HEADLINE: Homeschool Abounds with Pumpkin Blossoms

An update on our garden that Hannah began the first of May for her plant unit- complete with pictures... would you expect any less of me?! Well our pumpkin vines have now overrun the yard. It is a very small patch of grass which we politely refer to as 'our yard', and now its grown in stature to 'THE VINE'. In the pictures here you can see the clusters of blossoms that will soon become pumpkins. And as my mother-in-law educated me earlier today, they will begin to get their orange color only when the weather cools and fall frost begins. And Paul wants to pluck a few of the blossoms so that we have fewer pumpkins on a vine, so that the plants energy can channel itself to produce larger pumpkins.

I have to say, homeschooling is as much an education for myself as for my girls (I can still say girls because Mark is not yet walking or talking... much less participating in school activities). Sometimes I become quite embarrassed at exactly how much I do not know regarding their school material. But be as it may, I do not find that a reason not to educate them as their mother, but rather the precise reason for educating them as an example of lifelong learning and the fun that can be had in the process. I must say, even as a child I loved playing school. Building stacks of books, lined up by their spines, fresh white stacks of lined paper, newly sharpened pencils... all as entertainment to a 10 year old girl. This passion to 'play' school has not cured me, but only made the experience of homeschooling fonder and more amusing as I remininsce, as I hope I have become wiser as a teacher and example to my girls.

In the midsummer heat and humidity of Kansas it can be painstaking to tend a garden. And we are surrounded by farms in SE Kansas... I don't understand how they get it done. But in the case of our garden and its vines, it has been Hannah's love for nature, animals, and the human body that has made up her science curriculum this past year. Though she has done very well in math and reading, science has come alive for her... and in turn, it has come alive for me, thus, teaching me the things I realized I never learned as a child... or I never enjoyed learning as a child. Truly, as a homeschooling family, it brings great pride to see that the knowledge and experience she gains is through our time and efforts spent together. Just to imagine that these plants are a part of her toil, energy, knowledge and faith in what God has created for us, that we may truly reap our harvest.

Hannah's pumpkin blossoms... as I see here... the closeup also makes me aware of the weeds we missed under the huge vining pumpkin leaves...

These are the pumpkin vines beginning to climb across the yard...

These are the HUGE vining pumpkin leaves and these too have crawled across the opposite side of the garden and yard as the above vines. In the bottom left corner you can see the bush beans being dwarfed and robbed of their sunshine and energy.