Fried

Fried pretty much sums up how I'm feeling tonight. We've had a busy couple of weeks in the yard and today I topped it all off with an all day garage sale that a friend organized as a fund raiser for her daughter's insulin pump. Being tired like this is great. My body is achy and sore but I'm happy and satisfied. Oh - and when I say fried I mean that literally as well - I am soooo sunburnt!

Derek has been working much harder than I have and most nights lately we've been baffing (computer says that's not a word) out on the couch watching Six Feet Under, our new (to us) favorite show. You know you have it bad when you start talking about imaginary people's lives over breakfast. Anyhow - right now Derek is pushing through his weariness to repaint an awesome little retro bike that we found at the garage sale today. He's outside painting it bright red and is going to give it to Liv tomorrow. He's just that kind of dad and his girls are crazy about him. Not many men can wear a sombrero quite as well as this man - don't you agree?



Our weekends are not always this tiring. Last weekend was devoted to play with friends and family and it was great! We went for a couple of hikes - saw a deer skeleton almost completely intact- and quite a few of these little fellows.


The girls are always happy when they are out in nature ( I hate saying that because technically we are nature but the divide between how we live and how the rest of nature functions creates this sense of separateness - I guess I could say that they are happy when they are around trees and grass and water but it doesn't quite work). Anyhow - something changes in them - they are more alive and free and I love seeing them like that. This little square of untamed land is right downtown. Liv often asks if she can go explore it and when I have the energy to lug myself up the steep stairs to the top of the rock - we do. It is so worth it to escape the noise and traffic for just a few minutes and look closely at things like lichen and cacti. You know that feeling of peace you get when you are out in nature ... maybe that is the feeling of being at home. Maybe that is supposed to be our norm - the way we always feel - not just a feeling we have once a year when we go camping.


I'm not quite ready to leave it all and go live in the woods (hear Derek breathing a huge sigh of relief). I really need to be around people. Last Saturday we wandered into town, browsed our favorite shops, hit the library, and finished our day at our favorite coffee shop - where everyone really does know our names. Sometimes we joke that we are trying to see how quickly this certain cafe can take all of our money - but it really is so worth it. We never leave here without seeing a friend and having an interesting/ gossipy conversation. And we will always love this place because it is where we met - sitting on these stools in the window.

I'm really starting to fade here ... my burnt skin is crying out for lotion and my back could use some Ibuprofen. I'll leave you with a pic of Miss Ivy - too sexy for her overalls - on her way home from the cafe last weekend. And now to bed.

Just another manic monday...

We had a house-full of fun this morning. We've been planning a bike celebration for a couple of weeks, but the weather has not been cooperating with us. Our plan was to have all of our friends over for a bike parade but it just didn't quite happen. This morning we went ahead with it anyway and the kids had a great time. There were just a few involved, but they made their bikes beautiful and then rode around on the street together for a while. It's been a bit chilly these last few days - but kids never notice that kind of thing if there is something fun to do.




This masterpiece of spoke weaving on Liv's bike was done by Liv's oldest cousin Maggie. I love seeing older kids and younger kids work together and help each other out. This happens a lot at our homeschooler's playgroup and at the co-op we were attending last winter. There is a natural flow of play between all of the age groups in homeschooling circles. You can see how the older children are learning to consider the needs of others when they look out for the little kids. And not only that... they are experiencing the joy of watching babies and toddlers grow. Last week Maggie was looking after Ivy for a few minutes and they came up with this -


A tea party in the play room for a dinosaur and a sleeping baby (this is Ivy's favorite doll - her name is Sh-Sh).

I believe that Maggie was following orders here - Ivy was directing the play. She watched intently as Maggie served tea to Tiger-Lily, our lazy pregnant cat.
She actually drank her cup of tea but when Ivy went towards her to take the cup she gave her a nasty scratch. Ivy is a slow learner when it comes to the cats. She gets scratched all the time but it doesn't stop her from trying to grab their tails or lie on them like they are pillows.

Which reminds me of a little story... two nights ago I was awoken from a deep sleep by some very primal sounding screams coming from Derek. I sat up - adrenaline pumping - to see if he was ok. He told me that he heard the cat hiss at something outside and then with no warning, she jumped off the window sill and onto Derek. Then she leapt from his chest onto Liv's bunk bed. The next morning I could not believe my eyes! He had several nasty puncture wounds on his chest and a wide scratch on his arm. I wish I could send a recording of Derek's scream to a film studio - it was definitely horror film quality.

Some Thoughts

I only have a few minutes to post - the kids are just about to wake up from their nap. I found a link to this sight on Soule Mama's blog and I loved it. I really like the part about toxic relationships and working with people that you like. I feel like I'm slowly starting to put the pieces of a puzzle together - it's called "How I want to Live." I was going on about this at my empathy circle a few weeks ago, and at the time I felt so helpless and confused. I just knew that I didn't want to make money doing things I hate and that there must be some other way. I suddenly had this urgent feeling in me to find another way to live and a strong gut instinct that there is another way that is not commonly taken. Now ,as if in answer to my desperation, I'm finding all kinds of inspiring information about living in our culture in a different way. It's like I'm coming out of a deep fog, only to find that low and behold there are lots of people already there - ready to help and show a different way.

Easter weekend moments

Well we had an absolutely wonderful and relaxing easter long weekend. It was sunny and warm and we spent lots of time visiting friends and family. It was so good to reconnect with my kids and to see them really happy. It's amazing what a little family time can do. We had an easter egg hunt with my sister's family on Sunday morning. We had Easter dinner with my mom and some of her friends which was lovely as well.

The flowers came out on our neighbor's apricot tree that bends over the fence - a sure sign of spring.


I tried to get a picture of all the bees that were hovering around the blossoms, but they were camera shy. I'm noticing this year how much I love the sound of buzzing bees and the smell of violets on the lawn. Spring is so exciting and refreshing!

On Saturday, while Derek and I relaxed on the couch that is outside under our front window, the girls got busy and washed the van. Here is a pic of Ivy sucking on a cloth that she has probably just washed the wheels with - yuck!


And why do we have a couch under our front window outside? This couch I am refering to was very poorly made, and sitting on it in my living room was seriously affecting my mood. One day last week I could take it no longer...so I picked it up and pushed it out the front door and down the steps onto the patio. Then I foolishly tried to carry up my couch from the family room only to get stuck half-way up the stairs. When Derek came home he just shook his head (he's used to my erratic urge to re-arrange). Anyhow, the couch that was so uncomfortable and hideous inside is actually kind of comfortable and inviting under the tree outside. So much more comfortable then say... a tacky plastic chair or a hard wooden bench. So there it will stay for the time being.

Must go and get dinner on... but I will leave you with some pics of the girls getting their hair done in curlers - a first for them both.

Ohh...today was so beautiful, warm ,and peaceful. I puttered around in the yard most of the day with the girls happily entertaining themselves. In the late afternoon my sister and I walked with the kids (who biked) down to the park. Liv and Libby had a great time together. They are the monkey bar queens! It's amazing how strong their little arms are. Ivy decided to go topless. We were at the duck pond when she decided to take off the three shirts and hoodie that she had spent so much time choosing. One-by-one they all came off and went into my purse. There was absolutely no use arguing - when this child has her mind set on something look out!


I just had the strangest conversation with Liv as I was lying down with her in bed. Right out of the blue she said, "Mom, when I die can you build a pyramid for me and put all my stuff in it with me? Oh and can you make me a mummy?" What do you say to that! I didn't want to say no because what if she has some kind of fear of death and burial and this is her way of making it seem less scary. So we lay there for a while and then she asked me what I'd like when I die. I told her that I'd like to be cremated and that she could scatter my ashes somewhere I like. She thought that maybe she'd split them up between several of my favorite spots because there would be so much of me to go around. Then she finished the conversation with "Mom, being buried in the ground is just so humiliating." Hmmm...Queen of Egypt in a former life?

The toothless wonder!

Just look at this face! Do you remember how exciting it was to loose a tooth. Liv has lost two already, but the new ones had grown in behind the baby teeth so she didn't really experience toothlessness. The tooth fairy remembered to come this time thank goodness!! because she actually forgot!! last time and I had to pretend that the money had been dropped and then suddenly find it in an obscure place. Olivia asked me quite pointedly yesterday if I thought the tooth fairy would forget again and I said "no I don't think she'll ever forget again."


Oh and speaking of teeth - her is a picture of Ivy working on rotting hers with a marshmallow at our homelearner's equinox party a couple of weeks ago. We had the first campfire of the year that day and an egg hunt with all the kids - lots of fun. Ivy ended up stuck in the muck and almost lost her new "eep opp" or flip-flop as we commonly call them.

So it was April Fool's day yesterday and we got up to some naughty tricks! Liv and I decided to turn the clock ahead three hours so Derek would think he'd slept in (which meant I had to stay up verrrry late). Our little trick worked, but it was nothing to what Derek did to my mom! He's lucky she's still talking to him. At nine thirty in the morning my mom received a phone call from the gas company (really a friend from up the street) informing her that there was a gas leak in the neighborhood and she had to evict immediately! The "gas man" also asked her to inform her neighbors who weren't answering their phone. She completely fell for it. We then pretended that we too had received the call and rushed around our house, loaded up the car and drove away. We hid just a block away waiting to see her go to the neighbors, but she got in her car and began to drive away. We rushed up behind her with our horns blaring and she pulled over. She got out of her car with a concerned look on her face and came to our window. Derek just calmly asked her what day it was and her face froze, "You didn't!" was all she said before she fell apart laughing. She told us that she could actually smell gas in the air . We love you mom! Thanks for being a good sport!