small victories

This weekend felt full.
In a good way.



I think being a mother has made my much better at rolling with it, when things do not go according to plan. As in; I had planned to clean the house and make dinner while the girls napped, but since they didn't nap, we'll just eat popcorn and wade through piles of puzzle pieces and stuffed animals. See how that works? My life is full of oh well, we'll do it this way, instead. You focus on the small victories of the day, and let the rest go.

Which, I think is a good thing. The ability to roll with it was necessary this weekend. Our original plan for Saturday was to begin construction on our new hoop house (insert me, jumping up and down, waving my arms in the air, shouting yahooooo!). Mike's brother brought it over Saturday morning from Hamilton, where we'd had it delivered. As we began sorting through (lots!) of parts and pieces, it became clear they had failed to send us any assembly instructions....and the company we ordered it from was (of course) closed for the weekend. Sigh. And so (after a beer or two) we rolled with it, and moved on down the to-do list.


Hoop house, interrupted.

While Mike and Matt moved irrigation pipe (thanks again, Matt - my arms, especially, thank you) I finished a baby gift for a good friend of mine whose little boy was born on Friday.



Welcome Gavin! I also had a chance to transplant tomato, pepper, and eggplant seedlings into bigger pots. However, (and here's where my fellow growers-of-things should pay attention) I mixed my potting soil with a bit of aged llama manure to give it a little nutrient boost, which would be fine if all these plants weren't living right next to my kitchen. So my mudroom now has a bit of an odor...hmmm yes. I will not be experimenting with llama poop in ANYTHING that will end up inside my house again. I promise.



Look at them grow, though. They don't mind the smell.



Two of our neighbor's horses have had foals in the last week. They won't get too close, but they are all legs and cuter than heck.



Amelia will be four in June. Lately I have been getting these glimpses of the girl, the woman she'll become.



Sometimes I can see that sassy 15-year-old in there, just waiting.



She checks the chicken coop about five times a day for eggs, and when she finds one you never know if it will make it into the house in one piece. I think she's getting more careful, though.



She tells me these eggs are presents from our chickens.



Saturday night we had dinner with an old friend of mine from high school. Until recently, we hadn't seen each other for about 10 years, and it is so wild to watch our kids play together. Spending time with an old friend is one those things that makes me feel really aware of the fluidity of time. It's like standing in the ocean, with waves pushing and pulling against your legs in all directions. It's that simultaneous sensation of having your feet strongly rooted in one place, while around you is contant swirling, changing motion. It still surprises me to realize that I am still me, the same person I was at 15, or at 25. I am still standing in the same place.

So it was great to see her and to watch our kids become friends. It makes me happy in so many ways.

Montana's spring weather makes me crazy every year. The sun comes out and we slather on sunscreen, then it begins to snow and we run for the house in our flip-flops. Yesterday I took the girls to the pool, and watched puffy white flakes drift by outside the windows, and tried to concentrate on the warm water and new bathing suits, instead of the snow piling up outside. My garlic is liking it though.



Aven talks nonstop and amazes me every day with her awareness and humor.


Fiesty little monkey + raisins = LOVE

Both girls loved having some time with Uncle Matt, and I enjoyed a break from being primary book-reader and 'What can you say when a monkey acts this way?'



So like most things, attitude is everything. The weekend came to close with me feeling like I'd made some progress. And there is always tomorrow.