woman wife momma

~ pulling through ~

2012-02-09T17:32:00.003-05:00

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Though with a happier and more balanced momma,

we're doing a bit better than 'pulling through' these days.

Here's to more backyard wagon rides.

Here's to more giggle parties in the kitchen.

Here's to more genuine smiles and laughs.

~carrie~

~ sunday hike ~

2012-02-05T18:52:00.005-05:00

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Pictures courtesy of my smartphone!

On Sundays, we make time to stretch our legs outside.

Today, we walked the Persimmon Trail at our local botanical gardens.

We heard our first frogs of the year!

Daddy shows the girls how to cup their ears to gather more sound.

The ground was still damp from rain the night before.

The late Winter and early Spring rains bring out amphibians of all kinds.

We walked slowly down the trail,

creeping toward the sound of frogs in the creek.

The wet leaves were quiet under our feet.

Those frogs are so smart!

As soon as one spots us, he quiets down.

His neighbor notices that he's not singing,

so he quiets down too.

The silence makes its way down the creek,

until the frogs seem far off again.

Walking along the edge,

frogs are invisible right before your eyes!

We leave the trail, and walk along the edge.

A thicket of invasive Elaeagnus ahead provides cover along the creek,

and the chorus is loudest there.

We leave the camera and backpack behind,

and crouch down

weaving our way through the dense undergrowth.

Behind a large sycamore tree,

we can just see the large still pool.

The sound of the frogs, several different species,

is so loud in our ears it is no necessary to amplify it at all.

We all sit there in the dampness, struck by the amazing sounds.

It seems as if the frogs are just under our feet,

and I close my eyes to focus on individuals.

I am breathing the sound.

Overhead, a chickadee makes conversation.

The minutes of magic have passed,

the girls are restless,

though Mike and I could have sat there the rest of the day.

The three of them walk slowly forward,

less and less cautious as they peacefully jostle for position of the leader.

For a moment, I think that the frogs may not notice them,

but then suddenly - - - silence.

Three blonde heads whip around toward us.

A single frog continues to sing just near Mike.

Then he realizes he's the only one, and then everything is silent around us.

The mood instantly shifts from quiet reverence and awe

to playful exploration.

We make our way out of the thicket,

and back on the trail.

~carrie~

~ waldorf-style dolls for baby ~

2012-02-03T08:51:00.002-05:00

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***Thank you to my sister, Rebecca T. Jones, for photographing the dolls!***

For my cousin's first birthday,

I decided that she simply must have her very own Waldorf-style baby.

And when Lela caught wind of my plans,

she wanted to make one of her very own to give as well.

~ copyright Rebecca T. Jones ~

Lela's doll is mostly handsewn by her.

She sewed two squares of linen, wrong-sides together,

then turned and stuffed with poly-fil.

(The linen was a destashing gift from my friend Julie!)

She formed the head out of more poly-fil inside an old baby sock.

I sewed a tube of organic cotton knit "skin"

(from A Child's Dream Come True)

and then she fitted the head inside and sewed it onto the body.

With her blessing, I made invisible stitches around the neck,

then reinforced with more invisible stitches on all her seams.

(We were backing each other up - we discussed the importance of safety around babies!)

*I chose poly-fil because it was easier for her to stuff and pack tightly than the wool.*

~ copyright Rebecca T. Jones ~

Lela was present for the sewing of the face,

though I made the actual stitches.

She helped with eye and mouth placement,

and securing knots in the back of the head.

From her vision, I sewed a tiny gnome hat for her baby.

Lela gathered the sides to form arms and a puckered dress,

and went over her doll to look for any places that needed more attention.

Then I stitched on this tiny heart,

and she came back to oversee the blushing of cheeks.

~ copyright Rebecca T. Jones ~

I couldn't be more proud of her effort with her first doll!

And that it was a gift for her baby cousin......

I know she'll always remember this.

My doll is made from a pair of corduroy pants that belonged to me as a young child.

The heart is denim, made from the hemmed remnants of my Papa's jean overalls.

I thought it would be special to give my baby cousin something

made with the fabric from her great-grandfather and her cousin.

~ copyright Rebecca T. Jones ~

I am so pleased with how this simple baby turned out.

The corduroy is soft yet durable, and her body is like a warm little pillow.

As I was working on her, my mother and I kept passing her back and forth for snuggles.

I do believe she wants one of her very own.

~ copyright Rebecca T. Jones ~

The dolls were so satisfying to work on.

I need to make some more!

~carrie~

p.s. I just shared this post with Linda over at Natural Suburbia for her Creative Friday.
p.p.s. I also shared this with Nicole at Frontier Dreams for her Crafting On.

~ tiny owl knits! ~

2012-02-02T16:29:00.002-05:00

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Last weekend, Stephanie Dosen of Tiny Owl Knits

(and the TOK Ravelry group) (and her Rav Designer page)

visited my local yarn shop, Things Remembered (here's the Ravelry group)

for classes on some of her patterns and of course to show off her beautiful work!

The wonderful ladies at Things Remembered had the entire shop so nicely decorated!

The displays were thoughtful and the details were not left unnoticed.

And here are her Parseltongue Hat
(and you know what, it may be the Orchids & Fairy Lights
I cannot remember - you couldn't go wrong with either pattern though!)
Heartfelt Rings (a sweet free pattern), Rosy Wristlettes (crochet) and Some Cloudy Day Legwarmers.

Her Beekeepers Quilt is so very amazing!

This is her actual quilt here - isn't that something?

On the right is her Moss and Bluebell Pocket Scarf.

I love these cute kits, all set up with needles and caked yarn!

The Manos del Uruguay yarns.....

I have two hanks of their alpaca and pima cotton blend just waiting to become a shawlette.

More Beekeepers Quilt squishiness!

Didn't I say that the Things Remembered ladies had left no detail unnoticed?!

This owl is knitting a hexipuff!

Lela was so adorable - she wanted to show Stephanie

(AKA that funny lady from the video)

that she could cast on and knit.

Stephanie was so very nice.

I have to admit, that I wasn't familiar with her beyond her popular Beekeeper's Quilt design.

But you know, once you have the chance to meet someone,

and make a personal connection, however small,

well, you become a fan.

(She's also a talented musician, do look for her ethereal videos!)

Mr. Fox Stole My Heart

Joy is the owner of Things Remembered,

and she reminds Stephanie that she needs to get some snacks!

In the end, I purchased two patterns:

Beekeeper's Quilt and Sweet Robin Wrist-ees.

Happily, I also have them signed! Yay!

Thank you Stephanie especially for taking the time to sit with my little girl.

They now call you "that silly lady from the video who made all the pretty knitting".

Oh, won't they be excited to see you sing, too. :D

Thank you Things Remembered for hosting this great event!

Now I'm all motivated to cast on my first hexipuff!

If you're in our area, please stop by Things Remembered and visit!
Thursdays are Sit and Stitch gatherings, from 10am-8pm
Regular hours are Tuesday-Friday, 10am-5pm
Saturdays 10am-2pm

~carrie~

**In case you're wondering, no one asked for me to write this.

Just sharing a fun day and spreading the love!**

~ music therapy ~

2012-02-02T06:30:00.000-05:00

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I have witnessed the effect of music on my eldest;

she lives the songs and their passion.

She sings like I do: mostly alto, searching for the harmonies and lost in the music.

But when the song she sings is a modern one, meant for adults,

she sings the melodies with depth that she cannot understand.

Songs are often metaphors - metaphors that confuse literal children.

Her tiny and innocent voice repeats phrases and I wince.

And though I understand this,

and have seen the (small) repercussions,

I have intentionally started listening to music throughout the day.

It is usually on my smartphone, since it is portable and quiet.

My mood and spirit are instantly and dramatically lifted by song,

and what better gift could my children have

than a joyful momma?

~carrie~

~ swinging through the last day of january ~

2012-02-01T10:06:00.000-05:00

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They raised their swings.

Laurel's pendulum moved at a different frequency,

perhaps more in rhythm with her heart.

And she began to pump and move on her own.

It caught me by surprise,

her calls for me to come watch her swing on her own.

I was standing at the kitchen window.

I could hear the pride in her voice.

Excitement.

She's been the only one who couldn't do it for a year.

Selfishly, my thoughts turned to myself.

How many times have I brushed off her calls to

"come swing me Momma"?

It stings and burns my heart,

to have missed those opportunities.

To have intentionally and unintentionally missed those memories.

Please don't misunderstand:

I have spent plenty of time out there swinging them all.

Lots of wonderful moments, with me laughing and dodging between them.

But I want them to have memories of me gently pushing them,

of them laughing while we play that game we play,

of me laughing while we play that game we play.

Not memories of me walking away

because I don't have time,

or because I am too overwhelmed by life.

My children are precious.

My time with them is precious.

I deserve to be happier.

I deserve to have a lighter heart.

~carrie~

~ big birthday weekend ~

2012-01-31T10:32:00.002-05:00

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This weekend we gathered in Virginia to celebrate

the first birthday of a very special cousin!

It is incredible that a year as passed so quickly.

And now how big and sweet is this little girl?!?!

Our newest cousin is 5 months - he's adorable and has such a gentle personality.

My first cousin is a wonderful mama!

Their lovely home was decorated for the big day.

She made these cupcakes!

And they tasted even better than they looked!

It's always fun to gather with family,

especially in celebration of such a special little girl.

Happy Birthday!

~carrie~

~ and sometimes the 6-year old makes breakfast ~

2012-01-27T10:53:00.001-05:00

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I *could* have made breakfast,

but she wanted to be the one to peel, rinse, cut, plate and season the eggs.

It's Friday, we're feeling relaxed and I did want to finish my last cup of coffee.

I say that I *could* have made breakfast,

because in the last couple years, there have been days (lots and lots) where I felt too overwhelmed for that.

Bad days......

depressed days.......

full-or-partial-panic-attack-every-few-hours days.

I don't feel this is the appropriate place to share details

- believe me, if you could see the draft posts! -

but I feel fake sharing the joyful and creative pursuits of our family,

far fewer than I would like for a good reason,

without acknowledging the main narrative of our family: my mental health.

Set to music, this ballad is always playing in the background.

Sometimes it's blaring in stereo, up to eleven.

But thankfully I'm able to keep my hand on the dial now.

And thankfully I have my partner, family and friends listening as well.

So even though today the 6 year old made breakfast,

complete with a peppermint stick,

I feel proud to say,

"Hey, I could have done that."

~carrie~

~ the first half of december ~

2012-01-20T15:29:00.002-05:00

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We enjoyed a beautiful and busy December.

With Daddy's new job, there was less time for handmade gifts,

but we still managed to create a loving, joyful and relaxed family atmosphere.

We started off with a simple St. Nikolaus Day.

The girls received clementines, peppermint sticks, nuts, a glittery star ornament and a St. Nikolaus ornament/bell.

After the ornament tragedy* two years ago, ornaments are an appreciated gift.

*We opened our holiday decorations to find everything completely molded, as a helper had included a *fresh* arrangement in the box.

We took in a local parade, a small one, with good friends.

My babies turned five!

It is so hard to believe!

I made a birthday banner for them,

and adorned the hutch in the dining room with their gifts and crowns.

Made from old sheets, with tempera paint letters.

Having the "number five" birthday candle was very important to them!

A special surprise:

Gran and Pop arrived!

Big sister Lela enjoyed knowing and keeping the secret.

We went out for birthday dinner of their choice: sushi!

After the birthday celebration,

we quickly transitioned to gift-making and gift-wrapping.

And of course, this momma was busy to the last minute knitting.

Here's the scarf (Ravelry link) for my sister:

~ carrie ~

~ walking together ~

2012-01-08T15:00:00.000-05:00

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After a blog h.i.a.t.u.s (Help I Am Truly Under Stress)

I believe I may be read7 to semi-regularly share here.

Maybe.

In any case, I did feel the desire to document our family hike after New Years'.

We ventured a few miles away to this Carolina Thread Trail access,

right along the Catawba River.

Everyone marveled at the I-85 bridge over the Catawba.

The children *despise* when we get on I-85, because it means at least 30 minutes in the car.

But they have a new appreciation for this bridge when we are driving now.

Even though it was jump-able by all, it feels special to have your Daddy help you over a little ditch.

This railroad trestle was so beautiful to me.

There were many very large wild grapevines along the river, and this nice one provided a perfect seat.

It seemed like the perfect opportunity to take some pictures.

It is difficult to get a 'perfect' shot of so many little ones,

but I think I like this better.

More grapevines, where the girls had fun pretending to be bobcats.

Our littlest is a firecracker.

These can be 'positive' or 'negative', and explosions can happen unexpectedly last a while.

Today was such a day for a not-so-fun show.

But there's a sweet finale in the very important reconnection.

The past year has been a challenging one for me personally,

plagued by frequent panic attacks and constant anxiety.

I cannot say that they are behind me, but I'm feeling hopeful that some positive progress is happening.

There's a palpable feeling in our family that there has been a shift toward something more beautiful.

Happy New Year.

~carrie~

chaos and the laws of thermodynamics

2011-09-22T10:00:00.002-04:00

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Oh, isn't it obvious that I was a biochemistry student who had a passion for physics?

Mathematical chaos, or chaos theory, roughly says that making tiny changes can and do wildly change the outcome of an event. This is popularly known as the butterfly effect, where a butterfly flapping its wings in Toyko causes rain instead of sun in Texas.

The 1st Law of Thermodynamics says that energy and matter can neither be created nor destroyed,

but it may move from one form to another.

The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics roughly says that even though a system works toward equilibrium, it does so at the cost of increased disorder, and that this is inevitable, and you can only have more order if you add energy to the system.

***This is just a very rough explanation, and one that serves my purposes for my blog entry!***

Here we have closed system:

my kitchen with an enormous pile of dirty dishes,

and a little girl who is extremely unhappy because her sisters wouldn't give her something she wanted.

It's four o'clock, every dish in the house is dirty and a cranky little girl is screaming loud enough to make my ears ring.

If I'm going to take this from its natural state of disorder and chaos, I'm going to have to input some energy.

Or maybe A LOT of energy

Chaos theory says that changes I make at the outset can and do influence the final outcome.

So I take a deep breath, put the two quieter children in the front yard with the dog,

took a few minutes to hug the sad child, and started singing Over in the Meadow.

The sad child didn't stop crying right away,

but she was 'content' to moan "nooooo" in her most pitiful voice on the counter while I scrubbed and rinsed.

As I put in *the right kind of energy* (not that angry, frustrated energy),

the sad child grew happy and sat down to draw.

Soon the disorder of dirty dishes was reversed, through my input of peaceful, calm energy....

......and elbow grease.

Meanwhile, the three sisters reunited in happiness,

their own vital energy replenished with a centered and present momma.

I had added the energy needed to rise above the disorder,

and also made the small changes necessary to facilitate a different outcome.

But as the first law of thermodynamics states, energy moves from one form to another.....

and my creation of order in the house and the children

was offest by the increase in disorder the now happy children.

Ah, well.......you cannot break the laws of physics.

~carrie~

p.s. It must be noted that sometimes this scene plays in reverse,

with happy children going to sad children,

and a peaceful momma going to a frustrated momma.

~ more from our lessons..... ~

2011-09-21T15:32:00.001-04:00

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We've really been sinking into our new home-learning rhythm.

Having work to accomplish each day has helped keep me accountable.

We've developed a pretty good rhythm for our morning, too:

breakfast

free play

morning Circle (now with a kindergarten story, Pebble from Donsy of Gnomes)

short free play

snack at the craft table

lesson immediately after snack

After this is accomplished, I feel pretty good about the rest of the day.

The house is no more or less messy than it ever is,

laundry is no more or less piled up to the ceiling.

And now, some pictures of our lesson work from the last few weeks!

We're currently in our 3rd week of our first block.

Our second story of our first week was Jumping Mouse.

The next day, Lela found the hidden letter.

Can you?

Our first story of week 2 was Vasily and the Dragon.

~ lela was really, really proud of her dragon! ~

I just adore how Lela adds decorations to her letters!

At first I was quite uptight, trying to get her to stop, and I have to say it bothered me.

But I could tell that it would quickly become a point of contention,

and as isn't this whole home-learning thing about process, not product?

The second story of week 2 was The Search for the Magic Lake.

I took a few picture so you can see what our lesson time usually looks like.

Oops, forgot to remove the water cups before the lesson started!

Today the table was a bit messier than it usually is,

but there are almost always two little girls watching intently.

Right now I'm letting them watch, but not participate,

though they do say the verses along with us.

It seemed really important for this to be "Lela's time".

I'm thinking that some sort of simple activity (sorting? beading?) is necessary to keep them a bit more engaged.

You can see how our drawing for this day was progressing.

Not visible are the light yellow halos around the girl and sparrow.

Lela begins to darken her lines, and add in more background colors.

We usually pause before adding a lot of detail to our main focus points,

but this time she was really excited about her drawing and wanted to continue.

It's never a problem getting her to finish her picture!

Our drawings are finished!

Can you see the "S" for the sparrow, and the "F" for the feather fan?

The third day of our rhythm was for finding those hidden letters,

and writing them in our lesson book.

Lela chose to write "sparrows" and "feathers" for her words.

I'm still curious about letter formation.

Is my main concern getting her to make the letter 'look' proper, or getting the flow of the way it is written?

I'm thinking for a letter like "d".

Is it a circle, then a stick on the side? Or is it a single movement, as I would write it?

I'm thinking the latter, but if you look at our letters for 'D',

you can see that I did it as a circle, then a stick.

For our letters today, I had her write them as I would.

I think that's what I'm going to continue with, but I'm curious to hear others' thoughts.

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Thanks for reading about our lesson time!

I'm really happy with how it's been going,

and looking forward to adding in more kindergarten things for the little ones,

as well as crafts, projects and activties.

~carrie~

p.s. I just added Intense Debate for the comments. Won't you let me know how that works? I normally reply to comments via email, but I think things would be easier if I did that here. Thanks!

~ first grade ~

2011-09-11T09:32:00.000-04:00

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Welcome to First Grade Lela!

We started our adventures in home learning on a rainy Labor Day,

with a simple and special ceremony for Lela.

Daddy set up the screen porch in the back with candles all around,

turned on our rainbow twinkle lights

and set the little table with a pretty cloth (a flat sheet) and more candles.

Meanwhile, I took Lela out onto the front porch,

and read her our first story of the year.

We're using Enki curriculum as our guide,

and the story we chose is called Little Falcon.

~ golden oak gates rise up from the ground, guiding the child where gifts can be found ~

I gave Lela a beautiful pouch, just as Little Falcon received in the story from his mother,

and asked Lela to walk, alone, around the house, going through our big privacy fence gate,

to the screen porch at the back of the house.

She was greeted by cheering, clapping and hugs from her momma, daddy and her sisters.

I presented her with an arrowhead that I had found as a child,

and her very own ball of yarn, wound into a neat cake.

We feasted on warm bread with dipping oil,

and listened to the rain and smelled the cooler weather.

By the magic of the blog,

I can make Lela's First Grade Basket,

with her pouch, yarn and beanbag,

appear to have been made ahead of time!

(In reality, I found the baskets and drew her butterfly symbol that evening after our supper.)

After our snack and relaxing,

I led Lela upstairs to the hallway outside the bedrooms,

where I had setup a cozy space for her to hear the story.

I had wanted to tell the story from memory,

but in the end I read about 70% of the time, told about 30% of the time.

It was a story very appropriate for a first grader,

but it was designed to be told in two parts and so was long.

She listened quietly, staring into the candle.

But when I was finished, she immediately said,

"Loooooooong!"

Haha! It was a very humbling and humorous moment for me.

The next day, after having the night to digest the story,

and after enjoying time outside and having a short, fun movement circle (more details later!)

and after having a snack and some warm herbal tea,

we began to work with it artistically in the lesson books I created for us.

We also read the verse from the story,

which I had written out beautifully on a separate sheet of paper.

This story has two potential letters, G and M,

and I decided to bring out both.

I created this chalkboard drawing,

my first attempt at the Waldorf-style of drawing.

Even though it was beautiful,

it was distracting to Lela as we were working together on our drawing.

She kept looking over at it, and finally I asked her if it was bothering her,

and she said yes, and I suggested that we cover it up.

Here is Lela's first drawing!

I was very impressed with how she took to this new style.

I have always worked with the girls to draw using little short, light strokes,

so they are used to drawing without outlining

(which they definitely do at times, particularly with an image they draw a lot).

But the Waldorf-style requires forethought,

and gently shading in the backgrounds first,

applying layer over layer as you work towards more detail.

This was not new to me, since I paint watercolors in this way,

but it was my first experience with this as a crayon drawing.

My drawing didn't have as much detail as I'd done when I practiced the day before.

I felt like I needed to keep it more simple,

because I was worried about her somehow feeling inadequate about her drawing.

(We've experienced this before.)

But she really took to the concept,

and was excited to work in the details and make the drawing her own.

We followed the lesson time with continued digestion of the story!

Some very messy, fun digestion!

That afternoon, I found that Lela had recreated,

using the same background-to-detail technique,

her drawing on our chalkboard.

The third day we began to work academically with the story and images.

We read our verse, then I told her that a letter was hidden in the picture I had drawn.

(Lela already knows all of her letters, can write the uppercase versions, and knows some of their sounds.

We still are introducing each letter through story and art, because there's so much more here than academics!)

She immediately found the "G" and we traced it with our finger, made its sound and a 'G' word.

Then I provided a soft line for her to work with on her paper,

and after watching me first,

we drew the letter in uppercase and lowercase - 'big brother and little brother'.

This was her first time making the lowercase letter, and she loved it!

She also really wanted to decorate her page,

and I really didn't have a good reason to stop her. :)

~ "G....guuuuuh.....gates" ~

The second letter in the story was a little more hidden, but she found it quickly.

M is a letter that she knows well, as it was the first letter she ever learned.

We traced it, made its sound and then said an M-word - mountain.

She was once again excited to make the lowercase letter.

I tend to make things into kinesthetic and/or musical exercises,

so for the little 'm' we said:

"Make a straight line.

Then bump,

Bump-down."

We then wrote the title of the story, and a word for each letter.

Lela chose "Golden" and "magic".

Notice how the title is a little crooked, with a tad bit less 'care' - I forgot her line.

I remembered for her words, and it is evident that she took more time with them.

I particularly love how she wrote 'magic', with curving edges,

adding some yellow for beauty at the end.

By comparison, mine is more stilted and certainly less alive.

I was going slowly, as we were writing in a new way,

and I was describing the letters as I went along.

After this lesson,

she was ready for some expanded play!

It took quite a while because she really wanted to decorate her pages,

and besides, having two letters took more time.

By the time we finished reading the verse and picking out the "G" and "M" words,

Lela was thoroughly done, though not discouraged and not resisting.

I could tell that she had reached the end of her ability to focus on such a contracted activity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We went on to read another story that day,

and did another letter in the 3-day rhythm that Waldorf/Enki employ.

This feels like enough to share for right now,

though I have a lot of thoughts and feelings on the week.

I would still like to share our 2nd story.

Thanks for reading!

~carrie~

~ momma i'm hungry: fabulous end-of-summer sauce 'recipe' ~

2011-08-31T20:01:00.052-04:00

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Every morning, I'm busy in the kitchen preparing breakfast,

and in the evenings, I'm right back in there working on supper,

but for some reason, cooking the mid-day meal of dinner always is a challenge for me.

(The kids insist it is 'dinner' not 'lunch', like Laura and Mary say.)

The girls don't want a wrap or a sandwich, with some fruit and veggies on the side,

they want a real meal - a real farm dinner!

We rarely have leftovers these days, either.....

Even though it is counter-intuitive to turn on the oven when it's almost 90 degrees outside,

and we've decided that it's time to turn off the A/C and save some money,

I decided to make a roasted vegetable sauce to have over pasta.

So here's a little 'recipe' - more like a tutorial!

Into a roasting pan went a bunch of veggies, mostly from my local Farmers' Market:

1 peeled and cubed sweet potato

1/2 onion, cut into medium pieces

1 carrot, sliced into rings

1 large red bell pepper, chopped into medium pieces

1 small eggplant, chopped into large pieces

handful button mushrooms

4 cloves garlic, unpeeled

3 large tomatoes, sliced in half

I put butter pats on top (I was out of olive oil)

gave a crank of sea salt over everything,

and slid it into a 415 degree oven for about 40 minutes,

until everything was soft and juicy.

The garlic cloves pop right out of their peels, which I discarded,

then I put everything, including the pan juices,

into the food processor and gave it a good whirl.

I let the blender run a while, until everything was well-pureed and creamy-looking.

(I had some leftover pasta water to add if I had needed it.)

Then I tossed the hot sauce with some cooked shell pasta,

and served it up to my hungry little chickens!

The sauce was really creamy and sweet from the sweet potatoes,

and a pleasing orange color that's perfect for upcoming fall weather.

I can see replacing my standard tomato sauce for pizza with this.

I'm hoping that it will freeze well, because I'd like to make a bunch more!

The veggies are completely interchangeable:

Summer squash? Sure!

An extra eggplant? Why not?

Some celery? If you have it, go ahead!

Butternut squash? Sounds yummy!

Herbs? Yes!

I think something sweet and creamy

(sweet potato or winter squash)

and tomatoes

(maybe canned blended at the end when they're out of season)

are what define it for me,

but there's definitely a lot of other flavors and textures.

Yes - I'm including a picture of dirty dishes in my sink,
and I'm going on the record saying this is the cleanest part of my kitchen at the moment.
It might not be glamorous, but it's real,
and sharing even the slightly embarrassing parts of life can feel really good.

Hope that everyone is enjoying these last days of Summer as much as I am!

~carrie~

~ the last 7 days ~

2011-08-26T20:08:00.002-04:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ local green peanuts were transformed into delicious boiled peanuts ~

~ lucas and lela ~

~ a tiny magical dew-covered feather ~

~ barred owls frequent our yard and we find feathers of them, and their prey, often ~

~ okra and cucumber harvest ~

~ orange-tipped oakworm moth, currently a pupa on our nature table ~

~ ants keep our crowder peas aphid-free ~

(When Liv was watering the crowder peas,

it caused one of the buds

to suddenly burst open into a lovely lavender blossom!)

~ we began some gentle lessons, starting with some straight forms ~

Have a lovely weekend.......

~carrie~

~ first tooth ~

2011-08-20T21:16:00.001-04:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday, August 19th, Lela lost her first tooth!

She was exactly 1 week shy of her 6 1/2 birthday.

Here she is at 7 months old,

the moment when I first saw her tooth was poking through her gum.

I remember that sweet little tooth peaking out at me,

snapping this picture,

and am experiencing a little heartache knowing she has outgrown it.

~ first tooth! excuse daddy's leg and foot! ~

She first noticed her tooth was wiggly on June 2nd,

her Aunt Rebecca's birthday.

(Lela's middle name is Rebecca.)

~ june 2nd - tooth begins to wiggle ~

~ june 2nd ~

~ smiling self portraits ~

~ thought this was a really funny one ~

A week ago, with her tooth getting quite wiggly,

and Lela getting more brave about moving it around,

we decided to take a few more pictures.

Over the preceding few days, her tooth became quite limber in her mouth.

It would flop about of its own accord,

and she was both taking care to chew around it,

and experimenting on biting into harder items with it.

I really have bittersweet feelings over this,

more so than any other experience of motherhood so far.

First haircut.

Walking independently.

Tying her own shoes.

Weaning.

~ is it really gone? ~

I was completely shocked when yesterday,

jumping between the beds,

she landed on her belly with enough force to propel her tooth out of her month,

and it landed squarely in her hand!

She leaped up from the bed,

in surprise, shock and excitement saying,

"My tooth came out!"

And sure enough, there it was,

tiny, white and perfect,

in her small palm

as her lips and tongue worked over her teeth and newly exposed socket.

She ran to the bathroom to look, giddy,

poking her tongue through the hole,

tasting the little bit of blood in her mouth,

now and then looking up at us in wonderment and delight.

And pride.

~ rite of passage ~

When she started to get nervous a few weeks ago,

I told her about how much fun it would be to suck on a straw through the gap.

So after her initial investigation,

she rushed downstairs, climbed on the counter and dug through the cabinets for a straw.

I was waiting for her with a little cup of water,

and we went outside

(for better light for pictures, and because the weather was nice).

Somewhat ironically,

we decided to go out for ice cream after supper,

to celebrate the milestone of losing the first tooth.

That night, she snuggled up in her own bed,

tired and only a little excited for a visit from the tooth faery.

She didn't really know what it entailed,

but was still floating in the clouds with the excitement of that new gap in her mouth.

I made her a tiny pillow stuffed with wool and lavender,

using linen remnants from Spring Equinox baskets,

embroidered with her name in blue, one of her favorite colors,

with crystals and purple bursts representing her color from babyhood.

On the reverse was a small wool pocket,

made of the same felt as the first birthday crown she had,

and embellished with a tiny pearlized bead for her first tooth.

She tucked her tiny little tooth into the pocket and fastened the button.

Then she nestled it under her pillow,

and was soon fast asleep

(possibly from the soporific ice cream treat).

The next morning, she awoke slowly,

and she snuggled me in her bed gently and affectionately,

really enjoying the connection.

It was quite a while before she remembered

"The Tooth Faery!"

and burrowed her hand under the pillow to pull out her little pocket.

Secured under the flap was a necklace, and inside the tiny pocket was a beautiful rose quartz crystal.

She didn't say much, just scrambled to put on the necklace, and admire it in the mirror.

Delicate purple faceted crystals are surrounded by tiny glass and sterling beads,

with a sterling butterfly pendant.

As I mentioned before, purple was the color we chose for her as a baby,

and the butterfly is her symbol.

The Tooth Faery was very generous and clearly knew much about my little girl!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have had a difficult time understanding the connection that Waldorf philosophy places

between loss of primary teeth and readiness for academic learning in first grade.

I just didn't grasp that a purely physiological event (tooth loss)

could have any relationship to the emotional and mental place

a child must be before she or he can move into the 'academic' world.

(Please see this lovely post on the Magic Onions about this very topic!

But the more I read and learn about yoga,

the more I understand that the body, the mind, the heart and the spirit

are connected.....and strive to be connected.

Over the past couple weeks,

I've watched Lela soften, relax into the world a little,

and connect more to me than she has in the last couple years.

I have been worrying about her a lot, as I have discussed with friends at length,

and afraid that I had somehow 'ruined' her by giving her 2 siblings at the same time,

when she was just a baby herself.

That in my difficult few years with depression, anxiety and panic attacks,

that I didn't make the connection and bond with her that I should have.

In my mind, guilt is the worst emotion we can experience.

If you let it, it can have the power to undermine the very situation you are worried over.

As I let go of that guilt,

sometimes it goes easily,

sometimes it goes kicking and screaming,

I'm watching her blossom in subtle ways,

watching her become an active participant in our family,

and not just a bystander joining in.

Perhaps, after all, the tooth is an outward sign of an inward process.

I'm blessed and grateful to be guardian of this fine person,

and witness her move into the world and find her own way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

If anyone has any words of wisdom to share on tooth loss,

the 7-year change, growing as a mother,

or anything else to share,

please know that I welcome it.

~carrie~

~ where the moss droops down ~

2011-08-17T21:36:00.002-04:00

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The end of July/beginning of August found our family camping

on the Chesapeake Bay, at First Landing State Park.

Formerly named Seashore State Park,

it was renamed to reflect it being the location where European explorers arrived first.

The set foot on the sand beaches, braced by wild, forested dunes.

(Parts of The New World movie with Colin Farrell were filmed here.

My underwhelmingly-impressed spouse declined the invitation to meet him.)

We swam in the beautiful, calm waters of the bay,

as you can see in this post,

but we also visited the incredible freshwater cypress swamp.

~ bald cypress and spanish moss growing at their most northerly latitudes ~

~ freshwater swamps provided water for native peoples and european explorers alike ~

~ looking like tree stumps, worn by time or perhaps beavers, bald cypress 'knees' are part of the root system and provide stability for the tree, and important habitat for other plants and animals ~

~ bald cypress trail in the park has many boardwalks ~

~ spanish moss hangs abundantly and gracefully from the bald cypress trees ~

~ ephiphytic spanish moss is actually in the bromeliad family ~

~ from personal experience, i can tell you not to play with spanish moss, or risk chiggers ~

~ i loved the beautiful roots of this beech tree, reaching out from the side of the forested dune ~

~ delicate and beautiful cranefly orchid ~

~ one of many deleterious side trails in the park, we encouraged the children to *not* explore for fear of damaging this rare habitat ~

It was so special to be able to share this place with the girls.

I am always in awe of such a wild and primitive place,

just minutes away from the busy resort area of Virginia Beach.

I'm so grateful for the protection of state parks and nature preserves.

~carrie~

~ what rhythm? bedtime ~

2011-08-16T20:35:00.000-04:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Once again, I'm joining Nicole from Frontier Dreams

to share a little bit about the rhythm in our home.

Last week, I believe I had what is called a 'pity party'

regarding our rhythm/lack of rhythm as viewed by my perfectionist-yet-anxious side.

So this week, I really looked at the details of our life

for the places where we have rituals that have slowly become rhythm.

Today, I'm sharing a little bit of our bedtime rhythm

which has slowly emerged into something beautiful and peaceful.

And since I don't have any pictures of bedtime now,

I'm sharing a few pictures of the girls when they were small.

Enjoy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bedtime usually starts as we finish supper.

The girls take their plates to the counter,

and play a little, inside or out, depending on the weather and season.

During the Autumn and Winter, it is front of the fire.

During the Spring and Summer, they may be outside.

~ who gives bathtub crayons to a not-yet-2-year-old? ~

We start bedtime as I begin singing
Moon, Moon, Moon by Laurie Berkner.

We all make our way upstairs, more or less.

Sometimes they are pleasant and peaceful during this transition,

sometimes they are dragging their feet (literally)

and looking for an excuse to stay downstairs.

"Where's my kitty?"

"I forgot to water the plants!"

"Just one more firefly, please."

~ 2-year old lela ~

They undress and put their clothes (which are almost certainly dirty) in the hamper,

and take their turns going to the bathroom.

Depending on their level of dirtiness, they may take a bath or shower.

(If they need one, bedtime starts earlier.)

Then we play "The Toothbrush Game"

where I say "I'm thinking of a number better 1 and 5, what's your guess?"

and whoever guesses it correctly, brushes their teeth.

The bathroom is small and a little cramped, so it's not feasible to have all three at the sink at once.

~ liv and laurel (7 months) and lela (2 years)

Then they all go into the bedroom they share

where I have (usually) laid out their pajamas.

Sometimes it is so hot that they sleep naked, though.

If they didn't take a bath, I will give them each a sponge bath at this point.

I will finish with a little round of toe games.

We do This Little Pig Went to Market,

our own version:

This little pig went to market,

this little pig stayed home,

this little pig had tofu,

and this little pig had none.

And this little pig.....

he cried.....

weeeweeeweeeweee, all the way home. (I run my fingers up their leg)

We also do this one:

This little pig had a rub-a-dub.

This little pig had a scrub-a-scrub.

This little pig-a-wig ran upstairs,

and this little pig-a-wig called out 'bears!"

Down came the jar with a loud slim-slam,

and this little pig had all the jam.

~ liv and laurel ~

~ liv, laurel, lela and daddy reading ~

Then Daddy (weekdays) or Momma (weekends and days where Daddy works late)

will read to them, snuggled between Laurel and Liv.

They start off the night (ahem) sleeping crossways in a full-sized bed.

Where they wake up is anyone's guess......

We read them a story - we have 5 or 6 books that they can choose from.

And then turn off the lights and lie back down with them.

~ often, daddy or momma falls asleep with the girls ~

If I'm putting them to sleep, I will sing Kumbaya, very slowly,

while massaging and tickling their backs in turns.

If they're having trouble sleeping, I sing more verses.

Or if they're really having trouble, before I sing I will tell them about their day.

If Daddy is putting them to sleep,

he usually sings some Grateful Dead song,

and lies back down with them and falls asleep....I come and wake him up. :D

~ nursing livvy to sleep, while laurel sucks her fingers and twirls my hair ~

It wasn't always this way.

When Lela was a tiny baby, I nursed her to sleep, then settled her in the crib,

where she remained until she woke up and came into our bed.

Then she moved to our bed exclusively.

When her twin sisters came along,

it wasn't practical for me to nurse her to sleep anymore.

I would nurse the two of them until they fell asleep,

and read or sing to Lela until she feel asleep,

curled up by my head on the pillows, and twirling my hair.

This continued until she was 4 and the little ones were 2,

when they didn't just drift off into a milky dreamland.

So over the course of a few months, I nightweaned them,

and in a few more months, we had transitioned them to their own room,

just a few steps away from our room.

They go to sleep in there, but by 1am, at least one (usually Olivia) is in our bed.

Lela often follows in an hour or so, at which point our queen bed is very crowded,

and Mike or I flee the bed of kicking feet and flailing arms to the guest room.

We need to work on this part of the day (errr, night) so that everyone gets enough rest.

And.....sometimes when they were little,

bedtime was a walk around the block,

with me looking like this.........

~ for you babywearing folks, a gypsymama and a kozy ~

~ carrie ~

what rhythm? out-of-doors

2011-08-10T16:47:00.000-04:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If I was honest with myself,

I would say that I have never really recovered

from having newborn twins and a 22-month old.

Then throw in moving 3 times in the first year of their life,

at 2 months, 5 months and 12 months,

(and a toddler who was 2, 2 1/2 and not quite 3)

and add a generous helping of depression and anxiety,

which after 4 years is just now resolving itself.......thankfully and gratefully....

Nicole at Frontier Dreams asked for folks to share snippets of their rhythm,

and I agreed, knowing it would be a challenge for me to find *anything*

that could pass for rhythm in our home and life,

which I often find overwhelming and chaotic.

(Hello, near-nightly panic attacks! Thankfully, also resolving.)

*whew....that was tough.....moving on....*

But today I decided not to give myself a hard time over the past,

and also not to fuss over what I think our rhythm should be,

and just look for something that I can definitely say is true to our family.

One thing I can say, with absolute certainty, is that my children play outside.

Unless someone is ill, they are outside for large portions of each day, every day.

Please enjoy way too many pictures of my girls,

which I thoroughly enjoyed compiling,

each one a reminder of a wonderful time we spent together.

~ JANUARY ~

~ the rare Southern snow angel ~

~ ice! ~

~ taking a break from stacking firewood ~

~ hopping right along ~

~ FEBRUARY ~

~ warm day in february = mud river from the rainbarrel ~

~ woods in VA ~

~ creek play ~

~ old-fashioned merry-go-round ~

~ lake at crowders mountain state park ~

~ MARCH ~

~ barefoot in the bare garden~

~ march camping trip ~

~ sunbeam faery and snowdrop child play ~

~ APRIL ~

~ april camping ~

~ sister rescue ~

~ watching daddy flyfish ~

~ strollers through the neighborhood ~

~ pasture at the highland games festival ~

~ egg hunting at a friend's birthday party ~

~ MAY ~

~ may camping trip ~

~ a little chilly for tubing ~

~ friends by the lake ~

~ strawberry picking with friends ~

~ schiele museum nature trail ~

~ JUNE ~

~ pool weather already??? ~

~ planting tomatoes ~

~ walking backwards with baby cousin ~

~ salt marsh exploration ~

~ JULY ~

~ by the shore ~

~ splash! ~

~ horseshoe crab ~

~ blackberry picking ~

~ cypress swamp ~

~ sunset by the bay ~

~ growing-up girl ~

~ AUGUST ~

~ summer thunderstorm bath ~

~ swinging laurel ~

~ abandoned watermelon ~

~ tiny girl is learning to swing herself ~

~ piggy-back rides on momma ~

Yes I *definitely* feel uplifted looking back on the year....

.....spent outdoors.....

.....that's our rhythm.....

~carrie~

~ down by the bay ~

2011-08-05T21:29:00.006-04:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We have camped every month since February,

(of course, I have neglected to post pictures)

and for July,

we made the long drive up to Virginia to

First Landing State Park.

First Landing State Park is in Virginia Beach,

and sits at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.

So this is the mouth of the bay,

and most of the time the water is more like a lake than the ocean.

~ crooked horizons vs. using photoshop ~

In the photograph below,

there are several interesting things to note.

One is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (very faint)

which is a spectacular drive, spanning 20 miles

with two tunnels that are each a mile long.

The ships in the picture are the reason for the tunnels:

the Hampton Roads area is a major port area.

To the right is large fish net,

where pelicans line each post,

orienting themselves in the exact same way.

I once watched a kayaker paddle out there to successfully rescue a pelican in the nets!

I could say so much about this wonderful place.

First Landing State Park protects a rare ecosystem: the maritime forest.

Just a few hundred yards from the Bay is the freshwater cypress swamp,

where Spanish moss dangles from the bald cypress trees.

If I'm not mistaken, this micro-climate is considered to be sub-tropical,

hosting species normally found hundreds of miles to the south.

This is the perfect beach for young children.

Wide, gentle and uncrowded.

This park holds a special place in our hearts,

as it was here we lived when Lela was born.

~ oh, this photograph makes me so happy!
this is uncropped, but my banner i did crop just a bit ~

I have approximately 3.2 gazillion pictures from our beach trip,

and from June's camping trip to Edisto Beach State Park.

I believe that I get caught up in deciding which pictures to share,

and end up not sharing anything

In February we made a pact to camp each month until it was too cold.

It doesn't feel right that I haven't shared our Camping Every Month Challenge,

so maybe I'll go back and chronicle them.

I hope we can get back to the shore one.more.time before the Autumn arrives.

We may try to sneak in a September camping trip right after Labor Day,

and splash in the ocean once more.

(For August I imagine we'll be fleeing for the cooler mountains!)

Hope you're having a lovely Summer.

~carrie~

~ fun with friends ~

2011-08-03T18:21:00.002-04:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ celebrating the 2nd birthday of a special little girl ~

~ visiting with kittens ~

~ mommas laughing ~

~ faery fireman ~

~ noticing my noise-sensitive daughter ~

~ birthday girl ~

~ boys entertaining the crowd ~

~ chocolate cupcakes with homemade vanilla icing ~

~ outside for slippery fun ~

~ the girls came back inside for rest and relaxing ~

It looks like kitten adoption is become more likely.

I have never seen girls so smitten!

~ carrie ~

~ waiting ~

2011-07-11T12:28:00.000-04:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somewhere, recently, I read *and cannot find*

a sweet post about the importance and value of waiting.

Waiting for our children, being patient.

Waiting for them as our gift to them.

Waiting out of respect for them.

I even left a comment, about how this was close to my heart,

as I am working with the idea of "staying".

*Stay* when it is uncomfortable,

whether it is a yoga pose,

or a child having a tantrum.

(If someone knows what post I'm speaking of, PLEASE let me know!)

Last night I waited....

.....and waited....

......and waited some more.....

....as Laurel was engaged in arranging a few trinkets and toys.

It was bedtime, actually long past bedtime,

but it had been a really lovely evening,

and I saw no harm in (and really every reason to)

*waiting* for her to finish....

.....waiting for her to complete her work.

For children, play is work.

Play is not an extracurricular activity,

that only comes after the 'real' work.

I've been suffering from anxiety, panic attacks

and living in a state of extreme excitability and agitation

for quite a while now.

To put it mildly, it is a very uncomfortable way to live.

So it is a challenge for me to slow down,

to wait

to stay.

So I decided it would be helpful to document

Laurel's purposeful, meaningful and important work of play.

Four hair clips

Two rubber duckies

a change box

some receipts

and a hair band

Elapsed time: exactly 7 minutes

I can wait 7 minutes.

I want to wait 7 minutes.

I was a quiet but attentive observer,

paying attention to every little movement.

Calming the excited and anxious and hurried feelings

that have been a part of my daily living for months.

Feelings that I know will be back,

that in fact are back as I'm writing this,

but feelings that for those moments I could push aside.

Looking forward to a time when I can patiently wait,

patiently stay

while shoes, socks, clothes, are being put on,

without having my insides bursting with "NOW!! HURRY!! GO!!"

Learning to 'stay' through the anxiety,

through the physical manifestations of a panic attack,

learning to calm them before the rise to levels beyond control.

While I superficially I could say that my children are the very reason *for* the anxiety,

that isn't quite right.....

they just bring it to my attention.

They also are incredible motivators for healing.

The thought that I'm guiding three humans along in this world.

So I'm taking steps to address this part of myself.

One way is to just physically slow down.

Don't multitask.

Move slowly, purposefully.

Speak with measured quiet intentional words.

I often forget, and relapse into moving through the world like a tornado,

talking quickly, loudly, with my mind racing and my thoughts literally tripping over each other,

my words jumping ahead of one another.

I can wait 7 minutes.

I can be present for 7 minutes.

I want to be present for 7 minutes.

I can be present for the very important work of a 4 1/2 year old,

arranging pennies,

nickles, hairclips

and plastic ducks

just

so.

~ carrie ~

~ baby hummingbirds - day 19-20 ~

2011-06-27T20:53:00.001-04:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once again, my dad has graciously allowed me to share his photographs

of the two baby hummingbirds that are living in his yard.

For the previous entries,

documenting them from eggs until the present,

please see here:

day 19

~ momma hummingbird feeding her twins ~

(picture by my mom, Carolyn)

day 19

Hummingbirds often choose nesting sites near where woodland hawks nest.

These fast-flying hawks (like the sharp-shinned and cooper's in the East)

prey on the predators of hummingbirds.

day 20

They should be fledging any day now!

My dad says they are doing a lot of preening, flapping their wings,

and even hopping out of the nest.

Once they've left their nest,

they will not return,

but their mother will feed them for a few days.

~carrie~

~ summer solstice celebration ~

2011-06-26T16:07:00.001-04:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last weekend, our Waldorf group gathered to celebrate the Summer Solstice!

~ as usual, the kids get all the good seats ~

The spread of food was amazing,

with everyone bringing delicious dishes,

from their gardens and farmers' markets.

Afterwards, everyone went outside to play in our host's amazing backyard!

I snapped this quick picture of my partner carrying her twin boys.

Brings back memories of when our twins were that small.

~ hmmmm, i don't think he misses this too much ~

Our host also made 5 - 5!! - different flavors of homemade ice cream and sorbet.

I sampled the mint chocolate chip - divine!

Here's a sweet picture of her twin boys and my twin girls.

~ i love those little boys eyeing the other's cone! ~

Laurel and Daddy have a cuddle after ice cream.

She was recovering from an encounter with my rotary cutter (!!!!)

which landed us in the ER for 4 stitches in the end of her finger.

~ impossibly cute makenna ~

~ bursting with precious personality these days ~

~ dear friend t and lela holding clancey the kitten ~

For the third year, our family made the Sun pinata for the party.

This year is was tougher than ever,

perhaps from the fact that it was slightly damp,

and covered in mirrors, jingle bells and curly-cue paper

(which drooped in the thick NC air).

~ youngest to oldest ~

~ r giving it a good hard *twack* ~

~ liv and lela ~

~ t takes her turn, only days out of a cast for her broken elbow ~

~ parker ~

~ lela ~

~ 6 year old l means business ~

~ lefty jacob ~

~ s taking his turn ~

~ blake's daddy was manning the pinata, and didn't make it easy for him! ~

~ blake ~

~ swing and a miss as his daddy pulls the pinata up higher ~

~ n sends the pinata spinning ~

Having gone through all the children,

and the pinata was still intact,

we decided to let all the mommas have a swing.

~ tanya ~

~ our host ~

~ c sends it spinning! ~

Time to move on to the daddies!

Our daddy, former park ranger police officer, had the right technique,

and soon the pinata burst open!

~ lefty daddy subdues the pinata ~

The children all rushed in like a flood,

as chocolates, gems, lollipops, sparklers and taffy rained down!

As a testament to the overwhelming amount of goodies in the pinata,

and the practical nature of our children,

there were several large handfuls left on the blanket.

~ l camp prepared with a basket for her stash ~

Afterwards, all the adults were glowing with the laughter.

I'm so glad that we had a turn at the pinata,

it was a lot of fun and it was good for the children to see us enjoying it.

I also suspect that the boys especially were impressed

by all the strong daddies.

A short walk through the woods took us to a little pond.

Once again, our hosts supplied rods, reels and bait,

and the children all had turns fishing.

~ lela - she is her mother's daughter ~

Their were many species of frogs calling from the alders around the pond,

and fireflies began to rise up out of the grass.

In the darkness, we tromped up the hillside trail again,

where a small fire greeted us.

It was good to gather again.

~ carrie ~

~ baby hummingbirds - day 18 ~

2011-06-25T20:48:00.001-04:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today is day 18 for the baby ruby throats!

My dad has taken a lot more wonderful pictures of these little soon-to-be-flying gems,

so please enjoy his photography!

See that little hint of green on the tips of the feathers?

It seem the first hints of iridescence are appearing.

In the bird world, feather color arises in two ways.

First is pigment, and you see this in the reds of cardinals, browns of thrashers, and yellows of goldfinches.

Blues and iridescent colors are not pigments.

Instead, they are a special optical phenomenon,

caused by the light hitting specially layered structures in the feathers.

The light is reflected in such a way that the color is only visible at certain angles.

(I'm biting my tongue to give a more scientific explanation!)

So when you see a lovely iridescent green hummingbird, or a regal bluebird,

you are only seeing the color because of their magic trick.

If the hummingbird darts in a different direction,

you may not be able to see the iridescence, and instead the bird will appear grayish.

These little babies are probably going to be leaving the nest in the next day or so!

They look like they're ready to fly and learn about the big wide world around them.

~carrie~

~ baby hummingbirds - day 17 ~

2011-06-24T23:22:00.001-04:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today is day 17 for these sweet baby ruby-throated hummingbirds!

For reference, here they are on day 3, just 2 weeks ago!

Isn't it incredible?

Also it's amazing that in the span of a few days,

pin feathers have been transformed into 'real' body and flight feathers.

Check out that little wing poking up!

An interesting tidbit that I learned is that the babies are considered to be 'cold-blooded' (ectothermic)

until about 10-12 days old when the pin feathers burst open into true feathers.

Being ectothermic simply means that their internal temperature

is dependent upon the temperature of the surrounding environment,

an they are unable to maintain the proper body temperature.

During these first 2 weeks, the mother must keep them warm,

often by vibrating her body and wings,

in addition to the constant feeding of insects and nectar.

After they have these true feathers, they are 'warm-blooded' (endothermic)

and able to maintain their own body heat,

so the mother doesn't sit on the nest anymore.

In fact she only visits to give them food,

in order to avoid attracting predators.

These sweet little ones should be fledging in a few days!

~carrie~

~ baby hummingbirds - day 10-16 ~

2011-06-23T16:45:00.004-04:00

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Once again, a huge thank you to my dad, Richard T. Jones,

for taking - and allowing me to use - all the photographs in this post!

Day 10

Day 11
My dad observed some strange whistling-whining noises from the babies.

He said it sounded like an old-school camera flash whine.

Day 12
I see the lower baby has an eye open!

Day 13
Beaks are rapidly developing now.

Day 13

Day 14

Looking smug.

Day 15

Still pin feathers, but look at those eyelashes!

Day 15

Day 16

My dad says that the nest is amazing.

It is flexible and he says it flexes with their breathing,

appearing to inflate and deflate.

Day 16

Hummingbird twins....did you know that hummingbirds almost always lay two eggs?

Apparently it is the optimum number, one or three is very rare.

~ baby hummingbirds - day 4-9

2011-06-21T06:00:00.001-04:00

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More baby hummingbirds!

Here they are again, with a quarter for comparison, on Day 3.

(photo courtesy of Richard T. Jones)

Day 4

(photo courtesy of Richard T. Jones)

Day 6

(photo courtesy of Richard T. Jones)

Day 8

See that little beak poking up?

(photo courtesy of Richard T. Jones)

Day 8

Pin feathers are starting to emerge

(photo courtesy of Richard T. Jones)

Day 9

It's getting crowded in there!

(photo courtesy of Richard T. Jones)

On 9th day, there was a terrible storm at my parents' home.

My dad stood on the screen porch, watching the nest through binoculars.

The mother hummingbird swooped in,

settled on the nest and fanned her wings out over her babies.

She sat there, protecting them, through the storm,

with her long, slender bill pointed straight to the sky.

Day 10

Look closely and you'll see these sweet twins with their beaks crossed.

Their pin feathers are starting to poke through on their heads now.

(photo courtesy of Richard T. Jones)

The growth rate of these tiniest of birds is astounding.

Their devoted mother sure is taking good care of them.

My dad says that when he climbs the ladder to take the daily picture,

the babies don't move or make a single sound.

Tomorrow I'll finish posting the last of the pictures,

and then from there I'll be caught up!

~carrie~

~ baby hummingbirds - day 1-3 ~

2011-06-20T13:03:00.002-04:00

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Yesterday I shared pictures of the hummingbird nest

we found on our trip to Virginia.

These eggs are the size of cooked pinto beans.

Today I'm sharing pictures that my dad took

on their first 3 days out of their eggs,

where they had spent the previous 18 days.

Remember that the inside circumference of the nest is about the size of a quarter.

Hatching Day!

See the eggshell still in their nest?
Whew, they must have been cramped in there,
and I'll bet their glad to have some wiggle room.

In this first one, they are about the size of a small butterbean!

(photo courtesy of Richard T. Jones)

two days old!

(photo courtesy of Richard T. Jones)

three days old!

(photo courtesy of Richard T. Jones)

Isn't it amazing how quickly they have grown in just three short days?

The mother ruby-throated hummingbird feeds them regurgitated nectar and insects.

The daddy hummingbird, unlike many other bird species, is not involved whatsoever.

Tomorrow I'll share a few more pictures of the baby hummingbirds,

until I catch up to them in 'real-time.'

Today they are 13 days old.

~carrie~

~ a rare find ~

2011-06-19T22:00:00.001-04:00

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The weekend we went to Virginia for my cousin's graduation,

I found a very special and rare treasure.

Saturday evening we were coming home late

from dropping off the girls' grandmother

and the Daddy heard a hummingbird

give a little twitter and fly away.

"She must have a nest nearby," he said as we walked in the house.

The next day I went looking for her nest,

and sure enough I found it,

only about 8 feet off the ground

in an oak tree right next the the porch.

Can you find it in the picture above?

It was so beautiful, so sweet,

made of bits of lichen and cobwebs.

For size reference, I am holding my phone.

The inside circumference is the size of a quarter.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds

(the only hummingbird to regularly visit east of the Mississippi River)

almost always lay two eggs.

"The twins," my dad calls them.

They were about the size of a cooked pinto bean,

and a beautiful creamy white.

My dad has been documenting their development daily,

and has given me permission to share his photographs.

Check back tomorrow for pictures of newly hatched hummers!

(They are now 12 days old!)

~carrie~

~ congratulations joe! ~

2011-05-27T17:48:00.000-04:00

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Last weekend, we traveled to Virginia

to celebrate my cousin's high school graduation!

At the picnic that would follow the next day,

my uncle gave a short, simple, moving speech,

thanking everyone for attending,

and to say how proud he was of his son.

I thought about what his parents were experiencing,

watching their first-born excel in not only his academic studies,

but also his honorable character emerge.

I was impressed to see my cousin meet everyone's praise

with genuine gratitude and grace.

The family gathering was so much fun.

Plenty of good food and laughs.

Plenty of sweet baby smiles.

There was a great family volleyball match,

just the right mix of competitive spirit and good-natured fun.

Congratulations Joe!

~ camping season ~

2011-04-06T22:17:00.001-04:00

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A couple weekends ago

we had our first camping trip of the year!

We eased into it by staying at our local nature preserve.

We stayed in a primitive (no water or electric) site.

It was perfect!

Our tent is the REI Kingdom 6 and we love it.

Very spacious and an adult can stand up inside.

It has kept us dry in several heavy downpours, and stood tall during strong winds.

There are a bunch of pockets inside for everything.

I cannot say enough good things about this tent.

Everywhere we looked,

the first leaves of Spring were appearing!

The girls ran up and down the ravine,

creating little play areas and finding spring ephemeral wildflowers.

At the end of the day, they were tired in a way you can only experience camping.

We made a pot of curried butternut lentil stew

in the cast iron dutch oven, and warmed it over the fire.

Hearty and very filling!

Of course we roasted marshmallows!

I managed to squeeze in some knitting as well.

This was March 19th, and we had camped to see the "Super Full Moon".

But it was very overcast, so we couldn't see the Moon.

I had fun trying to get a picture of the night sky.

I held my breath while taking these pictures.

They turned out kind of neat.

The next day we went on a hike to find more spring ephemeral wildflowers.

I found quite a bunch, and got some decent pictures.

But I will save them for another post.

Okay, just a couple.

Meet round-lobed hepatica.

Oh, she's so sweet!

And goodness I love this last photograph.

~ carrie ~

~ the happiest thing ~

2011-03-20T19:29:00.001-04:00

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freshly picked dandelions

just for me

from my sweet lela

~carrie~

~ crowders mountain state park ~

2011-03-06T21:18:00.003-05:00

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Early last week,

on an overcast, yet beautiful Spring-feeling day,

we made the short drive to Crowders Mountain State Park.

This visit, we decided to hike to Lake Trail.

It's an easy trail with good footing.

We paused to try out Lela's birthday gift from Gran and Pop:

a spotting scope!

We mounted it to my camera's tripod.

We spotted Canada geese and a male/female pair of mallard ducks.

We have also been using it for star- and Moon-gazing.

Great gift Gran and Pop!

After a few minutes watching the geese,

the girls were off down the trail.

While they threw gumballs and stones in the water,

I stuck red maple blossoms in these gumballs.

Spring has certainly arrived here!

We lingered beside a creek that fed the lake.

Laurel wanted to climb on her own.

My little girl is growing up too fast!

Liv and Lela enjoyed playing in a little section of this creek.

I loved how the wide pool all channeled

through the narrow gap between the rocks.

After a few minutes, we crossed the creek and plunged into the understory.

The girls rock-hopped through the creek,

exploring the edges of the bank.

Doing a little exploring of my own,

I was so very, very excited to find this!

These are trout lilies, also called the dog-tooth violet,

known scientifically as Erythronium americanum.

They are one of my favorite flowers,

and one that I hadn't seen since leaving Virginia.

I was so happy to be able to share them with my daughters!

The name most likely comes from their dappled leaves,

suggesting the beautiful speckles and spots of our native brook trout.

The beautiful deep-red anthers dangle towards the leaf litter,

while the pale yellow petals gracefully arch and curl back towards the sky.

At night, the petals close around the reproductive parts again.

Just pretend that this is an artfully out-of-focus shot! :)

It's times like these that I wish for a fancy camera,

instead of my little point-and-shoot.

These dainty little nodding beauties

are often referred to as 'spring ephemerals'.

Can't you just see a little faery dancing on their gorgeous foliage?

This shy trout lily peeps out from behind her leaves.

She hasn't even opened her flower yet.

Another trout lily, as seen from above.

Trout lilies grow in large colonies, spreading by offshoots as well as seeds.

Where you find one, you are likely to find many.

The plant takes about 5 years to mature,

and the colonies may be hundreds of years old,

maybe even over a thousand!

Here's a small section of the colony - it was huge!

Quizzical-looking trout lily showing his throat.

Pollen-covered anthers around the female pistil.

This particular individual had brighter petals.

I would probably still be sitting there,

surrounded by a sea of tiny yellow blossoms,

inspecting each petal,

each blurry-spotted leaf

and snapping mediocre pictures.

Thankfully for the rest of the family,

who were getting impatient,

(especially our Zelda)

my camera battery was running low.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch by the lake,

watching the very blustery wind create waves.

The girls found their first toad of the year,

and thoughtfully created a stick and leaf home for him.

Then they gleefully rolled down the hill of the dam.

I felt so grateful to walk in the forest that day,

to see a favorite tiny flower,

to enjoy my children,

to hold my man's hand and steal a kiss,

to be a witness to the new season.

~ carrie ~

~ rhythm of the home - spring 2011 ~

2011-03-03T11:35:00.001-05:00

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The wonderful people at Rhythm of the Home (ROTH)

have just come out with their Spring 2011 edition.

Just like every previous issue, they have outdone themselves!

A picture from ROTH's new issue - how sweet is this?

There's a great tutorial for making your own there!

This little nest is on my list of things to create from this issue.

Please go visit for ideas and inspiration

on bringing more warmth, play, connection and celebration to your family and home.

There's also an amazing giveaway at the Rhythm of the Home Blog.

Go check it out - one of the giveaways is for the above nest!

Thanks to the ROTH team for their hard work!

~carrie~