LIFE BLOG — NOVEMBER 2007
11.30.07 | BUNNY SLIPPERS
Breakfast at my house. Colorful jammies, bunny slippers, hungry girls, messy hair. Cereal, eggs, toast, oatmeal, milk, juice. Good times.
11.28.07 | CHRISTMAS SPIRIT
We're getting into the holiday spirit around here. This is just the beginning of what is planned to be quite an extensive nativity scene on the top of our center speaker. I'm taking it slowly this year, decorating a little at a time. Trying to pace myself. Next on the agenda: a tree and cookies. But not TOO many cookies.
11.27.07 | MORE THANKFULNESS
A trip to the playground revealed what I already knew - my husband is a child at heart.
This has to be against the rules.
EVEN MORE THANKFULNESS
"The kid with the beard" reading to the kids.
Sonja learned to knit! I'm so proud.
Ani and Jonathan | Von and Sonja
Nathan | Gabriel
Eleanor | Brody
11.25.07 | THANKFUL
I'm thankful for my parents, who re-married last weekend in a surprise Thanksgiving wedding.
I'm thankful for my siblings, who love me and whom I love.
I'm thankful for my daughters, my nieces and my nephews, who I cherish more than words can express.
And, I'm thankful for the next generation, who provide us with endless joy and laughter, and who will carry on the legacy of love.
The family paparazzi hard at work.
11.19.07 | SNOW
What a beautiful way to wake up. Snow everywhere.
We're leaving for the Flathead Valley tomorrow to celebrate Thanksgiving with all of my siblings, both of my parents, almost all of my nieces and nephews, all of my great-nephews and my great-niece. Wow!
I hope you have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving holiday.
11.16.07 | A WALK IN THE WOODS
It's not really the woods. It's a little trail behind our home
that goes up a hill through pines, grasses and lichen-covered rocks.
Why don't we spend more time here? It's only a few yards away.
We're not alone on this trail.
Nature shows her creativity in the variety of shapes she takes.
The pines and the cones.
The grasses.
The lichen.
A hint of green remains.
An expedition to remember.
11.15.07 | A CHILD OF HAPPINESS
My dad sent me the following poem to describe Sonja way back when she was just a tiny girl:
A Child of Happiness always seems like an old soul living in a new body, and her face is very serious until she smiles, and then the sun lights up the world...
Children of Happiness always look not quite the same as other children. They have stong straight legs and walk with purpose. They laugh as do all children, and they play as do all children, they talk child talk as do all children, but they are different, they are blessed, they are special, they are sacred.
-Anne Cameron
When Sonja was a baby, I poured my entire self into her - body, mind and soul. She was round, pink, bright-eyed, smiley, practically perfect in every way. When the twins came along, my life changed significantly. With two demanding babies and a not-yet-two-year-old on my hands, I felt satisfied if they were all simply alive at the end of each day.
In my darkest moments I worried that somehow the twins wouldn't be like Sonja - vibrant, sparkly, bright - because I was able to give them so much less of me. I didn't take long for time to prove my fears totally unfounded and I learned an important lesson. Being a parent isn't about being perfect. It's about doing your best, giving what you have and simply loving with all your heart.
Eric and I are like all parents, I suppose, in that we think our children are beyond extrordinary. At night, when they've finally settled down to sleep, all we want to do is talk about them - how beautiful, smart, funny and clever they are. They've surpassed our expectations by a million miles and we feel so lucky to have these three amazing souls in our lives.
{a tired momma in june 2002}
{we all survived... and thrived}
11.14.07 | SUNSHINE!
Sunshine was streaming in my windows this morning, and after my rantings about having to live through the long northern winters, I thought I should celebrate the sun.
{a red shamrock}
{mums are like moms - beautiful and stalwart}
{the jade reaches for the sun - a model for me}
{a shadow}
{a self portrait}
11.13.07 | GO FISH
Another little joy of life - watching my girls discover the charms of "Go Fish." They are so happy when they "get" to go fish. I shouldn't laugh though - they beat me almost every time.
11.11.07 | 5:30 PM
It's 5:30 p.m. and it's pitch dark. I must confess that this season of darkness is difficult for me. I know there are those that have it so much worse - my niece who lives in Anchorage, for example. (I don't know how you do it, Bekah.) This year, though, I've developed a system. I'm hoping that if I apply my system I won't end up in therapy by the end of March. (Not that therapy is a bad thing. I actually quite enjoy it. Talking about nothing but ME for an hour? Not bad.)
Anyway, my system involves focusing on keeping my home cozy so that the darkness is a welcome guest - candles, warm quilts, nutritious comfort foods. I also plan to create like crazy - knit, sew, Christmas cards, crafts for the kids, etc., ad nauseum. The third part of my plan is to get myself to the YMCA at least three times a week. Friendly faces, peaceful yoga sessions and sweaty workouts await me there, all good for increasing endorphin levels in my brain.
Today I did pretty well applying my method. After church, we spent a restful Sunday afternoon enjoying our home and each other. I cut a few quilt squares, cuddled with my children and my husband, and made vegetable soup and pumpkin muffins. I have a candle lit in the kitchen and the girls are crafting at the table. Not bad. Only four more months to go until the sun returns in all her glory. I can make it.
We're ready to make cookies.
This level of concentration will take her far in life.
Woops! It cracked!
She snuck into my picture. What a great addition.
Pumpkin muffins on a fall day.
It's always a good day when Martha arrives.
11.08.07 | ALL THE LEAVES ARE GONE
Now you see why the pictures of the leaves make me happy. Autumn on the east side of the Continental Divide in Montana lasts for about two days. We get a frost, the leaves turn, the wind blows, the leaves blow away and winter arrives.
11.06.07 | FALL IS MY FAVORITE SEASON
Looking at these pictures makes me happy, because the leaves are all gone now and they won't be back for oh so many months. Today, it's cloudy and cold outside, but it's warm inside my cozy home. To me, that is what fall is all about.
11.05.07 | A ROCKY MOUNTAIN SUNRISE
I awoke to this sunrise the other morning and got to share it with Sonja as she ate her breakfast. Of course, the mornings are lighter now since Dailylight Savings Time is over. But I'm looking forward to the dark, "sunrise-y" mornings that I know will soon return. To sit and eat Cheerios with my seven-year-old in the soft pink light - pure bliss.
11.03.07 | A TREE CLIMB
My twins climbed the cherry tree in our front yard yesterday, part of their forced time outside in the biting fall wind. They enjoyed it more than they think they did.
The picture above reminds me of my sisters' senior pictures taken in the 1970's. All pensive and "back to nature."
Bryni's hands, "all scraped up" from the tree.
11.02.07 | THE TRUTH
My daughter talked me into telling her a secret the other day: The Tooth Fairy isn't real. Neither is Santa, nor the Easter Bunny. I tried to get around the question, answering, "The dollar she brought you is real isn't it? And the presents were real, weren't they?"
"Is the Tooth Fairy a parent?" she asked.
"It's not Daddy," I answered coyly.
She would not be denied. She wanted the truth. Or so she thought. When the truth was told, she was sad, and her broken heart broke mine. She came downstairs after I had tucked her in and needed to cuddle. Needed comfort for an undefinable hurt inside. She's a little more grown up now. She's "in the know." She's a big girl. With no front teeth.
11.01.07 | I LOVE THESE TOES
I think my youngest daughter has the cutest toes I've ever seen. They're round as can be. They're plump. They're even expressive, if toes can be. Once she dipped one of her big toes into a swimming pool to test its temperature. The little toes curled back, in great fear of touching the water. The big toe bravely ventured in alone, the surveyor of the foot. It dropped in just enough for her to determine that a few more minutes were needed before she could take the plunge, her sweet smile and curly blonde pigtails adding to the charm of the moment. It was a Norman Rockwell scene if I ever saw one.
AND I LOVE THESE LEAVES
Fall brings out the firey beauty in this bush. It enchants me every time I come home.
