Lark Time

About once or twice a week, Burl asks, "when I get home from school, can I have some Lark time? Just me and him?" We always have time for that. 

Cokes, Cookies, and Creeks

Sometimes our after school speed is "kids entertain yourselves while I answer 'when's dinner' and 'when's daddy getting home' questions constantly," and sometimes we slay the dragon and have all the fun. This is not about the kids entertaining themselves. 

Last week, we had the best snacks ever, cookies and cokes (kids couldn't eat the cookies for being excited), and drove straight from car line to Enterprise South. This park is perfect for woods adventures when I'm by myself with the kids. There's enough to do right by the parking lot, so I can pull the plug quickly if we have to do the skedaddle. I've been taking the kids there since Fern was a crawler.

The creek is a rain creek, only there after good consistent rain and it's the perfect size for my littles. They were beyond thrilled. Exploring, splashing, yelling, damming, laughing, and feeling. 

The creek meets up with the trail three times within a half mile, which is about the longest distance that I could handle on a regular Tuesday. We went to the furthest one and plopped down there for a bit. I nursed Lark while sitting on a fallen log and my feet dangling in the water-better than any rocking chair I've been in! 

I let the big kids "creek on their own." That means, they went from one creek crossing to the next on their own. Now, I could spot them or hear them the whole time, and they were the sweetest. I could hear the adrenaline in Burl's voice, and I could hear their team work about which way to cross barriers. Their Cherokee blood proved strong. 

While they were creeking on their own, I called my dad to tell him what we were doing. Growing up, I would never consider myself "outdoorsy," because that title belonged to extremist and I liked binge watching The Real World as much as anything. However, I have a ton of history of cool activities that I got to do outside, and my dad was the source of most of those adventures. He used to take us to a deep creek on my grandparents' property and we would play in there for hours. I could see the same adventure that I remember in my children. They got it. 

As the sun fell and temperatures dropped, the kids' excitement was interrupted with spurts of shivering complaints. They wanted to stay, but they were getting cold. 

Our little trek cost too much time, so I picked up ChickFilA on the way home for dinner. They ate outside, got their baths, checked for leeches, and called it a night. 

Easter 2017

This year no one made it to church for Easter Sunday. I played the newborn card and stayed home with Lark while John took the three big kids to church only to find that all the seats were taken. 

However, we had a fun Easter egg hunt and dinner at my in-laws'. Burl scrambled like the wild 7-year-old that he is, Fern hesitated but warmed up after seeing Ridge, and Ridge howled and grunted as he ran from egg to egg. If eggs were rewarded for enthusiasm instead of speed and skill, then he would have taken home all of the eggs. 

Lark was shuffled from one loving set of arms to the next. My mil gave me her leftover ham bone. While we are sad that we missed church, we still love Jesus and are thankful for his family blessings that he's given us. 

A Creek In The Woods

Over spring break, we visited a spot that I frequented when I only had two children. Burl and Fern were Ridge and Lark's age, so naturally my mama heart skipped a beat. (Click here for a cute memory.) 

We've spent a lot of time in these woods near the VW car factory, and now we're back with Ridge wearing the same cheeks and boots that Burl had then. It messes with my Mama head to remember a sweet special season while living in a sweet special season of my life. TOO MUCH GOODNESS TO ABSORB. 

At first the big kids were skeptical that they could have fun here, then one look at the creek and they were engaged. Ridge got wet, but powered through and didn't stop exploring. 

Burl had some plans and kindly led Fern through his agenda. They fed off of each other, and I was encouraged once again to pray that Fern marries a man who leads her like Burl, with excitement and gentleness, and pray that Burl marries a woman who follows him like Fern with joy and adoration. They are a sweet pair. 

We played for a while until I gave Ridge a break. Despite being cold from his wet clothes, Ridge would have stayed all day but I couldn't watch him shiver anymore. We wrapped up this session of creek fun, and I promised the kids that we would be back again.