Baby, Please Come Home!

As many people know, I have a completely supportive and hands on husband. There's not much he won't jump in and do. I always appreciate this about him, but never so much as I do when he's gone.

This amazing man of mine has spent the last two weeks "in the field," an Army term I can't 100%  define for you because I'm still kind of new to this. The extent of my limited knowledge on his experience boils down to this: he sleeps in a tent in the desert, I don't hear from him much, and there is far less showering than he would like there to be.

Back to my point. It's been 2 weeks. My appreciation is growing daily. Here's a little list to give you an idea of the things he usually keeps up, I don't think about, and thus have been "off" with him gone.

1. Folding laundry. Currently there are about 6 loads of unfolded laundry in my living room. The baskets line the wall and in front of the fireplace. It's all clean, but folding laundry has never been, as much as I try to make it be, at the top of my priority list. There are so many more things to get done, the good, the bad, the ugly, and let's face it, the much more fun. But, that husband of mine, he jumps right in. Either he does it himself or lines up a few girls to get it done for me.

2. Finger nail trimming. This fact jumped up and slapped me in the face as I helped Aria put her socks on the other day. Yikes! I set up an appointment right then for her to meet me after teeth brushing for a trim. It served as a friendly reminder of yet another thing that gets done without me noticing. So, that night everyone lined up for a clipping, and I can now say that we are good in the finger and toe grooming department.

3. Taking the garbage to the curb. Never have to do it and that's why we have recycling overflow in the basement and a stuffed can that was pretty heavy to move to the curb after a week of garbage collection had been missed.

4. Snow removal. It hasn't been much, luckily. The first time it fell I was able to sweep it right off the sidewalks. The last time, I introduced Kassy and Bella to the snow shovel. There's a new batch waiting right now. I may just get to use the snow blower yet.

5. Waking up at 5:20am Monday-Friday to take Kassy to seminary. It's cold out there at 6:00! But, every morning I appreciate him a little more. He never lets me do it when he's home so that I can get the extra sleep.

6. Wearing the kids out at bedtime. Every night, without fail, Dad gets wound up right before bed. Wrestling, tickling, chasing, tossing, and very loud voices commence right at bedtime every night. A lot of times I will beg him to please not get them excited right before bed. I won't be doing that anymore. It didn't hit me at first. Why were they running circles through the house squealing their heads off every night? Why, no matter what time I put them down, were the little ones not falling asleep until 10:30? That loud craziness was actually the missing link to our peaceful bedtimes.

So, with all this said, I have to admit that there are many things I know I'm leaving out. In short, he's amazing, I miss him, and Sunday night cannot come fast enough. Things have actually gone really smoothly, we're just ready to see his face again. And, I'm making it a point to trim all the nails and fold all the laundry (with the help of 12 other smaller hands) before he gets home, so that he can enjoy things like being inside a real building, sleeping on a bed, sitting on cushy furniture, and showering with more than baby wipes and much more frequently than once every two weeks.

Bella's Spirit Session

I’m currently taking a photography class from the wonderful Thea Coughlin. We’ve explored camera settings, lighting, and composition. However, what I’ve loved most is the exploration we’ve done into the emotional side of our photography. Thea shoots what she calls Spirit Sessions. What’s a Spirit Session? Well here’s her definition.
“A Spirit Session is a photography study on the spirit of the object or subject. It begins with emotionally connecting with the subject by entering into an inquiry stage where the photographer taps into the story that is waiting to be told.”
One of this week’s assignments was to conduct our own Spirit Session. Here’s the story of my very first one.

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I did this session with my daughter, Bella. Bella is 10 and amazing. The sad thing is that she doesn’t seem to realize just how amazing she is sometimes and can be really hard on herself. I made sure that everyone else in the house was occupied, so that it could be just her and I. We started our session by chatting all about her. I wanted her to share what she loves and thinks about herself. Bella loves to play the piano and bake, traits I already knew about. She couldn’t say what she liked most about herself, so I offered some things I have observed.
We started out at the piano with her playing and me snapping.
We moved away from the piano and closer to the window and continued our conversation on her positive traits as I took more pictures. I wanted to capture her natural facial expressions in good lighting. Finally, she revealed that she thought her curiosity was a good trait. Why? Because she learns a lot of new things. We got a a few good laughs during this part of our conversation.

 ISO 200
Aperture f/2.0
Shutter Speed 1/320

Next we went outside and I took our conversation in a different direction, tying together what she loves to do and likes about herself. I kept her talking and snapped away.

• ISO 100
• Aperture f/5.0
• Shutter Speed 1/100

I explained to her that what she loves to do makes her a creator and that creators are artists. She is an artist.
“But, I don’t paint,” she replies.
“Artists take what is inside of them and create to express it in any form. You do it through music, baking, and sewing now.”
I asked her to think of others ways she would like to create, and we brainstormed some ideas. I caught the image below as she pondered.

• ISO 100
• Aperture f/5.0
• Shutter Speed 1/100

• ISO 640
• Aperture f/1.8
• Shutter Speed 1/160

This session was a moving experience. I went into it thinking I was going to create wonderful dialogue in order to achieve the photos I hoped for. The photos were actually the secondary experience. Taking the time to help Bella look a little deeper into herself, find what was there, and discover ways to bring those wonderful things out into the world was the prime experience. I was just lucky enough to be able to capture images of the process.

Dreaming

A little fairy, sat at a piano singing her own original song and her mama decided it need to be captured.

Yoga Babies

When Bella mentioned that she wanted to start a regular exercise routine, I suggested that she should try yoga. I pulled out a children’s yoga dvd I had and she liked the idea. She convinced Trista to join her and the three youngest begged to participate too. They all found their spots and really got into it. It was actually pretty peaceful. So peaceful in fact, that I didn’t notice a certain 2 year old quietly slip away, but more on that later.

Sand Castles in the Kitchen

While the dreamlike, peaceful world of family yoga and singing fairies was going on in the other rooms, the reality of having an adventurous and “creative” two year old was happening in the kitchen. The child, as we’ll call her in this post, appeared in this state asking me to open a granola bar. Oddly enough, the first thing I noticed was that her jammies looked really faded in the middle. Then my eyes were drawn up to the powdery face. In a shocked whisper asked, “What did you do?”
The response? “Want to see my sand castle I made in the kitchen?”

And, tadaa. Four no. 10 cans containing pinto beans, black beans, white flour, and my beloved fresh ground whole wheat flour. Not only was she very proud of the sand castle, but she kept asking if I liked her tall building.
“Did you see that tall building I made, Mama? Do you like my tall building, Mama? It’s really shiny and pretty.”

In the end she kept the pride she had in her work. I captured the moment as I forced myself not to smile or laugh and delivered a calm, yet stern lecture. Even though sand castles are beautiful, dumping lots of food on the floor is a big no-no, and she will never do that again. You can see below how devastated she was by reprimand.

Bedtime

Bedtime. A routine that is actually never the same. At our house it can be noisy, rushed, repetitive, exhausting, and even frustrating. But there are those last few moments that can have the power make all that disappear. There are the whispered conversations, the quiet and not so quiet giggling, and the snuggles. I like to listen to hear what they talk about. It’s a good insight as to what they’re actually picking up in their days of listening and learning and it can range from touching to pretty comical. And the hugs! I love the hugs.
These are moments I don’t ever want to forget.

Week 2 Day 2 Photowalk

My grandmother collected old bottles and loved depression glass. This was one of her pieces that I was lucky enough to end up with. When I was younger I remember studying it and thinking what a shame it was that it had somehow ended up being crooked. Now I love it! That quirky trait gives it character and sets it apart.
This was taken indoors around around 1:30. The light was window light. The day was pretty dark outside, so I put the vase in the window sill to catch as much light as possible coming through.
ISO: 400Aperture: f/2.2Shutter speed: 1/160
I love how the light makes all of the details stand out, especially the quirky lopsidedness:)
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This was taken outdoors around 3:00. The light is coming from the right of the camera and was filtered by clouds.
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/125
This is one of two lion statues in front of our public library. They fascinate me! I was using a telephoto lens and hoping for a much more shallow depth of focus. I feel like I could have achieved that if I had been able to get closer to the statue. However, this walkway is pretty old and has been blocked off for preservation sake, so I had to take what I could get with my zoom.

Week 2: Day 1 Journal

I am immensely enjoying the photography workshop I mentioned in the previous post. I'm learning so much, not only about my camera, but also about myself. Below is a journaling exercise I completed for an assignment this week. Thought I'd share.

I took this picture on a whim. I was driving out of the grocery store parking lot, 6 kids in tow, when I noticed the light of the sunset falling on the tips of some tall grasses. They grew in a marshy area between the store and the building next to it. I almost passed it up, but the colors were calling to me. I flipped around, put my teenager in charge, and with camera in tow made a little trek through the snow and ice. (Luckily, I had boots on that day.) There was a gentle breeze that captivated me and that golden light drew me in. Before, leaving I took a look around to see if anything else caught my eye. Perfectly silhouetted on a small hill was this tree, framed by a magnificent rainbow of oranges and golds. I keep being drawn back to this shot.

I was analyzing my thoughts and feelings on the photo and thought it was the sunset itself that had captivated me. We rarely see the sun at this time of year, so I held a little more awe than usual for the display itself. There was a new appreciation for the daily miracle displayed before me. As I read through poetry I felt related to the piece, I realized there was something more that I just couldn’t put my finger on. Then I read the meaning of the color orange.

“Orange combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation…”

And…

“This is our moment to sculpt our rawness, and refine ourselves into illumed orbs of creative beauties. In silky waves of orange we become aware of our physical-ness and begin to make prime connections about the magnificence of our bodies. Orange speaks to us about exploration…”

Yes!! This is where I am in life! For a long time, I’ve woken up each morning with the lists of “have to’s” running through my mind, from the chore list to the errands to even the way I teach my children. Definitely, they’re all important and I feel like I have my priorities straight, but lately, I’m realizing more and more that the beauty of life comes from exploring this world in a way that appeals to me, teaching my children in a way that speaks to them and awakens their wonder. Little by little we are stepping out of the molds of mainstream and opening up to the possibilities of the world through “sculpting our rawness,” exploring, following our hearts, and letting go of fear and doubts. That’s one of the reasons I’m here.

Picture Day

Today was picture day at our house.
I started taking an online photography class on Monday. It’s through Squam Art Workshops and is being taught by Thea Coughlin. I’m learning so much!
I’ve spent the past 3 days applying what I’ve learned and practicing, practicing, practicing. Today, with Kassy acting as stylist, the girls got to be my models. We have another session planned for Bella and Maya in the morning. Maya was being pretty silly and a little impatient today, and we ran out of good light by the time it was Bella’s turn this afternoon. That’s not to say I had been working terribly long. “Good” light disappears up here around 3:30 and the ISO starts creeping up. Why risk the graininess when you can start again the next day with perfect lighting and crisp pictures? Anyway, to say I am pleased with how they turned out would be a major understatement. I am totally in love with these sweet little faces. If you can’t tell, they’re a little in love with the camera.

My First Mittens

I finished knitting my first pair of mittens today. 100% wool goodness. Amazing feat for me, because I’ve been avoiding the use of double pointed needles like the plague! Turns out, with the help of a good youtube video, found right here, that it’s not that scary at all. I used the Family Mittens pattern, by Carrie Bostick Hoge, found in Issue 3 of Taproot magazine.
Knitting is still a bit of a learning process for me. My first project ended up as an extremely lopsided baby blanket that I gave as a gift anyway, because it was a lot of work and it’s the though that counts, right? My next project was one that made me do a happy dance in the end: a wool diaper cover for the baby that I still wish I could make her wear just so I could admire my handy work. I talk more about that, and my odd obsession with wool, here.
After that project, moves and homeschooling and more moves got in the way and my needles were packed up for awhile. That is, until at the end of this summer when I was thinking about this new North Country we were moving into and how warm things were a necessity and knitting creates warm things, so at that moment knitting gained its place higher on the priority list. My re-entry project was a simple scarf. Best way to ease myself back in, I thought. Boy was that a rough start. I lost count of how many times I knit, pulled apart, and started again. After some practice and an 18 hour road trip, I had a pretty nice scarf in my hands and my confidence was boosted.
And so, there we were. Knitting skills were re-established and it was time for a little growth. A little challenge was in order. With 12 little hands to keep warm, mittens were the next best step. They’re not perfect, but I’m pretty proud. They got a test run this afternoon as we headed to the park for our first sledding trip. I’m happy to report that the mittened hands stayed warm and cozy in the 19 degree weather. And, as for me, I’m warmed up and ready to grab one of the 5 balls of yarn waiting for me and get started on the next pair.