a well-fertilized cottage

I use my spring break to de-stress, re-group, relax, and regain my enthusiasm for the rest of the school year. Yeah, homeschool is great, but I'm only human. I get tired and frustrated just like anyone else. And, frankly, if I don't take the "me time" in the late evenings for my own hobbies, then I'm too empty to fill the kids up the next day. Last night I spent awhile just painting...you can see it here.
Therefore I don't clean in late evening hours ever, unless it's an emergency (which used to mean in-laws coming, but now I couldn't care any less.) Soooo, spring break always means some house catch-up stuff, like cleaning out the entry closet, packing up some of the winter things, even if we did just get a foot of snow dumped on us.
Four kids means 4x the mess. But you know what Solomon said,

"Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but much increase comes by the
strength of the ox" (Prov 14:4.)

I remind myself that the grass really is greener where there's the most fertilizer! ;-)

We're certainly doing fun things, too, particularly art. With the help of the older kids, I made a banner for Little Lad's upcoming birthday. Each triangle is a foot tall. It's a polka-dot-themed party, hence the selection of papers and ribbons.


And a smaller "party" sign that we'll string together with matching ribbon.


Don't get concerned if you're not invited. ;-) This is a mid-morning tot-party next month for just two of his little buddies and two toddler/baby cousins. I can't imagine hosting a toddler bash with a slew of the little monkeys!

In other news, sometimes when I'm cleaning, it's fun to spice up the decor. Eventually the kids will notice. Heh heh

My great-grandmother made this porcelain doll for me when I was a little girl. GI Joe gear comes in handy to rattle things up occasionally.



And what, dears, are you up to on these fine spring days??