5.31.2011

Jughandle State Park - Beach

The walk down to Jughandle Beach is a little bit a of a trek (a very little). It is a steep stair case down the hill-almost-cliff thru an amazing tree branch tunnel and down on to the beach. It was starting to get cold but the whole family wanted to go do something and this sounded like the best idea. We packed some snacks and blankets and dry towels and the beach toys and away we went. Wade-o and Little A were already down at the beach but Little B and I ran back to the car to get the camera. He is secure in his baby masculinity so his Papa let him wear Sissy's hat lol.

The cool thing about JH beach is that is pretty sheltered from the wind that comes in the afternoon here these days. There is a little creek that runs down the side of the beach that is where we let the Littles play... it isn't as cold as the Pacific Ocean lol. Little B lovvveees the taste of sand for some reason, all I know is I need to keep him full of that sweet nectar to kill whatever bacteria live in the sand and creek and ocean that he might be getting... it works so far.

We ended up walking a bit up the creek to a more sheltered place under the bridge where the  creek cuts away from the beach and goes into the forest a bit more. Both my Littles love being outside in nature. The glory of living in NorCal is that the weather has to try pretty hard to keep us in. It is always tricky getting our things and our selves ready to go outside and play, especially by myself, but when Papa is home nothing can stop us! Fortunately, the wind wasn't really getting to us until we had been there for a few hours.

Here is Little B coming back to Momma because he was cold and needed a quick snuggle to get warm again. He would play hard in the water till his little butt turned red then come crawling back to me full speed to be wrapped up in his soft blankly, sit in my lap and nurse.

But then Papa would come over to take his pic and he would get all types of distracted. "Hi Daddy! I'm having sooo much fun! I'm just getting a snack so I'll be right back to play some more!"

Little A and Papa went exploring a bit, but the sand ends and gives way to the forest and they both                                need shoes for that type of adventure.


Boobie Smush Face Water Bottle Style. lol. He was soo tired but didn't want to sleep. Just wanted to rub his cold little face against his best friend while the rest of us got ready to go home. We had been by the creek for hours and the wind was finally starting to make us toooo cold. Although I'm sure the Littles would have stayed until it got dark.

washing hands and feet before walking back to the car.

Good By creek! Thanks for letting us play here!!!

Jughandle Park is an amazing place and it is on the state wide list of parks that will be closed. I am making it my mission to get to as many parks slated to be closed as I can. I'll be there with kids and man in tow because some of these place are part of my childhood and some are places I have never visited until I had kids. 

5.30.2011

I'm Back!!!

Well thanks Google, for allowing me renewed access to my blog. That is really sweet of you.

5.27.2011

Blogger has locked me out

For some reason, I can only access my blogger account from my moms iPad. Lame

5.23.2011

Is This What Family Feels Like?

Having Wade watch the Littles feels so different from when my mom watches them. The silence is the same, the things that I do are the same, but... But I don't feel so rushed. Like I have to go pick them up because I know they are fine and safe and they will be home eventually. They are with their Dad.

5.21.2011

I Really Enjoy Reading to Little A

We just picked up a new chapter book yeasterday and we are already 4 chapters into it! The book is called Tumtum & Nutmeg, The Rose Cottage Tales. The thing is, I get soooo bored reading those tedious short learning to read books and A is at the level where the stories need to be understandable for her to enjoy them. When she was a baby and we lived in the South, I read long stories to her all the time. She would lay in her crib or sit in my lap and just listen to my voice. Now she needs a plot she can understand I need something interesting enough to enjoy. We read the (whole series) Chronicles of Narnia when she was in her floppy amoeba new baby state and most recently we read the Secret Garden. She only stuck with the Secret Garden because there are pictures in my copy that she loves. This new book that we just got is perfect so far. The plot is simple yet interesting and she is doing a great job following whats going on. She even asked me to read to her instead of watching a movie during Little B's nap time! Yay reading!!!

5.19.2011

Gratitude

sun
swings
friends
new babies! (not mine, Pippi's)
merino super-wash...mmmm...with silk...mmmmmmmm
my dog, even though she roles in shit.
wade-o
little A and little B
farmer's markets
breastfeeding (you knew that was gonna pop in)

It is so easy to get frustrated. So easy to step back and say, "Wow, this life blows. Broke. Bored. And on top of everything, it's been wind- and raining." I am so grateful that my kids share with each other, that they are each genuinely concerned and upset when the other is crying or when mommy gets too mad to be nice. I am also very grateful that hasn't happened in a while.

Also, I have been noticing a huge matrix shift. Things have been appearing where they never were before, or switching sides, or moving. It's like the attack of the underpants gnomes in a major way and it seems like I am the only one who is noticing it. Like the whole tree that just appeared in my friends yard! She swears it has been there the whole time she and her huz lived in the house but I know it hasn't. It is like a big perception filter (Dr. Who reference, season 5) has been put on the world but mine is faulty or something. weird.

5.15.2011

Testing One Two

Trying this new app on Stina's new iPad. My Internet has been out, I forgot to pay the bill because I'm awesome. Sometimes when I am sitting at my mom's I feel like I need to write something and maybe this will fulfill that need...

5.07.2011

My first ever This Moment from SouleMama. I love the way she captures the special moments in her life. 


{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.


(She is pushing the treadle in perfect rhythm, her hands to her sides while she sings to herself)


5.05.2011

Yesterday Was a Beautiful Day

Thank you so much to all my friends who don't judge me and my silly ways. I am a slob. No two ways about it. Nasty sloppy messy Me. I could just drum up some will power and clean, change my ways over night to live in a healthy safe environment with my kids. but i know that is very unlikely. So you know what I did, for the sake of my kids and my sanity? I hired some one to come clean. No I can't really afford it, but it needed to happen. Plus, I view paying this woman as an exercise in community building. Her daughter was in the Nutcracker last year when I taught the choreography and we have been friends since. I know she could use the money and she knew that I could use the peace of mind of having a clean house. We spoke about wanting to do projects with kids but always beeing busy cleaning or worrying about how messy the house is. So now my goal is to keep my house tidy because I know that if I put my Starbucks money in a jar, rather that Starbucks, I can afford to pay her next week. -Oh yeah, I gave up Starbucks and (most) new fiber/yarn to pay for this.- So really this is like a classic 2-4 birds / one stone scenario. My house will stay clean, I will probably start losing weight, I am no longer shoveling (JDub's ;)) hard earned money into a giant corporation... YAY!

And on top of things every day since the house was cleaned have been gorgeous! Tuesday we spent the whole day moving manure and playing in the dirt and planting new seeds in my Mom's garden. Yesterday, the Man Child and I got up waaay before Bean and played in the morning sun. When she woke up, we had a brilliant breakfast followed by a nice walk around the neighborhood. We stopped into Pippi's to Pippi & Lil' Pip who decided to meet us at the Farmer's Market later that day. We actually managed to play and do some house work and take a nap(!!!) before we met our friends at the market. That was suuuuper nice! The girls both had their little trikes with trunks on them to keep the jam or cheese or berries that we got. They shared a cookie while Pippi waddled (oh man- i forgot to tell you when we were out, but the waddle is full on now! sooo cute, sorry... ;)) pregnantly along and lumbered under the massive body weight of 240 pound Man Child. AAAhhhhh motherhood. Then we went back to Mom's house, did some more gardening (if transplanting my ficus counts...?), watched Idol and went home... Glory.

I have come to the conclusion that sun makes me a better parent. Less likely to sit in front of the laptop all day. More likely to go outside and play!!! We have even been taking the dog for walks, sorta... she puls a lot so we got her a Holt face collar... I really hope it works.

See ya outside!