Today Was a Good Day

Today was a good day for lots of reasons.

The weather was wonderful. School went well. My Spanish classes went great.

Homeschool went so well, in fact, that when we all went out for recess we just stayed outside., and called it a day as far as formal lessons went..at home (Pixie still had Spanish with me and ballet elsewhere later--Wednesdays are big!).

Pixie and Bud swung on the swings, and Wombles followed me around while I was weeding. We had rain recently, which menas it is possible to pull things out of the ground. Whenever I pulled out an especially long or fat root, Wombles would take it and play with it for a while.

By the way, this particular weed is commonly known (here, anyway) as "the Obnoxious Weed." They pretend to be clover and have awful burrs and choke out everything. It's incredibly gratifying to pull them.


Had I mentioned we hadn't played outside in a bit? I needed to let the mud have time to dry up. You know what I'm talking about. The mud.

So, Wombles and I worked our way around to the side of the house. Inside a little pot inside of a larger pot housing a sad hibiscus was maybe 3/4 inch of water. Wombles asked if he "could fish in it with this stick, Mama." I thought...and thought...and thought that the water was pretty clean, and I'm right here.

I was focusing a bit much on the obnoxious weeds.



Before I knew it, I looked up and saw this:


"You'll have to wash my face, right, Mama?"

Right, Wombles.

I decided that even though (a) I had to work this afternoon, which usually means less mess allowed, and (b) Wombles happened to be wearing a shirt that is CUTE, CLEAN, and LENT TO US, I would just let him go ahead. You know, let him have the kind of day that would make a little boy want to wear a hat like this:


Seriously, how hard is it to stick a kid in the tub and wash off a little mud? I'm aware that I blow the "messiness" factor way out of proportion. I'm working on it. My kids used watercolors on Sunday, for crying out loud. I'm having a breakout week.

Today was cool, searingly sunny, and breezy. It was wonderful to be outside. That's why I cancelled the rest of school--seriously, Pixie can write a paragraph tomorrow, and cutting out names of the books of the OT and putting them in order can be fun any day. But not today.


Pixie and Bud were totally involved in their game, which involved racing and possibly royalty. Even as I watched them, my eyes kept cutting over to the left, to this:

(I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; where does my help come from?).

So grateful for sunshine and idyllic days. And, come to think of it, that this wasn't the view from the same angle:


Yep, that house in the foreground was being rebuilt from the previous fire when the fire last May came along.

But no! Peace, tranquility, beauty!...Restoration.


(My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth).



After my reverie, it was time to come back to earth. And muddy little paws. And baths.


"You'll clean my hands up, right, Mama?"


Sure thing, buddy.

And I won't even freak out when you start yelling that you've pooped in the tub.

Because you have, and that's OK.

I had recess today.


Today was a good day for lots of reasons.