Monday, February 28, 2011

monday, 6pm

I'm making chicken fajitas for dinner when I notice Amelia is throwing herself against the door in our living room, desperately rattling the knob, swinging herself back and forth against the frame, trying to get outside.

Bird, what are you doing?

I'm trying to get outside! I need to say hello to the sky!


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So I let her out, or course. It is getting dark and it's 29 degrees. She has bare feet, of course.

She stands on the porch yelling at the sky.


Hello sky, good morning, good night!

Hello geese, fly away to South America!

Goodbye sky, goodbye leaves.

Aven, never one to be left out, stands beside her yelling Dadoo, Dadoo, Dadoo!

* * *

In just over a month, I will turn 30. I keep thinking of the Talking Heads song; "You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?"

There are times this question is more easily answered than others.

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Standing on the porch with my daughters,

saying hello to the sky,

is one of the easier times.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

winter picnic

A few weekends ago, Mike and I had a case of what I like to call 'simultaneous-cabin-fever-February-freak-out.' I'm sure you've heard of it...The sun was shining after days of coldgray and we had a conversation that went something like this:

"Hey, what do you think about flying to Florida, tomorrow."
"That sounds great! Let's go!"

We didn't look at our calenders, we just sat in front of the computer and surfed destinations and airfares until we woke from our stupor and realized there was no way in hell we could get on a plane and head for the beach...tommorrow...with absolutely no planning.

So plan B was to get out of the house and absorb a little sunshine.

And cook moose-burgers over a fire, because that's what we do.

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It was just warm enough to shed coats and hats. I lay down against the warm ground and imagined I could hear waves. The sunlight was dazzling, the sky was achingly blue.

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Amelia is a bit of a peak bagger. 'Can we climb to the top of that, mom?" I hear every morning as we drive into town and she looks out her window longingly at the Pioneer Mountains. She and Mike took off to climb to the top of a hill, and ended up walking along the ridge.

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A long way for three-year-old legs, I think.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

my life in board books

I'm recovering from one of those moments...

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One of those moments when something ugly rises up in me and I can't cope. I yell at my kids, I question my entire life, I decide there is no way I am going to finish cooking dinner, and instead I'm going to strap my kids into their carseats and drive like hell...probably south since it is about .3 degrees here right now....south seems like a good idea...

Do you know what pushed me over the edge...? Amelia tripped Aven with her blanket after I'd asked her a million times to pick it up off the floor, and Aven opened the cupboard and took the bag of raisins out for the 10,000th time this afternoon....so I lost it over a blanket and raisins. Ugh.

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There was a minor blizzard here this afternoon. The thing was hyped for days on the news and really didn't deliver the kind of 'storm of the century' that had been promised. Not that I'm complaining. We spent the morning in town, Amelia went to a few hours of preschool, Aven and I went the YMCA and the grocery store (you know, to stock up for the storm of the century!) then we were home all afternoon with woodstoves blazing, watched the sparrows empty a nearly full birdfeeder, and read piles of books.

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Somewhere between Hippos Go Berserk and Goodnight Moon I realized I'd begun putting an awful lot of existential thought into that bowl of mush...When I stretched my brain during a semseter of Advanced Literary Theory and Critique, I'm pretty sure Busy Busy Chickens was not on the syllabus...and yet, there is something wise in these first books I read my children. Small lessons, small wordplay, new expressions and questions asked.

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The girls are now tucked into their beds upstairs, asleep after a very loud volley of 'love you' up and down the stairs. A stranger would never guess that was what Aven was saying, but I have no doubt. It was.

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I'm following a glass of wine with a cup of sleepytime tea brewed and brought to me by my honey; and I'm feeling a little more balanced. It is below zero now. I think I might bundled up and take a quiet walk down the driveway.

Goodnight stars, goodnight air....goodnight noises everywhere.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

coop

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No, it's not an additon to our house...it is a gigantic chicken coop! Guess I better get some chicks! It's made of all (mostly) reclaimed/recycled materials and it is quite luxurious...if you happen to be a chicken. I'm thinking of painting some of the trim in a bright color...any suggestions?

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Amelia practiced being fabulous while the coop was unloaded.

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It was something to watch...I was thankful that I was a mere observer...

The coop has two separate living quarters so starting new chicks will be easier, or I'm thinking about pioneer-woman-ing up and getting some meat birds.

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Stay tuned for more exciting farm developments!
(oh yes, there will be more!)

Sunday, February 13, 2011

portraits: the waiting month

February and I have some issues. I don't believe it is innately a bad month...really it is a victim of it's placement among the other months, its particular gray-icy tedium that makes it the most challenging time of the year for me. February, it's not you...it's me. For me, you are the waiting month, when all I want to do is get on with it already...

We've been finding new ways to pass the time;

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bathtub fingerpainting, birthday cake baking when it is no one's birthday,

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peeling all the felt 'fur' off of a toy horse only to find a perfect hole in his forehead...just waiting for a toothpick to transform him into a lovely (and slightly dangerous) unicorn. Actually, there's only one of us doing that...

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After gray days I feel like I have to follow the sunlight around, celebrate each little sliver.

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When it's too cold to be outside, we wish for warmer days.

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Aven will not stay off of the table. That's all there is to it.

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Some days I dress them alike and pull them around by one leg...uh huh...

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Some days I lose all originality and let them watch a cartoon in bed.

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Then there are days when spring is so very close...

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So to recap...we're waiting...

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and perhaps getting a little impatient...
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