meet Rupert

Yes we adopted a sweet 4 month old puppy the breed: Cane Corso (Italian Mastiff) from the humane society! He is a big sweet heart..and all puppy..ready to chew,chase, run, sleep, eat, ride, chew, chew!!! He is truly a lover and we are so excited to have him. The kiddos love him as well..and when I said he was going to grow BIG Cedars response.."like Clifford??" So here's to fun puppy times, training, and wandering in the woods with one more on the team!

Turning Three

I am blown away that another year has passed with Orien in our lives. Again I think just yesterday I was holding a 10lb baby in my arms, watching Cedar walk into the hospital room looking so "big" and now Orien is 3!! And so I use this excuse to write to you Orien

Dear Orien,

A million happy Birthdays to you. You have changed in so many ways yet you still maintain the same sweet, compassionate, loving, kind, son, brother animal lover you were the minute you were born!! Yes you have grown like a weed. In fact you and your brother now share all of your clothes. You are very particular about your clothes..you only like comfy wind pants, shorts, zip-up PJ"s...and your pick of shirts!! You refuse to wear cords, tight pants and overalls you despise!! You have had 1 haircut and say you never want another!! You love you pair of "soccer" shoes and run around singing little made up songs to go with that like " i have soccer shoes..do da"

Orien you are such a loving guy. You always ask how others are..you sill enjoy a morning of cuddling when we aren't up at 6AM!! You LOVE tiny things. For your birthday you got 6 tiny horses in a pouch along with other plush animals and you haven't stopped carrying the horses all day!! You also love books and tiny book are best. You have a little hand sized book about Santa which by far is your favorite! I hear you reading to yourself so much! Curious George is another series you enjoy!! You can play for hours with little plush animals talking to them and telling great stories. You think pockets are amazing..I have heard you stop a dance class to tell Mrs. Suzanne " I have pockets" You are always making up little tunes to sing about your world!! I hear you say so many times a day " I love you Truth, I love you mommy/daddy. I love you Rupert (the new puppy).etc...you are simply filled with Love..and I consider it to be unconditional!! You love Cedar, enjoy playing with him and no matter how many times he is rough with you, you LOVE him:) And whoever EataFeta is you and Cedar constantly talk about her/It!!!!!

Orien we love watching you become more and more yourself and comfortable with the world around you. You now enjoy exploring in the woods, making "soup", sawing wood with your buddy Guthrie, and especially love snacking away, while sitting by a creek! You are independent, you tend to roll with yourself first and when you are in the modd join the others and "big" boys. You don't mind alone time, infact when you are having arough time you do best with your bear bear, a book and your bed.

Orien you have a sweet tooth..I don't know where you get that from!!! I think you could nibble chocolate all day if it was around!! For your birthday today you decided on cheesecake. We just returned from the Cheesecake Factory where you gobbled strawberry cheesecake sharing plenty with Truth!!

Dear Orien there are so many stories I would love to write about..endless really. In the end we LOVE you so much and are honored to be apart of your life. I can't wait to watch you grow throughout the next yr. May you continue to wander your own path, filled with joy, singing,love, friendship, storytelling and many new adventures!! Happy third Birthday Orien Aatmaani Eamonn

In Enki Style

Signs of spring are popping up in the Rockies. From the Pask flowers, to the crazy 3 footers of snow followed by the 70 degree days, to the vibrant green in the woods. It is definitely spring. With Spring has also come the beginning our our home school Enki journey. We celebrated with our friends the Manzellas on Easter weekend to welcome springtime, bunnies and more importantly the new beginnings that come with getting older! Cedar and his friend Emmett had a small ceremony marking the beginning of schooling! It is was sweet, mellow and simple.

And then with that came the beginning of more rhythms to spell out the days. Each morning the kids rise, sing there meal blessing, feast, sing there "get dressed" song and prepare for Mom to begin Circle Time.Cedar is always excited and ready to sing, skip, balance, and do anything new that comes with the Circle. In our circle we are welcoming spring time with windows opening, walks in the mountain to find signs of worms, birds returning..and we progressively trot like horses, rise like seedlings into plants, storm on the gardens, gallivant the valley, and eventually end the evening in time for the Star fairies to welcome the night. We decided to join Emmett and family for our first C0-op adventure time...It was wonderful the woods welcomed so many spring signs, and the natural world left the rest of the exploring up to the boys all with such great movements and obstacles to get there bodies and brains chiming together. I for see many visits to the woods, Co-op adventure style.

All in all I feel so lucky to have been introduced to such a warm curriculum. I love that the kids enjoy every moment of here days. I feels so much more present in there lives, and feel blessed to have others to share the joy of homeschooling with. The sun is shining, and the adventures are on there way out the door.

Mary on the Mountain

My family just returned from a mini road trip to Montana. What really happened on this trip was a mini time warp back to my college days of listening to Chris and Johnny. These 2 folk artists grew up in Montana but spent many years in MN for college and music touring...and so just about every song they have written relates to I-90, Montana, Montana passes, rivers, places to stay etc...Sorry for Jody who has never taken to them!! We spent a couple days in an old miners town Butte. Really could have passed the town and wouldn't have minded..but that is where we made our stay as Jody was working on the trip helping to open a new store. So myself and the kids swam in the hotel pool, drank Starbucks, and swam some more. As our travels were coming to end we stopped once more at the Starbucks for the "get us out of town drink"..and as we waited for our drinks Jody pointed out the "Mary" statue in the mountains.and I then took my only picture on the trip. There she was, as Cedar later called her the "the white angel, Jesus mom" And thus the rest of the trip spent listening to Chris and Johnny and remembering the "good old days!" I found of copy of the last show and lyrics Chris and Johnny sang this song

"spoken to audience) Well, in Butte, Montana, they've, uh, in the, in the late eighties they built this big statue of Mary and they call her Our Lady of the Rockies and they put her on top of this mountain and, uh, you can't help but see her, anywhere you are in Butte you see Mary looking down on you and, uh, when you drive into Butte, you know, from wherever you're driving in from, you see Mary watching over the town, and uh, I think to some people it's a comforting thing. Uh, it's not, To me. (audience laughter) And uh, I couldn't help but write this song for Mary. It's called Mary on the Mountain.

Someone must've needed guidance On a very grand scale And now if you stumble out of any bar on Broadway She will be there looking down at you' Cos Mary's on the mountain.They made her over a hundred feet tall And almost half as wideThey gave her a robe of brilliant white And now you can see that there's no doubt That Mary is on the mountain.And the children ask their mothersWith more than a little fear,"Does she like it up there in that place?And is she happy? I can't see the faceOf Mary on the mountain."And the mothers tell their children,"You be sure you understand She's frowning when you deceive...She's smiling when you believe In Mary on the mountain."

(instrumental)

And all through high school she was thereAlways in the back of your mindIf you did something you knew wasn't rightYou made sure you did it out of the sightOf Mary on the mountain.Oh, but we did our share of drinkingAnd we had our share of funWhen we rode the truck out on County OneNo-one was there to see what we had doneBut Mary on the mountain.

(instrumental)

Last Friday night we climbed up thereTo the place where she standsAnd jumped over the fence and found our way through[?]The forbidden door, and up we climbedthrough Mary on the mountain.And sooner than we thoughtWe had reached the very topBut there was only darkness all aroundShe had no eyes-- you couldn't see the townFrom Mary on the mountain.We tried so hard to be perfectAnd we tried so hard to be kindShe couldn't see nothing for all this timeMaybe, my friend, we're just as blindAs Mary on the mountain."
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