Springtime Surges On.....

First Day of Spring 2010 with Annalise, age 5.75

"It's been a rough season, and hard on our affections...."

That's a line from a Suzy Boggus song.  It just popped into my head.  It kind of describes where our lives have been,  these last few weeks.....

It's been hard, with Jim having the motorcycle accident, with the state of the house, maybe even with my shift to really taking something besides Jim and the kids seriously.

And the kids are growing and changing.  7 and 10 are both very changeable ages....which means a lot more disequilibrium as they move, very quickly, into and out of likes, skills, and  sizes of clothing.....

First Load of Spring Laundry!  How Exciting!

The children and spring have a lot in common. Maybe, too, Jim and I, as we focus more on our inner lives, and meeting the needs of every member of our family...

But, beyond this chaotic period of rampant growth, this spring in our lives, comes the summer....the heat and the slow, steadier growth, and the calmer days of just being....

And then the fall, the gradual movement inward after the stasis of summer and the powerful outward thrust of spring.  

And, after that, it becomes the opposite stasis point, the long restful peace of winter.  

It all follows each other, and so often I forget that.

Exploring new lilac buds and overwintered compost bin...natural sciences make her smile!

It's easy to forget, in the midst of such a rushing time of life, with the wind always seeming to be blowing from somewhere different; a time a where nothing can be predicted or planned for, that there are other times to follow....

Quieter times, when life seems to flow along as smoothly as a deep and quiet river.....

These are the deep and churning rapids of our lives, but rapids don't last forever.  

Springtimes -  in seasons and in life - are always chaotic and energetic and a little bit mad.  Only that can lead to healthy growth, to soil soft enough and fertile enough for planting; to children growing from smallness to bigness, from childhood toward adulthood, from seed to strong young plant, from need to independence.

It's not always easy, but it's not meant to be.  

I want to remember this.....

That this is right and natural and just as it is meant to be.   

The joy of a spring crocus and a blooming girl.

We will move through it, and, on the other side, there will be greater peace, greater ability....

Greater fruitfulness.

I look at these pictures, taken two springs ago, and I see so many changes.  

There has been tremendous growth in those two years.....

Springtime Obstacle Course

Annalise was not quite six when these photos were taken.  She was so expansive in the whole of her life that one of her nicknames was "Force of Nature." 

She is still strong-willed and possessed of many diverse interests.  As she gets closer to her eight birthday, though, she is more attentive to her focus, more tempered, more able to channel her prodigious physical and creative energies toward specific goals.

She's become far more independent and now enjoys spending larger chunks of time on her own, especially now that she is really cracking the reading code, and getting nearer her personal goal of being able to read whatever she pleases, just like everyone else in the family can.

Assorted Easter art created at Live and Learn Homeschool Co-op, Spring 2010.

Both children enjoy creating, although they tend to approach it in very different ways.

Often, they come together to create, in various games that range from homemade card and board games, battlefield and Lego and pattern block games. and many, many games of pretend that range through the house, the yard,the car, the places we go, and sometimes through years of time.....

With all the rebirth of the season, is it an wonder that spring sees an upswing in creativity here, and breathes new life into existing projects and games.

Annalise's eggy art and Easter bonnet #2

Always, it seems, spring is our time to stretch, and to grow.  New ideas, new talents, new passions, and new adventures seem to await around every bend.

Like inhales and exhales deeply, taking it all in, breathing the richness of softening earth and new green grass nearly ready for mowing.

Our minds are rich, fertile soil, too, and we are all engaged in germinating and growing....

Springtime at Indian Meadows Park means play, nature walks, being daring, and friends!

It's a time to resume visiting playgrounds, to shake free of the winter's long hibernation and get back to seeing friends and  explore the wider, outdoor world all around us.

To be out among the first opening leaves, to see the worms and butterflies and bees resuming their lives, to see those first eager crocuses, tulips, paperwhites, and daffodils thrusting up, to explore seed catalogs and dig in the fresh earth, are our delights.  Yard work and play with a neighborhood friend resume, and so does camping season.