Jesse

~~~~~

my soft haired boy, my sweet one. So boy-full and wild and wise.  There are days when you live quietly near me, exploring this small world of trees and wild grasses and air.  There are days when you burst out of yourself and dance and shout and live so joyfully, so large.

You grow forward in both leaps and bounds and in soft quiet steps.

You have your father’s hands, so strong and defined and loving. 

The world is yours and there are days that I can barely keep up, can barely hold my place near you as you bound forward, all forthright and eager and true.

You are the truest of the truest of the true.

 

 

Do Not Smoke Your Brother

(overheard the other day while Roo was “writing” in her diary)

~~~~~

 

         “dear diary, Jesse is strange because he is all wrapped up in a tube made of sheets and he wants me to smoke him. I told him i do not want to smoke him because smoke is gross and he still wants me to smoke him anyway so i told him to go smoke his own self”  

the end.   

 

Do Not Try This At Home

(a family portrait session with one mom, two teenage boys and one raucous Redbone Coonhound)

 

most. fun. ever.

 

 

 

Roo.

 

she cut her hair again, all choppy in the front and sides and she likes to play board games over and over and over and we run down to the garden every day to see what is new and it’s important to run so we get there fast.  She is 3 years old and she likes to draw flowers on her belly and small trees on her legs and when she runs she looks like a little human mural.  she is thin these days, all speedy and slim but she eats and eats and eats, only in the tiniest bites possible.  she smells like coconut and earth mostly but sometimes she smells like apples and woodsmoke and joy. 

she is fast, fast, fast and likes to tell you everything like how the world is spinning and the clouds are pretty and she loves her pancakes and sometimes when she sleeps she dreams she is a tiny little bird. 

it’s a beautiful world when you’re a tiny little bird.

 

 

 

It’s My Birthday!

~and i had my hair cut, cut, cut!

~and Trevor is home

~and i slept in

~and we are going apple picking

 39 is good, my family is good, chocolate cake is good, the fall breezes are good

Life is good.

 

 

I Keep Making Felted Things Like There’s No Tomorrow

~~~~~

Ponytail Holders

Wool Pendants

The funny thing is, there will be a tomorrow and I will get up and I will make more because it is what i love to do.

(these are all in my etsy store)

 

 

It’s Raining, It’s Pouring, But Life is Never Boring

We made candied apples today

(i used this recipe, minus the food coloring)

And lollipops

Glass, candy apple style

(i win mother of the year award for cleaning the pan, not to mention the countertops)

sugar is silly

 

tomatoes have been cooked down and canned so I’m caught up for the next few days

Today we took the top off of the beehive and watched the bees at work; they were drawing out the honey comb and it was amazing to watch.  There were probably 30,000+ bees in there, working in unison and a comforting rhythm.

~~~~~~~

more good things:

~my children love each other, i can see it in everything they do

~I am getting better

~i am wearing my new bras

~the wood for this winter is in the barn and next winter’s wood is split and stacked

~there will be excess corn this year and so i will be able to freeze a bunch

~i am making new felted things and it is good for me

~the kids are wanting fall and winter which is good because the seasons will change in a moment

~my hair smells like woodsmoke from the bee smoker and Trevor is making dinner and the kids are laughing in the other room and I am hopeful about so many things.

I am keeping all of my hope right here, close to my heart.

 

Bit By Bit

~~~~~

We are all recovering from this wave of illness.  The kids are nearly themselves and my sinus infection and ear infection are gone and my lung infection/bronchitis/asthma are improving slowly.  Still cannot talk much but the silence has been good for me.

I am preserving vegetables and fruits and placing them away for the winter when we will eat them and they will remind us of summer. 

Tonight I am canning tomatoes because they must be canned.

They are impatient and do acrobatics while they wait for attention.

I do like to dunk me the littlest ones

We are officially not “back to school” for another year.  Life keeps on, the days blend together and it is all so connected.   I wouldn’t change a thing. 

Well, except to have summer linger a bit, that would be nice.

But it’s good, all of it.

 

I Am Easily Amused

~~~~~

When you run out of bras, be grateful for the internet. The internet allows you to buy a bra and have it shipped to you in the privacy of your own home.  This is important when your bras have lost their will to lift and separate; you do not have to wear one of your failing brassieres to the store in order to try on new ones. You can place your order and go about your business in a free and braless way.

It can be your own little secret.

That is, unless your bras are shipped UPS and the particularly handsome young delivery man needs a signature and you have to greet him in all your floppy splendor.