September {Out}

Since school has been underway, days have been full...but a good full.

Today H had her first ever field trip away from parents, school bus and all. Although a little nervous, she and her classmates toughed it out and had a great time at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

This month, we sold our well-loved, well-used 5th wheel camper of four years. When the deal was done, Espi and I were taken aback at how choked up we got. Many, many good memories. The replacement, the upgrade was purchased several weeks later, providing more sleeping room for these growing children. AF has been almost daily asking, "When are we camping next?" So the girls and I spend our first night in our new setup last weekend with movies, popcorn, games, and story books. The girls seemed to have slept well. However, I should have grabbed a couple more blankets, for these early September morning hours are much chillier than I had anticipated!


[AD watching "Daddy" work on our new, used 5th wheel]

We got our yearly delivery of hay this month, too. Espi determined that this was our heaviest load yet at 12,000 pounds and our fewest number of bales. So needless to say, many of those tosses would have been back breakers for me. Espi did most of the hauling; I ended up doing much of the placement and organizing. The last time I contributed from start to finish was before the children. I am the weakling. So I am surprised my strength held out, and Espi was thankful to have the helping hand. The children were wonderful. AD napped the whole 2 1/2 hours. The girls watched, swept the barn, and cheered us on.




H knew we were running into dinner prep hours and mentioned, "You two are working so hard, I will make dinner tonight."
Espi heard and asked, "Oh. What would you make?"
"PB&J or cereal."
The offer was too sweet to pass up. When we were all inside for the night, H made those PB&Js for her and her sister and brother while I whipped up a few cheeseburgers for Espi and myself. After some dinner table giggling that evening Espi teasingly addressed AF, "How did you get to be so silly?"
She replies, "God made me. God's power made me funny."

Life would be quite dull without these kids.

The weather has been so pretty. Still warm enough for plenty of loads on the clothes line, and no freeze, yet. And we have been fitting in biking, walks...





...roller skating, lawn reading,...and jumping off of furniture as much as we can.


[our little ninja]

But what happened to September 2011!? On this end, it feels like it just became the speediest month of the year! Gone.


[AD this week after his unruly curls were snipped]

Dreaming in {Striking} Light

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Play {Taking Invitations from the Kids}

Sometimes I can't see straight. Ok, this is probably closer to most of the time, but sometimes I am aware of it.

I need a nudge, even forceful nudging, to clear the fog from my eyes and drop the spatula or laundry to join in play.

It can sound like this:
"Mom, will you pretend with me?"
"I am about to start making dinner. Can I pretend with you while I am cooking?"
"Sure. You can pretend to be 'the mom'."
Uhh. "OK."
And one of the girls turns into my daughter with a new name, the other is our pet, and I call out "motherly" commands while cooking.

It's a bit awkward. My attention is split. Probably, my cooking...and my pretending suffer because of it!

But the kids keep trying and inviting. I'm glad they do. Because when I completely let go of the "to-do list," which never ends, and just play and enjoy the moment with them, I never regret what comes out of that time together. Their creative, imaginative souls are a joy.

This past weekend, H took on a secret. All I could see was her in over her head in paper, glue, paint, crayons. Then Sunday she invited AF and me to a girls' art night for that evening with her art on display. There would be tea and music, too. Ok, who can pass that up!? Shortly before "the showing," the girls dressed in their evening attire. H went sophisticated in a pink blouse, twirly skirt, leopard socks, and strappy, white "heels." AF chose casual with a t-shirt, capris, and flip-flops. The boys kept their distance playing on the floor while we girls poured tea and browsed through the art, all to the sound of Pandora Disney Songs. That music eventually led all of us to the living room "dance floor" where the kids practiced catching the beat with Espi and me until bedtime called.


"Old Barn" by H


"Me Petting Horses" by H


"Me Eating Pasta" by H


"Tessellation" by H and Lulu


"Indian in Big Shoes" by H






Also, this week, the girls and I were looking at the life of early farmers, towns and cities from ancient times. We talked about what history means and the valuable contribution of archaeologists. Somehow, we then started talking about old artifacts that Espi and I found on our land over the years, like broken horse bits, rusty matchbox cars, broken dish pieces. H eagerly wanted to see what she could uncover, too!

"Can I dig in the yard today??"
Uhh. "Maybe! Why don't you get your quiet-time started, and I'll see what tools I can find for you to use."

In the meantime, for fun I dug a hole close to the house and dropped a fork in the middle for her to uncover later.

As soon as I let her loose, she started digging and soon said, "I think I found something!" She pulls out the fork from the dirt, "This doesn't look old." "It's not," I admit and smile, "I put it there today for you to find." H was passionate, "I really want to find something!" So we kept digging together for a-long-while. I even broke out the large pick axe; this Colorado clay is a back breaker! Then I woke AF to join the archeology dig and left the girls to the dirt while I started dinner. The next thing I saw was Espi across the property with the girls in the arena--our artifact hot spot. It's the lowest land on our property where flood waters flush through, but we have wondered if previous owners burned garbage there, also. I called Espi on the cell phone, "Is she finding anything!?" "Oh, I can't reveal. You'll have to wait and see," was his response. I took that as a good sign. After 2 hours of digging and searching, the girls came inside with a pan holding old bottle, dish, and bone pieces and a saddle strap.


(digging in the weedy round pen)


(H and AF were so excited to show all their finds.)





The funny part was hearing later from Espi that much of it was found right on top of the soil because he had just harrowed the arena a couple weeks earlier! (And not funny because this is the ground of the arena. We have come to know that each harrow means pacing the land carefully for turned-up "artifacts.")

When days feel so full of "needs," I am so thankful for these children's imaginations and playful requests. They are a gift to my soul--if my face isn't upside down in a pile of laundry and I'm able to see right side up--a sweet invitation to let go, play, and enjoy.


(After husking corn this week, the girls saved all the silk for play with their farm animals.)

Berry Patch Farms

Berry Patch Farms is too far to visit regularly but too close not to make one or two trips per year. With family and friends, we spent the day picking golden and red raspberries and strawberries yesterday. The weather was perfection!






{AD is just one month older than sweet D here. H clarified on the ride home that AD can marry D when he gets older because she is not family. Yes, that's true, H.}




{This kid completely broke the rules, greatly exceeding the 1-2 berry sampling limit on the farm.}


{She carried her little friend around for a good 5 minutes.}



{Who willing eats a squished strawberry from dirty, juicy, little fingers? Momma.}







When asked what her favorite part of the farm was, AF said, "the tractor ride!"

What about you H? "I liked eating the berries and seeing the pig." Why the pig? "She is pretty."

And by this point, AD couldn't agree or object; he was gone to dream land.

Beautiful Colorado {& Sticking to Plan A}

All summer, we looked forward to a long hike, just the two of us. The last time we made such a trip was before H was born at least 7 years ago. We agreed on one of the easiest 14ers Mt. Bierstadt, about 3 1/2 miles up to the peak. The last weekend in August was the plan, but the weather wasn't looking favorable--rain expected from the night of arrival all through our hiking day until the following afternoon. Espi convinced me to go for it. So we packed up, dropped off the kids, and drove up. In the very least, we saw it as a date night on Guanella Pass--definitely beats staying at home! I love my sister and brother-in-law. They took on a houseful of six children while we enjoyed the mountains!



Weather report-night of arrival: high 40s, drizzly, beautiful and peaceful! So peaceful and quiet, Espi and I were wishing for white noise when bedtime came!


{night of arrival}

Weather report-morning of hike: 50s and pleasant, clear skies. With a hearty breakfast, we hit the trail at 6:45am, figuring we had better get moving before the weather does come in.


{good morning, bierstadt! (highest point on the right)}



{glad to say neither of us fell in}





Over half way up, we see thick clouds in the distance coming our way. Plan A: keep climbing and turn back when the rain begins.

Then we see a lone man ahead of us descending the mountain and find out he took off about 5:30am, made the peak, and was working his way down quickly to avoid rain and with hopes to top a second 14er before the day was through. He was nice but intense; Bierstadt was his 10th 14er in 9 days! We were tempted to head down, too, at this point, but stuck with Plan A.


{the first person to reach the peak that day descending}



Nearing the exposed rock of the mountain, Espi calls out, "Look at that!" We were about to become engulfed by a thick, ominous cloud. It was awesome. As we watched Bierstadt peak disappear behind a wall of gray, we decided to let go of Plan A (no rain had fallen, yet) figuring we wouldn't have a view from the top now and the rain will be here any minute. So we started our descent only about 30 minutes shy of the peak. Darn.


{the thick clouds roll in}



{our "good-bye" shot...}


{...as Bierstadt disappears}

Soon, we passed three women who thought the clouds should just move on through and not cause a problem. Later, we found out that one of the women was a park ranger. I would have felt a lot more confident knowing and following that mountain expertise.


{"the women of the mist" carry on}

Well, about 20 minutes into our descent and after passing about 6 more hikers, we questioned whether we should give it a go with the rest of them but just finished the descent. We did get rain but only drizzles and sprinkles. By the time, we reached the trail head, we were blown away by what a beautiful morning it had been. Overcast instead of intense-Colorado-sun. Cool and pleasant and little precipitation.




We were back to the truck about 9:30am taking us a little less than 3 hours. So tack on 1-2 hours given our "almost ascent" to the peak, and one should make a very enjoyable Bierstadt hike while allowing some exploration at the top given about 5 hours.

It is such a beautiful and easy 14er; I wonder if next time we can pull along my sister and brother-in-law. That would take a mighty special babysitter, though--like Grandma!?? Anyway, it turned out to be an amazing time considering what the weatherman predicted and what we were given...just wish we had stuck with Plan A.