Do you ever have days when you want more... or less... maybe just different? That strong urge to turn something completely upside down is festering in me right now and I have no idea how it will manifest itself. Redecorating? Moving? Career change? Lifestyle change? Hubby is scared.

Sky in the hillcountry, Texas.

The beach is my favorite place in the whole world.

I think creating a life really inspires me to surround myself with living things. Today we planted a few herbs to keep on my kitchen window sill. I was probably more excited that I should be to find pineapple mint!!!!!

Here's our little stowaway. I hope he sticks around so the kids can see him form his crystalis and morph into a butterfly.

What I'm loving right now

I know this is so random, but I think it captures the essence of my nesting right now. I feel like I'm digging out these little comfort holes for myself. Some of them I'm creating, by surround myself with things I love and some of them are capturing moments I love and letting them linger.


Simple and order. This is exactly what I feel like I need in order to prepare myself for being outnumbered by kids in two months.



Fake sleeping. A, who is going to be the big, BIG sister, pretends to sleep whenever Daddy is driving so that he can carry her into the house. Did I mention how much I love, her love for her Daddy.




Digging for worms. This has been A's sole mission for the last week or so. She's even recruited her brother to help her overturn every brick and rock between here and Mimi's house.

Bluebonnets in the big city. Who would have thought that I'd be treated with such untamed beauty in the fourth largest city!

Old and homey. I finally displayed my collection of estate sale pot holders. Our neighborhood is turning over and I've been to a few estate sales in the last 4 years. Every time I walk in the door of one of my experienced neighbors, my heart flutters with excitement and sadness. I love to find all of these wonderful treasures that are left behind like junk, but at one time were held dear by someone. These are a few of my favorite.

Wrestling. The kids are playing outside from the moment they wake up until it's time to come in for dinner. They love each other so much, my heart giggles. Yes they fight and cry too, but moments like these prove to be more lasting and powerful than the tears.

Summer's here

... at least compared to the rest of the States. Well I know it's gonna get HOTTER so technically 83 degrees is spring for us.

Randomness

M is a nose picker. We've been under the weather around here and last week I cuddled with M during nap time to keep an eye on his fever. Now I know he's all boy. His toots can drive a grown man out of the room, a 2 foot fall doesn't put a pause in his step, and he can throw like a 5 year old. YES, Daddy is proud...but a booger picker... and a closet one at that! So we're cuddling in bed and as soon as I get my 6 1/2 month belly comfy, I see this tiny little dirty finger shoot up his nose. It stayed there until he fell asleep. Yup, now I know how those slimy streaks end up appear on his sheets every morning.

I feel like I have a red light on my front porch. Good lord I've had 3 men stop by today. We have a pine tree out front that died during the hurricane that is apparently a siren to all the lawn guys in the neighborhood. I know she needs to come down, but I thought I'd give her until spring. I know, I know, pines are evergreens and it doesn't make sense but I hate to see her go.

A has stepped into attitude. I feel like I should write this in her baby book, but wouldn't you know that they don't have a spot for it AND it would be the only entry in the last three years!!! So one day I was sitting on a blanket on one of our premature spring days and getting ready to settle in and watch A follow her BFFN (best friend for now) around the playground like a little puppy, when it happened. A snubbed her BFFN. I couldn't believe it. A huge milestone in a girl's life and I was there to see it. Brought tears to my eyes. Then, of course, I pulled her aside and we talked about how being a mean girl hurts people's feelings and she should remember how it feels when her friends are mean to her. Blah, blah, blah. I shooed her off to play and exhaled. A explained that she was being the mean girl because her friend was teasing her. Ah haa, the snubber got snubbed! I know it's not what I'm supposed to be feeling, but I'm relieved. My baby girl will be able to fight back. A's heart is just so open to the world and as her mother I'm always worried that she will be the girl who suffers many heartaches, because she loves so much. Very hard for a mother to see, but I LOVE who she is and how her love for complete strangers is endless.

Just a glance

We've been busy.

Planted a new tree. The city was giving out oak trees and we decided this beauty would be perfect in our yard.

First ER visit. Shortly after planting our tree M had an accident and had to get his finger glued shut. He was true to his name and hardly cried.

A puzzle for A. It has 5 other nature pictures too.

Our nature table. Today we made pine cone turkeys with our friends and the kids LOVED them. A had to see hers again before she took a nap.

This weekend

We took a trip down south to visit some family, and party like hippies on a ranch. It was nice to take a deep breath and let my eyes enjoy gaze the scenery they sorely missed. I also started my new challenge this weekend, but more about that later.

The challenge review

Last week was great! We did some crafty stuff, but A was also able to let loose and be artistic.
Here are some of my favorites.


Craft stick shape book - I placed a bunch of different size sticks and glue in front of her and she decorated it how she wanted. Then we talked about what she did and she told me they were shapes, so we labeled them.


Pocahontas head band - I asked her to paint things that Pocahontas likes and the results were birds, water and a racoon.


Bird feeder - This was an activity we did in playgroup and M and A LOVED it.


Scarecrow - This was more crafty, but we talked about hay and what it's for, what pretend means, and the parts of the body. Doesn't A look thrilled??? After all the "itchies" and Momma's sneezing fit, they were done with the scarecrow.



So we've one more week to go. I know we're going to paint pumpkins and make monster pet rocks, but I want to go out with a bang, so does anyone have any great ideas??

Nature Table

I saw this wonderfully simple idea on Salt and Chocolate to have a nature table in your home. I thought it would be a perfect way to display our renewed connection with nature. The kids spend tons more time playing out side and the fruits of their labor are little scraps of nature that I usually don't know what to do with. Well now they have a home. We have a nature "table" or in our case bar. A nature bar, where you can kick back, chat with old friends and load up on the good stuff.

The kids love climbing up on the stools and looking at all their treasures. We also keep our library books that M tries to eat special seasonal books on our nature bar too. Do you see Allie's spiders from craft time?

The kids are really into smooth rocks, pine cones and acorns. I love it!! Oh, do you see the dead grasshopper???? Niiiiiiiiice.

Reconnecting

I hate to keep bring Ike up, but he really was the "perfect storm" for our household. For about half of my life now, I've had this annoying, unfulfilled feeling that I couldn't name. It was almost like I was disappointed that things were too easy. Sounds insane even as I sit here and type it. I know most people love a good challenge, but it never seemed to be enough for me. In order to fulfill this need, I would submerge myself in "projects", hard ones and when I came out on the other end, I felt satisfied but it faded so soon. Don't get me wrong, I'm still very proud of the things I've accomplished, but it didn't scratch that itch I had. In fact, it was effecting my life in a very negative way. I would get lost in projects and some of them took years so, my loved ones were cast aside while I was on this endless search for fulfillment. Not good for a young marriage. Not good for friendships.

Fast forward a few years, and I have my two lovely babies. The feeling isn't gone! It resurfaces itself in what the people around me call obsessions. It usually starts as something small, like yucky chemicals in diapers and then blazes into something like cloth diapers. Then it's just a wildfire... eating whole, banning China, knitting, making all of our Christmas gifts..... I know part of this is just being a mother and wanting the best for my kids, but the other half of it is me feeding that beast. (Yeah I know, it started as an itch and now it's a beast. Just go with me here) Some of you my mom are probably reading this and thinking, "she's just an over achiever" and I guess I used to agree with that but only because I was told that my whole life. It's more than that, well, really it can't be that at all because for the most part I think I'm kinda lazy. I still don't have words for what I feel, but a recent example would be that I was excited about Ike. Not about people losing their lives and homes, but overall I was really looking forward to the challenge of surviving. That doesn't fall into the category of over achiever. So when Ike was spinning in the Gulf, I was struggling with my strong desire to make my life harder, but only in short bursts because I'm kinda lazy. I KNOW it didn't make sense to me either.

Once Ike moved on, we were left without electricity for twelve days. It was a little stressful, but overall a welcomed break. I loved the surviving aspect of it. Most of our family had power before we did, but we turned down their invitations to stay with them. Home is comfortable and of course I enjoyed the challenge. We played outside most of the day, hung laundry out to dry, read, walked, colored, and just lived. During all of our free time I picked up, Last Child in the Woods, which was recommended by a friend. I fully intended to read this book to gain some insight on how to be a better parent. I never expected to find a name for what was wrong with me. I'm disconnected or in words of Richard Louv I suffer from"nature deficient disorder".

As a child, I spent tons of time outside and connect to my world, thanks to my hippieish parents. The more time that passed, the further away I was from nature and in an attempt to find that void and fill it, I sunk myself into more activities that pulled me even further away. Sitting out on our blanket, while the kids ran around in the backyard, I found the answer that would scratch my itch and calm my beast: simple. Simple would mesh well with lazy but still be enough of a challenge to fulfill that basic need to survive. "A simple life is not an easy task."

So as I type this, I'm taking baby steps to simplify my life, reconnect myself and my family.

A second life

Just a few things I bought this week at some of our local thrift stores that will get a second life.

Holiday shoes

Fall shoes

A new game

I found this in big trash. Hubby HATES it when I pick up stuff from the trash. WHO would throw this away though??

Fully Recovered

Well I think things are completely back on track now. Ike was a tough one, but we were very blessed. We had lots of limbs down but no major damage. The aftermath, however, was a different story. 2.1 million people were without power and things did get a little difficult at times. We survived 12 days powerless just fine though and come out on the other end of a bad situation with a great new perspective.

Our lives were a little simpler and our appreciation a lot greater. My babies benefited from endless days outdoors exploring the "trash" in nature that is often swept up too quickly. The neighborhood came to life and people shared meals, and sunsets while their kids played in the street. The 4th largest city in our great nation slowed time and lived in friendlier world for about a week and a half. I'm hoping that some of these revelations stick around for my family and friends for a little longer.

Here are some snip-its of our adventure.

This is what we saw and heard for about 5 hours.

Camping out in the hallway.





Checking out the winds after the eye passed us.

My plant made it!!! AND she gave a big 'ole HELL YA to Ike with this beautiful bloom the day after.

.... and the clean up. We were lucky because this was the extent of our damage.

My Lovely

My beautiful Elm tree was never named when we moved in. We've just been calling her Lovely, but I think we are going to officially name her Tina because Ike is beating the crap out of her right now. Poor Tina.

HurriCAKE

A little comfort food? I had to make room for more beenie weenies and tuna, so I took out a cake mix from the back of my pantry and made this cake.

Picking up

I don't think you can hear me very well. Yeah photobucket stopped working for me. booo

Hurricanisms

Catastrphic - Word used the MOST by all local reporters.
Hunker Down - Texan for hold on to your underpants.
Hurrication- Mini vacation for all those that flee.
Hurricanitis- What we're all feeling after a very busy hurricane season.
Hurricane slogans - Well I guess they are more like our last attempts at rhyming humor in a catstrphic situation. My favorites so far have been: Take a hike Ike and Stay away Fay.

Take a Hike IKE!!

Well this guy just might live up to his hype. The mayor just announced that we will have an enforced curfew starting at 6:30p.m. I feel like I HAVE to go somewhere now. I mean I have a whole hour and 30 min!!

No really, I'm a little nervous and writing helps. Apparently cooking does too, because I'm baking a banana cake and wanted to start cooking dinner for the kids at 4:30.

Add Him to the List

Tropical storm, Edouard was like a bad lover. Lots of build up, he couldn't find his rhythm and when he came ashore I was left wondering "What the hell was THAT?"

So after stuffing our pantry with beans and weenies, spraying our carpet from hauling busted bottles of water, sweating while dragging in patio furniture and all the other prep for a hurricane, we just ended up with a cleaner yard and lots of much need moisture.

Thanks, Edouard for keeping us on our toes and although I think you have the most ridiculous name for a hurricane (great for a foreign lover though) I'm glad we got the hurricane that couldn't follow through.