Sunnyside Gardens and Liberty Ridge Farm - October 2011

When I began recording bits of our lives here, I had this grandiose idea  that it would be all neatly  organized, chronological, expertly laid out, and - well perfect.

And it is perfect - a perfect representation of our ever-changing, swirly, flowy, messy, creative, just-as-it-is life.  The kids are not posed or perfectly dressed -  often, they look like vagabonds, caught in the act of whatever act they happened to be in the middle of.

Anyone who knows us knows that they each have their own style, and it's not going to be featured in Vogue this month.....

And anyone who knows us also knows the one thing Annalise and Jeremiah wear more often than anything else  - those big, bright, beautiful grins, smiles, dimples, and sparkling eyes...

The eyes of people who are, the vast majority of the time, loving the life they live, and living a life they love.

I've begun to notice that I'm wearing smiles and sparkles more these days, too.  So is Jim.

I used to worry about the rumpled and mismatchedness of us.  And now I don't.

It may not be your style, and that's OK.  It is our style.  We each wear clothing for ourselves.  We each have our own style, preferences, and needs.

As you see us, so we are.  Not fancy, not terribly concerned with how we looks from the outside in, because we are all living from the inside out kinds of lives....

So here we are again. on recent trips we took with our homeschool group, the Live and Learn Homeschool Co-op....

First, we visited Sunnyside Gardens, where we toured fanciful art displays, fall produce and flowers, a model train track, carnivorous and succulent plants; sampled delicious baked goods; and lingered in the Butterfly House......
 




The next week found our group at Liberty Ridge Farm, exploring farm displays, the laws of physics, and many physical activities - pedal cars, giant hamster wheels, a jumping pillow, a corn crib, and more...






So, as I deepen in my own acceptance of our life as it is, and let go of striving for some level of perfection that is not and cannot be a part of our free-spirited, passionate, engaged, joyful, brimming-over lives, I realize that this blog as as much a living record of our lives as we are.....

So the posts might not be perfectly edited or laid out.  My themes and headers may be behind or ahead of the seasons.  I might post from winter one day, and summer the next.  There will be typos.....there will be mistakes.

And there will be joy, and peace in the writing.....

I accept us, as we are, in this moment..........and I delight in and value this part of our living.

Namaste