Walk

A beautiful day for a family walk.

Table For Two

Today I walked out of the computer room to find this little scene Grace had set up. Isn't it lovely?

Another Smile

After a long weekend of cleaning, packing, painting walls and other moving chores, tonight we had a fun family evening. There was a pizza party with music, some of Grace's fine dance moves, and carving of pumpkins.

Breathe In

I'm not feeling like such a good mom over the past few days. Between getting ready to move and not sleeping well (cause I'm so excited to move) I haven't exactly been living up to my mom standards (hmmm. maybe I shouldn't have mom standards). Today though, so far so good. Grace and I played babies and I put on a puppet show. Then after lunch we went to the park. Not that I feel that children are entitled to a parent's undivided attention. Nor do I think that learning the lesson that sometimes life is busy and mom and dad don't have as much time to spare is a bad thing. But I do enjoy spending quality time with my children. And I do think it's important, after all, that is why I stay home. But I won't beat myself up over it, and just for today, I'll be thankful that we had such a full day. Not to mention probably one of our last at "our" playground. I'm very aware these days of all the memories we've created around us and making a real effort to breathe it all in.

Pretending

Another new book I'm in love with.

Moments

I've been trying to capture the moments we spend in this house since I know our days here are limited. I'm going to miss it here more then I thought.

Smile

Amazing how this little guy's smile can brighten my day!

Farm Life

This is my latest book that I'm obsessed with! It is such a great reference on everything I want to do and on living self-sufficiently.

Leaf Joy

We've been at my parents for the past few days while Ryan is up in Canada. Today Papa made a big leaf pile for Grace to play in. I wasn't here to witness it but I think the picture speaks for itself- she thoroughly enjoyed herself.

From Farm Dreaming to Farmer

Yup, it's official. Papers are signed and we move in on the first of November. It is amazing how this all came together. I do truely feel as though in some way this home was ment to be our fate. A soulmate if you will. It is so funny in life how things can happen and they seem so unfortunate, and then time passes and suddenly they make sense, and as it turns out, weren't unfortunate at all. I just look at our lives and what we've experienced over the last three years and realize that everything has been leading us to right here... to this new home, and this new life. It all seems so obvious now that I can't believe I couldn't see it before. And now that it's here, as with finding your partner in life or giving birth to your children, I can't imagine a life without it. But mostly, I'm just glad that our time together is finally begining. I am head over heals in love, and we haven't even moved in. I am ready to begin. To begin getting to know this new home and life, with all it's beauty, and all it's faults. I am ready to grow into this person who would live this life.

Acorn Hats

A sample of our hiking treasures. Grace and her wonderful imagination turned the acorns into "guys" and the leaves into beds. And of course the tops of the acorns must be hats.

A Golden Picnic

Another wonderful day that I don't want to forget. We had this picnic in the middle of the woods and the colors were absolutely breathtaking. Gold everywhere... sun and leaves and forest floor. Then we went on to have this great hike to the river bluffs to my favorite place on the river. Grace hiked the whole way without complaint. And found many treasures on the way.

The Perfect Day

The leaves were absolutely beautiful today! Walking though the park gave me that wonderful dizzying, high on life sort of feeling. But the day continued to get better... I think we sold our house... and I made pumpkin pie.

Rainy Day

It was pouring rain all day today. We did a lot of the usual inside stuff; painting, play dough, books... but also spent a lot of time playing with the blocks. For some reason it's not something Grace usually gravitates too but we had a lot of fun with them today. See that fancy roof on the small house, Grace built that all by herself. I found myself really impressed with it. I thought it was quite intricate for a two year old. I guess that's what moms are for, to be impressed with the little things!

New Room

So here is the beginnings of a new room for Grace and Jackson. I painted those pictures and am working on two more. And that fabric pile is a soon to be quilt. I made my first quilt with my Grandma when I was little. It was just a small one for my dolls, and to be honest, there was no true "quilting" involved. Just sewing squares together. Over the past few years I've made several quilts like the one I learned to make with my Grandma, but this time I want to also add the quilting part. I'm even going to attempt some embroidery. Anyway, what new room am I making this for? Well I'm not really sure, so far the room just exists in my imagination.

Saying Yes

I am reading this great book called "Playful Parenting" and it stresses the importance of playing with your children (and enjoying it) , it is the way they stay connected to us. So I've been working on trying to say yes more to Grace. Since Jackson was born, it seems like whenever she asks me to play with her I have some sort of excuse, "I have to clean", "I have to make dinner", "I have to do the laundry." And of course I really do have to do these things, but the reason I stay at home with her is to be able to be there for her and spend time with her. I realized if I am able to sit and really play and be in the moment with her for even five minutes it's enough to get her off and playing happily on her own again. And, as an added bonus, it gets me out of serious parent mode and into (the much more fun) silly parent mode. So I also end up going about my work in a better mood. Plus, how could you not say yes to that little face?

Naps

Ahhhhh. It is in these quiet moments (especially if the day has been a trying one) that I fall in love with my children all over again. I mean really how could you not. This picture was taken at nap time, but the scene looks the same at bedtime. Two moments carved into the day that are guaranteed quality time: stories, prayers, songs, and snuggling.

Officially Fall

Well today we had to wear sweaters so I guess it's official. Love, love, love it. In fact I love it so much I'd like to put in a request for an extension. I mean really to be fair (to fall) each season should be three months long. Not sure if the heavens are listening to me but I make a good case, right?