For the past 6 1/2 days, I've been at our Farm with the kids. Kyle went to Austin for South by Southwest, and since he was gonna be gone so long, I decided it would be a good opportunity to relax at the Farm. Take an early Spring Break. Another perk of homeschooling.

You can take off whenever you want! 

I managed to catch up on lots of photo album and baby book backlog (I'm a full 2 years behind...), do some tax prep work, read 3 books, sleep lots, watch a few movies, and just enjoy some downtime with the kids.

There is something ridiculously peaceful about our Farm.  The stillness, quiet, meadows and their shifting shadows. The wide open sky and the variety of clouds that crawl across them.  The sunsets...the sunrises...and the stars...man alive, the stars. They are vivid and electric and astounding.

I also enjoyed not budging for that many days in a row. And, aside from a visit from my Grandmother, not seeing another soul apart from my offspring. 

I splurged on a box of Peppermint Bark Dove Ice Cream bars at the local Wal-Mart. I don't know when I've done that, ever! I bought the kids a box of Edy's Fruit Bars and they were as delighted as I was about my grown-up treat.

I also discovered my new favorite breakfast: Kashi 7 Grain Cereal + Plain Yogurt + Frozen Berries! HEAVEN in a BOWL!

Singer managed to not run off, although her explorations took her further afield than I would have liked. If she got too wandering, I would just crate her for a bit. That seemed to work. 

I didn't end up riding 4 wheelers (or 4-Weirds, as my kids call them), because I was too lazy to walk down to our big yellow barn and maneuver one out.  I did attempt to start one up from my Uncle Ed's garage, but it was an older model and I'm a little embarrassed to say I couldn't figure out how to put it in reverse and back it out of its garage. It clearly wasn't meant to be. 

The kids did ride their mini-versions all over the place. They read books. They built block men and towers. They played cars. They played paper dolls. They colored and drew.  They swung and ran around and acted like kids. They picked flowers and watched bugs. They chased Singer. They argued and bickered over whose turn it was to drive Dorien around in the Barbie Jeep. They even got a little dirty. 

Kyle flew back from Austin yesterday and we drove back from Monticello yesterday. It is SO good to be back with him, as wonderful as our break was. There is just a hole when he's not with us. He took the rest of the week off so we could have a shared Spring Break, to an extent. 

It's good to be home. But it is also very good to have a home away from home to frequent from time to time.

I hope you've had a wonderful week, too!