November 28, 2006

Turkey Day, Traveling and Transition

We had a lovely Thanksgiving spent with my mom, Curt (her husband), my sister and her family, and Hayden and Diana. They (H/D) landed at our house Wednesday evening, on their way back from Corvallis, OR. (someplace I GOTTA go!) Hayden and Saylor were enjoying each other so much that Hayden decided it would be cool to hang out another night, and send us off on our journey Friday morning.

The packing and other preparations for leaving seemed a little less organized this go round. Probably because we'll be gone for longer, and we'll be further away? I don't know, still trying to figure that one out...oh, the mysteries of the universe. Maybe it had something to do with John arriving home Wednesday afternoon, a day and a half before we wanted to head out. So, Wednesday was busy, Thursday was busier, and Friday morning didn't see our anticipated 8:00 departure time come to fruition. Oh well. We left home around 11:30, not so bad, I guess.

The trip was (mostly) uneventful. If you don't count the large quantity of diesel fuel that we donated to the Utah interstate system, then it was really a great trip! We slept in a truckstop parking lot Friday night somewhere in??? Sheesh, I can't remember. When we woke up, John needed to check on the small drip we were noticing below the fuel tank. He pinpointed it, got the parts he needed from the truckstop, and $48 later, we were on our way. (After filling up with $200+ worth of fuel, gotta know this little tid-bit for what's next to come...)

About an hour later, and after a couple truck drivers honked on their way by us, John pulled over at a rest area in Utah, to find a Ha-uge spraying, squirting, wasteful leak/flood coming out of one of the fuel filters on the engine itself. Oi, lots of wasted fuel, money literally down the road. Dang.

John decided to un-hitch the Suburban and head to the next town, 10 miles down the road to get the parts he'd need to fix this problem. The boys and I played at the rest area, exploring a big wild area of large bushy things that rabbits thought made the perfect habitat. We skateboarded, played chase, walked up and down the concrete drain way, climbed trees. When Stone announced that he was starting to get 'frost bitten', we decided to make our way back into the bus. I popped some popcorn, and we watched Shark Tale. John made it back and fixed the gash and we were again on our way. We fueled up -gulp- and this time kept the fuel where it belonged. Whew.

We made it as far as Barstow, CA Saturday night. We wanted to do some night driving so the kids didn't have to travel so long Sunday. They were ready to be done. After a hearty breakfast at Big Boy on Sunday, we rolled into Corona around 10:30 am. And now, we're here.

The campground is decent, except for the arbitrary rules they enforce, like "no rollerblading inside the park", whu? The kids can ride their bikes, but no rollerskating or rollerblading. Saylor is very much into his roller blades, though, so we have to hike our butts outside of the park, then go down the lazy lane that runs all the way around the campground. It's a beautiful walk, much prettier than looking at everyone's stuff in the cg itself and good exercise for me, so I won't complain (too much). Saylor's pissed, however. :)

I've been quite grumpy the last few days. In some funk, the transition has been hard this time. I have much to be grateful for and I'm working at keeping that as my focus. I feel the shift beginning, and tomorrow will be a better day. I'm up late so I could see my man off to work tonight. Poor guy, working while we'll be here sleeping, then he'll be sleeping while we try our best to keep quiet in our less than 300 sq. ft. we share. Perhaps tomorrow will be a good day to check out the farmers market just down the road from us. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for those inexpensive California avocados. Gotta have 'em!

November 19, 2006

Grateful for my Tribe

The boys (minus John, sigh) and I spent a lovely afternoon -and evening- with a bunch of mama's and papa's and babies and kids, feasting and giving thanks for the friendships and support that we share with one another. I am blessed, blessed, blessed for the people in my life. Thank you all for the beauty you bring to this earth...

Everyone brought something brilliantly delicious! Our menu looked something like this, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but, just to get your salivary glands going...! Everything home made, heart made:
quinoa loaf
veggie pasta bake
fruit salad
banana bread
pumpkin pie (2, one specially made for those gluten free eaters)
spring rolls with peanut sauce
rice noodle pasta dish
roasted sweet potatoes
eggplant/sweet potato/zucchini layered dish
pita bread
hummus
leafy green salad
wine
sparkling cider
more wine

And boy, can we put some food away when you throw a bunch of us together. Sheesh. It's almost embarassing (if I didn't love food so much, mabye!) But, we do love our food! The kids nibble and snack as they pass through the dining room, and the adults seem to stick close to the grazing field. Fourteen children played together quite happily, ranging in age from 12 months to 7 years. Another noteworthy bit is that of those 14 children, only 3 were girls! Must be the water?

Sage and two of his buddies thought it was just the perfect time to take a bath, and so they did. They were so cute, 3 little guys in the tub. The played with the sharks and turtles and other fun toys together, until they were done and ready to move on to something else.

Stone is really into borrowing things when we leave people's houses, but wasn't having any luck striking up a deal tonight, so had quite the meltdown as we were leaving. I helped him into the car, took off his boots so he didn't do too much damage to the dashboard as he was kicking it, and turned on a mellow song to try and help him sooth. Intense, but he did calm down, and I held his hand the whole way home, after he decided to let me touch him, that is. Whew, he was angry. Coulda been because he didn't eat anything there; he's much more into playing than eating that one! I offered several times, but he wasn't havin' it! Once home and cuddled on the couch with me as I nursed Sage to sleep, he said he was hungry. He requested his favorite, egg sandwiches. He always likes to have 2 eggs, on folded pieces of bread, so he ate them and promptly fell asleep.

Saylor decided to have a couple 'yolky' eggs, too. He actually ate a couple of times at the festival of food. He gobbled up the eggs and while I was cleaning up the humidifier for tonights use, saw the spicy black bean burgers in the freezer and said he'd like one. He's usually my light eater, he'll eat/try anything, but he eats so little at a time.

November 15, 2006

Is this really my life?

I ask myself that question often. Is this really my life? My amazing, wonderful, joyful, exciting life full of love and light and bliss? I am ever thankful for my life, for my children and the gifts they give to me every day, for the lessons they teach me about myself and for how they push me to be a better human being. I am ever thankful for my most wonderful husband, who loves me for who I am, who embraces all of my zany ideas with nothing less than pure enthusiasm, who trusts me deeply and who is my best friend in the whole world.

So, yep, this really is my life and I'm in love with it, can you tell? How did I get to this place, this creation of the life of my dreams? I honestly don't know, (well, I do have some idea) I'm just so very grateful that I did. I'm grateful that I decided to listen to that inner voice, even when it wasn't the voice of anyone else in my little world. It was telling me to do things that felt right, rather than to do things because "everyone else is". I still listen to that voice inside, that Goddess within. Forever wise and guiding me further down the peaceful path of more...

Buddhist Thoughts

It is important to recognize the power of our emotions--and to take responsibility for them by creating a light and positive atmosphere around ourselves. This attitude of joy that we create helps alleviate states of hopelessness, loneliness, and despair. Our relationships with others thus naturally improve, and little by little the whole of society becomes more positive and balanced. - Tarthang Tulku

I get a "Buddhist Thought for the Day" on my Google homepage, and this was the thought for yesterday. I love it! I think it embraces a facet of unschooling that so many unschoolers believe in 100% ... choose *JOY*... And just imagine the whole of society living with these intentions, truly awe inspiring if you can expand your mind large enough to really feel what kind of light that would bring to the universe.

November 14, 2006

Domestic Bliss

We really haven't been up to a whole lot lately, except for lounging around the house and playing and eating. We've all been quite content to just hang out here. The weather has been a little on the chilly side the past few days, so that keeps us inside.

John left Saturday morning to drive a tanker to Southern California. He'll stay there and work until Thanksgiving, then fly back here to load up his family into our second home and roll on back to so. cali. If it all works out the way I want it to, we'll rent our home out for a few months. It looks like the job could be anywhere from 4-6 months. I'd like to have someone stay here for really, really cheap, just enough to cover a small bit of mortgage and just to have a living body in the house. I hate leaving the house all alone; I'm sure she gets sad without us here.

My sister and niece came over for coffee this morning and we played a while then went to McD's for a nasty lunch; but more so the kids could play on the play land there. It was nice to spend some time with them, and even nicer to have some time to get to actually *talk* to my sister. It's rare that we talk, and rarer still that we talk about things that matter. We are so unlike each other, so I'm sure we both sit there afraid to say too much out of fear of hurting the other. Ahh, relationships...

Sage is taking a bath in the kitchen sink right now (don't worry, I'm right here beside him, laptop perched on the counter) and the big boys are in the tub. Sage has been having the time of his life with markers lately; coloring anything and everything, including himself and anyone else he can get to show some skin. I guess he loves the clean palette of a bare belly. He also discovered that dishes are really fun to marker up, and the fridge....ooooooo yeah, baby! I'm just not sure if he had more fun markering it or wiping it all off. What a great discovery, to use washable markers on the fridge. Thanks, Sage! It really does look fun, and had I not been in the middle of making pancakes and eggs for supper, I'da joined him. Tomorrow!

Saylor jarred his back today while doing flips on our bed. We have a twin mattress on the floor at the foot of our king bed. He runs, bounces off of the twin, then jumps up and does a beautiful flip onto the big bed. Today, though, his foot slipped off the edge of the twin bed, and he said it just threw off his whole flippy do. He's soaking in some epsom salt and essential oils right now. I need to dig around and find our arnica, too. Hoping all those things bring him some comfort.

Stone is big time into mama right now and I am big time loving it! As we were leaving the house today to go to lunch, Barb invited him to ride along with her but he sweetly declined and said he just wanted to come with me. Usually, he'd be the first one to accept. So instead, Saylor and Sage rode with her and Emma, and Stone rode with me. I love that kid!

See, the problem with my blogging, and lack thereof, is that I have soooo much to say that I find it to be an insurmountable task, and so I don't write anything. Maybe if I did it daily, it wouldn't seem to pile up so much? I guess that's just my style of doing things though, not that I exactly like that sort of style, but I'm the kind of person who will go for 6 months before writing down a single check or balancing the checkbook. I suck. Perhaps a change will occur?...?...?

November 3, 2006

Two Times Today?!?

Wow! Blogging again for the second time today! Can ya believe it? I just had to spill out a bit of the pure love and joy I'm feeling about sharing our week with Hayden. It's been so great to watch the dynamics of the human relationship unfold. Stone and Hayden even had some one on one time playing together tonight while Saylor played Superman on PS2. *THAT* was cool! :)

Stone fell asleep on the couch, so I brought him up to bed, then went back down to collect up my baby. Well, 2 hours later, and here I am. I'm tired and know I need to go to bed, but I was just having so much darn fun laughing with those two boys. They've been playing around with a couple birth balls I have, and tonight, they decided they needed to exercise. So, they were doing sit ups and push ups and other crazy antics on the balls.

I was showing the boys one way to do sit ups, and Sage was beside me doing his best to imitate (which boiled down to thrusting his hips/butt up off the ground). I was laughing about that, then Hayden made a comment about "oh, great, even the baby does 'em better than me!" Oh my! That made me laugh my ars off! The way he said it was priceless. No real feelings of inferiority, of course, just this statement, plain and simple. It was too cute.

Then, they decided they'd like me to warm up some apple crisp for them. Then I hear Hayden saying "I think I'm going to start eating more healthy and riding my bike more so I can get in shape." Then Sage wanted some leftover soup; then Hayden saw that and wanted some, too. I made it last night, with chicken, zuchini, onions, and sweet corn. T'was good! I asked Hayden how he planned on getting in shape, and he said, "Oh, I don't know, by eating more fruit and stuff; and soup like this". So sweet! Theeeen, they thought they really would like the pomegranite. I tried getting out of that one, they're messy y'know? But, how could I deny Hayden his first taste? I harvested the seeds and they both enjoyed them by the spoonful.

Such a good day, a good week, a good friend. I asked him if he would do something for us. Would he come back to stay with us again sometime? "Yeah, we're coming back through here on our way back from Oregon". That's great! But, will just you come sometime again? (not that I don't love you, D!) I told him that it's been really nice spending time with just him, and that we've loved the chance to get to know him even better, and it'd be fun to do it again sometime.
He said he would do that for us! Looking forward to it.

Now, they're downstairs, squeezing in some last minute time together before bed. They know they are welcome to come on up to our family bedroom and watch tv while they drift off to sleep when they're ready.

I'm headed there now to read a few pages of The Unprocessed Child and easy my mind into peaceful rest. Night.

November 2, 2006

Thursday

Our days have been fun and relaxing while Hayden's been here. There have only been a couple of times that they've needed, and taken, a breather from each other. We've been hanging out around the house, and the boys usually make their way into the kitchen at least once a day to make themselves something to eat. This ranges from scrambled eggs (which they are very good at!) to a creative concoction of various fruits thrown together and then cooked in a pan, and then put in the freezer for just the perfect amount of time. What perfect practice for when they become daddies and husbands; their wives/partners will be so grateful!

I met a prospective doula client last night; she's due December 1 with her first baby. They are a beautiful couple and will undoubtedly have a beautiful baby. I had some extra time, so I browsed around Border's with my cup of decaf and looked at some utterly amazing photography books. Photography...something I've always been interested in, but, like so many others, put it aside. For now, not forever.

Sounds like John will be in Omaha until Saturday, then hopefully he'll make it home late Saturday night. He was hoping to do more door-knocking this weekend. I'm sure he'll still get some done on Sunday. My good friend Pammy K. celebrates her birthday on Saturday, which is a really *B*I*G* occasion for her, so I'll be joining her and some friends for a drink at Minerva's.

I'd like to be able to volunteer some time between now and the election to help G.O.T.V. on behalf of the SD Campaign for Healthy Families. We'll see if I can steal away some time from the kids, or maybe even make a few phone calls from home. It's scary close right now, in the polls anyway. Last I checked, 51% for over-turning the abortion ban and 49% in favor of keeping it. That's too close. It makes me crazy that each side has spent about $8,000,000 on this issue. It makes me crazy that our lame state can't step up and raise the minimum wage so that families had more resources and wouldn't have to make such a painful decision in the first place. It makes me crazy that so much time and energy and money is being spent on such a hot topic that affects SO FEW, instead of really looking at making some positive changes for South Dakota that affect EVERYBODY. Between the abortion issue and gay marriage, it's just insane. Ya don't like abortion? Don't have one. Ya don't wanna marry someone of the same sex? Don't. Have you had a same sex proposal lately? Ok, whoa, kinda got carried away there. I'm all done now!

November 1, 2006

So Much Fun!

Halloween 06 was a fun one! We started celebrating last night with little pumpkins that the 4 boys carved. I'm 'mama on duty' to Hayden this week, so my three plus one! Today it was off to our Mother's Collective Party at 4:30. Next stop, Harvest Festival at a nearby church from 6:30 until 8'ish. And last, but CERTAINLY not least, trick or treating until it just got too darn cold for those big boys!

Sage and Stone konked out in the warm car while we dropped Saylor and Hayden off at houses that were still treating. In and out they went, over and over again. Hayden was determined to fill his bag up to the brim, and he did! My guys were ready to call it quits, but Hayden kept saying, "Oh, it'll be worth it!" So, that kind of kept them going. Saylor anyway! Stone decided he was done, cold, tired; so I hit a few houses for him while he stayed cozy.

As I carried in my two sleeping babes, Saylor and Hayden knocked on our neighbors door for their last 'hurrah'! Then, in they came to check it out! (see picture below, titled "The Loot!" :)
After they were satisfied that they looked through it thoroughly, they decided to re-watch Nacho Libre. I got them all set up with some protein snacks and glasses of water before I headed on up to do a quick entry and crawl under the down comforter with the wee ones.

It's been really great having Hayden here these past days. I was a bit nervous at first, Stone and he have a history of getting under each other's skin. They have done beautifully! I know they really like each other, they're just figuring it out for themselves. Funny thing is, they are so much like one another. Must be a second born thing?

And of course, Saylor is in Hayden heaven! They are getting in some really good time together, it's great to hear them off giggling about something. Today they had a 'moment', and I said "Awww, look, just like brothers!" It lasted about 2 minutes, then they were over it and on to the next experience, which was a joyful one from what I could hear echoing through the house.

Good memories being created by everyone . . . so much fun . . .

Sweet Dreams...


oct06 026, originally uploaded by thewildtribe.

The Loot!


oct06 027, originally uploaded by thewildtribe.