looking for new minimalist running shoes

here is a link to a shoe giveaway .. I get an entry for posting it on our blog and I am cheap so here goes

http://www.runningandrambling.com/2010/12/vivobarefoot-neo-running-shoe-review.html

you know

you know it's been a while since you blogged when you almost forget your pass-code.

i have a confession: i am an addict. a big one. to knitting. i picked up knitting last year for the third time in my life. this time it's sticking. i think the kids help. it's fun to knit stuff for them (but more fun for me) and it gives me needed mama time. knitting is easy to pick up and put down. knitting just a row gives me satisfaction. now, the down side to this is i knit whenever i have a free minute. i still do the dishes, hang with kids, occasionally clean, converse with the outside, etc etc. but in the past in my spare time i would do other things, like blog.

you would think my knitting production would be huge. HUGE. but it is not. because i am not a fast knitter. especially right now knitting the sleeves of my first sweater. for me. i thought i was almost done, until i got to the sleeves. and last night i cast on for a hooded sweater for kai. he is my hoodie - meaning he loves to wear anything with a hood. this goes with the age i think.

this year he's been into magic, weaponry, being secretive, all things suspicious and dangerous. poor boy, i bought him some black fabric about a month ago to make him a black hooded villain cape to go with his sword. i haven't taken the fabric out of the bag. why? knitting.

so, bottom line is i'm not sure where this blog is going. but i do know my kids are super cute, fun, and full of surprises. so i leave you with my favorite pictures of them over the past couple weeks.

{finger knitting}

{nose being sucked by baby}

{napping}

heavy on the zaiah photos.... only because many with kai were very, very blurry.

needing a change

hello. so i'm going to change the purpose of this blog. i've never been big into new year's resolutions, but one thing i've chosen to do this year is learn how to use our camera better and to play around a bit more. i could sit hours in a book store and drool over photo books. no words, just photos. i love them. i love all kinds of photos. usually the imperfect.

so, starting sometime soon i am turning this blog into a kind of photo journal. with no words, or minimal words. this is to help me document what i'm playing around with. believe me, there will be a lot of imperfect photos. i'm starting at the beginning. first, i need to start with reading the nikon guide book - yep, never have.

i will set up this site so you can be notified (all 6 of you ??) via email when i post. it could be very infrequent, or it might end up being daily. who knows. my goal is to take at least one photo a day.

i will post soon about how to sign up with your email to be notified.

cheers.

(for family: no worries, i have a feeling many of the shots will be of the little ones.)

to NC

(aunt lizzie above)

christmas at home

the holiday's are cooling down. the house is on it's way back to normal. we returned last night from our road trip to south carolina and north carolina. grandma and aunt lizzie departed today back to oregon.

kai says his favorite moment during the holiday was playing with uncle andy's lionel train set - hmmm, no surprise there! zaiah says her favorite part of the holiday was getting a baby house (doll house). daddy's was playing games (yes, that was definitely a theme this year: family games) and aunt sally's pies (she does make the best around). my favorite part was seeing snow in north carolina and watching kai run on uncle andy's tread mill. seriously, i wish i had a video of it. and, of course, spending time with family. it really was a joyful holiday.

so, here are some moments at our house.

our attempt at an easy variation of gingerbread houses ..... with graham crackers. not so successful. but the kids had fun anyway, i think. honestly, i've never had much success with gingerbread houses. they always tend to lean, or fall. not sure what the tricks are to the beautiful ones i see on display and in magazines.

what would a christmas holiday be without gingerbread cookies.

notice zaiah in the below photo licking all the toppings off her mat.

the night before christmas:

the cats are surely enjoying the chairs from aunt lizzie.

next post (soon) to be our NC and SC photos from the holiday.

happy happy new year!

peaks from the week

(i'm pretty sure he will never let me take down the 5's from his party.)

measuring and recording the growth of our paper white flowers:

and this makes me smile. a knitted hat for my friend's newborn. so small and cute.

a little celebrating

the other night we had a couple neighborhood families over to celebrate Kai's birthday. He wanted a tie dye and art party, with a fire pit dinner. so that's what we did. since there wasn't a crazy number of kids here, the art in the house went pretty smooth. the weather turned out really great for some outdoor fun too.

we set up our long table for a collage project. each kid received a plain piece of wood and could add whatever they wanted - paint, buttons, fabric, ribbon,cotton, etc.

the kid's art table was set up for painting rocks, and also general art stuff - crayons, markers, scissors, pencils for drawing.

preparing the art tables before the party ....

and, of course a fire pit picture. i love these, even though they're dark and often blurry. (need to bring out the tripod.)

yesterday was his celebration at his school. i really like how the montessori school acknowledges the child's birth day.

and i think now the week long celebrating is over. on to december! christmas .... already!

Five

It was early april, and andy and i were living on the big island. i was enjoying a massage, when the masseuse asked me if i was pregnant. "no." (definitely not) i replied . a few moments later, she continued .... "normally i wouldn't say anything, especially since we only recently met, but i am getting a strong sense that you are pregnant." huh! no, that cannot be. surely, i would know if i was. i always thought i would sense a pregnancy even if i couldn't feel the baby.

so, after this session while andy and i were walking, i shared the silly news. kind of brushing it off. on the drive home andy decided to take a slight detour to the drug store. well, you can guess what was purchased. later that night (yes, i waited until dark) i decided to do the deed. andy went to lock the gate on our property and he came back to face a confused, shocked, grinning girl. and from there our life changed. putting us on a new path. at the time we were confused, yes. but today we are settled. and not confused, only loved. and 5 years later, we have this sweet boy. who is 5!! years old. sounds cliche, but this boy has taught me more than i ever learned in school, from books, from friends & family. it's true these little beings really do help you find your way.

the night before ....

our new 5 year old ....

we're celebrating his birthday with friends on saturday so there will be more birthday pictures.

happy thanksgiving!

rituals

every morning when i drop off Kai at school it's usually at the playground. they play outside in the morning and then again right before i pick him up at noon. this makes it very convenient for our morning ritual: honking. as i drive off, i honk. and this is what makes the transition for separation easy (or easier) for little kai. honking when departing actually is a BIG ritual for our family. now when andy rides off on his bike to school he yells honk-honk down our street (can you picture it?). and this settles the kids, especially kai. maybe a bike horn is in order for andy.

if i, bad mama, forget to honk as i drive away from his school i hear about when i pick him up. boy do i hear about it.

this morning when i dropped him off and i was walking to the car, one of Kai's friends asked him to join him on the monkey bars. kai replied, "i have to watch my mama honk first." and my heart smiled. i was suddenly very thankful for this sometimes annoying ritual. and then i wondered how long will it last? one day i'll be sad when it's gone. will it one day turn into hurry mom leave before my friends see you drop me off.

and how long will all our family rituals last? sure they will change as the kids get older. but how can we keep them interested?

all this stuff is swirling in my head because my kai turns 5! on the 24th. that number seems so big. and when there's a 1 in front of that 5 i'm hoping we have family rituals that settle and comfort us all.

drawing

me: "tell me about your picture."

zaiah: "it's daddy's butt." so seriously too.

november 1 - is a beautiful day

but not beautiful enough to lure the kids away from their halloween candy.

i wish i had better pictures to share from last night, but these are the best of the little bunch. the battery died early in the night. But i was happy to get a group picture of the littles. the night was good and safe. our family dressed as a pirate, two black cats and a baby.

admiring their loot after we returned home. and the sugar high has not stopped.

days like these are good

two posts in one week ..... wahoooo! not many words, just pictures today from this week.

kai's favorite new phrase: awesome dude!

colorfest

for the four autumns that we've been here i have always wanted to go to the Bernheim Forrest Colorfest, just 30 minutes from us. but either we've been away, or i've heard about it a day too late. this year, our friend called us sunday morning and invited us to go with them. again almost missing it, not knowing about it in time. almost. contemplating in my head during our conversation: continuing our day with reorganizing the house (switching the guest room, and creating a study room for andy) or, letting go of that and going to colorfest. i couldn't possibly let another one go by, so we went. and now like other rituals, the colorfest will be one of ours. it could have been the perfect day: blue, clear skies, sunny, just a little cool, and the leaves turning at their peak. but, it was the fun we had too. and the peacefulness. even amongst all the other people that drove there.

more camping pictures

zaiah's first pony ride.

table cloth artwork.

the big kids going out for a ride.