~~FEMININE MATTERS~~

Home-Schooling On Top Of Wichita Mountains

 
One of our favorite places to go and explore is atop Wichita Mountains in Oklahoma.  It's gorgeous.  You can see for miles and miles.  The splendor of the lakes and land that dot the earth below, create a respite from all the rush and hurry of the world.  All my granddaughters love this place.  At the right the girls inspect a hole in one boulder.  We speculated on whether lightning strikes the giant rocks and makes little pockets in the boulders.  When it rains, it collects in the holes and makes wonderful drinking fountains for birds and insects on top of Mt. Scott.  Nature's birdbath?

I've posted other photos in various places throughout my blogs and written stories about our adventures.  We once found thousands of ladybugs collected in the crevice of two boulders.  They were just getting ready to take flight.  My granddaughters marveled at the humongous cluster of their favorite insects.  Hmmm...I don't know that I wrote about that, yet.  Sounds like a photo story I need to post soon, huh?

This was one of the field-trips I use to show the girls the glory of God and His creation.  They ask all kinds of questions and the time affords a relaxing atmosphere of fun and learning combined.  At times we run into school buses at the top of the mountain.  Unlike the teachers rushing about, trying to corral an errant child, I am able to take my time and let the children walk and climb and discover at leisure.  It's an added benefit of my daughter's homeschooling commitment.  When her boys were older, and in public school, I'd ride along on the bus and it was pure mayhem.  Rarely did I get to talk and share and hear their questions or point out the awe of moments like the tribe of ladybugs we girls found while picnicking one Spring day.

The top photo above is of Haylee and Kinsey with the verse that came to my mind at the time I snapped the photo.  Below is a latter capture when they turned around and graced me with expressions of joy.  What about you?  Do you have a great adventure where you taught a lesson amid the joy of exploration?  Please take time to comment.  Or maybe you'd like to submit a post of your own here.  I'd love to hear from you. 

 
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Little Sisters are great for this...

Five-year-old Haylee looked at the towering white steed at my friend Joann's and decided her little sister ought to go first.  We all know it was not an act of generosity.  She figured if Kinsey could do it, then she could do it, too.  So let Kinsey have a turn first.  Surprisingly, Kinsey had no problem mounting the horse.  She loved it. There she was sitting upon her white steed, her Princess crown firmly in place.  Oh, I wish she had worn her Cinderella dress.  Wouldn't that have been beautiful?!

 
"Giddy-Up!"  As soon as she got her turn, Haylee was ready to ride...really ride.  She wanted to give the horse his head and let him run.  Love the little pink cowgirl boots, don't you? 

When You Leave Ladies Alone

They do what comes naturally.  They have a picnic and teaparty in the warm sun of Spring.  That was Thursday.

Come Saturday, the party is over, and Spring is missing in action.  Would you believe 70 degrees gave way to 31 in two short days?

This is the newly mowed grass that the girls had been sitting on just two days prior.  I snapped this photo just before the grass was completely covered in snow on the first day of Spring.

WHISPERS

"Grama, we won't have a swinging tree anymore," Haylee said when she saw the ice-ladened tree sprawled all over the front lawn and listened to her daddy buzz-saw it in pieces.

"No, sweetie.  We won't."  An hour passed till she whispered again:

"Grama, we won't have a climbing tree anymore."  She climbed up in my lap.

"No, sweetie.  We won't."

"Abby and Brooklyn are going to be sad."  She laid her head against me.

"Yes, they are."

"But, they'll remember, huh, Grama?"

"Yes, honey.  They'll remember.  And so will we."  She snuggled deeper into my arms and whispered. "I'm gonna miss that tree, Grama."  selahV

I AM SUCH A PROUD MOMMA

She's a mom.

She teaches her children to love God, respect others, and make oatmeal cookies.  I think she's got about everything that is important covered.

What do you think? 

LONG WALKS AND WILDFLOWERS

One of the things I like best in the world is wildflowers.  They come up all on their own.  No one tends them.  No one plants them.  No one tells them where they can and cannot grow.  God plants them for His and our pleasure.  And it is such a joy to go for a walk in the woods and discover new plants.  Last weekend I took my granddaughters for a walk to the pond on my daughter's property.  They were whipped when we reached the water's edge.  It was worth it to watch the waterbugs flit across the surface and hear the plop of bullfrogs as they took the plunge.

All along the way were Oklahoma Indian Blankets, Wild Primrose, Queen Anne's Lace, Morning Glories, Daisies, Buttercups and a multitude of flowers I've never seen. 

"I'm gonna pick a bouquet for Momma," Abby said.  Brooklyn was content with one sprig of an Indian Blanket.  I siezed the opportunity to tell them that it was Oklahoma's state flower.  While Abby gathered her bouquet, we crossed over creekbeds and dodged dragonflies.  I bent to pick one of the prettiest little magenta puffs and realized a bit late that the stem was covered in itsey bitsey thorns.  No idea what it is.  I plan to research that one.  There were several varieties of Thistles but it wasn't like that family at all.  So I suppose I'll have my work cut out for me to discover what it is.

There was a deer-stand along the way.  I told the girls what that little house standing on stilts meant.  It didn't please them to think of someone sitting inside it waiting to shoot a deer.  But then, that's a guy thing.  (Most of the time.)  I told them we could come sit in it and just wait for the deer and take pictures sometime.  That seemed to make it less ominous.

I am grateful today as I think about the glory of God in His creation.  He wants to show us a pinch of His splendor.  We get a peek into what long walks will be like in Heaven someday when we take time to focus on His glory here.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]