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

These tiny little feet are three months old already.

How does it go by so fast?

TV Turnoff Week

I am a little late posting this because, well, I thought it started next week and not this week. Late or not, I'm doing it.  Right, so, we don't own a television but we certainly could use a little less screen time around here.   These past couple of days have really made me realize how much I run to the computer for EVERYTHING!!!  Need a recipe?...computer.  Need a phone number?...computer.  Need to know about rapid oxidation?...computer.

This will be an interesting week.  I can already tell that I need to do some serious screen time modifications.  I wish I could elaborate, but my time is running out here.  I am shooting for one hour a day on the computer and my usual post, this one, AND doing our bills this morning (yes, on the computer for that too)  have all eaten in to my screen time goal for today.  So, with about 30 seconds remaining I have to get off of here.  I sure hope I haven't mispelled anything because there's no time to check.....

Find out more here on Unplug your kids.

Wanna do it too???

Fresh outlook, clean floors

I finally caved today and decided it was time to wash the floors. There was no more putting it off. It HAD to be done. Like so many other things in my daily life, scrubbing our floors is one of those things I never really look forward to doing but I always feel so happy I did it when it's all done (exercise is another one of those things that comes to mind, but I've really given up on that all together).

So I was scrubbing away with a little Carmel tied on my back when Owen came downstairs and decided I needed some help. What a difference those little hands can make on a project. Did it take me three times longer to finish the floors with his help? Yes, but the outlook he brings to scrubbing the floors is well worth it.
He was so happy to be sloshing water around all over the floor. His little eyes were bright and shiny and he had the sweetest smile on his face while he was wringing the water out of his towel. He was so taken in by the details. The warm water. The smell of peppermint (Dr. Bronners soap). The water hitting the floor and then puddling together. I couldn't help but think I've been missing all the fun. Now I'm not just talking about scrubbing the floors nor am I saying that scrubbing floors is all fun, but watching my sweet boy enjoy himself so thoroughly while doing it made me wonder. How many things in my day do I view as drudgery that his fresh eyes might see as pure pleasure? Hard to say, but I think I should pay more attention.

*Edited to add:

If I implied that I scrub my floors everyday I didn't mean to. So, just for the record, I don't.

Apron days

Quite sometime ago I was at a thrift store and saw the cutest little pink floral dress. "This thing is begging to be my apron and I am just the creative genius to pull it off," I said to myself. "Ahh yes, what an incredibly new and fantastic idea. I am a genius!" I took the little dress home, cut it up, stitched it and wore it with great pride for many months. Later, while doing a search online for apron patterns, I found that everyone and their brother has already had that idea. Now, that was a downer.

But I still love my apron, and on the days I reach for it I feel like I'm reaching for...well, my wonder twin. Wonder twin powers activate...in shape of...a domestic diva. Really now, I need that apron, otherwise I'm just walking around the house in my pajamas and the holey slippers that I have had since I was a sophomore in high school. Oh but with that cute little pink apron on, I become a woman that can run a house. I feel happier too, and I'm not the only one who notices.

Yesterday Owen was in the kitchen with me and he said "hey, you a nice momma with that thing on. You a good momma with it off, but you a nice momma with it on." Cute kid. Well said.

So, I figured if an apron was good for me then an apron must be good for him. Hey, and while I'm at it, they might as well match. Right? Right.

You didn't think I was going to make my sweet boy wear a pink floral apron did you? Nah. I'm not going to retire my pink floral because it makes me feel pretty, but I can get into this blue one too. I made these from another dress that I had thrifted last year sometime. I loved the fabric and just couldn't pass it up. It's 100% linen and it feels so good. Why does linen feel so good? I love sewing with it and I love wearing it. You know what I really really love though?

That belly.

The great glove offense

With what I believed to be a completely new and brilliant idea, I raced up the steps to my sewing room with Owen's mittens in hand. I had it. The perfect solution to the old snow-in-the-cuff problem. You remember it right? It's the point where your coat and your mittens just don't q u i t e make it together. So there you are with snow jam packed around your wrist until it feels like that part of your body just might drop off and then, oh yes, of course you must *take off the gloves, shake, shake, shake...ohh very cold naked hand...hurry... put the mitten back on...and repeat from [*] every 5 minutes until it's time to go back inside. I remember not being a fan of this when I was little. Well, I have been watching Owen do it all season long and I can't believe it never occurred to me to just fix the problem. He doesn't like it. I can fix it. Seems clear enough. Right?

So off to the machine I went. "Oh he is going to love this," I kept telling myself as I watched the sewing needle pound away on his tiny mittens. Stitch. Stitch. Stitch. "That kid is just going to think this is great. Just a few more stitches to go and these gloves will be equipped with a new wrist protector that would dazzle any 3 year old." Suddenly with my eyes starting to slant and my head cocked to one side I thought, "wait a minute....he's 3...not even 3...he's 2 point 75. This will be bad. This will be ugly. What was I thinking?" I put the last few stitches in, trimmed off a few pieces of thread, picked up the mittens and headed back downstairs.

I made a great effort to prepare him for what I had just done. "Hey there my super sweet boy...geez you sure are a nice boy...uh, listen...do you remember how you kept getting snow in your gloves outside and that you DID NOT like it?" It was with the best intentions that I committed, what I now knew, would be such a great offense. CHANGE! Up to this point he had been completely agreeable and then he saw what I had done. "What on earth has she done to them", I could see him ponder with his eyes red and bulging as he looked on them with disgust. Some horrible, grotesque appendages were now hanging from his perfectly sweet and formerly functional mittens. I braced myself for his thoughtful response. "RRRRhhhhaaaaa!". All of the glassware in our house nearly shattered as he explained his feelings about the offense. His uvula, perfectly visible during this commentary, was undulating with great fury at the back of his throat as he hurled these toddler obscenities at me, the offender.

After calming down a bit, he explained how he DID like getting snow around the cuff of his mittens. He enjoyed taking them off, shaking them, and trying to put them back on "all by self"(toddler-speak for "without your interference"). He informed me that he would not be wearing these mittens because they were now dysfunctional as they do not allow the snow to gather around the cuff. Now I knew that he did not like getting snow in his mittens. He just didn't want his mittens to have changed in any way because change is dreadful especially when you are 2 point 75 years old, but I went with the whole liking-snow-around-the-cuff thing anyway.

"Well Owen, I thought you might feel that way," I explained "so if you'll examine this portion of your mitten closely you will find I have left just enough room for you to jam some snow in right here. The new 'snow pocket', let's call it, is outlined in neon green on both mittens so it will be easy to find even in dim light." Blank stare. "Well, I guess we should put them on and let you run outside so you can get right to shoveling that snow into your mittens my dear boy." More staring. This time however, the staring was accompanied with squinted eyes that said, "I really don't like it when you take that tone with me momma." But much to my amazement, he put them on and he hasn't said anything about them since. In case your wondering, he did not try to put any snow in his new "snow pockets".

So, I guess it isn't nice to take someone's whatever, cut it up, abuse it with a sewing machine while changing it around just the way you want it without asking first. Even if it is a REALLY excellent idea. Next time, I'll ask. I'm learning.