Little Bo Peep, where are your sheep?


I had to make chicken and spelt dumplings; can you see the perfect marriage of Seattle and the South?


We had baby twin boys from Bellingham in our house. How holy is that?




Rob, AKA Mr. Rogers



Seeing our kids walking hand in hand down a dirt path through the woods is heaven to us. I don't think Rob will ever tire of taking pictures of them...

The Same Wavelength

Considering the amount of time we spend together, it is really no surprise that Jasper and I are frequently on the same wavelength. This manifests differently at different times - sometimes he offers a pre-emptive strike when I have something in mind to do that he doesn't care to do. For example, I'll be planning a trip to the gym, and he offers out of the blue, Momma, I don't like to go to the gym; I like to go to Grandma Gloria's house. Sometimes he vocalizes a thought I just had. Yesterday, we were in the kitchen pleasantly discussing matters at hand, such as carrot peels. This is shortly after I did the "Ode To Rob" post on the blog. Jasper takes the conversation in a different direction as he says this, in monologue style (I wrote it down verbatim at the time since it seemed an appropriate addendum to yesterday's post):

"I love my daddy.
My daddy is at work.
I miss that guy.
He will come back.
He's dressed.
Nice to meet you."

With that said, both Jasper and I got our druthers this morning since I went to the gym and he went to Grandma's house. He loves it there. I loved my Nia class. Nia is a conscious, fluid, led dance class where the moves are designed to lube up all your joints and also allow you to physically, creatively express and explore different feelings and ways of being through dance. Sometimes during class and always towards the end, Jennifer, the teacher, says "Audible exhales are very welcome here." And the room fills with the sound of breath going out. And I find it really is a nice thing to do occassionally -- just breath out, loudly. I feel my shoulders relax when I do it, I feel my breath become a little deeper and more satisfying, and I get a cool little vibration in my breastbone that reminds me that everything is connected to everything else. Try it - what do you think?

Rob

I love Rob's photography. Well, I just plain old love Rob. He's a great guy. Really an artist at heart. But also a very down-to-earth fellow who genuinely loves to work hard and help out any way he can. And an amazing Dad. Lucy and Jasper adore him. You should hear the hot air balloon stories he tells them most nights - usually at Jasper's request. The hot air balloon usually lands in our backyard and then the children and Rob go on an adventure - they have been all over as far as I can tell - from a friend's house across town to Africa. It was a brilliant move on his part - he can keep telling variations of the same story - so he doesn't have to wholly invent something every day, but there are plenty of riffs he can go on that keep it interesting.

And he loves those children so much. The love just radiates from him and colors his every moment with them - from the second Jasper and he head into the kitchen together to make breakfast all too early until the last goodnight kiss he gives Lucy after their bedtime story time. And don't get me started on the deep well of patience he draws on - you who have or have had or even have been around young children know what I'm talking about. I too often find I'm scraping the bottom of my patience barrel while Rob is sitting there with a huge bottomless vat.

And while I am on this Rob-a-thon, can I just add that he made the most heavenly soup on Sunday? That guy chopped and prepped for hours, cooked each ingredient to its just right perfection, and we were all rewarded for his efforts. The soup sang with flavor and vegan creaminess and every bite had a melange of soft enough, not too mushy deliciousness... I feel blessed and humbled to be sharing my life with him and to be sharing the job of parenting Lucy and Jasper together. It isn't always easy, but overall, it really works for me.

A Birthday Present

Last Saturday, we were all in the mini-van on our way to visit friends in Woodinville, about a half an hour from our house. Lucy had brought a small ball of beautiful green and blue yarn with her that she wanted to finger knit into a belt. She'd decided that she wanted to make a belt for her teenaged cousin Olivia, who lives in Alaska and who we'd visited last summer. Lucy remembered that Olivia had made a pink bracelet for her, plus she had just enjoyed spending time with Olivia. Lucy finished fingerknitting quite a nice sized belt for Olivia during the trips to and from Woodinville. Then the next day, with Rob's help, Lucy wrote Olivia a note and packaged up the belt for Olivia and mailed it off.

It was only just now that I vaguely remembered seeing in my desk calendar that Olivia's birthday was recently. I took a look and in fact Olivia's fourteenth birthday was last Saturday also, the very day Lucy made the belt for her. Lucy tells me she had no idea. But I am a magical thinker (I can't seem to help this...) and I think Lucy knew...

2008 Natural Wonders

Lucy builds her fairy garden


That pleases Jasper

What do those eyes see?

A New Year's Eve trip to the park. A joint family party, 5 yr old style.





Lucy enters the secret garden

Little birds in our nest

Tumbling down a rocky crag

Fording a mighty river

Uh, how did Dad's hat end up on Jasper's head?? Poor Dad, always losing his hats...

We celebrate the new year with painted faces.

End of Year Farmer and Food Inspirations

After almost two weeks of nearly constant togetherness with at least one or two folks outside of our usual foursome, you would think the kids and I might take a break last Friday and just chill out at home. Perhaps address the mountains of laundry or vacuum the living room floor. But no, I decided I would go to the gym first and then we would visit Melanie and her kids in West Seattle. The kids loved it at the gym, and I had a blissful workout during which I finally finished the chapter on Love in Eknath Easwaran's book called Original Goodness. It was full of amazing quotes and ideas: two favorites were "When the lotus blooms, it doesn't have to go looking for bees" and "Life is so generous a giver, but we, judging its gifts by their covering, cast them away as ugly or hard; remove the covering and you will find beneath it a living splendor, woven of love, by wisdom, with power." Do you think I was the only one at the gym reading Original Goodness?? Rhetorical sidenote: what kind of super-nova nerd am I, anyway??

Then we were on to Melanie's. While Lucy and Sophia immediately became completely absorbed in playing and Jasper became completely absorbed in Owen's toys, I was inspired by Melanie and her meal-planning. She had planned delicious meals for the week ahead. So, I decided we would do that, and Rob and I did on Saturday. Then we went to the farmer's market on Sunday and found many ingredients there for our week's menu. Here is what we're having, and what we found at the market. Nothing makes me happier than taking food from the dirty, calloused hand that grew it, and then offering our money to that same hand. It isn't not quite as sacred, I suppose, as getting my own hands dirty, but it is the next best thing.

Our New Year's Week Menu:
Sunday:
Creamy Cauliflower Soup (from The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook - wlnc - this is made creamy by cashews and it is quite delicioso)
Sauteed Kale (super yummy with olive oil, coconut oil, garlic, apple cider vinegar and tamari)
from local farms: leeks, garlic, cauliflower, kale

Monday:
Winter Vegetable and White Bean Soup (wlnc)
from local farms: onion, garlic, carrots, shallots, jeruselum artichokes, delicata squash, savoy cabbage

Tuesday:
Southern-Style Black-Eyed Peas (from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone - with my addition of a thick slice of ham chopped up)
Collard Greens
from local farms: onion, garlic, ham and collard greens

Wednesday:
Chicken Verde Enchiladas (wlnc)
from local farms: onion, garlic, chicken, spinach

Thursday:
Composed Salad of Quinoa and Chickpeas with Kale and Lemon Tahini Dressing (wlnc)
from local farms: kale and garlic

Friday:
Lemon Millet Patties (wlnc), Kidney Bean Casserole (joy of cooking), and Cabbage Slaw with Cilantro Vinaigrette (wlnc)
from local farms: cabbage and carrots

More pictures soon as well as notes on New Year's resolutions, Lucy, and Jasper.

Christmas Photo Album

We had a truly lovely holiday with lots of extended family togetherness, including visits from usually faraway Auntie Em, Uncle Kris and Cousin Max and even farther away Daddy (Granddaddy) and Philia (Grandmama). Of course the local usuals were involved as well: Uncle Robby, Kaitee, Mom (Grandma), Merrill (Pop Pop), Granny and Grandpa. My goodness - it is quite a roster, isn't it? A favorite part for me was solstice dinner when my mom did a little solstice candle ceremony - the children love lighting candles. This is the picture to the left. Our trip on the ferry and through the snow to Grandma and Pop Pop's house in Port Townsend, with delicious snacks and dinner awaiting us, was also magical.

But I love the in-between moments best of all - the chats in the kitchen over dishes, stolen moments in a coffee shop with Em and Daddy, early morning moon sightings with the little boys, knitting and gabbing with Grandmama while the boys nap and lots, lots more. Thanks everyone for coming or just being here all along, and for your lovely presences in our lives. Here are some pictures of the major moments and the little in-between ones too.