end of winter

I just walked across my dark yard to close the door of our chicken coop. The moon is a day away from full. The air smells watery, warmer than it's been for months, that sweet smell of the world stirring back to life. I feel perched on the edge, ready to slip into a new season.

The last few weeks have been good. Steady and paced in such a good way. I've been trying to let go of some of my expectations for myself. I begin each day with this list in my head that sounds something like this; start herbs, fold laundry, swim laps... then quickily spirals into a totally unrealistic frenzy of all I would like to get done; sew curtains, finish stripping kitchen wallpaper, read this giant stack of library books to the girsl with funny voices for all characters, go for a run, write a poem, play ponies with Amelia, write a blog post, plan my garden, do some yoga, draw with Aven, make yogurt from scratch, make bread, organize an art walk for the town I live in, make laundry soap...SERIOUSLY, there are times this all runs through my head in about 30 seconds. And I've realized that while I draw a ton of inspiration and solidarity from the other mama-blogs I like to read, I can get a little too inspired...like the homemade laundry soap for example...

Sometimes I need to just stop and remember that the most important thing is to just sit on the floor and laugh my head off with Amelia over her 'Animal Actions' song from dance class, or to kiss Aven's sweet blond head over and over while she sits on my lap turning the pages of a book. There will be another morning and another list; another day full of potential. But until then there is a warm afternoon of befriending our new chickens, a dinner I made while dj-ing a kitchen dance party, and tucking my girls into their beds upstairs, Amelia wrapping her arms around my neck to tell me goodnight my sweet little mama.

It can be tough to balance; full, but not too full. I feel so grateful for this time with them, for all the choices we have when we ask the question; what will we do today?
This time of year we run every direction with the possibility...


greening...oh yes...!


King Henry, our new rooster with some of his ladies.



Real Montana girls strip down once the thermometer hits 30 degrees.


Blue skies...and our beautiful russian olive tree.


Morning sun and shadows.


Our fields are plowed and ready to grow wheat. Is it normal to get this excited over thawing ground?

My dad came to visit for a weekend and we took him up on the Hogback to soak up some sun and get a sense of the vastness of this place.







Super grampa can hold Aven's hand while she navigates around cactus, carry her rock collection and still balance a glass of IPA...


Aven attempts her first puddle-stomp.


New neon green life...a wheat seed germination test that lives on top of my dryer.


Aven sporting a hair clip...a very tiny hair clip is a VERY big deal around here.

With these warming days, our house is suddenly vacated. The sun pours through the windows and we run for mud boots and fleeces, leaving things looking like this;


A few days ago I saw my first robin of the season. Now our yard and trees are full of their round red bellies. I am so ready! Welcome Spring!