Practicing

I am practicing a lot these days with my new camera. I am completely out of my league but I am having so much fun. I accidentally push buttons and twirl things around and occasionally my new best friend refuses to function, mad at my incompetence. Then I simply outsmart him with the "turn off and then turn back on" maneuver, he forgives me, and we get along just fine again.

Focus on the Now

There are so many many events upcoming in our lives right now (a visit from family, some visits to friends and family, a move away from, a move to, a settling in, a new baby) that I am finding it hard to stay present and to enjoy the moments happening right now. The coming spring, my active children and this post are all reminders to revel in the present. Soule's post has inspired me.

Right now, I am


bemoaning the dying of the first spring flowers.

loving Seastar Community Acupuncture. Catherine Lowe, my acupuncturist and a certified midwife, is so attentive to my needs and very receptive to any questions that I may have. She and my midwife Linda Glenn have provided me with medical care that has surpassed any of my expectations. I have renewed faith in my body and mind--as corny as it sounds, it is true.

dreaming of the chicken coop that we are going to build in our new backyard (not really in the now, but still so much fun to think about)

eating Starburst candies by the handful (your fault, Aunt Donna!)

feeling kick, kick, kick

Some Time

Many, many weeks Brian spent away from us. Too many weeks. Too much time on planes. Too little sleep. We are coming back now. We are coming back.

Chickens!

I want them! I want them! I want them.

We went to a birthday party this weekend here in Portland and the hosting family was raising their own chickens in an incubator in their laundry room! The chickens are still very young so they send their time underneath a heat lamp warming and getting stronger by the day. Soon my friend will transfer them to the chicken coop that her husband built in their backyard, and then, in a few short months, they will have fresh eggs every morning!

To be leaving Portland is so sad for me and now I had one more reason to be sad. Montclair, New Jersey does not allow clotheslines in the backyards of its residents, so chickens are certainly a no-go. But THEN I found this! Residents can have up to 25 chickens?! Portland only allows three.

Now this is something to look forward to...

A Little of This and That

for today. Norah woke up sick last night and was throwing up into the morning. So, we watched a little t.v., Mama did a little knitting, in recovery, we did a little playing. Not too bad for a sickly night and a sleepy day...

Spring Children's Books

Gerda Muller "writes" four of my all-time favorite children's books. There are only four of them, one for each of the seasons, and there are no words, just simple pictures. Spring, which I have recently pulled from the collection in hopes of sunnier days to come, pictures children planting vegetables and adults plowing land. Many of the activities pictured show life a far cry from what our children experience today, and there is something about their simplicity that lends comfort to the reader.
I also just picked up Elsa Beskow's Peter in Blueberry land at the library. Last year, Norah was much to young for her fantastical writing, but this year the book is grabbing her a bit more. Beskow's books require imaginative leaps from their readers that Norah is just not quite ready to make yet, but the pictures are beautiful and spark conversations that take us in a nice direction. This is one book I am going to have to get for our Spring book collection.

A Bit of Healing

Amazing how my mind can take me far, far away from where I need to be the most--in the present and amongst my children. What fun we had today! Just a couple of moments of "presentness" from me and our whole evening transformed. We put on some music, Follow Me, got out the silks that I dyed for Christmas (which have been lying dormant for months now), and made me believe that we were going to Grandma's house through the forest and with a basket full of food.

I have been getting some help with this "presentness" in the latest book that I am reading: Buddhism for Mothers. Life has taken me too far away from my life and I am ready to get back to it. This book has some pretty effective strategies for letting go of painful thoughts and just being.

The beginnings of Spring around these parts (albeit rainy beginnings) are helpful in this as well. There are daffodils, cherry blossoms,and crocuses rearing up all over our world. And. we. are loving. them.


Oh! And we are all getting pretty excited about the newest addition coming to us in early July--right smack dab in the middle of the summer. Oh yes, finally a summer baby.