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...

Tall, Grande, Venti, and Trenta....

A couple weeks ago while ordering a Venti Iced Carmel Macciatto, I noticed that starbucks drinks can come in Trenta sizes! Wow...thought a venti was pushing it some time ago. I used to order tall drinks until number one came along, then moved up to grande, and now with number two I've surpassed that and have moved on to venti. Ya, I didn't say that..isn't that terrible?

Caribou Hunting

Several years ago I thought it was ultra adventurous to take an infant tent camping. Now we are going backpacking with an infant and a preschooler to go caribou hunting for five days!. This wouldn't seem all that crazy except the trail is known as bear corridor. These critters aren't just little California brown bears, these are giant brown grizzly bears. Anyway my grizzly bear nightmares have started up again. The wolves, lynx, wolverines etc shouldn't bother us. Luckily we are going with a friend and sleeping in rustic wooden cabin huts. The logistics are insane... for example, if we bring a caribou home (the meat and antlers) there will be 100+ lbs extra to haul home on a 13 mile-trail. Then there are diapers to pack, warm clothes, rain gear, food, hunting gear and, the list goes on....I hope it is fun and not as challenging as two kids on a 10-hour plane ride across the atlantic!

Green Goo

Today was the intro day of preschool for my oldest, and it was almost like we hadn't been gone for three months. His favorite teacher is back and he didn't want to leave when it was time to go. Life was starting to be so much more positive lately until my MIL sent my husband an email today detailing ever little item (about 20 items) she was sending to the kids. The history is that she doesn't like me and made it realy clear at her house for the funeral this summer. I was so shocked and hurt that I didn't know what to say other than ask why and leave as soon as possible! For the last five years I thought we were friends and got along pretty good. I appreciate her sending the items (at least the school clothes) but why the detailed list? It makes me feel like she thinks I'm going to take them and hide them, but if her son sees the list, she can somehow make sure they get them even down to the candy and green goo!

Rhythm of Life

Rhythm is something I crave so much...I love to have predictable nap times, preschool times, bedtimes etc. and it is always a struggle to establish regular times. I can't think of any job out there that drags you out of bed at 2:30 am and then 4:30 am and then all day long and repeat. Maybe a fire fighter has a similar schedule, but then he/she gets to sleep for a long 24 hour period every couple days. I think mothers should get the same 24 hour break every few days. Mothers are always putting out fires of screaming kids, hungry kids, muddy kids, grumpy kids, messy diapers at all hours of the day and night. On top of all that there is a messy house to clean, screaming goats to feed, shedding dogs to feed and brush, hairy cats, frog tanks to clean, bills to pay, business to run and meals to prepare. Preschool is starting soon, and that means there will be more rhythm and schedules happening so that maybe I can squeeze a space for everything to fit in.