Special Summer Visitors

This Summer we had particularly special guests to North Idaho.
Grama and Grampa (my parents) came for a visit!

Both Grama and Grampa made themselves instant favorites
and were game for any kind of play my hoodlums and their cousins
could think up.
I was a little afraid the ol' Grampa ride might break down!  Not so, apparently.
This Grampa is not one of those newfangled contraptions, but a properly built model.
On top of that, he didn't even need to be fed tokens!

What fun :-)

The cherry on top of this visit was the tag-along presence of my youngest brothers
and sister.  Uncle Daniel, Uncle Ben, and Auntie Mattie were 6, 5, and 4 years old
when AJ and I got married.
I wasn't a big part of their lives growing up and it is such joy getting to know them
as adults!  A little slice of Heaven.

There were hikes.

And tea parties.

Lots of stories and crafts.

Some music :-)

Oh that Auntie Mattie!  What can possibly be more fabulous than
an Auntie that plays Dress-Up with you?

Autie Mattie Grace~  You are the best!

Grama and Grampa~  What precious memories we made together this Summer!
Thank you for coming all this way, and I hope it inspired you to do it again (after your
batteries and sore parts have a chance to recharge that is).

We love you!

Long but not Lost

My Friends!
Oh how behind I am and getting behinder every minute!

I have oodles of pictures for Grandmothers and some summer highlights
to journal just for us, but honestly.. where to start?

Let's begin with today.  Mr. Miles. 7 months.  Mmmm-MMM is he a
scrumptious baby or what?!!.  This little pose is his own invention and makes him
appear to have a bored-stiff air.  Of course we all know that's not true with
five zillion siblings entertaining him full time.

Maybe we need to step things up a notch and teach this guy how to read
or ride a bike or something. Haha!

The air has officially taken a turn for the crisp around here and with that change
comes a lot of golden leaves.  I am daily beside myself in wonder of it all.

Zack took me with him on one of his Grouse hunting circuits for good company,
and I brought my camera to keep me some quiet company.  The funny thing?
My mighty hunter was as full of friendly banter as a chattering squirrel!

"and this is where I saw two of them yesterday mom... right here in this bushy patch
...do you see this track here?... what kind of poop do you think this is... it was even
more fresh yesterday... and do you think this is elk or deer?.............."

So fun.

Clayton is a bona fide hunter this year as well, and sister Sue passed
Hunters Safety (wahoo!) and can tag along.
With all the hunts going on someone thought a tea party was needed
for the left-behind of us.

Olivia's Fall Tea~

This really was all her doing (don't you love the leaf garland on the glass door?)
though I took the opportunity to try a fancy new braid out on the girls and
even donned a skirt and earrings myself!  It was a great party!  Sorry the hunters
missed out :-)

When comes cool weather, comes more mud, comes more boots, comes more
sticks in the hair and runny noses, but also comes more soups, blankets, reading,
hot apple cider, popcorn, and baking.

So "come" dear Autumn because I love you.

Piles of firewood, last deliveries of gravel for the driveway, apple cores, popcorn eaters, 

pretty breakfast,  cherished butterfly pin gift, impulsively bought chrysanthemums...

Delish.

I was walking the forest near the cabin the other day in the drizzle.  I had a heavy jacket on, 

a roll of tree flagging tape, and was trying to decide which were "keep" trees and which were

"go" trees.  Having such great results with our logging experience two years ago, we imagine

a little more open space to let the sunlight in.

Would you know? Once under said canopy, it just so happens that every tree is a "keep" tree?

It was such a privilege to have this little chore to excuse me from my inside duties.  

There was wonder in every step - mosses and mushrooms, peeling bark and critter tracks.

Really seeing the individual trees and making decisions that effect the long-term outcome

of this property was an exercise in embracing change.

Good change is good.

Hard change is hard.

Generally I don't like to be on the choosing end of change - what if I don't like what I chose?

That's where the exercise comes in for me.  I will be proactive in making difficult decisions

and I will be content with the outcome.  This life is not the final destination, this remodeled 

forest is not the last home I'll have.  It's ok if I don't love the change.   It's only temporary.

This season, this Autumn, this crisp weather sinking into low temperatures and frosty blades

of grass ~ it's good.  I'm sipping lots of coffee and embracing the change.

There's a Dinosaur in My Bed

In groggy morning hours I climbed out of bed for a baby who needed a fresh diaper and bite to eat, took a toddler to the bathroom and cozied back in for one last shut-eye.  My pillows were askew and my quilt had parted ways with the comforter as each spilled over an opposite side of the mattress.
I cared very little if knotted flannel sheets made it all the way to my chin and did not bother to wonder where my second pillow went.  Suddenly from out of a hazy dream-like fog a sharp realization hit me:
there was a dinosaur in my bed.
A dinosaur.  In my bed.
And yet.

When a mother is running on sleep fumes and far-fetched hopes of just-another-30-minutes, "she" could care less if a hard plastic reptile shares her space.  As long as he is quiet, doesn't wiggle or wake the baby, and won't hog the bit of sheet she just curled under... who cares.

"She" doesn't think she left him there, but this morning he's welcome to stay.

Later in a more wakeful demeanor, I watched a sweet documentary of a family who sold all their household goods and now travel the states together in a little trailer.  It was a darling, dreamy, romantic documentary, and then I thought: family of 6 living in a 18 foot travel trailer?  Romantic?

We've done that kind of thing, and today we live off grid in a small-for-10-people cabin.  We travel together. We grocery shop together.  We have "date night" at home while the kids are still washing dishes rather loudly in the kitchen only a few yards away.

Wouldn't it be awesome if someone made a documentary of my life that made it look... romantic?  Everyone in the world could view my story and wish it was theirs.  It would be beautiful!  Don't we all need that?  A few well-timed clips of my house when it sparkles and my family when it shines would help provide perspective when I need it - like on mornings when there's a dinosaur's tail in the small of my back.

The truth is, that the beautiful moments, the bunting over the bed and rosy lighting, the laughter, the books all on the shelf with their binding edge facing out - it's real.  Hey, even jam globbed on the outside of the jam jar can seem cute if the background music is right!  But noticing the favorite parts, really seeing the best scenes depends more on the lens through which we look, rather than whether or not the beautiful actually exists.

On the other side of that ethereal documentary, wanna bet that there's an occasionally-tired mom who can't find a quiet place when the trailer rocks and sways from frolicking hoodlums?  Would you like to imagine what happens to milk that's spilled on the floor of a home that's not level?
I love the picture that documentary painted.  I was delighted and inspired, but that kind of  living is hard work. It may be simple, but it's challenging.

Just like all we mothers experience in our own different stories, life is hard work mixed with dollops of light and laughter, beauty, serenity, and song.  We each live a romantic documentary-worthy life, but since we don't have a camera crew or a soul-moving sound track we're left to our own editing.  What do I see when I survey my surroundings?

Honestly it's often the dinosaur robbing me of sleep.  That's reality.  Dinosaurs in beds.

But in my documentary, honky tonk piano plays as I contort my body into semi-comfort, shut my eyes and pretend the last pillow didn't fall off the bed.  And even if I don't get to sleep, I think of the small boy who brought his green buddy in to share my cozy place and then left in a hurry - important things to do with his early morning hours - and I smile.

I may not have a film crew but it's my story.
And it's a good one.

First Things...

We had some special visitors up at our place over the last week
and I need to recount adventures and share pictures of all the good times had.
However, first things first.

My Grandma sent the most perfect gift our way!

You know, blog-watching is a pretty special thing for grandma's to do.
They didn't grow up with the technology we use every day, and for
those talented women who were once adept at shorthand or typing, and who
have beautiful penmanship and can communicate without spell-check...
navigating the world of computers is a true labor of love.

And this grandma, she paid attention.
We were once without a cherry pitter, but no more!  We are now proud owners :-)
And Grandma, you thought it might be past cherry picking season
and you were correct, but we bought a couple pounds at the store
just as soon as we could.
Here we are trying out our fancy-dancy new pitter and I promise to think of
you every year when the cherries are in season!

Thank you~

We love you Great Grandma!!!