Potty Humor

      I have been working on a little project for a couple of years now and I have stalled at finishing because I am quite nervous about it. It is a book about parenting with lots of stories of messes we have made and things we feel we have done right. It's sassy and honest and, I hope, thought-provoking and encouraging. It's not perfect or perfectly written, but it's much of what we think makes our family fun. In an effort to kick-start my courage to just get it done and send it out into the universe, my husband has convinced me to share a chapter here and see what people think. So, feel free to express your thoughts, criticisms and encouragements. Oh, and if anyone makes grammatical corrections, I will assume they are volunteering to be my editor. ;) Thanks!

potty humor

To train or not train? That is the question. Please, please, please, if you don’t think anything else in this book is useful, take me seriously here. RELAX!!! Do you know very many 17 year olds that wear diapers? There is no need whatsoever for the low grade panic that grips the parents of 9 month olds when they realize Tommy next door is out of diapers. Who are you trying to keep up with? Just like every other milestone, you can not judge your child’s progress on the law of averages. Take a deep breath, slow down, and think seriously about your motives and your methods. A little non-emotional common sense is in order here.

First off, how do you decide when your child is ready to start experimenting with losing the portable poop pants? Is it when your nephew of the same age starts? How about when your mother says you did? Maybe it’s when your child’s diapers get a little more aromatic than they used to be. Maybe your reasons are a little more practical. Do you have to go back to work and your child care provider doesn’t do diapers? Whatever your reasons for starting the process, step back and ask if you are being realistic. If your child is not ready, you will only frustrate both of you by pushing it. This is not a battle worth picking.

There are plenty of ways your child will show you they are ready. They should be able to go a couple of hours between wet diapers and have fairly regular bowel movements. They may start asking to wear big kid underwear and get curious about what you or their siblings are doing in the bathroom. Even if you have had an open door policy on the bathroom, they may become more curious than usual about the actual porcelain proceedings. You may have a child like one of mine who simply decides that they are potty trained. Sounds heavenly right? wrong!

My youngest just decided one day just after she turned two that she knew how this worked. I could not keep her in a diaper. I actually tried duct tape in desperation once. She managed to wiggle out. The thing is, she really thought she was potty trained. She would sit on the toilet for twenty minutes at a time then hop off and pee on the floor. I couldn’t even get mad because she would try to clean up while her little voice chimed, “uh oh!” What is a mother to do in that situation besides make sure there are plenty of towels in reach in every room?

She really kept me on my toes. One morning, I came around the corner to see her reaching down with a little square of toilet paper to pick up a little poop she had left there by mistake. She realized the square of toilet paper hadn’t protected her hand very well. She looked up at me with her adorable little eyes and said, “ewww Mama.” Before I could stop her, she wiped her hand off in her hair. Needless to say, a good floor washing and a shower for both of us followed. I am telling you this story so that you know I have had my share of potty training misadventures. I am not telling you to relax as someone who has had it easy and clearly, younger children being ready to train has it’s disadvantages.

With four children of my own and several that I have provided care for, I have experienced a variety of personalities in every stage of excremental success. I have spent a slightly ridiculous amount of time thinking about ways to do it better since it seems to frustrate so many people. There are two extremes I have observed and everything in between.

The first extreme I have noticed is what I call the “Potty police.” They are demanding and frustrated when their child can’t keep up. They are impatient and insist that their child’s unwillingness to get serious about potty training is a direct attempt at defiance. They view the bathroom as a battlefield and their child as the enemy. There are consequences for unmet expectations and both the child and the parent end up at their wits end. Oh, the child still ends up out of diapers eventually, but at what cost? Fear and intimidation have never led to long-lasting healthy relationships. These are your foundational years. Again, I say, relax.

The other extreme is the “Poopy Party Planner.” They have the singing potty with the color changing pull-ups. Every time their kid gets on the potty, they stop whatever they are doing and read to them. The child gets stickers and candy and toys for their performance as well as applause. Eliminating waste in the proper receptacle has just gone from a natural and expected bodily function to a production of grand proportions. Let me just quietly ask, what precedent are you setting in this relationship? Maybe your child is not making choices based on fear and intimidation, and that’s a good thing, but what is the foundation here? Could it be at all possible that the growing attitude of entitlement in our culture may have something to do with the way we parents have taken every small and expected step in our child’s development and turned it into grand achievements? Pooping, for the vast majority of people, is just a gross necessity, not an act that merits a gold medal.

If your parenting consists of making a big deal out of every normal, necessary and common milestone, what will you do when the time comes to celebrate a significant achievement? It’s not that singing potty’s are inherently evil. I am only suggesting that if you set your child up to be lavishly rewarded for things that are common place expectation, you are not doing them any long term favours.

So find a spot in the middle. Celebrate the milestone, but keep in mind the reality that this is expected not extraordinary. Sometimes it is good to remind ourselves and to teach our children that some rewards come automatically with our behaviour. For instance, a dry bum is a happy bum so don’t buy the most absorbent diapers. Let them have the big kid pants and calmly deal with the messes when they happen together.  Getting to be a big kid is exciting all on it’s own. Take a deep breath, relax, and don’t make mountains out of molehills.

In conclusion, I will give you some ideas that worked for me or friends of mine. For several of my children, I didn’t have a potty, they used the toilet and we had a stool in front. We had an open door policy, so they could hang around and begin to get the sense of what was going on in the bathroom. I used cloth diapers so they could feel when they were wet. It takes them some time to figure out how the muscles down there work and if they just stay dry, they don’t necessarily understand that they have caused the situation in their pants to change. If they don’t have an awareness of what’s happening, how can we expect them to anticipate it before it happens? That’s just downright unreasonable.

I know you saw this chapter and were hoping for “three easy steps to potty training!” or “potty train your 10 month old in 12 hours or your money back!” I am ever so sorry to disappoint. Welcome to parenthood. This is a world where the answers aren’t always easy and everyone has a different anecdote to explain why you are wrong. You may have several that oppose everything I have stated so far. I will simply repeat the premise I started with. Examine your methods and your motives. If you truly take the time to be thoughtful and deliberate, you’ll do fine. If you don’t do fine and you just suck at the potty training thing, go back and read the chapter on guilt again and then keep trying. Relax and remember, just like pregnancy and infancy, this too will pass.

So it begins......

......... the moment I have been dreading since the first little stick showed two lines. Tomorrow we officially enter the teen years. Duh duh duh.

Funny thing is, standing on the threshold of my greatest maternal fear, I am excited as all get out. I was sure I would never get over the baby stage, or the toddler stage (and I haven't, for the record. I could still go for two or three more....) but in the last few years, I have fallen in love with teenagers. I am so excited to parent my kids through the exciting years between childhood and adulthood.

It helps that I actually like the people my kids are becoming. I mean, I really enjoy their company and conversation. The fact that my son can already beat me at chess and talk philosophy only makes him more interesting to hang out with. The reality that he has his very own ideas that I didn't help put there is fascinating!

Certainly, it's not all roses. We had a moment recently that gave me some indication things were changing. Rather than come to the musical shindig that we have always enjoyed together as a family, Levi wanted to go hang out with some friends for the afternoon. His definition of relational time well spent is branching off from mine. I may have reacted a little poorly in the moment, but I wasn't ready for that just yet. I will learn. Slowly, but I will.

In all of the other crazy life changes that are going on around here at the Marriott house, I didn't want to miss the significance of this one. My son is growing up. It has suddenly become a tangible reality that he is closer to manhood than infancy and I don't want to miss these milestones anymore than I would have missed his first steps or first words.

I love him as fiercely, as completely, and as unrelentingly as I did the day he was born, but something new is rising up. I am beginning to respect him. Not the kind of general respect you should give to everyone regardless of age. I respect him in the way a person earns it, by who they are and the integrity they posses. I am losing my cheeky, brainy, little boy, day by day, but I am also slowly getting to know my grown son who is evolving even as the little boy disappears. What a heart-wrenching, yet delightful gift.

Tomorrow, my son will be 13, and I am totally excited about that. :)

My early Mother's day

My son and daughter came home (predictably) with home made cards and such today after school. What was not predictable was the fact that my son actually made me cry with his gift. Actually, it was his card. It said this;

Dear Mom,

Thank you for all of the incredible things that you have done and all the wise decisions you have made for my life. I hope that when I grow up I will be able to do all the things you have taught me to do. I remember when I was sad because I thought I had no friends and you cheered me up. Whenever I hug you I feel safe from even the most horrible thing that would frighten me. You are my one and only Mom and I love you more than anything in the world.

Absolute love,
Levi

My niece read the letter and then she and Levi proceeded to have a very insightful conversation about why teenagers who think it is uncool to hug mothers are silly and insecure. I just stirred dinner very slowly with my back to them and grinned my face off. This mom gig is the very best thing I have ever done.

New baby

I enjoyed our trip to Vancouver in November despite not being able to meet Liam because he just didn't want to come on out. It was great to spend the week leading up to his birth with his parents. Watching my daughter spontaneously and often climb into my sister's lap to cuddle her unborn cousin was delightful. Nonetheless, there was a pang of regret when we had to drive away still having not met the little man. This week my sister Leah brought him for a visit. Upon meeting my sweet nephew, all residual regret or disappointment has melted away. He is sweet and beautiful and his big grin is totally worth the wait. Thank goodness that new baby smell isn't as fleeting as new car smell.

*AND my other, biggest sister knitted me up the fingerless gloves that I have been wearing all week indoors and out as seen in the top picture. Thank you!

Creative community

It is exciting to see people pull together in the face of the Haiti crisis. Don't get me wrong, I am glad we aren't sitting back globally and leaving Haiti to itself, but why is it exciting? Maybe amidst all our back-patting, we should also consider the state Haiti was in before a natural disaster made us all sit up and take notice. It was in the kind of poverty that many cultures around the world still exist in. It shouldn't be exciting to see people pull together, it should be the norm. I know, I know, I am an idealist. Cynicism hasn't quite taken root like some people think it should in me. But wouldn't it be neat if all this helpfulness was commonplace?

What if we were actually neighborly to our neighbors? What if we actually spread around all the excess so everyone had some? What if we all swallowed our pride enough to let someone else help us? As I get ready to start planning this years Love Cranbrook Day, I have been reading about other people's approach to changing the perception of community. This is one of my favorites.

What would happen if we all made a few adjustments to the way we do buissness, do our shopping, do our yardwork. Could we start a revolution of creative community? Could we morph a culture of extravagance into a culture of extravagant love?

Power of Four

From my sister's blog

Four places I go regularly: KCF, Home, MusikGarten, and KCA

Four favorite smells: My husband's day old shirts. Newborn baby necks. Sunshine (yes it has a smell, just because you don't think so, doesn't make you less wrong.) Mint.

Four TV shows I watch: Big Bang, Dr.Who, Community, Numb3rs.

Four people I think will respond: I don't actually know any regular bloggers personally......

I will be making this in the very near future.

http://noblepig.com/2009/12/13/kahluapecanbrown-sugar-baked-brie.aspx

Our EGG-cellent adventure!

Yes, that is what you think it is.

We came across it almost by accident. There was a very small warning, that we missed, about the graphic nature of the room. While chasing a couple of our kids I turned around to see them playing a video game of some sort. Upon closer inspection I realized that yes, that is a cervix with sperm racing to the finish line (the egg). I realized this at right about the same time as another mother who was there and we both started to giggle quietly behind our children, not wanting to make a big deal about it, but thoroughly enjoying their screams of "go! go! the other sperm is going to win!". Ah Science World, always an adventure.

Taking our time in Vancouver

Well, waiting is certainly not my strong suit. Leah is beautifully round and full of baby and the baby does not seem to be ready to make an appearance just yet. So we wait in wet Vancouver.

However, I am blessed enough to have a week old baby to stave off the cravings. His name is Judah and he is perfectly sweet. I was here three weeks after his older brother Tait was born and they look so alike. It is very cool to watch Shiloh and Tait (only 4 months apart) playing together and to chat about those days six years ago when they were babies crying in concert in Amanda's hallway. Is it just me or does time seem to move in sudden spurts?

Another odd event of the week past is that while making fun of her ridiculously huge stash of yarn, my sister somehow sucked me into her obsessive knitting universe. I knit a sock, almost by accident, with her next to me like a little fellow on my shoulder full of tempting whispers. I now have a starter stash of my own and for the life of me, cannot repeat a heel flap (let alone turn the thing) but I find it oddly exciting to restart the sock every time I have to frog it. I think I have become lost down the path of no return and there is a bunch of knitters hanging out at a coffee shop down by three bags full giggling about it.

Hmm not really sure where to start

Well, the summer has been full and the kids have been having an awesome time too! The Marriott Tribe took a trip to Montana in August for Lifelinks Family Camp. It was incredible! The speakers were awesome, the kids teachers were enthusiastic and energetic, and the scenery was some of creation's best. We came back refreshed and ready to move mountains.

Upon our return, we got into full "Love Cranbrook Day" swing. It has been alot of planning effort, but the right people just keep coming out of the woodwork with all the right skills or finances to help. Things are rolling along more smoothly than I could have hoped and it is starting to get seriously exciting!

Also, last week, we had beach party with our church at Tie Lake and had some people getting baptized. Levi was one of them! It was so neat to hear Alex pray for Levi and encourage him in telling him what an incredible young man he is becoming.

Anyway, that pretty much sums it up for now.

Shiloh

I think it may be official; the Marriott children have inherited their mother's clutz genes. At least they seem to have spread it out amongst themselves rather than have concentrated doses for each.

Hannah has had a broken collar bone, Levi a broken arm and yesterday Shiloh got her broken nose re-aligned in a four minute procedure that took about 8 hours in the hospital to wait for.

She was so brave. She hadn't eaten all day and complained only once. She had heard the explanation of the surgery and recovery early on in the day and though initially she had been scared she mustered up the courage to face a whole day of waiting with cheerfulness. In every department we visited the nurses were singing her praises. They would ask how old she was and how she broke her nose and she would tell them stories of her big brother and two sisters and camping on the weekend. When they were allowed to give her one small cup of apple juice for dinner, she was very gracious and grateful and, again, did not complain.

Of all my children, to be honest, Shiloh is the last one I expected to pull off an entire day without food or drink, lying in a bed, without severe grumpiness. She was actually cheerful and pleasant, even when asking about when she could finally eat.

I have ridiculously awesome kids. It's just that simple.

Late night, much laughing

I wasn't sure what to think of this whole grad reunion idea. Does it make me feel old, or has it come too quick? Do I really want to see the pockets of people who were rather unpleasant in high school? Then there is the part where I never left Cranbrook. Anyone who has grown up in Cranbrook knows there is an expectation all through school that you will get out even if you end up coming back.

Well, who cares!? Not one person (whose opinion matters anyway). It was great to see faces of people I genuinely liked but just didn't stay in touch with. Which was a large number of faces considering how easy it is to lose touch when you go from high school graduate to housewife in a matter of days. There were a couple of people I was really grateful to reconnect with. There was even some fence mending going on.

I will say, it was very odd to overhear conversations like, "how are the kids?." My brain kept doing a double take. What do you mean "how are the kids", we are the kids! Funny how I can be married ten years with four of my own and still not be used to the idea that we are all edging towards thirty.

All in all, a wonderful evening with lots of hugging and laughing and philosophical discussion (I did bring Alex with me after all). Glad I went.

Domesticity strikes unsuspecting victim

I am not entirely sure what prompted the volunteering of this particular job in the first place, but this week I found myself baking and decorating a wedding cake. My lovely friend Barb helped with research, practice cakes and the baking of the final cake. The final decorating was left to me early Saturday morning. Although I was afraid to breath for an entire morning, the thing turned out beautifully and the girl-who-doesn't-bake managed to impress. For your viewing pleasure, the cake:
Then, after all those hours of work and probably more than a few pounds of practices cakes on my hips they go and do this:



I'm not going to lie; I knew it was coming, but it hurt a little.

Casual Conversations

The sun finally came out to play yesterday and we went for a fabulous walk in the trails up south star. As we were walking Selah and I had an interesting conversation.

Selah: I am getting bigger, right?

Me: You sure are.

Selah: Hey! I am almost ten!

Me: No, you are almost four. (this is about the last word I got in because Selah just streamed words after this.

Selah: If I was bigger I'm almost ten. I will be a giant and I will say FEE FI FFO FUM! Funny! I don't want to go in that water. The water is talking, mama, I don't like the water talking. I am running running! I am free! Mama, you can't run when you carry me cause I am bigger.

This last bit was quite a bit longer. She is an interesting kid. Them's the kind we make!

The apple doesn't fall far enough.....

SO mom and I have been throwing the words "compulsive caregiver" back and forth lately. Both of us a bit tired and a bit overly voluntary. This morning she calls to say hi and ask if our youngest could go for visit. After some conversation about how we both have a lot going on just at the moment, we had an interesting bit of "like mother, like daughter. " Here is how the conversation went: (abridged version)

Me: You will have to drop her off at the church because there is a wedding today and Alex and I are doing the food.

Mom: Why the h*** are you doing that?! (teensy lecture about compulsive care giving here)

Me: It's not a big deal I have some help. We are coordinating a potluck but I will need to be in the kitchen early.

***********insert miscellaneous conversation here*************

Mom: So we had the BBQ for the NPD leader last night.

Me: Oh, how was it?

Mom: Well I was manning the BBQ.

Me: *hysterical laughter* Why the h*** are you doing that?!

At this point we were both laughing so hard we forgot where that conversation was going.

Say What?!?

Breakfast conversation in the Marriott Household.

Shiloh: Levi, who are you going to marry?

Dad: Levi has a long time before he needs to make that decision.

Levi: Ya, like ten years.

Dad: Maybe more.

Levi: Or maybe a bit less...

Huh?

Never a Dull Haircut

So this, apparently, is what happens when your church has a mustache growing competition. Alex was so proud of his facial hair that he got a perm to ice the fur cake. There were also points for naming the facial oddness. Alex has affectionately dubbed his creation, "the cake-hole indicator." He wants me to subtext this "food goes in." For pete's sake....




Now, the timing of all this was such that my baby brother and his lovely partner were coming into town just after the facial fiasco at our church. It has been the plan for a long while to have Chrystel tie my hair up in knots. It was all very painfully (no seriously, it was painful) exciting until the dreads were labeled payback for the fro. To have my attempt at self-expression be diminished to the status of simple marital retaliation is a little disappointing, but I love them anyway.





Coming up on ten years and yes, this is what we look like. Still I say, not bored, so not bored.

Locals unplugged and unhinged

I cannot begin to describe the fullness of these last two nights. Incredible music played by all during and post recording. Laughing in the wee hours of the morning, singing three, four, five part harmonies to songs that warm a soul to its roots. Again, I come back to this place of awe, "This can't be real. Nobody has this kind of community." But there it is, everywhere I turn. These rambunctious, passionate, undeniably talented people that have become the other family to my family. I can't wait to hear the finished CD, with all it's perfect imperfections. It cannot possibly be an accurate portrayal of what this indescribable thing is, but it will be a single moment captured to carry into the years ahead.

Creativity was meant for survival

I have four children. Jobs, pets, music, and social life notwithstanding, four children, all by themselves, make a body tired. Any new mom knows that a single squirmy, ball of pink flesh can make you delirious in a matter of days by merely introducing sleep-deprivation into your life. All that being said I have come up with the perfect way to catch a nap and keep the two younger (most likely to get into trouble) munchkins occupied. It's amazing what some cotton balls, paint brushes and a few random hair clips can do for an afternoon's entertainment. Behold.




Now that's the kind of spa treatment I could get into!

I really am a little nuts...(make sure you have your sound on)

So in this house of two adults, four kids, two cats, and a fish, I have just accomplished the unthinkable. I convinced my incredibly fabulous husband to let us keep the puppy a friend introduced us to the other night.
Not just any puppy either. A small dog breed. I never thought I would own a small dog. I always made fun of small dog owners because I figured, if you want a small dog why not just get a cat? Dogs should be larger-than-life, able to protect, fetch, bark, bound. Small dogs don't bark, they yelp and they bounce rather than bound. In light of all this, however, our new little cocker spaniel/ terrier has completely made a fool of me. I find myself calling people to them as though I was pregnant. It really quite ridiculous. But seriously, can you blame me.

And yet silver linings abound.....

Rough week. People we love in the hospital, leaky basement, relationship messiness (not with us but around us), an unusually inconvenient blackout, and just having some blatant evidence of the ugliness mankind is capable of. Pffffft!

And yet, I am again humbled by the way people pull together, pull up their socks, and just plain love the crap away. You don't get to see that kind of stuff on a day when no one has a need. Even a simple need met is a little treasure. For instance, my friend Annie filled her wee house with an abundance of children today so I could go to a meeting and Alex could deal with the puddle in the basement. This ball of human habitation has it's blemishes, but there are definitely roses among those thorns.

Simply choatic

Today I did schoolwork with the girls, read stories, giggled, ate pie and drank hot chocolate, played in snow, made lunch, did laundry, paid bills, sang songs, coached the boy on his homework and it's not even over yet!

Now we are making dinner while Alex sings "under the sea" and Selah passes gas. Nope. Never bored. Ever.

Talking about a revolution

I am reading this book that is totally kicking my socially responsible butt. It's by this guy named Shane who lives in a ghetto with a bunch of people and takes care of his neighborhood family and lets them take care of him. He is redefining community and dissecting the truth of what it really means to believe in Christ.

Battling with the homeless situation in Cranbrook this past couple of years has knocked the wind out of me somewhat. I know I want to make a difference, but there are roadblocks and critics everywhere. Sometimes the only thing I can do to stay sane is keep it all at arms length. I define the parameters of how far I am willing to go and keep my family and children quietly buffered from the struggle and suffering I can see plainly around me. I write letters and emails to the nice people to whom I pay my taxes and diplomatically, politely even, ask them to help fix the problem our oh-so-civilized selves help to create everyday. I stay carefully within the lines of rules and regulations that are meant to protect, but so often lead to an inability to help all who need it.

So in my frustration I read this book. It makes me realize how indoctrinated I am. How lines drawn by the elite become walls to high to scale between classes of people who could otherwise learn to live in creative community sharing needs and meeting needs. So maybe it's time to get creative here. I have no idea what that means on a personal level other than I am going to start removing some of the insulators. I am sharing this here because I believe an important part of community is honesty and accountability. I am going to have my own internal revolution and find a way to break out from these lines of us and them.

Someone asked where he got the rythm from.......

We few odd ducks get odder still

Alex: I am going to grab some tums when we get home, I have had heart burn all day.

Levi: what happened?

Me: A gnome lit a fire in Dad's aorta.

Levi: What's a gnome?

At which point Alex and I burst into laughter. Only our son would know what an aorta is and yet not know the word gnome.

My Meloncholy Moody Musings

No matter how you phrase it, or what euphemism you use, death is dang hard. And it seems to be going around our small community these days. It's hard not to feel a bit down. Varying degrees of hurt and sadness have accompanied each new revelation of loss depending how close or distant the relationship. What has followed each, however, is the distinct feeling that something is missing that can never be replaced.

The part that really gets to me is that with each loss comes a bombardment of memories once forgotten. Little things that didn't seem to matter at the time, or important moments that weren't truly acknowledged for their value. It is as though when someone sheds this life as we know it, the moments and memories and love that was shared with them grow a little brighter; become more than they were. I can't decide if I find this incredibly sad or incredibly beautiful, so I'll call it bittersweet.

I say sad because undoubtedly regret follows. Moments lived are, if we are truly honest, never really savored. The seemingly ordinary is far more powerful than we give it credit for. Because of this, we often forget to tell the people who inhabit those moments with us how much they mean to us, or, for that matter, don't even realize the role they play until they are gone. In my limited and immature experience, it is impossible to set out on a mission to try to be certain everyone you care for truly knows how much. I do try to make sure those I love know it, but I certainly have not succeeded in articulating the profoundness of some connections. The hardest part is, there are always those who have simply always been there and so their role is not noticed until it is missing from the script.

However, I also find this brightened, glossy memory of those no longer with us beautiful because the roots of those memories are so deep and so wide and so long that no one who loved well is ever truly lost to those left behind. They remain to remind how far our influence can reach, how connected we all really are, and how the trick to immortality is to love well and indiscriminately.

Accomplishments!

My amazing, talented husband and his friends down at Reimer & Co. Architectural Blacksmiths, had the grand unveiling of their first venture into large scale public art yesterday. Made extra exciting by the fact that this is really a step forward for Cranbrook as well. It's not really known for it's modern thinking. Here are some pictures of the day. As well, there is a picture of Mom and her happy face sunshine shepherd's pie because she didn't believe me when I said I would blog about it, and she is just so gosh darn proud of it. :) P.S. It was also delicious!

Hippies-vegtable or mineral?

So, I'm standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom along with my three daughters as we get dressed up for my lunch work party last Saturday. I am dressed up as a hippy because I happen to have a few things laying around that could be construed as hippy-ish. The conversation goes as follows.....

Alex: Seriously? A hippy? They are are going to ask you why you didn't dress up.

Me: Oh come on, like I would ever thread beads in my hair, wear six necklaces at once, or a scarf on my head.

Hannah: Mommy, is a hippy an animal?

Alex: (straight faced) It depends on who you ask.

So after all this bathroom hilarity, I drive Levi to a birthday party before taking the girls to my work party. Birthday boy's dad gives me an awfully funny look. Later, when I go to pick Levi up the dad says, "You are looking even more flower-childish than usual today."

It is so irritating when Alex is right.

I love the taste of music in the morning!

I counted. The Marriott's, in total, spend 9. 5 hours a week doing music related activities. Soon it will be 10.5 because of the new class starting up next week. These hours do not include home practice or potluck infused jamming.

During the last two months, I have seen the vast differences in how people and music co-exsist. Alex has been discovering that the gift he has exercised with his fingers dancing over strings can extend to his voice. My husband, who at first had to be convinced to take music classes, has actually been displaying signs of excitement over his discoveries there.

For Levi, music is the medium that combines his analytical nature with his creative self. He loves the predictable mathematical system that leaves room for his imagination to stretch. He will plunk out a song he knows until he gets it just right and then he will continue on with his own verse. What a perfect combination for such an imaginative scientist.

Hannah, as she does in most things, finds joy and carefree fun in her music. Whether she is playing a melody on the piano or singing, whether a song is learned or of her own creation, Hannah's whole countenance brightens. Selah joins Hannah in her enthusiasm but in her case, her whole body shows it. When the music starts playing Selah almost leaps out of her skin to take it in with every limb.

Shiloh is a sharer. Where some might enjoy music just on their own, Shiloh much prefers an audience. She is very expressive and has a message to send. Her voice is her favorite instrument.

The babies in my thursday morning class experience their music with all of their senses, with motion and play and dance and touch. It is my most favorite way to start the day. Tasting melodies with the babies.

The times, they are a changing.....

First, I have to make sure you know that I did already realize that my blog's opening line doesn't work anymore. I really did. And it's not as if I liked changing diapers, they just represent a whole lot of other stuff that goes with the baby thing.

I am just not ready to let go of it yet. Plus, I can't really figure out what stage we are in now with a toddler, a would-be teenager, and two to bridge the gap. The whole parenting thing is a lot more complicated now. What used to preoccupy my mother brain (to give vitamin D drops to the baby or not...) has grown and twisted into questions harder to research and find clear answers for (which natural consequences do I allow to play out and when do I rescue.....). Instead of conversations about exactly what shade of blue the sky is, we are talking about sex, love, and what makes a good friend.

Diapers, baths, late night feedings, slings, and all that other stuff, as chaotic as they seem, are simple. I like simple. So until I am ready to accept the fact that we have moved out of the realm of simple, I am going leave my blog one-liner as it is. Besides, it's sort of true if you count the babies I borrow to get my fix. :)

Autmumn Sky

Has anyone else around here noticed the sky lately? It has been very moody but incredibly gorgeous! The last few days, I have been finding myself fascinated by the incredible vastness of hues and shapes up there. With few colors to work with, it has certainly been amazing to see the variety. Especially in this season of competing color. Unfortunately, all I can do is tell you about my own awe because my camera cannot remotely do justice to what I am talking about. So, until I get a new camera, look up!

Random Marriott updates for all.

Shall we go youngest to oldest? Yes lets.

Selah is speaking more clearly every day. She is also just speaking more period. Like a lot. Almost constantly actually. I tried to explain what quiet was the other day. Um, ya, good luck. She has taken to singing all morning instead of talking. Cute, but problematic, since she doesn't enunciate nearly as well when singing. She has finally stopped crying when we drop Levi off at school and has formed a new mischievous partnership with her big sister Shiloh. She gets so excited about every thing and draws us all into her curiosity.

Shiloh is totally excited to be officially in Kindergarten now, although she is a bit irritated that nobody has noticed and everyone is asking about how Levi is liking school. She is handling this by demanding to do schoolwork all day long and finish early as though she will catch up to Levi. At least she is motivated! She is learning her letters and simple math and is catching on fast. Art is her favorite activity and practicing writing her letters is her least favorite. She loves to dance throughout the day, whether there is music or not. Her enthusiasm for being awake keeps the energy level up all day.

Hannah is, as ever, my ally among the children. She is the motivator when it's time to clean up and rarely complains about schoolwork or housework. She moves around the house with a quiet cheerfulness. She has taken on the role of oldest child in Levi's absence and has settled into it with confidence. I often enter a room to find her reading to her sisters aloud and carefully explaining words they don't understand or pointing out colors and letters that we were working on during our lessons. She is struggling a bit with place values in math but rather than getting discouraged she really knuckles down and does the same question over and over until she gets it right. When she has accomplished something she has been working on, the triumph on her face is priceless. Hannah started as a baby who challenged my desire to be a parent. She was sick a lot and cried often and for long periods of time. Now, though, she has truly grown into the meaning of her name, "a gracious gift."

Levi is really enjoying school for the most part and we have settled into a good rhythm in regards to lunch packing, homework, and generally being prepared. I am quite proud of how self-motivated he is, however his memory is much like his father's. I suppose it's part of the price of living with two slightly eccentric geniuses. He recently came home and told me he was joining the choir. The only problem is that practice is at 8am in the morning. How could I say no? This past week Levi has discovered a bit of the downside of to going to school. It takes much longer to get anything done and kids can be really mean without looking like bullies. We had our first long talk about choosing friends who like you for who you are and not who they want you to be. I told him about how weird Alex was but it gained him incredible friendships that have lasted years. He came home the next day and listed off the friends who like him for himself even if he is a little weird like his dad.

Well, that's pretty much it for the kidlets. Grown-up stories will have to wait, coffee is done!

Yes. I am melodramatic. Suck it up.

I am so affected by everything. Totally and completely. I was sitting at home today and realized that I am sad today. I couldn't figure out why. I LOVE my new job and where my old one is going. I am totally pumped about the new things starting up for us this fall. I am even excited about Levi's progress in school. I am ridiculously in love with my husband and have really delighted in this time with my daughters. Things are really good. Am I getting depressed? No, that's not it. So, why am I sad?

Upon reflection, I realized I'm not sad for me. There has been a lot going on for a lot of the people I love lately. I have administered many a hug these last couple of weeks. Sent up more petitioning prayers than I can count, and soaked up more tears with my t-shirts than I could water my tomato plants with. For a while, I contemplated the fact that I should learn to distance myself. I should figure out how to tame my emotions a bit. But I decided against it.

The thing is, for as sad as I was today, I brim with joy on other days. To see my closest friend birth her child made me weep with much more comfortable tears. A potluck with friends and the intimacy of music makes my heart want to leap right out of my chest. For whatever extremes I experience in the other direction, these ones are worth it. So today hurts. Some days hurt more. I can't fix it, or make it better, no matter how much I care, but I can grieve alongside and bear up with the people around me. The other option I think would be cynicism and, quite frankly, even the sad parts of life are too beautiful to go there.

And now for something completely different....

My friend signed me up for belly dancing classes.........

Milestones and Moving on

This morning an eager nine year old burst into my room long before I actually needed to be up and thinking clearly to inform me that he didn't know what to put in his lunch. I reminded him that he didn't need a lunch today because it was a half day and I was sure to add how nice he looked all dressed in his new school clothes. I wonder how long he was up before he decided to roust us.....

About every fifteen minutes for the duration of the morning I was reminded about how important it is not to be late for school. I just started making up chores to send my little man off on so I could eat, pee and dress myself in peace. There was also a lot of hugging going on between siblings as if we were sending him off to college. All this for a whole two hours of separation.

Once at school we walked over to the lists posted on the outside window to find out what class Levi was in. He is in a 4/5 split along with some of the friends he was hoping would be in his class. Then he took off running barely bothering to yell behind him, "Bye Mom!" And that, I suppose, is that.

Later, he said they didn't do much except review the school rules and sign a student agreement that basically says he will behave as politely and responsibly at school as he is expected to at home. He also informed me that he would be going to bed early tonight because the teacher suggested that they do. I should get her to suggest a few more things..........

I will post pictures as soon as I can figure out how to get the pictures on the laptop.

A mini bucket list

I spent the afternoon kayaking amidst lilly pads and raindrops at Jim Smith Lake. My friend Lizz and I have tried to have a few such outdoor adventures this summer. There hasn't been much opportunity since it's been a busy summer and one of us has four children, but we have managed a few days of natur-esk communing.

While shivering in the boat talking about Lizz's personal bucket list, we decided to put together a mini list for the next year and a half. A list of things we will aspire to do before 2010. We used Lizz's current list for ideas and I am sure we will come up with a few of our own. The only rules are that it has to be practical (I won't be going on any very large trip this year) but they have to be things we haven't ever done before. A couple of things already on the list are donate blood, camp on Mt. Fisher, and do an Okanagan wine tour. Me thinks it's going to be an interesting year!

Thank goodness that lazy saturday's haven't gone extinct!

I woke up at work this morning an lept out of bed to meet my mother-in-law for a morning of perusing the Baine's Lake farmers market. It was really fun( and fairly expensive). We enjoyed a good coffee, turkey jerky, and some cherries while we wandered about looking for items we couldn't live without. I scored a really fun skirt that morphs into a whole wardrobe and a funky bracelet that has already doubled as good kid distraction. The conversation was good. We laughed, we got serious, we pretty much caught up after a summer of total busyness. It was awesome. As if this day couldn't get any better.....

I followed up my morning at the market with an afternoon in a good friend's backyard. She is one of those friend's that I can expose all of my crazy me-ness to without fear of offense, judgment, or skepticism. Our conversation lasted for four hours and covered just about every topic you could imagine. We gorged ourselves on shared word-smithing and came out smiling.

I am so appreciative, for all my activity, that there is space in my life for deep, hilarious relationship. Home for the evening, we are heading up to the family plot-o-dirt to dig in and get messy as a group. Good 'ol tribal bonding over fresh veggies and hoses full of water! It just doesn't get better!

Mama is verging on panic!

So, six more days. Six more days until my little man enters gr. four and goes to school for the first time. I have managed to put this day off longer than most. Four years longer. But now my son is going to head off into unknown territory. Hang out with kids I may or may not like. Make decisions his Mom won't be able to congratulate or correct.

Oh, I know it's good for him! Don't lecture me in your head. I am not going to hover. I am not going to spy. And I not going to spend everyday worrying, I can't! There are three other kids here, two of whom are not getting their education outside the house just yet.

It's just that, this happened so fast. I know I rolled my eyes when anyone said, "Oh, Sarah, look at you. You are just growing up so fast." It didn't seem fast. And I can tell Levi doesn't think so either. But time sped up somewhere. What on earth do I do with that? Is it going to get faster?

Am I just crazy, or is there a chance I am not the only Mom going through this on this particular week? I am going to find some chocolate.

Levi's adventurous birthday

It was a great day all around, spent with family and friends. The highlight however, according to Levi was our encounter with law enforcement. The story goes....

We were getting ready to have the families up for dessert and realized we didn't have enough fruit for fruit salad, so we decided to run to the store. Now that we have the scooter we try to use the van as little as possible. Levi wanted to go pick out his own fruit so we thought maybe a good birthday privilege was a ride on the scooter.

We found a suitable helmet and Levi and I headed to the store. Part way there, we hear the oh-so-comforting sound of a siren and pull over. Of course, I am panicking thinking, "Was I speeding? Did I miss a stop sign? And in front of my son! Good job Mom!" He asks for my license and registration, very politely. As I hand it over I ask, "Was I going to fast officer?" His reply was, " Well, you just seemed little and so.......I thought since I pulled you over anyway, I should check you license just in case."

At least he had the good sense to look a little sheepish and Levi was just so interested in the whole event I don't think he noticed that the nice police man was actually pulling us over because he thought we were children out for a joyride.

Happy Birthday Levi!

YAY!! and ACK!!! all at the same time.

It's official! We are on file at the ministry of children and families as foster parents. They took a family photo and everything. So now we wait. The kids ask almost constantly when a child will be placed with us. We have had some very interesting conversations about why it's not really something we should hope for because it means that there is a little boy or girl who, for whatever reason, can't be with their own parents. Obviously most of our current population doesn't quite get this concept so they continue to ask.

Another interesting conversation was when the social workers came over and asked about my job and I told them it changed. Again. For the umpteenth time since we started this process. They assured me that they don't think I'm flakey anyway.

As for the job thing, I am working one to two nights a week for now and waiting for an interview with another organization where I can have flexible hours. I will be teaching two music classes in the fall and though it's not tons of money, it'll do. All this has the added bonus of being able to parent my own children again. Which is SO nice. Today we barbecued dinner for Daddy, did the dishes and walked to the garden as a family. Quite loverly.

That money thing has always worked itself out before. It will do so again I'm sure. :)

Seattle and Anniversary # 9!

I have spent the last week in Seattle training to be a MusikGarten teacher. Every day at least once my heart just skips a beat with the utter certainty that I have always been supposed to do this. The idea of teaching families (not just children) the value of music to a body, mind, and soul, excites me and fills me with wonder. Being a Dalton, all the world hasn't just been a stage , it's been musical theater. There was always breaking out in to song for every occasion. What I once thought of as weird, I am coming to learn, is actually a huge part of what makes me, well, me. Now I get to share it in such a lovely way. I am SO excited!!

Speaking of breaking out into song, it wasn't so very long ago that my new husband stared at me blankly and asked me why on earth I kept randomly singing. Since then he has learned the whys behind that and so many other Daltonly quirks that have popped up. I have discovered the background to his many little quirks as well and fallen more in love with him for the learning.

A few nights before I left, we were laying in bed talking about life and all it's little fun moments. After a particularly sweet discussion, I leaned over and said, "I am still madly in love with you." "Thanks," he said. I waited. Then I said, "You are supposed to tell me how madly in love with me you are too!" His reply was, "I didn't know there was a script!" "You have been married to me too many years to not know there is a script!!" Without missing a beat, my dear, sweet, hilarious husband hollers, "Line!" And we both burst into fits of laughter rolling on the bed.

Damn I love that man!! Happy anniversary honey! I totally miss you and can't wait to see you!!

Into every life, a few weirdos must fall...

That's what the pastor at church said this morning during a sermon on mercy. At the time all I could think was, "you have no idea....." Little did I know that later on this very day my dear sister and her hubby would visit and prove our pastors theory.

I was going to blog about the tickle camel and the kid's enjoyment of him but as I sat at the computer next to my dosing brother-in-law, my sister snuck up on him. Carefully lifting the bottom of his shirt, she has woken him with a zerbert to the belly. Lifting his head suddenly, he squealed, "what are you doing, where's the brie?" It's all about priorities.....

Meanwhile the batteries in the camera are dead so tickle camel pictures will have to wait until tomorrow.

so .....ok then

new van. suddenly, cleanly broken axle. S'ok, fixed by a friend. Mechanic friend is beginning to believe that vans really are repulsed by us. Whatever. It runs now. And honestly at this point, if we get stuck somewhere while on vacation this summer, I don't think it will hurt my feelings to have an excuse to not come back to work for a little while longer.

In other news, I have new wine glasses, and pretty new blackberry wine. So....Yum!

Dear Dad

Yesterday was a crazy roller coaster and so I am a day late but here it is.

What she said and.....

"As long as one and one make two, there has never been a daughter loved her Father more than I love you"

I am so appreciative that even when we stubborn two were butting heads during my hormonal years, if there was a banquet, or a mania, or a perry creek party, I could still dance with my Daddy. Watching you dance with my daughter this year was priceless.


Although I must say, this is the only time I can remember that your dance partner's style was more eccentric than your own.

I love you!!

I AM the little engine that could. I think.

• I made turkey/chicken soup first thing this morning.
  
• My phone rang a total of eight times before I left the house at 9:30 with six kids to run errands and visit the animals at Top Crop.
  
• All my daughters have pigtails today. That may not seem like a big deal to anyone who doesn't have three daughters under the age of 8, but it is. Trust me.
• Juggle cell phone calls regarding babysitters during work next week and switching shifts so I can have one day off this week.
  
• Home for a good wholesome lunch after dropping Levi off at the school at 12:00.
• Clean up and laundry. Sort recycling. Wrap Alexanders gift.
• Blog!
  
• Get Hannah working on her schoolwork. Out again by 2:00
• Drop off schoolwork and books at the other school.
• Drop off recycling.
  
• Drop off Shiloh at the birthday party. Pick up Levi.
• Off to the eye Dr. for Levi
• Back home again for good wholesome dinner. Pick up Shiloh.
• Kiss husband. Soundly. Twice at least.
• Start dishwasher and laundry.
• Off to work.

As I am typing this I am only on the first load of laundry on the list. It appears I am going to need a little more coffee.

Wet and wild

It has been bucketing rain for what has come to feel like weeks. It has confirmed that the coast is simply not ever going to be an option for habitation. I would go nuts. There is mud in the entrance way that just comes back within hours of my cleaning it up, I can't weed my garden or cut my grass, and yesterday was spent sucking up water and drying out the carpet downstairs because someone knocked the bottom off one of the gutter drains again. I am so ready for sunshine.

In other news, I was honored to be witness to the birth of Micah Thomas Stevenson on Saturday evening. He was born right between a celebration at Mayook and the Luminary service at Relay-for-life, Beth and I were playing at. So far he is behaving just as convenient as his birth. He eats and sleeps well, is not overly fussy, and he is beautiful. Fresh baby makes everything more bearable, including flooded basements.

We also have a new van so I don't have to worry about being stranded with 6 or 7 kids downtown when the old van decided no amount of coaxing will get it going again. I will miss the seats in the middle that can turn around but the trade is that we now have sliding doors on either side and auto start button. Plus, it's green!

Well, I think that's it. Why do I feel like there is more going on? Nope. That's it. Have a nice day!

Tonight

Beth and I are going to folk-out at the Kimberly relay-for-life tonight, so I got all gussied up for the occasion. I even put on make-up! As I sat down to check my email, Selah hops up on my lap and stares at me concerned.

"Mama?"
"Yes, Selah?"
"You ate the paint?"

This tells you how often I wear lipstick. If I was one of those "well-put-together" ladies, my Saturday afternoon wouldn't have induced nearly as much laughter. Cheers to us granola girls!

side-note

The eyebrow waxing was a totally spontaneous, bizarre lapse in judgment that never made it to my toes. As I said, I am better now and everything will grow back. Besides, it's just like playing dress-up. I like dress-up. :P

In a nutshell

This week in reader's digest version.....

Job's changing again, just not sure exactly how.

Had extra kids all week. For two days in a row we had Kensi (3) and Dallin (9? mnths). On day one, I brought Dallin to the baby music class I teach on Thursday mornings. What a riot! On day two, we all went to the trout hatchery with the other local homeschooling families. Um, yea...anyway....

My beautiful, round-bellied friend, Barb brought me to meet the new midwife who is working with Jane. She was lovely and I look forward to working with her, if not with Barb, in the future with another Mother.

Saturday morning Mom and Dad took the kids to a parade while Alex and I had a date that began with a picnic and checking out the garage sales and ending in a bizarre lapse of sanity on my part. I chopped all my hair off (Lizz did a beautiful job), bought make-up, and let someone wax my eyebrows. (??#??#??#) She told me how updated I look now. All I could think was, "You can't update me, I'm twenty-six, I'm new!" I'm better now and am just glad I didn't do anything more permanent like get piercings or a tattoo. God help me when I turn forty.

What brought on the neurotic episode is the fact that my baby turned three yesterday marking my official exit from the land of babies and toddlers. I know most people are thinking I should be relieved, but I walked out of high school and gave birth. This is a very different experience. I am really just not sure what the heck to do with it. Anyway, the birthday party was fun and Selah got some very cool instruments from the Grandparents and honorary Grandma.

After the party, the day went completely sideways and though blog-worthy, it will have to wait until I have time to post again.

Odds and sods of Spring

The day after

News vans, satellites, clean-up crews and random spectators are everywhere as I step outside my door. I tried to garden, watch "Rupert" with the kids, eat a pizza picnic in the backyard. Normal, everyday things. Things that remind you that life keeps ticking away no matter the circumstance.

Though I go through the motions, my mind returns constantly to a friend of mine who is now mourning the loss of a family member. It has vividly brought back the feeling I had in the first weeks after Dooger died. That desperate need to scream at the universe, "Take it back!!!" Trying to figure out how to claw back the hands of the clock to a place in time when you could change the course of history.

Now, mingled with the news regurgitating everything about the Sullivan mine accident two years ago tomorrow, there is news of this new tragedy. New people whose absence this community must adjust to. New people whose stories will be told over and over in the coming months through tears and laughter.

So again, as two years ago, I am reminded that the only day we were promised was yesterday. With my beautiful munchkins beside me I am going to put some more green things in the ground and let the sunshine wash away some of this weary feeling.

Last night a friend shared a song with me that was perfection in that moment.
The last verse goes like this....

It all seems so obvious now
When I look back over my life
There's a need for sorrow and doubt
For darkness and for light
It's how it must be

All in good time.....
The bad time will be gone

May 13, 2008

Approximately two hours ago, four people died tragically in a helicopter accident at the bottom of our alley. We were sitting at our window when we noticed the low flying aircraft above the houses across the street. The men inside appeared to be looking for something as the helicopter swayed from side to side. Moments later we heard the crash and saw the smoke.

We rushed outside to find the alley engulfed in thick black smoke. We thought the house on the corner was on fire. As the smoke cleared we stood helpless while a body lay in flames in the street. We could not go any closer to try and help because of the ignited fuel on the ground and the popping sounds still coming from the wreckage.

Now, as I watch the spectators congregating outside our windows, I am repulsed by the gawking. People taking pictures with their cell-phones and camera's. Teenagers laughing and pushing each other around. The looks on people's faces make it seem as if they are at a carnival; as though they aren't at the site of a tragedy. As though four lives didn't just end in all this entertainment. As though there aren't four bodies of people who were loved laying underneath those tarps.

I find myself offering up a prayer not just for the victims and their families but also for the people walking down my street. I pray that they may be touched by the deep sorrow of what has happened here. I am not sure how I feel about being part of a society whose curiosity is capable of outweighing their compassion.

Mommy, Madre, Mama, Mammy, Mutter

Tomorrow will be my 9th Mother's day (if you count the pregnant one) as one of the honored guests. My house daily overflows with kids and their laughter and tantrums alike. And I love it! And I am regularly seized with excitement mingled with terror as we ride this wild roller coaster of parenting.

Even on the days that I am longing for a vacation, I am filled with gratitude. I won't tell them until they are ready to move out (for fear that it may go to their heads) but these small people inhabiting my home are the not the only students of life lessons here. Even as I instruct, and console, and mend, and kiss, and wait, and breathe, and count to ten, I am struck by the knowledge that these "teachable moments" are as much for me as for them. There are so many revelations to be unwrapped in the words and through the eyes of children.

I have learned that patience takes practice for everyone, no matter how many years you have lived.
I have learned that ants, blades of grass, wind, moving water, and human body are creations deserving of observation.
I have learned that even something as common as the birth of another baby can hold the status of miracle.
I have learned that crayon can be washed out of a dryer with WD-40 and time.
I have learned that potty-training comes in it's own time despite singing potties, color changing pull-ups, and cool books about peeing.
I have learned that the very best, meticulously made plans just aren't worth anything when the latest favorite teddy is lost.
I have learned that love has no boundaries. None. It can go everywhere.
I have learned that little boys are born thinking little girls have penis envy. That one is definitely nature rather than nurture.
I have learned that even though scraped knees hurt, they are crucial to the process of learning to ride a bike and the even more difficult lesson is that heartbreaks are crucial to learning the lessons of friendship, self-worth, and compassion.

I am still learning how to let go and trust other people not to damage the children I love so deeply.
I am still learning how not to come to the rescue all the time.
I am still learning how very not in control of anything I really am.
I am still learning that sometimes resistance is futile.
I am learning that Motherhood belongs to anybody who chooses to nurture, lift up, mend, and teach.

And most importantly, I think, I am coming to understand why God doesn't always come to my rescue just when and how I ask. Yet, just as I am waiting to embrace my children after a particularly difficult lesson or applaud them when they accomplish something that seemed impossible to them before, I know my Abba is there.

There are so very many lessons yet to come on this ever evolving journey and I hope I remember to slow down and pay attention enough to learn them well.

Happy 29th birthday to my very own genius saskwatch!

So, we were at a wedding last year or maybe the year before and Alex's big revelation to the groom was that marriage was like a really long sleepover. It's probably not a comment you're going to read in a Shakespeare romance, but it gave me warm fuzzies all over anyway. Probably the biggest compliment a person could get is that after several years of marriage, their spouse still calls it a sleepover. On one Alex-planned anniversary, we dyed our hair blue. Now that is some sizzling love-life right there. Serious points for originality. He is an amazing Daddy who isn't afraid to change a diaper or kiss a boo-boo. He is also a fabulous teacher, not just to our kids but also to the people around us. He has this way of being downright direct without ever making you feel judged. He is equally passionate about his faith and his pursuit of science. He can bring the two into a harmony I never would have thought possible. He is friendly and warm, gentle and honorable. He is generous and forgiving beyond anyone else I have ever met. He is an artist and a scientist. A skilled tradesman and a poet. A geek and goofball. And above all else, he is hairy. Really really hairy. Our children will have toe hair.

Happy birthday my love!!

Blog therapy

After a very in-depth, emotional conversation with my mother, I have come to the conclusion that my undisciplined toe hair practices are a result of low self-esteem caused by seeing my father wearing pink tights in public. Childhood trauma like that simply cannot be undone by therapy.......

( I should probably clarify that the pink tights were part of a town crier costume for the children's festival. For the record, when you are coming up on adolescence, knowing the purpose of the pink tights does not lessen the impact.)

Meh..

After doing some errands with spring fever afflicted children, I still needed to go to the store but didn't have the motivation. So, to keep myself going, I called a very pregnant friend who just started her maternity leave. Seconds after getting into the vehicle, she comments on my bright yellow socks and tsk's at me for wearing them with sandles. I explained that I do understand, and mostly follow, the no-socks-in-the-sandles fashion rule. The reason for the yellow socks was Selah's music lesson this morning. Toddlers and toe hair don't mix. Now, this answer seems perfectly reasonable to me. However, her reaction was bouts of laughter intermingled with a lecture on tweezers and their usefulness. My reaction, of course, is why the heck would I tweeze my poor toes when I can just apply yellow socks? My way seems far less painful and time-consuming. Besides, what did my toes ever do to deserve that kind of torture. yeesh.

So anyway, we continue on our way and it begins to bucket rain. Big, fat, splats of water worthy of rain forest weather were hitting my windshield. So I did what I usually do and rolled down the window about two inches, turned on the wipers, and stuck my hand out so the wiper would hit my hand and bounce back instead of getting stuck on the side like it usually does. My friend starts laughing hysterically. In retrospect, this seems far less odd than it did at the time. I would probably laugh at someone if I saw them casually flicking their wiper back into rhythm at every swipe. The whole trip reaffirmed once again that my life is just not boring.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

So my world has (from the moment I was born, I'm sure) been this big ball of uncertain evolutions. This particular season has many interesting turns of events. My hours are cut at work again, we may or may not be housing a fifth child on weekends for awhile, the "Refuge" has closed for the summer, Seattle and teaching children's music is back on, the van is dying a slow painful death, Levi has officially moved downstairs and, to top it all off, Levi is enrolled in school for the fall. Whew! I can barely keep up, I am sure you guys are reading it twice making sure you don't miss anything important.

In the meantime, I am still finding my moments of sanity in the wee hours when I arrive home from work. Hence this early A.M. post. Can't say this is where I pictured myself at 26, but I am certainly far from bored!

Besides, that cliche about kootenay weather applies to my life too. You know, if you don't like it, wait 5 minutes, it'll change!