In the Morning :: Day 33

It's J's 43rd bday today!  We'll be having our celebration tomorrow because he & C both work today, but we have all kinds of surprises for him!  This morning, so far, I closed the blinds so he could sleep without the sun, kissed him and whispered, "happy birthday", then came down to make his coffee - just the way he likes it, in his infamous (more than famous) red Aladdin mug - ready for his dash out the door.  Simple, but it's what he loves.  Doesn't like us making a big fuss, doesn't want cake or some other heavenly confectionery treat - just his loved ones close by, loving him back.

In the Morning :: Day 32

Barefoot and fancy free - HA!  Well at least the first part is true!  Loving the long summer days of walking in the sun-warmed grass, digging in the dirt, sipping mojitos on the deck, listening to Cricket panting when she's been playing in the sunshine, and the general feeling of comfort this season brings.

In the Morning :: Day 31

Ahhhhhh... The simplicity of summertime. No whipping up eggs and flour and baking it into some calorie packed concoction for your thighs & derriere - just plop some creamy Greek yogurt in a bowl, add some organic goose berries and local wildcrafted honey and say, "Hello!" to a size one again! WOOT!

photo by Minda!!!

In the Morning :: Day 30

This is where I will be spending my day.  Bulgogi and Chap Chee and rice and all the flavors of Korea will be infusing our tastebuds tonight at the dinner table!

In the Morning :: Day 29

Instant sunshine for our little bungalow.  Minda & I walked down to the vacant lots  to pick wild Helianthus yesterday.  Love the fact that flowers are all around me.  I've been wanting to clip thistle for the vases too, but those thorns!  I'm thinking a couple pair of thick leather gloves may do the trick!
Hope your day is full of sunshine - be it in the sky, on your dining room table, or in your heart.

In the Morning :: Day 28

Expectation:  anticipation of something happening: a confident belief or strong hope that a something is about to/ will happen...

What do you expect today?

In the Morning :: Day 27

A day of rest today.  Time to sit and bask in the sunlight, listen to the bees hum, sip something cool, snuggle with The Man, read a frivolous novel, and just be.

In the Morning :: Day 26

National Photo Walk Day!  Met some fabulous photographers and shot the town this morning for a couple of hours!  I'll definitely be doing it again.
When I got home, J. called to say that he had heard from Tofer (Christopher)!  We are the proud parents of the 2010 World Champion of Male Modeling.  You can watch the video of the WCPA finals here.  He appears at 73:00, 99:20, 127:39 (he comes late to get his award), and 145:09.  Love watching him run after his dreams!  We are going to watch his individual competitions as a family later.
Exciting days ahead!

In the Morning :: Day 25

Above : Birthday cake evolution.   

We have a recipe that I have made for birthdays since before the kids were big enough to remember.  Simple, moist (the only cake my family will eat), not too rich, no frosting - just a glaze.  Each person has there own flavor.  C. is Cranberry (and sometimes we add orange in there with it), T. is Blackberry (though it was marionberry when we lived in Oregon), & M. is Raspberry as you can see.  Once she asked for Rice Crispy treats instead of cake, and once for brownies, but most of the time she just wants HER special flavor of Mom's Special Cake.

In the Morning :: Day 24

 

The organizing of the household continues.  Finally got the garage finished and the closet ship shape.  Now for trying to make it feel more like home (hanging photos), and organizing the cubby and figuring out something for pens, phone books, envelopes...

In the Morning :: Day 23

To Market.

In the Morning :: Day 22

Happiest of Happy Birthdays today!  Our baby is 17!  I love the vivaciousness of this funky, quirky, beautiful girl.  All of life is her stage, but she loves to share that stage with as many as will join her.  She requested a smoothie for breakfast this morning.  Greek Yogurt, Mango, Banana, Lime.  It's one of our favorites!  Her party is in a couple days, but we still had to sing and make breakfast and Cassia had a little gift for her to open.  "Queen for a Day"!  Foot soak and facial @ Sage just before her party!  Nice to have a big sister with connections!
Happy birthday, my lovely.  We will celebrificate your bornfulness today!

In the Morning :: Day 21

Baby Love. Oh how I miss those sweet, sleepy sighs. And the tiny tootsies. And the contentment of being held. This was a little piece of heaven.

In the Morning :: Day 20

Oh! How the garden doth grow!!

In the Morning :: Day 19

The comfort of the familiar. When I pulled it out of a box the other day it was like finding a long lost friend. It may as well be a friend with how many things we have been through together. I bought it for a hoe-down, we danced reels, jigs, and squares together that night. I remember finding hay in the pocket when I went to wash it later that week. We have spent long hours at the shore, building sandcastles, roasting weiners, and baking clams. There have been fireworks watched, gardens weeded, kisses given, books read with little ones cuddled close by, picnics eaten, and salsa made while buttoned into it's cheery plaid. We have traveled to the grocery store and to South Korea. To Washington, California, Oregon, Idaho, Texas, Oklahoma, and Montana by plane, train, motorcycle and automobile, in suitcases and on my back. I'm sure it has absorbed years of tears as well as years of laughter. If only it could tell the stories it knows.
I'm giddy to be slipping it on today and doing more of life, together.

In the Morning :: Day 18

Say "hello" to my little friend, Bill. Bill is the 4th Duck to grace a J. Paul family dashboard. Shades was the first. He flew the coop when we took a sharp corner with the windows down in Beezus. Next came Webber. Webber was a victim of a similar fate in Beezus. When Tofer started driving he put Yo on his dash. Yo is about as cool a mascot as they come. He's taped to the dash in his sharpied sunglasses and jewelry. When Mom gave us Orson to drive he needed a ducky too. Minda found Bill. Bill float on his back enjoying the views out Orson's big windshield. He fits perfectly into the air trough and glides back and forth around corners within it's boundaries.
Not one of them has been as special as Shades (the first always has more charm) was, but I doubt I will ever own another vehicle that doesn't have a web-footed friend to share the ride with.

In the Morning :: Day 17

Writing "Thank You"s with my fun new pen and on my new tablecloth! Both sweet bargains! Organizing the garage today. (About time! How long have we been in this house? Sheesh!) Allergy tablets here I come!

In the Morning:: Day 17

Heading out for a quiet walk before running errands and jumping into the busy day ahead!

In the Morning:: Day 16

Does more really need to be said?

In the Morning:: Day 15

On our way home this morning. I hate to say goodbye to Mom and Dad. We just love them so much. We hadn't seen them since the whirlwind trip to the wedding in Oct. and not before that since we left last May. Hard being away for so long.

It does make being together again very, very sweet. Can't wait for next time!

In the Morning:: Day 14

Finding time to read is difficult in the midst of everything else going on, so I've been sneaking in a bit here and there. In the morning, after devotions and coffee. At night right before I fall asleep. It's sporadic and disjointed, but it allows me to indulge a little.

In the Morning:: Day 13

Moses lake sunsets are hard to beat. I went to bed so exhausted last night that I didn't get up until 3 hours past my normal rise and shine time. Needless to say you are getting one of Cassia's photos and just a reflection of what Saturday was. The heat has been lessened here because of a forest fire upland somewhere. What it does to the sunsets is even more amazing than what it does to the temperature. This time is going by so quickly; not enough time to be with everyone I want to. I know, though, that Montana is where we belong; where our hearts are.
I had a project I had to do for an exhibit at The Emerson that asked me to make a representation of what I feel home is. I went a little further and asked others what they felt of when they thought of home. The common thread was being with people you can just be yourself with and be accepted and know you are loved. That is why this place feels so good, I think. That is why we think of it as home.

In the Morning :: Day 12

I miss water. We have rivers, streams, and waterfalls in Montana, but the expanse of a lake or sea or ocean are nonexistent (at least close by). Every morning Dad gets up and pours his coffee and just goes out to sit on the deck and look at the lake. What is it about that that just seems right? I began doing it too. Everything is so calm. Bees are buzzin', but the rest of the world hasn't gotten busy yet. I'll remember these times when I return to Montana. I'm absorbing them, right along with the vitamin D from this amazing Eastern Washington sunshine pouring down on me.

In the Morning :: Day 11

Heading to Eastern Washington for a few days. C's dchildhood friend is getting married! Our morning was a flurry of packing and calling out reminders of, "Don't forget your pillow!", & "Has anyone seen the ...", & "Are you girls ready yet?"

Cassia drove part of the way. :) Such a BONUS!

Minda taking advantage of HER camera to avoid MY camera...

The windshield was ok'd for our mountain passes and high altitudes and speeds by Safelite before we headed over. Eastern WA looks a bit different from our Montana home...

In the Morning :: Day 10

My family loves cherries. Not because they are a fabulous fruit (although they are sweet and juicy), or because you can do tricks with them (earrings, catching them in you mouth, pit spitting competitions, ...), not even because of the color (I'd love to capture it and paint it on my walls). They love them because they remind them of being little. Of the hours spent sitting in the crook of a branch lost in the pages of a book. Of using its branches to gain the higher ground of the rooftop. Of tea parties in it's shade. Of night spent in tents and picking midnight snacks. Of sling shot ammunition. Of scrapes and scratches and climbing and falling and swinging/ dangling in midair before dropping to the ground. The tree was right outside the girls' window and they often kept their curtains pulled in the spring to watch the bare branches turn into a flurry of white blossoms and listen to the bees hum happily about their work.
I set out a bowl of cherries and the stories begin to pour out of them. "Remember when you ..." "Remember that night..." "Remember how we..." They laugh, wink, give knowing smiles, and the chatter goes on and on; All because of this fabulous, tricky, beautifully colored fruit!

In the Morning :: Day 9

Waking up to the sun turning the mountains shades of pink and orange is one of the sweetest moments in my life right now.  We sleep with the windows open and the shade raised ever so slightly to let the breeze whisper across us.  The first thing I see every morning across the roof tops are the Bridgers backlit with the rising morning.  It's still dark, so all there is to see is the outline of the range and the glow of the dawn.  There is something very 'other than' in the minutes before the birds begin to sing.  I want to hold my breath so as not to disturb the stillness, so as not to let go of (to hold within me) the sense of something beautiful about to happen. 

In the Morning :: Day 8

Soaking up the sun. ~ It's the way Cricket looks here that made me shoot her photo this morning. Slightly sad, even in her contentment.
I learned today that a women who has greatly influenced my life passed away yesterday. Sono and I met in the strangest way. I knew who she was by name only, because of her husband's teaching series, Seasons of Life, that my husband and I had listened to over and over again. I was at the bi-annual Hannah Anderson sale when I ran into her. We found we had much in common as we shopped. Both homeschool mamas, both very small in stature but feisty, both loved gymnastics, both loved God... She had just had a daughter, I was just about to have our second daughter. I saw her again later that year at a homeschool conference where she took time to encourage my heart. I didn't know her well, obviously, but she was a gift to me. I followed Greg and Sono through their sermons and teachings, Josh's books & sermons, Alex & Brett's blog and books, Sarah's blog and other ways through the years and everytime Sono's name came up I would hear her voice, see her smile and my heart would smile too. It will continue to.
Goodnight, Sono.

In the Morning :: Day 7

L

Lucy Maude Montgomery - Anne of Green Gables - and my sentiments exactly!

In the Morning :: Day 6

I've always been a list maker. I love them, actually. I have lists in my cedar chest that I have tucked away for my children to see when they are ready for them. List of names we thought about when we were pregnant, lists of nicknames to go with the names, lists of J's favorite things as I discovered them, lists of songs that became "ours"... I have silly lists too; gravestone engravings I found funny or sweet, wines to try with different foods, books to read, World Market wants, words that twist my tongue or delight it, and the names of nail polish colors. I have kept lists of flowers, lists of fonts, lists of authors and quotes... As of late, though, most of my lists are just to keep my mind on track, to help me remember, to set it before my eyes continually. Email so & so, water the garden, file this & that, pick up these things, drop off those things... and the list never ends. Everyday I add to it as I check things off. I do have to admit, however, that I love looking down and seeing all those check marks!! I also will admit that I love all the little notebooks I collect my lists in with their types /textures of paper and the scent of ink or graphite I catch when I flip through them. So many simple pleasures within their pages.

In the Morning ::Day 5

I usually wake up with a cup of coffee, but the only thing I ever want for breakfast is a smoothie. :) I found fresh pineapple on sale and bought one for the first time in my life! Watching Jess peel and slice one after the bike scavenger hunt @ the Oberly's gave me the courage to step out on the water! It was worth it!! OH MY! What a sweet treat! Here is Mr. Osterizer poised and ready to create the gloriousness! Pineapple, Spinach, Blueberry - my power foods! GLO-ray, indeed.

In the Morning :: Day 4

There was a storm yesterday.  Hail the size of navel oranges took out the windshield in out van and demolished parts of the garden.  Yet, this morning I walk out and find these delicate, ephemeral blossoms still intact, faces upturned to the sky, droplets clinging and shivering on their petals, waiting - for the sun.