An ode to 2013

This was a good year.  In fact, every year is a good year…but these past few years with this family of mine just gets better and better.  Over the past few days I have found quiet moments to reflect.  Last year at this time I was revealing changes of a new job and my departure from being a stay at home mom.  This has been a challenge and a blessing.  Being a full time working mama has brought Aaron and I back to what I would call an even playing field - we are co-parenting together to the best of our abilities and what seems like living on the edge of every waking moment.  However, I am tired - or maybe we are both tired - of the daily grind.  I grimace at the though of our weekday schedule.  With those feelings has brought some resentment toward work, starting after the new year I will be working 3 days instead of 5 - which I hope will be the right thing for all of us.

This year I have watched Isabelle take giant leaps and bounds.  We have watched her go from not talking to a single adult in preschool to being referred to as a "chatty cathy" at her new Kindergarten.  She is loved and cared for in her new school and it is everything I could have asked for.  I had much reservation over public schools - this school and her teachers have restored my faith in public schools.  I know each year will bring new challenges and we will take them in strides, but I am so happy that she is where she is right now.  It is perfect.

Owen blows my mind daily.  His smile face is infectious.  His language in the past month has exploded and his cheery "yah" melts me every time.  He is two, and we are covering "two ground" lately - tantrums and sleep issues alike….we try to remember that this too will pass.  He has an inability to sit, wants to leap off anything and is ready for an adventure.  He willfully follows his sisters orders and is the best snuggler I know (on his terms of course).

And there is Aaron, this man who puts up with me.  This past year he has published a great article, has been interviewed on the radio, has been offered a tenure faculty job and has been the best father I could have asked for to our children.  I am so proud of him.  He works his ass off and he deserves it all and more.  As we ruminate over where the next year will take us I know he feels the weight of his role in this family and I try to gently remind him that it will all be okay - really it will.

And lastly, there is one more family member that I must mention…or rather introduce.  A very tiny little person who has been making me feel quite nauseous over the past three months.  Yes a very tiny little person grows and so does our family.

***

There are many moments of 2013 that I am cherishing, far too many to fit in one post. 

Until next year friends. 

4 a.m.

I swear the time change sucker punch hasn't faded.  Owen is consistently still waking up at 4 a.m.  This, my friends, is brutal.  Some mornings I can convince him to sleep a little longer,  but for the most part we are up and at it filling his belly with "ceaweal".  The boy does love a bowl of cereal and considering I am unable to hold my tired head up for anything more "elaborate" cereal is a blessing.  I consider myself to be a morning person, but 4 AM…c'mon…throw mama a  bone.  

It isn't long before we are joined by a girl with bed head…and on this particular morning we all indulged in a little cinnamon bun (made mostly the night before…) - of course after the first round of cereal.

a tree

Yes, a twig would certainly not do this year.  No, Owen has enough sense (I think) to not pull the entire thing down (however he is forever rearranging the low hanging ornaments…this must be his job) and Isabelle was less than impressed with our charlie brown style cutting from last year.  Yes, this year a tree will do just fine.  Our home is warm, smells of christmas and holiday tunes are always in the background.  With a holiday vacation in sight, a new nephew on his way into the world, and oh so much to be thankful for this year - I do say 2013 has been filled with many triumphs and there is so much we all already anticipate in the new year.

around the snowy corner

Owen, my dear little man, you are as sweet as the sky.  On these last few days of being one I am remembering how much I couldn't wait for you to arrive.  How you kept us all waiting and how as soon as you entered this world I knew you from another.  I can not believe two is around the snowy corner.  I am so happy you chose us…you are a force to be reckoned with and a tiger that will never be tamed…you are just perfect and we love you so.

oh yes, very thankful

There are two things that I am ever grateful for, these two smiles.  There is nothing quite like them- I swear they could turn sour milk sweet.  

We had a spectacular holiday week with family and friends, we ate too much good food and binged on Hitchcock & Bond movie marathons - yes it was a good fattening weekend.  And now, back in Vermont, we are slowly getting back into the swing of the daily routine (easing into the transition with a sick day…what else?) and counting down the days to the next holiday gathering.  24 more days!

a tiny glimpse

Ok so, I am in no better blogging shape than I was last week.  My camera, she collects dust these days, and inspiration to write is bleak.  I think mainly because there are many things floating so dramatically through my brain right now.  Want a glimpse…?  Read on.

photo credit to isabelle…. me trying to catch a nap…how silly mama is

Aaron traveled many days over the last few weeks - 5 days here, 3 days there, and another 5 days…all this spread over just a few weeks.  It was exhausting for both of us.  I often joke that it is easier solo parenting because you have no expectation of what the other person is going to do…but that is just that…a joke.  I have no clue how single parents do it - and no desire to find out.  I love Aaron and while co-parenting is challenging on its own level, single parenting I feel must be impossible.  I digress, one of Aaron's trips was to Georgia for an interview.  Georgia and interview in one sentence, ugh.  Yes, most of you already know - for those of you in remotely close distance I have likely drummed on and on about my anxiety about moving South (sorry you have to hear it again).  The interview went great and of course he has been offered the job.  And in the most ambiguous academic way he hasn't exactly been offered anything official as they are still trying to figure out if we are serious about the position.  I guess there is a lot of unofficial bargaining that happens before an official contract is written up.  The figures that have been exchanged are compelling, to say the least.  I believe we can do anything, as nothing is permanent.  We can always choose to do something else, take another path if this path doesn't fit.  I remind myself this could be an amazing experience.  But my heart hurts thinking about moving around my small family.  This small family of mine has little roots in this cold Vermont soil and pulling them out will shock us a bit.  I know with a little water and warmth those roots will set again…but it doesn't mean it won't be challenging.  And potentially even more challenging, the thought of having to do it again in another 4 or 5 years.

I don't know if we are going to move to Georgia.  Not knowing is my least favorite part.  There is much to discuss and a whole lot of ignoring happening.  A visit is in the works, tickets will be purchased and  I can only hope Tifton, Georgia has more to offer than I think it does.  Georgia isn't the only thing on my mind these days - but I will hold off on sharing anymore until the time is right.

We are here

We are here, alive and well.  Will hopefully be back to blogging next week. For the moment we are just trying to get through our days with our sanity.  Will be back soon... Promise....

a magical place

Inevitably, after a long weekend filled with several photographic moments lost, I am left with searching through my iphone to come up with something to share (visually).  Our little home was bursting with life all weekend, overnight visits with family and friends family, freezers filled with plump chickens, a kitchen that did not stop working all weekend...oh my all that food was just scrumptious, oh yes and lots of laughter  (there is never a shortage of laughter with this bunch).  I often wish I could just scoop up all my friends and family and plop them onto a few hundred acres of land.  There (in this magical place) we would build homes together, snuggle each others babes, grow food, tend animals, learn from each other, and support each other.  I know why this can't and likely will never happen - in the mean time I will cherish the moments we have together and keep hoping for that someday commune to work out...

...until next time

exhausted

    

I'm not sure if it was the hours of whining in the car or the endless nose faucets of green snot....but I sure am exhausted...and I'm sure so are my parents.  We decided to pack up and head South for a last minute visit with grandparents & great grandparents.  There was a trip to mystic aquarium, some binge doughnut eating at Clyde's cider mill and a little catching up with my grandparents.  Three cheers for a action packed weekend...now lets rest and recuperate for round 2!

a few moons ago

A few moons ago I found this little gem by way of a friend and a local list serve.  I jumped on the email and expressed interest and was told it was unavailable due to many interested buyers.  Disappointed - I admit.  A few days later I got word that my friend had been next in line (as there were several people who backed out) and that she her self was also going to back out.  Anyways....long story short - I had on my hands the opportunity to buy an old Ashford Traditional spinning wheel (circa...early 90's I think) for $40.  I deliberated over night, my husband sure that I didn't need to acquire yet another crafting hobby...but alas, woke with the ultimate decision that this was too good of an offer to pass up.  And well...to say the least...i don't regret this decision one bit.  After fixing her up (I sunk maybe $25 more into her) I am happy to report she is spinning (or maybe I am spinning).  And I am falling in love...with yes...another..."crafting hobby".

I was fortunate in that I found a few local spinners who were all too eager to have a newbie join them and last night I finished my very first bobbin.  There is much to know about this sport... I am merely at the tip of the ice burg...and oh it is so exciting!

So today...i thank the universe, my friends who declined to purchase her and myself...for allowing myself to clutter another corner with crafty goodness...

ingredients

An early morning walk to visit the baby cows, taking time to throw leaves, counting pumpkins, gathering fallen apples, throwing fallen apples at to our pigs and finding a missing hen.  All the ingredients to a perfect morning with my little people.  

oh yes...and remembering to tote my camera along...yes that helps too!

Sweater complete!

Sorry, this picture may not do justice to her...but this is (drum roll please)....my first sweater!  She has been done for about a week now but I have been waiting for just the right day to wear her.  And today, with our first of many frosts, I knew it was the day!  I promise for better pictures in the future...but I am just not the type to say "hey aaron could you take pictures of me in my new sweater while i pretend to do farm work"....yes that photo would be lovely...but I am way to awkward for that.  And since this projects completion my hands are still busy...another hat in the works and a some ultra soft merino wool awaits me for.... you guessed it...another sweater!  Yes...this weather is just perfect for knitting!

that hair

We had a good go...that hair.  But alas, after far too many "oooo she's so cute" encounters - it was time.  And thankfully my sweet neighbor lui came over and did the honors.  No matter how uneven, long or short...Owen will always melt my heart.

a dirty snout is a happy snout

Oh those pigs.  They have been the source of much entertainment lately.  After digging up the remainder of our potatoes we had a path to let the pigs enter the big back garden.  And oh my, they are enjoying their new terrain.  They have been romping back and forth, tearing down the (small) corn field and have practically turned over all the squash and tomatoes (the pumpkins/butternut squash and watermelon are still safely on the other side of the electric fence).  They are the perfect pasture rotatilling machines....and they just look like they are having fun while they do it.  I love that our pigs always have a dirty snout from digging up earth, that they have space to run like fools, and that they have each other to scratch up against and to lay beside under the cool evening sky.  This is how an animal should be raised...with gratitude and respect.  And that is what I have for them, a lot of gratitude and respect.    Like those potatoes that will be stored in our neighbors cool basement and those shelves of canned tomatoes, beets, carrots and beans...there will be pork in our freezer (along with many many chickens).  And when you can't even pretend to be able to afford quality humanely raised meat products at your local grocer..this is a very good thing.