Don't put all your eggs in one nest.......

It's a sad day at our house.........this morning as The Principal was having his quiet time and morning coffee on the back patio, he noticed the door to the Bluebird house sticking out a little at the bottom......he walked to the back of the yard to investigate and what he found has brought the Happy Dance to a screeching halt ..........We have no idea who the culprit was and our hope now is that Momma Bluebird has at least one more egg left to lay......look at poor Papa Bluebird this morning on the fence......

he looks a little blue don't you think?

Learning as I go,

Leisha

Wonder Boy is Blogging....

Hey Y'all.......just wanted to take a minute to let you know that we officially have Wonder Boy up and running with a blog of his own. The Adventures of Wonder Boy is going to be part of our curriculum for 3rd grade as we begin learning computer and creative writing skills. Stop by and leave him a comment, he will be thrilled ;-)

Learning as I go,

Leisha

The Happy Dance.....4 Egg that is !!

A gentle spring rain fell tonight as we enjoyed dinner on the patio beneath the ceiling fan ........ a wonderful meal of buttermilk cornbread, pinto beans, potato salad, fresh sliced cucumbers and of course sweet tea. The good life doesn't get much gooder than that or so we thought ....a stroll to the back of the yard after we ate revealed a reason to re-vamp the happy dance just a little.....Let the 4 Egg Happy Dance commence !!! Is it just me or did the blue get bluer since yesterday ?

Be like the bluebird who never is blue,

For he knows from his upbringing what singing can do

- Cole Porter, Be Like the Bluebird, 1934

Learning as I go,

Leisha

Real Estate is for the Birds.......

For several springs now we have watched the bluebird house at that back corner of our yard become home to several different birds, but not a single bluebird has even flown near it....till this year. We were thrilled to see Mr. & Mrs. Bluebird hanging around and checking out the real estate. The Principal especially likes bluebirds - we all have our favorites I think. We have been so excited to watch them flying around and perching on the fence nearby until along came Mr. Mockingbird, running them off every time they got close to their potential abode !! Come on Mr. Meany - you can't even fit through the front door......back off and let the sweet blue couple about their business......for days now we have been on heightened bird alert and mockingbird patrol. We were away for a few days on a camping/letterboxing trip and noticed that Mr. & Mrs. Bluebird were now the ones doing the chasing. It got us thinking that we may have missed something while we were away so, while we were out working in the garden this afternoon we decided to take a peek in the bird house and look what we found...........
....... truly a sight to behold -we are doing the 3 egg happy dance......join us won't you ? Mr. & Mrs. Bluebird will hereafter be known as Mommy & Daddy Blue- take that Mr. Meany Mockingbird !! Blue has never been so beautiful ;-) The 3 egg happy dance continues.......stay tuned ;-)

Learning as I go,
Leisha

Remembering Shiloh.....and wondering.....

In April 1862 over two days of what is known as the bloodiest battle in US history up to that time, nearly 24,000 men were killed wounded or missing on the battlefields at Shiloh.

As The Principal, Wonder Boy and I walked through Shiloh National Cemetery located at the battleground site yesterday I was struck by the incredible sacrifices made by these Americans for their country. Having been born and raised in Canada, this is not something that I grew up around and quite honestly it chokes me up every time. This country is so rich in heritage and history and it is an honorable and godly heritage and history. What really weighed on me yesterday as I walked through this place where time stands just a little still was this......what would these soldiers who gave their lives for love of country think if they could see what is going on in modern day America?

I can only imagine what heaviness it would bring to their hearts to see the recklessness in which our nation functions on so many levels. Unborn babies dying, drugs rampantly taking lives, marriages dissolving in record numbers, families being redefined in ways that God never intended, hatred insidiously infecting how we treat each other and families trading time with each other for time surfing the web to feed addictions or pursue activities that are not at all family oriented. Can you imagine how devastating it would be to them to see what we have done with the country that they fought and in many cases died for ? Now I understand that this was a civil war and that even in that there was in fighting, but none the less it made me reflect and where my thoughts took me made me wonder......have we advanced or retreated ? For though we clearly have moved forward in many areas in our advancement have we been blinded? Fooled? I for one think yes, without question. If we look at the simple lives that people lived in 1860's we can see that much of what I listed as modern day "life" was not even something that polite, well mannered people would have spoken of in those days.

We have come a long way and we have an even longer way to go to get back to the values that were the very fabric of the lives surrendered on the battlefields of war in a time before the minds of a nation were polluted, poisoned, diseased and deceived.

2 Chronicles 7:14

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

God Forgive us and God Bless America !!

Learning as I go,

Leisha

Spiritual Space

Today At the Well we are getting into each other's space, sharing with our sisters the details of the spaces where we spend our quiet time. A veritable tour of Spiritual Spaces if you will. Make yourself at home and allow me to give you a peek into where I spend my time with Father God, my entrance to the Secret Place. Several years after moving into our home we talked about the fact that we never used the room that was designated as the dining room - the location is lacking to be useful as a dining room and because we have a good sized eat in we found that we seldom used this room so we made the decision to re purpose it and make it our "study". We gave the room a paint job and bought new furniture and it has become our favorite room in the house. This is where we now pray, read, talk, play board games and we do most of our read alouds for school here as well. This is where I come each morning to sit in "my chair" to read and pray.

The cushions get relocated and I sit with my feet on the ottoman or criss-crossed with a pillow on my lap as a make shift desk while I journal. I have everything I need within reach or quick access in the room.

On the end table beside me I house everything I need to use during this quiet time each morning. In my stack of books this morning I have my well loved bible, my journal, my prayer journal, Becoming the woman I want to be by Donna Partow, The Love Dare and my cute Dollar Tree pink and green flowered composition book that is my surrogate brain - this is where I keep up with myself. I remember some years ago my Pastor's wife sharing about how the enemy would try to distract her when she was praying or reading her bible and she decided to turn him into her secretary - she would jot down each interruption and she said by the time she finished her quiet time she often had her to do list completed for the day. I loved this idea because I am so very easily distracted when I pray and so have adopted the idea and used it ever since - cute notebooks make it that much more appealing - don't you know that every time I make a note in my cute book the enemy cringes!!! On the lower shelf is a box of tissue which I can reach with a quick grab of my right hand without even looking ;-) On the floor in front of the end table is a basket which holds devotionals and notepads, extra pencils, pens just kind of back up stuff - the odd random magazine , that kind of thing and then the orange binder is where I keep my lists and schedules, this is my attempt at a more organized life - I keep it handy for the same reason I keep the cute notebook - works well ;-)

The there is my laptop, just in case I need to resource something online - which you will notice today is placed on a lap desk which was a sweet gift from Wonder Boy and The Principal for Mother's Day yesterday - I am sitting in my chair using it right now as I work on this post and it is working out great!!! Thanks guys ;-)

Finally is the corner is our bookcase which holds all manner of resources and delights. We keep the books we are currently reading as well as those that we access on an ongoing basis here. It's filled to the brim as you can see - I love books!!

That concludes my tour - thank you for visiting I hope you enjoyed yourself - please come back again anytime - I love having guests too!!

Learning as I go,

Leisha

Challenging Moms in May

In my continuing adventures poking around blog land, I found recently discovered a wonderful blog Extravagant Grace. eLisa is hosting a 28 day challenge this month for us Moms, based on The Love Dare principles to do a dare a day for 28 days challenging us to love our children in ways that bring the glory to our Father. I know I can benefit from the challenge and I am sure Wonder Boy (if he knew about it) would agree whole heartedly!! I am a few days last getting started, but I am operating on the premise that everything comes right on time - so join me won't you ? I dare you!!

Learning as I go,

Leisha

Who Am I ??

Is that a loaded question or what?? I try daily to figure it out!! The Principal probably ponders it about his bride from time to time to I imagine ;-) Well ladies and gentlemen - today at The Well the plan is to get to know each other better - this is my contribution. For those coming from The Well - welcome - pull up a chair and make yourself at home - I'm Leisha, wife to The Principal and Homeschooling Mom to Wonder Boy who just turned 8 years old this past Friday. For those who frequent here from other parts you know the drill and may know some of the things that I am about to share but I hope that you too will learn some new things about me - and for that matter - take a few minutes to visit The Well and make some new friends too , from what I can gather they are a wonderful bunch of gals and so far none have bitten ;-)

So here now without further adieu in no particular order is a little bit of who I am.......

*I am a child of the Most High King

*I am an only child to my earthly parents - I have never met my earthly father and have been out of contact with my mom for several years now ( that's a whole series of posts)

*I love the rain and a good thunder storm is a wonderful thing - I find the rain romantic and poetic and love how God nourishes the earth by providing it

*I grind our flour and make our own bread and am continually striving to provide my family with healthy whole foods the way God created them

*I have been making yogurt for my family since the first of the year and will likely never buy store bought again

*I love to find ways to save money and be a good steward of the resources and provision which we are blessed with

*I don't sing well but I love to sing

*I took piano lessons as a child and don't remember much - I am hoping that some of it comes back to me as Wonder Boy begins lessons

*My favorite color is red

*My favorite perfume is Angel by Thierry Mugler - I know it has to smell like this in heaven - The Principal loves it too ;-)

*I married my prince- he is my best friend and truly the one that God had for me

*I have been married before - Wonder Boy is the blessing from that marriage - and a little wisdom too I suspect

*I like myself a little more with each passing year

*I want to write more

*I love books, reading them, having them around me and collecting them

*I have been blessed with a good portion of silly

*I have always wanted a Papillon but have never had the extra $600 + to own one
*I miss my Grandmother more as I age and wish she was here to teach me many things

*If I could have one wish granted it would be to be living on a small farm and spending my days growing closer to God as I care for my family

*I love aprons
*I enjoy old black and white and western movies

*I love being a homeschooling mom and being home to be constantly learning to be the wife that The Principal deserves

*After many many years of taking my coffee with cream and sugar I now drink it black

*I have to watch the amount of time I spend online reading blogs - hours get snatched away too easily sometimes

*I love trivia games

*I am planning on working toward getting better organized before we begin 3rd grade ( any wisdom or helpful resources are most welcomed!!)

* My favorite scripture is Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God

*I would love to go to Italy and Greece

*I love words

*I want to learn to sew more usefully, quilt, paint beautifully

*I love to listen to podcasts when I drive

*I love to cook

*I love to make people laugh

*I don't have to shave my legs often they just aren't hairy - I know I know....just lucky ;-)

*I count my friendships as blessings

*Frogs make me smile

*I have been delivered from an unnatural dependency to shoulder pads - PTL

*I am ticklish

*I love the smell of skunk

*I love to letterbox

*I want to be who God has called me to be so that I can truly say that is Who I Am !!

Hope you learned something - I would love to hear your reaction - please let me know you came by ;-)

Learning as I go,

Leisha