When will it end?

I have been accused of being over-dramatic. Overly emotional.
These are true attributes, I must admit.
But, guys.










Let me tell you a true story.
The other night, I was at a meeting with a group of gals I don't really know, and several I have never even met. I was tired, because the meeting was at 7:30pm, and that isn't usually a time I leave the house to begin a 2 hour meeting.
I have to admit that I was a little over the frigid temperatures, and that I had been cooped up for days. I was frustrated that with every turn, the weather seemed to be getting colder and colder, almost,  inhospitable.
I was frustrated that everyone kept saying this was "abnormal" weather. Why, must I ask, does the weather always do "abnormal" things, when we move to a new place? Why?
But I digress.
I was on my way out to the meeting, and already frustrated, and also, I was freezing (but that is a given), and I was anxious about driving in 6 inches of snow, and icy roads. At night.
I don't even like to drive at night when it is perfectly dry out.
I also don't like to drive to new places, in new cities, when I have no idea where I am going.
At night.
In the snow.
In the middle of the week.
When I am tired.

As you can see, I wasn't in the best head space to start out. I recognize this. I own it.
But what happened at the meeting, this meeting with ladies I didn't know, was just straight up embarrassing.

We were having a fine round table discussion about plans for our girls troop (American Heritage Girls) and what the rest of the year would look like. We started talking about Mother's Day, and what kind of mother daughter tea we could do.  I had such lovely visions in my head of Spring, and Mother's Day, and my angelic children frolicking through the tall prairie grass, barefoot. Birds chirping.
I am sure I was in a day dream, trying to block out the mental images of my ride over to the house (2 cars turned the wrong way on the road, solo car spin out people!) and was still trying to warm my frozen fingers (because I forgot that you should really wear gloves when you drive in negative 15 degree weather at night. I could see my breath in the car the whole ride over! Even with the heater on).
So, I was happily in this day dream, when a certain little phrase snapped me out of it.
"Frost in May."
We were talking about planting flowers with our girls, and someone said "Do you think the frost will be gone by mid-May?"
I don't know what came over me.
I was not among my best friends. Friends who know me to the core, and understand my inner workings.
I was not sitting with my husband at night, sipping tea, and spilling my soul.
That would have been more understandable. Those people know I am semi-sane. 
I was sitting among strangers.
But I couldn't control myself. The words just came out.
Me-"Did you say frost in May?"
Stranger/New friend- "Yes. Ha Ha. Poor you. You know what frost is, right?"(With the joking implication that a silly beach girl would, like, totally not even know what frost is dude.)
Me -" Yes, I know. But why did you say frost in May? We will still have frost in May?"
Crazy images started running through my head. I had to run back to my day dream, try to catch my children, and get some warm boots on their bare feet. Tell them to stop running through the frost bitten prairie grass.
 In May.
I can't explain why it happened, but my face flushed red, and tears just started running down my face. I couldn't stop it. It was as if I had no control over my emotions, or the fluids dropping from my eyes.
No one said anything. In fact, they moved on, and kept talking about the flowers. Maybe they didn't notice that I was on the verge of losing it completely. I am pretty sure they did, but maybe they wanted to pretend like they hadn't seen it.
I was sitting among strangers, and crying because there might be frost on the ground in May.
That is when you know, you have had too much winter.

After the meeting, I stood outside for a few minutes, shivering uncontrollably, and talking with my new friend.
I apologized for the horribly awkward string of tears that came out of nowhere. I explained I was very emotional lately, and that I was also very cold. She laughed, and said it wasn't a big deal, she wasn't from here either. She had just figured I had a flare for the dramatic. Ha! Like I could bring on tears just to emphasize my point. Not quite.

I like Iowa. I really do. I am not lying either. But I really wish it would warm up to even 20 degrees, so the kids and I can go run barefoot through the prairie. Or something.

Learning

Yesterday, we had a light snowy day here in Iowa. We were invited to a lovely 80 year old couple's home, from our church, for lunch.  We had been trying to make this work for months, but the wife has been battling cancer, and chemo, and was too weak for awhile, to host company. But I could tell that it was very important to this couple that we did eventually make it happen, so when they invited us over yesterday, we made sure that we cleared our schedule to go.

This is one of my very favorite parts of homeschooling. The ability to pick up at 11am, and go visit with an 80 year old couple. I am pretty sure an afternoon with someone who has been alive that long, is invaluable. Especially for children. I believe my children went into it, understanding that they would need to be controlled, (no crazy hyperness!), good listeners (elderly people like to tell stories), and polite (because, you always should be!). They were pleasantly surprised to arrive, and find a home, that had probably been prepped all week prior to our arrival.  From the fruit platter, to the pig scavenger hunt, to the toys set up just for them. But the best part was the basement. One half was set up just for Noah. With all the blocks, and boy toys you could imagine, from about 25 years ago. The other half was set up with a craft table, and a ton of raw supplies. Elaine (the lovely, wonderful host) explained to the children that when she was little, her mom had shown her how to make a "mouse house". This was a tradition she had grown up with, and had passed it on to her children. She showed the girls her own mouse house, from her childhood, and then showed them the boxes she had prepped for them, for their own houses. She told them to have at all those raw supplies, and just go nuts. And they did. They spent hours downstairs crafting, cutting, using their imaginations. I love seeing what they come up with, all on their own. No one wanted to leave when it was time to go. Noah asked if he could just stay. Indefinetely, I don't know? The girls asked if they could come back tomorrow. When someone welcomes you into their home with such love, and warmth, it is hard to leave.

Today, our homeschool class was cancelled due to the weather (negative 25 again, darn it). But the kids (even Noah), all have a mouse house to work on, and that will make our morning fun before we sit down to start our regular school lessons.

We are so thankful for the folks in our new congregation. We are especially thankful for the older folks, the one's who have had a lifetime of learning behind them. They have so much to share with us. They have so much wisdom, and so much love to go around.. And I am grateful for that.

Magic

When you are a kid, the magic of Christmas is like nothing else. After the magic ended for me, sometime around age 9, I never felt that kind of anticipation, excitement, and nervous happiness again. It wasn't until 10 years later, on the day of my marriage, and then again, on the day of each of my children's birth, that I experienced that same magic. The bundled energy, the anticipation that goes hand in hand with the unknown. 

When you grow up, and even shortly after that Christmas magic dissapears, life starts to become mundane. Instead of seeing how magical the Christmas train is, that goes round and round the big tree at the mall, you only see the crowds, and the consumerism, and the rip off prices at the Santa line. I don't know why it happens. I don't know why we become bitter, and skeptical, and hurried, and jaded.  Even those of us with the best intentions, those of us who commit, year after year, to "be different" this holiday season. It seems to find even us. And the magic is just never the same.

The first Christmas we had a daughter, was when Katelyn was 11 months old. She didn't need anything of course. People joked about the wrapping paper, and the boxes, and that was truth of course.

She loved those things.

But, Kevin and I just couldn't hold back. We bought her things that were certainly light years beyond her. I am pretty sure half of her presents said "for ages 4 and up".

It was just so exciting to see Christmas through the eyes of a child again. Maybe we were living vicariously through her a bit, but I think we were just so excited to have that magic back.

The way her eyes light up at the tree. The way she dreamily looked at all of the decorations, and clapped when she heard jingle bells for the first time in her life.

The way she screamed for her santa picture.

No, don't scratch that. That was magical too. It just isn't Christmas without a screaming baby in Santa's lap.

Every year since having our first child, we have felt the magic in our home again.

Every year, we also feel the stress of financially supporting another Christmas. We say we will tone it down, every year. We have gotten better, but we never really tone it down.

The cookies, the decorations, the Christmas songs, and the lights. And of course, the magic of Christmas, through the eyes of our little ones. 

Of course, Christmas to us is so much more.  The time of year when we stop and really think about the birth of Christ in that lowly manger. The time of year when we hear songs about Christ on the radio, and we reflect on what that little baby came to earth to do. It truly is magical.

Today, we had a magical Christmas day.

We were surprised with a 4 pound box of See's candy from Muma and Papa. That was pure joy!

We were so happy as we dug our teeth into a taste of home.

 

It was like being back at home, walking through a Sees store. If you don't know about our relationship with See's, read here:

See's 

We then proceeded to load a magical train ride, out in Boone, Iowa. The land was covered in snowy white, it was cold, but not too cold. (23 is now, not that cold).

The mere fact we were riding a train was blowing Noah's mind.

We then experienced one of the most magical, jolly, lovely Christmas events I have ever been apart of.

Their was a Christmas story read, while we went along the tracks, watching the snow forest pass up by.  We passed by the North pole, and low and behold, we found Santa!  Then Santa came in, and all the kids cheered and he passed out bells!

The kids were then handed out hot cocoa and cookies, and then we all sang Christmas carols. It sounds hokey on paper, but it was a blast. Kevin, Jaime and I all said that we hope this is a memory our kids won't forget. It certainly is one that will stick with me until the end of my days.

Baker, Baker

This entry is not about my favorite Tori Amos song. Though, that song, and how it came to become my favorite Tori song, would make an interesting blog post on it's own merit. Another day, another time.

Today, my heart burst with pride. My 7 year old had a go at her first home-made goodie, all by herself.

It all started when we woke up and it was 3 degrees out.

I have been told that these temperatures are the kind that usually only come around in late January. The kind that signal winter is in the deep throes, and you have about 6 weeks left before the birdies start chirping again, and you yell "SPRING IS HERE!"

We are still 2 weeks away from winter even starting.

But it's all good, because we have an oven. And you know what that means.

Baking.

We did venture out in the arctic weather today, attended a knitting class, and saw a school performance of the Nutcracker. 

But when we got home, and my nose was frozen, I decided that running to the store for milk was just going to have to wait. I certainly had enough in the house for the family to survive on, at least for one night.

I had a hunkering for something warm.

Katelyn and I decided it was time to bust into the bakers basket (this is a magical basket full of all my baking supplies. Vanilla, and dark chocolate pieces, and brown sugar, and marshmallows, and Lord only knows what else. All I know is that when I pull out that basket, aromas come wafting out, and I am instantly sent to a magical land of munchkins, and 10 feet tall lollipops, and rivers of chocolate. ) 

I opened the fridge and found we had 1 egg. Kind of crucial.

I gave Katelyn a cookie recipe book, and told her to find a recipe that only used 1 egg. It started as my lazy way out of looking for the recipe myself, but resulted in one of the best cookies I have ever had.

For reals.

Katelyn really wanted to run with the recipe, so, against my initial inclinations,(their will be flour and sugar everywhere) I let her.

Hence the proud mommy moment.

She found the recipe, pulled all the ingredients, found we only had chocolate bars, not chips, and broke them herself.

She followed the recipe and prepared the cookies, and aside from the mixing (she turned the mixer on high, and guess what happened? Flour everywhere) she made the cookies completely on her own.

And dang, if they weren't the best cookie I have ever tasted.

I don't know what she did, maybe it was the love?

I don't mind if either of my girls grow up hating the kitchen. I don't want them to do something, just because I love it, or because I think they will love it too. I want them to explore things on their own, and find things that they love to do. Watching the pride on Katelyn's face, as she served her family the cookies, made me so happy and warm inside. When you are little, you need triumphs and victories.

Today, my little baker baker was victorious!

I'm dreaming of a white......

I'm dreaming of a white, Thanksgiving.

I think my fall scarecrow looks cute full of snow. Poor old scarecrow has never been covered like that before! He is probably thinking, isn't it November? Oh yes scarecrow, but we aren't in HB anymore!

This go around, we were not prepared, and had no idea snow was coming, until the day of.  We didn't have our shovel or our salt purchased. Whoops.

It was really exciting though, because my dad is in town visiting, and we didn't think we would see any of this white stuff during his trip. It wasn't in the forecast until it was upon us, it seemed.

My favorite part about snow so far, has been the magic it brings for the kids.

I remember, being a little girl, and going to a cabin in Wrightwood. I remember staying up late at night, sitting in the top bunk and looking out the little window by my bed. I would hope and pray to see snow fall. I would go to sleep, eager and anxious to wake up to a world of white.

Seeing the joy it brought to the girls last night was magical for me.

I let them stay up late and watch out the window as the snow came down, and the streets started to change colors. I don't know how long this magic will last, but for the time being, it is pretty special.

I wish I could have been inside their heads last night, so I could have seen their dreams!

Emma woke up at the butt crack of dawn, literally. She came bounding into our room asking if she could go outside and eat the snow. As many of you might remember, she had taken a vow back in California, to only eat snow all winter. She was anxious to get started.

I wasn't thrilled at going out in the snow in the dark, so I told her we could go out at 7am.

And we did.

Our version of sledding.

The way Noah does snow eating. Inside.

We are about to go take a walk to the library in the snow. Wish me luck!

Having fun with nature

This week we had a great week at school. I am making progress with getting ourselves into a routine, and am still awaiting approval for a move into a new school district so the kids can attend homeschool classes two days a week in the West Des Moines school district. They are the only district that offers classes exclusively for homeschoolers. BUT, we did join a homeschool group, and jumped on the purchases of a ton of shows, orchestra, and ballets, all at the Des Moines Civic center. They offer a series called The Applesauce Series, and it is for schools, and homeschoolers, and the tickets are $1 each. How can you beat that? I bought tickets from now until next May, and we have a line up of really fun Friday field trips, and we will get to experience a little class and culture.  Sounds good to me!  Yesterday, we made our first trip into Downtown Des Moines, and I managed to NOT get lost, or end up on a 1 way street going the wrong way. 

Yay me.

We toured the State Historical Museum, and it was full of great stuff (way bigger than I thought it would be), and most of it coinciding with what we are learning in History. Pretty cool. And, it was free. So we will definetely be going back. We also joined an art class, that was only $5 through the homeschool group, and we are going to sign the kids up for a homeschool PE/Music/Art class at the local YMCA. The Y is really big out here, and I am very impressed by what they offer. They have year round indoor swimming, classes for the little tykes, of course a gym, and free childcare for mama (should I ever decide that I want to actually excercise) and classes for the kids. Plus, the location close to us offers this cool homeschool class. So I am pretty excited. And it is all done on a sliding scale, and no one is going to pay much more than $50 for the WHOLE FAMILY. And that includes free childcare. Score!

That brings us to today.

It was a beautiful day, and we wanted to take advantage of the nice weather. We have been here 3 weeks, and haven't seen anything that would be considered "severe", and yet, I already recognize that a sunny day, with a temp of 52 degrees, warrants going outside and running around.

We also decided that we needed to do a craft.

That's the nice thing about having girls. Sometimes, a craft just strikes you.

Must. Craft. Now.

And Noah doesn't have a lot of options yet, so he is kind of obligated to go along with our whims.

I didn't feel like loading them all up to head out to a store, so we decided that we would take a nature walk, and use what we had in our craft bins.

If you are a mama of littles, I highly recommend stocking up on craft supplies. A little here, a little there. Spools of ribbon, feathers, googly eyes, colored cotton balls, raffia, string, glitter, fabric, felt, pipe cleaners (a lot of this can be found in the dollar bins at target, or at the Dollar tree). If you see something on sale at Micheals, or Hobby Lobby, pick it up. Throw it in your art bin, because I guaruntee, you will use it at some point.  There is nothing better than letting your little's "go nuts" in the art bin, creating things and using their fun little imaginations.

In California, we often went on nature walks, especially in the fall, trying to find fallen leaves. Because we lived by the beach, there was not a ton to choose from, though many areas in Southern California do have big beautiful trees.  We have seen a ton of leaves here, but we decided to go with the pine cone instead.

Since we live in a pinterest era, coming up with a cute craft will never be hard again. In fact, there is so much to choose from, that you an often leave, feeling depressed and dissapointed in yourself for not turning your mason jars into beautiful vases, in time for dinner by 5pm. If only I hadn't run out of burlap. Dang it.

Or, maybe that's just me.

Today, we decided to go pinterest free, and just create. I love watching the kids run with an idea.

We started off with a nature walk.

 We got distracted with some leaves.

 

We took a walk around the campus, and found some great pinecones, but we also found quite a bit in our own backyard.

 We gathered them up.

 

And headed in. It was funny, because the kids felt hot outside. They were sweating by the time we came in. It was 54 degrees.

If you want to let the kids go nuts with a craft, it is sometimes a good idea to pull out certain items you want them to use. Katelyn and I had already discussed what we thought would be cute, so I had an idea of what to pull out. Of course, there are the days when I let them just rummage through all 5 huge bins of craft supplies. But today wasn't that day.

Start with supplies.

 Prepare all your pieces and parts, and try to explain to the kids where they will go. Sometimes, kids have their own ideas about that. And that's ok too.  (No, No, you are doing it all wrong. The eyes go at the top. You know. Where eyes go. Not by the feet. Oh, well. Now Thanksgiving is ruined.) Is that just me too?

 Let the mama do the hot gluing. Unless you want your 7 year old to start screaming, peeling at herself and saying she is on fire. That has never happened to me, by the way.

 Then, presto. Cute little turkeys. All unique, and colored with funny feathers because those were the only colors of felt I had. But they were made with love, and they cost $0 to make.

Happy crafting, mamas.

First snow

We had our first Iowa snow. It wasn't a crazy snow. Not the kind that sends the whole town to the same supermarket to stock up on food and wood and batteries (I have only "heard" of this snow. As far as I know, it is just a myth. But, the mere fact that friends, aquaintances, and strangers speak of this snow, I have to believe it really does exist.) It was a pretty, light dusting of snow. It was Veterans Day, so it was a day off anyways, which was great.  We had been waiting all morning for it to arrive, and finally we stopped looking out the window. It wasn't long after that, when our phones starting ringing from local friends. "Snowing!" Were the texts we got.  So we bundled up, and ran outside to watch the first flakes of the season come down. 

Our friend Ken came across the street from the school, to see the kids reactions. He gave everyone a lesson on trying to catch the snow.

Funny.

The kids ran around, and Emma asked if she could eat it, but as you can see, it was just a light dusting, so that will have to wait until next time. We did quite an accumulation atop Big Green, but I didn't really want her eating snow off my dirty car.

Emma is ready for any occasion.

Not sure. Thought it was cold.

Lasted about 5 minutes, caught some snowflakes in her hood, and went inside.

We all loved watching it come down, while we were snuggled under a blanket watching a movie. It was very pretty once it picked up.

Today we are enjoying weather in the 50's, and this weekend it will be in the 60's, but with expected thunder and lightning storms. This season thing is pretty fun.