winter wonderland!

The woods bring us laughter, love, light, unity, community, cooperation, chills, heat, and much much more. And I'd lie if I did this all for my kids. There was a reason 12 years ago that  I graduated from college with an Outdoor Recreation Education degree! I do this for us. Whenever in doubt of the "why were homeschooling?" I just remind myself of our forest time. When Cedar began a Options (home school/school day once a week) the teacher asked him to draw about his favorite part of home life was. He drew a picture of the forest. I was filled up to see how much our time in the forest means to him. At times I need the woods to remind me that this is the foundation for all of our homeschooling or more simply put living.  I am most connected to my family, friends, myself, while amongst the snow caped mountains and  with chilly fingertips! This year has brought change. We have spent 2 years being in a decent rhythm with our school rituals. This year we have been religious with our forest time and a bit "unschooled" with our home time. We still enjoy Enki. We have begun our second grade curriculum We have spent the last few weeks working with Stalking Wolf and Native American Trickster Tales. I hope to capture all if this in a blog soon! As for today  it was a magical winter wonderland....we played with our dear friends in the fresh snow at Bear Lake. We built, re-built, and played in the igloo with my favorite peak in the distance.

We are thankful to have friends willing to romp. We are thankful for our Forest School community. We are so thankful to live in these beautiful Rocky Mountains!

 

Boy Friends

There isn't much I have to say about them that isn't already being shown. They are pure love. They are Soul mates as Guthrie's Mama said! They are full of love, life, fires, police, silly conversations,  no conversations, laughing, smiling. I love their Love! I love them. I'd love to have a friend that I could put my arm around all the time and know they wanted to as well. Friends that simply understand each other. I am so thankful that Orien has friend like this.

Little Girls

just a normal moment for Little T! Dressing up, playing with babies, and talking talking talking!

Soccer and Endings all too soon

Another week is amongst us. A week Cedar is definitely not ready for to end.  Fall comes, heat depletes, and were luckily left with green fields. Free to laughing, wrestling, running, kicking, guarding, happy 5-7 yr old. I am sad for us as a family. Saturday rituals of watching the Tigers play games. Chatting with other families, being apart of a friendly community.  I'm  the Mom on the sidelines, yes the loud cheerleader, the  one excited by every kiddos attempts!  Surprise I know! At times I try to keep my mouth shut but can't. It's those moments where I realize this is who I am ...I  am the one yelling, laughing and encouraging. (sorry parents who I am annoyed!!!) We will miss this fall tradition as the snows start falling and the fields turn brown. Where else can we watch kids soccer while Elk rutt and bugle feet away! Where else can we turn and see snow capped mountains while sipping hot chocolate and finishing another chilly soccer day!?

My boys Love soccer.

Cedar loves everything about the sport. From the endless running, dribbling, passing, and of course scoring goals!!!!  He is a team player. He is a talker and planner. He seems to get that at times better to do then expect others to do! He is a leader. A position I haven't seem his in until now. He has strategy, gets his teammates on the same page and goes. I have really enjoyed watching him bloom during this season. I stand strong  in our decision to keep him as a 1st grader this year. He has had the season to build self esteem, mature not only as a boy, but athlete and student.  He has gotten to feel old, and big Something he rarely feels wearing his baggy size 6 pants!!! I love seeing Cedar yell  out to us from the field  when he gets another point, showing with his fingers the score! Then he skips back to the middle for another kick off. It doesn't get any better for a Mama then seeing sheer bliss across my boys faces.

Orien has become a soccer lover as well. I expected no more then a free, happy Orien out on the field. I was shocked at the first practice when he had control of the ball and looked ever so confident cruising down the field. He scored his first goal in a game and is still grinning weeks later. He has strategy and confidence and I couldn't be more happy for him. He can stand in the goalie box  not intimidated, while I close my eyes as the balls come cruising near him! He knows the game, plays the game and ends everyday saying "Mom, I like Soccer!"

Winter came fast this season. After a week of frolicking in a carpet of colorful fallen leaves came this beautiful winter wonderland. It's funny how the forecast for snow mad me feel robbed of a full autumn, when my family awoke to fresh falling snowflakes there wasn't anything thing but pure joy!!! King winter made  a guest appearance with Autumn still shining, piled heavy, wet, snow and then escaped within a half days work! He had soccer cancelled, kiddos outside roasting hot dogs around a fire, and me finding the love for warm winter boots. So now with only a few hidden piles of snow, may we return to autumn! There is still piles of leaves to jump in, colors to collect and stash away for a grey midwinter day, and loose cool clothing to be worn! Welsome King Winter and good bye for now.

Just because I love this place

Cedar showing off the Tepee and the new weaved door he just made! unfortunately someone visited our forest days later, tore this down and used it for fire wood. The Kids were upset. We set out and found a new place to build and have been enjoying our space again.

The Screamin' Eamonns! Truthy excited to show off her frog. We left this AM for a dentist visit and I asked her what she might find in the treasure chest. She replied "A frog!" and lon-be-hold there was one!! Cedar found a hiking stick and Orien simply content to be in the forest!

new colors

A busy season of life is among us. Really the busiest season we hold. We try to get it all in from work, soccer, dance, school, adventures, home projects..and then we blink and the leaves have fallen and there is the first snow. I am trying to capture moments where we breathed a bit slower, wandered a bit deeper and relaxed in the last of the warm sun. We have started a new school year. Last year I felt so ready to blog our every days. Now I might just need to motivate a bit as to not miss the beginnings,  middle and ends of our many days. Cedar is 7. He is excited to be back with the Enki curriculum. We have finished out the end of 1st grade and are just beginning 2nd. He feels old and ready for new stories, drawings, etc.He is starting to enjoy taking the time to sound out words as well as recognize them when we read and write together. This is the beginning of our new year today! We are starting this week with our first cultural block. Native American/Apache culture. We have started with our trickster tales and will soon share some of his work. Our table is much more full. Full of 3 little people who all  insist in having a place while we school. I am having to breath in, add papers, colors, paintbrushes, stories to capture Truth, Orien and Cedar. Cedar is leaving the center of the school attention and now assisting me in Oriens school and keeping me from being annoyed at T's excitement to write, color, paint and simply be around us while we school!

Orien is beginning his K year with Enki, he is 5 and ready for some fun crafts and stories! I keep asking myself who is Orien going to be as we start this school adventure. It seems he's going to be my slow and steady little guy. He loves having his time to trace letters in the sand, write on the chalk board and grins whenever he has mastered a new letter to write or a shape coloring has come out as he wishes. On some many levels it feels like his 3rd year beginning for Enki as well! I keep noticing how much he needs to play with his body, balance doesn't come easy I think I will finally feel like the movements Enki offers will help him as immensely.. I love watching him grow into the calm, loving, gentle, boy.  Both boys are also going to Options, a home school program, held one day a week where they can be students in a school setting. They are in the same class K/1st grade.  Full day of Language Arts, group music/play, math and science...they love a day of social time and structure! It seems for one year we have twins! Playing on the same soccer team , attending the same school programs. I can already see the brotherly moments. Competition over girls???!!! Here we go.....

We have also begun to revisit or forest. It took 8 years of living up here, a dear friend to move too far to romp together weekly to visit the forests only minutes from our house. We have 2 places. One with tall grass, open fields, pines and rocks. The other Aspen groves that are endless! We have built a tepee and continue to revisit it often. When the leaves are falling I don't know where else I'd rather live then right here. Minutes from Aspens galore!

I can't find a more wonderful, joyful place to be!

When we crave peace it is still only found in the woods..and I am blessed to be able to seek these places so quickly.

A place we can dance, sing, wander, collect, build, track, find, live

She is Magical

Maybe it's the late night conversations in bed, or the endless meal stories. Possibly this all stemmed from that Question asked to myself weeks earlier, "What is your childs/childrens Birth right?"  Is it me choosing to be present. But I can't help but notice the magic in Truthys voice, her toes, her smile, her laughter, her body language.

 Everything is Magic. From her eyes gazing up at the sky noticing and asking "look mommy it is beautiful, who did this.?" (noticing the blue sky). Or the excitement from windows open as we cruise in  the truck and her love for WIND! I love her stories. I love her presence. I love that all she knows is the NOW. She doesn't remind me of yesterdays nor care about what is to come. I love her bold statements about "my feet are too little, I want yours." to "I am a girl, I like girls, Stella, Marley, Sally, they are my friends, they can all sleep with me!!!" But nothing gets better then watching her nurture her brothers, babies, stuffed animals....and saying 'I Love you..which sounds like "I wove you." She helps to keep me in check. To ask myself what could be more amazing then truly loving life. Pure happiness. Pure LOVE.

In Honor

A friend morns her loss today. And I honor a man I never met. We all have our family. Mine complete with my parents both happy, healthy folk. We have those blood relations that hold stronger then any other in times of happiness and crisis. And then there is friend family. The generation I'm in seems to hold strong friendships like family. They become our  extended sisters and brothers. Our kids Aunties and Uncles if you will. They hold the strength needed in friendship and the love needed in family. I am honored to have a great friend family as well. Today I honor my sister Sharp's papa. Her father I never meet but  know he must have been one heck of a man to have a daughter as solid as Sarah is. She is true to herself. She carries pure love. She shares her loud solid laugh, big beautiful eyes, her passion for life and others. I listened to her tales of the last year and a half. Of her father getting cancer. Of how he was/is a fighter for life, he fought hard for more days with his family. I have heard of all the many times Dr thought he couldn't fight more and for the many extra months he lived a joyful life. I sadly heard of his transitions in health over the summer. How Sharp sat by his side while he slept just to be with him. And I too crossed my fingers for many more days. And then like cancer does so well it ended his life. And again I have been shocked by how solid Sharp maintains everything. She keeps it in perspective. She celebrates and I imagine keeps her family going. So here is to you Papa Sharp. For a great life, and a great daughter..my sister Sharp. Today I hold a heavy heart but add a glass of wine and a positive light.

Forest School

" When we get out of the glass bottles of our ego,
When we escape like squirrels
Turning in the cages of our personality
And get into forests again,
We shall shiver with cold and fright
But things will happen to us
So that we don't know ourselves

Cool, unlying life will rush in,
And, passion will make our bodies taut with power,
We shall stamp our feet with new power
And old things will fall down,
We shall laugh, and institutions will curl up like burnt paper"
-D.H. Lawerence



Our Forest School. Our home in homeschooling. Our purpose for family time in this wild, open forest space. We have gathered for years now in this forest play. It has swayed from purposeful hikes with destinations, to a forest to simply exist in. It was our outdoor Enki classroom for a time. It was our Friday classes with Simon and Wild Earth's Children. It has been a place for Mamas to chat and kids to play. Over the years we have evolved. We have decided what makes this important. The community has changed. The reasoning new. This is our home. This is our treasure as a family. This is where we throw out the supposed tos of life truly use our intuition and go with the present with a plan for the future...A future plan with no time line. The purpose is simple to gather in the forest with a community that also craves, needs, makes it a commitment to there as well. Come rain, snow, hot sun, cool winds we will be there. We play, we wander, we plant seeds without a needed outcome. We taste the air like snakes, wander like deers, examine scat, follow tracks, build shelters, run, walk, hide, laugh, find pure silence and go back to our roots. We are alive and well. We leave filled up and crave our next visit to this magical place we have created. I am so blessed to have this place, these people, my family to share this with.

From Pasture to Plate

I am thankful for our land and space. I am thankful for living a true cycle of life with our flock of Freedom Ranger chickens. I am thankful for Organic farmers, healthy birds, and all who contribute to my families meals. We began eating meat as a family just about a year ago. As major as the transition we felt good about our decision. To buy local, farm raised, grass fed, pastured animals. We always feel good about supporting our local farmers market. We attempt to garden through the weeds that take over our veggies as well. We enjoy gathering fresh eggs daily and truly becoming one with our food. My kids love to farm. They love there animals, garden and  other farms we support. We decided after years of wondering  if we could process our own meat. Could we truly become one with our food. Would the raising of an animal create pets and not meals! Could we one day hunt as well?

And so it began. We ordered 50 Freedom Ranger chicks. They were shipped from a farm in Pennsylvania and the kids were in love. There soft little bodies only 2 days old. There little peeping sounds and waddling legs. We had a new family to care for! And if done correctly we'd be feasting all fall on these wonderful birds.

The chicks stayed warm in the coop. They survived under heat lamps for 4 weeks until they were ready for the Chicken Tractor. Our friends the Bailey's had hoped to be apart of these chickens lives, helping by making the tractor and in the end processing the chickens. By the time we headed to the tractor we had 47 chickens as a few didn't make it through the first couple days.

Our job got greater at this time. We were now protecting our chickens in a tractor from predators including our non-farm dog Nesta! They lived in the fresh pasture space. They were moved to another part of the yard daily to peck on fresh grasses and bugs. They all seemed quite happy. We learned quickly that quite possibly they were most at risk while we rolled the tractor to the new fresh spot constantly dealing with caught chicken legs. Other animals included the midnight resuce where Jody saved them from a Great Horned Owl,  We saved another from being pecked by her chicken friends..it ended up when we threw feed in was a job. If the feed landed on another chicken they would peck her for the feed and eventually kill her. Chickens are not smart was a repeated phrase around here for months. Nesta assisted in a few deaths on an evening we weren't home. A few others heat got to them..we lived and learned throughout those 8 weeks. We were ready to process by Sept 1st about 11 weeks from birth. Jody watched a bazillion YouTubes, the Bailey's helped gather supplies and on Labor Day we began the processing.

The kids seemed excited to help. To give thanks to these beautiful chickens for their wonderful meat. They did so, and wandered up the yard with the first 2 chickens. We took a moment to thank them, the boys turned and ran and the families began a long day of work. It truly was a smooth time. Our stations set-up, the chickens went from cones, draining blood, de-feathering, gutting to cooling baths and bagging. In all we successfully processed 37 chickens. We worked, feasted, worked again and feasted on 2 birds that evening.

With all said and done. A freezer full of plump, large, organic chickens I can definitely say I could do it all again. I am so thankful for this process and friends along the way who saved chickens, feed chickens, and helped us process them all!

Empty plates. Chicken gone!

Friend Family

Cedar and Benjamin at the Rodeo Parade

Old friends celebrating! Or as Sharp says my friend family enjoying time together...laughing harder then usual, dancing, eating, drinking, biking, enjoying the present times we have together!

We love our time with friends....

Happy Kids

Auntie Sharp and Truthy at Rockygrass

Mama Family!

Sharp and I

Summer Family

If I  had to sum up the our summer it would be simple....time spent with family and friend family! We always feel spoiled all summer with our MN travels, Music festivals, camping, parades, celebrations, and simply summer fun! Summer is my season. Hot, sunny, busy with friends, social, I LOVE SUMMER.

Love for Grandpa!

Mimi, the boys and cousin AZ swimming!

Mimi, Truthy and Orien out on the boat

Grandpa with the whole gang

Summer traditions....traveling to MN to visit family.....boating, swimming, eating ice cream, biking, Duluth, friends, more family time, humidity, sunshine, ponds, lakes, cities, we love our traditions!

Cedar and Grandpa bonded on bikes...they rode nightly all over Maple Grove

And then we enter the 4th of July! Always love seeing the kids so happy riding in the local parade and watching foreworks in Estes! And of course a little T-ball....the boys played on the same team and loved it.

Orien ready to bat

The 4th of July Parade

Cedar throwing in a ball from out field

Summer with Emily.

I guess you could say it was a fast, warm, playful, eventful, time for us. I apparently shut off the computer often enough to skip our life in a blog. Maybe these times away create a space that excites me to return. Fall always seems like a place of returning, organizing, planning, committing, changing. Our summer created our changes. Emily changed our family. We live in great space, high on the mountain side, a bumpy gravel road leads us there. We drive daily to visit town, play, socialize, rejuvenate via gym, toss a ball at T-ball. When we retreat we garden, play with chickens, mountain bike, hike, play...alone with Eamonn way. Then Emily moved in across the street. Cedar, Orien and Truthy were so ALIVE with a neighbor friend. Cedar fell in love with his perfect life....mountains, friends and neighbor. It has brought on big conversations of finding a neighborhood that will fill us up but not over do it. We aren't city folk, we like a little privacy, we like to know our community...and so Lyons will one day be our next  home.

Summer in a blurrr goes like this....Cedar turns 7!!!!!!



Cedar turns 7 Little House on the Prairie Style!




We built a Log Cabin like Pa for his Party!



Cedar and his new mountain bike



drowning

April showers bring May flowers. Isn't that how it goes? Or May showers and snow make for unhappy Mamas and crazy kiddos. As much as I love green grass, fresh dandelions, thunders storms, grey days, fog, cool rain, snow melting qquickly under my flip flop feet...Enough is Enough. We have spent too much time inside waking to cold mornings filled with snow, rain that never takes a break, and now sick people. This is my rant post! The hold back the tears, watch the rain fall, hold a fevering little girl and just wish it all away. I think the cure, puddle jumping if I had a friend to splash with! So to you mother nature I beg for a break. I beg for a arm sun, a dry day and a healthy family to enjoy it.

Cedar Dancing!

Dancing

Another year, another dance recital! Cedar and Orien both decided to dance again. In different classes both learning tap and ballet! They love it! Cedar is extremely focused, really want to learn how to do everything correctly. Orien likes class, likes to run and slide on his knees and play with the other little guy  in the class! They both made it on the stage! Cedar looks intense, moving at just the right time, excited every time he gets to perform! Orien is relaxed, waits for the girls to tell him what to do, never seems stressed or quit sure what will come next! Both boys Loved there year of dance!!!

5 and 3

A bit embarrassed, a bit exhausted, I finally find myself back here to my writing home base! Apparently life has been full, and full is always good until it runs over..and then well we must start fresh, rejuvenate, relax, breath and begin to fill it up again. And so it goes we are breathing ,resting, fighting off colds, cuddling under blankets while spring has a hard time sticking. When we were full we were over flowing with Birthdays, parties, traveling, camping, working, family visiting, and dancing, playing soccer and schooling!! I never complain as I apparently enjoy a bit of "over the top" activities. Today I am thankful for a moment to re-experience this last month and celebrate Orien and Truthy who have both celebrated another year of Birthdays. I feel shocked to have my youngest at 3 and my middle "school age"

Orien has bloomed into a sweet 5. He is our deep lover of the family. I think he loves his siblings more then they will ever understand. Cedar is his gold. His big brother that leads him to try most anything. At this point without Cedar, Orien wouldn't know what to wear everyday, whether to enjoy a particular toy, try a new sport etc..He simply LOVES Cedar and wants to be just like him! BUT he does have a boundary and when it comes to comfort he will still pull back and find his own groove. He wont be pushed past his physical comfort. He is still getting comfortable on his bike, or in a pool. What I have learned is that Orien enjoys doing and learning without anyone noticing. He on the other hand loves praise and cheering, but first must take the time to get comfortable in the element and then can enjoy the positive praise. And when it comes to the loves of his sister he is always there to give her a morning hug, a kiss when she is sad or hurt and will always play "kitchen, babies, mom and dad" I find him lucky to be in the middle. He can choose to go with Cedar and try out more extreme play or relax into Truthys room of babies and toys,and then he has always been good at leaving them both to do his own creative playing.  For the year it has been playmobiles, fire men, police men and farmers! He can fall into his conversations with is toys for hours and always has been able to enjoy his solo space. Orien is growing into a kind, gentle, silly, feisty (when hungry or sleepy) 5 yr old boy. He has started wanting to sit at the table during school time with Cedar and learn his basics...shapes, counting, coloring, letters and seems very happy next to Cedar! This next year is big and we all can't wait to see where Orien finds his place in it all!

Truthy turned the big 3. Maybe the hardest year for me to hear. There is just something about a 2 yr old that makes me think baby, but 3 is different. She is older, she is changing.She is independent, always was but now has a plan, a play of her own. She demands music to be played all day so she can dance away. She is a mama most of her days and has a dozen babies to take care.  From dressing, to feeding, carrying them, she is busy! She loves her siblings, love to jump in the trampoline, and I have noticed is always watching to mimic there every move in life. She is a social extrovert. She seems to make a new friend where ever she goes. From the random Dad at the soccer field to the kids playing around her she loves people! Truthy has added to the conversation in the car and now gets the boys all rattled up as she would like to talk most of the time! She loves girls, will always leave the boys when she finds a girl to play with! She loves tea parties, dresses that spin, dirt, worms, animals, sleeping with her mama, and still drinking milk from a bottle!

Orien celebrating his 5th Birthday with his friends bowling!

Sweet 5 and 3 cuddling together!

Truthy is 3!!!!!

Truth, Orien and Cedar happy in Arches Nationl Park. We took a camping trip to Utah between birthdays!

The Americal Dipper

Just another spring day to head to the woods. We seem to get into the Rocky National Park weekly. Our favorite place is Cub lake. Today we were thrilled with all the animals and springtime colors but nothing seemed to beat the dark grey bird playing in the creek. He would pump his legs, a sort of bounce, play above the water on logs and then disappear for a bit under water! The kids laughter was contagious and we couldn't help but come home and identify this little bird. The American Dipper. Cedar wanted to journal about this and the Robin as they were pleasantly bathing in some run-off puddles farther down the trail.

We were also excited to be greeted by a coyote as we entered the trail today. He was calm, beautiful, and slow but steady.

At the lake we spent plenty of time playing near this beautiful creek filled with bright colors and the last signs of winter ice.

We are excited for the springtime changes and welcome the sunshine and deep creeks that were snowy last time we visited.