{these moments} a week in pictures

our traditional Rosh Hoshanah trip was monday

it was wet and really foggy. we hiked anyway.

this is about 200 feet from where Drew proposed--on a similar day in winter 2002.

i accepted--of course--and this is where it got us. down the road just a bit, with a few extra passengers.

and we got kittens. 2. and they've got fleas, so we bathed them.

a pirate was banished for a moment, and she suffered...

and this pirate practiced fiddle. recital coming on saturday!

{these moments} - A weekly tradition. A few photos - short captions - catching some moments from the week. For moments when we didn't blog--though extraordinary--on account of distraction, but never-the-less, we don't want to forget. (Adapted from Soulemama's {this moment}--happy if you'd join lifeasaschoolhouse and do the same--one picture is sometimes not enough.)

movin' shakin' and tryin' to sit too.

Things are moving all around here. We're keeping things cleaner, I'm moving much of my vintage goods into a warehouse space, Drew is working steadily, the girls are changing and growing rapidly--particularly the babe, if I stop to think a minute I become completely overwhelmed by the list of things that need to get done. I see a light at the end of the tunnel, a place where things will calm and the restlessness I'm feeling right now will settle...it helps to read By the Shores of Silver Lake. 

Eliza goes to sleep around 6:30 every night. This was due to the advice of this book, which has also helped a great deal with reestablishing a sleeping rhythm for her. We had a few very trying weeks, moments of feeling like the worst mother on the universe, and days of delirium on account of her difficulty sleeping. BUT, after diligently pushing regular nap and bed times, the girl seems to have found her cycle and we are ALL better for it.

Anyway, back to the reading. After Eliza is in bed the other two need something to distract them from acting like wild gorillas playing king of the mountain. They need an activity that quiets their minds, and with the business that has filled our days lately, it's a difficult feat to convince them that calm is good, that peace does not equal laziness.

We've been reading the Little House series for years, particularly in the winter months they are the perfect evening family activity. Sometimes we mix it up with a little Roald Dahl or other book of Drew's choosing, but we all feel so comfortable with the Ingalls. Since Naomi has taken up violin, the descriptions of Pa's playing for everyone, the breaks in the story for introduction to old fiddle tunes is something we all look forward to. Not to mention the quiet. Their life was so quiet. It was so full, but of love and awareness. In this day and age it seems as though technology is such an interruptor. Often rudely it intrudes on those intimate moments that can only be achieved after some silence, some stillness...we are certainly guilty of letting it disrupt.

So, while I am thankful for the bounty of good things to-do we have in our lives, I'm also grateful for these books, and for the evenings we have to sit quietly, calmly, peacefully remembering these role models. I'm grateful for our weekly sabbath, which also is a great salvation in times like these, when the world seems to be spinning around us. It is an anchor, and these evening respites are little mirrors of it. I truly believe demanding rest in our lives is as important as nutrition, and I'm sharing that now because the blessing it offers has been at the forefront of my mind during these crazy days.

*photos are from our recent trip to Asheville where Drew had to take a certification class, and we took advantage and rode along. just one of the busy events in our life.

January?

Today is sort of a nasty day. Still, the high is 50. Not what one would expect mid-January. Naomi wakes up every morning with a glimmer of hope in her eye--in fact, Friday of last week, before she looked out the window she convinced herself, and Leviah of course, to dress for snow. Well, it reached 60 that day, and then on Saturday we spent a lovely 70+degree afternoon at a local park hiking around, looking for signs of wildlife and enjoying an oddly warm January afternoon with a picnic lunch.

"that's a big one"--Drew

where the 'big one' snacked on some acorns.

our view looking up from our picnic lunch.

So, Naomi's dreams of snowmen seems distant. Not to say they won't happen this year, but it's feeling less and less likely as the weeks pass. We've barely had need for hats or gloves! I won't complain, we love having days where playing outside is comfortable in a light jacket, but it feels like someone is screwing with my internal seasonal clock. I like at least one good snow storm for fireplace and cocoa nights; it'd be a shame to get to March and not have enjoyed at least one night huddled together with a blanket, our warmest socks and the thrill stomping down snow covered streets surrounded by blue skies and muffling white heaps of clean white snow on the ground and branches above.

Rainy will not fill this craving. It is not acceptable winter precipitation.

In spite of it not being a Nordic winter around here, Drew has picked up the decidedly Scandinavian past time of whittling--spoons. Don't get me wrong, I love feeding little Eliza with one of these delightfully charming and rustic applewood utensils, but I can see an obsession evolving and it's a smidge unnerving...

Highland Blessings

While the title is a joke for a friend, we did have a great time in the mountains on Thursday, as is our annual tradition, we went for Rosh Hoshanah.

the sky was beautifully clear and perfect, the air blew softly with a refreshing breeze, and the water gently rustled over the smoothly worn pebbles. there existed no evidence of what was to come...

abruptly, the waters were invaded.

and the troops gathered their courage.

the invasion took full force and a 'great' wall was underway.

the injured remained safe on the outskirts to document the scene.

at last, the warrior smiles upon her triumph.

there were celebrations of candy and custard, coyote kitchen and picnic dinners--all in all the day was a huge success and the battles waged lead us to war won.