chicken feathers

a nice way to start the day

Rita wakes up hungry around 5 or 6 each morning.  I get her out of her crib and bring her to bed to feed her.  After (or usually during) a nice leisurly breakfast we both nod off so this is my view when I wake up for real every morning.

Have mercy.

I am so surprised by how much I am loving having a baby in our house again.  Before Rita was a reality and we were talking about adding another kiddo to our team I was very, very hesitant.  I wasn't terribly interested in doing any of it again - not the pregnancy, the labor, the long nights, the nursing, the raising, the ___you name it____.  Now that Rita is here I can see that she was clearly meant to be in our family at this time; she has settled right in like she's always been here.  My transition into mothering her has been the easiest of all my children and I am truly loving all things baby - the late nights (those are gone - bless her!), the nursing, the raising, the ___you name it____.  It's just been a delight.  It's hard for me to imagine those polar feelings that were so real just over a year ago.  

Especially when I wake up to sweet, gentle milk breath warming my cheek.

So glad you're here, Rita.  I always wanted you, I just didn't always know it.

cooking with wildlife

There was a musk ox in the kitchen today.

He made some bread.

Then, before naptime, he migrated.  To where I do not know.

I miss that helpful musk ox.

 

on lions and lambs

I grew up in Alaska where spring seemed to last all of two weeks.  The leafing out of the trees was so dramatic - one day there were bare branches and by the end of the week they were fully dressed in summer leaves.  It was so amazing.  I assumed that that was what spring was like everywhere.  I was a freshman in college when I experienced a full season of spring.  I loathed it.  I had no idea that the transition to summer could take so long.  As soon as I saw the buds on the trees I expected shorts and flip flops to be a couple of weeks away.  Oh no.  They were MONTHS away!  First this would bloom, then that, then something else.  GET ON WITH IT ALREADY!  I was so impatient and very disappointed with the three months of identity crisis that defines spring weather in the Northwest.

Now that I have lived in the lower 48 for *gasp* 16 years, I am finally used to spring down here.  I love it.  I love it's adolescent nature.  It tries on as many different identities over the course of the day as a 15 year old girl.  I think 15 year old girls are awesome (really, I do) and feel the same way about spring weather.

I love that you can wake up to this:

And in a few hours it looks like this:

And then this...

It's crazy, and I love every minute of it.  Perhaps some of this love affair I'm currently having this season is because I spent last spring in bed with morning/all-day sickness where my view of the splendor was more like this:

Bring it on, spring!  I'll gladly take whatever you dish out.  The flip flops are still in storage...but I know they'll be on my feet soon.  

a thousand words

This picture isn't a particularly compelling one - I was trying to capture the connection between Grant and Rita but it didn't work out like I'd envisioned.  The moment was lost and life moved on.  Now that I am reviewing it, I can see so many other stories lurking around the edges.

The chairs along the side of the wall.  It's a somewhat long and tender story about where they came from and I may write about that at a later date.  The reason they are not at the table is because I wanted to recover the seat cushions.  A quick little project.  Ha.  After sweating over the process and finally finishing a few cushions I tried to pop them back into place.  They no longer fit.  They now are sitting along the side of the wall, waiting for a trip to the upholsterer and some professional help.

The open kitchen cabinets.  Similar story to the chairs.  Old cabinets+new paint=quick, inexpensive facelift.  Not so much.  After hours and hours of sanding and painting the new paint made the doors too thick and they will not open without ripping the veneered edge off.  We now have open cabinets in the kitchen and nicely painted cabinet doors sitting in the mudroom, waiting for something...I just don't know what that something will be.  A few grand and a trip to IKEA?

The rag on top of the swing.  Rita is a stealth spitter-upper.  You don't know she's done it until you see the puddle on the floor or down her newly changed outfit or YOUR newly changed outfit.  There are spit rags everywhere around the house for the wet cleanups on aisles 8, 9 and 10.

Sticker on the swing.  This is how Anna tags.  Tonight Russell had three stickers on his forehead, I noticed a few on Grant's back, several on my shirt, and a dusting of them on the floor.

Jam on the table.  Russell and I like to make breakfast for the kids.  Pancakes, waffles, eggs and toast, oatmeal, muffins...that kind of stuff.  When you ask them what they would like to have...9 times out of 10 they will say cereal.  What gives?!?  

Art supplies on the window sill.  I have moved my supplies upstairs and have been working in my art journal (almost) every day.  Sometimes I can only swing 30 seconds but even at 30 seconds a day that's what...find a calculator...a little over 3 hours over the course of a year!  That's a big chunk of time.

Relatively clean floor.  This is my biggest moment of genius.  Early in my pregnancy I decided to set money aside each month to hire a house cleaner after Rita was born.  I have never had a better idea in all my life.  The bank account says my time with this angel of mercy must soon come to an end but the time she has spent here has been worth every penny and appreciated 10 times that amount.  To clarify the "relatively clean floor" - the floor is pristine when she leaves but it attracts gunk as soon as the kids walk in the door.  I don't care - I know she'll be back in 6 days and 23 hours and then all will be well.

So there it is, our life in a picture worth a thousand words.  Or 546.  

 

here we are

One of the goals I set for 2012 was to write at least one blog entry per week.  It's already the 9th and this is the first post of the year...I can only improve from here!  Especially since I seem to remember making the same goal last year and seriously failing.  It's a new year with new delusions.

We are settling into life with a newborn which, honestly, doesn't seem terribly different than life without one.  It's both chaotic and peaceful, depending on when you peek in.  Chaotic when we are trying to mobilize all personnel to get out the door at a particular time.  "Where are your shoes?  Wait, where are your PANTS?"  "Did you change Rita's diaper?"  "You have spit-up down your back."  "If you don't have those Legos put away in 30 seconds they are mine."  And so on.  Peaceful moments are more rare but do come here and there.  They usually happen within the activity of the day.  It's a moment spent reading a book in the middle of folding laundry.  It's a gummy smile from a just-fed infant.  It's the magic moment when I realize all the children are asleep.  

Our days right now are busy but only within the family.  I've been pretty good about reducing my workload out the the house so I can really focus on doing essentials which consist of feeding and changing Rita, making meals and doing laundry.  I get the first two done consistently - everything else is a crapshoot.  We have stepped outside the walls of the house a few times for some fun and important things and here are some pictures to prove it.

:: school christmas program in which three of our four had parts:

...singing

 

...ringing

 

...and being holy.

 

:: Trip to the Oregon coast where we braved winter storms ::

"scary boots" help keep the rain away for a walk on the beach.

 

:: Grant's baptism ::

Grant's comment on the day - "This has been the best day of my life!"

 

:: Rita's blessing ::

Probably not the best moment of her life since it didn't involve eating but she was very calm nonetheless.

 

:: Pinewood Derby::

The silver car is Grant's.

I have determined that there are few things cuter than cub scouts in uniform.

After this flurry of activity there aren't too many big events in the coming weeks.  As fun as they are I find that I'm happiest right now at home where there's all the excitement I need.

sweet summer

This summer started out great.  It was such a wonderful change of pace to have the kids at home instead of carting them to school and back.  I missed them during the day and the school schedule with it's early mornings and middle-of-naptime pick-ups was such a drag.  

The first week was idyllic.  We did a major paper mache project (any paper mache project with young children is major), we read books, we played games...I was very engaged with the kids.  Now, not so much.  It's like dating - you just can't keep up that level of attention and interest forever.  Life gets in the way.  While we still do some fun things like going to the beach, the pool, the park, etc.; we're not quite so "into" eachother.  There are large chunks of time where, to be honest, I'm not 100% sure what the kids are up to or even where they are (within reason - I know they are somewhere on our property).  There is the constant cleaning that comes from three children at home.  The Laundry.  Meal preparations.  We run errands.  Lots of errands.

That was this morning - the fitness club for my yoga class, library to return and check out books, fabric store for a new pillowcase-to-be, health food store for some salt, grocery store for watermelon...it was one of those mornings.  As we were heading home I started thinking about the summer, how it was slipping by in moments of "here and there" and "this and that."  I was wondering what I could do to reinvigorate ourselves back into projects and activities and being more connected.  

Once home I started putting away groceries and when I turned around I saw this:

Each kid quietly absorbed in a book they had picked at the library.  My heart eased.  We're okay - summer is lazy days and silent moments.  It's not necessarily the big trips and events.  It's coming home to a cool house on a hot day with a tantalizing stack of books.  I remembered these days from my own childhood and how much I loved them.  My hope is that my children will look back with similar satisfaction and fondness.  

Here's to sweet summers - past and present. 

and baby makes...six!

The L-team is expanding it's numbers!  We were excited to learn back in March that a new baby would be joining us in early winter (around the first week of December).  My excitement was quickly replaced with a thick fog of nausea which lasted solidly through the first trimester.  I made it through the storm and emerged feeling, once again, very excited.

I only took a few pictures over the last few months...here is my meager attempt to catch up to the present.

This was my view most of March, April, May and some of June...sitting in bed with the door tightly shut and window wide open to to create a smell vacuum.  Most of my meaningful contact with the children occurred with them outside and me inside.  They brought me lots of gifts, bless them.  

 

Russell and I signed up to be a "Ma and Pa" for a youth Pioneer Trek; a three day hike with 250 area youth dressed in pioneer clothes and pulling handcarts.  As the date drew closer and the reality of a pregnant body became clearer, we changed our minds.  Well, I did - Russell still really wanted to go.  A plus side was the kids had a great time trying all the bonnets we had laying around here.

 

Hike to Catherine Creek.  This was the first time I took the kids on a hike without Russell.  I discovered that it is impossible to pack too many bribes.  We left with about a pound of chocolaty trail mix and an entire sliced pineapple.  It lasted about a half a mile.  Rhett was the least enthusiastic about the trip - he immediately started whining that he was bored and his legs hurt.  Shouldn't that start when they're about eleven?  Two and a half seems a bit early to me.

 

Anna's Dance Recital.  Our local dance studio does a major dance performance every other year.  This year they did Peter Pan.  Her ballet class was the animal fairies.  I had never seen so many different kinds of fairies in Peter Pan!  It was wonderful.  The best part was seeing Anna so excited.  She loved every minute of her classes, the rehearsals, and of course the big performances.  Greeting her as she ran offstage, glowing and giggling was the highlight of the whole experience for me.

 

I have had a serious craving for watermelon with this pregnancy.  I am, unfortunately, unable to eat an entire melon in one sitting but the kids are thrilled to consume the leftovers with gusto.

 

We spent a morning at the beach a couple days ago.  We ate watermelon (of course) and the kids played in the sand and splashed in the water and watched amazing kite-boarders. 

I had many moments of feeling deep gratitude for my family, the beautiful part of the country we live in, an abundance of cold watermelon, feeling healthy, and the idea of introducing a new life to all this glory.

I hope to visiting this space on a much more regular basis now.  There is so much to do in the next 20 weeks - I plan on keeping track of it here.  

 

staying busy

One day flows into another around here.  Not in a bad, bleak sort of way.  Flowing more like a river.  Sometimes a late summer trickle, sometimes a full spring wash-out.  Always moving.  It can be easy to be swept away by the daily tasks - the nose wiping, sock finding, book reading, errand running, meal preparing, whatever else-ing that comes with my profession.  I find it easier to stay oriented with my shore, my self when I can define some landmarks.  Here are some of landmarks that have been on my horizon these last few weeks.

Knitting!  In addition to the two hats mentioned in the previous post I also finished this sweater which had been on my needles for months and started a cardigan for myself.  I had hours and hours and hours of travel time to and from Wyoming and I spent pretty much every minute of it with the needles clickety clacking away.  It was amazing.  I haven't kept up that frenzied pace but I've been slowly working my way through the cardigan.  It's a few inches away from completion.  If I continue to work at my current pace I should be done in a couple of weeks.

Painting!  I am in the process of painting all the kitchen cabinets white.  The top picture is the "before" and the bottom is a "during" shot.  This one was taken a week or two ago...I'd like to say there has been major progress but it looks pretty much the same.  Slow, very slow!

Dance!  Anna started taking ballet and she loves it.  I was surprised at how she took to all the "pretty little ballerina" talk that her instructor uses.  Anna is a raised-by-brothers kind of girl but she has fit into Wednesday afternoon girl world with surprising ease.  Rhett watches with wide-eyed wonder.  She likes to prance past him and give him a hug and kiss on her way by.  He's in HER WORLD now!

Happy sailing.

do you know why i like school better than home?

asked anna tonight.  "Because I can paint whenever I want."

It's been a wonderful two weeks with the kids at home for Christmas vacation.  I've loved the relaxed schedule and time to just enjoy us all being together.  Below are some highlights.

We got some snow...wet, wet, wet snow.  Rhett really did like it.  Honest.

 

In the final hours before Christmas morning there was a flurry of gift making.  This is fallout from a bookmark for Grant,

 

 
a coloring book for Rhett,

 

a picture for Daddy (have you ever tried a self-timer picture with three kids?  It's super fun.),

 

and an "ugly elf" for Anna.  Designed and mostly made by Grant.  I guided the construction but the bulk of it was all Grant...especially the idea!

 

There was general silliness.

 

And more silliness.

 

Obscene amounts of sugar were ingested by all parties.

 

Outdoor play in 15 minute increments on the new jungle gym Russell made the kids (the man's got skills!).  Unfortunately the snow melted and then the temperature plummeted so the cold metal has limited playtime.

 

And knitting!  What better excuse to knit than to plug in a movie on a chilly evening?  The kids even humored me through 2 different versions of Pride and Prejudice.  I love them all the more for that.

Tomorrow we send them back to school.  It's bittersweet.  They love their classes and friends and I enjoy the separate time I get to spend with each kid throughout the day.  But I'll miss these lazy, cozy days we've enjoyed.  I'm counting the days until spring break!

 

summer in a nutshell

Without further adieu...our summer.  As recorded by a lately camera apathetic mother.

Grant and Anna got some roller blades.  The fun activity for awhile was Rhett wheeling Anna around the house.  The soundtrack would have been nice here.  Lots of squealing.

 

Gasp.  He kills me.

 

The impetus for the rollerblades.  Grant and Anna played roller hockey.  They seemed to tolerate it.  Anna liked practices but would spend most of the games laying around.  If she wasn't prone on the rink she was lazing about on the pads.  It's good to see that her parents' athletic prowess is genetic!

 

The game face.

 

Rhett really did like it.  So did Russell.  Honest.  I brought some knitting and sat on the shore with various combinations of our children that weren't in the boat.  I know I liked that.  I'm not a member of the canoe fan club.

 

Peas were a major food staple for awhile after we planted about 100 seeds..."surely they won't all germinate!"  I barely had to feed our kids for several weeks - they would head to the garden several times a day for their "pea salad."

 

Rhett was especially enthusiastic about the meal plan.

 

Youth Dance Festival in Vancouver, WA.  Over 2,000 LDS youth from the area spent MONTHS learning choreographed dances and then converged at a stadium and put on an incredible performance.  I watched and photographed their practices at the local level and then was blown away the final presentation!  It was a wonderful experience for the both the youth and the audience.

 

This makes me laugh.  I took this picture on the 4th of July thinking, "I am going to be so on the ball and post this TODAY!"  That was over FOUR MONTHS AGO.  So, Happy 4th of July!

 

You can't have a summer without a gratuitous food shot.  Fresh cheese, berries and honey. 

 

The day we closed on the house we had a sleep over in our new home.  Just a wee bit excited about our new adventure.  It's now many projects later and we're still excited.  A good sign.

 

Grant harvested a bumper crop of slugs.

 

And the summer wrapped up with my trip to Girls' Camp - a week long get away for all the teenage girls in our immediate area.  I was one of leaders - the yoga instructor and camp photographer.  It was a glorious week.  Not only did I get to spend a week with delightful girls and wonderful leaders, but I practiced yoga everyday - sometimes by myself on the dock as the sun was rising...and then took pictures of the scenery afterwards.  Slice of heaven.

- - -

There you have it.  Our summer in a nutshell.  More is coming...my goal is to post pictures in the season they were taken.  A lofty one, now that autumn is rapidly coming to a close.  Wish me luck!