My apologies...

I have been a very absent mommy blogger lately and for this I must say, "I'm sorry".  This season is so very full.  It is full of things to do, places to go, people to see, things to read, projects to work on, and things to cook, make and bake.  This is one of those times of the year where I find myself pulling in and bringing my awareness to my family in a way that just doesn't allow me to be "plugged in."

I will say that I do think about this space everyday, and quite often, many many times a day.  I find in this space not only peace but also a community of like-minded people (mothers, mostly) who value and hold dear the very same things that are so close to my heart.  To see all of these wonderful mothers sharing what they do with their children as well as the things they teach and how they teach them--peace, community, creativity, valuing our land, our food and our bodies, conserving, preserving, recycling, up-cycling,  reducing, reusing, repurposing...and more--it is so inspiring!  This space stretches my mothering in a way that I have never felt before.  I am so thankful for each day I have been able to be present in this space and be apart of a community of mothers who both inspire and challenge me to give more of myself to my children and to my family.  To these incredible mothers I say, "thank you! Thank you for being here and thank you for so generously sharing."

I will be back in this space more regularly as our days begin to move a bit more slowly and everyone feels a little more secure in the rhythm of home.  I hope everyone has a very joyful holiday season filled with kindness and love.

peace,
Jaime

One of my favorite things to do at the end of our very full days, is make my way to a small little desk situated inside of one of our closets.  Hidden away; this is the space where we keep our computer.  It's here each day that I love to come and reflect on the time that seems to be so quickly passing by us. Last week I wasn't able to make it into this space to write or reflect at all.  As a result, I was feeling uneasy and unbalanced.  A few more days without finding myself in this space passed and I noticed I was starting to get a little hard on myself and a bit cranky.  It occurred to me to shift my awareness.  If I hadn't been taking time to write and reflect on our days then what had I been doing?

When I stepped back with a deep breath to look around our kitchen, I could see so clearly what had been taking place.  Through a mound of pots stacked up next to the sink and flour sprinkled liberally all around, I was reminded that my family is on a journey towards planting ourselves more solidly in line with the things we believe are good and right for us.


Scanning around this messy kitchen of ours, I saw:

::  Bread rising near the fire.

::  Three little people happily playing together and apart, weaving in and out of each others play and space    learning how to get along and, equally as important, learning the right way to not get along.

::  A chicken.  Our very own chicken that we lovingly raised and "harvested," being thoroughly picked clean of meat and all the bones carefully laid aside for a nice bone broth.

::  Beautiful green onions just pulled from the greenhouse that morning nearly ready to join a handsome piece of chuck roast that found it's way into our freezer after being separated from its happy grass fed owner.

::  Some homemade yogurt trying to stay warm while doing its thing under some towels in the corner.

::  Kombucha, doing whatever it is that kombucha does in that lonely week or so it has before its ready.

::  And, our sourdough starter.  The beautiful new addition to our family happily bubbling away on the counter and smelling quite wonderful.

This, all going on in just that one small space in front of me.   These few things were enough to make me smile and allow me to gain a new perspective on what I should be doing.  Each one of these things for me requires time, patience and usually research!  There is no one to call up for a quick, "hey this dough isn't rising right, what's the deal?" or "This kombucha mother keeps sinking to the bottom should I.....?"  Instead, it's almost always getting out 5 books to figure out what's going on and then trying to find a second to sneak into our closet to Google something.

And so, this is where I've been.  Sometimes muddling my way through the things I'm not sure of and other times taking confident strides.

Either way, this is where I've been.  

And it's here where I will happily be tomorrow.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

One year.

Happy Birthday to

Miss Adeline Jane.

 Exactly one year ago today my thoughts were totally consumed with a new and precious being about to join our family.  In the time leading up to her birth I would think, sometimes to myself and sometimes aloud, "Oh how I can't wait to meet you.  What will your little hand be like to hold?  How will you smile?  What will your sweet laughing sound like when it travels through our home?  How will your chin be?  How will your eyes be?  Will you know how much we adore you?"

 
One year later.  So many wonderful surprises have been revealed to us about our little girl in this first year.  We know that when she smiles she smiles with her whole face.  One big ear to ear infectious smile.  Her little laughs can fill a room, not to mention our hearts.  She is crazy about her brother and sister and watches them with the wide-eyed wonderment that only a younger sibling can know.  She is pure motion.  She's on the go and she's fast.  She is good for 1000 hugs a day (1 second each).  She prefers to be up early.  She climbs.  High. Really high.  She is part mountain goat.

We adore her.

She knows it.

You Are Here

Andy and I used to walk through this park together often when we were in Minnesota.  I always looked forward to the deep peace I felt when we were there and how it seemed to linger long after we left.  I enjoyed winding around the trails there with no real sense of time, holding hands, brushing along the tall grasses and talking about our dreams.  They are beautiful memories that are always with me.

When we walked in to the park this year everything felt so different.  I could see stretching out along the trail in front of me how much things have changed and oh how we've multiplied.  I could never have imagined how much my heart would grow as we moved along the path of our dreams from a couple to a family.  I could never have imagined that a place where I once felt so much peace could change so much with the addition of just a few small people.

Now of course it is not quite as peaceful as you can imagine, but it does feel exciting and magical.  These kids notice everything!  They don't want to just walk around and chat.  They want to run and see what's behind the next bend.  They want to examine every spider web, taste all the wild grapes they can and then run fast, so fast to break open a milkweed pod and scatter the seeds.  And, they want us to do it with them.  I felt pulled to experience this place in such a new and different way.  It was wonderful.

It's a privilege to visit a place that offers such a clear reflection of the path Andy and I have traveled together and are still traveling.  To be able to see so clearly along a dirt path the richness and growth these people have brought into our lives is such a treasure.  It's such a good reminder...

You Are Here.

Today

Meet Howie

Also known as Howard, she is the newest member of our family.

Gone Fishin'

Happiness is...

...a letter from grandma and grandpa.

E-mail is great but nothing beats a real letter.

Wigs

Wigs.

Every home should have many of them. I'm certain of it. There is nothing like your two year old walking into the room with a big black wig on her head to really brighten the day. And really, it doesn't have to be a two year old because Andy did it just recently with similar results. So simple. So silly. So funny. I have to find more wigs because there are certain times in the week that a person needs to see some wig wearin'. How about Monday morning at the breakfast table.

Monday morning mandatory wig wearing.

"Excuse me, did you just come to breakfast without your wig on young lady? Uh, I don't think so. You better march right back in the play room, find your wig and don't come back to this table until you have it on. Do you understand me? Andy. Owen. Adeline. You too. Now march!"

Oh, sorry I just got lost in my own little dreamland there. Ah but yes, I need more wigs because I'm serious about the breakfast thing.

Welcome...

our sweet new soul.

On Wednesday morning at 8:14 A.M. a sweet tiny baby landed gently in the hands of its very excited mama and papa. After several minutes of gushing over the unmatched beauty and perfection of this tiny newborn in our arms it finally occurred to us to see if we had a little boy or a little girl. With the wood stove crackling on a beautiful clear morning, a small crescent moon just over the pines, we leaned back against the couch in our cozy little living room to gaze upon...

our girl!

Miss Adeline Jane

8 pounds 6 ounces

What a miracle we have in our arms.

We are in love.

We are all in love.

Wonderful Weekending

We are basking in the glow of a holiday weekend spent in the most familiar places with friends and family. We hope yours was wonderful too.

Counting Beans

Waking up in the morning, my rested mind begins to fill with a long list of chores that should be done. I can feel the space filling like a bucket under a running tap. Soon I begin to shift my thinking to believe that washing and folding the laundry, doing the dishes and cleaning up the dog hair off of the floor are chores that have to be done rather than things that should or could be done. Throughout the morning it all begins to feel urgent somehow as I try to plan my paces around the house. Okay, run to the bathroom first (Yes, even a quick trip to the bathroom gets thrown in the plan. Please please tell me that my other friends with little ones do the same. Come on, don't ya?), then put the laundry in because I can be washing up the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen while the washer is going and then I can........and so it goes. Then I look through the kitchen window to see outside under the shade of our big maple, my two sweetest people counting and sorting beans. Taking a deep breath here I ask myself, what is really important? After a long pause I decide that all of these other things that seem so important aren't really important at all. I'll get to them. It all gets done somehow. Eventually. Maybe not this morning or even today, but eventually.

Because really, sometimes you just have to go count beans.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Where we've been: Part 2

There was the sweater I couldn't put down long enough to do a post, but then there was also this whole project that came up sometime around the left arm portion of my sweater. This left arm portion was what I liked to call the last leg, the final bit, the home stretch. I was so very nearly done when suddenly there was a refinance emergency. This emergency brought on by no one other than my silly self now with a very new long list of things to do.

Including...

1.) Pull rug out from under happy holiday sweater knitting in front of fire.

2.) Make many calls to loan originator.

3.) (And now seriously dragging Andy into it.) Finish all projects on our house in a week.

4.) Hurry!

Check.

Check.

Check. Check.

And that is mostly where we have been these last many weeks. Right now it is feeling so very very good to sit in front of the fire with so many things finished that have needed to be done for so long just relaxing and enjoying each other.

And look, my sweater is still there waiting for me with just one arm to go.

Where we've been: Part 1

Where on earth have we been? I feel like I should apologize for being away so long. I'm sorry! I wish I could say that it was the busy holiday rush that kept me from posting here for over a month, but we really don't have a busy holiday rush at our house, so that wasn't it. I can say, however, with a fair amount of certainty that it all began with this (free pattern) sweater and several skeins of yarn I brought home from our wool gathering this fall. Once I started in I couldn't pull myself away from it. It was all about knitting all the time breakfast, lunch, dinner, and stop lights. More on that later.

As the holiday's moved in we found ourselves at a local tree farm searching for the perfect tree.

We found it and said hello to some reindeer. We brought our tree home and commenced the decoration creation process with only a slight bit of popcorn breaking needle poking frustration. All frustration soon forgotten however once those lovely bits of garland were hung. Carmel continues to enjoy the garland even into the new year. She thinks it's delicious.