We finally got to go swimming

I had great dreams this summer to take my kids swimming every Friday at Joni and Jerrie's house. When I was little, swimming was the essence of summer. I had planned to do all my Sabbath cooking on Thursday and divvy out the other chores throughout the week so that all I'd have to do on Friday is tidy up and clean the bathroom. That would leave all afternoon to go swimming and be relaxed when Sabbath came. We had repeated disappointment when it would either be too windy, rainy, the pump for our garden was acting wierd and I had to figure it out, I couldn't get everything done on time, etc. Finally one day Jonie called me and said, "Hope, it is such a beautiful day, the pool is clean and I wish I could enjoy it but since I'm working I'd love it if you could enjoy it with your kids for me!" (She is such a sweet lady)!" I decided we MUST make it happen. So we did. 

On our way, we got some fringe benefits! There was a turtle crossing the road so we stopped to look at it. As we did, we also saw some huge caterpillars.

  The kids are getting more and more comfortable with the idea of swimming. They practice in the bathtub putting their heads under water.

 On their property are some mature mesquite trees. The pods had dried so we helped ourselves to them to be ground later into flour for some yummy mesquite tortillas. 

We came back feeling very refreshed.

My little piggies

When I was little I always wanted to live on a farm or work at the zoo. I adored animals. In fact, I think that was the reason I became a vegetarian at age 8. My sister told me I was making my stomach a cemetery for dead animals. So, at our third grade end of the year party when all the teacher ordered was pepperoni pizza, I picked them all off to follow through with my new decision.

So here I am now, with my own pigs, wallowing in the mud :)

Omega says "Mom, I have a beard!"

I didn't know I'd also have pet frogs! Monsoon season is the best. 

There is nothing impure in clean sand and dry earth (Child Guidance 107) 

What meal-time is like ages 4 and 6

I like to consider myself a parent who trains her children well...but if there's one area I think I'm slack on it's table manners. I just can't bring myself to interrupt their active imagination during meal-time. It's like food brings a whole new world of pretend possibilities and I marvel at their creativity. Okay, I admit...sometimes it's over the top and I've gotta say, "that's enough." But still, it's pretty impressive what they come up with. I just figure it's not a moral issue. When they are 20 I doubt they'll still be acting like a lion ripping into an apple pretending it's a zebra. I don't buy the whole "they'll grow out of it" when they are throwing fits as toddlers because self control is a character issue and I've seen plenty of grown ups throwing fits. That must be nipped in the bud and trained. But pretending while eating? I'm sure it's a phase ;) (I do believe that being courteous and thankful ARE character issues and we do enforce behaviors that reflect those attitudes like not whining, asking nicely, saying thank you, not complaining, praying before you eat, etc.)

I mean, in India it's customary to use your hands to eat and in Japan it's polite to slurp your soup. I did not get brought up doing the whole "fork in left hand with knife in right and you scoop your food onto the back of your fork and put it daintily in your mouth." Although I'm part English, Brittish manners were far from the norm in our house. When I got married I marveled at how my husband could eat a taco without salsa juice dripping all over his hands. I purposely did not serve Italian food at my wedding because I just knew I'd get spaghetti sauce on my dress. So...okay, maybe I just proved myself wrong. Maybe you don't outgrow bad table manners...hmmm.....anyway - here are some things I'd like to remember about my kids childhood regarding meal-time.

Just for the record, we do have basic eating rules:

1. We have set times of eating and we don't snack. To me this is a health issue - it gives the digestive organs time to rest and ensures a healthy appetite when mealtime comes.
2. They must stay at the table until they are done.We don't eat at other parts of the house unless it's Friday night and we watch a nature video on the projector in the living room. 
3. When they're done they say, "Mom, thank you for the food may I get down please?"
4.  They must eat what I've given them or else they eat it at the next meal or they don't get dessert if we are having it. If they say they don't like something I respond by saying, "That's fine. You don't have to like it. You just have to eat it."
5. They can't get another serving of something they like before eating the thing they don't like. So, it motivates them to eat what they don't like.
6. If they play too much I set the timer and they have to finish before the timer goes off or else it gets put away and they eat it later.
7. They must ask politely for things to be passed to them instead of reaching over to get something. Ex: "May you pass the honey please?" (Often when David asks for something Omega will say, "Jump-fly-jump-land" and make it fly over to him. Orion will make it walk really slowly...that can be a bit annoying...)

So, breakfast is the most lenient for them because they usually eat by themselves. I wake up at 5:00 to get breakfast for the guys (David, Jonathan and Julian). They eat by 5:15 and leave by 5:45. While they are eating I exercise. Then when they leave I have devotions and usually eat at 7:00 ish. The kids usually wake up around 7:30 so by then I'm done. Lunch and supper we eat together so they don't have as much freedom to play and be silly. So these pictures are mostly breakfast time.

We had cornbread and beans for breakfast and Orion crumbled his cornbread up and wanted to be a cow.

The good thing about this is that if they make a mess they clean it up. At least it helps them learn how to be responsible for their messes.

The guys brought home a bunch of carrots from the farm so for a week or so Orion always wanted to pretend he was a horse and let Omega feed him.  Did you know that Ethiopia has a tradition called “gursha” and involves people feeding each other with their hands? The host normally starts by feeding their neighbor and then proceeds to feed everyone else in the circle. Once they are finished the next person in the circle does the same and so on and so on.) I guess my kids may be missionaries to Ethiopia one day! They'd fit right in :)

Monkey see, monkey do. Often since I'm done eating I'll sit at the table and do something brainless like check facebook or Pinterest while they eat. David often likes to check the news at supper or check the weather at lunch and so it's not uncommon for them to see laptops at the table. They of course want to follow suite so they have their "laptops" that they are studying on while they eat.

Other odd eating habits:

Omega likes to eat frozen bread. I buy 8 loaves a week because that's what we have every evening for supper: Toast and fruit. We like to eat something light so that we don't go to sleep with heavy food in our stomach. Sometimes I forget to transfer bread from the freezer to the fridge in time for it to be thawed by supper. It doesn’t matter to the rest of us because we usually toast it anyway. But, Omega likes it frozen. Weird girl.   

It is not uncommon for Orion to suddenly get inspired to be an animal and put his food on his chair and get on his hands and knees and eat it with his mouth. Or, if I haven’t shut the curtains yet, he will stand up and start dancing or doing funny things in the reflection of the window. Orion also loves bananas and Omega loves oranges. I think they could eat toast and fruit for every meal and be as happy as monkeys in the rainforest. This one is not that quirky. I’m sure most kids wouldn’t mind that kind of diet. But seriously, they can eat A LOT of bread and fruit.

I soaked buckwheat and then dehydrated it. It made it like rice Krispies. I put it in yogurt and the kids really liked it.

I think another mealtime quirk is that they "have" to have their water bottle. They hardly ever drink it, but it's really comforting to know that their water bottle is right where they are.

And finally, here is food for thought regarding etiquette. 

       There is danger of placing too high a value upon mere manner and form, and devoting too much time to education in these lines...Many who lay great stress upon etiquette show little respect for anything, however excellent, that fails of meeting their artificial standard. This is false education. It fosters critical pride and narrow exclusiveness. 
     The essence of true politeness is consideration for others. The essential, enduring education is that which broadens the sympathies and encourages universal kindliness.  {Education, 241}