Day 4: Compassion International

Colorado Springs is home to many churches and many non-profit organizations. I have been surprised how many mom's I meet at the playground or gymnastics who are quick to share their beliefs and happy to share their religious home. At first, I found this a bit  unnerving, so it was nice to explore one of the organizations today from a perspective that I absolutely share: sponsoring children in impoverished circumstances around the world. 





Before we went, Dustin shared some pictures from his mission to Mexico of people's small homes and mismatched clothes. He told a few stories about food, or lack thereof. Then, he told them that we were going to be able to walk through some spaces that would look very much like some of these homes. We would be able to hear the stories of another child's life somewhere in the world. And, we would be able to do that right here in Colorado Springs.



Enter Compassion International, a non-profit organization that has a home here in my home city. We wore headphones and heard the story of Julian, a girl who grew up Uganda in less-than favorable circumstances. We walked through a small space that was created to look just like her home and her school. It sparked some questions and good conversation. We have been talking about ways to instill more gratitude in our kids and also an outward reach in their hearts. We can't really afford to take our kids to Uganda, and it might be a little soon to immerse them to that extent in what life can be like for another human being, but I think we found a beginning.





P.S. Random fact - Dustin did the girls' ponytails. Cool, right? Claire thought so.

Day 3: I Might Live in a Cabin

I really, really love the view out the toy room window. I love feeling surrounded by rocks and trees, like I live IN the mountain. The weather in Colorado is wild and moody. If you look closely, you can see snow frosting the rocks along the waterfall midway through spring. Even though snow is not my favorite, I think the backyard is at it's finest when it is coated in snow with a herd of deer settled in to munch what is left of the ground cover.

And, I really love the kid sitting in front of the view. He's pretty squishy and spectacular.

Day 2: Mountain Song - Even the Name is Awesome

Claire's school is called Mountain Song. For my child who always has a song on her lips and is most at home on a hike in the mountains, the name couldn't be more fitting. This might be the number one reason for me to love Colorado Springs, and unlike the blossoms, it is unique to my town. It's a Waldorf charter school so instead of being a $6,000 - $10,000 a year in tuition, it is . . . . dun, dun, dun! FREE!

I mean, I'm not going to lie, there have been some roller coaster moments in this new school's life, but I feel beyond lucky that we have this option. I don't even know everything about Waldorf methods, but what I do know is that learning feels magical at this school and with this teacher. What I want to know is, why not? Why not choose magical over mundane?

This was Claire's class play performed tonight - The Root Children. It was 20 first-graders giving a group recitation of about 7 - 10 minutes with two songs interspersed. Below, that's Claire's very amazing teacher in the background congratulating another student on his performance as a snail. This teacher is completely genuine in his enthusiasm and love for the kids. He has fostered love, support, and trust between the kids in his class.

 We have met many like-minded families by participating in this community school. Claire has sweet friends, and they more than allow Avery and Blake to tag along in their adventures on the playground and farm after school. Yes, there is a farm at the school with pregnant goats, a gaggle of chickens, and several bunnies. The kids all participate in an agriculture arts class where they are up close and personal with the animals and the plants. Claire learned to finger knit this year in her handwork class. She made her own knitting needles. She comes home singing enchanting songs that they sing throughout the day - not just in music class. She, my bashful butterfly, performed in a class play.

Day 1: The Great Blossom Hunt

Today, we arrived at Claire’s school 10 minutes early. This is pretty much unheard of since we normally slide in 5 minutes late. Which, when did I become that person? Are you that person, too? Please, tell me you are. 

So, back to the story. Yesterday I had an epiphany, which led to us spending that gift of ten minutes on the Great Blossom Hunt of 2015. Basically, we spotted a pink blossoming tree down the street and we headed toward the loveliness passing a purple-doored home along the way. It was a lovely 15 minutes. Yes, I know we were only ten minutes early, but we really needed to be 5 minutes late since that’s protocol.

The short version of the epiphany is that after living in Colorado Springs for almost 3 years, I still don’t love it, and since this is most likely not a short stop on our life journey, well I need to love it. The epiphany is that if I find one new thing each day that I love about the Springs, well, after a year, I’ll love it. Don’t worry about the logic. Just go with it. 

I find a lot to love out my car window on the 20 minute drive to our elementary school. And, lately, it’s been the bountiful blossoms in Old Colorado City, specifically the bouncing pink blossoms on the gray gnarly tree branches. They are breathtaking, happy, hopeful, and heavy at the same time.

It’s probably not even fair to start with blossoms considering they aren’t unique to Colorado Springs, but these are lovely, aren’t they? 

1 down. 364 to go.

Painting, Halloween, and Bears, Oh My!

I just finished painting the dining room a creamy white or as the card says, ‘courtyard tan.’ I really wanted to paint it a dramatic dark, dark teal, but Dustin vetoed that idea quickly. So, cream. We’ll see. 

It felt good to finish something. I’ve really struggled lately with the nature of my position as a housewife. My work is just never, ever done. Painting a wall did a lot to remedy that.

Remember last October I posted this picture on this blog:

Well, here’s this October:

Can you believe that? So much more happens in the life of a child in one year than in adult lives, don’t you think? I mean, Blake was barely a bean, and now, look at him!

Also, Halloween and bears. So, on Halloween Dustin was out-of-town and the afternoon just dragged into eternity for my excited 5 and 3-year-old. I mean, percentage-wise, those 6 hours between school and trick-or-treating. Well, they are just so long. Finally, (finally!), we were putting on costumes – giraffe heads, and jaguar ears and whiskers and LOTS of lip gloss because, well, because we can, and fifteen more minutes of waiting seemed completely unbearable now that my little animals were all dressed up. I heard neighbors calling to each other out in the cul-de-sac, so I sent Claire and Avery out to wait with them (we were planning to go with them anyway). Out they went with breezes of excitement swirling all around their fresh little faces.

I mean, I’m sure the bears felt them coming from all that excitement.

Yes, bears! (Probably these very same bears who were in our trash the day before:)

I proceeded to gather last-minute items and dress Blake as a monkey. Then, I hear a shout, and I feel the breeze of excitement rush into the front door in an explosive burst of WINDY excited fear.

“Mom! There’s a bear!” Claire exclaimed.

I poke my head out and hear the neighbor shout:

“Sally! The mama bear and her cubs are going up Margaret’s driveway!”

I turn my head and in the dusky light see that big mama bear and her rowdy cubs lumbering up my next-door neighbor’s driveway. The very neighbor that I was meeting up with to trick-or-treat at that exact time. 6:30.

I shut the front door with force simultaneously realizing that I had literally just sent my children out to 

the bears.

Just breathe, right?

After some phone discussions and waiting and watching, we decided to venture out as planned in our very large trick-or-treating group. I waited at the front of Margaret’s (do you recognize her name? she just had BEARS in her driveway) front stairs with Blake in his stroller. The girls went inside.

The breezy excitement encompassed the adults as well. Only it was very tinted with a jumpy fear, so when another neighbor trudged up the drive to trick-or-treat, I sensed before I saw:

The MAMA bear is back. She is coming down the driveway of Margaret’s neighbor straight toward me and baby Blake!

What have I done?! My baby and I are right in her path! So, I grabbed Blake’s car seat and ditched the stroller and we went inside, too.

How was trick-or-treating for you?

P.S. We did go trick-or-treating after all, but when we left the group a little early because our kiddos are the youngest, well, that walk back to our house. .  . It was a little more spooky than a  normal Halloween if you know what I mean.

Chocolate Chips and Miniature Marshmallows

The other day I watched Hitch. You know, with Eva Mendes and Will Smith. About 2/3 of the way through the movie, Eva Mendes’ character is alone in her apartment. She is feeling sorry for herself after she blew it with such an amazing guy, so what does she do? She curls up on a chair to watch a chick flick with her favorite treat.

Spray whipped cream.

That’s right. She isn’t binge drinking. She isn’t downing a panful of brownies. She is spraying whipped cream into her mouth between scenes of the movie looking utterly miserable. It caused me to wonder. Was that really her favorite treat? Or, was the miserable aspect of her evening forcing her to find whatever she had on hand which happened to be whipped cream?

These are the things I think about.

You’re welcome.

When I am finally alone, during school maybe. Or maybe when I can hide for a few minutes at one end of the house before the girls catch up with me, I sometimes sneak treats, too. This also goes for feeling miserable. I sneak treats then also. Only I don’t choose whipped cream. I usually choose miniature marshmallows and chocolate chips. Dustin still wonders why I don't just buy M&M's, but you know, I can buy chocolate chips under the guise of someday maybe making cookies. I even serve them to myself in a measuring cup to keep up the facade of baking. You get it, right?

What about you? What’s your secret treat? The one you don’t want to share. The one that you don’t offer to guests because it’s not meant to be a stand-alone snack?

Come on. You know you want to tell us.

It Turns Out Flowers DO Grow in Colorado . . . .

Hello again. I’m back after a 4-month hiatus. It was unplanned except that I had a third baby (his name is Blake) and got lost in the depths of his squishiness. See:

In August, the girls and I picked sunflowers along the roadside.

Blake rested peacefully in his car seat while we gathered handfuls of the goldenrod-colored flowers. The afternoon sunlight glowed off the faces of my children. Claire and Avery were disappointed to find that those beady, black ants liked the flowers as much as they do. They have quite the insect aversion right now. Still, they both had fistfuls of daisy-sized sunflowers by the time we moved on.

All summer throughout the Springs, I noticed sunflowers along the roads, and I remembered my April declaration that there were still no flowers here in Colorado. I wasn’t sure if I would see any at all, and I was most definitely not sure if I would create any roots that would compare even to the non-existent flowers.

Then, I noticed some large purple bushes pretty much everywhere. It turns out that the deer don’t eat the yellow or purple flowers, so they survive. The deer gobble up everything even things they technically aren’t supposed to like at all, like tulips. So, even though I think having deer right outside my windows is pretty awesome, when the green leaves FINALLY started growing in June, I am not ashamed to say that when I saw a deer eating them, I went and threw rocks ‘near’ the deer just to let it know – “These are MY leaves. Go back to the mountains for you OWN leaves.” Then I remembered that I live in the mountains and the deer were here first. SO. 

 Flowers are here in Colorado after all. And, even though I spent the weekend in Seattle realizing even more strongly how I miss it, maybe, just maybe I will blossom here in Colorado as well.

What do you do when you're homesick?