In Rememberance

Its been a hard week. We lost my grandfather on Thursday after a week of caring for him as a family in his home. I am at loss for how to describe the beauty of each moment we shared with him and with one another...I am at a loss to even begin to describe the significance of his life and the love I have for him. I know that he was a rare man of great influence. I know that he loved others. I know that he loved Jesus. There is so much I want to write about this man and I hope to a bit later in the week. Today I am finding my thoughts so muddled.

Autumn was his favorite time of year and I thought this poem by Walter de la Mare was fitting for where I am today:

AUTUMN
There is a wind where the rose was;
Cold rain where sweet grass was;
And clouds like sheep
Stream o'er the steep
Grey skies where the lark was.

Nought gold where your hair was;
Nought warm where your hand was;
But phantom, forlorn,
Beneath the thorn,
Your ghost where your face was.

Sad winds where your voice was;
Tear, tears where my heart was;
And ever with me,
Oh, ever with me,
Silence where hope was.

The Harvest

The bounty from the front walk...


The pumkins are still plumping in the backyard, but one of the beautiful elements of the harvest we are enjoying is the insane ammount of lavender that is produced every spring and summer in our yard. In August, the kids and I harvested the beautiful stuff for the second time and are currently finding ways to enjoy it! I think we gave more than half of it away so that other families could enjoy getting crafy with it too, but we are also making...

~dry bouquets
~lavendar sachets
~sugar scrub
~firesticks

The boquets give off a wonderful fragrance all year long! I stick them is vases or jars all around the house for color and flair...

For some added insensity, I use a pestal, or have the kids grind the blooms in the palm of their hand before filling organza bags from the craft store for the sachets. These are favorites for the girls to stash in their drawers or give away to friends at the holidays.

The sugar scrub is a combination of ground lavender, essential oil, sugar and lemon and is incredible! I can't wait to suprise my mom, mother-in-law and sisters with this at Christmas...or I guess right now (hi guys!).

Lavender Firesticks are my personal favorite because to create them, I use the stem of the lavendar, a piece of the plant that is typically thrown away, although it has such a beautiful fragrance! My friend, Yvonne shared this idea with me a few years ago and I have loved the addition it has made to making our home cozy all winter long. Simply dry lavender stems and toss a few onto the fire or even use them as fire starters... the heat will fill your home will the smell of lavender! I am planning on making some bundles of these this year to wrap and give with some special matches for hostess gifts or stocking stuffers.

I am learning so much about the healing benefits of lavendar these days. Did you know it is a natural anti-fungal and also great for helping you sleep... that is the best perk for me in the early days of the school year...

Home, anyone?

We have finally done it. Our home is on the market...well... almost. Today the sign is hitting the lawn and the listing is going to hit Craig's list. But, being the avid blogger that I am, I am giving you a first glimpse into this steal of a deal! Who knows, maybe one of you wants to move to Wenatchee! I don't have a good shot of the kids' room or the laundry room, do you ladies think these are necessary?

Front of house...

View from entry way...living and dining room

Living Room...

Dining Room...

Kitchen...

Other side of kitchen...

Bedroom...

Office...

School Room/Playroom...

Storage Room...

A Book of our Days....

I am a list maker. I keep track of life through pages and pages of notebooks and to-do lists and journals. Last winter I saw the idea online (although I have NO idea where...sorry if the original creator of this concept is out there receiving zero credit) to make these lists pretty. I dug through lots of old catalogs and clipped and glued into a blank journal. It was a pretty beginning that I added to with little doodles.
I leave this book out on the counter in my kitchen and record any special happenings inside...cute things the kids say, things I want to remember (make doctor's appointment...buy socks) and then I have a handy space for what tends to tumble out of my mind. Here is a close-up of a day in April:

The joy of doing this is to have something beautiful to look at,because I jot things down all day. I think we often have to choose beauty, to find interesting ways to create and surround ourselves with things that make us happy and that we feel cozy around...finding true beauty in small things is important to me.
It also keeps things together (I am famous for losing things, just ask my mother in law) and most importantly, it serves as a recored for how we are spending our days around here. I have a feeling that in 30 years, I am going to LOVE reading what we ate for dinner and who I wrote a thank you note to and that my kids played monopoly and giggled like crazy...
Life is happening with a great hum all day long and I don't want to miss the small things...or forget them when I am all wrinkly.

Cousins

Well, we are back from the Ocean. What a great sigh to be able to have been with our family for an entire week, basking in the shore. I will post pictures and details of our time when I can (later today?) but for now wanted to finish posting some things I had planned before we left.

Most importantly, for the grandmas and aunties waiting out there are precious picture of my two favorite baby girls. This is Lael and Madeline at a recent playdate. I can not even begin to describe the joy of having cousins in our home.

Long Beach

This is a picture of where we will be spending our week and this...

is a view from our beach house.

Best intentions have had to be laid aside for the blog as packing and organizing have decended upon the house the last few days. As I hurry around this morning packing suitcases and tidying up, making sure we have enough sunscreen, water, books, games...underwear... I am relishing in the thought that in a few hours I will be on the open road with my husband, enjoying his company as we drive and listen to ABBA. It will kill him that I know all the words to every song and will sing my guts out and then he will play punk rock and our kids will giggle and bob there heads like only children of a punk rock loving father can.

When we arrive we will smell the shore, there is nothing quite as uplilfting and refreshing that makes my heart sing like the ocean. I'm looking forward to a walk on the beach tonight alongside Josh as the kids forage for shells and bring us long lengths of seaweed and driftwood. I want to wiggle my toes in the sand and face the tide with my toes. Games and quiet and play...all week long. This is vacation!

We will be back next weekend, see you then!

The Wave

There are three fun posts in the hopper... all to be completed before we head off on vacation Saturday. In the meantime ~ a little update on life without our van.

The one and only downside has been that Lael is too little to travel in the bike trailer and so we can't go super long distances with her like we can with the other kids...that would be because we are walking and I just am not that into pushing a stroller over a mile or two at a time.

I think the older three kids and I have biked nearly 15 miles since my last post. My second trek to swimming lessons was much less grueling and I can not begin to express how good it feels to be building endurance and to actually "feel" strong. Ironically, there is something very freeing about being forced to get out and excersise. I am realizing the benefits of this as we bike and walk and I love it...I am beginning to wonder how to incorporate part-time car use into our norm throughout the year.

I knew from some of our nature study walks we incorporate into our science education, that walking allows you to take in your surroundings in new ways, to really "see" what is before you and enjoy it through smell and touch and observation that isn't available in a vehicle. This has been true of our time out of doors this week. The beautiful piece that I didn't expect was the interaction this type of transportation affords with other people.

Everywhere we walk, we greet others along the way. Neighbors in their yards, other walkers or bikers... And when we are biking, we get waved to by nearly every car that passes us! Sometimes people double take and then smile big... sometimes wave immediately...it seemed odd on our first ride and I thought it must be because I was going so slow hauling that bike trailer full of kids and trying to keep up with Halle! But time after time it happens again! And again and again.... and this is not on po-dunk streets either, its on major roads(for our town anyway) with steady traffic.

I think people either really do think I'm crazy towing a trailer uphill or something is stirring in them when they see a mom riding bikes with her chidren.

I like to think we make them happy.

I like to think that all those waves come from something in their hearts that is awakening~ the love they had of being on a bicycle as a child or maybe just the idea of how lovely it must be to be out of doors on a warm summer evening... maybe they want to join in! Whatever it may be,it has been great. I love seeing the faces of total strangers light up as they smile and wave at the kids and I love seeing my children find joy in waving back.

This...

is my ride.

BUT, this week it happens to be in the bodyshop (I had a nasty run in with a trailer when my parking sensors were off... what did I do before parking sensors hmmm...) So, on the way to pick up our rental car, Josh and I had an incredibly radical idea...hang on here it comes:

We are living without a car this week!

Its a little bit of suburban adventure. As a disclaimer, we do have my dad's truck handy to be able to haul some branches that have been encroaching upon my driveway for two weeks. But, as the kids can't fit into the small rig, we are basicially biking.

Needless to say after just having a baby a few months back, cardio and I aren't the best of friends these days, but I still hauled Maia and Jones in the bike trailer (Halle riding beside me) all the way to swimming lessons. Three miles...100 pounds to tow...100 degrees outside...all uphill!

Besides the excersise, I am thrilled to be doing something for the environment by not driving for a week. Unlike most people you may encounter, Josh and I are actually kind of pleased by the hike in gas prices....We believe that until average Americans start to feel the crunch of high prices at the pump, they will never care enough about looking for alternatives to fossile fuel or alternative transportation. We have only one vehicle for this very reason (Josh drives an on/off road motorcycle or we arrange our days so he can have the van.)

Riding our bikes for a week in the summertime is a lot of fun, but it is also a bit of a social experiment: We are taking time to think about where we go and why and that simplicity is pouring over into other aspects of how we are living. Am I stewarding my water well? Do the lights really need to be on right now? The kids are having a blast (who doesn't like a bikeride with mom and dad?) and they are considering other ways to save and reuse and conserve what we have at home. I think its a great lesson for them and for us!

If you have time, I would highly reccommend a great article on Progville about gas prices and America's addiction to oil. Its called 9/11 and 4/11 and is by Tom Friedman. It just might start some interesting thought and conversation around your home!

I plan to write about any bumps in the road we encounter this week as well as any unexpected blessings...stay tuned for a glimpse at life without wheels! So far, the only downside are my sore calves and the $3.00 I lost at the Athletic club buying extra Powerade after my big ride! It was tasty though, so its not all bad!

Childhood Theology

So, Sunday was wonderful, we went down to the river to see some people from our church get baptized, which was lovely. It afforded some great talks with the kids on the way there about what baptism is and later on about what a sacrament is and the vitality that is brought into community by outward signs of internal heart commitments and covenants. It is so sweet to even be at a place in their lives where we have these talks and it is even more sweet to hear their questions and responses.

Of course, with children (as with all of us) there is a learning curve with truths seeping in as the divine power of the Holy Spirit brings understanding...This couldn't have been displayed more pointedly than later on in the afternoon in our kiddie pool...

Upon hearing Jones laughing hysterically, Josh and I decided to check out what was up, only to see his big sisters standing beside him dunking him underwater... When we told them that even though he liked it, it would be best to stop... the response was,"But we were just baptizing him! Don't you want him to show how much he loves Jesus!?!"

We about died laughing...even the kids started giggling, but they may not have quite known what exactly we found so funny.

Simple

I am trying something new. I found a beautiful blog filled with simple ideas for enjoying everyday small moments. I am going to use the framework given there in this post to enjoy some of the small things surrounding me today. If you take part as well, please let me know, I'd love to visit and read what inspires you...



Outside my window...a robin's egg blue and cobalt sky fading into the moonlight, the sprinkler's pitter pat, patter on the driveway as it helps new grass grow.

I'm thinking... about how to genuinely show love and listen to my family, how to participate fully in their ideas, their joys and their hurts and how to make laughter the norm in the walls of our home.

I am thankful for...FREEDOM. The freedom to be a personality full of vibrant life through Christ Jesus. And so incredibly thankful for a husband who nourishes freedom in our home, manifested in our hearts and through silly moments throughout the day.

From the Kitchen...mixed berry smoothies with scrambled eggs and peanut butter toast for breakfast in the morning.

I am wearing...a deep tourqoise cotton summer skirt and white tank top, bare feet and feathered hair.

I am creating...a painting from a verse the Spirit breathed into our home:
"Let my teaching fall like rain and my words decend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants." ~ Deuteronomy 32:2

I am going...to wiggle my toes in the grass and swim in the river with my children tomorrow afternoon (I can't wait!)

I am reading... Instructions for Visitors, a memoir on an American woman's life and love in a small French village. I can't get enough of France right now...remember this?

I am hoping...that our pet bunny(a house rabbit who lives only inside much like a cat, with a litter box and all), will overcome illness and stay with us a while longer, we can't bear to lose him, but this is looking inevitable.

I am hearing...the whirring of our central air working overtime (it was 106 degrees out today!

Around the house...I am picking up, a final sweep of sorts, before the cleaning woman comes to make my home sparkle before we put it up for sale this week.

One of my favorite Things...how about 4? I am obsessed with the fingers and toes of each of my four children. Something about the scent of sunscreen and pruny fingers fresh from the kiddie pool makes for extra hand and foot kisses.

A few plans for the rest of the week...giving TLC to the bun, swimming, sunning, and sneaking in the work of creating my week-by-week goals for the upcoming school year in the following subjects: language arts, reading, math, history, grammar, spanish, art, music, natural science, copywork and literature...more to come on this progress I promise!

A picture I am sharing...
This is me last October when Josh sent me to Mexico to spend time with Jesus, to relax and also to wrestle with some hurts that were swirling in my heart and head. It represents a sweet time with my Saviour that I have needed to remember in recent days. He is so good, so sweet and so ever faithful!