I love how tactile Fall is around here. I suppose Summer is a bit the same - grass and sand between your toes, the smell of outdoor grilling, humid evenings and sun-warmed kid bodies... But my favorite is Fall. It feels so precious. Every day there are fewer leaves on the trees and so it makes me want to look a little longer and try to remember just how glorious that one maple down the block is today -- because by this time next week it will be a mass of naked branches.
Yesterday morning we walked to school in 37 degrees with a little extra pep in our step (so chilly!!!) and today we met our friends for a trudge through the forest preserve to rustle the leaves, gather sticks and rocks, and see the amazing foliage glittering above our heads. Why didn't we take a photo of our intrepid explorers?! I guess we were caught up chatting and gathering and enjoying, and that is a good thing. I'll have to depend on my memory for that one.
We have a mandatory Rest Time in our house every afternoon. I instituted it when Christopher dropped his afternoon nap at 2.5 years old. It was a considerable amount of work to put in place at the time, but now we all just expect it. (And perhaps secretly look forward to it!) Today I'm having my rest time in the sun room with bare arms and bare feet. The sun is low, warm, amber and autumnal. There's a buttercup squash smeared in butter, maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice in the oven. Two tired boy bodies are playing in their respective spaces, and the cutest baby girl in the whole wide world is upstairs sleeping. This is a day I want to remember in February when it's brutally cold and in 10, 20, 30 years when they're all big and busy with their own exciting lives.
These days with three little ones at home... The days are full. They're sometimes overwhelming and sometimes infuriating. They're always interesting and often comical. These days are fleeting in the bigger picture. I am trying my best to remember the big stuff and the little stuff.
Friday, October 24, 2014
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
The truth about Fall
HA HA HA!!! (Click the link!)
We're knee-high in fall leaves around here, and just last weekend I swapped all but two short-sleeved shirts for long-sleeved options. I even washed an armful of wool sweaters. Just preparing for the inevitable!
The boys often have a hard time coming straight in from preschool for lunchtime (unless they're absolutely starving), so they frequently spend a little time winding down in the backyard pushing trucks and dirt, scooping buckets of rainwater (sorry, Californians), or raking the freshly fallen leaves! Christopher likes to create many small piles and count how many there are, but of course. Colin likes to mow right through the carefully created piles, but of course.
In all sincerity, they are a fantastic pair and on days when they've both been to school in the mornings, it's obvious how much they like to reconvene and play together in the familiarity of home. It occurred to me yesterday, as I watched them raking and negotiating over piles and division of labor, that by the time raking leaves has lost its novelty, they'll be close to shoveling piles of snow!
If there's one thing I've learned in my five short years of little kid parenting, it's that a healthy dose of Outside Manual Labor is both healthy and necessary. It's even better if I get myself suited up and head out there with them. Look for Evelyn bundled up in the Kelty backpack this winter... she'll be shoveling and tossing a few snowballs, too!
We're knee-high in fall leaves around here, and just last weekend I swapped all but two short-sleeved shirts for long-sleeved options. I even washed an armful of wool sweaters. Just preparing for the inevitable!
The boys often have a hard time coming straight in from preschool for lunchtime (unless they're absolutely starving), so they frequently spend a little time winding down in the backyard pushing trucks and dirt, scooping buckets of rainwater (sorry, Californians), or raking the freshly fallen leaves! Christopher likes to create many small piles and count how many there are, but of course. Colin likes to mow right through the carefully created piles, but of course.
In all sincerity, they are a fantastic pair and on days when they've both been to school in the mornings, it's obvious how much they like to reconvene and play together in the familiarity of home. It occurred to me yesterday, as I watched them raking and negotiating over piles and division of labor, that by the time raking leaves has lost its novelty, they'll be close to shoveling piles of snow!
If there's one thing I've learned in my five short years of little kid parenting, it's that a healthy dose of Outside Manual Labor is both healthy and necessary. It's even better if I get myself suited up and head out there with them. Look for Evelyn bundled up in the Kelty backpack this winter... she'll be shoveling and tossing a few snowballs, too!
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Links
Just dropping in with two video links that I'd like to share...
Our home from 2004 to 2007. Sometimes we *really* miss it. Other times, we're happy to be back in the USA. But mostly, when we see pictures or take trips down memory lane, enough time has passed that we feel nostalgia and gratitude for our years in Copenhagen.
This video from PBS is so lovely. How gorgeous is this woman?! Birth and cooking. Cooking for birth. Birthing and cake. Wish I'd had the recipe 6 months ago! Never fear, I wasn't cake-less!!! Mike and the boys made Evelyn a Birth Day Cake which we enjoyed with one of our midwives the day after she was born. It was delicious and so is she!
Our home from 2004 to 2007. Sometimes we *really* miss it. Other times, we're happy to be back in the USA. But mostly, when we see pictures or take trips down memory lane, enough time has passed that we feel nostalgia and gratitude for our years in Copenhagen.
This video from PBS is so lovely. How gorgeous is this woman?! Birth and cooking. Cooking for birth. Birthing and cake. Wish I'd had the recipe 6 months ago! Never fear, I wasn't cake-less!!! Mike and the boys made Evelyn a Birth Day Cake which we enjoyed with one of our midwives the day after she was born. It was delicious and so is she!
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