Beauty all around.

So, my trip to Oregon was a big "success"! By that I mean that it was so much what I was hoping for. Time alone exploring Portland, time alone drinking in the greenness (and by that I literally mean the color green, not the compostable bag I was given at the children's consignment store I visited:) of the city, time worshipping and learning with 900 other women at the conference, and time with my friend Elizabeth and her sweet family. Time is my love language, and so to have that gift given to me was really big. Really big. I hope to write more about my time tomorrow and show you a few pictures, after I have had time to chew on it some more. For now, I wanted to show you some pictures of the beauty Joel and the babes were reveling in while I was gone. They went on their first overnight camping trip together and had such a blast. And yes, when we were reunited I declared them the cutest children in the universe and am just so thankful to all be together again:)








More soon, Jen

I'm off!

So, I'm on the plane headed for Portland for my first solo adventure in, oh, years and years. Yes, it's only three days, but considering how ready I am to see Sam and Amelia after three hours of them being in pre school, and how I love to have Joel with my as an adventure guide and companion, I'm sure three days will be plenty!

I kind of feel like, " hello self, it's been a long, long time." You mamas know what I mean, right? I love my mama self, more than i ever did my pre- mama self actually, and yet, well, the chance to step away and refresh and renew and think, it's a welcomed opportunity.

Joel sent me off with love, Amelia with words about missing me and wanting to go with me, and Sam with one of his best juicy smootches and warnings to " not get hurt by sharks, or bears, or mountain lions." :) How I love my little family.

So off I go, with just a back pack and heart ready for adventure and refreshment, and to see my dear friend Elizabeth.

Jen

I know a song about a beautiful whale...

I know it because I listened to it about 15 times on the way to and from the canyon today!:) "Baby Beluuuga, baby beluuuga", still rings in my head:) Sam adores that song, and Amelia sings it at the top of her lungs.
Anyway, we headed to the canyon for a picnic lunch to celebrate the first day of Fall! We wanted to collect acorns, but alas, we didn't find any. Guess we'll have to head to City Creek where we found some last Fall. Anyway, Sam spied some white shells, and acorns were all but forgotten as they scoured the mountainside for shells (and found lots--what does that mean? Why are they there?) They also found some beautiful leaves for our nature table. I bought some gourds at the store yesterday and Sammy had such a fun time decorating with all of these treasures today (He got in trouble for purposefully crunching one of Amelia's special leaves, and all the way to the time out stair he was wailing, "but I have to finish decoraaaaating!".


I have only gone up to the canyons by myself with the babes once or twice before, and I always feel so adventurous when I do! Usually Joel leads our outdoor adventures, and I am thankful for that because he gets us out much more than I would. However, short trips like the one today are really fun and I hope to do it much more often. I did get kind of panic-y at one point. I was letting them lead the way and they wanted to go up,up,up. We did for a while and then I started thinking, "What if something happens? We are out here all alone." They were not happy about turning around until I said, "Guys, mama is getting a little bit nervous because way up high is where we might see a mountain lion." I don't think they could have scurried down the mountain side any quicker than they did! :) We had a nice picnic and then left just as the dark clouds started to sprinkle down on us.







So, happy Fall to you all! Jen

P.S. Please remember that our festivity stand and seasonal book basket are the only "decorating" that I do for most seasons/holidays, so don't start thinking I am super on top of things:)

Father and Son...

Joel loves this outfit of his from when he was little. I forgot to put it on Sam last summer and this summer so when Joel got Sammy dressed this morning he remembered to put it on him:) Soooo cute. The shorts are a bit short, but those knobby knees are so cute that I don't think it matters much.


He wore it proudly to the Treehouse Museum this morning:) Here are some pictures of cowboy Sam from the museum.



Where was Amelia in all of this you ask? Well, she is having one of these kind of days:

Ah well, we all have them I guess! Happy Monday to you, Jen

An evening hour...

We spent a wonderful hour at Red Butte Garden yesterday evening. The sun was setting, the leaves were changing, the garden was nearly empty of people. A perfect hour to watch a bunny hopping through the garden flowers, roll down a big hill, play hide and seek in the ivy tunnels, explore for a bit. I took some video with my phone to remember the time and to share with you.

So, here is a rather lengthy video of the Children's garden at Red Butte one late summer's evening...


Jen

Autumn. Simplicity. Transition.

I can't decide what to write about today, but I wanted to get something out while I have the time. So I'll just write what is on my heart and mind:

* Autumn. I have never been so aware of seasonal shifts as I have been since having children. Maybe part of it was living in Texas and Hawaii, where the seasons were a bit more subtle. Here in Utah though, change is in the air and you can't miss it. Amelia is so into the changing seasons and I love that! She sees a yellow or orange leaf and exclaims, "It's Fall! See mama?" We are pulling our Fall books out for our seasonal book basket, we are back to eating warm oatmeal every morning for breakfast, going for multiple walks during the day, making plans for another trip to the apple orchard....just settling in to the season. It feels good, though I have to keep my negative dread of winter at bay.
We were on a "nature walk"* yesterday and Sam spied some chestnuts that were still in their prickly shells and he was so curious about them. We stopped and had a good look and then walked on home. In our mailbox were two books that I had ordered. One was this one and just look what is on the cover! Chestnut boys in their tree! I couldn't believe it. Such a wonderful, creative Fall story of the Acorn family and Mr. Squirrel and the Chestnut boys...we plopped down in the front yard and gobbled it up.

* Simplicity. Yep, my trip to Oregon is coming up next week! I feel like God has already been using the principles that I'll be learning about even before I get there. I felt like I was shedding skin as I let go of some things I had been holding onto for years at our last yard sale. I have seen the value of staying home and cultivating our little garden and our home. Because of it, we got to connect with two different neighbors that we have wanted to for so long. One was some Ethiopian refugee neighbors that live at the end of our street. We have chatted several times, but have never connected like we did when they found out we had a garden and came to see it. The visit ended with several teenagers, one woman, and about 6 kids sitting in our basement, the kids playing and the women looking at Joel's Ethiopia pictures! What a gift to connect to such a precious group of people.

* Transition. As the babes are off to pre-school for two mornings a week, and we are changing seasons, I just feel transition all around us. Tying into simplicity, I feel like this is a time of scaling down in both our schedule and our things. I am reading the book, "Simplicity Parenting" right now and it is AMAZING. I will write more about what I feel about my "homeschool preschool" goals are for this year, but mostly they revolve around establishing a rhythm for each season, reading often, exploring nature together, unstructured play, prayer and singing! Most of this can happen at home. This will take some transition as I feel like my mentality has always been, "Things are fussy, let's get out of here!" and I know that is partly because creating a home rhythm is hard. In what order do I clean, play, teach, read? I'll let you know how this goes:)

I'll leave you with this quote from Simplicity Parenting that I'm chewing on this morning, " The pace of our daily lives is increasingly misaligned with the pace of childhood."

Love to you this morning friends!
Jen

* I said "nature walk" because I gave Sam and Amelia both a magnifying glass and told them we were going on a nature walk, when my real motivation was to get to the corner store and buy a diet coke. Tee, hee:)

Preschool: Day one.

Sam, Amelia, and Mama all had a wonderful first day of preschool! :) They are going to a new, little Creative Arts preschool that I think will be a great fit for all of us. It stresses learning through play and movement and sensory activities, as well as, of course, building confidence and strength and creativity through the Arts. So, they will go two mornings a week and I will be the classroom helper once every other week--so I get some time all by myself on the other days. Today I spent it walking at the park with Anne, Skypeing at the park with Shanyn and Isaac, and going to the library. Sam and Amelia both seemed to have a great time, came home and ate a big lunch and then down for a nap without a peep. Works for me!
Jen

Here are some pics from meet the teacher day last week:

Disclaimer: This post may seem as if preschool was just an easy and quick decision for us and just fell into our laps. Hahahahahahahaha. I am SO bad at making even the smallest decision and so deciding on putting them in preschool and which preschool to put them in was ridiculously difficult for me. For one thing, I had always imagined that we would most likely home school all the way through, and so even though it is only 6 hours a week, I somehow felt like a home school failure. Like, "hello, if you can't even manage pre-school on your own, how can you handle K-12?" Then some great people in my life set me straight:) Like my mom. "Um Jenny, you guys went to pre-school and then home schooled for 9 years. It's a break. They will love it. You will love it. Take it while you can." So, I'd just like to say thank you to all of you friends and family who were a sounding board this summer while I went on and on and on and on and on about pre-school choices. Also, a big thank you to their sweet teacher, "Miss Ewin" who worked with us so much to make it possible for us to take such a great opportunity. We all feel great about our *final* decision:)

Summer's End...

We are soaking up the last of this warm weather and sunshine. Sitting out in the front yard reading books, hiking on the weekends, walking to the museum instead of driving,etc. We hiked the Secret Lake trail on Sunday afternoon and it was pretty much wonderful. I just kept thinking how much I love to be outside as a family. For us to get to see Sam and Amelia gain confidence, build endurance, balance on rocks, stare in wonder at bugs and flowers and chipmunks. There really isn't much that I love more.

My favorite things on this particular hike were hearing Amelia's little outbursts of self-confidence like, " I'm really good at this!" "I can do anything!" She did show a lot of improvement in her willingness to keep going when she got tired! I also loved hearing her burst out in random mother goose songs and rhymes like, "Cock a doodle doo, my dame has lost her shoe, my master lost his fiddle stick and doesn't know what to do!" :)

With Sam, as always, my favorite thing is hearing him say things like, " Isn't this beautiful mama?" "Dad, look at this crazy bug!" " We're hiking Mama, I like to hike!" He is still our little nature lover and appreciator and always says the most wonderful things when we are outdoors.

I also love catching up with Joelie. We always have the best talks when hiking. Or should I say, I have a captive audience when we hike:)

Anyway, as we head into Fall, I greet it with a grateful heart for a wonderful summer--full of sunshine and family and memories made. I look forward to Autumn with it's crisp air and apples and visits from the grandparents and some mama time as some little pre-schoolers head off for their first morning of their Creative Arts program tomorrow! More on that very soon! Jen

Yoga.

The babes had their first (very informal) yoga experience this morning at the museum and loved it! I'm curious if any of you consistently do yoga with your children at home and have found it to be strengthening/calming/fun?
Good times! Jen

In all of her three year old glory...

Amelia completely dressed herself for the first time today. When she came downstairs totally dressed after her bath, Joel and and I were so surprised! He has been working on them with their dressing/undressing skills and it looks like it is paying off:) She completed the outfit from the dress up basket downstairs and declared that "if we went to my friend's house they would say, "Wow Amelia, what a beautiful skirt!" Then as we were ready to head out the door she chose her new (thrifted) red sparkly shoes that she is very proud of. A very lovely and very Amelia outfit to choose for her first go of it. What a fun, spirited, confident, sparkly girl she is!
She even took the time to help her brother, who isn't so eager to get dressed by himself yet:)

I'm sure she will be his biggest cheer leader whenever he is!

P.S. She had no idea I was taking any of these pictures with my phone. She was just talking non-stop about the windy day and how perfect it would be to fly a kite (which we didn't do but must do soon!).

P.S.S. Every single thing she had on was backwards--dress, leggings, underwear:)