The kids and I recently went to the USDA Agricultural Research Center to pick corn for the Food for Others: Harvest for the Hungry program. It was a great opportunity to expose the kids to razor sharp leaves, itching...er, helping people, seeing where their food comes from, etc. All kidding aside, seeing them experience new things is always exciting for me. I'm especially passionate about teaching them to give to their community. Getting children involved in service projects at an early age is beneficial for everyone. They need to understand and embrace the role they can and will play in making a difference in the lives of those less fortunate than themselves. What goes around does truly does come around. Additionally, exposing them to agricultural experiences is beneficial so that they learn where their food comes from and how it's processed.
The day was fairly hot, about 82 degrees. I have to say Karter took a page from Mama's book..."Mama, I wan do back to a tar. I sweaty." He didn't last long. I kept having to distract him with "Oh, there's a corn! Pull it down and twist it!" The corn was in better shape than I expected considering the lack of rain this year. Once they decided they could run in the corn they had a better time. Of course that created a little more stress for Mama. It was everything I could do not to lose them in the field.
We wrapped up our picking and lounged on the tailgate eating cold clementines. It was refreshing and wonderful. Afterwards, we made our way to a nice park for lunch with friends who had joined us for the day. The kids and their friends ran themselves crazy. Koen was the oldest and spent plenty of time giving piggyback rides to the others. Of course wherever Karter is, there is inevitably significant amounts of entomological exploration. They crawled on the ground, following a granddaddy longlegs spider, observed a beetle as it crawled down the middle of the table between their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and poked and prodded tons of stinkbugs!
Following our fun stop for lunch and bugs, we took off for frozen yogurt at froYo. Everyone loves a little cold treat after running around outside on a hot day.
After dinner and showers, the twinks went to bed and Koen and I read a couple chapters together in his new book, Kingdom's Dawn (Kingdom Series). It was a relaxing end to a lovely day. I love days like this with my kids. Before I know it those days will be long gone and I'll be wondering where the time went. Accordingly, I've been working harder lately on enjoying little moments with them, engaging them in more meaningful or playful ways, and just following their lead. My attitude of late has been just go with it. :) As such, we've been shifting gears a lot, turning on a dime as it were. I have always said my middle name is Gumbi. Guess I'm trying to wear that a little more.
Seeing the smile on my 12 year-old's face as he explores the world and shares his latest finds with me is priceless. I want to share with him as many more days like that as I'm able. He was so joyful upon spying this tiny purple flower growing from the corn stalk. You would have thought he found gold. Half of my job as a his homeschool mom is complete. He loves to learn! Everything else is just giving him access to the knowledge and like this little purple flower. . . watching him grow. Now if I can instill the same love in the twins. I just love this life!
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