13 months

What 13 months means

lots of cruising around on furniture
Taking 2-4 steps- (12 have been counted on occasion...) it is still so much more efficient to crawl
climbing stairs- if someone has forgotten to close the gate
practicing "uh oh" just like his cousin
eating every kind of food
signing for Pat-a-cake song
overcoming bad cold/cough- incredible snot sneezes
going to bed without nursing for both naps and bed-time
delighting in doing things that he knows are "wicked"!
delighting in being called a scamp and a scallywag.
more clingy to Mum
7 teeth
darling giggles.

sleeeeeep

Sleep seems to be something that I only get in short chunks these days. I suppose if I started sleeping when Timo goes to sleep (7:30 PM or so) I would get a good stretch until about midnight. After midnight though Timo likes to sleep only for a few/couple hours at a time. Clearly things need to change regarding this but since waking up always happens when I have the least reserves to deal with it I am finding that just getting up and comforting him/nursing him is my only option. However, I have just cancelled 3 of my days of childcare in the Bay Area because Martin and I have a plan to send Timo home with Martin 3 days before I get back to Spokane. That will mean 2 nights of me, alone, sleeping. The thought it just glorious. And also terrifying. How will it all work out? When I get back will there be 3 adults and one 13 month old with sleep deprivation instead of one mum? Here's hoping I can pump enough milk to leave for the brave back at home.
I must sign off now, I have to get pumping before Timo wakes up....

betwixt seasons

As I told you before we have had our first snow. It seemed impossible that it could happen as the days had been so warm and the leaves were still on most of the trees. Just like last winter the tendency around here is to snow, thaw and freeze. It did a bunch of that but now it has melted (apart from the snowballs in the backyard) and now most of the trees have given up their leaves and we get to see the cover of unraked leaves that has been languishing under the snow (not so nice...).

Even with the snow I am glad to say that my garden is still producing veggies for us and I got to pick carrots and kale from under the snow drifts!! I had to wear gardening gloves so that my fingers didn't freeze in the snow. Seems kinda miraculous that I can still be eating out of my garden!! Yippeeee!
Here are some pictures from about a month ago. I love how these plants change their colours in a rainbow fashion.

house of sick

On Sunday someone asked me how my household was doing and I said that remarkably everyone was very well and we had had very few fall illnesses. I should have been knocking on wood or crossing my fingers or something because that night started a range of delights! Mimi was sick (stomach) (what she always gets) and that meant a VERY interrupted night for us. She stayed in bed/at home for 2 days. Ami has a very bad cough (the one he always seems to get) and I am sporting a rather horrendous sore throat (also the one I always get). Timo has been cranky and he is either getting a new tooth or he has some ache that he can't tell us about.
This too shall pass.

Guest post by Mimi- from Sunday

Today we got up and we put on our clothes. Then we ate breakfast (piece of toast). Then we had a walk and we went to church. I went to junior choir. We practiced singing. I forget which songs they were. Then I went to children's church. Then we had our morning prayers. It was fun. Then we sang songs and they were... I forget! Then we had our story and we had snack. It was chips and apples. Then Cathy brought down the bells and the cross. Then I holded the bells. It was fun. Then we went upstairs and we processed down the aisle. Then we played a story. It was fun but i wasn't involved in the story. Not everyone was involved. It was if you knew how to read. Then I sat with Miranda and Matthew and we had fun with my crayons and my pages. And soon the service was over. And in the middle of the service i did the labrinth. It was fun doing the labrinth.
We had enchiladas (leftover). [ed. for dinner]

Mimi and Miranda with their choir uniforms!

wait! i forgot one part!!We had pumpkin pie!!!!.

Bazaar

Today was the day of the big Christmas Bazaar across the street. I have NOT officially joined any "ladies groups" at church but somehow my friends belong to a "guild" and they invited me to join them for events/meetings/outings. (is this how people get into cults?!) The whole "Guild culture" is big here. There seem to be endless Guilds who do all sorts of socializing and raising of money to give to those who need it. I heard today that the "Service League" (the first and most "overarching" group) was in existence before the Cathedral was and they raised the equivalent of 3 (or maybe it was 8) Million dollars in the '30s (mid depression..) toward the creation of the building. 
 
This was all done with 5 cent luncheons and garage sales. Not to mention Spring Balls, Summer Balls, Winter Balls etc. Those gals loved to dance I guess and they really knew how to get MONEY!!. Today the guilds are of various sizes and raise funds for those less fortunate.
The guild that I am associated with is called the St Catherine and St Frances guild. The guild had almost died out (quite literally) but it has been re-membered by a few youngish Moms.
My friend Becky took on the role of leader, creating everything necessary to make our booth at the Bazaar successful. The St C and St F guild made and sold the traditional secret recipe Champagne Mustard, dry soup mixes and an assortment of other things that we thought people might purchase. However, Becky was VERY sick today so she wasn't able to attend. That meant that the rest of us who could be there (2-3) attended ALL day. I have new sympathy for folks whose job means that they are on their feet all day on a concrete floor. I also am super appreciative of living across the street and popping home for this or that or just for taking break from the place.
My kids were super great today. Helping out and having fun all day long. It was too bad that it was such a gorgeous day outside today but hopefully we raised a good amount of funds and that people who need help will benefit from our efforts.

I loves me some pumpkin

We didn't have a pumpkin for Hallowe'en. I figure next year we will. I guess I was looking for some unbelieveable deal for pumpkin and they all seemed a bit pricey for just carving and then composting. I want to EAT pumpkin! Soooo... last night I roasted 3 pie pumpkins in order that I can have pumpkin for many recipes. I started this morning with pumpkin pancakes. They are the best.

Here is my recipe (all measurements approximate)

1.5 cups ww pastry flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
ginger, cinnamon, allspice
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin (pureed)
1+ cup milk (enough to make it pancake consistency)

hot greased griddle.
makes 24 pancakes- enough for our family of 5 but none for Bodhi!

I plan to make pumpkin scones another morning and perhaps pumpkin pie for tonight. Then I will store the rest of the pumpkin in our massive freezer in the basement.
[The freezer is a story for a post about garage sales in Spokane. Stay tuned!]

pines in the fall

The Pines here in Spokane are really beautiful and when the fall comes they make their presence known in a totally profound way. The dropping of the needles. I have never experienced this before. Massive amounts of needles everywhere. Manito Park has lots of pines and this is what it looked like in one of their parking lots after they had cleared the roads and paths. Amazing.
I wonder what you could do with all that fiber...?

winter?

Today
Timo got a new tooth (#7).
I picked a large number of apples from a neighbor who had a sign out saying neighbors welcome to pick.
I realize the need to reduce the amount of exasperation I seem to have these days. Mostly because I am tired of hearing that tone of voice back from my daughter.
I made Lasagna in the morning. (unheard of early dinner preparation)
We went to the Roosevelt Roundup at the kids' school and it was a super fun carnaval!
Ami won a pie in the cake walk.
I taught an ABM floor lesson class.
And yes. It snowed.

Twinsins in October

Because of my travels to Vancouver we had the opportunity to have another Twinsins reunion. Almost a year since they were born we got together for a meal at C's house. It was so fun to see them together- each with their own way of being in the world. So fun!

ABM in October

October was an incredible month for me and my ABM practice. I took the plunge and booked folks in to do intensive ABM work in Vancouver mid October. An intensive is just as intense for the practitioner as it is for the students! I saw students 5-8 times in 3-5 days. Timo came to Vancouver with me and we both stayed with the E's. H and F looked after Timo while I was BUSY with students. I had the very good fortune of renting space from the generous folks at Jericho Physio who allowed me to work out of their office which is only 4 blocks from the E's home. That made all the difference for my crazy busy days. If I had had to brave Vancouver traffic as well as conduct ABM intensives for folks I would have never survived!
The week after I got back from Vancouver I drove up to Grand Forks BC to do a 3 day intensive with kids and adults there. The work is so powerful the adults really could NOT believe what their new realities were. It was very satisfying and a great working arrangement- working out of my host's aunt's house, mere blocks away. I am planning on going back for another intensive in GF next week. Timo is glad that our GF intensives are only 3 days. I would have to agree with him :)

Fall Fruits

The kids are really getting into the rhythm of their new school routine. It takes less than 10 minutes to walk to school. However we are increasingly getting a bit lazy about leaving enough time to get there. Now that the time has changed I see no reason not to get there ON TIME!!

Yellow plums, pears and a few apples from the urban forest.

can't you just taste these?!

I have had a wonderful time this fall searching out urban fruits for picking and preserving. I found pears (and made awesome dried pears with them) and yellow, little reddish and Italian plums (in the freezer waiting for cobblers) and a few concord grapes. Most recently I have acquired a whole wallop of beautiful Macintosh Apples. We have daily been passing (4 times a day for me!) a yard with 3 little apples trees on our way to school.  One tree had yellow delicious which didn't look too healthy. One tree looked barren and the other was the prize MacIntosh tree. I was watching the apples drop to the grass with no signs of them being used or appreciated in any way. Last week after I picked up the kids I got up the nerve to knock on the door to ask about the apples. The old man who answered said that they weren't going to use them and that we could have as many as we wanted. He said they hadn't sprayed them so they were probably full of bugs. I thought "HUZZAH- no spray"!!! They were gorgeous, hardly any worm evidence, no huge bruises (they were landing on mossy grass) and only a few holes where some buggy friends had taken their fare share. I took as many as I could in the bottom of the stroller. When I got home I determined to go back the next day to gather the rest of the good ones. That I did!!!
I filled a 20 lbs tomato box with my apples. I am very pleased.

Fall in Spokane

It's time to get writing on here!!! You can attribute this inspiration to my sister.
Life is very full and there has been much to blog about but I have been out of the habit. I have used the excuse that my computer not been willing to participate in my blogging habit but I can no longer use that one. I have a shiny new computer to use and it is beautiful! It supports me in all my endeavors.
So here goes...
Since I moved here at the beginning of December last year, Fall in Spokane is something I am appreciating for the first time. I know I have said before that I am enjoying living where there are real SEASONS and I can still say that is true. The amazing trees that I watched change from their wintery sticks into beautiful yellow green buds to glorious green canopies are now dazzling fall colours. We have a stunning maple tree right outside the livingroom window that is shockingly yellow.

We are understanding the work associated with having these gorgeous trees when we have to rake our back yard but it is much better than going to the gym to work out! The kids are troupers and have helped me a great deal.

My favourite tree on the way to school in the morning

I'm playing with my camera to take arty shots!

A Horse Chestnut in Manito Park

Arboretum

Late in July the kids and I went with our friends from church Becky and her kids Jo-jo and Zoe to a place called Finch Arboretum. We got advice from our mutual friend Erin what to do there. Head for the shady place beneath the willows where the creek goes and where the rocks are good for adventuring. So we did. And the kids got to do the "stuff of summer". Mucking about in the water, playing with the mud, throwing sticks, sending things down the stream, adventure walking in the creek-bed, bounding on the rocks and eating a picnic, all amongst beautiful trees. Can you think of a better way to have lunch?

Summer 2012

I'm not sure we could have fit more into our summer this year. It felt like a very busy time and I wish that I could have had more time to blog/keep track of all the adventures we had. Ah well. No time like the present to start, right?

Since the last post when we started doing things in Spokane etc, many things have happened.

I am going to make a little list of all the things and you, dear reader, can suggest for which you would like more details. My computer (after suffering a collapse of its hard-drive) is still not behaving as I would like. I want to show you photos of all our adventures but I can't yet. My programs are not behaving as they once were... grrr. I smell a new computer in my near future.....

The kids did a week (4 days actually) of summer day camp at the Corbin Arts Center. Very affordable and i think they had fun too. There was a girl in Ami's class named Aviel! Ami studied Leonardo Da Vinci and he was the only kid to make a model of a bridge that had moving parts- of course! Mimi did fairytale adventures and forest/woodland creature things. (not quite sure what it all was but she made costumes out of paper for various things and had a good time).

The kids and I went to Idaho to visit my friends from my ABM training.  My classmate Nikki lives in the countryside near to Sandpoint and our other friend, Karinna, and her two kids were visiting from Southern California. It was so great to be at Nikki's beautiful house and to meet each others kids!  We spent the day at the beach and then Karinna whipped up an amazing feast for us all.
Ami fell in love with the paddle boat in the pond that they have on their property.
Nikki and her sister have kids born on the same day (sound a lot like C and me)!
We stayed the night.
Timo slept an alarming amount- kept having to wake up to check that he was still alive. . .
We forgot toothbrushes and our bag with sleep over supplies- friends to the rescue!!
It felt like a real get-away. Will do it again soon!

B and T and J and T came to visit.
Green Bluff, Manito Park, Splash Pad, Visiting Duff's family,
hot days hang outs, camping in the Idaho Panhandle at Round Lake State Campground, attended Bonner county fair, Amazing J and T cooking at the campsite (they're experts!) BTW it is always better to have more adults when you go camping- more fun for everyone, baby playpen at the campsite = godsend, new tent slept 6 great! super awesome swimming in the waves at Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced Ponderay around here), swimming at coeur d'alene with Martin
Much cousin fun had by all! Theo does all sorts of things he normally resists doing because Mimi is doing them! Yay Mimi! Eat those greens!!
B tries out bows made by the same maker as her new bow (he lives close to Spokane!)
dinners out in the back yard, jenny and dave, nice big table from St John's across the street.

kate and jeff and liam visit from Vancouver both when we were here and when we were not.
We went to Camp Cross for 4.5 days- stayed in the "fancy" cabin that had running water (toilet and shower). I think it is generally reserved for the Bishop! It reminded me so much of being on a gulf island. Great swims in Lake Coeur D'Alene. Wish we had brought a baby monitor so we could have hung out in the main space while children slept.

Let me know what you want to know more about! :)

Kore Da Lane

Since it has been so fun to spend summer time together in our new city I requested that Martin ask for an extra day off this past week. Tuesday was the day. I have wanted to go to Coeur D'Alene for some time as everyone talks about it being a very beautiful place to go and the beach is excellent and there is great swimming and it is just nice to get away. It has continued to be very warm here and a swim in a lake sounded like the perfect thing to do.  Coeur d'Alene is in Idaho but is only about 1/2 hour drive from Spokane.

We arrived there in time to find lunch and so we headed to a burger joint called Hudson's that was recommended to us by our friend Evita. Indeed it was a well deserved recommendation as the burgers were super yummy. At Hudson's you can only order burgers (plain, cheese, double, double cheese). They come with your choice of onions, pickles and/or ketchup. There is no lettuce. There is no tomato. There are no fries. There are no shakes. There is no side of coleslaw. There is, however, homemade unsweetened ice tea.  Hudsons has been around and in the same location since 1907. We took our burgers to the park and enjoyed them very much!

Swimming in the lake was divine. I got to do the swimming with A and M because Martin's swimsuit was MIA. It was so special to just play in the water with the kids. These days I feel like much of my interactions with them is yelling at them (especially Ami) to do this or to not do that. I never get a chance to just play with them. In the water this all changes. There is nothing to clean-up, no diapers to change, dog to walk, email to write, dinner to make.... just time to play. Playing in the water also give you the excuse to get really close to someone with lots of hugging and horsing around. I think both kids have missed out on this part of our relationship now that Timo is on the scene. I was glad to get a chance to rectify this at least a little bit.

Martin stayed up in the shade with Timo as the beach was unbelievably hot and also it was on a seriously steep angle to the water. Our little shade maker was very useful even in the shade of the trees as it gave T some boundaries while M read and watched our littlest boy.

I was so glad that Martin could come with us to Coeur D'Alene. Adventuring with 2 kids by myself used to be hard and somewhat lonely. Adventuring with 3 kids by myself is impossible right now (especially when it involves water).

Yes "Kore Da Lane" is how they say Coeur d'Alene around here... :)

neighbors

Monday ended up being quite a bit quieter than last weekend's breathless pace. But because we didn't have planned activities the kids and I were at home and getting on each other's nerves by mid afternoon. We decided to take a walk. I had wanted to go to the grocery store and had unearthed our double stroller to make it possible to carry the groceries. Of course by the time we were organized to head out it was too late to walk all the way to the store and back before Ami needed to leave for his organ (piano) lesson. Grrr. Oh well, it was hot and we were bothered already. We decided to check out the house with the cute ducks (Peking Running Ducks-they stand up and are SOOO cute) that live in the yard. We had been there once before around Easter-time and met the girls that live there. I decided that I could ask to buy some duck eggs (if no other groceries) and we ended up having a lovely time meeting and playing with the two younger girls and I visiting with their dad. It was a much better arrangement than screaming at each other at home!
Those girls are home-schooled and are interested in having neighborhood friends. I hope it works out to hang out with them more.

did I mention?

We started watching Downton Abbey this weekend. Need I say more?

Spokane Things part the third

Sunday.
church in the morning (of course). (Met Pete- the much anticipated partner of Dawn)
Family Bike ride in the afternoon!
It was the hottest day so far. . .
Martin organized this as an activity for the St John's Families.
It started at a place that we had to drive to (Spokane Valley- 15 minutes drive away) so that meant a big pack-up of gear. We took the kids bikes and Martin's two bikes and our bike trailer for Timo. Bodhi stayed home (thankfully!)
The ride was along a small portion of the Spokane River Centennial Trail. The River was super beautiful to see. There were people floating down it and someone even saw someone snorkeling in it!! The ride was really cut short because of the heat. It reminded me so much of being a kid at the ranch. Blazing heat, clear blue skies, beautiful pine trees, a fantastic waterfall, desert conditions... Mimi and I saw quail and someone else saw a wild bunny.
Our friends the Browns joined us and it was great to spend that time with them. Also a new St J's member and one of her daughters.
It will be great to ride this trail with the kids when the weather is a bit more accommodating. The trail is an amazing resource here. We keep hearing other talk about it but this was my first experience trying it out.
I wore some clothes that I don't often wear (orange yoga pants and a bright pink yoga-wear tank). Mimi was super impressed with my outfit. I think it looked as close to a Barbie outfit as she has ever seen on me. She even told me that I looked beautiful and "cool". I wonder if this will be the last time i hear that kind of compliment from her! :)

We came home exhausted from the heat and I whipped together supper options for the kids and we welcomed a babysitter into our house and headed out to join Dawn and Pete for an evening at a local winery. Arborcrest hosted a concert at their site (only a $5 cover) from 5:30- 8:30. We were joined by Dawn's other friends Matt and Mindy and we had a great time visiting and eating and drinking wine in a beautiful location. Sadly we realized that this was only the second time we had actually procured the services of a babysitter in Spokane. It is no wonder that we haven't seen much of this city or had many opportunities for adult life... 

We. Must. Get. Out. More.  (and church events do NOT count!)

Spokane Things Part the second

 

Saturday
Yay!!! Another day off for Martin (if  you can call working at 5:30 pm a day off...)
The day started with a bit of garage sailing :) and Mimi decided to join me in the adventure. She was bound a determined to find a barbie to buy. We had seen a box of Barbies and accessories at a thrift store in Vancouver but I told her that we wouldn't be importing Barbies to the US and that we would find one at a garage sale in Spokane. The girl does not forget such promises! Sure enough she found a really decent Barbie at the first one we went to- this Barbie rides a horse (her legs actually articulate somewhat functionally!). I wasn't going to buy the horse (not realizing that it was specially designed to go with the barbie) but the little girl selling the toys said that Mimi could just have it. :)
All in all we went to 3 sales and I got a fan (it is getting really hot here), some art paper, some paper for making homemade business cards on your computer, a food dehydrator, and a bed fence (so that Timo doesn't fall out of our bed - I have been looking for one of these for MONTHS and this one is a really great one!).

After lunch we hung around the house a bit imagining that we might go to the Spokane Aquatic Center.  After extensive searching for Martin's swim suit in vain, we decided to get a little water action with the water park in Manito Park. This is a little bit of a walk away so Martin took the Xtracycle with Mimi and Ami rode his bike while Timo and Bodhi and I walked. It was tremendously refreshing.

 

A very cool thing about today was that there was a massive, neighbourhood-wide ladybug hatch. They were EVERYWHERE in great swarms of flying red bugs. Very impressive. Although I think I was nipped by 2 of those amazing red bugs...

Mimi proved for the first time that she is totally capable of doing the monkey bars today. She has been really wishing she could do them for a long time now. I gave her a little help (these monkey bars are really quite high off the ground) to understand just how important it is that you use your weights in swinging to reach the next bar. She was triumphant.

We are staring to eat more and more veg from our garden.

Doing Spokane things!! -finally!!

So this past weekend was too good not to write a bit about what we have been doing.
It started on Friday (Martin's day off) when I announced that we would be going to get cherries from an area called Green Bluff. It is located about 40 mins away from home. If we took a better route it might even be closer. My idea was to get cherries because I love the taste of cherries in the summer, and raspberries because we need jam for the winter!! I scouted out where to go and we headed for a farm that only puts organic products on their trees. The drive was beautiful (after getting out of the city). Warm weather and lush fields and sunshine. When we arrived at the farm we discovered that the cherries(only pie cherries left) and raspberries were all gone. However they had beautiful apricots!!! hooray!! the Other taste of summer!!! We picked lots and lots. Everyone enjoyed the picking and tasting :)(Timo included!). We decided to eat lunch at their little cafe which was nice to have someone else make lunch.

 Then we set off to find some cherries and raspberries elsewhere. We made "wrong" turn and ended up going to a farm that I had read about that looked interesting. It was a u-pick veggie garden with a "mad scientist" farmer, growing nutrition boosted veggies (using garden tea) on a beautiful property and a Canadian to boot! We spent quite a long time at his farm -Looking at the emus, sheep and poultry, petting the cat and the collie dog on site- as well as picking cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, broccoli, basil, strawberries, and golden and black and wonderfully purpley raspberries. I plan on visiting that farm many times this summer and into the fall. He is growing Kabocha squashes that are to die for!!

squashes and cucumbers growing...

in one of the green- houses- Timo is sampling celery.

We came home and had a left-over salady meal and then I headed out with my friend Dawn to attend a concert that her friend was singing. It was part of something called "first Fridays" in Spokane. First Fridays is a chance for people to get out and enjoy art and music all over the city. It is a very popular Spokane thing to do! The location of this concert was just on the north side of the river (you could see some falls from the concert) at a place called Chateau Rive. It was a promotion of this new(ish) event space and the concert took place on the grass in this picture.

this photo is from the internets!

The band played from almost where the photo was taken and the river is right behind the photographer. On arrival we discovered that wine was complimentary as well as veggies and humus! It was fun to be there with Dawn as she was awaiting the arrival of her Kiwi partner- excited anticipation/whiling away the hours until it was time to go to the airport...

It was fun to see a slice of life that I don't get to see much of...

Dawn is a very attractive woman who used to be in broadcasting so many people remember her from her time on the local news. I wondered about how many people attend this sort of event in hopes of finding someone to hook -up with. Sure enough Dawn was hit on at least a couple times! I realized how bad I am at making people (men) feel comfortable in this sort of situation!...So after the concert was over we wanted to check out the building and the various businesses that make it their home. The most important one to us was the "Chocolate Apocothary" where we had to sample chocolate covered almonds and then have some double chocolate gelato. Poor us. :)

next stop, Saturday!!

Berkeley time

I see from my blogger-stats that my blog got viewed a whole bunch a couple of days ago. I figure that is a sure sign that I need to at least update with a wee post...

I am in Berkeley as i write this. I am back here doing more Anat Baniel Method training. This segment is focusing on Anti-Aging and Vitality (or as we like to call it Immortality!). I am staying in my old neighbourhood and driving in from the airport i was really struck by how i  know this place. I don't need a GPS to get around, I am able to drive fast on the freeway with all the other Californian drivers and I even know what radio station to listen to! I'm not sure why it struck me as strange but perhaps because I have moved to a city which did NOT take long to get used to. Spokane's layout is fairly simple, my routes for errands are not complicated, the drivers are docile... what is there to get used to?

Timo is with me and he is a super kid. Totally accommodating and delightful too. I feel extra pleased that his childcare has worked out the way it has. For the first 4 days he is staying with a sitter who i met in February and who lived up in this neck of the woods. She is lovely and is a student at the Franciscan school up at the GTU. Since the last time we were here she has moved to the border of Oakland and Berkeley. Wouldn't cha know, she moved within half a block of my ABM colleague and carpooler, Chris. It is absolutely perfect!!! The other sitters are people who i have used before too. Huzzah.

I don't have the capacity to post pictures on my blog while i am here because I am using my host's computer and I forgot my camera cord anyway. I was expecting to have a computer-free 9 days!!!If you want to see recent pictures of Timo you have to visit my sister Caitlin's blog to see the latest cousin summit in Vancouver earlier this month.

Ami and Mimi have traveled to Victoria with my parents. They are the best grandparents EVER!- driving to Spokane to pick up the kids and then having them for a week!! WOW. I understand that there might be camping in the schedule if the weather behaves. . .

May 19th

So I thought I was looking forward to the weekend with the 3 kids by myself. Now I am not sure if my experience is really coming close to my expectations. I have now had the kids for 4 days by myself. It is really uninspiring to cook for one adult and 2 kids- especially when it has been warm and the kids tummies have been acting up. I am tired of instructing them to do things. I am tired of the "whiny" voice. I am tired of raising my voice. I am tired of not really having adult conversation other than on the phone (and those conversations have been really great- don't get me wrong!). I am tired of waking up in the night (although not sharing the bed with one adult AND one baby is really much nicer). I don't like cleaning up barf. I do like the funny conversations and observations of 7 and 5 year olds. I love how they play together so well. I am almost ready for them to go back to school.

The kids are really into posing for photos these past few days (even almost instigating them) and so I have been lucky to have scored some fun shots. Here's the three of them having fun on the kitchen floor. Ami was holding/visiting with Timo and Mimi came along and suggested that she sit in Ami's lap and Timo could sit in her lap. This is what came of that suggestion.... 

  

Things i like about Spokane- part 1 in a series?

I have very much been enjoying seeing the dawning of Spring here. In other places where I have lived there is no clear moment when you really know it is spring. Maybe it is also because I only know this place in winter-mode. I am astonished with all the beautiful trees here. I especially am loving the dogwoods. They aren't like the white dogwood that I know from the house that I grew up in. They are way bigger with wee flowers that have beautiful rusty colours along with the cream. There are other beautiful trees that seem to have rusty coloured flowers along with the new lime-green leaves. I love the weeping cherry trees and some fabulous weeping forsythia too.

Things are emerging in our garden that I didn't know were there. The most prolific of those things is the daffodils! Daffodils should be the city flower perhaps?

Our veggie garden is starting to sprout and i think i will put in the seeds that "get planted after the last frost" this weekend. Must start them soaking this afternoon.

The water in the Spokane River is incredibly high these days and there is a flood warning for Spokane! (I am not worried considering where we are in the city ;) ) The falls are spectacular as a result.

This makes me wish I had a picture or two to put here. Perhaps that will be my weekend challenge!

6 months old (4 days ago)

I intended to create a fun post about Timo turning 6 months old but my computer is taking a long time to do things so it is uninspiring/frustrating to write an interesting post. I know that it will take too long for me to edit and format the video I wanted to post here so i will just post photos instead. Timo's 6 month "birthday" happened when we had a a few super glorious HOT days here in the Spoke. It felt like SUMMER!! We hardly knew what to do. However we did figure out that going diaperless on the back lawn clearly was the correct way to conduct ourselves! Since then Timo has been able to do these moves and more even with diapers on!
Unlike Ami's first year we haven't had a cake every month (not even close) in honour of Timo's mensaversaries. However, Timo gets a blog post and photos galore. Happy half birthday little guy, and Happy half birthday to Miho too!!!!

documenting...

  I can't imagine what it must be like for babies/children today whose lives are documented almost by the minute (at some times of the year at least). I wonder what it will do to their sense of self and place in the world. I thought I would make a photographic comment on this phenomenon... or maybe i was just taking a picture of my dad's hands ;)

a poem and some pictures

Spring is

Owls, spiders
flying hooting, growing
warm as a sweater.
Spring

-by Ami Elfert

day off

what does a day off look like?
what would i not do?
and would i do instead?
I'll have to wait until summer to find out,
perhaps.

remiss

I am remiss in posting here. and shocked that the last post was March 17th. but not surprised that I haven't posted however. Life is full.

Since the last post I have -
won more items at the auction,
heard Zuill Bailey play Bach Suites across the street from our house,
had parent-teacher conference at Ami's school,
Martin was ordained to the priesthood,
we hosted my parents and Helen and a friend from CDSP for Martin's ordination,
I went to California for 9 days with Timo,
I graduated from the ABM for Children Mastery training,
Ami broke his arm,
the kids and I "spring break-ed" in Portland,
Martin introduced the "Elfert Interpolation" while celebrating at the Easter Service,
and now Mum and Dad are here for a visit!
I guess that's why i didn't have a chance to post....
and perhaps why i am tired.

St Paddy's day

Today was fun. I don't have much time to write so this will be point form.
St Patrick's day
*Ami is disappointed that the leprechauns didn't come in the night (I'm not sure what they are supposed to do or how you know they came. . . )
*Ami makes his own version of muffins for breakfast- no formal recipe- they turn out pretty good actually!
*I go to the auction house to put some absentee bids on some items of interest- I'm getting obsessed with auctions.
*Timo starts long sounds- one breath, one long sound
*Timo also has really fine small motor skills- both hands- as he explores his world
*Ami's friend Emily comes over for a playdate
*Ami loses his tooth- he had a total snaggle tooth for 24 hours.
*Ami personally understands the Burns quote "Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive!" - nothing terrible but a lesson well learned...
*I organize a parishioner to help with moving an electronic organ from GoodWill to our house for Ami. I bought it last week ($24.99) and have been keeping it a secret until today. I had hoped to keep it a secret until it was installed in our house but that didn't work out. It has lots of buttons- not many seem to affect/change the tone like they say they will but it is fun and he can say that he has an organ now and he can practice on it. I will get a video of it ASAP
*Ami tells me that he wants to be a famous composer when he grows up. Like Bach
He also wants to be a famous musician and artist.
*Mimi has an unimportant day except that she has 2 accidents with her elevated (high) chair.
*We finally put Mimi's tooth under her pillow tonight (it fell out in January) as Ami put his under his pillow too.
*Ami asked if they could have allowance. I said yes and then asked him how much he was thinking of. He suggested 17 cents.
*everyone wore green so that we wouldn't get pinched by leprechauns. :)


as a side note.... Yesterday Martin picked up Mimi from school on the Xtracycle. Apparently it was a big hit and everyone wanted to know about it in the parking lot of SUVs....

more bathing cuteness

This little video is here so you can see how cute my life is and hear how chaotic it is too. Seems Timo has found his feet- about a month after his cousin Miho! Of course in this bathtub how could he miss them!?!?!

skipping school

Mimi is an expert with a skipping rope now. She LOVES it! She can skip forward and backward, two legs jumping, hopping on one foot, alternating feet, kicking off her shoes while skipping and even skipping while on the trampoline. She loves to skip in the kitchen while I am cooking and we get to have a good conversation at the same time. She skips in the hall, dining room, living room, outside, upstairs, basement, church etc etc.
This week she had 2 days off school- one for pro-D day and one for the funeral of a teacher at her school who unexpectedly died last week.
I think a 3 day school week suits her just fine!

Mimi organized all of the shoes in our house yesterday. It made a very interesting installation in our front hall. I hope she is not too crushed when we have to clean it up tomorrow!

Mimi has joined the Girl Scout Troop (Daisy level) that was organized by some mothers of other girls in her class at school. They meet every other Monday or so in her Kindergarten classroom. She is super jazzed about it and we now have her uniform all organised for the acquisition of badges!!! The seed she planted on Monday has already sprouted. Can life get any better than that?


(and yes, I bought her skipping rope at Other Mothers!!)

Good Will Shopping

I've always been keen on buying things. Second hand.
I never articulated why it is that I like things that are antique or have just been owned by someone else. I always thought that it was just because i liked to save money (which i do). However, I am thinking these days that there a few other factors that give me a thrill when I shop like this.
I think I like the thrill of the "hunt". One must hold goals very loosely when shopping like this although having an idea of what I want/need is very helpful. When I find something super awesome I feel so victorious (see past posts on numerous occasions!).
I think my reasons for enjoying second hand shopping are more than the thrill. It is ecologically so sound, you get better products (older stuff is often made better) and you don't have to go to the Mall. Often you are supporting great causes and/or small businesses plus you are actually saving lots of money.

Lately I have been spending a bunch of time searching out things at the Good Will here in Spokane. This is a remarkably awesome store and my average on getting an "Awesome Find" is quite high. I have acquired curtains, furniture (a cool vintage oval card table - perfect for games in the livingroom), kitchen items, toys, shoes, 3 pairs of slippers, 2 pairs of nice dress pants for Martin, and fabric for some sheer curtains among other things. This week my find was a beautiful sewing machine. Now I was really looking for a table to put my already existing sewing machine on but this sewing machine was waiting for me in the furniture section. I bought it thinking it would be perfect for the kids to have to use instead of giving me heart attacks by using mine. Then bought some fabric/pillow cases and the total bill was about $15. The fun and learning is priceless.



PS: There is something else I bought this week  which i feel very excited about but the blog post reveal will have to wait until i get it home from the good will. . .