What is Important?

We've begun to talk about what is important to our family....our values.  This was our first list created at our Sunday evening family meeting.  We will be spending more time on this over the next month or so.  It's just the beginning of the conversation.   This week we named: Love, Playing, being Together, Kindness, Wisdom, Creativity.....oh and at the bottom of the page are the boys chores for the week.    

Road Trip to Nowhere

It was just the boys and I out on a road trip today...hours together in the car as we travelled to nowhere along country roads and then back again. We stopped a lot.  We stopped at old barns, in fields of corn, in fields of hay, and anywhere else that looked interesting as we drove by.  Anders saw this old barn...it had metal roofing falling off the top, rotten wood, a few rusted old vehicles.  Decrepit, but fun.  All of it  beautiful.  I like taking photo's of the boys and they completely and totally get into the spirit with me.  Sometimes, I get a good photo out of it.  Always, I get them...

"Pause My Time!"

This little phrase is a daily expression at our house, along with "Start my time!".   The "time" is 20 minutes that the kids get on the computer, or iPad, or iPhone.  That is our deal about how much screen time they each get.   So- if they have to take a bathroom break, or get interrupted somehow and need to stop - they yell  "pause my time".  I was struck the other day about how much meaning that phrase has here at our house, and how vigilant they are about getting their full 20 minutes.  They can earn extra time by playing outside- when they go out by their own choice...10 extra minutes for each hour of playtime out of doors.    The amazing part to this collaboratively created system is that the buy in is great.  Everyone does it.   It is a system that works.   That doesn't mean there aren't issues from time to time when their time is up...but 90 % of the time it is a highly successful agreement.

Attachment

Kuba is in his third week of kindergarten and as far as I can tell it's going to be a long love affair between him and school.  He has been coming home every day sharing about his day...and teaching us how to raise our hands, use hand signals to agree and make connections, how to "fill some one's bucket" and how to sit criss-cross applesauce.  He's also been super duper verbal about his friends, his classes, and his travels throughout the building.  This picture is his drawing of the school cafeteria.  We have round tables with attached seats.  He is showing this from a birds eye perspective...and he as drawn the counter with all the little bowls of soup on them.  He is smitten, happy, and I JUST know it's going to be a great year.  This whole experience has increased his loving self and we at home have been getting more kisses, hugs, and I LOVE YOU's than you could count!

C H A L K A R T

The boys and their cousins created a sidewalk mural today using saturated and brilliantly colored chalk.  It was messy...really fun, and we all want to do it again.  I liked the brilliant colors and the kids the best.   The part I didn't like was the dust that clung to the back of their clothes, hands, and faces.

Storyteller

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe never sounded as good as it did this morning, in a tent, in the rain, read by Anna.