Just a few snap shots of my world. I haven't done anything to these images. They are what they are...
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Done.
A month or so ago I decided to make a list of all the reasons I know I am ready to be done having children. As the list grew it became a long list of negativity. I decided not to finish it and not to post what I wrote...
...instead here is a list of what I love about having my three boys in all of their stages...
I love it that/when...
...Sam still would rather be naked all day than wear clothes.
...Sam wants to cuddle every morning in bed.
...Arlo knows what a Zeppelin is.
...Arlo puts on his cape first thing in the morning and assumes "Super Arlo" duties all day.
...Otis plays with my hair while he nurses.
...I can fit all three boys on my lap when I read books.
...I can communicate with Otis pretty well even after only 6 months.
...I do have time for all three of them, one-on-one, at some point during the day.
...Sam wants to have serious "talks" with me when I tuck him in.
...Sam has freckles.
...Arlo has amazing blue eyes.
...Otis has chubby legs and two dimples.
...I can lay Otis down in his crib once he's fallen asleep and he'll stay AND I can sometimes lay him down while he is still awake and he'll put himself to sleep!
...Otis will still nurse to sleep sometimes.
...Arlo really wishes he could use a bottle still and some days wants to be the baby again.
...I love the way each of my boys smells.
...Sam is a great big brother.
...Arlo is a great big brother.
...Otis LOVES his two big brothers.
...I am really okay with being done having children. Now is the time to settle in and enjoy each of them as they grow. No more big changes for a while. We need to be still...to slow down.
...instead here is a list of what I love about having my three boys in all of their stages...
I love it that/when...
...Sam still would rather be naked all day than wear clothes.
...Sam wants to cuddle every morning in bed.
...Arlo knows what a Zeppelin is.
...Arlo puts on his cape first thing in the morning and assumes "Super Arlo" duties all day.
...Otis plays with my hair while he nurses.
...I can fit all three boys on my lap when I read books.
...I can communicate with Otis pretty well even after only 6 months.
...I do have time for all three of them, one-on-one, at some point during the day.
...Sam wants to have serious "talks" with me when I tuck him in.
...Sam has freckles.
...Arlo has amazing blue eyes.
...Otis has chubby legs and two dimples.
...I can lay Otis down in his crib once he's fallen asleep and he'll stay AND I can sometimes lay him down while he is still awake and he'll put himself to sleep!
...Otis will still nurse to sleep sometimes.
...Arlo really wishes he could use a bottle still and some days wants to be the baby again.
...I love the way each of my boys smells.
...Sam is a great big brother.
...Arlo is a great big brother.
...Otis LOVES his two big brothers.
...I am really okay with being done having children. Now is the time to settle in and enjoy each of them as they grow. No more big changes for a while. We need to be still...to slow down.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Just Playin' Around
Matt bought me a sweet little gift to help me curb my appetite for drawing and painting while the kids are sleeping...a Bamboo Digital Pen and Tablet!
Here is a work in progress as I learn Corel Paint and how to use the pressure sensitive tool. So much fun and it opens such HUGE possibilities. You can apply masks of sorts to digital photos to make generic photo paintings, but you can also actually paint and draw with all sorts of media tools. I am enjoying it, but there is a lot to learn! This is a painting I am working on to learn the different brushes and get the hang of mixing colors on a palette. Using individual strokes is much more appealing to me...
Here is a work in progress as I learn Corel Paint and how to use the pressure sensitive tool. So much fun and it opens such HUGE possibilities. You can apply masks of sorts to digital photos to make generic photo paintings, but you can also actually paint and draw with all sorts of media tools. I am enjoying it, but there is a lot to learn! This is a painting I am working on to learn the different brushes and get the hang of mixing colors on a palette. Using individual strokes is much more appealing to me...
Friday, July 24, 2009
Overdue
I am so very overdue for a post. I know. We've been living our lives so sweetly as summer has come upon us. Parties, visits from family, lazy days at home, chaotic days at home....the days just keep passing.
The kids are fantastic. All growing so fast. I will post some summer photos soon, but have been cleaning up my photographic archives and am not quite organized enough to find things I want.
I have been thinking a lot about herb gardens and growing herbs and gardening. It is a good feeling. I read a lot and talk herbs with friends.
Matt is getting busier with work as the Fall semester draws near. He'll be teaching in the beginning of September and he always has a lot of preparation to do. We're starting to think about Sam returning to school too...with only a little more than a month left to our summer break.
The weather is finally warming up and I think we might actually get some real summer activities in during the month of August. We'll actually be at home the whole with only visits from my sister, dad and grandma int he middle of the month. I am excited to see them.
Matt's mom and dad and Aunt Annie just came for a visit and it was wonderful...simply wonderful.
We are gearing up for a small road trip next week. We'll first drive to Maryland to see Matt's Aunt Meg and Uncle John. We'll also see Matt's cousin and her kids there. Matt will be in D.C. for a day meeting with some federal USDA folks. Then we'll drive south to Virginia to visit my Aunt Pat, Uncle Bill, cousins and their children. We'll make the 11 hour drive back to Michigan on August 4th and that will end our summer travels...whew!
Laundry to hang, dishes to put away and some cookies to bake...nap time is so nice.
The kids are fantastic. All growing so fast. I will post some summer photos soon, but have been cleaning up my photographic archives and am not quite organized enough to find things I want.
I have been thinking a lot about herb gardens and growing herbs and gardening. It is a good feeling. I read a lot and talk herbs with friends.
Matt is getting busier with work as the Fall semester draws near. He'll be teaching in the beginning of September and he always has a lot of preparation to do. We're starting to think about Sam returning to school too...with only a little more than a month left to our summer break.
The weather is finally warming up and I think we might actually get some real summer activities in during the month of August. We'll actually be at home the whole with only visits from my sister, dad and grandma int he middle of the month. I am excited to see them.
Matt's mom and dad and Aunt Annie just came for a visit and it was wonderful...simply wonderful.
We are gearing up for a small road trip next week. We'll first drive to Maryland to see Matt's Aunt Meg and Uncle John. We'll also see Matt's cousin and her kids there. Matt will be in D.C. for a day meeting with some federal USDA folks. Then we'll drive south to Virginia to visit my Aunt Pat, Uncle Bill, cousins and their children. We'll make the 11 hour drive back to Michigan on August 4th and that will end our summer travels...whew!
Laundry to hang, dishes to put away and some cookies to bake...nap time is so nice.
Friday, July 3, 2009
New Places and Old Friends
We first met Olgaly and Warren in Kansas in 2001. Olgaly and Matt were in the same Ph.D. courses and we became fast friends. Warren and Matt were always up to some crazy adventure and Olgaly and I felt so very comfortable together, despite our two very different cultural upbringings.
After the Ph.D.'s had been awarded in June of 2005, Olgaly and Warren returned to Puerto Rico and Matt and I made our trek to the Northwest. We hadn't seen them since that day when we waved goodbye to a packed Subaru, 2 dogs, and Olga and Warren....until June 19th when our whole tribe landed in San Juan and Olgaly picked us up! What a fantastic reunion. FIVE BOYS later (Olga and Warren had twin boys, 3 years ago), we were all back together again...and it was as if time had never passed.
Olgaly's mother has an apartment in San Juan right near the beach so we stayed there the first few days. We explored Old San Juan, El Yunque Rainforest and Cava Ventana, before driving the 2 hours to Utuado in the mountains to the 37 acre farm that Olgaly and Warren own.
Old San Juan
Arlo with Pablo and Diego
Sam LOVED this lizard. When it was finally time to let it go he cried and cried. It was very sweet.
Entering the cave.
Inside Cava Ventana...so beautiful!
Looking across Olgaly and Warren's acreage at their house, the white building on the outcrop and below the view from their wrap around, second story porch in the morning and then at night.
When we all lived in Kansas Warren used to tell stories of his 1966 Land Rover. It sounded too good to be true and then we got to meet the 'ole gal. Warren took us for a ride through the jungle of his land and it was fantastic! Sam and Arlo went for a ride the next day and LOVED it!
Both Olgaly and Warren had to work some so we explored the island on our own a bit. We went to Guanica Dry Forest (one of only five in the world)! We swam in the Carribean Ocean and played on the beach. Even Otis went for a dip!
All in all it was an amazing vacation. We loved the culture, the food, the natural variations of the island and most of all it felt so good to be reunited with our dear friends and to get to know their children. All five of our boys played so well together despite the language barrier. Sam attempted Spanish with them and by the end of the trip both Pablo and Diego had some English phrases they were using with us. It was hard to return home to 95 degree heat with 70% humidity, laundry to do and lawns to mow....but we've settled.
Thank you Olgaly and Warren...we'll be back!
After the Ph.D.'s had been awarded in June of 2005, Olgaly and Warren returned to Puerto Rico and Matt and I made our trek to the Northwest. We hadn't seen them since that day when we waved goodbye to a packed Subaru, 2 dogs, and Olga and Warren....until June 19th when our whole tribe landed in San Juan and Olgaly picked us up! What a fantastic reunion. FIVE BOYS later (Olga and Warren had twin boys, 3 years ago), we were all back together again...and it was as if time had never passed.
Olgaly's mother has an apartment in San Juan right near the beach so we stayed there the first few days. We explored Old San Juan, El Yunque Rainforest and Cava Ventana, before driving the 2 hours to Utuado in the mountains to the 37 acre farm that Olgaly and Warren own.
Old San Juan
Arlo with Pablo and Diego
Sam LOVED this lizard. When it was finally time to let it go he cried and cried. It was very sweet.
Entering the cave.
Inside Cava Ventana...so beautiful!
Looking across Olgaly and Warren's acreage at their house, the white building on the outcrop and below the view from their wrap around, second story porch in the morning and then at night.
When we all lived in Kansas Warren used to tell stories of his 1966 Land Rover. It sounded too good to be true and then we got to meet the 'ole gal. Warren took us for a ride through the jungle of his land and it was fantastic! Sam and Arlo went for a ride the next day and LOVED it!
Both Olgaly and Warren had to work some so we explored the island on our own a bit. We went to Guanica Dry Forest (one of only five in the world)! We swam in the Carribean Ocean and played on the beach. Even Otis went for a dip!
All in all it was an amazing vacation. We loved the culture, the food, the natural variations of the island and most of all it felt so good to be reunited with our dear friends and to get to know their children. All five of our boys played so well together despite the language barrier. Sam attempted Spanish with them and by the end of the trip both Pablo and Diego had some English phrases they were using with us. It was hard to return home to 95 degree heat with 70% humidity, laundry to do and lawns to mow....but we've settled.
Thank you Olgaly and Warren...we'll be back!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Chickens and Such
About this time last year I was writing a lot about the gardening and chickens and such. This year it feels like we are slow to start, but then again it is only June 1st. In Michigan our growing season is just really getting off it's feet. If you are a very dedicated gardener you might have seedlings going inside or have been planting outside, with great care, for a few weeks now.
I am not a dedicated gardener...yet. Small children make it hard for me be that dedicated. My time will come though.
We have been busy and the weekends do sometimes feel more crazy than the week days, and so is the nature of summer.
One of the more recent projects we undertook was building a chicken tractor! For those of you that are not savvy in the chicken department, a chicken tractor is a movable chicken pen! We've been wanting one since last spring when we first began our chicken adventures. The new baby chickens we took on this year (twelve barn yard chicken mutts) needed some new digs as they out grew the brooding box. We weren't ready to introduce them to the big girls as we have a pecking problem...and so we decided it was the right time!
Since these photos were taken Matt modified the brooding box so it is attached to the door and they have a place to roost at night, safe from raccoons. Our grand plan is to keep moving the tractor throughout the garden and let the chickens dig it up and poop on it...a bonus for our soil. We haven't planted a garden yet and may not do more than some cover crops. We joined a great new CSA this year, so we have lots of great organic veggies coming our way.
Our chicks from last year overwintered at a friend's farm south of here since we weren't living at the house. They keep roosters and our girls were pecked pretty seriously. Minus the roosters here we thought they would heal up, but once the skin is exposed they can't stop pecking! We're learning a lot about this issue and have found pine tar to be the best solution so far. We've been applying it every couple of days to the exposed skin and it seems to be helping.
They are laying, on average, six eggs a day (we have eight layers) and recently we had an egg that was HUGE. When cracked open, it had a double yoke! We couldn't even close the egg carton.
Building our homestead is a slow process and having babies along the way makes it even slower. We do see progress though and we're enjoying the hard work. We just recently bought a new garden tractor to replace our old one that finally kicked the bucket and it is making our lives much easier. As time goes on we'll get to where we want to be....or so I think, hope. A hoop house is in the plan and maybe a goat or two...
I am not a dedicated gardener...yet. Small children make it hard for me be that dedicated. My time will come though.
We have been busy and the weekends do sometimes feel more crazy than the week days, and so is the nature of summer.
One of the more recent projects we undertook was building a chicken tractor! For those of you that are not savvy in the chicken department, a chicken tractor is a movable chicken pen! We've been wanting one since last spring when we first began our chicken adventures. The new baby chickens we took on this year (twelve barn yard chicken mutts) needed some new digs as they out grew the brooding box. We weren't ready to introduce them to the big girls as we have a pecking problem...and so we decided it was the right time!
Since these photos were taken Matt modified the brooding box so it is attached to the door and they have a place to roost at night, safe from raccoons. Our grand plan is to keep moving the tractor throughout the garden and let the chickens dig it up and poop on it...a bonus for our soil. We haven't planted a garden yet and may not do more than some cover crops. We joined a great new CSA this year, so we have lots of great organic veggies coming our way.Our chicks from last year overwintered at a friend's farm south of here since we weren't living at the house. They keep roosters and our girls were pecked pretty seriously. Minus the roosters here we thought they would heal up, but once the skin is exposed they can't stop pecking! We're learning a lot about this issue and have found pine tar to be the best solution so far. We've been applying it every couple of days to the exposed skin and it seems to be helping.
They are laying, on average, six eggs a day (we have eight layers) and recently we had an egg that was HUGE. When cracked open, it had a double yoke! We couldn't even close the egg carton.
Building our homestead is a slow process and having babies along the way makes it even slower. We do see progress though and we're enjoying the hard work. We just recently bought a new garden tractor to replace our old one that finally kicked the bucket and it is making our lives much easier. As time goes on we'll get to where we want to be....or so I think, hope. A hoop house is in the plan and maybe a goat or two...
Monday, June 8, 2009
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