Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride

(Sorry guys.  Let's try this again....)

Yo!  I took the time to learn a new skill and I made a 4 minute video!  AND I uploaded it to my blog!  ("Skill" might be the wrong term here.  E-mail subscribers, if the video doesn't show up, you may have to click on the title of this post and be directed to my blog, which will have the video.)  

Image quality is pretty crappy (I kept it small), so I'll post some stills at a later date, as well as some outtakes and bloopers from the land of aloha.  

The pictures flip through pretty quickly so be ready....and turn your volume up because the music is everything......... 

more or less

Hi!  Still here.  I've been preoccupied.  Parenting, investigating homeschool, visiting the public school, cleaning out, cleaning up, selling crap, toying with the idea of doing photography as a "side" gig.  (I really don't have an extra "side," so I'm not yet sure how that will work.)  I turn 40 this year (have I mentioned that before?), and I'm looking at a full-frame DSLR camera.  My mid-life motorcycle.

I've been learning to skijor with the dog.  I've re-herniated that damned disc in my neck.  I've watched too many episodes of "Lost" while folding laundry in the wee hours of the night. One family member or another has been sick (not bad, though) for the entire month of February.  I've guiltily enjoyed our creepy spring-like weather, going on "adventure hikes" with the kids on bare frickin dirt (in February!).

In the photo above: a post-preschool afternoon spent fishing on the river.  The kids found some elk bones.  You can't see it well, but under her right arm Juniper is holding a maggoty elk skull.  My man removed some teeth, which Hazel is investigating.  Things like this make me want to homeschool.

Today: Hazel had emotional breakdowns over somethingorother approximately once every ten minutes.  Also, she got naked, drew all over her body with markers and ate a poisonous plant right before bed.  It's always funny when it's over.  Now, they are tucked snuggly into bed.  Juniper is spending her first night in a big bed; Hazel is spending her first night furiously jealous and if she had the words for it, she would declare herself a second-class citizen.  It's so hard to bend to both of them at the same time.  They play together unbelievably well (they are constantly surprising me at how well), but their individual needs can be so different.  I wish Juniper wanted more of me, I wish Hazel didn't need quite so much.

Signing off for tonight, hope to be back soon.  ~    

  

balance and peace

^Post-Christmas Elk Refuge sleigh ride (see below). ^ 

I wrote this a few days ago, and hadn't found the time and space to complete it and tack on some photos.  The last few months have been a whirl of new experiences, new interests, less time, and re-prioritizing.  Right now, I have a tasty cup of Aero-press coffee at my side, my man has the day off and both kids are sick--although you wouldn't know it based on energy levels (I'm attributing that to the Thieves oil I put on their feet last night).  

Even though I turned 39 less than two months ago, I can feel the weight of what this year, 2015, brings: my 40th year on this planet.  And with that comes a strong urge to get my shit together.  To find the balance of health, wealth, organization, creativity, vitality and life, and to do it with my monkeys at my side.

  ^Mid December: Mom and daughter Nutcracker date.  I don't know what's up with the basket.^

^Local dancers plus the very same ballet company I grew up with: the Eugene Ballet Company came to our little corner of Wyoming!  I was SO happy to have *this* as my kids' first Nutcracker experience.^

::  ::  ::

I've been noticing what little evidence is left that we once had babies in our home.  Crib, changing table, potty chair...it's all gone.  Cloth diapers have been relegated to the rag pile (too scrappy to pass on).  What little remains of babyhood is all boxed up in the attic, waiting to be passed on in 30 years to some future grandkid, or made into a memory quilt.  We have a 3 year old and a 5 year old now.  Two ferociously strong personalities circle our home.

Yesterday both kids were crawling under the Christmas tree, wagging their tails high in the air.  Bare, little feet stuck out--those soft, pink, padded toes.  I wanted to lock that moment in my brain, to remember this, always.

I have been tucking notes away on Hazel for the last year and a half.  All her little quirks, come and gone and on to the next.  (I have a long overdue letter to Hazel coming very, very soon.)

2014 was the first year I didn't have a kid sharing my bed.  Looking back, so much of my focus was trying to get my own projects done; to do some things for ME after four years of dedicating my life to these small humans.  I did that, but in my wake I left behind a frantic, disorganized mess.

I have dedicated 2015 to swinging the pendulum back to center.  When I stumbled into 2015, clutching a steaming cup of coffee, friends strewn about the house, we asked each other our resolutions and this was mine: This year, I want to find balance and peace.  There are lots of fineries and nuances wrapped into those two words, but for now, that will do.

::  ::  ::

^A few days after the Nutcracker, our own little dancer took the stage.^

^How much actual dancing she did is debatable, but her favorite part: "Being on stage!" and the cookies afterwards.^  

I like my holidays to be of the slow, dough-kneeding variety.  This year, we were far from it.  It was hectic, busy, too fast, not enough.  (As of today, I still have a stack of "New Year's" holiday cards to mail.)  It was December 15th by the time I got our advent calendar on the wall.  I read somewhere that you should take all your holiday traditions and activities and drop them.  ALL of them.  Then, slowly add the ones that have the most meaning for your family and skip the rest.  To some degree we did that (we had to), but I could do some more cutting and pasting.

We have been so lucky in that family has come to us for Christmas since we've lived in this house.  This year was no exception with my in-laws here for Christmas followed immediately by my husband's brother's family and out-of-town friends for New Year's.  For you: a shotgun photo montage of our holiday:      

:: We adopted a dog from the shelter.  She is 4 1/2 and was found running along the highway with badly infected puncture wounds in her rear end.  Turns out, the other dog in her home was attacking her; the owners relinquished her to the shelter.  They patched her up and we took her home.  Her name is Ladybug (original name was Lady).  She is a super sweetheart; she doesn't bat an eye at the kids' crazy antics.  She is mellow in the house, but is tightly wound with energy the second she gets outside.  She is loyal to us, but will bolt if off-leash.  We have some obedience training to do, but she is a little lover.

:: Christmas Eve: setting out carrots and lettuce for the reindeer and cookies for Santa (they were a little protective about Santa's goodies).

:: Christmas morning with Nana.

:: Elk Refuge sleigh ride with Nana and Papaw.

:: Sometimes I struggle to figure out what Juniper really loves.  It's a question that doesn't have a simple, one-word answer like "skiing" or "trucks" or "dolls" or "biking".  But since she has been old enough to do it, she's been putting on shows.  It used to be "pet shows" with stuffties, but has progressed to shows with smaller characters like matchbox cars and Playmobil.  Animals, still, are the center of the show with humans, occasionally, having a supporting roll (usually as a "butcher").  Here: she was tickled pink to have a captive audience.  

Playmobil show--holy heck she loves Playmobil; this animal-fairy set was a Christmas gift from Hazel:

The performance.  I told Juniper she is a playwright and director.  

Another show:

:: As for Hazel, she could have received nothing for Christmas but a bag of those egg-shaped lip balms.  She loves on them constantly, until they're gone.  A typical scene around these parts: Juniper putting on a show, Hazel applying lip balm:

:: Minus 2 degrees on the sled hill, Hazel and my man.

With my husband's brother, his wife and the cousins too.    

:: New Year's Eve.  Sushi, hard cider, campfire, sparklers, fireworks, friends and family.  Love!

^Our good friend T and Aunt D watching fireworks.^

^Hazel burned her mittens while I was taking this photo.  Oh, the sacrifices of getting a good shot.^  

That's all folks!  I'll see you here again, hopefully before another 2 months pass us by....

I am here

Hi.  Still here.  Life has been busy this autumn, in a good way, with one sad curve ball thrown in--we lost my kids' great-mamaw.  Oh, there is so much to blog about.  So many necklaces of words and photos I'd love to string together.  The time will come.  For tonight, just wanted you to know we're still here.

hiking with little kids

(Gee whiz, I'm tired.  I started this a couple days ago....)  

I have a vacation post, summer snaps, garden post and a big ol' letter to Hazel brewing in my blogging bucket.  But first....

:: My happy place: outside, roaming the wilds of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, placing feet to earth, cool, a camera in my hand, with my three favorite people.  We had the best hike today.  

 We hadn't hiked much this summer, it was so hot (high 80's), we gravitated towards water instead.  But then, monsoon rains!  Hail!  More rain!  Everything cooled off.  Flies vanished.  Mosquitoes too.  (Also today, sadly, my tomatoes are dying from some fungal blight.)  But dang if this isn't the perfect hiking weather.  

We made tracks, played games, explored newly fallen pinecones and half-rotting bolete mushrooms.  Hazel half rides, half hikes, but Juniper will run up a steep trail, leap over logs and dash up gravely scree, if she has cause.  This hike, we were all trying to push the capacity of our lungs and so we made a game of it.  

I (or my husband) would sprint up the trail until my lungs collapsed, then dive behind a tree and await my prey.

Juniper would run up the trail behind me (Hazel in her wake), squealing, anticipating the surprise attack of a wild, roaring bear.  Together, they would knock me to the ground with their magic freezing powers.  And in this way, we made it to the top of a steep hill. (I was sore the next day.)  

(^Sorry about the crappy photos...I've been exploring my new iphone, learning what it can and can't do.  It can do a lot, and it can't do much.)

 

When that game wore out and the kids would ask for a snack break right after having a snack break, we moved on to "flower power":  I'd pick a plentiful wildflower to carry Juniper further up the mountain.  She'd hold it high in the air and march up the trail.

We'd stop and tuck into mountain maples.

Or pick berries.  Kids are natural foragers and they love plucking something right out of the forest and popping it in their mouths.  (It is well worth it to know your edibles.)      

Or their pockets.

We were too late for huckleberries, but we came home with enough oregon grape to make a batch of jelly.  

Most glorious of all, when we got as far as we were going to go, we ducked into a dry wash.  My man took the best kind of nap and Hazel found a fairy cave.  The kids went bonkers, spending the next half hour or so cleaning, furnishing and decorating the fairy cave.  And I had absolutely nothing to do but watch, make suggestions, and simply exist in the presence of my children.  My happy place.  

^Note the stack of "firewood" staying dry inside the cave.  

In the end, this little fairy ended up with: dry firewood, a fire-ring, a cup, bowl, plate and spoon; flower decorations, a cradle and pillow for her baby, a supply of (poisonous but it doesn't matter because fairies are magical) berries, a flagpole, tent, sleeping bag and pillow--in case she wanted to camp outside of her cave.  

They would have kept on going but I insisted we leave in case the fairy came back home, since we were sure to frighten her away.  

You know how you can have a gloriously full day?  We had a full hike.  Even though we were no more than a mile from home and we never made it above timberline and we didn't even have a creek to walk along, we had a complete, satisfying, bucket-filling hike.  

 My man was rested, Hazel exhausted, I was in my happy place, and Juniper was pumped.  

 She ran down the trail a la Laura Ingalls in the prairie grass, but tripped on a rock, flew through the air and landed on her face.  

She wiped the tears away, laughed about her flying body, and was ready to pick berries again.  We were only gone from the house for a few hours, but it felt like the universe had granted us a whole extra day together.  My happy place.