Daily Photo::13

Mother's Day, people, is exhausting!  Joking aside, thanks for the cards, the beautiful flowers to plant, the smiles & hugs, the Princess Bride (my favorite childhood movie!), the handmade goodness, the yummy dinner, the David Gray CD, the treasure hunt, the sunshine & warmth, the joy of celebration.  Best job in the world, folks, best job in the world...

peace

Tis the season...

peace

Halloween pictures (better late than never!)

The Snow Queen casting her spell on me (ie, she really didn't want to smile for a picture) and Dark Knight (aka Big Muscles) Batman.  Kai was, well, a baby this year.  :-)  First time EVER I didn't make their costumes for Halloween.  The sad thing is they seemed more excited to pick them out from a store than when I made them for them.  Maybe it's because they didn't have to try it on a hundred times before they could actually wear it!  Ah well, fun (and a sugar high) was had by all.

Dividing of the spoils!

peace

From my Valentine...

Matt and I have never been very into Valentine's day.  Sure, we have gone to dinner or to see a movie but we have always viewed it more as a Hallmark holiday where people are encouraged to spend reckless amounts of money on unnecessary stuff.  Married for 8 1/2 years, two kids and an intense job life, later however, have encouraged us to use Valentine's day as a reminder to appreciate and celebrate the one we love.  Not to replace everyday affection and appreciation but just to remind us that thoughtful gift giving is more about giving a piece of yourself than consuming commodities.

And this Valentine's day, I received a most wonderful and beautiful gift.  My engagement ring and wedding band were passed down to me from Matt's mother's mother.  I have loved these rings for their history and family significance.  I have felt very honored wearing the rings of a strong woman I never had the pleasure to meet but have heard so much about.  I have often looked at those rings on very ordinary days and wondered about the everyday life of the woman who wore them before me.  60+ years of living and use, however, have worn those rings down and they cracked.  Not wanting to risk ultimately destroying the rings by repairing and continuing to wear them, I retired those symbols of love and commitment some time last year.  Below is my Valentine' day gift for this year:  a new engagement ring/wedding band.  Not to replace my family heirloom but to continue what they symbolize; everlasting commitment, honesty, love and devotion.  Thanks, babe, I love it!

  peace

Eekkk!

Is that shriek because of last night's Halloween tricks or because it has been a horrifyingly long time since I have written on the blog?  Well, both actually.  Super cute kids dressed up in slaved-over costumes is definitely motivating me to show my face around here.  It's not that I have stopped having things to write about or a lack of exciting life events to share (don't laugh).  It's just that I am learning that life as a mother of a first grader is busy!  I mean, I have a preschooler too but he doesn't have a half and hour of homework every night and 2 swim practices a week for the swim team.  Although, he does have his own swimming lesson and opinions about how we should be spending our time.  So, I have been adjusting to homework, tight schedules, early, fast dinners 3 times a week (I like to cook slowly, preferably with a beer in my hand so this has been an adjustment) and lots of transitions between activities.  Watching Abigail learn to read, seeing her thoughtful movement in the water as she refines her swimming technique, and seeing her gain confidence in herself as a result of both as been worth the madness however.  Plus getting two nights a week to spend one on one time with my little guy and do nothing but play while sister works hard has been enriching as well.  I am glad when bedtime comes though!

So on with Halloween!  I have made the kids costumes every year since they are born and this year I learned two things.  1 - I really like to make costumes!  I like the challenge of creating something from their imagination and getting to watch them enjoy it.  2 - Ears are really hard to make well.  The kids have never dressed as something with ears before (besides their own ears, that is) so I was not prepared for this challenge.  It worked out in the end.  Trail and error makes perfect for me.  I know I said 2 things but here is number 3 - Making Halloween costumes is kind of like making a really great homemade dinner.  It takes about 3 times longer to make the thing that it does to enjoy it.  Ah, well, good thing I like the process of creating as much as I do the product!  So without further ado, here are the super cute kiddos:

Do you know what she is yet?  Well, try the next one.

Give up?  She is a horse, of course!  This costume was hard to capture in a photograph.  It looked better in person.  Any guesses on Tristan's costume?  Check out below...

Easy one, Batman!

The loot!  They are still too young to know what a small amount of candy that is compared to what other kids bring home.  Shhh, don't you be the one to tell them either!

And what is Halloween without carving up some pumpkins and eating some yummy seeds, eh?

peace

To the fathers in my life...

A day to you, a day for you!  May this Father's Day be one filled with grateful hearts, memories and some well deserved put-up-your-feet time.  A poem that describes well my father, the father of my children, and most of the fathers I know.

Only a Dad

by Edgar Albert Guest 

Only a dad with a tired face,

Coming home from the daily race,

Bringing little of gold or fame,

To show how well he has played the game,

But glad in his heart that his own rejoice

To see him come and to hear his voice.

Only a dad with a brood of four,

One of ten million men or more.

Plodding along in the daily strife,

Bearing the whips and the scorns of life,

With never a whimper of pain or hate,

For the sake of those who at home await.

Only a dad, neither rich nor proud,

Merely one of the surging crowd

Toiling, striving from day to day,

Facing whatever may come his way,

Silent, whenever the harsh condemn,

And bearing it all for the love of them.

Only a dad but he gives his all

To smooth the way for his children small,

Doing, with courage stern and grim,

The deeds that his father did for him.

This is the line that for him I pen:

Only a dad, but the best of men.

peace

Merry Christmas!

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the watching shepherds to you.
Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.

Merry Christmas!

A tree at last

So we finally put up our tree this week.  We all went for a hike last weekend and picked one out from the woods near our house.

Once we got the chain saws back from the shop, Matt and Abigail went and got it on one of the coldest days yet this winter.  The day started at -5 and topped out at 3 but Christmas tree mission was successful nonetheless.  It is a nice tree.  Different than what you get at a Christmas tree farm so the branches are a bit more spaced out and it is pretty round for its height.  I think it is beautiful, however, and free!  There was, as there is every year, a bit of a fiasco getting it up.  It fell over after we got the lights on.



















We knew the bottom of the trunk was crooked when we put in the stand. We were hoping for the best.














But that's what sawz-all's are made for, right?

Back in the stand and 4 broken ornaments later, the tree was decorated complete with a Thomas the train track underneath.  The kids are happy (we are too, just tired, I think) and the living room now looks magical.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Winter/Advent/Christmas everywhere I look....

After our first real snow of 4" the other week, we decided it was time to decorate.

The Christmas lights on the back deck are a bit more blinking and Vegas-like for Matt and I but the kids love them and we do live in the country, you know.  In fact last evening, Matt came inside while he was stacking wood and fixing the snowblower/tractor in 10 degree weather with 35 miles an hour winds to see me sewing while listening to country music in the glow of our Vegas Christmas lights and gained a new found respect for red necks, now that we are ones I guess.

Christmas cookie making with the kids.  Yum!

 

Another snow storm on Wednesday.  We probably about a foot.  Good bye grass!  See you April!

Another season of preparation...for us: preparing for snow, for more clothes and shorter days,for a slower pace of life.  For the world: the birth of our Savior, the Son of God, Prince of Peace, Immanuel! 

Thanksgiving pictures

Pictures from Thanksgiving to share with the family and friends.  Thanks to each of you for planning your time around our visit and making this a great holiday.  We enjoyed spending time with each of you!

My brother's band, The Silent Wire, playing unplugged in the basement with my dad's collection of instruments...without my brother since he really doesn't play unplugged drums...
Thanks again guys for the awesome music and company!  I was singing
Wire songs all the way back to MA...