02/01/2013

1.  This afternoon Ben pushed me out into the "forest" next to our house.  It's really only several acres of undeveloped land, but it is also little-boy-paradise.  Joseph has been wanting to show me all the places he has discovered, and it was nice of Ben to help me get out there.  It really is very cool!  Some of it is covered in pretty dense cedar, but there are deer trails that wind in and around most of it.  There are also several open clearings and some old shed/outbuildings where the boys have found all kinds of things including a box full of old letters from the 1940s.  So interesting!  

2.  I made the boys pick up the house this evening.  Just what they were hoping to do on a Friday night.  :-)  But it sure feels good to start the weekend with things in good order!

3.  We are in the middle of a unit on India in our Sonlight curriculum this year, and have been watching a series of videos about life in rural India.  It has been eye-opening for me, and even more so for the boys.  Mosey I think in particular has been struck by the vast disparity in the human experience, even in the 21st century.  It is hard to know what to make of our extreme good fortune in the face of such hardship for billions of other people on the earth.  These things are almost impossible for me to understand, let alone explain to my children.

4.  I will leave with some pictures from today.

Ben with the twins, trying to set up Joseph's animal trap.  He's had it out in the forest a couple of times, but hasn't caught anything yet.

Brigham is the Kapla block master.  Those are some serious engineering skills!

 Joseph in the forest with Sandy.

 At the top of the road that goes up into the forest-- it dead-ends at a driveway to a large house.  I think their main driveway is actually on the other side of their property, though, since no one drives up the road and they keep the gate padlocked.  Mosey likes to call it the "mansion."

Mosey agreed to pose for a few pictures:

 The kitties are sure growing!
 It is especially fun to see them with Sandy.  Sandy and Sola love to play.
Here, Sandy senses something fishy in the box, and comes over to investigate.

Sure enough, there's something in there!

I'm not sure who "got" whom, but it was a fun game for both of them, and they played Jack-in-the-box for several minutes while we watched.