Stoker report

Let's say this picture represents our goals and aspirations. It was the last day of school, first day of summer, everything was possible, all wrongs would be righted, all weaknesses would be made strengths, miraculous changes were coming our way. I laid out the programs that would bring about these changes. Gabe, qualifying for the manly program which includes 4 hours of work daily,would learn to work cheerfully, improve cooking skills, read, improve his musical instruments, rock his scouting and Duty to God, accomplish hard things and serve in the community. Rebecca, who did not qualify for the complete program because she is employed, would improve her homemaking skills and whatever else was on her list which is much longer than mine. Andrew, who is an employed adult, would be an appreciative guest, make wise choices and fly under his mom's radar. I would keep the kids moving forward, read books, keep things managed and enjoy the company of my children.

And now school has started again and although we're all very recognizable, I'm going to call it a win. Here are some of our great victories:

Gabe and Andrew improved their concentration and
manipulation skills by spending hours on Perplexus,
not to mention building family relationships.

 I actually called and made
a commitment for a date, which is a huge summertime accomplishment.
 (Inertia and all)
We went at the appointed time and bagged
granola bars for the Midwest food bank. Yay!

Nothing says "Independence" like making your own treats.

Gabe is not a fan of reading, but in order to gain
 Mario Strikers time, one hour for every 200 pp read,
he endured the pain .

For some of you this may not look like much,
but at the Stoker house this is an amazingly
organized bookshelf.  Woo hoo!

Gabe ordered burrito, rice and beans instead of chicken fingers
and fries. Way to be adventurous!

Gabe helped me keep my flowers alive and weeded.
Thanks buddy.

Our tomatoes provided much summer drama.
They grew beautifully until the deer made it over
to our planterrific neighborhood.
 We thought they would pass on
our meager garden, but they were just waiting til the time was right to
devour our only hope for harvest.
After the attack Gabe faithfully sprayed our plants with milk, which was
a  deterrent, but this morning I found a tomato worm.
We're doomed!
But Gabe was valiant in the fight.

Scouting went like this,
 Me: "What are you working on?"
Gabe: "I don't know."
Me:" Can you ask your scout leader?"
repeat.
Luckily, Dad's got this and

Gabe found out he has 3 loops, 1 arch and the rest were whirls-
very rare fingerprints. Progress!

Motivated by Rebecca's scripture placement,
I practiced my Primary songs and Gabe
learned 2 1/2 hymns.

This  was a shared victory. I need
to cook more creatively. The kids need to be braver eaters.
Gladys Camp taught me how to make this
delicious cauliflower casserole and the kids ate it. Go us.

This wonder girl dominated her list
and made some  progress on mine.
This one time, her room was completely clean.

Andrew was a grateful guest and flew pretty low.
I know life was a little slow on the homefront for a 19-yr. old
but thanks for hanging out with us. oxox

So on we go, trying and hoping and reaching, humanness and all. There's always next summer for perfection.

Working outside works magic

Fall, you know you feel it coming, cinnamon, pumpkin, soup, football, and diminishing light.  I know I sound like a whiner baby, but I woke up this morning with the slight feeling of blue that comes from the sun coming up too late and going down to early.  The sky was cloudy and weather.com predicted rain.  I had 2 jobs that needed to be done in the yard, and Gabe and I were the only ones home, but we decided we might as well get them over with.

First we needed to put my garden to bed. Never mind that I had barely pulled a weed all summer, and our only crops were the must-plant-peas and volunteer squash from the year before.  Gabe and I ventured to the little raised bed with gloves and shovels.  The first thing Gabe did was shake an old squash.  "Mom, look what's inside, do you think they're seeds?"  (Note to self, don't forget to teach the last children as much as you teach the first children.)  We talked about the life cycle of a plant and I felt myself  thrilling at the miracle of creation.  We gathered all the dead squash after Gabe spilled about 60 seeds in a 2 ft. radius, that will be our squash patch 2014.  Then we went to weeding. The ground was parched and resistant. I continued my duty and then glanced over at my son who acted like he knew what he was doing and that he wanted to do it right.  (More thrill.)

When the garden was cleared I said, "Gabe, I'm going to go get the wheelbarrow..." Up he jumped , as if by magic, to fetch the wheelbarrow.  I met him past the fire pit, just into the trees where the compost piles had been percolating.  We all know that people who compost are cool.  Two summers ago, our cool friends, the Weislers, delivered some little round compost pens for me to start working on my own coolness.  Well, being more of a dreamer than an actual doer I went for cool lite.  I didn't really layer green and brown, and then fluff, but I did tell Andrew to dump the lawn clippings in the compost pens and then waited.  After 1 year I just had dried grass, but after 2 years I observed change.  It wasn't exactly the black gold they talk about in the garden books, but there was metamorphosis and a nice fat worm crawling in and out and through.  Just think, while I stress about this and that and run around crazy, God's creations are doing exactly what they were created to do and beautiful things are happening, like magic.

When we started loading the wheelbarrow with compost Gabe began explaining things to me, "Some things I'm manly in.  Like, I'm not afraid to get stung by a wasp.  Yeah, it hurts, but I don't scream like a girl.  Another thing is rain.  I can walk in the rain and it doesn't bother me at all."  This manly man, magically loaded and pushed the wheelbarrow back to the garden  where we spread and turned, in hopes of improving neglected soil.

Next stop, the front yard.  Andrew had taken out a bush, but there was a black plastic guard that had encircled the bush to keep the grass out.  Well, now I wanted the grass in, so the circle needed to go.  We didn't know how deep it went so we both got our shovels.  Mine was the big one, Gabe's was the small one.  For the few of you who are wondering what roots do when they meet a plastic guard, they grow round and round and anchor it in place.  Well, we saw that fighting the roots would not be easy.  Gabe asked, "What if Andrew were here?"  The answer of course is that Andrew would do the job with his strong muscles,  but Andrew was not here. Once again my 13 yr. old son magically rose to the occasion.  He began digging with strength and determination.  With the help of some garden clippers to release the root death grip, he freed the plastic from it's imprisonment.

As we were working in the soil I thought of a million life lessons.  Maybe that is why we're supposed to garden.  I shared with the struggling Gabe trying to dig out the stubborn root,  "That's where we get the saying, "Get to the root of the matter."  Gabe was not impressed.  He explained, "In my mind, it's 'Find the heart of the bad guy hide out."  Okay, his imagination works better.  We dug and pulled and clipped and smoothed and then I realized, I feel happy and full of light.  Just like magic.  What a beautiful morning.

PS  Gabe said, "Don't forget to tell that I got to the bottom of the plastic first and with a smaller shovel."  One more thing you're manly in, son.