March Faces

I broke my promise to not take pictures of Will until all his hair fits into a ponytail. Sorry dear. I'm asking your forgiveness, which is much easier than permission, especially now now that I have this adorable picture posted online. Anyway, by the time you read this post your hair will be in an cool manly ponytail. (Note the nude genius baby playing with math manipulatives in the background.)

The pink thing is a yoga mat which gets more use as a dividing wall/floor/ceiling etc. of kid huts and now has curious gauges and BITE marks in it. I keep saying it's MY yoga mat, but they look at me like "Who are you kidding? Go away." 

William now wears a hat 24/7 because I gave him a dorky (handsome crewcut) haircut. He only takes it off in church, and then he sits in the back where he thinks no one can see him. 

This blog is a place for me to share my personal favourite, happy, sweet, joyful details of daily life. 

The real shit happens outside the screen where we 6 are working out our salvation in fear and trembling. (I don't know where that quote is from...the Bible somewhere...but it totally captures everything: our confidence in the love of God and his salvation, but dang, when I look into my heart it's clear there's still so much WORK to do.)

We have to dig down deeply every day to find the patience we need to keep going, to build a relationship, to forgive each other. 90% of the time I'm pretty sure I wasn't cut out for this job. Tempers flare, tears flow, I threaten to throw in the towel with this home schooling business. 

I just re-read this ludicrously positive and idyllic homeschooling post and I had to wonder: what planet was I on? Did I really think this was the way it was going to be? 

The real challenges of our life, the real personal growth, the really scary reality checks, the real spiritual awakening, the real painful transitions from small-and-selfish-person to bigger-kinder-person, never make it into writing. 

But this life is moulding me into the woman I am. We have a friend who is the director of St. Benedict's acres, a community farm nearby. I introduced him to our boys as 'the man who runs the farm.' He laughed and said, 'I would say that the farm runs me.' How true! I would say that this family runs me. These beautiful people, with all their idiosyncrasies and fights and struggles and strengths and needs, they keep me from getting lost in myself, from the awfulness that would be the Single Me.

Changing the subject, Will has his major fields exam (comps.) coming up this month, so everything else has come to a halt. I promised him a clean, tidy, quiet house so he can study, which if you know me is pretty much an olympian feat. I have reluctantly shut the door to all visitors. The exam date is March 17th, known to some as green pistachio ice-cream day. Praying friends: please pray for us! The rest of you: warm fuzzy feelings are greatly appreciated too. I wouldn't even say no to karma.

XOXOXO from a clean, tidy, quiet, studious house. (Everyone is asleep).