Some Inspriation for You

These words and photographs warmed my heart, made me smile and remember why being a woman and a mother is such an incredible gift. Some days I just need to be reminded.

Look What I Found in the Garden

The sun was finally out and the temperature was finally above 60, so I ventured into the flower beds and look at what I found.

Yep, a black widow spider.

Last summer the kids and I made a bird bath from terra cotta pots and saucers, and as I turned it over I spotted this shiny, black spider. This may sound crazy, but I was so excited to find her. We studied spiders earlier this year in science, read Charlotte's Web, even went to the play, so this was an exiting find.

Of course, I called for Ken to help me catch her and sent Lindsay for my camera.

Here's a closer view:

Funny how I felt a little blah and the day didn't seem to have much spark until I stepped outside and stuck my hands down in the dirt. Suddenly, the appearance of this tiny creature made me smile and wonder at the beauty of spring. It's on the way and I can't wait.

A few more pictures.

Waking Up

I feel like a bear waking from a long winter's nap. It has been an especially long, wet, cold winter here in North Carolina. We have even had snow more than once this year. For folks like me who don't particularly enjoy the short, gray days and the cold it's easy to hibernate, hard to be motivated, and even harder to be inspired or inspire anyone else.

When I began blogging, my heart was to inspire and encourage. While I haven't really felt depressed this winter, I haven't really felt inspirational either. It's hard for me to encourage others when I feel like I am just keeping my head above the water myself. However, a sweet friend reminded me that it encourages others when we are real. So here goes.

Instead of feeling super sunny and optimistic about life and homeschooling, I feel like I have been managing chaos as we navigate some changes. Change, as defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is to give a different position, course, or direction to. Our family has taken on a different course this year.

For starters, both teenagers are taking online classes through the community college. This is actually going well. Lindsay is taking four classes as a concurrently enrolled student and Alex is taking one through an earn and learn program. This means a little more independence for them in their school work - a good thing. It also means they are getting older and our schedules are changing (more on that another time).

Next, I have gone back to work part-time. After being home for the past thirteen years, I have discovered that I was absolutely spoiled. I thought being home was hard, but it's really not. While I am only working part-time, it has been a challenge to figure out how to meet everyone's needs (physical and emotional), keep some kind of order in our house, and be certain no learning opportunities fall through the cracks. Don't you just love the way I said that? It sounded way better than making sure the school work gets done.

Anyway, now that we are a couple of months in to this new plan, we still aren't sure what we think about it. Some days it seems to be good and other days I wonder if I'll make it. Ideally, I would love to be home, but for now this is where we are. I must say that I am learning to be more organized with my day and to simply let some things go. Plus, the time that I am home is more precious to me and I feel motivated to really make the most of the time.

Which brings me back to blogging. The blog was one of the things I let go because of time and lack of anything to say. But now that my brain seems to be waking up from its winter slumber and spring is upon us, maybe I can find some inspiration or at least a cute picture to share on a more regular basis.