Otis Sidekicks

Establish the work of our hands for us-- yes, establish the work of our hands.  Psalm 90:17 https://achildgrows.com/blog Walking with a friend I mentioned I missed cloth diapers just because of the feeling I had having my rectangles of cotton lined up and pinned up one by one. A row out my window, clothsline with the simple labor of love, soiled to sunshine. She did not laugh, but understood the pleasure in a type of work. With May comes work, but everytime I see clothes on the line I feel a community connection of coming out of our winter blankets and getting to work, seeing the blue sky and pleasure in the first load swinging in the breeze. This May feels like a moving light board under my feet. Fields to get to, concerts to attend, decisions for pre school and highschool while balancing the art of homemaker. We are doing well, happy  in our day to day, but running and flexing our muscles of quick thinking and nightly strategy for our sixteen plus activities each...

Today M got stung by a Bee. He made it inside before crying, flanked by Little D being his spokesperson  I quickly did the "Bee sting routine" and thought I would pass it along! ~Remove the stinger with tweezers if you can see it, try not to pinch the stinger ( that can inject more venom) ~Control swelling, ice the area. One ice cube is perfect. ~Apply a mixture of baking soda and water. ~Keep the area clean it can take about 3 days to heal. You can use Arnica gel for swelling. ~ If the child/person has a reaction (swelling, trouble breathing) call 911 After that I had made extra paste from the baking soda and water so I gave the three youngest kids each a cutting board, a dollop of paste and they had at it. Then I poured a little vinegar on each "palate", like a square volcano board! They loved it.   As M declared at the end while we were scrubbing everything clean with the leftover drops from the experiment we turned p...