A new milestone...

Courage

You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.

New beginnings...

I've been hesitant to post this because we've told our family so many times in the past we were moving and for one reason or the other did not do it. As we've sold our current house, purchased a home in Maryland, and our living room looks like a box warehouse in preparation for the move, I feel like I can finally say, "It's official!" We're moving to Maryland!! We're all very excited! We leave California June 1st!

14 years

Doug and I have been married 14 years today.  It's amazing how quickly those years have flown by and the changes that have taken place in our lives in that time.  I can't wait to see how the next 14 unfold!  Happy Anniversary, Honey!

Love Your Mother!

To see a world in a grain of sand,

And a heaven in a wildflower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour.

 

~William Blake

 

I just love our neighborhood.  There are so many beautiful, magical spots tucked away in plain sight.  This hill is just on the other side of the girls' school and even though we've lived in our current home for almost 4 years now we've just discovered the awesomeness of this hill.  It is the new favorite spot of the peanut gallery.

 

One of Anna's friends introduced us to the hill and we have heard requests to visit the swing there almost daily, mainly from Anna.   It is her Mecca.

 

And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, 

books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.

 

-- William Shakespeare

 

 

We have been up on the hill and at the swing quite a bit.  There are several other trees that have ropes in them as well and there's even a little tree fort down the way.  We've started collecting leaves, flowers, and barks to bring home to identify them.  I feel bad that I usually don't have an answer when the kids ask me what the different trees are.  We've also started a nature journal but I plan to pick up individual ones for the kids.  We found some wonderful books at the library this past week, and used one of them to identify some of the different trees near our favorite little creek, in the back behind our house, and two trees that hang over the fence from our neighbor's yard.   There was a fig tree, a Fremont Cottonwood, a Valley Oak, a California Buckeye, an Alder, possibly a Dogwood, a Strawberry tree, and what I think is an African Sumac.  I'm no expert but I think we're at least in the ballpark.  It was fun learning about the different types of trees and the structures of the leaves.  I would love to have the kids include that information as well as a drawing or rubbing in their journals. 

 

Here is a list of our library finds:
Trees of the California Landscape by Charles R. Hatch
The Seventy Great Mysteries of the Natural World by Michael J. Benton
How Nature Works by David Burnie
Nature Journaling by Clare Walker Leslie
Summer World by Bernd Heinrich
What Mr. Darwin Saw by Mick Mannidn and Brita Granstrom
Walking with Henry by Thomas Locker
Thoreau, Collected Essays and Poems
John Muir, America's First Environmentalist by Cathryn Lasky
Dry Storeroom, No. 1, The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum by Richard Fortey
Two other treasures although not necessarily nature-related were:
Go Figure! by Johnny Ball
G is for Googol by David Schwartz

When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.

-- John Muir

 

A society grows great when old men plant trees

whose shade they know they shall never sit in.

--Greek Proverb

 

 

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet,

and the winds long to play with your hair.

-- Kahlil Gibran

 

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit,

 and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.”
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

    



We need the tonic of wildness -- to wade sometimes in marshes where the bittern and the

meadow-hen lurk, and hear the booming of the snipe; to smell the whispering sedge where only some wilder and more solitary fowl builds her nest, and the mink crawls with its belly close to the ground. At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be infinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable.“
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden    

 

             

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will  flow into

you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness

  into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you

like the leaves of Autumn.

--John Muir



 

Happy Earth Day!

 

Sometimes the best thing in life to hold onto....

Sometimes the best thing in life to hold onto....is each other. ~Audrey Hepburn

I just sent this picture of the kidoodles off to my mom for her birthday.  I love my babies wrapped in this quilt.  It was made by my great grandmother and is so special to me.  When you look at the peanuts, do you think they look like siblings?  Sometimes I see it and sometimes I don't.  There are kids that you look at and can immediately tell they're siblings.  Ours...maybe not so much??  What do you think?

Conversations with the Peanut Gallery

I really enjoy hearing about Anna's days at school.  There is almost always some form of drama...funny drama.  Of course, it isn't always funny to her but it sure cracks me up.  I should give you a little background before I share her latest rant about school.  Anna is in a 4th-5th grade combo class with a wonderful teacher.  The teacher is really just fabulous and challenges the kids daily.  One of her ongoing projects with the kids is that they each have a job to do in the classroom and they earn classroom money if they've completed their tasks.  When they get paid, they have to pay some of the money back in rent and buy their pencils and erasers and such.  This time around, Anna is serving as secretary.  Most of her tasks are done right as school ends.  Two little boys we'll call Mark and Mike (names have been changed to protect the innocent or not so innocent as the case may be), were in charge of making payments once they received the list from the teacher saying jobs had been done.  This is the story Anna came home with...

Ever since last Tuesday (because I forgot Monday) I've been doing my job.  Mark and Mike hadn't gotten new papers yet for 2 weeks.  Then Mark said he wasn't gonna pay me a lot of money because I hadn't been doing my job.  He said he was only gonna pay me $100 because he didn't see me doing it!  Well, he doesn't stay after school 'cause that's when I do it!  It's bad enough that I have to sit next to him and he has poison oak and now he looks like he has a mustache because a dog bit him on the lip and now he has stitches and a giant Band-Aid over it!

 

When I drop the girls off at school, they each get a hug and a kiss.  As they're walking into school we wave and blow kisses and make hearts with our hands. Sometimes Jake gets jealous and in a pouty voice will say, "You don't do special things like that for me.  You don't kiss me, and hug me, and snuggle me."  I tell him that of course I do those things for him because I love him too.  So, I reach back and hold his hand while  I roll the window down so he can yell goodbye and blow kisses too.  This morning he was mad at me because I told him he wouldn't be able to play on the iPod during the day because he had been mean to his sisters.  As we were pulling away from the parking lot he said to me, "I made hearts with my hands for Anna."  I said, "Oh, that's nice Buddy.  Are you making hearts with your hands for Mommy, too?"  Without hesitation he said, "No!  I making an "X" for you because you're being mean and won't let me play on the iPod!!!"

Lauren has been very busy lately trying to fool her Nana and Mommy.  She is very particular about her shoes, and socks, and jeans, and shirts.  She doesn't want anything to be too tight.  I always buy the next size up in everything so she'll be comfortable.  Right now she's wearing a size 12 jeans that almost fall off of her, but she would happily wear a 14 if I would agree to buy them.  As it is with the size 12, she likes the feel of them when they're all stretched out.  While my mom was here watching the kids when we were in Maryland, Lauren would pick out her clothes and bring them down for Nana to iron.  Nana's no dummy and she noticed that the jeans Lauren brought down, even though they were nicely folded,  looked dirty.  She mentioned it to me when I got back and Lauren tried to fool me the same way at least twice.  She just didn't want to have to stretch out a new pair so she would try to pass off the dirty pair as clean.  This morning when I started to iron clothes I noticed that Lauren's jeans had a little mud on the bottom of one of the legs.  I had just put a clean pair of jeans in her closet the night before and so I went upstairs to check.  The little stinker had taken the clean pair and turned them inside out and laid them under her dirty shirt and socks from the day before.  She folded the dirty pair and gave them to me.  I asked her about it and she got this funny look on her face and said, "You are too good, Mommy."  Stinker.

Speaking of Lauren, she has come home twice now with these ridiculously teeny, tiny braids in her hair that one of her classmates put in.  The first time it happened I tried to get it out but told Lauren we would have to go after the braids again after I finished cooking.  Well, she took it upon herself to just cut them out.  She came walking up to me wearing a camouflage knit cap with tears in her eyes and said, "Mommy, I did something really stupid."  When she pulled the cap off, a hand-width sized section of hair popped straight up.  We've been affectionately referring to them as her "pokies" and talk to them as if they're alive.  We've had to start parting her hair on the opposite side to try and keep them tamed and we spray them heavily each day to keep them under control.  When she came home again this week with three more of the same braids, I flipped.  We had a serious talk about not allowing her little friend to put in any more braids...ever!  We managed to get those out but I couldn't believe how crazy hard it was!

I offered Jake two choices for breakfast:  Honey Bunches of Oats cereal or waffles.  He said, "Honey Poke, please."

We have pictures of all five kids lining the stairs.  When Skylar was here, she just melted my heart because every time she passed by the picture of her mother, she would say, "There's my mama!  Hi, me Mama!"

Recent Conversations around the house:
Jacob:  Mommy, I am dying!
Me:  Why?
Jacob:  Because you are singing and it is bad.
Me:  Jacob!!
Jacob:  Sorry, your singing is good.

Jacob to Lauren:  Lauren, are you stupid or lovey?  Press 1.

Lauren (while eating at a restaurant):  Anna, did you like your mac 'n cheese?
Anna:  Yes.
Lauren:  I didn't.  You must have a bad taste of humor. 

Jacob:  Mommy, comb my hair so I look handsome and the girls will want to look at me.
(Later in the day while we were in the truck Skylar kept looking at him.  Jacob said, "Skylar, stop looking at me.  You're killing my life."
I said, "Remember, Buddy, you wanted me to fix your hair so the girls would look at you and so Skylar can't help herself because you are so handsome."
He thought about it for a moment and said, "Oh.  Okay."

Jacob:  Mommy, Lauren is spitting her tongue at me!

Jacob:  Mommy, will you marry me?
Me:  Aww, Jacob, I super love you.
Jacob:  I love you too, Mommy, 28-9, fourteen, eleven-teen, five-teen.

Lauren's nickname is "Lo-lo" or "Lo-lo Berry".  We were playing in the front yard and Jacob was wearing his birthday crown from his 1st birthday.  I pulled it down over his eyes and said, "Marco!"  He immediately called back, "Lo-lo!"

Do you think Easter will like it?

Happy Easter!

We decorated Easter eggs last night and when we were done Jacob asked, "Do you think Easter will like it?"  The kids love decorating eggs and I think we need to boil twice as many next year to decorate.  We all enjoyed ourselves and tried out some new ways to "fancy" up the eggs, including markers and nail polish.

Lauren left the Easter Bunny a letter with a duck drawn on it.  The note read,
"Hi Easter Bunny!  I didn't know what to give you so I just gave you a duck but they lay eggs so I guess I'm fine. 
Happy Easter!
 Love, Lauren
P.S.  I like camo.

The duck was drawn in pencil and left uncolored but was sitting on a colored camouflage egg! Ha!  I love her.

The Easter Bunny did visit and he took the eggs and hid them.  There was a bit of a rainstorm though and so even though the eggs started out looking like the picture above, they look a bit different this morning.  All of the decorations kind of washed away. :( The kids have already been out in the rain (in the dark) with wellies and flashlights and found all but one.  They had fun just the same, decorated eggs or not.   Wishing you all a Happy Easter!

Love is in the Air

Lauren and our next door neighbor Connor have been in love for sometime now.  Granted they're both only 8, but it seems to be a crush that runs both ways.  Connor has been quite the romantic tike since this puppy love began.  He's brought her a mood bracelet and flowers and is always extra nice to her when the kids are out playing in the cul-de-sac.  One day his mom came to the door and told me that Connor had made a card for Lauren but she felt she should explain the card before he gave it to her.  She said he had written, "Lauren, I want to fill you up."  I kind of gulped and nodded and said, "Huh."  She smiled and said that he had been reading a book called "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?".  It's a wonderful children's book that talks about how we all relate to one another and that everyone carries an invisible bucket around with them.  The story questions how you've spent your day; have you been kind and friendly and gracious and filled someone's bucket with your kind actions and words and by doing so made their day better or have you been not so nice and emptied their bucket?  Well, Connor knew how he felt about Lauren and he knew that he wanted to fill her up!  It's very sweet and cute when you know the backstory but sounds a bit shocking if you don't!! Haha!

For Valentine's Day this year he gave Lauren a homemade card that was just the cutest thing.  On the front it reads:  love you lorn from connor.  He's decorated the "O's" in his name to look like a boy and girl.  On the inside it says:

roses are red

violets are blue

This card was

made Just for

you.  your nice

and sweet when

I Dance yo

keep up with

the beat.  your

Awsome and fun

But were not done

yet youll read

the next Page

I bet to the

bet

 

happy

Valentin's day

lorn your

awsome

love you

 

On the back he's written their names "Connor + Lorn" surrounded by 4 hearts colored purple, blue, green, and black.  The background is pink and red.

I just love the kids in our neighborhood.  It's so much fun to be able to step out your front door and have instant playmates.  We've been having a lot of bike races lately, well, I say bike, but sometimes the kids race on foot or in a stroller.  We're just very fortunate to have such great kids all around us!

 Psst, I'll let you in on a little secret.  Lauren likes Connor but she also likes Alex (in the Angry Birds shirt) at the bottom of the picture.  He and his sister Amanda (in the picture with Jacob above) are just awesome.  They are the sweetest, politest, most outgoing children.  We think the world of them!  I'm not sure how I feel about this whole love thing though.  Is it really supposed to start so young?  Sigh.  Make it slow down!  No matter what I do, they keep growing up!



Spring Has Sprung

I love this time of year in California. Everything is just turning green and all of the trees are blossoming. We've had blue skies every day with beautiful white, puffy clouds. It's perfect weather for biking and walking the trails.

We had a lot of trail and park time this past week as our dear Skylar was here visiting.  Our daughter just deployed overseas and Skylar is staying with her dad's mom and they're only about an hour and a half away.  We asked if we could steal her away for a bit and were overjoyed to have her with us for 5 days.  She's grown so much since we saw her last and her vocabulary has blossomed just like all of the flowers in the area.  She is the happiest, sweetest baby and walks around singing, "Happy, happy, happy."  I had big picture plans for her and had made the cutest little cape and hood with bunny ears.  She was not interested and wouldn't even let me put it on her.  She did let me put her in a dress and she stopped for a second to take a quick peek at some pinwheels I had made but was then on her way to the park.  She really loves to slide.  I really love to hear her say, "Whee!" as she goes down the slide!  We were so sad to see her go but hope to get to see her again at the end of next month!

Rodeo Time

In the past Doug and the girls have visited the local high school rodeo just down the street.  For some reason Jacob and I had never been.  On Sunday afternoon the girls wanted an activity and suggested the rodeo.  We all rode over and it was actually quite nice.  Lauren is desperate for her own horse and Anna is excited at the prospect of riding lessons.  Jacob was just happy because Doug bought him a bag of Cheetos, which he has been asking for every single time we go to the store.

 

 Before we left the house I overheard the girls talking about gathering pennies, nickels, and dimes.  At the time I didn't realize what they were doing, but once we arrived I learned that they place bets with each other over whether or not the rider will rope the calf within 30 seconds.  At the end I asked them who won in the betting department and they both replied, "I think I did."  The problem was they hadn't counted the money they started with and they didn't keep their winnings separate from their starting amounts.  Sillies.

 

 

 

I can totally picture this being Lauren someday.

 

 



 

We love California but one of Doug's biggest complaints happens to be the traffic.  He says you can't go anywhere in this state without a traffic jam.  Somehow the traffic jam below doesn't seem quite as bad as the rest. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Wherever you go and whatever you do, may the luck of the Irish be there with you!

I have been thinking about Doug's parents this morning.  On their very first date they found a four-leaf clover.  What an auspicious beginning to a relationship!  Ruth kept it in a frame for many years and brought it with her to California when she moved. 

I made green pancakes for the kiddos this morning and told them a little about St. Patrick.  To be honest, I didn't know anything more than shamrocks and leprechauns which was Anna's response when I asked what they knew about the day.  I did a little query on Google and learned something myself.  That's always a nice way to start the day.  I planned to make colcannon and lamb stew for lunch but Doug offered to make his Zuppa Toscana and I can never pass up a chance to eat the soups he makes.  He's a master!

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Let Nature be your teacher.

William Wordsworth said it best, "Let Nature be your teacher."  All three of our children love to be outdoors but for Lauren it seems to be more of a primal need.  I jokingly told her the other day that she should have been born into the "Duck Dynasty" family as that lifestyle would suit her so well.  She loves being out at one of our neighborhood ponds catching frogs.  She calls it the swamp.  We live on a greenbelt and she is out back day after day stomping through the mud, playing with cattails, making bridges across the stream, and looking for animal bones.  So far she's found a fox skull, some sheep bones, and a deer skull and parts of its skeleton.  She keeps putting them in Ziploc bags to take to her science teacher.  I asked Doug if he was at all worried that she may become known as the weird girl that brings bags of bones to school.  All jokes aside, I do love that she is brave and engaged and curious and in love with the outdoors.

I've been going out back with her more often as Jake has taken an interest in spending time out there as well.  This is the same spot, you may recall, that has the stream that I tried to cross and got stuck in!  It really is a beautiful spot, almost magical.

The girls and I have started attending the Sacramento Antique Faire on the second Sunday of each month.  They take their chore money and can buy something small of their choosing.  Poor Lauren has been disappointed as of late because she keeps trying to buy deer antlers but they're stupidly expensive.  She always walks away disappointed when the vendor quotes her a price somewhere between $45-$65.  The last time we were there, she began to get desperate as we neared the end of the vendor rows and she still hadn't found anything.  At the very last stall, I managed to talk her out of an impulse purchase of an alligator head she had found.  She was so angry she didn't speak to me on the drive home.  This past Sunday we were running into the same situation, $45-$65 everywhere we turned.  She found a set she really liked but when we went back to ask the price, a man was walking away with them.  She burst into tears and was so disheartened.  Anna even gave her a hug and kiss to try and make her feel better.  We looked a little more and came across the antler in the picture below.  She carried it up to the vendor and asked the price.  When he said "$10", I could have kissed him.  Her face lit up and she quickly paid him before he could change her mind.  Doug told me once we got home that he felt she had been cheated, but to me the happiness that $10 antler brought our girl was priceless.

I've been reading Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv and so many of the quotes in there make me think of Lauren. One in particular fit her well...

 

 I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in tune once more.

~John Burroughs