We're still here! John came home last weekend, and will come home again this weekend. He's planning on getting into the parade (Labor Day Parade-he is a union man, after all). So, when he gets home, he and the boys will be busy gathering up all of their earth moving equipment, retrieving a load of sand or dirt for the trailer, and representing Local 49. The boys are stoked that they get to throw candy!
We went to our favorite little pond/park yesterday, and as Stone and I were balancing on the stone wall that surrounds the park, we saw a b.i.g. garter snake slithering about just below us. The boys caught it and played with her for a while, then put her back. Then, Saylor found a cutesy little turtle by the pond. We brought the turtle home and it will live with us until the excitement wears off. Stone has been spending every second with Striper. (y'know, cuz they have orange stripes!) He's tickled, to say the least.
After watching I-Caught, and hearing that there's a video on youtube that walks you through, step by step, on how to pick a lock, Saylor's been obsessed with everything "lock-pick". We've looked a many a site, and he's got his heart on one that looks like a ballpoint pen, that has 5 lock-picking tools hidden inside. For 39.95, it can be his! We're working on saving up that 39.95.
All's well! We've been doing so many fun and interesting things that I won't bother to list them all here. Just be assured we're doing great!
August 30, 2007
August 19, 2007
Zoo!
Late this afternoon, after a while of playing/riding/running in the nearby deserted parking lot, I felt the urge to start pulling weeds, again. (did a bunch a couple days ago, got a big job ahead of me). The weather was perfect for it, nice and cool with a bit of a breeze. So, I got my gloves and gave each child a cutting device so they could help with the big ones. We were all having a grand time, until Stone got stung by a bee. Poor child, he screamed his head off, it hurt him very much. I whisked him inside, put some lavender on the sting and gave him a homeopathic for insect bites/stings. Within minutes, he was making his baby brother belly laugh, the pain of the sting behind him.
So, we wandered back outside and I resumed the weed pulling and trimmed a few pesky low hanging branches. The boys made quick use of these branches to build a zoo by first setting up some decorative wire fencing around the table, then stacking that full of branches. Once they were finished, the Zoo Keeper (Saylor) let me know it was open and that it was free, so he led me over, insisting I keep my eyes closed. He introduced me to his two critters, Jackie the Bunny (Stone) and Wolffy the Wolf (Sage).
It was one of those evenings that everything was just right. We were outside until dark, everyone engaged in something they were enjoying. Saylor had some oldies station blasting through the yard, which just added to the whole experience. Nothing like pulling weeds to "you're mama can't dance and you're daddy don't rock'n'roll". Stone finally led me inside, telling me we were going into the aquarium now, and that there were gifts, but not for sale, for free, but I can only choose 5 so that there's enough for everyone... Oh, and it just went on and on!
Daddy-O is in B-town with the cool Traaseth's, so this post is especially for him, because I know Kelli will show it to him when she sees this really early tomorrow morning! :) Hope ya'll ate a marshmallow for each of us!
August 16, 2007
On Free Children
Nabbed this from a friend's blog! Beautiful.
"There is, of course, this matter of being afraid
to give freedom to
young children. I believe they have that within
themselves which makes
it possible for them to meet the world and life,
and interpret it more
nearly aright than can we. They carry with them
that inheritance of
faith and imagination undimmed; and that
tremendous surging desire to
know, to see, to feel and to do, which is rarely
betrayed. In our
desire as adults to lay hold of a child's life,
to grip it, mold it to
our own values, we do unwittingly a great harm.
We confront children
with our own fears, our own lack of faith; to
safeguard them we
attempt to thrust between them and life those
many false illusions
which we have picked up in our own twisting,
turning way. Children
take a far more advantageous highroad. A free
child is a happy child;
and there is nothing more lovely . . ."
-- Ruth Sawyer, in her acceptance speech upon
winning the Newbery
Award for Roller Skates, 1936
"There is, of course, this matter of being afraid
to give freedom to
young children. I believe they have that within
themselves which makes
it possible for them to meet the world and life,
and interpret it more
nearly aright than can we. They carry with them
that inheritance of
faith and imagination undimmed; and that
tremendous surging desire to
know, to see, to feel and to do, which is rarely
betrayed. In our
desire as adults to lay hold of a child's life,
to grip it, mold it to
our own values, we do unwittingly a great harm.
We confront children
with our own fears, our own lack of faith; to
safeguard them we
attempt to thrust between them and life those
many false illusions
which we have picked up in our own twisting,
turning way. Children
take a far more advantageous highroad. A free
child is a happy child;
and there is nothing more lovely . . ."
-- Ruth Sawyer, in her acceptance speech upon
winning the Newbery
Award for Roller Skates, 1936
Seize the Moment
Last night, as I was helping Stone brush his teeth, and holding a very tired, cranky Sage, Saylor headed upstairs to hop into bed. He noticed that the sheet on the king-size bed felt all "crumbly" and so took the sheet off and went to get a clean sheet out of the closet. On his way back to the bedroom, sheet in hand, he passes by our big wind tunnel fan, and the sheet does something quite exciting...spreads out into this lovely, billowy fort. So, there he stops. He attached the sheet carefully (it was the bottom sheet, so he used the elastic stuff) to the back of the fan, and then ran downstairs to get all of us saying "you have GOT to see this". We all ascend the stairs and see his magnificent creation. He invited us all in, Sage is now anything but cranky, he's all smiles and excited to be in the fort all together. Saylor yelled down to invite Grandma up to check it out, and she and Max made their way in, as well. Even though it was late, we lounged around in there for a while before making our way to bed. Stone was saying "this could be our headquarters" and then told me he learned what headquarters were by watching X-Men.
I am thankful that I have the ability to seize these moments of togetherness, creating new memories to add to our already overflowing happy memory bank. I am so thankful that I'm not a parent trapped in the "it's time for bed.period." mindset. I would have completely missed this wonderful interaction with my boys. I'm thankful that we really can follow our hearts, and that our hearts get to dictate what we do, when we do it, how we do it, instead of the clock or the calendar of the public schools. We would be missing out on so much, living our life in any other way.
I am thankful that I have the ability to seize these moments of togetherness, creating new memories to add to our already overflowing happy memory bank. I am so thankful that I'm not a parent trapped in the "it's time for bed.period." mindset. I would have completely missed this wonderful interaction with my boys. I'm thankful that we really can follow our hearts, and that our hearts get to dictate what we do, when we do it, how we do it, instead of the clock or the calendar of the public schools. We would be missing out on so much, living our life in any other way.
August 14, 2007
A Hot One!
Yesterday, it reached something like 105 degrees here. Ouch. Stone wanted to return one of his b-day gifts to Toys-R-Us, so we headed out there to see what he had in mind. We ended up spending extra time there cruising around on their wheeled toys, just for fun (and cuz it was nice and cool in there, too!) He decided that he'd like to return the remote control Jeep, get a smaller remote control car for himself, and then a remote control boat for him, and one each for his brothers. What a generous soul! We got the boats, loaded the batteries in them on our way to the pool, and they were a great disappointment. The batteries didn't stay dry, the boats didn't turn, and actually ended up filling with water and flipping over.
So, after 4 hours at the pool, the boys wanted to return the boats and Stone wanted to get Saylor a car like the one he'd chosen for himself earlier, because that actually worked and was fun. Mama was quite spent at this point, hot, tired, but mostly hungry, it turned out. After eating a delish dish at Qdoba, I found the energy and ability to smile and say, "YES! Let's go return those boats and get that car!" Well, we did just that, Stone saw to it that Saylor and Sage each got a car to bring home, and they've been having the best time cruising their cars all around together. As a matter of fact, Saylor and Stone are outside right now driving them. And I've just retrieved Sage from our bed and delivered him outside to play with his brothers. Looks as if my morning coffee/e-mail/blog time is at it's end! Time to go be a mother to my boys!
So, after 4 hours at the pool, the boys wanted to return the boats and Stone wanted to get Saylor a car like the one he'd chosen for himself earlier, because that actually worked and was fun. Mama was quite spent at this point, hot, tired, but mostly hungry, it turned out. After eating a delish dish at Qdoba, I found the energy and ability to smile and say, "YES! Let's go return those boats and get that car!" Well, we did just that, Stone saw to it that Saylor and Sage each got a car to bring home, and they've been having the best time cruising their cars all around together. As a matter of fact, Saylor and Stone are outside right now driving them. And I've just retrieved Sage from our bed and delivered him outside to play with his brothers. Looks as if my morning coffee/e-mail/blog time is at it's end! Time to go be a mother to my boys!
August 13, 2007
Today is the Day...
that my Sweet, Sweet Stone turns 6!
How I wish I could go back to the day he was born, truly one of the happiest in my life. Our first homebirth, snug in our little sacred space. He was the most beautiful baby, with those big eyes and the dimpled chin...he took my breath away early that morning, when I first laid my eyes on him, and he continues to take my breath away daily. This child of mine, the one who really encourages me to stretch my mothering wings and flex in ways that inspire me to grow and be better, do better.
As I tell him often, "Thank you for choosing me!"
August 8, 2007
Our Amazing Boys
They just do so much every day that makes me smile and melt with Joy. For the past several days, they've been practicing their bb gun skills in our back-yard-shooting-range. Funny, cuz if you saw our back yard, you'd wonder how we can do it at all! :) It's little. Anyway, there happens to be a stretch alongside the garage, long narrow open space, that they've been using. They set up their cans on the table, and then shoot them over, rarely missing. Just beyond the table is an overgrown tree, and beyond that is a privacy fence, so I'm confident that no windows will be sacrificed.
On Monday, our neighbor R. played with us most of the whole day. While he was here, they made a little fort out of a hole in the wall. Seriously, though, there is an access door inside my closet, that takes you to a space behind the wall, if that makes any sense? Right now, the space is insulated and the floor has exposed beams, with insulation between them. They used a large piece of wood that was in there to create a sitting space. John will cut some more pieces to finish off the rest of the floor, then I've got 2 big Pier 1 rag rugs we'll put in there for them, some big cozy pillows, some shelves. However, I must say that they've done quite a job of making if their own already, with no help from us at all. Saylor put his portable dvd player in there, along with a tiny little lamp, a fan and a couple of closet lights he picked up yesterday with his allowance. So, now when Saylor is MIA, I can find him up there, sneaking in some quiet time, watching a DVD, just hanging out. Pretty fun stuff!
We've been researching 4-H; Saylor wants to participate in their shooting sports. Stone will have to wait until he's 8, though. Ugh. Poor guy!
We've got fruit flies munching on a ripe banana in a jar.
Stone's busy planning his birthday party, set for this Saturday. We're thinking park, pond, crawdads, a couple cakes and lots of friends.
Today, out of the blue, Sage starts telling me about a scene from Shrek 2, where Donkey keeps smacking his lips and Shrek and Fiona (he remembered all these names, too) said "DONKEY!" He told me all of that! And we haven't watched Shrek 2 in a looooong time.
While looking up 4-H stuff, I came across a link to a park here in town, that I didn't know about. We're thinking of checking that out today.
I love these boys of mine, my little Zen Masters, my Greatest Teachers!
On Monday, our neighbor R. played with us most of the whole day. While he was here, they made a little fort out of a hole in the wall. Seriously, though, there is an access door inside my closet, that takes you to a space behind the wall, if that makes any sense? Right now, the space is insulated and the floor has exposed beams, with insulation between them. They used a large piece of wood that was in there to create a sitting space. John will cut some more pieces to finish off the rest of the floor, then I've got 2 big Pier 1 rag rugs we'll put in there for them, some big cozy pillows, some shelves. However, I must say that they've done quite a job of making if their own already, with no help from us at all. Saylor put his portable dvd player in there, along with a tiny little lamp, a fan and a couple of closet lights he picked up yesterday with his allowance. So, now when Saylor is MIA, I can find him up there, sneaking in some quiet time, watching a DVD, just hanging out. Pretty fun stuff!
We've been researching 4-H; Saylor wants to participate in their shooting sports. Stone will have to wait until he's 8, though. Ugh. Poor guy!
We've got fruit flies munching on a ripe banana in a jar.
Stone's busy planning his birthday party, set for this Saturday. We're thinking park, pond, crawdads, a couple cakes and lots of friends.
Today, out of the blue, Sage starts telling me about a scene from Shrek 2, where Donkey keeps smacking his lips and Shrek and Fiona (he remembered all these names, too) said "DONKEY!" He told me all of that! And we haven't watched Shrek 2 in a looooong time.
While looking up 4-H stuff, I came across a link to a park here in town, that I didn't know about. We're thinking of checking that out today.
I love these boys of mine, my little Zen Masters, my Greatest Teachers!
August 1, 2007
Water, water everywhere!
We have just been so darn busy lately, that my time is limited to share with you all what we are doing. Most of what we've been doing includes water and swimming. Yeah! :) The boys all have that cute little back tan, that stops just above their sweet little cheeks. Adorable!
We did the lake last Friday (oh, I think I posted about that). And then we went to the Rushmore Water Slides on Sunday with my sister, her children and the 2 Japanese exchange students they have for two weeks.
Yesterday, we inflated our Bonzai water slide, but then Robert came over and they all chose him, instead.
Today, we are going to go have Janice (robert's gma) help us thread our sewing machine. I haven't done it since highschool, and sat there and looked at it, like, 'duh'? She's the sewing expert, so she's agreed to help us out.
Saylor's hungry for crepes, so gotta go whip some up. I'll get up some pictures soon!
Blessed Be...
We did the lake last Friday (oh, I think I posted about that). And then we went to the Rushmore Water Slides on Sunday with my sister, her children and the 2 Japanese exchange students they have for two weeks.
Yesterday, we inflated our Bonzai water slide, but then Robert came over and they all chose him, instead.
Today, we are going to go have Janice (robert's gma) help us thread our sewing machine. I haven't done it since highschool, and sat there and looked at it, like, 'duh'? She's the sewing expert, so she's agreed to help us out.
Saylor's hungry for crepes, so gotta go whip some up. I'll get up some pictures soon!
Blessed Be...
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