IT IS ONLY A TOMATO

 

Several weeks ago, I was in my now, weed infested garden, checking out the daily progress of my tomatoes.

They were getting larger, and larger, but as of yet, still had not even the slightest tinge of pink in them.  Scarlette of course was with me, remarking that the beans were coming in well, and that the pumpkins were starting to turn orange.  Well, before I could stop her, she picked one of my dear GREEN TOMATOES.  

"No", I cried out to her, "not yet, it is still green, we have to wait until they are red, it will never get red now."  She just stared at me...."Scarlette", I said, "please don't pick anymore of those.  I have been waiting for them to get nice and red so we can eat them, I am a little disappointed that you picked that."

And that sweet, little four year old, looked up at me, with the green fruit in hand and very calmly said, "Mom, don't worry, it's only a tomato."

What insight.  Of course, it is only a tomato.  Thank goodness that I have a four year old to let me know what is really important in life.  This time of year, the red juicy fruits are a dime a dozen.  Selling at every roadside stand, and being given away by neighbors whose bounties overflow.  And here I was, getting all flustered about my daughter picking one.  How silly I felt.

The term "it's only a tomato" has not become pretty common around our home.  Used to remind someone when they are getting upset about something that may not really be all that worth getting upset about.

I did put the little guy on the window in hopes that it would redden.  Three weeks later, and this is what it looks like...

 

Of course by now, every day, there are more tomatoes ready to be picked, and we can't really eat them fast enough.....

I will keep the green one on the sill, just to remind me of what is really important.

Technorati Tags: garden,tomato,important stuff in life

"Please stop lighting your brother on fire"

 

I have a long list, of things I never thought I would have to say to my children....another post of another day, but yesterday, I did have to tell my Scarlette to stop lighting her brother on fire.

A little background with this one.  Last week, Hanna turned 17, so, of course we had to have a cake with as many candles on it that we could find.  After Hanna and Jayden and Scarlette all blew out the candles, the little ones had to have candles on their own piece of cake, and have them re-lit, then the birthday song sung, and then blow them out.  This was repeated about 7 times...or until there was hardly any candle left.

Fast forward to yesterday, when we are all out on the front porch.  Jayden wants to hold the lighter.  Fine.  Then he starts lighting imaginary candles, singing the birthday song, and blowing out mentioned candles.  It was very humorous to watch, and he was having a great time.

UNTIL...Scarlette started blowing out his imaginary candles, while he was singing the song, so he had to re-light them and sing again.  This happened several times, I asked Scarlette not to blow out Jayden's imaginary candles, but to no avail-she was having great fun with it.  So, I encouraged Jayden to share the lighter, so Scarlette could light her own imaginary candles.  Which he very nicely did.

At which point, Scarlette imaginarily lit him on fire...and he screamed and cried in such pain you might have thought he was really on fire.  After I comforted him, by blowing him out and giving kisses and hugs...I calmly said to Scarlette, "Please stop lighting your brother on fire."  And then laughed so hard to myself.

Finished on Time

Family and friends helped Bill and I participate in our first ever 48 hour film project.  Basically, a team has 48 hours to write, film and edit a 4-7 minute film.

Our genre was sci-fi, and with a little help from Bill, I can possibly upload the video.

Until then, here are a few pics of the weekend.

 

 

 

 

Raspberries and Rest

Summer, to me is all about sharing the outdoors with family and friends.  Jayden (and Scarlette) love the raspberries that are now so plentiful.

 

And after we have had a morning full of picking and eating; running and playing; loving the summer, nothing beats an early afternoon nap on the hammock.

The Whole World....

 

The earth balloon came to BSC today.  And I could not give up the chance to bring Scarlette.  We looked and saw where we lived, where Grandma spent the winters.  Where Aunt Jodie lived.  And where Ms. Azlin is spending the summer.  We also saw where Santa lives.

 

If this comes near you, I highly recomend you go see it.

It is fabulous.

More Peas, Please!

Also, in my garden are peas.  Or perhaps, I should say there should be peas.

The day that the first little pod showed his green crispy head, I yelled out with joy, to all that could hear.  The peas are here!  That was my downfall...  The ears that this exclamation fell on are 4 and 2 years old.  And LOVE peas.  Being as young as they are, they are very short on the patience virtue.  So every day, they go into the garden to pick the peas.

Thus far, the longest pea (pod) I have come across is about 3 inches long, and still too immature to actually have peas in it!  Due to aforementioned 2 and 4 year old feasting on pea pods. 

I know I should not complain too much about a few toddlers fetching their own snacks during the day, and those snacks being the organic vegetables in our garden, however, I would like to at least have enough peas at some point this season to have with a meal, maybe some chicken with it?  maybe even enough just to sprinkle into a pasta salad.  At this rate, it seems like that is just a dream I have. 

Meanwhile...I say...let them eat peas.

My Garden

Every spring...well, late winter, I start my indoor seedlings.  My family has to do without eating dinner at the dining room table for a few months, as it is full of pots, and soil and seeds.

When it finally becomes warm enough in this New England weather, and often before so, I transfer them to the outdoor garden.  All seems fine.

Except, that I compost.  Composting is a great way to reduce the amount of trash you produce, and to put back into your garden organic material that will help it's fruitfulness...unfortunately, you also put back seeds.

My intention this year was to have a nice and orderly garden, I mapped out where the corn, the tomatoes, the peppers, the onions, the peas and the beans should be planted.

All worked well until about 2 weeks ago, when all kinds of plants began sprouting.  Now, I am unable to determine weather these are pumpkin, squash, cucumbers, watermelon, or gourds.  They are not in rows, they have no rhyme or rythem in their growth, they are just growing.

So, I am letting them grow. 

Tonight, as I was weeding around these plants, I thought to myself, that they are very much like children.  I was weeding and watering and fertilizing.  I don't know what they are going to be... maybe something good, maybe not.  But my job, is not to decide whether to weed or not, or pull them up or not, or to fertilize or not...of course I do... they are plants in my garden, and I will do everything I can to ensure that they are fruitful.  Just like kids

I will let you know what they yield..both my kids and my garden...when I know.

The Shack

 

I have just finished reading the book, The Shack, by William P. Young.  It came out last year, and was given to my by my Mom, after she read it.  My brother and my sister have also read it, and I purchased a copy for a dear friend of mine.

IT IS AN AWSOME BOOK.  AND I RECOMMEND YOU GET YOUR HANDS ON A COPY RIGHT NOW!!!

Click here to go to the website.

Will it change your life?  No. Will it change how you think about your life, probably. 

I don't want to write about it too much, for fear that I give away good plot lines.  All I can say is go and get a copy and decide for yourself.

A GREAT DAY FOR UP!!!!

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Why unschooling is right for us?

About a year ago, when Scarlette was only 3 years old, many people were already encouraging me to get her into pre-school, or pre-pre-school (what ever that is). Warning me that if I did not start the search early enough, she would not get into a "good" school.

What is a good pre-school? I thought to myself? I was in the process of trying to find a good college for Briana! I wasn't really worried about Scarlette getting into an Ivy League pre-school. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I did not want her in school. I loved being home with both her and Jayden (most days). I did not want to toss her into the education system at the age of 3!

Briana and Hanna went to a total of 6 different schools through out the area, private and public. I was never really happy with any of them. Being a single Mom, and working 2 jobs proved it impossible to home school, and so, I had to deal with the useless homework worksheets, the projects that I mostly completed, the books that they had to read (even though we had already read them as a family), the waste of time, and the fustration that they had with trying to fit into the cliques. They learned the importance of a letter grade instead of the importance of learning something you love, and loving to learn.

They have both excelled scholastically, and some may think, "Why fix something that isn't broken?" "why not follow the same path with the younger children?" Because, although scholastically Briana and Hanna have done well, it isn't all about scholastics, it is about relationships within the family, the community. It is about learning what you want to learn; about the stars, or spaceships, or why snails don't have legs. It is about paving your own way instead of walking down the path of others.

With unschooling, I can let my child lead me. I can facilitate educating them, but in reality, they will be teaching themselves, how to learn, why to learn, when is the best time for them to learn, and they will not be punished, humiliated, or exasperated by the learning process. (hopefully)

I have realized just how short a child's childhood is, and to send my babies to school for 8-9 hours a day, then come home, do homework, bathe, eat, and get to bed early enough, will rob both me and them of their childhood. So for now, we choose unschooling.

I hope you enjoy our journey as much as we do.

A beginning, an ending and a whole lot of middle

I think that blogging is a lot like scrap-booking, long distance running or speaking a foreign language. Basically, that "I should have started years ago." and "How can I possibly start now?"

However, I imagine that now is as good a time as any.

My oldest daughter has graduated and is going away to college, I have decided that I am going to un-school my 2 little ones, and my husband wants to sell the house and RV full time. So a blog is a good way to keep in touch, share information, and muse over the inevitably interesting future.