corner view~fire

 family reunion, Miller Beach, Indiana, 2011

Growing up we had a firepit in a small forest in our back yard.  Some of my happiest memories were sitting around the fire with my parents and siblings, roasting marshmallows, telling stories, and singing songs.  My mom set the tone for those nights.  I think her years of girl scouts during her childhood growing up in the countryside of Pennsylvania gave her the right to be assigned as our family "scout leader."

I just talked to my mother yesterday.  They live in a new house now.  She and Dad are shopping for a new firepit, to put in the backyard woods, just in time for our visit.  The kids are excited!!  Soon we will all be together again.

gardening girl with lizard on head

Enlisted the help of my two redheads in the garden the other day.  Little brother found a lizard and was thrilled to put it on our heads.  The lizard stayed very still.  We think he enjoyed the ride.  Isn't my girl adorable?  I just love her.

one finished...

Two to go!

Our boy has completed third grade.  He got a very good report card this last quarter.  He also got the above special certificate with the principal's real signature.  He read me and then later, Gary, the entire certificate, word for word.  He was pretty proud of himself.

Then Shawn and I went over his report card in detail and reviewed a couple places where he could improve next year.  We talked about how it's good to look at each subject as well other areas (how to be a self-directed learner, a community contributor, a complex thinker, an effective communicator, etc.) and how they progressed over each quarter.  "You want to see an improvement," I explained to him. 

Then we looked at his yearbook and he pointed out every single person he knew to me, including staff and faculty in his 700 student school.  I realized then, he knows a lot of people.  This is his world.

A few days ago I met his teacher next year so I pointed her photo out to him in the yearbook.  Later that night he said, "I'm gonna have a good year in fourth grade.  My teacher looks really nice and sweet.  She is kinda young.  I like that."      

Before bedtime I put two bandaids on cuts he his arms.  I was tired, by then, but I purposefully did it tenderly and patiently anyway.  He was so appreciative.  "Mom you always take good care of us," he said.  A few minutes later he said to me, very sincerely and rather seriously, "You know Mom, I've been thinking.  This summer I am going to work on being respectful.  I am going to be the most respectful boy I can be.  I'm just gonna do it, be a totally respectful boy to my family."

I thought to myself, wow.  He has completed third grade.  Time to celebrate him.  Because sometimes we fail to see the growth of our children when we are with them day in and day out.  But it is happening.  On so many levels.

corner view~in the sky

In the sky, where I live, there are these windmills along the edge of the mountaintop that dance and wave to me whenever I drive by.

The county keeps adding more.

They make me happy every time I see them.

countdown

Days til we leave for our summer trip: 18
School days Shawn has left: 3 1/2
School days Annabel has left: 10
School days Sky has left:  8

Getting excited!

mother's day weekend

Mother's day memories:  Morning at the beach, lunch at home, painting date in my studio with all five of us, dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant where we ran into some friends who treated us to ice cream afterwards.

I love my new hat.  Thanks, G.  I love my kids.  I love that Sky wrote me a beautiful letter.  I love that Annabel made me the bean dish and we ate outside on the new red bistro table.  I love that on Sunday, when we were at the beach, Shawn went straight to work, making me a sand heart. 

Thanks, family.  You made me a mother.

corner view~on the ground

 I love how she is leaning over, as if to tell them, "Now be sure and listen."  

This past week we took a visit to our country doctor.  As we were walking to his office yurt, we spotted a mama chicken and her brood of new babies.  We saw them literally right under our feet, through the wooden steps, and she was teaching them to scratch for food.  Later we grabbed this photo.
ps Gary thought the chickens were cute.  Just sayin.

our boy turns nine

This year the boy's celebration lasted for some time with sisters spoiling him on his real birthday -- one made him breakfast and one serenaded him on guitar.  Doughnuts were shared with classmates at school.  Dinner out at his favorite restaurant.  And days later there was a party with friends, lunch, swimming and cake made my mom and biggest sis.
We love you Shawn!

corner view~mother

She seemed natural for her destiny at a young age.

 Mom with baby me and my brother

Nancy, from the Hebrew language, means grace.

When I was a little girl, for me, my mother was a glimpse of joy.  I thought she was a real live beauty queen.  She was elected sweetheart of a college fraternity and was pictured riding on top of a car in a small parade.  I thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world, all elegant and poised, her smile so delicate, white pearls circling her neck.  I stared at that picture many times, hanging on our wall.  

Our first love is that of a mother.  There are some mothers who embody grace and class and kindness.  They put others at ease.  People come to them when they need support, a smile, a hug.  These mothers always know what to say, even when a thirteen-year-old boy has broken their newly teenaged daughter's heart, or their bald, teary, cancer-stricken friend has just vented for a half hour.  They bake for the widower neighbor, the recluse guy who never talks to anyone, just because.  They utter daily prayers, mostly for other people.  They take the time to make things beautiful in their home, so when you visit, each room is tidy, comfortable, blessed with fragrant lilacs and soft buttercups.  These mothers make things from scratch with no effort at all, and they only eat pie when everyone else has been served.  They remind you to enjoy your life when you forget and get stressed.  They store your things in their basement for years until you decide what to do with them.  And their door is always open to their children, even when they are grown, and living thousands of miles from home. 

These types of mothers have inexhaustible hearts.

These types of mothers are perfect grandmothers.

These types of mothers are the best kind of mothers to have.

I am so lucky that God blessed me with a mother like this.  I love you Mom.  Happy Mother's Day!     

most days

After I rush around in the morning and get the kids off to school, I drive a few minutes to our local beach for my morning walk.  I usually bring my cell phone to make calls or listen to music, or inspirational talks.  Sometimes I just walk in silence and listen to the waves as they crash against my feet.  Some days the ocean is loud, and the wind is strong and the person on the other end of the phone call can't hear me well.

Sometimes my husband joins me, or one of the girls if they have a day off.

I walk and walk and walk until it's too hot to walk anymore.

Then I jump into the cool, crisp sea.  I tread water and stretch my back, and do a few back floats and a handstand or two, happy to have a healthy body that can do these things.  I don't swim too far out.  I think a little bit about sharks and stay close to shore.  I stay in the water longer when I am with Skylar.  She never wants to get out.  But eventually either way, I get out of the water.

Then I gather my belongings and walk a short path to a public shower.  I rinse the sand from my feet, keeping my sandals on.

And then I drive home, and begin my work day.

corner view~hmmmmm

I'm not kidding.  These were signs on the side of the road during a road trip we took a few summers ago, from New York to Virginia.