: Sunday : Reflection :

This week has certainly been a busy one. The weather was more like early summer, rather than a lingering winter as it was a few weeks ago. We have gotten out more than we have in a long period of time, which can be both attributed to the weather and to the fact that my youngest is gradually becoming more independent and easier to manage.

So, the boys and I visited a few of my homeschooling friends at the City Park and went to my crafty sunshiney friend's house for a few hours thereafter, which is great because her 7-year-old plays very well with my near-5-year-old. The following day, we visited another friend, the same friend who visited last week. Her son is only about 5 months younger than Jared and they are best buddies. We decided to get together just about every week this summer..We will see how our schedules mesh. Also, earlier in the week, I met up with my mother and her husband at another lovely park in the area. They had this water gun that was attached by a hose to a backpack filled with water. It made Jared look like a ghostbuster when he used it.

Dylan was loving our friend's daughter's pom poms, which is funny because they came from her "zombie cheerleader" costume from Halloween last year. That was my kind of costume when I was a girl, too.

My "crafty sunshiney" friend and her daughter were getting a kick out of playing with Dylan.

Jared and her son playing well together.

The rest of the week, I have desperately been trying to catchup on cleaning, on projects, on everything that I overload my schedule with and can't possibly get to... It seems so difficult to balance everything sometimes. Just when I clear things out of my life to declutter and simplify, I end up adding on more new things, which keeps me in this cycle...as if I am chasing my own tail trying to keep up or catch it.

The beets in the garden are coming up, as are the beans. I am not sure about the squash, but they weren't heirloom seeds to begin with, though they were organic. Maybe I was meant to plant only heirlooms. The hotbed doesn't appear to be doing much...hmmmm.... I wonder what is going on with that. A hotbed is basically an experiment of trial and error for me at this point. I have only been vegetable gardening for the last 2 years and I have never done a hotbed until now. If nothing else, it will be a learning experience as I get more and more serious about homesteading as years progress.

I am loving hanging the clothes up to dry in the sun, but I bought another clothesline because there are more loads than there is space, especially when it stays shady most of the day. I was thinking about returning to ironing, but I can't help but think it might be more energy efficient to run the dryer for a couple minutes to soften clothes and dewrinkle after sitting in the sun.

This week, I would like to continue organizing the many corners of my home, including my closet, which is the worst! But I have to say that I love giving old clothes to the thrift store. For some reason it is so gratifying to get rid of a lot of my stuff and give it away. Less is more. I would also like to complete several things outside, as well. Indoors, I want to do more projects with Jared, actually work on the quilt before his birthday next week, get his birthday planned, see our Wednesday park friends, fix a chair along with some other repairs, knit a puppet..... Knowing me, I won't get to all of these things, but it is always worth a try.

I am going to have to say that last week was very pleasing and active. How was your week? What are your thoughts and goals for this week?