessed us with. The moment that Rebecca placed Noah in my arms, the moment that Tasha placed Joey in my arms and the moment that Laura placed Anna in my arms is deeply etched into my heart. These are moments that I will never, ever forget. These were the moments that I realized that I was only beginning to understand what true love felt like.

 True love for our birth mothers was to trust in God enough to know that our family was where these children were supposed to be. They loved these precious babies enough to make the most difficult decision that they will probably ever have to make. These women, each with different stories, different backgrounds, different circumstances have taught me what true love REALLY is.