Red and Green... and pink?

Yesterday started out great. Went Christmas shopping at The Cupboard downtown.

Saw beautiful decorative reindeer. Bought impulsively for self along with gifts for others.

Convicted at car of frivolous spending. Marched right back in and returned said reindeer.

Started driving toward home. Thought through numerous lists in head. Reminisced about family and friends in Texas.

Ran right through stop sign.

Right next to police officer.

Pulled over in Safeway parking lot. Had major estrogen rush. Bawled like an idiot in front of said officer.

Got really mad that he observed me bawling like an idiot and so bawled some more.

Received ticket that cost 4 times as much as reindeer.

Do not --as of yet-- plan to frame ticket to include in Christmas decor. (It's pink.)

Backyard Camping

The kids have been begging Daddy for a backyard camp-out for weeks! (THANK YOU, PaPa Bill and Grandma Judy, for the AWESOME new tent!) Let's see. It's 10:52 pm here, and let me check... 34 degrees with a predicted low of 24. I enjoyed a cuddly night of Kate and Leopold with some Ben and Jerry's FroYo (by the way... YUCK! Just go straight for the real stuff.) Now here I am all cuddly under my blanket at the computer while they freeze their little toesies off outside...

Or not! Darin may be totally converted from national parks. I spy a tell-tale extension cord...

*Please note that my husband will deny the above contraband fire-pit.

But the kids will tell you all about it.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

For the first time this year, we had Thanksgiving dinner alone at our house. I was torn between the prospects --relaxing versus feeling depressed-- but relaxing won out all the way! This has been one of those rare long weekends where time seems to pause at all the right moments. The kids and I loved getting our Christmas decorations out and preparing some dishes ahead of time on Wednesday, and we were all quite pleased with the results at Thursday's meal: a very juicy turkey, sweet potatoes, homemade rolls with cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, and corn (the kids had to have something they could recognize!). That evening we enjoyed dessert and laughter with our friends Josh, Monika, and Anna.

Time together in the kitchen

Time to gather at the table

Our new Black Friday tradition? A family hike.

(you get to sleep in, AND burn off some pie!)

Here we are standing on Nymph Lake.

Memories in the making

Meghan loves having her friend Leila over to play. Of course, neither of them love it when it's time to go! When Leila's grandmother arrived, she and I visited in the kitchen, fully aware that our little charges were hiding in my bedroom. After a while, we noticed that the girls had grown "too" quiet. Evidently they grew bored hiding, and decided to raid my laundry basket for dress-up clothes! Sorry, girls, no sequined dresses here!

Happy Belated Birthday, Meghan!

~since this is so late, I'm just transcribing my journal entry here!

Nov. 4, 2009

Tonight I tucked you in as a five-year-old for the last time. I love the sweet smell of your hair, the feeling of your arms tight around my neck, the smile in those blue eyes.... Tonight you wanted me to sing "All Things Bright and Beautiful" before bed -- funny that you've always liked such grown-up songs....

These days you are so happy to be at home! Even for your birthday dinner you've chosen homemade spaghetti over going out, and homemade pumpkin cake for your party. You are my fun-homebody-child, when I slow down enough to BE here with you.

Age 5 has held so much for you -- you love hiking around Sprague Lake, eating ice cream, and going out to Chipotles. You've learned how to sound out many words, and how to play the piano. You've made your own group of friends from soccer and school. You love to recite school songs and poems with hand motions for us. Several times a week you give me a sweet picture with a note: "Mommy and Daddy I love you XOXOXO Love Meghan."

We love you too, little Meg.

XOXOXO ~ Mommy

Saturday Fun in the Snow and Sun!

Unstructured?

Do you ever have to get past yourself to enjoy something you want to enjoy anyway?

Today, for instance, school was canceled! We have well over 10 inches of snow and it's still steadily falling. Absolutely nothing just had to get done around here -- no groceries to buy, no laundry to do, no dust-bunnies screaming my name (they are bound and gagged under the couches where they belong)...

A day free to just be. The hardest kind of day for me.

Honestly, it doesn't take me long to fill such days with plans. Even making lists of the fun we should have since we don't have to do anything.

Do you still love me?

(Do any of you perhaps see a little of yourselves here? I can always hope...)

So here's to playing Memory, Meg's mini- mani-and-pedi, legos.com, tomato soup and grilled cheese, snow angels, and a very furry dog that hates the cold as much as I hate the heat.

So many possibilities... one reality to enjoy...

High hopes...

Snowing again!

Honestly, I'm hoping to wake up to a blanket of snow tomorrow, so that Meghan's soccer game will be canceled (the predicted temperature: 26 degrees!).

This mentality may not win any "mother of the year" awards, but I'd rather snuggle together on the couch with hot cocoa than shiver under blankets outside that early in the morning!

First snowfall...

Watching snowflakes fall always brings Robert Frost's poem to my mind. Today, God used Frost's poem as a framework to write His own on my heart. I hope these truths stick even if today's snowfall doesn't...

Whose woods these are I surely know.

His throne is in the heavens though;

Smiling, He sees me stopping here

to watch His world fill up with snow.

My temperament does think it odd

this sudden, stolen time with God

and tries to shake this reverie

But God has spoken here to me.

He bids me come embrace His rest

and seek His face, and so be blessed.

Snow softly falling, coverings makes;

thoughts lifted upward, new forms take.

Earth silently transformed to white,

Peace within rebukes dark night,

And all creation hears a hush

When chooses it to halt the rush.

SAFE!

Whew. I just BARELY slid into home plate on that one.

Fellow moms:

How is it that now-too-small dress-up shoes, Happy Meal toys that have not seen the light of day for months, and that obscure stuffed animal now-overridden-by-under-the-bed-dust-bunnies can suddenly evoke a Smeagol-complex from our sweet little ones?

"MY PRECIOUS," they shriek, at even the slightest suggestion that something has been worn out or outgrown.

So what's a mom to do? Ahhhhh... Stealth mode.

A few hours at school... a few milliseconds distracted by a friend or a cartoon, and I'm pocketing Happy Meal toys, clutching broken nerf guns against my chest as I race up the stairs, to...

The Bin.

A purgatory of toys and various asundry items, awaiting their final destination: mission or trash bin.

Meghan has a playdate today. On the car ride home, sweet Leila said, "Look! I brought the toy I have like Meghan's!" One glance in the rearview mirror and I had a heart palpitation.

The Littlest Pet Shop stuffed pony. That I had put in The Bin.

Just last week.

The Bin which must remain secret. At all costs.

Distraction. "Awwww, girls, Keeper (our REAL pet) sure looks lonely. Why don't you love on her a minute before you go play?"

(I owe Keeper big time.)

Race to my room. Plunge through The Bin. Retrieve said pony. Race back to living room. Fake having climbed stairs from Meg's room. Extend thus redeemed pony to my eager daughter with a big smile: "Is THIS what you were wanting?"

And I kid you not, as I have sat typing these words, in walked Meghan.

"Mom, what happened to all that stuff that was on the top shelf of my closet?"

Fun at the Farm

A new tradition was born Saturday, as our family soaked up the fun at Miller Farms. This family-owned local farm offers tractor-pulled hayrides out into the fields to pick... well, basically as much produce as you can carry! Back near the farmhouse, Caleb and Meghan LOVED all of the fun activities for kids. I was thankful for the kids' opportunity to see all of the hard work that goes into farming and harvesting, and for a day of shared smiles and sunshine.

PART of the plunder!

Where do they get it?

So much catching up to do...

The past month has revealed that I need a crash course in time-management! (Not to mention modern technology, as I'm learning how computer-oriented college courses have become!) Anyway, just a few glimpses of our world...

Caleb broke his foot on August 5th, jumping off a rock-structure barefoot from about 7 feet up. 2 sets of x-rays and 15 days later, he finally got a cast. Today he got the cast removed.

Did I mention that I've been behind in blogging?

Meghan is enjoying her ballet/tap class

Time with Grammie and PaPa!

Still my LITTLE girl

This was a reassuring sight after Meghan's first day of kindergarten (August 24th):

running to me with a smile on her face.

Back to School

Ready for 4th grade!

(too old to pose with the teacher, but loves to pose with the dog!)

~Walkin' to school~

~'Lil miss kindergarten~

~Meg with Miss Bishop~

A new season...

Wow. I just dropped Meghan off at her kindergarten orientation. She is so ready for school -- intellectually, socially -- but I could tell she was fighting a little to hold it all together. As am I.

She has these little mannerisms of nervousness, of tear-fighting, that others may not even see, but I love being able to recognize these gestures. A flick of her hair... a tapping together of little fingertips... my girl.

I can no sooner fight my children growing up than I can tell the grass to stop growing... the seasons to stop changing. And just as each season of nature holds its special gifts, so too will each new age and stage hold its own joys.

The "at home with kids" years have been very challenging to me, but there have been lots of precious memories, funny moments, and lessons learned along the way. Can any mom ask for more?

Good Medicine

Sometimes you just need to get away as a family. We discovered a favorite spot last weekend in Medicine Bow National Forest in Wyoming. The kids loved roasting food over the campfire, "sleeping" (?) in the tent, playing in a snowdrift, reading together... all against the backdrop of some spectacular scenery.

Sheltered by the Snowy Range, we found a green tundra marshy with moose tracks in the valleys, sprinkled with white granite boulders, sheltered by firs, and adorned with so many wildflowers. Tiny chipmunks punctuated the stillness with their little chirps (always just beyond Keeper's reach!), and Clark's nutcrackers appeared at each mealtime.

Hope to revisit in more than just memory.

and then...

So. Why the long absence?

Well, in June our niece and nephew came to visit

and then Caleb, Meghan, and I flew to Texas

and then I came back for a week alone with Darin

and then we went hiking, biking, and remodeled a bathroom together

and then the kids came back with Grandma Judy in tow

and then our friends from Texas came up to visit

and then we celebrated Darin turning 40

and then Meghan had her first Fun Run

and then we went school-supply shopping so they wouldn't be out of everything like last year

and then we picked the first cucumber and zucchini out of our backyard garden

and then I finally chased the dust bunnies out of the corners...

and now we have only 3.5 weeks left of summer for me to hear the kids complain that they're bored.

EVERYTHING is more FUN...

...when you're with your COUSINS!

At least Caleb and Meghan think so! Even the airport was fun. We loved "showing them off" at church Sunday morning, and snuggling up to watch a movie together last night. But today's hike was definitely the highlight so far. We hiked to Nymph Lake and Dream lake, enjoying perfect weather and laughter all along the way.

Nymph Lake: Caleb can't escape Merishia's hugs!

Merishia took this great shot of a waterfall

spilling over the edge of a cliff.

The view of Dream Lake from our picnic spot.

What ARE they thinking?

It's rare that these four are so quiet and still...

Paintin' the Town

My mom, sister and I enjoyed a [kid-free!] weekend in the Windy City. I actually navigated my way from the airport to "the L" to our hotel near the river without any hitches! In the middle of all those tall buildings, we all lost our sense of direction on more than one occasion... but never our sense of adventure!

Near our hotel on the river

Legally Blond was HILARIOUS!