Seasons

I love the changing seasons! We have two seasons, snow and no snow (what we call summer) and then little squigets of fall and spring in between. Fall has its own quick burst of color. The bushes in the front yard have turned a fiery orange, the trees are yellow, and the grass is still very green. To us it is also firewood chopping time...and visions of toasty warm fires come to mind.

Expectations

The nine months leading up to the first year of motherhood were filled with great expectations, lots of excitement, planning, purchases...such was the way are backpacking/hunting trip went. We thought we had everything planned perfectly, but we didn't expect to walk at a pace of 1 mile per hour much like the first year of motherhood! The hike in was 10 miles long and yes it took 10 hours with the last four hours struggling through rain, wind and a muddy trail. Our four-year old was beyond pooped. We had taken a stroller in order to carry the caribou in and it turned out to be a nightmare to push on the trail. If it hadn't been for our sherpa friend we would not have made it. With a crying baby and a tired four-year old we finally made it to the cabin by 8:30 that night! The next day we hiked again in the rain another four and half hours to the beautiful lake in the next photo. By the third day we had figured out that it was pretty hard to hike with our little ones, but we greatly enjoyed the views and the nature around us. A black bear appeared to have visited our second cabin at the lake at night, but we never saw him. We saw lots of animal tracks, but since our little ones are so noisy, the animals seemed to stay clear of us. By the fifth day we knew what to expect and this is much like my fifth year of motherhood. Expectations have been lowered...I don't tackle big projects or try to put up with very little sleep. Last night I got up three times and then they both woke up at 7AM! I'm in a fog this morning...

Preschooler Graffiti

Imagine walking into your living room to find your favorite, comfy, red leather chair (that you purchased long before kids) turned into a new drawing surface for your four-year old! Or imagine finding your couch cushions striped with finger nail polish? Oh, and did I mention their hands, arms and legs were covered in pen and finger nail polish? Next post will describe the miles and miles of walking...