May days

Well well well, where did this month go? I have been trying to get to the computer to post for weeks now but it hasn't happened. This pregnancy has zapped my energy in a way I don't remember happening with my first two pregnancies. Maybe I just have way more to do and less time to rest. Being pregnant is a good time for me to remember that I have a body that needs looking after. I'm pretty bad for ignoring my bodies signals and staying up way to late or not eating enough (at least not enough food that counts) - but I can't get away with that when I'm pregnant. If I don't eat every two hours I get nausea and if I don't sleep I end up walking around in a daze all day.

So - yes we are having another baby in January sometime. We're all pretty excited and have already started the name debate. You can't start this to early in our house. Both girls were a month old before their birth certificates were finalized because I agonize over names. And it's a good thing too! Here are a few of the rejected names from the last two rounds: Oona, Mercury, Lulu, Odette, and Harriet. Should we be allowed to name our children if we have named pets things like Tickle, Wiggle, French-Toast, and Tiger-Lily? Liv wants to stick with the plant theme and suggested Hedge if it's a boy. I think she was kidding.

Well I'm starting to fade already. Here are my favorite pics from the month of May. That's Miss Ivy's foot in the one above. We had a wonderful Mother's Day afternoon at the park with my mom and my sister and her girls. The girls ignored the play equipment as usual and had all kinds of imaginary adventures among the trees. I had to get a shot of Ivy's beautiful sticky feet. Dirty feet and summer go hand in hand at our house.


This is Liv at the Waldorf school May fair on the first weekend in May. It was a beautiful day surrounded by people who love and respect children. Over three hours I did not hear a single negative or critical word said to a child. It was refreshing - peaceful.


The following Friday was baking day. I tend to bake for a day and then leave it for a couple of weeks until I get inspired again. Right now I am LOVING Martha Stewart's bread recipes. They must be very well tested because they come out really well every time.


Here are my two little monsters devouring a quarter of a loaf in about a quarter of an hour. Seeing them enjoy it like this makes the hours of standing in the kitchen worthwhile.


Here is Liv having her first 3-D book experience with Grandpa. What a thrill!


Last weekend we went on a short hike to our favorite spot - the BX Trail. It winds it's way through a dense forest beside a creek. It's stunning all year and always full on surprises. This time we saw beautiful wildflowers that we had never seen and water striders that make huge shadows on the bottom of puddles.

Ivy was getting sleepy and had a quiet rest on Derek's lap next to a little water-fall. But these two seem to have unlimited energy. This is Liv's cousin Libby. They are inseparable (quite literally when they put their minds to it). Liv has all kinds of plans for their future. They are going to live in their own apartment and travel all over the world and will never have to be apart. They are so lucky to have each other.

New

I guess we shouldn't have been surprised. She had been pregnant for a loooong time and she had to give birth sooner or later. Our little Tiger-Lily gave birth to four little kitties last night in Liv's bed while she was sleeping. I was awoken this morning at seven with a gentle poke on the nose and Liv whispering, "Mom. Tiger-Lily had four babies in my bed." I thought it was a ploy to get me out of bed early so I just rolled over and went back to sleep. An hour later she said very quietly, "Mom, you are going to be so surprised. Tiger-Lily had her kittens in my bed." This time I thought, " She wouldn't say that twice if it wasn't true..." so I jumped up and there they were - so little and fluffy. Tiger-Lily must have crawled under Liv's quilt some time in the night. There was blood and muck all over her sheets and her pj's, but Liv was not the least bit fazed. Tiger-Lily looks exhausted and a bit bedraggled but she's a great little mom. She's been lying there nursing them and purring all morning.

The kittens look just like the fuzzy black tom cat that was prowling and howling around our house for months. Two of them are pure black and two are black with tabby faces. These cats are going to be something else if I'm right about their parentage. Houdini is a fierce and fearless tom and Tiger-Lily is a very wild huntress ( a sparrow a day keeps the doctor away).

Cats aren't the only things being born in our house this week. Liv's sea monkeys finally hatched. We had just about given up hope when I spotted tiny tiny tiny creatures swimming frantically around. Liv has named one Leelee and written a story about it. These little things (they are some sort of shrimp I think) have provided lots of opportunities for learning. I'm always surprised by what my kids actually learn from - and how much learning can go on in a very short period of time when they are motivated to learn by their own passions.


OK - so this one wasn't actually born, but it is new to us and is causing quite a stir amongst the neighborhood kids.


Derek was up almost all night last Saturday working on painting this bike for Liv. Derek and I were crazy about it right away but Liv couldn't quite see the coolness of it. She loves it now that all the kids in the neighborhood want a turn riding it. Liv is not one to care about cool. She reminds me of that quite often. When I say things like , "Oh- that's a cool out-fit Liv." She barks back "I don't care about being cool!" I could go on and on here about the freedom un-schoolers have to do what they want - and be who they are... but this is my free afternoon and my sewing room beckons. Only three more hours until Derek and the girls return...

Good-bye to a neighbor

Our next-door neighbor Gert died on Monday. He'd had several heart attacks this month and was in Victoria having by-pass surgery when one last heart attack took his life. Derek and I were really sad and shocked by the news. We weren't close friends - our contact was limited to over the fence gardening advice (from him to us) and the odd street side conversation about our cats or kids. But he was there. I always knew when he was home - I knew he kept late hours and loved to sit out under his cherry tree. He fed the birds and sat outside sharing chocolates to anyone who entered his yard. He was generous and warm and sought out friendship with his neighbors. He let the rough neighborhood boys take his enormous fir tree as their fort. The nasty tom cat that sprays our front door - he let it in and fed it milk.

Gert died alone in Victoria. He had no one to go with him and stay with him. He had no living family and only a hand-full of close friends. In his will he stipulated that he did not want a funeral. Did he think that no one would want to gather and say good-bye? I'm finding this all really sad. How is it in this over-populated world that someone can die alone - it's not like he was a grumpy old man - his eyes were begging for connection. Are we all to busy for that or are we scared of it? I know I was. But is there anything more important than connection with our fellow human beings? Isn't that what gives life it's richness - makes it all worthwhile? What would our lives look like if relationship really was a priority? I think if it came first a lot of other things in life would fall into peaceful order.

These are the tulips that Gert planted in his garden a couple of years ago. He missed seeing them bloom this year.


Good-bye neighbor. Your presence here will be missed.