ThreeShiningStars

New Blog!

2010-05-12T22:28:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I have finally come up with a new blog title and site, since I am way out of date on the number of shining stars that I now have! Here is a link to my new site, NatureMama Narratives. I'll be posting there from now on, and it should be where I stay, because I have not limited myself in my title in any way. Drop by, follow me there, and leave a comment now and then if you like what you read and see!

Broughton Hike Four

2010-05-12T10:00:00.001-04:00

Last but not least, I'll share Max's adventures from our recent hike. After hanging out with me and Laini while the disc golf got rolling,

he was anxious for a turn with the grasshopper that Bella had caught.

She passed it on gladly, and he giggled as it tickled his hand.

He spent some time pointing out these fun mushrooms that we found. They were all over the place, and I'm still trying to find my field guide to ID them, as I can't find a website that's extensive enough to help out.

But the most fun was had in the creek. While the rest of us were salamander searching, he was having a blast tromping, sitting and splashing in the water.

The it was on to filling up his Frisbee with water.

And after that, BeeBee got to join in the fun.

Mama: "Max, are you dunking your BeeBee?!"

Max: "Yeah! Fine BeeBee wet, Mama!"

There is never a dull moment with Maxwell around.

Broughton Hike Three

2010-05-11T23:03:00.001-04:00

While Laini was chillin' and Bella was exploring, Kaney was leading the way. He likes to be the leader all the time, and I struggle to keep him from being the rude, pushing-in-front-of-everyone-else kind of kid. But as soon as he gets the chance, he leads the way. He was the first down the paths with his Frisbee for disc golf.

After Bella led the way into the pine grove, he quickly made his way to the front of the line to lead everyone to the creek.

And he lead the way flipping rocks for salamanders. But along with being a leader, he is a big helper, and volunteered to road-block the salamander for a picture.

That's my boy. And we got a good shot of our salamander with his help. This one was a Norther Two-Lined Salamander, one of the most common that we have in this area. We also had a bunch of tiny mud puppies, but they were way too fast to photograph even with Kane's help.

He's my laid-back, quiet boy, but he knows how to have fun.

Broughton Hike Two

2010-05-03T19:20:00.004-04:00

While Laini was nursing, napping, and enduring tons of smooches at Broughton Nature Preserve over the weekend, the rest of the kids were hiking away. While still in the field disc-golfing, Bella took her first try at catching a grasshopper and succeeded.

True to her recent nature, she said, "Mama, I liked the way it felt to hold that grasshopper. I like the way he wiggled!" Really, until this summer, she was freaked by bugs, worms, spiders, which was totally opposite my love of the above and the way I was trying to raise her to love them, too. So I was surprised when she dove right in to capture him when I suggested it. She did, however, do the girly squeel and jerk back the first few attempts, but I'm so proud she went through with it.

When we got to the wooded part of the course, Bella went off-trail for a bit, through the luscious, yummy undergrowth, and posed for a couple of shots.

B: Here Mama, take my picture!

B: You better put that picture on your blog, lady!

See, dear daughter, I promised I would.

Bella lead our party into the small pine grove that we've been wanting to explore. But the mystery of the pine grove wore out quickly, as the creek is just below it and all were sweaty and dirty and ready for some stomping and rock-flipping.

The rock-flipping brought an ample supply of slallymanders and even a little group of mudpuppies, which I so tried to photograph, but man are they fast.

Although the frigid water felt wonderful on my feet, I wasn't up for the wading into deep pools, but Bella lead the way happily. That's my girl.

Broughton Hike

2010-05-01T23:03:00.007-04:00

With today being another beautiful mid-80s day, we went to Broughton Nature Preserve, our favorite summer-time haunt. Adam took the frisbees to do some disc golfing, and we spent hours hiking and playing. While he and the older two climbed to the first tee, Laini and I hung out with Max for a bit while she nursed.

Not the best composition on this pic, but I had to share it, because of the look on Max's face. Right at this moment, he is saying, "WOW! MOON!!!" because the light reflecting in the lens opening looks like a moon.

Helena did a little bit of napping...

...a little bit of putting up with Mama's relentless head-smooching (a direct result of being in a wrap all day)...

...some riding through murky, mucky water, thanks to big brother's ceaseless stomping in said water...

...and loads of finger chewing.

Ah, that's the life.

Science lesson

2010-04-24T09:00:00.000-04:00

Science lesson for the day? Using leverage to remove a huge pipe from the ground presents the opportunity for more lessons on levers and fulcrums, which has been a fun topic over the last couple of months. Whether he has been making simple models to teach with a box and an old ironing board, breaking walking sticks in the woods between two trees, or pulling out pipes from the ground, Adam has been constantly showing the kids how useful the knowledge of levers is. This time it was a second-class lever, where the load (pipe) is between the fulcrum (board) and the effort (kids and Papa!). He is an awesome teacher, and I am so thankful that we have him as a solid participant in our homeschooling efforts.

Summer Boy

2010-04-23T10:11:00.003-04:00

Dinner on the deck on a blanket, multiple boo-boos from one day, grass-stained feet...

Can you say "summer?"

Helena's First Photo Shoot

2010-03-06T19:17:00.000-05:00

This past week, with Helena at 3 weeks old, I finally took the time to sit down with her while she was awake and snap a million pictures. It started off with her on my lap, making a ton of fun faces.

I just love this girl's expressions.

Already, the eyebrows lend so much feeling to the expression.

Then big big big sister dropped in for a kiss.

Don't you just love that face??? Next it was big big brother, which was a little better.

Then big brother...

And at that point the kisses were tolerable. We moved on to hiccups, which are crazy strong for her. There is no wondering now why/how they shook my entire belly before she was born.

The hiccups can always be helped with some serious Mama lovin', though. Thanks to Kane, that was captured perfectly.

Once Kane got in on the pics, Max had to try, too, and this is what he took.

I love this picture. I call it Love In Focus. I love that my hand is in focus, while we are not. It is love that becomes the focus of the photo, the emotion that resonates. It is perfect. There were so many more pictures taken of all four children. I'll share them at a later time. There are too many for this one post. And if you're wondering, Bella was too busy reading to join in on the fun of taking pictures... Surprise, surprise... But we had much fun taking photos that day. I hope tomorrow to take some time for another photo shoot. I have tons of ideas, and I haven't taken a picture of her perfect little feet yet! Darn winter. But we may be outside too long to have the time. Which I will be quite alright with. Today we ended the day with everyone in the bath having sand in various locations. I love it.

2010-02-22T13:26:00.005-05:00

I desparately want to sit and write a meaningful blog post. My mind is full of things I want to say, topics I want to explore, pictures I want to share. But the pictures I want to share are the most important right now, as there seems to be no time to deal with the other things. No time for the composition of meaninful words and topics. I'm lucky to be able to have these few minutes to get a few pictures up here to share. And then I will feel I have accomplished something other than nursing and half-completed household chores. Ugh, and as I'm sorting through pictures I realize that if I put them all up to share, then I'm shooting a few good posts in the foot because there are stories behind them to be shared, also... So here are a few pictures that require little words and stand on their own.

Helena had her first outings this weekend - Saturday to the store for our weekly shopping, Sunday to church and then for a walk at the biking trail later in the afternoon. Ah, that's one that I want to share the story of... It was glorious - just what I needed. But for now, here she is, all bundled in the earflap hat that I knit her and her cozy warm "jacket" hand-sewn by my dear friend Sarah 6 years ago for Bella. Awwwww...

Go ahead, let all of the AWWWWS out. We all know how absolutely sweet she is, especially in her pink carseat that matches her sister's.

Oh, and here is what she does while she's awake and in the wrap, which I think is absolutely adorable. As long as those eyes are open, she has her head back, looking around at everything. Speaking of looking at everything, ignore the table piled with dishes from lunch time...
Here she is in pink. Right now it's the only pink outfit she has, bought by her Nanny the day after she was born. The rest of our nicely sorted and labelled bags of girly clothes are still in our storage unit. I suppose we'll get around to getting them out while she can still fit into them.

Here's Papa with a lap full of offspring. Gotta' love that.

And here's how Max spent the morning. It's Super BiBi!!! He flies around the house, whooshing everywhere he goes, creating havoc. Wait, aren't super heroes supposed to save people, you ask? Well, not 2-year-old super heroes. Nope, they are creators of chaos, pure chaos.

For those who don't know BiBi, there are three of them (originals), and they go everywhere we go, especially to bed. And if they are found after being misplaced and/or forgotten for a time, they are happily shoved in Max's mouth, and you hear a muffled yet clearly intense "ERRRRR."

Okay, now I have finished a post. Feels good. Back to the nursing and half-finished chores...

Three Shining Stars Revised

2010-02-12T17:10:00.004-05:00

So by now most of you who frequent this blog know that our fourth shining star arrived this past Monday, February 8th. Our Helena Anne (pronounced He-lai-na, not Helen-a or He-lee-na) graced us with her presence at 9:29 pm. Yes, that would be nearly 56 hours or so after time-able contractions started. Mind you, they were not strong contractions. I even slept through both nights just fine. But they were still working contractions, muscles and tendons continually doing work every 10-8 minutes for days, and I am beat. All well worth it, however. She was born at home into the hands of our wonderful midwife, and is perfectly healthy and lovely. She weighed in at 8 lbs. 12 oz. and was 21 inches in length. She is a wonderfully calm and restful baby.

Yes, eventually I will get around to changing my blog to include our fourth star. But for now, enjoy the new title pic with all four shining stars, and a few of miss Helena (loving called Lainey, although we're not sure yet how to spell that... Laney, Lainey, Laynee....).

Here she is, one day after birth, soundly sleeping.

Here she is, four days after birth, in one of her many quiet, reflective times throughout the day.

She is eyes wide open for 45 minutes, taking all in, and sometimes we get a good crooked grin.

We love her dearly, and I can't wait to share her stories with you here.

Honesty, Artistic Interpretation and Beauty

2010-02-07T14:39:00.003-05:00

Ready for some honesty? Here it is: ME, with piles of sorted laundry behind me, in one of 2 or 3 shirts that still fit over my belly without me constantly yanking my pants up to cover its watermelon-cold rind...

Yep, that's it, my thermal. And one of two pair of jeans that fit. I have my black yoga pants, but you can only wear those so many days in a row (with three kids making sure they don't stay unblemished) before they are out of commission until laundered. So most of the time I'm in my flannel jammy pants and a long sleeved T (I have confiscated all of Adam's, but if they're mine, once again, three inch strip of 65 degree belly skin above those jammies...). There are times that honesty does NOT feel the least bit beautiful. But so much depends on where your focus lies; not just your photographic focus, but your mental focus.

Right now I am typing through a contraction. Here comes more honesty - turn your head for a line or two if you're squeamish - I lost most/all of my mucus plug by yesterday afternoon, so these contractions that I've been having for weeks are getting stronger and doing their job. I can feel the pull, opening up that door for our precious baby to come through. I went to bed early last night after talking to the midwife and labor team with contractions at 10 minutes apart or so. I slept right through them (except for the ten times to get up and empty my bladder) and I haven't timed them today, but last Friday I was 90% effaced and 3 cm, so we're looking at the next couple of days here as being a new birthday to mark on the calendars. It's exciting at the same time as being frustrating, tiring and emotionally draining. So there's some honesty...

(Insert space, which this stupid blog won't put in for me right now, no matter what I try...)

Now, are you ready for some artistic shine to it? There is beauty to be seen in everything, especially in bringing a new life into this world. And sometimes you just need to get over the every day mundane blah of the end of pregnancy with a little self-love for what you're cookin'. So yesterday I spent some time with my camera and my "fitty." (Pause for another contraction...) After I took the first shot you see above in an attempt to get a real picture of me at the end of this pregnancy, I had to find some beauty in what I KNOW is beautiful - not necessarily the honest, tired portrait of me, but the reality of what my body has been working on for the last 9 months. And these are the shots that me and my 50 mil came up with. I love them.

I love the lighting.

I love the focus.

I love my stomach.

Not necessarily for the old stretch marks from three previous pregnancies, or the visual effect of the network of veins, like the roots of a tree, sprawling all over, but for what those landmarks signify and what they are doing for my fourth little bundle of perfection. I love the artistic interpretation of honesty. The honesty of life is beauty if you know how to look at it and where your focus should lie. So I'm going to go put in a load of laundry so I can labor in my one pair of yoga pants, knock that nasty cob web out of the corner above the computer that I just noticed, put on a cup of chamomile tea and drink it out of my favorite tea cup. It's simple, white, with the word "Enjoy" raised on it's side. It helps keep my frame of mind on the here and now, helps me enjoy frustration, tiredness, and unknowns. It helps me remember my artist brain, which sometimes gets lost in the day to day. And that, honestly, is beautiful.

Sweet Woods Relief

2010-01-16T21:11:00.008-05:00

Ah, this was the day I have been needing. Being 46 degrees helped the situation, because it was less work getting us all out the door and there, but had it been 20 it still would have had to happen. We've spent plenty of time lately outside, in the snow, at our house, building a lean-to against the swing set, sledding, building snow men, sliding and swinging in the snow, gathering sticks for kindling... Somehow it just hasn't been enough, though. My soul has been needing a good, long romp in the woods, and our in-town life doesn't lead to that unless we go there. Some of our best friends moved to New York this last autumn, and with them went our easy weekday hiking trips, because I just can't be taking the kids out in the woods by myself at the end of a pregnancy. So it comes down to weekends, and we've been spending those other ways. Not today. The kids played in the yard for a good while earlier today, but after Max's nap we headed off to Broughton Nature Preserve to go "mudding." Our idea of mudding???

Running in the mud:

Tromping in the mud:

Throwing things in the mud:

Digging in the mud:

The high creek volume sent us off of our usual hiking trail and up over the hill to explore part of another trail. We had a blast climbimg on and digging in a fallen tree,

then went off of the trail at the suggestion of Kane and ended up spending the rest of the time climbing, as Adam's quick climb up a favorable pine

sent us into a full-blown "how to climb trees the proper way" seminar by my awesome husband.

After the initial run-through, it was hard to keep Kane down long enough to give anyone else a turn.

And he wasn't the only one to take right to it. Max got his lesson, then spent the rest of the time climbing up and down a set of limbs he found easy enough to navigate himself.

Bella got as far as Papa's hands could take here then said she just couldn't do it anymore. She is a world of difference from those brothers of hers.

But in the end, when we headed for a fallen tree to climb and balance on, she found her long arms and legs worked pretty well to get her where she needed to be, and when she was done we had her changing from "I can't do this!" to "I think I can," which went right along with the lessons we've been working with her on optimism and having a positive attitude.

We had a wonderful day, everyone was much happier as it all ended (yes, including me, perhaps even especially me), and I just had to share it on here. The smell of detritus, fungus and good old dirt was invigorating, and I've caught myself several times this evening breathing big sighs of relief and relaxation. Tomorrow I believe it is supposed to rain, which will smell good, too. And we'll be working on finding the baby's cradle a spot in our room. I can't wait to strap the new baby to me, all warm and cozy next to me in a wrap, and take nice long hikes this spring. A new baby to play in the dirt with this summer.... Heaven.

Quick Update

2010-01-16T09:37:00.000-05:00

I have been way too focused on getting ready for this baby to get on here and post. I think I started nesting at about 6 months this time :-), and have been going through every room of this house with the idea that it will be awhile before the detailed things get done again, like cleaning the top of the kitchen cupboards and thoroughly cleaning under our bed. Last weekend we got all of the baby clothes unpacked, washed and put away, which also included moving Max's clothes to Bella's dressers in the bedroom, so that was a big project. Tomorrow we will be finding a place for the baby's cradle in our room and I will feel a little less unprepared. I have focused a lot of time on knitting for the baby also. I have some fun knee socks done that I will post a picture of soon because I want to get the pattern on here for some friends. Right now they are on Addy, our Lee Middleton doll, who has been the main plaything around here right now. Max just loves taking care of her - she even went to the store with us today and pooped in her diaper 10 times in a row yesterday.

In honesty, I feel really disconnected right now, and don't even feel like I have words to put in this post. I just wanted to spend an evening doing something that wasn't a required task because I'm pretty burned out. I've been moody as can be and am really trying to just stay centered. A lot of focus has come lately on getting the baby in the right position, also. For awhile she/he was fully posterior (baby's back against my spine, arms and legs out to my stomach), but with some work has been turning some.

I think I'll leave some snow pictures and pics from Max's 2nd birthday for anyone still checking this blog. Hopefully once the baby gets here I'll get my creative spark back and feel like keeping up with this more often. I'm sure sharing pictures of our new little one will be the push I need.

Max chose a farm birthday this year, which is no surprise seeing that Mu-Lambs are one of his favorite things. Thus the mu-lamb in his pocket:

And the joy at receiving a tractor:

His birthday cake had chocolate peanut butter for icing, which was the muddy pig sty.

It was a lot of fun. Max made sure he said "Thanks, everybody!!" I can't believe he's two...

We've had a decent amount of snow here, so the kids have had their share of sledding this year. Max loves flying down the big hill across the street from us, and has a blast going all by himself.

He especially likes falling off the sled at the bottom, which sends him into histerics. Bella does some sledding then moves on to better things, like gathering sticks and building forts. Kane could sled all day, and is now very skilled at steering (and bailing off of) our Flexible Fliers.

It's a big difference from last year, when Max definitely did NOT like sledding, and Kane was a little too leary to go by himself. Now we're having a bit of a warm spell here, and today the high will be in the high-40s. We're going to go on a nice muddy hike, burn off some energy, and hopefully get some sunshine before the next week of rain sets in. I'm loving winter, but have been planning the garden and looking at lots of pictures from last summer, so I'm starting to long for getting my hands in the dirt again... I'm sure once the baby is here that will give me something to focus on while waiting for spring :-)...

August Knows How To Soar

2009-09-24T22:08:00.011-04:00

August didn't just fly on by for us, it soared high. Now September is nearly gone, and summer is officially at an end. This summer was exceptional for us, which is why I haven't been posting. There were so many more important things to do. There still are more important things to do, but I have been itching to post, and I need to scratch that itch. It is like one of those itches that lurks right in the middle of your back, and since no one else is going to scratch it any time soon, it's all up to me to get out that long, wooden, hand-shaped back scratcher and go to town...

Summer for us has been:

A fun group trip with wonderful friends to a local sheep farm.

Lots of garden harvesting (and eating, of course).

Baby knitting (on the needles is the matching hat, since finished). Big kid knitting, too - I'm working on Bella's Easter dress, to be followed by the boys' Easter vests in coordinating cotton.

A growing belly size and baby kick strength.

Pool, pool, pool...

A boy turning 4, complete with blueberry cake.

A princess turning 6, complete with castle cake.

Lots of potty-dumping :-), with a mostly-naked boy 90% of the time.

And a bunch of household projects, due to the hubby being home - my favorite being our new, awesome, totally organized craft closet!

We were blessed with glorious weather all summer, and enjoyed every minute of it. Now the days are cool and breezy, and we've had to dig out our long pants and shirts and put on socks once more. Yep, Autumn is here in full, and we're loving every minute of it. I'm digging out the alpaca and wool for knitting, I'm shooting lots of Senior portraits for my niece and some of her friends, and I'm counting the days until I have to harvest my ton of sweet potatoes, one of the few things that actually grew AND prospered in my garden this year. I'm all set to prepare for a cozy winter and start nesting for this new little one that will be coming our way. It's quite wonderful. I hope your turn of seasons is offering the same quiet comfort for you!

Back to Life, Back to Reality...

2009-07-22T22:56:00.003-04:00

(You're welcome for that song now being firmly lodged in your brain...)

Oh so much has happened around here as of late, I don't even know where to begin. Adam is switching jobs (just had his first day with the new one today), contemplating a second one, and I have been struggling to keep up with all things with my all-day-morning-sickness and fatigue. Yup, if you don't already know, our Fourth Shining Star will arrive sometime mid-February - once you get to four, you tell one or two people and then hope it eventually filters around to the rest before the baby arrives. What this has all meant is major adjustments. First of all, we're not used to having Adam around, and he's not used to being around. As sad as it is, his abcense has become our norm. Therefore, his in-between-jobs couple of weeks have been a little crazy. The kids have been hanging on him every second they are awake. Bella and Kane are vying for his attention, with talk being the weapon of choice for Bella, rough-housing for Kane. Max on the other hand screams like a panther every time Adam dares to set him down. For some reason, Papa says he can't hold him all day long, and Max just can't understand WHY :-).

For me, Adam being around has meant collaboration on family life, and I am nice and settled in my way being the way. Our parenting styles have clashed a bit here and there, that's for sure. Then there's the whole meals issue - NOT used to having to think of him when I cook, or think of having meals prepared, because he hasn't been around for meals but one day a week for the last year and a half. The kids and I generally fly by the seat of our pants when it comes to food and when to have it. Not that it works well for us, it is just where we've ended up. So meal planning is something we're working on. Another thing that needs some improvement on my part is being able to take care of the house with him around. It's so far out of my frame of normal for him to be here, I feel like we are all on vacation and shouldn't have to do anything. I have just wanted to spend the time hiking, playing, swimming, gardening, putt-putting, etc, etc.... Which, along with the "morning" sickness, definitely adds to the dissaster that the kitchen is in right now. Sigh...

In it all, I have missed my posting. I have hundreds of pictures on the camera that haven't even made it to the computer yet. There's still no room for them, so I don't even try. I've been ordering prints, puting on to disc, and deleting from the computer, and it's making a dent. But it is still a work in progress. Maybe that can be finished during tomorrow's rainy day. I need to get some recent pictures on here of my current, photographable three! The best I could find were these:

My Bella, nearly 6, before the recent hair cut and second lost tooth. Boy is it hard to get an un-hammed-up picture of her... She is just the biggest thing ever now. She spent 6 whole days at Nan and Pap's house for VBS, and only had one night of being homesick and needing Mama. She's reading at a third grade level now and spends all her free time doing just that. I love her love of reading. She has also been insistent on me enterring her into America's Got Talent, but says she would be too nervous to try singing a song with Pap's band first.

My Kaney, who has turned 4 in my blogger-abcense and also spent his first near-week with Nan and Pap. No phone calls home because of missing Mama there - just calls to tell me how much fun he was having and how many fish he caught on his first fishing trip. And he IS 4, meaning few pictures are snapped without a goofy face to go with them. My big stuff has decided to go to sleep in his own bed now - happened while sister was away - stays there most of the night now, and will actually go back to sleep in his bed if I'm in Max's bed at the time. Amazing...

My Maxwell, little mister big stuff. I can't get enough of who this kid is turning into. He is now so long, and thinning out, and just looks like such a big kid. He has his own wonderful words for many things - "oof" for nurse, howled like a wolf-pup now, with his head thrown back and his lips puckered up, "wavuv" for motorcycle, "woolamella" for watermelon, even though water is still just "wa"... I love his progression in to boyhood. He immitates any sound he hears - he does a super red-shouldered hawk - and is always pushing the limits of everything. His new name is Naked Wonder, because he will NOT leave his diaper on.

Life is fun around here, even though hectic. Hopefully our reality will become a little more of what we want now instead of what we have grown used to. Until then, who knows how often I'll get to this. But I'm glad it is here when I have the time...

Father's Day Salute

2009-06-21T10:49:00.009-04:00

Yesterday (okay, it USED to say Today, but that was yesterday, and I didn't get it done), Shutter Sisters asked us to browse our archives to find some long-forgotten treasures. I am way ahead here, as I have been forced to dig in deep lately to salvage memory before my computer lost it's temper with me in a bad way. Since it is Father's Day, I thought I would quickly share some of those precious few pictures I have of Papa with the kids. With his one day off a week and crazy work hours the other days, I tend to spend any time we have with him just enjoying our family life, and rarely pick up the camera on those days. But here are some of my favorite pictures of him. They may not be the best shots photographically speaking, but the importance of them is in higher focus than the quality here. Adam is a wonderful father to our children. He works so hard to provide the life we have. He includes them in all the work that he does around the house, building so many memories for them. He goes to horse shows with us, even though it means he'll end up sneezy and miserable. He piles them all on a skateboard to ride down a huge hill. He is always up for adventures, big and small, and always ready to teach a lesson (see the lever/fulcrum made out of an old ironing board and box of trash bags picture at the bottom). He always has someone on his shoulders. He plays along with a transformer birthday and gifts of Mousetrap and a Transformer of his own (very carefully picked out by the kids). He is ALWAYS up for snuggling. And my goodness, I love the way my babies look at him, and look when they're with him. There is a peace when he is around, even in the midst of excited chaos. He is our PAPA, and we love him for what he is and what he brings to our lives.

My Little Big Girl

2009-06-20T23:16:00.005-04:00

Bella will be turning SIX in three months (and one day, but who's counting, right?). I can't call her my little girl, because I get in trouble for that, so I call her my little BIG girl. And here's the proof that the "big" is justly included...

Yep, that's a loose tooth down there. She called me from Pap and Nanny's house a few weeks ago, thrilled beyond belief that she had a LOOSE TOOTH! Her friend had recently lost her first tooth, so Bella was totally ready. And here's some more proof that she really is big... That picture was taken just before she left with her GiGi, aunt, uncle and cousin for a weekend trip to North Carolina. I just knew that this tooth would not be there anymore when she comes home on Monday. And I was right. She called from NC to tell me excitedly that her tooth fell out in the car in Virginia. And to think just yesterday we decided she could go along to see her Uncle Lucian (Mikey to most of us) perform in CATS. She prepared and packed all of her clothes. Here she is, all dressed to go on "the biggest trip of her life."

And here she is waiting nervously for the family to arrive. After breakfast, she was strapped in and on her way.

A little nervous about going so far away, but more excited. So, this weekend, my little big girl went for her longest car trip, the farthest she has ever been away from me, lost her first tooth, went to two new states, saw the mountains for the first time, went to Aunt Emily's and Uncle Alex's house for the first time, AND saw her first Broadway show (the white cat was her favorite :-)), all without Mama. And if I went into detail about how I'VE been handling it all, I would be here all night. Let us just say that my girl is having a ball and dealing well. This Mama left behind... not so much. Although I am enjoying the time with my boys, I miss my little big girl, and I can't wait to see her, one less tooth and all, and here all of the stories she'll have to tell. I plan on letting here do some posts to share the pictures that she takes. So stay tuned for my girl's first blog posts!

Old pics

2009-06-18T23:42:00.003-04:00

I have been continually sorting through pictures from the last year, deleting what I don't plan on printing (yes, it's been a year since I ordered prints - gasp and sigh) or ones that I took just for a blog post. I have to widdle away at them until my computer has room to edit all my new pictures. I have found many a picture that was meant for this blog, and thought I would, here and there, share with you some old stories from the last year. These will be short snippets of a blog post, but what's wrong with that, right? I need to be able to do that more often - get my creative release, share with you, and NOT make it an hour long process. So, as I head to bed, here are pictures of my Max from this last January, sorting and playing with my old MAX2 water-soluble oil paints. I couldn't pass up that photo op...

And ending that evening covered in spaghetti, which was, and still is, a norm for him. Because spaghetti is nearly as fun to play with as it is yummy to eat. Oh, and to share a tip with you, I came up with the idea of adding mashed avacado to my spaghetti sauce awhile back, and now just can't imagine it without. It makes it thick, creamy and oh-so-tasty, not to mention adding those wonderful brain-important fats. Yum. Try it sometime. You might be surprised...

Painted Lady Release

2009-06-12T22:43:00.006-04:00

Two weeks ago we went to Columbus to visit family and the Franklin Park Conservatory. We love this place, and visit at least once a year when they have the butterfly exhibit. We always bring back Painted Lady caterpillars to raise and release. We got them nice and small this time so we could watch them grow longer, one for each kid. Kane's changed into its chrysalis one day when we were occupied with friends here for lunch. We saw it in its J formation in the morning and then forgot to check until that evening. Bella's went into a J the evening before I was going to drive to Mom's and Dad's to pick Bella and Kane up from a visit. I watched and waited, determined to get pictures of its transformation since they would miss it. The next morning it was still in a J, so I stuck it in the car so the kids could watch it. An hour later, I pulled up to my parent's house and found a fully formed chrysalis. Sneaky little caterpillar... So, even though we didn't get to watch either transform, we prepared a big butterfly house from a cardboard box and plastic wrap and stuck the chrysalises to the top. Max's caterpillar is still munching away at its ground nettle - it was really tiny when we got it. But today we came home from leading the local La Leche League meeting to find a wonderful Painted Lady butterfly hanging from his chrysalis. I say HIS because, well, he was Kane's butterfly, and therefore he was named "BOY." Kane has a fascination of late with calling everyone "boy" and "girl," including me... So this evening we released Boy near our flower bed. We opened up the box and as soon as he felt the air he opened his wings.

Kane reached down into the box and gently picked Boy up to bring him out into the soft breeze.

He hung out for a few seconds, then took off. Of course, in the madness of three excited kids and friends over I missed that shot. But after a short loop out into the yard, he came back to hang out on our mulberry tree for awhile to get used to those new wings.

A quick transition to the top of the leaves, and then Boy was off into the wide world. I'm sure we'll speculate for days where he is and what he's doing.

What a wonderful process it all is, and what a joy to be able to be a part of it. There is something about letting that butterfly out into its natural environment that I love. It's a good feeling to know that because of us, there is one more beautiful butterfly out there filling its niche in the world. I've done it with turtles, frogs, snakes, birds, squirrels and one amazing red-tailed hawk, and it never gets old. It makes me feel peaceful and complete to know I'm doing my small part in taking care of a world that we are meant to be the stewards of, and teaching my kids to feel the same.

Hiking, Peas and Shrooms

2009-06-10T22:35:00.005-04:00

For the past several days I have been trying to get a hold on my house. Everything seems like a blur of laundry, cleaning, gardening and cooking, and I feel like the kids and I have been left out of the picture. I have also been dealing with the 700-some pictures that I took at my cousin's wedding nearly 4 weeks ago - oh, I had planned on getting them to her within two weeks, but it has been a year since I have managed any photos on this computer (and I'm pretty sure it has a virus that makes it cantankerous), so the download of those pictures onto my computer used up all of its memory, nearly crashing it. So for weeks I have been wading through old pictures, deleting shots by the hundreds, trying to get to where the wedding photos can be edited and burned to disc and trying NOT to lose my computer. I am almost there, but tonight I really felt like I just had to get the kids out of the house, and the events ended up needing to be blogged. I miss my blogging outlet, and as soon as the wedding pictures are done I will back on more frequently, but they have been my top priority. I'll share some soon. It really was wonderful.

We're having a little soft-soled-shoe-ordering party here tomorrow (combining shipping for several friends and me will save us a bit!), so after dinner we ran to the store to get a couple of things to make Stephanie's Sweet Potato Chili for lunch tomorrow and Friday after our local La Leche League meeting. A 15-minute run to the store ended up being an hour because the kids were C-R-A-Z-Y!!! So we came home at 7:15, grabbed my home-made Mei Tai carrier and a hand-full of wormwood to help keep off the mosquitoes, and headed for the Kroger Wetlands just 2 minutes from home. It's a quick and easy hike for us in the middle of town and the kids love it. And boy did they need it tonight. It is amazing what a 30-minute hike can do just before bed. There were no absolute fits about getting washed up for bed (that has become a usual for Kane - a screaming, kicking tantrum in the bath), everyone went right to sleep, AND Kane willingly jumped in his OWN BED and went to sleep, which was one of his punishments for his absolute refusal to stop running at the store. And if you don't know Kane, he NEVER sleeps in his bed. He starts in Bella's room, either with her in bed or on their little foam fold-out couch, and works his way in with Adam, Max and me in the middle of the night.

When we got home from the Wetland (mosquito-bite free!), we went down to the garden for a quick sugar snap pea picking, loading up Bella's dress

and Kane's shirt.

I had to take pictures, if for nothing but to show my dear friend Julie that her children's clothes are right at home here with us now. Then, in the schoolyard across the road, I noticed a humongous mushroom gleaming white in the soft light, so we had to go investigate. I love fungus, but have no good field guide to ID them and no time to look online, so I'll leave you without a fun scientific name. Sorry about that. But it was a really beauty.

Of course, Max had to touch it and smell it.

Then Kane smelled it, and this was as close as I could get him to it after that...

Then it was a quick stop at one of the boys' favorite spots, the rock pile, before heading in for a late, late bedtime.

But it was a great evening, and all three are sleeping soundly now in their OWN beds. Now it's off for me to get my yummy chili in the slow cooker. Hiking, blogging and cooking - what a wonderful end to a mismatched day. I love to share these moments with all of you. There are so many to come - camping this weekend, the wedding, my niece's senior pictures... So stay tuned!

And The Winner Is...

2009-05-17T22:19:00.004-04:00

This has taken some major consideration, y'all. Everyone came up with great suggestions for my Name My Garden contest. I mean, she will definitely be Our Bounty, Jules, as well as our Pocketbook Protector, Denise. That's why I planted her! Sarah, I knew you'd come up with a good one, and Yapashi didn't disappoint! By the way, I LOVE Roxanne - cracks me up - can't wait to see some pictures of her! Hortensia - ooh, what a ring that has to it. Classy, Mrs. Boo Radley. Emily, I love the meaning of Beziwit, and love that it is an Ethiopian word. And don't you worry, I'll probably be pawning off extra harvest on you all summer! And Eric, my dear PITA, although all were ingenious, I have to say Bird's Eye is my favorite of your names - you had to remind me, but I do remember cooking "bird's eyes" for you when I was little :-). When it comes right down to it, I really wanted to go with something with a great meaning and a good feeling. Kind of like naming your baby or a new puppy - the name has to fit when you are looking at their faces. Well, I have looked at her face, and knowing in my heart that she is a "she" (I mean, come on, a male can't offer such fruitful bounty!), and after conferring with the fam, the big shout-out and virtual hug just have to go to.... drumroll, please.... Mrs. Boo Radley!!! It was such a close race, but Hortensia spoke to me and told me that is the name she wants in big black letters over her gate. So Hortensia it is! Right now, Hortensia is a fortress, as tonight's low is to be in the very low 30s - ARG! Way after the expected frost date for our area, and of course after I have all my tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, brussels, kale, cukes, etc. etc. planted out. AND after I moved all of my indoor plants out to my front porch and my herbs are all on the back deck... Big fat sigh. So tonight it took me 2 hours to find enough supplies to fortify my babies to keep them safe. But everyone should hold out for the night, and bright and early tomorrow morning I will have to take it all down and hose down my flower beds. It will all be worth it, even though it will be a late night preparing for Adam's return from a 5 day business trip to sunny Hollywood. He won't get here until 2 am, but the kids and I have a big Welcome Home party planned for him for the morning.

And my goal is for him to come home to a house with at least the important rooms nicely cleaned. So, while the brownies are most cruely smelling up the whole house (it would be noticed if they read "WE *heart* APA!," instead of "PAPA," in our fancy all-natural sprinkes on the top, wouldn't it...), I will be cleaning the counters and straightening the living room, waiting for our beloved Papa to get his rear home! I miss him! Thanks again for all of the name suggestions everyone!!!

Auto Reply

2009-05-05T13:59:00.004-04:00

I feel like I need to set up an auto reply for my life. It would go a little something like this:

Until further notice, Leslie will not be functioning at full capacity. Blog posts may be few and far between thanks to a temperamental computer that needs completely wiped clean and started fresh. Photos will not be updated at Flickr regularly (see above comment about stupid virus-ridden computer). Due to the garden in the back yard, which is the size of a small house, many tasks will not be completed until well after autumn harvest and canning/freezing is DONE. If you happen to live close enough to stop by, you are always welcomed, but do NOT expect a clean and tidy house for the next, oh, 17 years, give or take another child or two. And while Leslie is trying her hardest to stay impartial to what others may think about her shortcomings (which are probably all self-imposed and unrealistically imparted onto unsuspecting friends and family), she may be constantly apologizing for all above-mentioned issues, even though she is thrilled with where her life is. What she will NOT apologize for, however, is dishes half-done if it means nursing a cranky 1-year-old, or piles of mail unsorted if it means listening intently to a 3-year-old's in-depth 10 minute story, or bag-mountains of clothes and items to be taken to the storage unit if it means looking up the answer to a random question of an ever-curious 5-year-old.

If I could only record that and have it start off every conversation, every meeting with friends, every entry into a room 15 minutes late, every time my door opens to family or friends, maybe I wouldn't always feel like I'm falling short. I'm sure, with just that simple explanation of our everyday trials, most would never think all the things I think they do. Maybe my nerves wouldn't be quite as frazzled from not keeping up with the standards I keep for myself - standards that are not at all appropriate for a home-all-day, homeschooling group of Mama and 3 children under age 6 in a house with no maid, no usable storage space, no play room, no spare room to hide all of the embarrassing piles of stuff in, and a Papa gone 6 days a week from around 11 a.m. until around midnight.

Enough of the wallowing! I am going to go take my B-vitamins, brew a cup of chamomile and get to rearranging my living room space. But since my computer has finally let me upload all of my recent pictures off of my camera for the first time in 2 weeks (YAY!), I want to share a picture of our new "addition."
Out with the old:

In with the new:

Isn't she beautiful? What is surrounded with the orange fence was last year's plot, now planted with peas, beans, onions, lettuce and strawberry spinach. She still needs her walls secured against our friendly neighborhood deer and rabbits, which should happen tomorrow morning, but for the most part she's done. And I have to brag, because Adam and I did the entire fence in two days with a big 2-man auger, which means I am incredibly sore today... I think she needs a name. All suggestions are welcomed. Heck, let's make this a contest! Out of the whole handful of you who check these ramblings occasionally who haven't given up on me ever posting again, I challenge you to come up with a good name for my garden. Anything that beautiful deserves a fitting name, don't you think? Her name will be voted on by my panel of experts (Adam, the kids, and me :-)), and the winner will receive a big ol' virtual hug from me and a shout out on this very blog! Woo-hoo! Help me exceed my expectations (I'm thinking I'll get 2, maybe 3 comments). It's easy to comment, even if you never have before. Just click on the part right at the bottom of this post that tells the number of comments, write what you want to say, choose your identity (Name if you don't have a blogger account) and hit Publish your Comment. I know there is family out there who has never commented before but reads the posts. So bring on the name suggestions!!

I Am A Tulip

2009-04-22T14:57:00.008-04:00

The kids are finally at the end of a nasty upper respiratory tract infection. It was just one of those viruses that everyone was getting, and we weren't spared. But after several days of fever and croupy nights for all three fought off with homeopathic remedies, they are down to just that lovely left over cough and occasional runny nose that will last for another couple of weeks, I'm sure. I finally feel like I have some energy rebuilding, and am happy to get back on this computer to update on recent happenings and Easter fun. Bella and Kane have gone to Nan and Pap's house for a few days, and with Maxwell and Baylee (for those who don't know, she is the darling little golden-blond princess who I babysit) soundly sleeping on this cool, blustery spring day, I am taking a little me time to post before it is off to the sewing machine to finish some projects still lagging behind. After all, it is windy, cloudy and rainy, and I have realized lately that I am like a tulip.

On this dreary day, I am all closed up, protecting myself from the doom and gloom.

Without any sun to open my petals, I just can't bring myself out.
The sun doesn't always have to be physical sun, though. I have had some emotionally cloudy days lately, and they have kept me closed up, too, even when it was sunny outside. There are some stormy things clouding up my head, which can block the sun right out. Ah, but the next few days are supposed to be gloriously warm and sunny.

I'll be out there with my arms open wide, soaking up as much of it as I can.

The shorts are coming out of hiding, and the tank tops, too.

I can't think of a better spring weekend, with projected highs in the 80s (!), for my niece's prom. Oooo, I can't wait. I'll leave here Friday for Mom and Dad's and stay through Saturday. There will be much primping, giggling, acrylic-nail-applying, hair-fixing, make-up-applying, photo-taking, girly fun, and I'm going to be loving it!! Even if it were gloomy outside, it would be all the sun I would need to open up and have some fun. So here's to you - I hope your weekend is filled with whatever sun you can find, even if it is gloomy outside. Let that inner tulip open up and soak up whatever sun or happiness you can find, even if it is in the middle of a storm.

Slow Day

2009-04-01T22:50:00.000-04:00

Today has been a slow day. Not a planned slow day, but a forced slow day. And sometimes those forced slow days are exactly what we need, even if we don't want to admit it. Last night I came down with a healthy case of mastitis - a breast infection for those non-breastfeeding folk who may read this. Nasty things, breast infections. Fever, aches, shivers, flu-like symptoms along with swelling, redness and pain at the site of the infection. And all of this after one of those off-days that I have talked about before - this one including, but not limited to, dinner that I had worked on all day burning. But sometimes an infection is our body's way of telling us to slow down. I have been working overtime lately with this year's garden. I'm expanding it about three fold, which means tons of digging, planting, planning... I do get a lot of help from my little digger, though.

He earned his own little-man sized shovel after working so hard with this regular one. I do love this springtime activity. Planting rows of seeds in peat.

Anticipating, watching, until that first little sprout raises its frail self out of the soil and toward the sun.

Watching my little cucumbers turn from this, just days after they sprouted...

to this, just 9 days later (pardon the flashiness of these pictures - I despise flash, but wanted you to see how they have grown!).

Look at their little cucumber leaves popping out between their sproutling ones. My babies are growing up...

But as much as I love all the work that goes into my gardening, I have been a little obsessive about it. So even though I really wanted to be out there digging today, putting my peas, strawberry spinach, and the rest of my onions in the ground, I couldn't. And I think that's just what I needed.

Today, then, was spent hanging out inside, reading library books, watching a big truck and a cat documentary, and setting Maxwell up with his new bed. He is making an early move into the mattress-on-the-floor stage, just like his brother did. When Kane was about 18 months, I tore down his crib one afternoon in a fit of frustration, after my third attempt at getting him to sleep only to have him pop up the second I tried to lie him down in his crib. After I got the crib torn apart, I put the crib mattress on the floor, laid down beside him, and nursed him right to sleep. Max is to the same point. If I put him in his crib, he wakes up every half hour to an hour. He has been in his new bed for two hours now, happily sleeping away on a double mattress on the floor. We spent some time this evening, with the soft light pouring through the window, sitting on the edge of his bed looking for birds. Looking for birds is his favorite past-time, and once he sees one, he doesn't let it out of his sight. My big boy, sitting on his bed watching for birds out his window. Sticking his sweet little toes up on the unpainted sill, telling me all about the "BIR!" that he saw - his first blue jay. Is it a little soon to start his birding Life List? And while he slumbers on his new bed, and his brother and sister do the same on Bella's bed, having fallen asleep to Max Lucado's wonderful book You Are Special on CD (I love the library!), I am going to do a little bit of knitting while relaxing in my bed with a cup of Echinacea tea and a hot compress on my nursey. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel well enough to plant the peas, onions, and strawberry spinach. Only a good night's sleep will tell me if this infection is going to budge yet. Happy April Fool's day - I've never been any good at the fooling thing. I always feel too bad for fooling someone, because I don't like to get fooled :-). Hope your April is full of SPRING!!!

Chicken Pox!!!

2009-03-28T21:53:00.007-04:00

A warm cup of chamomile tea, some yummy dates, and three sleeping babies - my recipe for a blog post. After a beautifully cloudy day with my parents down to visit, a 2-hour walk/jog on the biking trail thrown in the mix, I can think of no better way to end my day. I will be posting about our wonderful biking trail soon, as it is one of our favorite places to be and I have so many memories to share. But today I thought I would take you back to the..... (suspenseful music...) CHICKEN POX (this to be said in a loud, scary theatrical voice). The poxy days, although weeks past, are still fresh in my mind as I look at Kane and Max's marks and wonder how many will scar. They, thankfully, didn't pick at any of the scabs - they all fell off on their own - but some were still so big and so deep that they have left quite a mark for now. I guess we'll see...

The first few days of itchiness I put them in baths with goat milk powder and vitamin E capsules. With their food allergies, we just can't do oatmeal baths, so that was my substitution. After three days of those I did have to wash them as they started to, well, smell like goat milk :-). But it was a nice, soothing treatment for those itchies.

Between baths they were covered in a mixture of colloidal silver, lavender calendula salve from our wonderful friend at the local Farmer's Market, and tea tree oil. They probably would have smelled like goat milk sooner had the tea tree and lavender not covered it up so well! Uncharacteristically, Bella ended up getting them the least of the three. She had a few on her face and head, a few on her tummy and back, and some in her mouth and throat. That was it for her.

The older you are the worse the case, supposedly, but Max really got them the worst. Kane had the most pox. One day I sat Kane down to count the ones on his face and there were 45. Ugh. He was miserable.

But his didn't get as big and scabby as Max's did. And while Kane's seemed to just stop bothering him after about three days, Max had so many in his hair that his bugged him for much longer. At first I didn't want to admit how miserable it really was for all of us. After all, I DID purposely expose them to the virus. But I will freely admit now that there were a few days that were really hairy. Thankfully Bella didn't get them as bad, and hers broke out about 2 days after the boys, so that made it easier than it could have been. They all had them in their throats and mouths, though, which I think made them the most miserable. It was kind of cute, though, to ask Max to show you his chicken pox and see him hang that tongue out for you.

Can you see the one right in the middle of his tongue? He also had his bottom incisors coming in, so that didn't help matters. For about a week he was either doing this:

Or this:

Or this:

Ah, but it is all over with now, and there is always that silver lining. For us, that silver lining is called Lifelong Acquired Immunity, so I have three children who should never have to worry about the chicken pox for the rest of their lives. I am happy that it is behind us, but I am still thrilled that we went to our Pox Party, shared that juice box, and did what will be best for them in the long run. Now, the cup of tea is gone, as is the bag of dates - it was NOT full when I started this - and those three shining stars of mine are still snoozing away. So I am going to go join them and sleep off those aches that will set in tomorrow from having jogged farther today than I have in, oh, 5 years or so.

The Beauty of Color: Episode II

2009-03-20T13:33:00.006-04:00

Ah, Bella and Kane are off to Nan and Pap's for the weekend, and Maxwell and Baylee (the little girl I babysit) are fast asleep, which gives me time to BLOG! My normal blogging time is after the kids are in bed, and with Max getting up every half hour to hour after I put him down, I haven't had the time to get on here lately. I also have been busting my behind getting this year's garden under way, planting, shovelling, expanding, double-digging... So that has eaten into any blogging time I might have during the day. Although I should be finishing my seed starting right now, or doing some much needed sewing/knitting, I decided to take a break from all that needed stuff to finish up my photos from our day of painting. I have so many other posts running around in my mind and so many pictures begging to get on here that I want to get these done so I can move on! Plus, with spring having sprung (happy first day of SPRING!), I am dying to get some of the color on here that is surrounding us outside. But as I sit at this cold computer desk, the color that I see is taped on the wall in front of me - a big piece of paper that was once white but was given a new life of color with hand and foot prints all over it and smears of every color everywhere. And it makes me smile.
This time around with our body painting, Kane was more subdued and reserved. He didn't like the thickness of the face paint, said it was too sticky, so he spent most of that phase of painting picking the dried paint off of his stomach. But once we got the paper out and put tons of color on the pallet, he let loose. He did some work with the brush, some with his hands, then he dove in with those bear-paw feet of his. He painted on some green - his new favorite color - then dipped in to the yellow the easy and more fun way.
Then it was time to put that color to work!
I look up right now at the paper to see his green and yellow foot prints and can almost feel the paint between my toes, cold and slippery.

Bella dove right in with smiley faces on her tummy and cat whiskers on her face. She has been pretending to be a cat a lot lately, and was happy to have a chance to put on whiskers and a black nose. Then it was time for color experimentation. Since there was no pink, her favorite color (duh), she had to make some, and was quite proud of how it turned out.

Then she just had to fill her belly button. I mean, come on, who could resist, right? It was the obvious choice.

When the black, white and red went on to fingers, she went from cat girl to spider man quickly.
Then it was back to being a cat. For that she needed to make paw prints, which required painted back paws.
Then she was on all fours stomping away, meowing with glee.

It was quite fun, and I didn't escape the color, either. Don't you worry. Someone had to take all the happy hugs Maxwell had to give and then carry him to the bathtub. I still even have some paint on my camera. And that shirt is a happy reminder of a colorful day.

The Beauty of Color: Episode I

2009-02-27T21:49:00.001-05:00

I was in an interesting place the other day, where I knew the floors needed scrubbed badly, but I just didn't feel the urgent need to get it done. So I fixed that by saying, "Hey, guys, would you like to do some body/feet painting before bath tonight?" I figured, with paint all over the floor, I would have to scrub it well. And the way I see it, if I have to clean it, I might as well give myself the joy of being able to really see the reward to my job well done.

For Maxwell, this was his first time digging in to the painting scene, but you would have never known it. He has watched his brother and sister, and from the minute I set everything out on the counter he was stretching to get his hands on a brush, yelling and bouncing up and down. Once I got him stripped down and into a disposable diaper, the party was on. We started with left over face paints, which were slightly dried out from last painting day, so I dipped the brush in the paint for him, told him to paint his tummy, and he immediately did just that.
He had just as much fun playing with the paints on the brush as he did painting himself.

We had music on (Christmas songs, thanks to Bella), and things got a little wild for a bit with dancing and singing.

Then he decided to try his hand on another canvas - his brothers tummy!

Next I rolled out the white wrapping paper for some feet painting, but Max thought he needed more color on himself, so the acrylics went on the tummy and hands as well. He got really excited at one point, squealing and shaking his paint-saturated hands.

We used some nice bright colors, but in the end everything ends up one color anyhow. Hard to believe it starts with these colors and ends up lime green all over the paper...

Maxwell did finally decide to put a little on the paper.

As you can see, he ended up mostly brown at the end of it all.
It took one good muddy-water rinse before they could all be bathed.

Apparently Max was really thirsty, because he was trying to scoop the water into his mouth with his hands, then gave up on that to try this. He had never attempted this before.

You would think that washable face paints would wash off, but maybe the super-concentration from them drying out some made that pigment a little more resilient than the last time we used them. Max was covered in lovely pastel patterns for the following day. I think I'll just stick to my acrylics from now on.
There are so many more wonderful pictures, some of which I will share with you in Episode II, featuring Bella and Kane. There were just too many to include here. But if you are interested in seeing them all, you can hop on over to my Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/naturemama/. I would love to have you, and I am downloading the images as I type. I hope to see you/hear from you there!

Edited to tell you that my uploader just crashed, so it will take me awhile to reload all of the pictures and relabel them all. Drat. It has taken me three days to get to where I could download them! But they will be there eventually...

Hilarity

2009-02-25T00:12:00.005-05:00

Sunday was a relaxing day, and I just had to share with you pictures of how we ended our evening. Kane has "Bam Trucks," which are little monster trucks, the term for which comes from the days of my nephew's childhood. Most of them you pull back then let go and they run, but there are a couple that will crank up forward, gaining more speed the more you crank them, and they really go flying. Which is exactly what Adam was doing. And it CRACKED...

KANE...

UP!!!

Adam would crank up the Bam Truck to an insane speed...

then let it go out of Kane's and Max's room... and it would speed away to jog off of the door frame of another room, or kick off the gate into the bathroom. Or even better was when it would hit a door frame and flip over on its side, flying all over the place with the wheels still spinning. Once it was spinning wildly behind our bedroon door, throwing out pages of My Little Pony stickers that Bella had stashed there. Maxwell would run, or crawl, off to find where it had finally stopped,

and bring it back every time, with theatrics.

Our little retriever.

Then he would plop down and get ready for the next run. The anticipation was nearly unbearable.

Kane had crazy hiccups by the end, and it was just generally a blast had by all. Now I am off to get some sleep and prepare for our big day, as tomorrow the kids will get the chicken pox. Yes, it was an intentional exposure. And for those who think I'm crazy, getting the virus means life-long immunity, whereas the vaccination (if we got vaccinations) only lasts 10 years and doesn't ensure you won't get it anyway. So we went to a Pox Party and shared a juice box, and we will get them tomorrow. I would much rather know we're getting them and be prepared, and know that my kids, especially Bella, will be spared from complications getting the virus later on in life. So, with that said, I'm off to sleep, to wake up to pox and get ready for the days of healing ahead. Good day to you!

The Many Faces of Maxwell

2009-02-20T21:05:00.003-05:00

My children have expressive brows - it is a genetic gift from their father's Italian heritage. Max is finally really starting to use his. He is the baby of one thousand faces. I have said, since the time he was little, that I could snap 10 pictures of him in continuous mode and I couldn't delete one, because each one was different. His facial expressions are constantly changing, and I love to watch his emotions come out in them. For the longest time I have loved to watch him when he is really concentrating on something - the way his little lips are pursed, and his brow furrowed... Here is a classic example from last week when it was warm and he was improvising on the use of this "tee." It takes a lot of concentration to balance a plastic golf ball on top of a Tee Ball tee. You can see how hard his little brain is working to get that ball to stay up there.

Now I have a new favorite face. He just started it a few days ago, and does it when he is really confused or concerned about something.

This is watching me take dinner out of the oven a few evenings ago. I had him back up, then opened the oven and let him feel how hot the air coming out was. It was obviously concerning to him. One of the things I love most about this face is how far apart it sets him from Kane. They look so much alike in many ways, but their expressions are so different to a mother's eye.

One more new face that I love and expect to see a lot more of: the "am I going to get in trouble for this?" face.
Sheepish, head down, eyes looking up, avoiding eye contact. I love every minute of it. And just to be clear, he did NOT get in trouble for eating the dirt here. I figure maybe he was in need of some important trace mineral. Plus, every kid needs to know what dirt tastes like. Heck, every adult should know. So if you don't know, you should give some dirt a try this spring. I hope that you know what it smells like - oh, how I LOVE the smell of soil. I hope that you will give it a try if you don't know what it tastes like. And I would love to see if your feelings about it came through as clearly as my little Maxwell's do.

Flashlights and Suction Cups

2009-02-18T20:53:00.004-05:00

Take any parent of a young child and they will tell you, in some form or another, how much kids can take joy in the unexpected things. I know you've heard it before, "We buy her all these toys and what she ends up playing with are the boxes." I love this about my children. In our house I try to foster an environment of creativity, and creativity does NOT come from playing with a plastic toy that makes a bunch of noises as well as it does from a box full of sticks or an empty mesh trash can. Subsequently I have more random things to clean up after, like leaves and pine needles, or those empty trash can space helmets that end up upstairs after a rocket ride when they should be downstairs. I am happy to have this delima.

Some of the most memorable times for me and hopefully for my kids are evenings spent preparing for sleep in an unexpected place. Those unexpeted places tend to have a fort or tent theme around here, and tonight was no exception, with all three soundly sleeping in Kane's and Maxwell's room. There was a handy fort built between the top bunk bed and Max's crib, and Bella just had to snuggle up there to sleep for the night. So we got out my old sleeping bag and a pillow and found her a little flashlight so she could find her way out to me if she needed to, which was a concern of hers. And while we were preparing the fort, Max found a suction cup off of a cheap stick-to-the-door basketball hoop - one of those things I have been meaning to throw away for awhile. He realized it would stick to his chest, and my little cut-up spent 15 minutes smacking it on his belly and then sticking it on, leaning his head way back and laughing, all for the effect it gave of cracking Bella and Kane up. He thought it was super funny. Then we turned out the lights and tested the flashlight. They wanted me to take pictures of everyone in the light of the flashlight,and Bella just had to take one of me.Then it was time for sleeping. Kane ended up in his bed after sneeking down with me and falling asleep on the couch. Bella is sound asleep in the fort, and Max in his crib. I love the bond that they build when sleeping so closely, the way it is meant to be. There is no animal in this world that lives in a heard/pack/flock/family group and sleeps in it's own room away from all the others... And I love the memories that we can form with flashlights and suction cups.

Mr. Moon

2009-02-10T10:33:00.000-05:00

After a fun day with my knitting group yesterday, the kids went to bed nice and early and I spent some time with my Rebel and my tripod on the front lawn. The moon was big, beautiful, and ringed, and I wanted to play with my shutter speed to see what I could get. I wanted to see the detail of the moon, so with the shutter speed at 1/125 of a second, I got Mr. Moon's face.

Then changing the speed to 1/30th of a second, I was able to capture the glow of that brilliant ring.

Wondering what would happen to the wandering clouds with a healthy shutter speed of 8 seconds brought me this wonderfully blurred shot reminiscent of an oil on canvas.

My two favorites came with a shutter speed of 1 second. I love the way the glow of the moon back lit the passing clouds.

It was fun and relaxing. Now on to more fun - we're heading to Roseymama's to plan our garden and order our heirloom, organic seeds to split between friends. Yeah, spring! Can you smell it? Go ahead, try. Go outside, even if it is raining, and close your eyes. Listen to the multitude of American Robins gathering in the trees above your head, take a deep breath, and feel the energy mounting in every living thing surrounding you. Now can you smell it? Spring is on the way, even if we have to endure another 5 weeks of winter to usher it in. And I'll be ready with trays of tomatoes and peppers, pots of sprouting herbs and a song in my heart!

Snow Day!

2009-02-08T12:00:00.001-05:00

After our 60 degree day here in Marietta, I had to share some snow pictures from this season with you before our snow days are all gone! I try to make sure every day there is snow the kids get out in it, and me, too! I LOVE taking pictures in the snow. Here are some fun ones from our last few snow storms. I love them in their snow suits.

Kane is so easy to take pictures of. Here he is, worrying a little too much about something.

Then you have the happiness of having ran smack into our maple tree on the sled.

Sledding is a blast. The only time I took Max out, I didn't have my camera, but we went to Broughton Nature Preserve and went sledding with some friends down a trail hill. I must say, it was fast and fun (even with my brused tail bone still healing), and Bella and Kane loved it, but Max was cranky the entire time and didn't really like the sledding, either. I think it was just because he was hungry, but we have been doing most of our sledding when he's napping...

Every once in awhile I get a good, non-posed picture of Miss Bella.

Most of our snows haven't packed well enough to make snow men when we were out in them, but out of desperation we made a couple of small ones on the slide. They're in their bathing suits :-).

Snow angles are a must for all...

Then it's inside to warm up those rosy-red cheeks and sweaty heads.

I just love winter fun. I also love seeing the hints here and there that spring is really on its way. The days are getting longer, the angle of the sun's rays is changing slowly but surely, and the robins are coming back. My heart jumped when Bella said, on February 2nd, "Mama, I see a bunch of birds over there with red breasts. Are they robins?" I had to open the door to hear their voices, and they warmed my heart. I love, love, love winter, but I love to usher in every season. I will take some more snow days for sure, but I will be happy to welcome another spring as well. Welcome back robins, you have been sorely missed. Snow, rain, warm, cold, we will find a way to enjoy whatever is coming our way.

Busy Day

2009-02-07T23:06:00.005-05:00

Today was an incredibly warm day - the high was 60! - and my kids could sense it in their bones. They needed some outside time, but the way it all turned out, our morning was spent running errands all over town which meant they were swept in and out of their car seats with a short time here and there spent in the fresh air. Then we had the most fun afternoon roller skating at a good friend's birthday party. They got some exercise today, that's for sure. And we all had a blast. I used to live on my roller skates, and for me it was like being a fish tossed back in the water. Oh, how I love to skate! And I LOVED taking pictures at the roller rink! The kids had lots of fun learning, and first off Kane was asked to skate by his friend Gianna, and off they went.

A quick check to make sure Mama is coming along...

Here's the Beautiful Birthday Princess Olivia, sitting tall amongst her guests. Don't you just LOVE that blue wall???

With our food allergies, friends' birthdays mean I get to make cupcakes to take with us. They enjoy them, get to participate, then I get to come home and eat as many as I want :-)!

Bella was pretty comfortable by the end, skating as fast as she could to me. She said on the ride home, "Mama, when I was skating, I was skating like a big girl! I was as fast as all the grown-ups, pre-teens and teens there!" Love it.

Kane gave up on the skates by the end and decided just to run. He was much faster that way. He had fun on the skates, don't get me wrong, but the boy needs speed.

Maxwell decided to join in at the end of the evening, out there by himself under the disco ball. Hew as enthralled by the lights on the floor and running along the wall.

They all were, really. Heck, so was I.

But by the end of the day, Kane and Maxwell got to spend their time outside on the porch, while Bella took a cat nap in the chair. Max was finally happy - it was where he really wanted to be.

Now, I used muscles today that I haven't used in awhile, so I'm off to bed to sleep it off! Hope you all enjoyed your day as much as we did our's!

Blessed Warmth!

2009-01-24T12:48:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we were blessed with a day in the 50s. A day full of sunshine, picnics, sliding, swinging, running, laughter and lots and lots of mud. Our day started with gloves, hats and scarves firmly in place for the task of filling a bucket with snow to melt for our fish tank. Bella, as usual, started the project off with gusto, shovelling with the help of her brother.

But, after about ten minutes, she got bored and moved on to the next thing, which happened to be finding and planting a milk weed seed.

Then it was on to collecting pine cones in the red wagon.
Kane, however, kept on filling that bucket until it was full.
He moved from the big, cumbersome snow shovel to his little garden spade. When the spade proved too small, he decided to try his broom and dust pan, which worked perfectly to get the job done.
Eventually it was time for food, and the hats and gloves came off for a nice picnic on the deck. Maxwell woke from his nap and joined us for a wind-blown lunch.

No multi-tasking challenge is too big for my little man.

Apple slice, two carrots and a spade while chewing on a veggie chip? I can handle that!
After eating, we had to play some ball. Here the ball popped out of his hand on one of the several warm-up swings that he always does before he throws the ball, and I just happened to catch it in mid-air.

After every throw he gave me a good "I REALLY want that!" face.

A lot of time was spent mastering the stairs, also.

I got in a little bit of knitting in the winter sun.

Then Max just couldn't stay put on the deck any more. He had to have some mud under his feet. So into the yard we went. There's nothing better than a January thaw, when there is still some snow left to collect, but it's warm enough outside to dig in with your bare hands and not freeze.

Max would grab a handful of snow, which by this point was more like loosely packed ice, and squeeze it until it popped and little pieces flew all over. Then, of course, curious one-year-old minds must know what this cold wet stuff tastes like.

It was a glorious, renewing, rejuvenating day, which was exactly what we all needed. Each little head was peacefully resting on a pillow by 7:30, and MaMa went to work painting the laundry room. But that's a story for another day. A story of a wonderfully thoughtful husband wh

o.'s on a roll with perfect gifts, a 30th birthday and dear friends. Tomorrow, perhaps...

Bloggers Block

2009-01-21T00:25:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I am having a major bloggers block right now. I have been pondering the possible reasons, and I have come up with a complex excuse. First and foremost, my creative brain has been on overload as of late. I really think this has been a major factor in my inability to get on here and type out anything worth reading. I decided to make all of the Christmas gifts from us to all of our family and friends. I loved every minute of it - and am still loving it, as many are still being finished - but I was a little dissappointed with myself in not getting all done for Christmas day, and my back and feet were killing me from standing at the sewing machine. I would love to share with you a list of what I have made for Christmas presents. By all means, feel free to skip to the next paragraph if you either don't care or if you get bored, for it is extensive. For my kids I made an awesome puppet theater, doll hammock, doll swing and sweet fleece coats. There were dolls, handmade blocks, rattles, teethers and knitted farm animals on my list, but they got dropped because there was no way I was getting them done. For my niece Serena I made a puppet theater, fleece coat and knitted a headband to match the one I made for her Mama. I also knitted a headband for my niece Kyrstin, a wool hat for my nephew Ehtan, and made a tote for him as well. I knitted wool hats for my father-in-law and my brother-in-law, and a (special-order) cotton hat for my brother, in hunter orange, measuring 3 feet long. I am still working on (plan on starting today) purses for all of the ladies in the family and totes for all of the gents, as well as some more headbands, I think. It is hard at this point to remember all that I still have to accomplish. Oh, and some things for the ladies and children in my knitting group that I can't mention, because they will all see it on here :-). And some knitted sheep and puppet theater for Baylee, my babysittee. And I still have to make some place mats for my sister-in-laws parents, because most of the material that I used for all of my sewing projects came from her grandmother, Grandma Frieda, who recently passed away. Wow, I am sorry for unloading all of that on you, but I apparently just really needed to get it all out there for myself. Ahhh, big sigh of relief. I am really glad that I did it, I just started too late and was too ambitious (such a nice way to say I was fool-hearted and unrealistic!), so it will be nice when I am done. I already have projects in mind for everyone for next Christmas, so I'm anxious to get started on them all! The problem will be to get them done before Christmas and keep my mouth shut, because I hate having to wait to give something to someone...

Whew, with that all said, I have more excuses as to why I haven't been blogging. I had so many blogs this past Autumn that I didn't get to that my mind is still stuck on those. The problem is that I have a hard time backtracking and writing about those things. My mind is in the present and it craves sharing events when they are happening, and I just can't seem to get myself back to the frame of mind I was in when I was forming those posts in my brain. Now, I am sure I can go back and share those events as memories, but what I want to do is finish my unfinshed tasks, and I will have to let go of those old thoughts and ideas to make a new post out of them. I'll work on that, I promise. It is NOT easy for me to do.

My next excuse is the unfortunate state that my camera is in. So many of my posts revolve around my pictures, but like a doof I left my camera sitting on the kitchen counter and accidentally caught the strap and knocked it off onto the floor, directly onto the lens. So my best lens is not auto-focusing at all, and it makes my sick to my stomach to even think about it. I will be calling the company I got the camera from and inquiring about that extra warrenty I purchased, and hopefully will get my lens fixed. But today, I decided to stop fighting the lens and stuck on my good ol' 50 mm. I forgot what wonderful pictures it takes, and am delighted to dance around taking shots of the kids again without cursing my blurring manual focussing. So I think that will help me pull out of this un-blogging time.

My only UNexcuse is that my bloggers block is NOT the result of winter! I refuse to let winter take me down the way it usually does. I am normally in a huge slump for the winter months, but I have been working through that this year. I always felt like I was not a winter person, but in truth I am. I love the crispness of the air, the feeling of the sun at its winter angle on my face, and my kod's rosey cheeks and rudolph noses. I love hot tea, fuzzy slippers and cuddling up on the couch with a warm blanket and a snuggle-buddy, be they husband or offspring. I just have a tendancy toward hibernation, which brings me down, but so far this winter we have taken many bundled-up cold-weather walks, played more times in the snow than any other year, and will be taking winter hikes with friends as soon as Maxwell gets his winter hiking boots made by the wonderful Kaboogie on Etsy. And finally I feel like I love winter. It is a beautiful season, and I mean to enjoy it to the fullest. So that is definitely NOT a reason for my bloggers block.

So I am finally to the point where I feel like I can start improving on my bloggers block. But here's the thing -I started this post a week ago. Yup, an entire week ago. Granted, I am still finishing Christmas gifts. Maybe once they are done I can get on more of a schedule. But I just can't promise anything. Partly because I have a little terror of a one-year-old who seems to insist on getting himself into something he shouldn't be into every minute or two. Of course, I love every minute of it, but it keeps me on my toes, and hopping up from the computer in the middle of posts. I'll leave you now with some wonderfully RECENT pictures of our fun with some straight-from-a-tree-in-FL oranges given to us by a client of Adam's. Oooo, were they delicious. So juicy and ripe you couldn't even peel them, which meant perfect orange-smile slices.

Max thought it was really funny, giving us his hearty party laugh that he's perfected lately.

Okay, maybe it's just me as his Mama, but can't you just see, from the little side of his face here, how hugely he is smiling?

And it made me realize, as Bella repeatedly shoved the rind in her mouth to dramatically spit it out with proper sound effects, that my girl has her Papa's roomy mouth.

Oh, I know he'll just love me for this... "Honey, look, when she shoves that rind in it reminds me of your monkey face! She has your mouth... Come on, give me that monkey face. PLEEEEEASE?"

I take the shot, and he says, "Did I give you a good 'I can't believe you're making me do this' look?" Yes dear, you did. It is just perfect.

Autumn Revisited: Theme Mud

2008-12-27T20:31:00.009-05:00

There are so many pictures and stories that I didn't get around to this autumn, so I am going to spend some time revisiting them now. Being outside all day today, just two days after Christmas, in 70 degree weather, has me itching to share those recent memories. One of the themes of autumn for us was mud, glorious mud. There were days spent with friends, painting playhouses a muddy brown,...

mud jumping that can't be beat,...

hikes that ended in muddy puddle-jumping bliss,...

and hikes that started with mud pies.
And don't feel too badly about Maxwell being left out of the fun. Although he has tried to join in...

I did make him sit out the mud fun, because I knew he would eat handfulls of it and get it in his eyes. But I did let him have some tastes of sand...

and rocks from time to time.

We love mud. It is good for the skin as well as the soul. My kids have always been drawn to dirt, as I think all kids are. And I for one can't wait for spring so I can get my hands into my garden soil again. I love the smell of soil, fresh, crisp earth, in my hands. I can close my eyes and smell it now. So for us, dirt and mud is a regular, and I'm sure there will be more muddy madness to come, especially this spring. I hope everyone having warm weather today was able to enjoy it, and I will follow this with some pictures of Christmas festivities soon. We are still celebrating, as we won't have Christmas with Adam's family until New Year's day, which means I am off to finish more hand-made presents. Oh, and a happy, happy birthday to my wonderful brother. Here is an original poem written just for you:

Roses are red

Old antlers are white

Your birthday was so nice

You should have flown a kite

Quickly, Quickly!

2008-12-18T15:50:00.006-05:00

Quickly, while two children are slumbering and two are on their way to their Nan and Pap's house. Quickly, while quiet can be heard beyond the sound of clothes tumbling in the dryer. Quickly, between knitting and sewing, sewing and knitting, wearing my fingers raw to make this Christmas special. Quickly, while my mind is taking a break from the overwhelming task of keeping house along with making every present given by us this year. Quickly, because even when I'm relaxing, it has to happen quickly. Quickly... I have a story to tell you. It's a story of a little girl who is becoming very big. A little girl who planned our menu for lunch yesterday and sent me off to the store in the morning to get her supplies. She reads off ingredients from her Buddy's No-Cook Cook Book, passed down to us from her Uncle Jesse, telling me what we'll have for lunch and dessert. It's Sailboat Sandwiches and Fresh Fruit-On-A-Stick this day, all modified slightly to incorporate our complex diet restrictions. Sailboat Sandwiches on brown rice bread, with cucumber walls filled with tuna salad (her brother's made with yogurt because he doesn't like mayo) and a celery stick sail.

Fresh Fruit-On-A-Stick, dipped in orange juice and rolled in coconut.

Yummm. This story will continue, when, after the Christmas madness, this little big girl starts to plan the menu for her Happy New Year friends and family party, which will be completely orchestrated by her, Bella the Great, Bella the Glorious Princess, Bella the Bella. My Bella, my girl, my daughter, my tempo, the beat to which I live my life.

One year...

2008-12-09T23:03:00.001-05:00

...can do soooo much. I look back on the first pictures of Maxwell, born a chilly December 13th of last year, and am at a loss for words.

Tiny, I know, but I can't find the disc, and these were copied from my Flickr site. These three pics courtesy of my dear friend Megan who photographed Maxwell's birth.

Is that really my baby only one year ago? It is amazing to me what growth happens in the first year of life. Yet, was it really only one year ago that he was born? I know that seems contradictory, but I try to remember what life was like without him, and I can't. From an early age, he has secured his place in our family as the class clown. He feeds off of making his brother and sister laugh, continuing whatever goofiness it is for as long as they will laugh at it. One year ago he was still a mass of flailing, bladder-assaulting arms and head making my stomach have a life of its own. I worried (not much, just a little) that he never seemed to move his legs when he was busy kneading my organs with his crazy hands. Then he was born to us in our bathroom, after 7 hours of labor in my bathtub, a flailing, wailing, slippery bundle of perfect boy. He had his Papa's cowlick, his Pap's dimple chin, and a head full of soft, silky down.

He pulled his knees up under him, curled himself up and didn't move his legs unless he had to. Then I no longer worried about those legs - they could move, he just didn't WANT to move them. He nursed like a hungry pup, all whines, grunts and gulps, slept like a champ and mellowed me out, making me a more tolerant and patient mother.

I know that over the months he slowly changed. I remember noticing it as it happened. But it happened so subtly that it ran away from me, tricked me into thinking the change was slight. Now I look at my son, who will turn one in 4 days, and I can't believe my eyes. He wakes from his naps yelling "MAMA!" at the top of his lungs. He happily sits on the potty in the morning and after meals and naps, rarely making me change a dirty diaper. He says Bella, plain as day, Papa, Pap, Blanky, DogDog, Woof, CatCat, Gigi, Kane, Fishy and tries his hardest at Water. He walks everywhere, stumbles, falls, picks himself up and walks some more. No crawling any more for this big boy. He spends 15 minutes straight trying to get a lid on the container it fits on.
He clears every reachable surface with one swift sweep of the hand. He loves the outdoors, and gets very angry when I walk outside with him and do NOT put him down on the ground. He loves animals, especially dogs, more than I can express.He is a joy, a treasure, and I can't believe that we ever lived without him. From the moment he was two cells, his DNA ensured that he would be human, and that no other individual would ever be the same as him. I thank God for sending his preciousness into our lives, and I can't wait to see what the following years bring for him. He truely is our blessing. Happy first year, my precious Maxwell, may your following years bring you faith, love, humility, and compasion. Mama loves you.

A Story of a Turtle

2008-12-06T22:25:00.000-05:00

I was at my parents' house at the end of October when I got a call from Adam, on the road for business. "I have a turtle in my car," he says. Knowing that I have my husband well educated in the plight of the box turtle to survive the human race, I immediately asked what was wrong with the turtle. He informed me that he had stopped to move the turtle across the road (oh, how I love my husband), but when he picked it up he noticed blood.

He (and what a big, beautiful HE he was - feast your eyes on that super vibrant orange!) didn't seem to be injured badly, but with cold weather approaching and getting details over the phone, we decided it best for the turtle to come home with Adam, an hour and a half from his home, to get assessed properly. I have my connections, and if he were in need of some rehab he would go to my wonderful, dear friend Julie Zickefoose, or my equally wonderful, dear college professor Dave McShaffrey for help. When I got home, I assessed his injuries to find that he had been nicked by a tire on the front of his shell, which caused a break between the gular scutes on the plastron, or bottom of the shell. He had a nice fat tail, which is a good thing for turtles, bright eyes, and was making it very clear that he wanted to be digging in the ground for the winter! I cleaned him up and called Julie to ask if he could make his home on her property. Should we hibernate him? Dig him in? Take him back? We talked it over and arranged a time for him to go to her. We took a second to take some good pictures of him, then packed him up for the trip to meet Julie.

Max is my animal baby, and was completely enthralled with this thing in the box. Yeah, Turtle! Mama, I want to chew on the turtle! Can I, please?!
Julie contacted a turtle rehab expert that she knows to get specific instructions on digging him in for winter. That is where our plans for Mr. Turtle got a little crazy. The rehab expert made it very clear to us that he really needed to go back to where he was found. You see, turtles are very dependent on their home habitat site, and if he were to dig himself out on a warm day in mid-November, he would have no idea where he was and would most likely die not being able to find his normal hibernarium spots. So, back to our house Mr. Turtle came, and one fine Sunday we made the hour and a half trip BACK to his point of "rescue." Eih, this turtle was SO ready to go home. It was due to be a warmer night, and it was very clear that he was NOT going to stay in if I dug his hibernarium for him, so we placed him on the hillside in the direction he was heading when Adam found him and said our good-byes. And he scrambled away as fast as he could move. Fairwell, beautiful Papa Turtle. Go forth, heal, hibernate and live another year. And PLEASE wake up next spring ready to find yourself a Mama Turtle to make some babies with, because we need more of you in this world!

And to all reading this, the next time you pass that turtle on the highway, PLEASE consider stopping and offering him safe passage across the road, and NEVER stick him in the car and bring him home. Leave him in his home, where he belongs, so he can make baby turtles and our next generation can know what a box turtle is by seeing one somewhere other than on the pages of a book.

Photoshoot, Take Four

2008-11-24T00:15:00.001-05:00

This will be the last of my photo shoot posts. After the shoot in my last post for my friend Judy, I made a stop home to nurse my littlest and ran back out to meet my friend Crysta and her family. I have to admit I was a little nervous about this one. I had never tried to photograph a family as large as hers before. There are 8 in her family (although the oldest couldn't make it), nine if you include our best doggy buddy Luci who we dog sit when Crysta is away. But in the end I got a couple of good family shots and learned something new. I have a new favorite subject to photograph, and it's the male gender! Who'da thunk it. I have taken lots of photos of women and children, and it's usually quite easy, because they are emotional beings who wear there hearts on there sleeve. Not so with the gentlemen. So it is ever so gratifying to nab a shot of a man, be he grown or adolescent, that shows his true spirit, some raw emotion, because they hide that so well. But in a photograph there soul shows through more blatantly than I would have expected, and I love it. Oh, and a disclaimer: I edit my photos, usually having a natural coloration, a more antique coloration, and a black and white for each picture. Adam does NOT like the antique, he says it just looks like it was improperly exposed and it is washed out. I love it, I think it adds so much depth and character to the photo. I just didn't want anyone to think that I just took the picture wrong :-). Oh, and this post has a ton of pictures, because I wanted to include individual pics of everyone. All of the photos are on my Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/naturemama/sets/72157609841407645/

Photoshoot, Take Three

2008-11-15T20:30:00.008-05:00

Okay, now for the third installment of my recent photo shoots. These were taken on Sunday the 26th of October. I ran down to my friend Judy's to do some photos of her and her family. I am having such a hard time chosing a small number of photos to put in these posts! There are just so many I love of each family, but here are my favorites of Wayne, Judy, Regan and Aidan!

There simply are way too many good ones! I'll stop adding here, but if you would like to see the full set, just check out my flickr site set of the entire photo shoot: http://www.flickr.com/photos/naturemama/sets/72157608760566975/. I should have done the same with yesterdays, so here is a link to Shayla's family photos, also: http://www.flickr.com/photos/naturemama/sets/72157609159096716/. Tomorrow we'll tackle the Bourdon family photos!

Photoshoot, Take Two

2008-11-14T20:56:00.015-05:00

My good friend Shayla wanted some family pics for her Christmas cards this year, but she just wanted to be able to have them on disc to print herself. Enter me and my Canon Rebel XTi! I took tons of shots of her and her family, put them directly on to her computer, and gave her a copyright release form. It felt good to take tons of pictures of her family and provide her with all of those pictures - no set number, no set package, no set number of poses (my least favorite part about professional photographers). The following weekend I did the same for two other friends, and I am considering making it a business next summer... We'll see what happens. I love taking pictures of people, especially when I can capture the essence of a person in a photograph. So here are some of my favorite pictures from my photoshoot with David, Shayla, Briella and Jenna.

Photoshoot, Take One

2008-11-14T00:44:00.000-05:00

This begins the first of my posts featuring my latest photo shoots. I will start with the photos I took of Baylee, the little girl I babysit, for her 2nd birthday. I took a couple of hours when she was here one day to take her outside and snap, oh, about one hundred pictures of her as a surprise for her mama, Christie. I can't believe she's two, and I wanted to commemorate that for Christie with some good pictures. We really had tons of fun, and I wanted to share some of them with you all. I have three other recent photo shoots that I will post next, if I can manage to chose favorite photos to post - I love them all! But I should have time to get to that now, since Dear Husband has stepped out of management (YEAH!) and is home for more than 12 waking hours a week now! I can't even begin to put our enthusiasm into words here. It is so nice to have him back, here to spend time with us for more than just that one day a week. Max hasn't let him out of sight or touch the last two mornings that he has been home, and of course Bella and Kane are making up for lost time. And I have been CLEANING, because I can without interuption! So, here are those pictures I promised before going off on that tangent, and I should have more up within the next couple of days, because I'll have time to with ADAM HOME!

Woah, October!!!

2008-10-31T16:43:00.006-04:00

Where did you go? Today, your last day, the eve of November, is a sad day for me. I will miss you, sweet October. I will miss your warmth, your autumnal cool, the angle of your sun, your brilliant color, your crisp scent with the sound of your fallen leaves underfoot.

We will miss you, but we have used you to the fullest, with long afternoon walks, bike rides on the biking trail, hikes through your deciduous splendor, and much generally-dirty outside romping with wonderful friends.

And we gave you a grand send-off last night, with orange plastic pumpkins filled to the top, too heavy for the cold little hands of Fireworks and Spiderman to carry in the end, and Little Puppy snuggly wrapped up on Mama, fast asleep.

Glorious October, I hope that I have taken enough pictures of you to last me through the bleak, color-weak winter to come. I wish I could paint my ceiling clear October Blue and make my walls gleam with Maple, Sweet Gum, Sumac and Oak.

As I look back on the month, I realize I only completed two posts! Gasp! I apologize for my lack of blogger correspondence in this month. I will surely place the blame on my little men, since, between the two, from the time I put them to bed until the time I give up and retire with them, they have kept me jumping up out of my seat every half hour to get them back to sleep. And seeing as how after-bed-time is the time I use to jump into the web world, I must change my typical blogging time... So, I will now send off this post, full of overflowing love for all October has given us, and with wishes that you, too, have used its gifts to the fullest.

Chestnuts, Deer Droppings and Wandering Souls

2008-10-13T15:13:00.008-04:00

For us, autumn means, among other things, gathering chestnuts. And gathering chestnuts means dodging deer droppings. Deer love chestnuts. But they are not the only ones. The kids and I will gather chestnuts whenever we get the chance. There are many filled pockets, shirts, skirts, strollers, hats, and whatever else we happen to have on hand to stuff full of chestnuts. Sweet, sweet chestnuts. Most years we hit up neighborhood trees in Marietta when we can find them. But this year we hit the jackpot.

In my hometown, there is the perfect chestnut-gathering spot. At the intersection of State Route 536 and Bear's Run Road lies the Kasserman property. It is my favorite property in my hometown. There are two brick houses that sit near the road, one of which was unfortunately gutted by fire years ago. Near the main house there are mountain laurel and rhododendron bushes, massive holly trees and perennial gardens to die for. Behind the houses are wide, lush fields, several old, weathered barns, rock gardens, mulberry trees, persimmons, and a plethora of chestnut trees. I believe I counted 7.

This past week my dad was on vacation. My dad doesn't "vacation" during his time off from work. He intends to enjoy that time, and for him, leaving home and traveling is not enjoyable, so to speak. What he prefers is to stay home and be surrounded by his loved ones. So my dad's vacation week always involves my children coming to stay for at least part of the week. Max and I even stayed for a few days this time. So there was plenty of time for leisure, and for my family that includes long walks to do things such as gather chestnuts. This year the chestnuts were definitely plentiful, wouldn't you say?

And there are even more where those came from! The trees were still loaded down.

The pickings weren't slim by any means, but there were a few less than one would have imagined looking at the thorny hulls covering the trees and empty on the ground. But it was quite evident who got to the chestnuts first by the large piles of droppings found every other step under the trees. Yes, the deer do love sweet chestnuts.

"EWWW! Gross!!!" Bella exclaims as I snap this photo. "You can't take a picture of deer poop! That's disgusting!" Then she wanders off to explore the expanse of fields on her own. Yes, even as much as I have raised her in nature, she is still a little girl in so many stereotypical ways. I should have mentioned to her that at the age of 2 I had her outside in the late autumn, rummaging through deer poop with a stick to get hold of one of the seeds that the deer were depositing all over my yard. We planted one to see if it would grow. I wanted to know what those deer loved so much. Now, thanks to the fantabulous Julie Zick, I know just what that seed would have turned into, had it grown. We would have had a glorious Paw Paw tree on our hands now. I should have tried more seeds...

Sometimes it doesn't matter if you raise them sorting through deer poop, eventually they will think it is gross. And along with those stereotypical girl genes, there are others that come from the paternal side of her heritage. I am a homebody, yet even as much of a homebody as I am, I do believe my little girl has a wandering spirit like her father. While I am wanting to get out of our in-town house and move to the country, settle down and have a big garden, plant an orchard, get some chickens, my husband is calling me up out of the blue asking what it would take for us to sell all we own and buy an RV to travel the country, only stopping for odd jobs when we need more money. His wanderlust is setting in. And it was after our time at Nan and Pap's that I realized my girl is the same as her Papa. With the hundreds of pictures that I took, I only had a handful of Bella. From our chestnut-gathering walk, I have many photos of Kane, stuffing his pockets and hat.

I have pictures of Max as he spent the time, snuggled in the wrap with his Pap.

But of Bella, I have a single picture of her and her Nan...

before she wandered off on her own to explore.

And the same goes for most everything else that we did that week. My girl has a wandering spirit, and although it breaks my heart, I know that someday it will probably take her farther away from me than I would like, at least geographically. Which makes it even more important to work my hardest now to strengthen the bond between us that won't let the miles get in our way in the future. Then, when she is older, just maybe she will feel a pull in autumn to travel home to me, just to gather chestnuts, dodge deer droppings, and rest her wandering soul.

Apple Daze

2008-10-09T11:30:00.000-04:00

I have been working on this post for probably two weeks now. I couldn't get the pictures to upload for some reason, but I have finally managed to get it together by adding one picture at a time. It is a little outdated, but I still wanted to share it with you as I had it prepared before.

As I head off to sort and cut and crock-pot the last of my apples gathered at a friend's Apple Cider Party and turn them into dark, delicious, glorious apple butter, I thought I would share with you some pictures from our wonderful day under the apple trees. It was hot but breezy (thanks to Ike), and the day was spent gathering, sorting, cutting, pressing and juicing apples. It was tons of fun, and more Food for my Soul. There was also a hayride, which the kids loved.

Okay, and I loved it, too...

While Adam and Kane were cidering...

Max and I were gathering apples...
At which time I handed the hubby the camera and said, "Here, please take a picture of your wife toting your son around on her back picking apples." Sometimes you just have to take matters into your own hands. So these photos are courtesy of Adam!

Check it out! My big ol' box of apples, gathered with Max happily strapped on my back. My legs were sore for a week.

The beatifully rich cider flowed from the big old press and the smell was heavenly.

There was a wonderful Great Dane as well, which had the kids and me in doggy heaven. We ate by Dauncey, played with Dauncey, got kisses from Dauncey, and rolled around on Dauncey all day.

Max was especially enamored. He loves him some big ol' dawgs. Get um dawgs, Masswhale. Get um dawgs.

Needless to say, we had a wonderfully glorious time. Now comes the quite enjoyable part of the harvest, which is turning those apples into something that will last all winter. My primitive hunter-gatherer brain is happy, as it has been desparate to put away for this coming winter.

Headshots!

2008-09-25T12:00:00.002-04:00

After Bella's birthday bash, I took advantage of the soft evening light and took headshots for my brother-in-law, Lucian, and his girl, Stephanie. They are both attending Wright State University for acting and needed updated headshots. It was very refreshing to get out there and use my camera and my skill for someone other than my kids. And Stephanie was the first person I ever photographed whom I didn't really know. So I thought I would share with you some of my favorite shots. I'm still playing around with some, using my software to sharpen them up. I may come back later with some in black and white and other such alterations. For now, I just wanted to share with you my first experience taking headshots! Hopefully not my last. It was fun learning beforehand what is required for headshots, and playing around with angles, background and lighting. Of course, as always, having good subjects makes a huge difference! Thank you, Lucian and Stephanie, for letting me take your photos. You made my "job" easy!

Max And The Evil Pineapple

2008-09-24T23:11:00.003-04:00

Apparently, at Bella's birthday party, Uncle Bubby (who is my brother, Eric) fed quite a bit of pineapple to Maxwell. And Max kept wanting more and more. I saw my brother take about 10 trips from the living room to the kitchen and back again, getting pineapple for Max. So later in the kitchen, Max was getting restless, and I offered him a bite of pineapple. And this is what happened. Hmmm, there were two pineapples cut up for the party. Maybe the one that Eric was giving him was a little less sour? I tried several bites, thinking maybe it was a fluke the first time. But no, this is what happened each and every time. I got my pictures, then I tortured him no more. I haven't laughed so hard in awhile. Of course, the pictures don't do it proper justice, but I'm sure you get the idea... There was a lot of flailing of hands all over the face and head, eyebrows raised, watering eyes, etc. Poor baby. The things grown-ups will do for a good laugh.

She's 5!

2008-09-23T22:21:00.003-04:00

It is official. My little girl is 5. Her big day was this past Sunday, and what a party she had. She wanted a hula party, which was tons of fun. We always make everything ourselves, so for the invitations I drew a hula dancer and we found a great web site that taught us the proper words to invite all the family in Hawaiian. It is such an interesting language, and it was fun to learn some key words for the party. For once I didn't overdo the activities, so all were able to relax and have fun and play. The majority spent a lot of time outside, during which time my Mom and I were inside making grass skirts out of green duct tape and streamers (trust me, EVERYONE had to have a grass skirt). But we heard how much fun everyone was having, and peaked out the kitchen windows from time to time to see all of the big "kids" teaching the little kids how to really do the trampoline. I think Adam's back is still sore.

I found a good Hawaiian cake recipe, topped with pineapple and cream frosting, which was quite yummy, and we decorated it with pretty flowers. Can you believe there was not a hula girl to be found here in Marietta? What happened to the hula girl on the dash board of the car? I checked all the automotive departments. Nothing. Apparently all the hula girls have evolved into a smelly palm tree that hangs from the rear-view mirror. "Maybe in spring," said the lady at the craft store while looking at me as though I had lost my mind, "but we're selling Christmas decorations now." Which makes a lot of sense to me... Because nothing says riding out the end of summer in style than stocking up on Christmas decorations in September. Why is everyone in such a hurry to get rid of summer? I, personally, am not ready to let it go yet.

We nibbled on fresh pineapple, papaya and coconut all day to top off the hawaiian feast. And of course, we sang happy birthday, or should I say "Hau`oli la Hanau," to Bella, who then blew out her 5 candles like a pro.

Everyone gathered round to sing and wait for cake and ice cream in their grass skirts.

Yes, I know, Pap didn't get a grass skirt, and neither did Maxwell. You would be surprised how much streamer it takes to make that many grass skirts, and I underestimated. There was enough left for Max, but we assumed he would just eat it if we gave him one. Uncle Bubby and Buck wore theirs on their heads.

Bella received a slew of great gifts. Here is my monkey, using her feet to hold the chimp that I got for her while she opened it. You have to spread the toes just so to hold a present up.
And the day was a hit simply because nothing can make a Mama happier than to see her daughter with this look on her face.

She did this every time she opened a gift. I love it. So my girl is 5, and I'm okay with it. She is becoming her own self more and more all the time, and I am loving getting to know who she is and will be. She is a remarkable daughter, a wonderful big sister, and she is my little best friend.

I've been tagged

2008-09-12T22:00:00.000-04:00

I have been tagged by a friend with a 100 Things meme (just a list of 100 random things about me). I have been working on the list for awhile now, but there's no way I'm getting to 100 any time soon. So I'm starting out here, and will add to it in the future.

1. I always sit at my computer with my left leg hiked up, resting against the arm of our computer chair. My leg has a permanent indent on the side of my left shin to prove it.

2. Music affects my mood greatly. When down, all I need to do is put on some music to lift my spirits. Problem is, sometimes I forget this, but it always comes back to me when I need it most.

3. I desperately want to move away from town, and soon! Adam and I are both wanting some land under our feet again!

4. I love to sing. Sure, I can carry a tune alright, but I don't have a trained voice or anything spectacular to claim. But I LOVE to sing.

5. I love my family. I don't think I could survive living any farther away from MY family (Mom, Dad, brother and fam) than I already do, which is 1 hour. I also would NOT want to live any farther from Adam's family. Right now we're 2 hours from them, and it's too much, because I love them, too. If it were up to Adam, we'd probably live in CA or someplace else out west. He's a bit less rooted.

6. I don't watch Max as closely as I watched Bella or Kane. I cloth diaper, and the other day, when putting my dipes in the wash, I opened a dirty one and found a sticker Max had eaten: GOOD JOB! it told me, as if I needed reaffirmation.

7. I practiced EC (elimination communication) with Kane, and he was in undies by the age of 2. I have been working with Max a little here and there, just to get both of us used to each other's cues, and several mornings ago he had his first poo in the potty. Yeah, Max!

8. I am quite obsessed with my camera right now. I've had my Canon Rebel XTi for 4 months, and am nutty about learning all of the functions and what I can do with it. Check out my pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/naturemama/ .

. I have a folder with all of the photos I have taken since I got my camera (minus, of course, any not worthy of transferring to the computer). I checked it, and it contains 2, 141 files... Whoa.

10. I used to be really organized about my pictures, labelling and putting in albums with each roll of film developed. Since Max has come along, I have huge stacks of pictures on top of my piano that aren't labelled, and I have no albums to put them into right now... I really need to get on that. The plus is that my computer tells me what day I took each picture :-). That makes it a bit easier!

11. Right now, I have a big red lump on the bridge of my nose, thanks to Max and his quickness of hand. Dollhouse bookshelves can be dangerous weapons.

12. The kids and I are hooked on America's Got Talent. I know, pathetic. We watch very little TV, but this is one thing that I don't mind they watch, other than movies we own, because I can watch with them, and they get all excited about what instruments they want to play when the grow up and all that jazz. Many of the stories are inspirational, and I make sure they don't see anything they shouldn't.

13. Right now I am listening to the announcer for the Marietta College Pioneer baseball team out my window. And someone was just talking in their sleep...

14. Bella is having a hula birthday party this year. We found a great website that allowed us to do her invitations in Hawaiian, and we're going to try to learn some words/phrases for the big day. I am loving Hawaiian. What a beautiful (and simple) language!

15. I have spent the last two days spending some much needed time with my friends, and it has rejuvenated me. I am going to post this and go clean my kitchen!!! I love my friends!

We Had A Weekend!

2008-09-09T13:16:00.007-04:00

This weekend was the annual Sternwheel Festival here in historic downtown Marietta, OH. People come from all over the country to join in the festivities. The downtown area streets are closed off, and people by the thousands peruse the local shops, eat entirely too much of your typical street-fair delicacies, cheer on the participants of the boat races, and dance to the music played atop a barge in the mighty Ohio River. The smell of hot grease and kettle corn fill the air.

Saturday evening there is always the grandest fireworks display that this area ever sees. And it was 6 years ago, on that Saturday of the Sternwheel Festival, that Adam and I exchanged vows in the beautiful St. Mary Catholic Church. The fireworks were the best cap to the evening then, and now bring a sense of nostalgia for us each year. It is a wonderful way to celebrate our anniversary.

This Saturday, Adam came home at 6 pm from work (YEAH!). We had dinner here - yeah, no junky deep-fried grease balls for us - and packed the kids in the car to head downtown. We made our way through the crazy crowds to get some kettle corn and talked to some friends on the way. To my delight, there was a booth selling kettle corn to benefit the Humane Society, and to Bella's delight, she got to munch on some as a rare treat (her food allergies keep her from corn products). On our way to the Harmar Walking Bridge over the Muskingum River to watch the fireworks, with Max sound asleep in the wrap, a good-humored lady stopped us and said, "I was going to say, you are REALLY pregnant, and it's legs are hanging out!!!" One of the funniest comments I've had on the wrap. The fireworks were spectacular, and watching them from the walking bridge framed by the old railroad bridge was an added bonus. If I could have only had my camera and tripod...

Sunday we went to mass in the a.m., had a hearty lunch, and headed back to the festival. We watched the Sternwheels race while eating ice cream by the river, and listened to some bands playing from the barge. I left Max with Adam and took Bella and Kane down to the dock to take some pictures of the boats. We went walking through the crowds looking at cars in the car show, played in the fountain, then headed for Muskingum Park to top off the day. Bella and Kane collected buckeyes with Adam, and Max ate some leaves (his favorite summer past-time).I went camera crazy, and took tons of pictures. We walked the bike trail some, stopped to visit friendly folk with friendly dogs, and set the timer on my camera (for the first time!) for our family picture. We ended the day with dinner at home and relaxation, along with early bed times for tired children! And of course, Colts football... It was a wonderful weekend, filled with hundreds of pictures, and I'm so happy to be able to share it with my friends and family right here! We had our first "weekend" in a long time, and it felt good.

Food For The Soul

2008-09-03T22:38:00.005-04:00

Sometimes there are days that we need to recover from. Maxwell and I are in recovery. Yesterday was especially our recovery day. We did a lot of sleeping and resting. We had a hectic Labor Day weekend expected, with parades, lunches, birthday parties, family reunions (etc., etc.) planned. Then Max's illness and 2 deaths added chaos to the already chaotic. Saturday was mad crazy running, and we even opted out of the lunch with Max fevered. Then we drove to Hannibal to attend the viewing for my sister-in-laws wonderful grandmother, who passed away Thursday evening. What a dear, wonderful, powerfully strong woman she was. She will be deeply missed.

Sunday was our family get-together for my dad's side of the family. I look forward to this day all year long. I love my family, and can't wait to catch up with them and spend a relaxing day eating good food, playing games, and talking, talking, talking. This year wasn't quite as relaxing, with Max still fevered. The poor little guy was dragged along through all of it. I guess that comes along with being the third child, but it still makes me feel bad. He would only let me and my dad hold him, and was just miserable.

Monday came with viewings for my Uncle Bobby, and his funeral Tuesday morning. Technically he was my great uncle, but with my mom being an only child, he was just as an uncle to me. There are so many fond memories of him for all of his nieces and nephews, and great nieces and nephews. It was a sad day. And of course, through it all, Max still felt terrible. So Tuesday, Max and I left Bella and Kane with Nan and Pap and headed home for some time by ourselves. On the way we were going to stop at my cousin's house to see her new Koi pond, and I decided to take the scenic route. Having spent so many days reminiscing about growing up, I wanted to drive OH SR 536, one of my favorite roads to drive in my hometown. It was by no means a short-cut to my cousin's. In fact, it was more like a long-cut. But it was food for the soul that I was after, for once not worrying about miles, gas and cost. I needed the drive to refresh my spirit, to have some quiet time, with Max snoozing behind me, to reflect on the weekend and it's happenings. I was tired, worn and hungry. Hungry for times simpler, and a connection to my heritage. So I drove, stopping here and there to snap a picture, to the complaints of Max, who likes his cars moving, not stationary.

Muggy summer vistas, pastures, round bails, winding roads, old barns, heifers, horses... These are the things that make my soul sing. The pictures are by no means my best. But I wanted to share with you these things that can fill an emptiness for me. I would love to hear what can do this for you - what takes you back to your youth and brings you closer to your core. Feel free to share them with us by commenting on this post. I hope you have some quiet time to reconnect with your soul sometime soon.

My Helper

2008-08-23T22:49:00.006-04:00

My Kane is now 3, and loves to help with chores. I cloth diaper the youngest of our crew, and I use pocket diapers. Which means ever other day or so, I wash all of the diapers, then have to stuff the liners in the covers as well as fold the "wipes," which in our house are white wash cloths. A few weeks ago, Kane and I were sick, so Bella went to stay with Pap and Nanny for a few days. Max was playing, waiting for a diaper to be stuffed for his bare buns, and Kane was helping me sort covers and liners so I could do just that. He quickly tired of sorting those, mostly because I couldn't stuff them as fast as he was handing them to me, and decided to try his hand at folding wipes. "I can do it" are his favorite words, my little independent soul. I watched as he gently picked up the wipe and held it under his chin. He then pulled the bottom edge up to the top.

He carefully grabbed the ends and let it out from under his chin...

...folding it in half once more. Then he simply put it on the pile of wipes, looked at me with a heart-warming grin, said, "See? I told you I can do it!" and grabbed another wipe. At which time I grabbed my camera and, while greatly praising him for a job well done, asked if I could take pictures of his accomplishment. While snapping these photos, I marveled over the fact that my little guy had never folded anything before. But of course he is ever watching all that I do. And it made me realize how important all my actions are. Not just towel-folding, of course, but many more important things. With the weight of Adam's demanding schedule, my stress levels have gone up and my patience has gone down. This has made for a grumpy Mama, and I can see it effecting my kids. They are snappy with each other, and I cannot blame them, because I am teaching them to be that way. A quick-tempered, low-patience attitude only breeds grouchy, quick-tempered, low-patience children. I know that I have to turn this train around soon before it jumps completely off the tracks... But recognition of a problem is half of the battle to solving it.

So today, with all of the kids walking past our house to go to school, we went home-school shopping and stocked up on work books, pencils and erasers, markers, and other fun things. Like white wrapping paper to feet-paint on. I might have to dive in and participate in that one. How fun will it be to dip our feet in paint and walk around making art??? These things that occupy their minds always make for happier children. And we are on a only-one-Veggie-Tale-a-day week. I am striving to head down the right path with them again. And as #3 wakes up, I will go exercise my patience and tolerance in getting my teething babe back to sleep before #2 wakes up!

Comments

2008-08-22T10:12:00.003-04:00

Mom asked the other day how to leave comments, and I wanted to let everyone know that I have made sure that my settings are saved this time so anyone can leave a comment. Now all you have to do is click on the comment button at the bottom of the post, type in your comment, and then choose the Name/URL button, and type in your name. You can all leave comments now, not just registered blogger users. And I always love receiving comments, of course. It makes me happy to know that friends and family are reading my posts and keeping up with our family in a time when it seems we don't have time to keep up with anyone!!!

Thanks! Now I am going to go nap!! Max and I came down with colds, so while he takes his (short but sweet) nap, I better rest up for the rest of the day. TTFN (for those who don't know Pooh, that's Tigger for Ta Ta For Now)!

Off Days

2008-08-20T15:33:00.004-04:00

Do you ever have one of those "off days?" Oh, I'm sure you do. Everyone has them now and again. Every time you turn around something seems a little off, and no matter what you do, you just can't pull yourself out of the funk you've fallen into. I am operating on the day-after down of one of those off days. These are never fun. Yesterday started hopeful, and ended hopeful, but everything in between just went to pot. We started the day with a good breakfast at the dining room table and a big fat list of things to do. I really thought that with our positive, early start and my head on straight I could get most of that list accomplished and have our house livable again by bed time - food in the cupboards, dishes and clothes washed and put in their places, errands ran, dog (that we are dog-sitting) de-flea-ed, and promises to friends and family fulfilled. All done, hopefully, with smiles on our faces and happy good-night wishes at the end of the day. Instead of a timely departure,it unfolded like this: Diapers in the washer - check. Checks for depositing in my purse - check. Suit to take to the dry cleaners - check. Pictures to send to the great-grandmothers - check. Shoes on the kids - check. I better grab a spit rag, just in case. Oooo, smoke coming from the washer. This is NOT on my list!!! Grab the fire extinguisher, just in case (although it wasn't on fire)...

And that pretty much set the tone for the rest of the day. Those checks were NOT in my purse, but in the pocket of the shorts I had taken off. There's an extra trip home I hadn't planned. Those pictures took half an hour in line at the post office to mail, during which my kids had to be separated and standing in corners half of the time. And of course, those dirty diapers, which had just started their wash cycle, had to be fished out of the washer by hand and rung out to take to a friend's house to wash. But by the time the evening was over, we had all eaten a healthy helping of spaghetti and shared a wonderful evening with friends, complete with a birthday party for little Libby's wonderful (only slightly invisible) friend, DahDah - her cat Oof had to stay home and couldn't join us. And sometimes, just maybe, the Good Lord knows what a person needs, because when Adam got home he fiddled with the washer and got all that poopy water to drain right out of it. Thank goodness I didn't have to dip it out by hand... I haven't tried to run it yet today (it still smelled a bit of burned rubber when it was draining), but maybe a prayer will have been answered and my ancient washer will work just fine.

On after-off-day days, it takes me awhile to pull out of the left over funk. Especially when nap times don't go very smoothly, with 3-year-old tempers flaring, and I'm working with 4 hours of sleep (which is my average, but none the less, not much). Days like these call for playing with cranky teething babies, ignoring that laundry piled in clothes baskets, filling up on good left-over spaghetti, and cranking up Stevie Wonder good and loud - a little I Wish will even bring a smile to Max's face. And reminiscing a little doesn't hurt, either. Which brings me to leave you with some old favorite pictures of Kane and a wish that every broken washing machine in your life brings you to friendly fellowship and the quiet inner knowledge that God has it all in his hands.

Kane at 8 months. Megan said just yesterday as we left her house that Kane and Max are twins, they're just born 2 1/2 years apart.

Kane at 9 months. Mom tried to get an 8 x 10 made of this at Wal Mart, and they made her take the negatives to prove that it wasn't a professional pic.

Kane at 11 months, my 80's rocker child.

Kane at 1 year. Love those baby toes sticking out under his jeans. He still has the same expression when he concentrates on something.

Kane at 1 year, also. The crazy thing is that Maxwell wore this same outfit this summer at 8 months old. He may just outgrow his short stocky brother.

Funerals and Teeth

2008-08-15T14:52:00.009-04:00

Funerals and teeth seem to go hand and hand for my babies... At least for my boys. The last days of December in 2005 were the last days of life for my husband's paternal step-grandfather, best known as Paw Paw (or Great Paw Paw to our children). So the day that Kane turned 6 months, we were in Coal Grove, Ohio for Paw Paw's funeral. While staying with my husband's maternal Grandma, Kane decided to get curly hair, learn to crawl AND get his 2 first teeth in. This is the way Kane still tackles life. There is always that calm before the storm with him in all aspects of his milestones, be they emotional, physical or mental. Max has been a little more lax. Both Bella and Kane had teeth at 6 months, but Max just kept slowly working on them. For the last week or so he would pull away when I tried to check for one, and he was drooling fiercely, so I knew one was close. This past weekend we received word that Adam's paternal grandfather had passed away. Tappa had a short and hard battle with cancer and we knew the end was near. So Tuesday morning, the day before Max turned 8 months, we left for Wayne, WV for funeral services for Tappa. At the dinner that was held after the services, I thought to get a quick check in Max's mouth for that tooth, and sure enough, it had finally poked it jagged, sharp little head through his gums. So my baby boy now has his tooth. And we are less yet another great-grandparent for our children here on this earth. We want more kids, and this has me thinking that maybe we should wait quite awhile before we have another...

Our time after the funeral gatherings was spent at Adam's paternal grandmother's house, spending much needed time with his family. It had been way too long since we had visited Maw Maw, and we had the added bonus of spending quality time with the rest of Adam's immediate family without the thought of the normal hosting responsabilities. So instead of thinking of meals or cleaning, we were spending time together, chatting and laughing and playing with kids, and I was snapping pictures. I have tried to limit this post to as few favorite pics as possible. I feel like I'm jipping you, because there are many more wonderful pictures, but I won't bombard you this time.

I started by doing a little photo shoot of my niece, and ended up trying to capture a picture of each person there whom I never get to photograph. It was really nice. I have come to the recent realization that I need more photos of the important people in my life. I focus so much on taking pictures of the kids, but so little on the people that are important to them. One day those people will be gone, and I want my kids to look back and see in pictures how much those family members loved them, or how beautiful each and every one of them are. A picture can capture a moment, sure, but it can also capture a person. So it is my pleasure to leave you with pictures of Adam's family (minus his oldest brother and his wife, who weren't able to make it), each one whom I love dearly.

Miss Serena Monet, our niece, posing for the camera. She has always been a little model at heart.

Ree Ree and Bella, quite the pair.

Maw Maw (Gloria), reading to Bella.
Maw Maw and Maxwell. (There is no picture of her with Kane, because he was in need of some Chamomilla and was showing it in temper tantrums and standoffishness).

Lucian Michael, Adam's younger brother. As the future Star of Broadway is currently attending Wright State University, I have talked him into letting me do his new head shots. Aih, now I have to live up to his and my expectations of what I can do with this camera!

Gi Gi (Cecile) and Paw Paw (Ron), Adam's parents.

Paw Paw.

Gi Gi.

Adam, my darling husband.

Suzie, Serena's beautiful Mama, and Adam's little sister.

Paw Paw occupying Max as I ignored my children to take everyone's photo.

Jesse, Adam's youngest brother, in his element as the Soccer King. I am really proud of this shot.

Jesse, waiting for Maxwell to kick his soccer ball back to him (with a little help from Paw Paw). I love the warm evening backlighting on this pic.

Oh my, it's August!!

2008-08-02T10:41:00.004-04:00

And I haven't posted since July! Sad to say, we are just now all mended and well. After Bella broke her arm I was prepared for the inevitable "ER Virus" to take us all down, but I really wasn't expecting it to be as resilient and harsh as it was. Bella got it first, of course, as her little body was fighting so hard to heal her bone and her immune function was greatly diminished. It was ugly. There were 5 days of fever, followed by much snot, yet the worst of it was that she didn't ACT as though she was fevered. So there were 5 days of her obviously fighting this virus, and no extra sleeping or moping to pass the time. I had her in a tepid bath at one point to bring down the fever because it had peaked so high, and she was talking a mile a minute the entire time. So odd. And NOTHING that I hit it with helped (for those who don't know, we treat only homeopathically, and it usually works really well). Then Kane came down with it, on the evening of my wonderful friend Julie's birthday bash. After 2 hours there, and the party just really starting, Kane was lying on our blanket in the yard, fever steadily increasing, and we had to split. Bummer. I got it 3 days later, and he also gave me the conjunctivitis that he always seems to get when he's sick. His pink-eye went away quickly. Mine wasn't so nice. But he had many days with no sleep, because he could NOT move a single breath of air through his nose. And for some reason, my kids just won't breathe through their mouths while they sleep... But, now that we are all better, I'm just dying to get back to posting!

I have to share with you Maxwell's milestone now. My baby boy has officially joined the ranks of special, lucky babies who have eaten dried leaves and gagged on countless clovers and lived to tell the story. Here's how his exploration went:

Ooo, what's this over here?

Hey, look, it's grass!

This is tasty...

Let me try for something better.

Alright! A leaf!

I wonder if these are any good?

Mmmmmm!

Kinda' crunchy. I should bite a piece off and eat it. I know she just LOVES it when she finds mysterious undigested objects in my diaper the next day!

And this same day, he spent some time in his Jumperoo outside while Kane and I cleaned out the cars. I LOVE dirty, smelly, sweaty summertime babies. And this was just perfect. He had to get washed in the sink before bed, and I had to let the water out and run fresh to rinse him with because he was so filthy. I LOVE IT! There's nothing better than a filthy-stinking-dirty baby foot...

How Does My Garden Grow?

2008-07-24T19:17:00.006-04:00

Wonderfully, for having started it way late! A wonderful friend of mine passed a bunch of heirloom seeds off to me because she had a possible buyer for her house and didn't want to start a garden only to have to leave it. Of course, as things usually go, the buyer fell through and she is now staying in her gardenless house, although I have given her first dibs on all of my extra harvest! I am way behind, having planted a month or more late, but I'm getting my first small harvests, and it's exciting! I am super-duper proud of this garden for two reasons. One is that I am giving my family wonderful, fresh, organic produce straight from the ground it is grown in. You can't get much better than that. The second reason is that I just decided to grab the bull by the horns and do it, and I have done it successfully and kept it up very well. Adam was reluctant and doubtful about it, but I think I have really kept up to my end of the bargain. I put a lot of work into it, and made sure he didn't have to weed-eat around it, and it is all mine. There have been a couple of times that he willingly volunteered some help when he was out there with me, but I have really worked hard at making this garden something to be proud of.

Here is Bella holding our first Costata zucchini squash!

Here is a baby Costata that will be ready in a day or two !

Our pea plants didn't do well enough to produce an entire meal at once, but Bella just loves to pick a few when we're in the garden and shell them to eat her 6 peas!

Our butternut squash and lemon squash are, of course, taking over the entire garden. I love going down there and seeing how much they have growing and having to redirect their course each time they try to consume my carrots or beans. And I love this picture, because Bella uses her feet (and always has since babyhood) as a gorilla does, so she is pointing at and moving the flower with her foot.

I just adore the color of a butternut squash flower. A good friend told me once she could have a garden just for the beautiful flowers, never mind the wonderful harvest of fruits and veggies you get! I have to agree.

And I love getting to teach the kids the difference between the male and femal flowers. A garden is a wonderful teaching tool, from learning about basic botony, to worms, compost, and bugs, the kids have a living field experiment that we get to explore every day.

I also love the difference between the whopping butternut flowers with their deep schoolbus yellow and these dainty, sunny lemon squash flowers.

The kids even get to learn all about pests, like the beautiful eggs here that will turn into nasty squash bugs. The problem is that I just love bugs, so it's always hard for me to have to get rid of the pesty ones. But the thought of losing my Costata plant to a few measly bugs gives me the strength to do what I must.

And speaking of colors, check out the blooms on my scarlet runner beans. I love that they so perfectly match the orange construction caution fence that keeps my garden from being deer/bunny/woodchuck food.

You simply cannot be in the garden looking at these flowers and feel grouchy!

Photo Shoot

2008-07-23T19:30:00.008-04:00

For those who don't know, I finally (about 4 months ago) purchased my first digital camera. I know, I know, WAY behind the times. But I loved my Canon Rebel Ti film SLR, and I wasn't willing to part with it until I could UPGRADE. So many thought I was crazy for saying I wouldn't get a digital until I could get at least an 8 mega pixel. But I am serious about my photography, and wouldn't settle for anything that would give me a lesser-quality print than my film SLR. So I saved change, and babysitting money, and used a little tax refund, and got myself the camera that I have always wanted. My Canon Digital Rebel XTi is all I've ever wanted in a camera. The only thing it is lacking is that $5,000 lens that I dream about at night that would allow me to take those professional wildlife pictures :-). One day. One day...

Lately I have been diligently studying the Blue Crane DVD that came with my camera package and learning all those things that I always wanted to know about my other camera, but never took the time or the money in film wasted on bad pictures to find out. Oh, how I am loving this new phase of my photographic life! Today, while I had all 4 kids asleep for awhile at the same time (my three and Baylee, my babysittee), I sat and took detailed notes while watching the DVD. I also spent some time when they first went to sleep and just before snapping some photos with my new found knowledge of White Balance adjustment and ISO speed. Then after played with the TV and AV modes, adjusting the aperture and shutter speed. Ooh, so much fun. I have also been adjusting to setting the focal points manually and playing with angles and lighting... I thought I would share some of the photos that I took.

I just couldn't pass up Bella and the colors she had on today. Of course, we color coordinated with Pinkish the Cast, but the crisp white with the bright embroidery on the shirt, matched with the barrettes and the colors of the Calendula in our front flower bed were dreamy.

Then there was Maxwell - the color of his skin in the warm light coming through the kitchen window, perfectly highlighted by the honey maple floor and cabinets. Had to get some of that, too.

And of course, my Kaney, fast asleep in my bed, snuggled up close with Bear. Bear is pretty special. He looks nothing like he did when he was new :-), which makes him perfect. I just happen to have a bear with the same ring worn around his neck as Kane's bear has, from an arm being thrown over him night upon sleepy night for my entire childhood. Okay, I admit it, into adulthood...

I love this one, especially, because since he was little, I've always called his big ol' meaty feet and hands bear paws...

And of course, my Bella had to sleep, too. I like how Pinkish seems disconnected from her in this second picture, as if it's just something lying there beside her in bed, not the large, unmovable force that has taken over her arm. Speaking of, we went to the hospital again today to have a follow-up and with everything looking just fine, we go back in two weeks to have Pinkish the Cast removed. YEAH! I am grateful for the healing that her body is doing inside this thing, but will be so happy when we can get back to swimming and bathing normally!! August 6th, we patiently await thee...

Ode to Grandfathers

2008-07-20T18:05:00.005-04:00

I cannot say enough about grandfathers. They are the embodiment of unconditional love. It seeps through their pores and surrounds them like a glowing aura that grandchildren can feel in their core, and a camera can capture with a snap of a shutter. It is attached permanently to their souls, stitched on with a thread woven of their years of commitment to raising their children with an utmost care and solid determination. Their love is felt on a different plane than a father's love, because it is born not only of the God-given grace of grandchildren, but also of the pride of a daughter or son turned into a mother or a father. For them it is a love unlike any they have ever experienced before, and they cannot put into words how far it reaches. They may try - "I love you more than all the rain drops that fall from the sky" - but this truly does not touch its expanse.

A grandmother's love is no less, by any means, only expected - at least from a mother's point of view - because of the common bond of carrying and birthing a child. No less, just more maternal, instinctual, primal, and therefore taken advantage of. The love of a grandfather is unwavering, all-giving, and unexplainable, even by the greatest poets, to anyone who has never been blessed enough to be a grandfather himself. I, as a mother, cannot feel it, nor begin to grasp it in my soul as they do. One day I will hopefully know what it is to be a grandmother, but I will never see through my own eyes what it is to be a grandfather. I can only see it through the lens of my camera; in the glint in their eyes, the radiance of their smile, and the warmth of their heart as they gaze at their grandchildren. I am blessed by them and the love that they give, and I thank God that they grace the lives of my children.

Sleeping Beauty

2008-07-17T22:46:00.005-04:00

I had to take a quick moment to share some pictures of my sleeping beauty. Everyone here was feeling sub-par today. Kane is a bit of a sleep fighter, so with Max at the end of a cold and not sleeping well, and Bella fevered and needing extra attention, he didn't get the time he needed from me to fall asleep. So by 3:30 the poor guy just couldn't hold on any longer, and this is how I found him. I spent 10 minutes or so taking pictures, experimenting with my new-found knowledge of my camera functions (I'm finally studying up on the DVD tutorial that came with it), trying to get just the right shot. I finally got that shot, after messing with the white balance and changing the focal points, but I'm not including it here. The reason? I was standing on our TV stand, hanging over the TV taking some beautiful close-up shots when I noticed that he must have been messing with markers or somehow still have some blueberries from breakfast on his fingers. Strange... Then I picked him up to lay him down on the couch, and four lovely-colored violet fingers quickly turned back to pink, living flesh. Now, after all that work to get the right shot, all I see is a big ol', purple, circulation-deprived finger. It's just kind of gross, to be honest, and I wonder how in the world he slept through them turning that numb and then waking back up. Takes me back to my childhood days when I got a rubberband stuck around my finger and was afraid to tell Mom about it. That purple color and the pain eventually got me over my fear....

The cast is on!

2008-07-16T23:11:00.005-04:00

Today was the big day, and now Bella has a real cast on her arm. I'll give you just one guess as to what color she picked! She is much more mobile in this cast, even though it is heavy. When we first were leaving, she wanted the sling back on because her arm was hurting after having to move it some to get it set for the cast. But by this evening, playing with some friends, she was running all over the place with no sling, just cast. This giant, neon-pink invader of our household... I'll have to get her to name it tomorrow so I don't feel so resentful towards it! She does have several signatures on it already, so that makes it a little friendlier...

Those who know Bella know that she does not have a shy bone in her body. I really don't think the girl has ever been nervous about anything in her life so far. So, at the age of 4 3/4, she was completely side-swiped by the nerves that hit her today with this casting. Of course, when she fell and we had to go to the hospital, she was nervous, but the shock from the injury overpowered any nervousness. Today she was hungry, but kept telling me her stomach was really hurting, and by the time we got home she was really shaky. But my Mom was here for it, and all it took was sitting on Nanny's lap for about 10 minutes to clear it all up. I kept telling her that what she was feeling was because she was nervous and that it would go away, but I'm not sure she believed me until it did. Then she jumped up and said, "Mama, I feel a lot better! I think I settled down! I can eat now!"

She did such a great job at the hospital. Of course, she talked the RN's ear off, and because of that we found out that she grew up with one of our dear, wonderful friends. So that gave us all

something to talk about. And when she was all done, Lauren, the RN, gave her some of her very own, all-natural trail mix for a treat (Bella was asking for a treat, but couldn't have the nasty junk suckers that they had to give out). For those who don't know, along with food allergies that limit what she can eat, I keep them away from most artificial things as much as I can.

My favorite saying - "You are what you eat. Don't be artificial."

That aside, I have a baby boy who just woke up hungry, so I'll cut this a little short...

My New Obsession...

2008-07-14T10:48:00.001-04:00

Mowing our spacious yard! Those who know me well know that I live for meshing with nature. From carrying the wayward spider out of my house and into my plants outside, to crouching with the kids on a nature hike helping them put to memory the field marks of the snake on our path so they can look up the species when we return home. The only way, normally, that I stop to control nature is when I spy a turtle or snake on the road. Then comes the screeching of the brakes followed by me pointing at oncoming traffic like a mad-woman, mouthing "Watch the turtle/snake!!!", and either showing the kids the turtle before releasing it on the side of the road it was heading for, or showing them how easy it is to use a forked stick to move the sun-bathing slither-er before it comes to an unacceptable fate. I carefully step over bees in the yard, strive to never step on a plant when out looking at wildflowers in the springtime, and would never kill a bug unless it would possibly harm me or my children. "Conquering" nature is just something that doesn't fit into MY nature. Typically.

For years Adam and I have had an agreement - I don't do lawns, he doesn't do dishes. I'm pretty sure I got the raw end of that deal (how many months out of the year do you have to mow a lawn?), but it has made us both happy. During the last 5 weeks of Adam being gone for business every day but Sunday, his end of that deal got dropped. Of course, I completely agreed with him when he stated that, on the one day he was home, he was NOT going to spend 2 hours mowing the lawn. He said I should just find someone to pay to mow our yard and forget about it. The problem with that is I am cheap, and I couldn't stand the thought of it. So when my Mom and Dad were down one day, I conquered my aversion and started up the lawn mower, something I haven't done since I was around 10. Mom was out of town and Daddy at work when my brother let me try after I bugged him enough. He stopped me after 2 crooked, half-missed rows. As an adult, I was expecting to bite the bullet and mow the lawn, just get it done and maybe it would be the last time I had to do it. What I wasn't expecting was how much I would LOVE every minute of it.

I just mowed for the second time last night, with my kids following behind with their play mowers like a little procession of grass-cutting goslings. I have found a new love, and it is, most surprisingly to me, in a nature-conquering work-horse kind of task. My love is born of the freedom of mind that comes with walking behind a deafening machine. I have a required 2 hours of time where my mind does nothing but think of the task at hand, or something completely random (like how to put my feelings all into words on a blog, or my favorite joke that I had forgotten about). I also get a required 2 hours of solid cardio-workout. My body gets to work hard, while the hardest my mind has to work is to decide which triangle to cut off and when as I strive for all 90 degree angles, or when to cut off a small rectangle of space to get to watch Kane more closely as he focuses on walking behind me step for step. And I love the little mowing-dance that we perform, where words cannot be used and we have to communicate innately. Although I love the conquering aspect (this is MY yard, and I'm going to OWN IT!) and the easily-seen progression of my hard work, I have to bring my normal meshing ways into the job to stop for the precious few honeybees to amble out of my way. Then I am done, all too soon for my liking, and my body is so jazzed that what I really want to do is take a run around the block to top it off. My mind is racing with things I want to write on this blog, and further concepts for articles and children's books that I have been working on developing. It is a beautiful thing, mowing the lawn; the balance of motion and stagnancy, of physical job and mental relaxation, of work and ease, that energizes the body and mind and spurs creativity. But then it is over and done, and the reality of everyday is looming, albeit a bit more tolerable. Back to the trenches to fight the good battle, with bedtimes for a tired boy and broken-armed girl, a snotty babe who won't sleep, an annoyingly-dead fish to bury, and loads of laundry and dishes with my name still on them. Goodbye, lawn mower. I will anxiously await our next meeting. It could never be too soon.

Princess Bella One-Arm

2008-07-13T17:18:00.001-04:00

Oh, how I wanted to take the camera into the ER room with me (Room #15, Bella would tell you - just in case you were wondering). And oh, you should have seen the look on the nurse's face when I asked if I could. I am a mother in distress with a child in a traumatic situation, people - let me deal with it however I want! Alas, my camera sat useless at Judy's house while we trundled through our ordeal. And the x-ray pics that we brought home on a CD have a stinking copywrite on them. They think of everything... So I now have to take pictures of my little Princess Bella One-Arm, dressed in her fashionable princess attire given to her by Regan. Dear Regan, who decided Bella had had so much fun with Regan's own dress up clothes before she fell and broke her arm that she should have her own. First we have fake smile, then two in action pics of me being turned into a frog. Ribbit.

Bella was feeling much, much better today. She even came out this evening and "mowed" with Kane and I (them following behind me with their little mowers). Then she made another appearance just before bed when I was weeding the garden, and decided she needed to pick some salad greens and go have a salad. But not long after being asleep in bed, she awoke crying and I couldn't get her settled down. Assuming her arm was hurting, I kept trying to get her into comfortable possitions. Finally I starting asking her questions to break her out of her histerics. "Does your eye hurt? Does your toe hurt?" I was trying to get her to say that her arm was hurting so we could rationally deal with it. But when she just sobbed "NO-O" to every question I popped in a new one - "Did you have a nightmare?" Ah, finally I hit a nerve when she hesitated, took a deap breath and said "Yeah, I think so." Then with one more deap breath, she turned on her side and fell sound asleep. Apparently she needed to get that off of her chest. Now I have to wait patiently for morning to come to see if she remembers it. I wonder if she was dreaming of her fall, or of the hospital... It may just be one of her typical dreams, though, like my favorite latest, where the wild pack of teddy bears stole our bird seed and we had to chase them all the way to Florida and out onto an island in the ocean to get it back. If you think about what that would be like to a 4 yr. old brain, it really is quite scary. That aside, she is now sleeping quitely, lost in a world of dreams. I wonder, in her dreams, does she have a broken arm?

Down for the Count...

2008-07-11T21:51:00.002-04:00

Yesterday we had a WONDERFUL morning. We went hiking with a friend Judy and her children Regan and Aidan in Vienna, WV at McDonough Wildlife Refuge. I am so thankful for that morning! We had a great hike, then headed back to Judy's house for lunch. The kids played, we ate a spectacular meal, and it all went downhill from there :-). Bella headed out to the kiddie pool while I was getting Kane's trunks on. Judy and I gathered our cookies and tea, and then I heard Bella yell out "Mama!!! Help me! Mama, somethings wrong!" over and over. When I got to her I thought she was holding her foot, and assumed she had been stung. When she stood up, though, she said, to my prying questions of what had happened, that something was wrong with her arm. As I'm sure you've guessed by now, the minute I looked at it I knew it was broken. My baby, my sweet baby Bella with a broken arm. The most heartbreaking part of the following 4 hours was when we got home and she was talking on the phone to another friend realizing what her limitations would be... "Um, Mama, I won't be able to go swimming, will I? And I won't be able to play on the swing set? But I can still jump on the trampoline, right? No? Can I still play in the sandbox?" And by now the tears were welling up for both of us. And that night, with her safely tucked in bed, her casted arm propped up over her little tummy, I finally allowed myself to break down and cry sobbing cries. I tried to explain to Adam that I wasn't just crying for the pain that she's going through with her arm broken. Yes, it will heal and she will be just fine. I was crying for all the other pain that she will inevitably go through, and all the times that she will get her heart broken. And I was crying for all of the other mothers who have ever had to see their child endure more pain than a broken arm, or who have had to survive through their child's death.... But, of course, the brain of a man can't quite grasp such silliness. So now I look at the pictures of Bella's last fun, summer-hiking, running-with-friends kind of day for quite awhile. As I'm sure every parent knows, I wish for all the world that I could take it all from her and carry it myself. But she is doing a stellar job of dealing so far. She is getting bored and a little sad, but I am so proud of how she is handling it, especially of how she did at the hospital. She is such a strong, smart, courageous little girl. After my sob-fest, Adam said something quite profound and deep - it is in these kind of times that we get to see that we are doing something right, when our children show a strength of character that we have implanted in them. And it is in this that our greatest love for them shows through. And I love her and am very thankful that we could spend such a wonderful day together with each other and with friends before we had to tackle this new challenge.

More Little Bella

2008-07-09T22:30:00.002-04:00

Here are some more photos of my girl. I LOVE looking back on these photos. I haven't done so for a long time... If I close my eyes tight after looking at these pictures, I can almost feel what she felt like in my arms at that age. It brings tears to my eyes. Don't get me wrong, I still love to hold and kiss on my Bella Rose, but now that she is nearly 5, she is a bona fide young girl. She is all arms and legs, long, lanky and lean. And just remembering what her little baby body felt like all curled up on my lap after I would rock her to sleep, back in the days when she still had pudge left on her legs, is hearbreaking. As much as I love my big girl and appreciate the child that she is turning in to, I miss her babyness.

My Passion...

2008-07-08T22:25:00.002-04:00

Photography!!! It has become much more manageable, yet more uncontrollable, since I got my Canon Digital Rebel XTi. I am still ages away from knowing all that I can about the camera and what it can do for me, but I am LOVING being able to take 50 snaps of the kids jumping on the trampoline and pick just ONE to print!! That in and of itself has increased my abilities tenfold. Then when you add the Sigma 0-300 telephoto lense to the package, I am finally able to take some of the nature shots that I've always wanted to but couldn't. It's a wonderful feeling. So I thought I would share some of my favorite photos with you, from the time when my inspiration to further my interest was born (we named her Bella).

There are some wonderful baby pictures that I will share first. Bella has always been such a happy girl. She was a very easy baby. I was layed off of my job 2 weeks before she was born. Best thing that ever happened to me! I worked at a chemical plant and was on shift work. If fact, I was getting off of midnights, leaving at 7 am when they pulled me aside and told me I was the first to go with the sale of the plant to GE. It was a sad day in the fact that I was leaving a family of people that I adored - some of the best people that you could ever hope to work with. That still makes my heart ache to this day. But since then I've always said that you can't chose to give up a job that can support your family, but you can chose not to go find another one. I spent many days at home with my new baby girl setting up photo shoots and getting pics of my beautiful baby. Most of them were taken with the camera that was purchased using the money that people I had worked with had raised for us that first Christmas after the layoffs. As I said, wonderful people - words cannot say what they still all mean to me. These are some of the shots that I got of my little photogenic girl back then with my Canon Rebel Ti film camera. I think my favorite photo of all time is the one of Bella with the ant on her hand. It seems like it was just yesterday that me and my little girl were taking walks every day, playing in the yard under our trees out in the country where we lived, and just making that everlasting bond that gets us through everyday life. Now, in just 2 1/2 months, that baby of mine will be turning 5. She is reading just about every word that she comes to, developing a healthy attitude and independence, and asserting her dominant nature over her also dominant-natured little brother. She loves her baby brother best (because he can't dissagree with her yet!!), and she is a wonderful help to me every day. Next I will post some pictures of her at an older age...

Every time we went for a walk, which we did a lot, she had to have a flower - preferably a daisy - to hold. She never ate them, never tore them up, just held them...

And here's my girl with the ant on her hand. I love B & W!

Kaney is THREE!!!

2008-07-08T15:25:00.001-04:00

Kane (better known as Kaney to those who love and adore him) is officially three! With two birthday parties under his belt and a corner of the living room piled with toys and clothes, my baby boy makes it clear that he is no longer a baby. Although I have known it for some time, it is still bittersweet. On his actual birthday, which was July 1st, we were at my parents' house getting the AC fixed in my van. My brother and his family were out of town for his big birthday bash on Sunday the 6th, so we had a little pre-party at Nan and Pap's Monday night for Kane and my nephew Ethan, who share a birthday. You can't tell in the picture, but Monday he was fevered and sluggish all day. He even slept through his cake and ice cream that evening. The fever broke in the night, though, and by the time his birthday rolled around, he was feeling better. So although he missed the "party," he played and opened his presents on his birthday.

Kane chose to have a dinosaur birthday party this year. In a non-thinking moment, I asked him what kind of cake he would want to have at his party. I was expecting his answer to be blueberry, because he wants blueberries in absolutely everything. But a three-year-old's mind never works the way we expect it to, and instead he answered (with gusto), "DINOSAUR!" After some thinking, I asked if he would settle for a mountain to put his little dinosaurs on, and in the end we decided on a volcano cake. Of course, the dinos had to be moved far from the strawberry and apricot spreadable-fruit lava so they would be safe. I had a blast making it, and everyone enjoyed eating it. Definitely worth that non-thinking moment. Their imaginations inspire me.

We had fun activities outside, including a scavenger hunt with hidden dinosaurs all over the backyard, and dinosaur bones hidden in the sandbox, which the kids had to dig out with their dinosaur sand chompers to get the full skeleton assembled. Here you see Baylee, the little girl we babysit for, our niece Serena, Kane and Bella hard at work digging for dinosaur bones.

Then there was swimming and playing on the swing set, which distracted from the scavenger hunt. But it didn't surprise me. Our backyard is so much fun, with a swing set, trampoline, pool, and sand box that it's bound to distract anyone!

The only ones able to apply themselves enough to finish the scavenger hunt were Bella (with the help of her Nanny) and my husband's two youngest brothers, Mike and Jesse. They all tied and finished at the same time!

Then of course there were gifts to be opened. If you don't know already (I think it may be common knowledge), the tongue has to be positioned between the lips, at just the right angle, to properly open birthday presents. But it was worth all the hard work for all the gifts he got! From clothes to roaring/walking dinos and squirt guns to brand-new dinosaur sheets and curtains (made by Nanny), he really made out! All in all it was a perfect, warm, sunny, fun-outside, blast-of-a-birthday-party kind of day. Every time we go to my Mom and Dad's house and go for a walk or do something fun like that, Daddy says to the kids, "You know what we just did? We just made more memories!" Of course, Bella has to argue with him that they aren't memories yet, because they just happened, and won't turn into memories until tomorrow! But we definitely made some memories on Sunday!

FINALLY A START!

2008-07-07T02:17:00.002-04:00

Okay, I am finally taking the plunge into starting this blog off. I have fretted over how to start it, when to find time to start it, and whether I will be able to keep it up correctly for too long now, which has fed into my self-doubt and added to my fretting. NO MORE! One of my biggest goals with this blog is self-realization. I finally filled up and organized my Flickr site and in looking at all of the pictures of my beautiful babies, I realized that it was helping me to forget about the frustration of the day and see how wonderful my life and my children really are. Now I have that same expectation for this blog. I believe that I need that constant reality-check to take me away from the hubbub of everyday existence and out into the broader picture. And that in turn makes me a better person, a more confident woman, and a stronger and more loving mother. Of course, now that I have realized this, I am forced to uphold myself to these new standards. This is the true reason for my hesitation in beginning this blog. Once you have a higher standard, you have the possibility of veering away from it and creating disappointment. But I have to conquer that fear and do something to better myself, so here it is... My betterment at hand.
So now for those who happen upon this blog and do not know me, I will start this off with a short blurb of me. I am a Christian, wife and mother of 3, first and foremost. My babes are Bella, 4 3/4, Kane, 3 (and 5 days), and Maxwell, now 6 1/2 months. All other details on that can and will come as needed. I am an artist, a free-lance writer, an amateur photographer, and a naturalist. At least that's what I think of myself. I am also the wife of a busy businessman who is only home on Sundays for right now, so if you will excuse me, I have some much needed Mama/Papa time to get to! Soon I will post pictures, especially of Kane's wonderful Dinosaur Birthday Bash that we hosted today. For now I leave you with my Three Shining Stars on this Independence Day, July 4th, 2008 - first as they are happy and smiling, second how they are when that inevitably starts to melt down...