Sunday, October 26, 2008

sherpa dog

our sweet sherpa dog is very sick right now. it's such a long story but the quick of it is that he's at the vet getting IV fluids and insulin shots round the clock. he was diagnosed with diabetes on wed. morning early after losing about 19 lbs in 3 days. we are praying, seeking wisdom and every written word on rottweiler diabetes. join us.

Monday, October 20, 2008

iris is here!

sisters being silly
loving each other.
so fun.my best friend gave birth to her fifth babe at her house last wed. night. it was an amazing birth in so many ways. my dear friend was brave and flexible through a labor that would ebb and flow. she even took a one hour hike through the woods with her hubby and i right before transition! her babe was born gently into the hands of a skilled CPM (Certified Professional Midwife). It was an honor to be by my friend's side. She helped me through a tough labor earlier this year. What a privilege to be her friend and to watch our babes be born! she likes elephants almost as much as i do. see her littlest babe (7 lbs 4 onz at birth) in the little elephant outfit below!
my future in-laws.
the newest babe, iris paxton!

Monday, October 13, 2008

reading, being outside and not online

when i am away from blogging, posting on mothering.com and drooling over etsy, you can bet that i am a busy person as these are my three fave online activities as of late. instead, i have been spending time playing with the babes and our friends outside or inside reading books and organizing our house a bit.

playing outside this past weekend happened at a handmade parade in a small town near us. many of the puppets from the paperhand puppet intervention were in the parade along with lots of masks made by individuals. i loved seeing the mamas with babies in carriers as they marched through the streets. in a larger town near us, there is a huge park next to my college. an API festival was held there across the way from "kids for obama", which we also visited. i have no intention to take part in the political process via voting, but it was fun to see all the different stations that were set up. at one, we listed all the states that we have visited which was about 32 or so. ez decorated a obama campaign fan with glue and stars then colored a picture of his face. "is that obama, mama?" yep! we considered the train but chose paddle boats as we had never done these together. now, i have some fame when it comes to paddle boats. when i was in 8th grade, my friends (wendy, stacy and michelle) and i were in a commercial for a lake/waterpark. i was in the paddleboat on one shot. yeah, the autographs have never stopped since that commecial broke, as you can imagine. wonder how life has been for the other girls since then. e jumped back and forth in the paddle boat, really enjoying herself. later, e rode in a little boat but got out screaming b/c another kid was placed in it with her. the train ride was too long for us so we went home after that.

i am reading a few books right now. i just finished, 'la partera' which is the story of a new mexican midwife in rural NW part of the state. interesting story of her life.

'the year of living biblically' by aj jacobs is a page turner even if parts of it piss me off. i am learning a lot about judaism and the old testament right now. the parts that anger me are mainly his parenting. he choses to physically hit his child with a padded bat of some sort. it bothers me that he hits his child at all but to do it for the sake of an experiement (following the verses of the bible) that will earn him money (book sales) makes me sick. i almost stopped reading and returned the book. but, perhaps i am looking for repentance from him about this later and willing to wait. i know that he is trying to LITERALLY follow the bible but to hurt a child is not okay! he says that his son thought it was funny and a game. thank god for that! let's home jacobs quit before his kid really figured out what was going on.

in the introduction, he refuses to get in the way of his wife and her epidural citing this as something he won't consider to be following the bible literally when it mentions pain in childbirth. i don't want to be judgey about the use of pain meds in labor or birth. that's not really the point i want to make. let me just speak from my own times becoming a mama. i saw the births of my girls as a spiritual experience where i had the opportunity to identify with christ as well as trust god deeper. so, it bother me that he's intentionally seeking god in all ways, except for childbirth. if a person has no interest in having a spiritual experience that is one thing but this guy totally decided to exclude labor and birth from the year long journey he's on. it's not just the epidrual praise that bother me as much as ruling labor and birth out of the picture. i am not finished with the book yet, so we'll see if his attitude about labor and birth do change.

'the messies manual' is another book that it totally motivating me to do that whole organizing bit you read about earlier. woo hoo! i am trying to spread this book out b/c every time i read it, i am inspired to clean or organize or even do both!

Monday, October 6, 2008

fall planting

about a month ago, we planted our fall garden. i cut down all the tomato plants then hubs tilled them into the soil. he did that based on recommendations from the farmer's market vendors. we planted a patch of lettuces (not pictured here) which the deer have already sampled for us. we also planted lavender, thyme, kale, cabbage and collards. I got seeds for carrots late but never planted them. could i still? it's rather warm here even now so maybe i will try.
the bear in the van, eating beads from ornamentea.
lavender, thyme, kale, collards and cabbage
my little garden fairy
everything in the ground!
hubby cut down some tree limbs and made them into blocks and logs for e to play with outside.