thoughts

Top:  Point Defiance Zoo; the tiger paced back and forth in front of my girls for a long time.  Incredibly beautiful.

The rest: a short ferry ride across the Puget Sound to get back to Seattle.  I miss the water living here - rivers and irrigation ditches are lovely in their own ways, but are just not the same - so I always appreciate a chance to be near big bodies of water when we head over the mountains.  

I am reading The Tanglewoods' Secret by Patricia St. John and the simple and very personal way a relationship with Jesus is described makes me excited to give this book to Lyddie when I think it's time (it may be time, I will decide after finishing it, but I think it will be better a wee bit on still).  We talk about Jesus so much in our house and, I think, in a very personal way and full of grace and mercy but St. John's descriptions are so simple and uncluttered and are pressing me into a new way to share about Him with my daughters in hopes that they too will have a very experiential relationship with Jesus now or at least in His time.  If you are a mom (or aren't a mom, really) and haven't read anything by St. John to yourself or with your kids, I really recommend it.  I read one last year in the original language and I could only find a modernized version of this book through our library.  I do miss the beauty of the original language so I need to find another copy, but really, the modernization isn't horrendous and seems fairly  natural so it's not the worst thing in the world if I can't.  

I really must get going on our garden but I have been slowly catching up with life this week and can't seem to get my feet under me.  Tomorrow I expect things to be slower and maybe by Friday I will be able to put in a few more seeds. Birthday weeks are fast approaching and so my feet will likely fly right back out from under me with three birthdays in our family over as many weeks...

I hope the spring is beautiful for you whether it's warm or cool still. Are you putting in a garden?  What's your favorite thing to plant?  One of my favorite things to grow is tomatoes but it's too cold still to put those in the ground!

where i live

When I was down beside the sea

A wooden spade they gave to me

to dig the sandy shore.

My holes were empty like a cup

In every hole the sea came up,

Till it could come no more

--Robert Louis Stevenson--

  

In the traditional language of the people here on the Rez (which is hardly spoken any longer, but the cultural implications remain), the question "Where do you live?" draws not the address of your residence but rather where one feels most alive - where does your heart live?  Where do you live?

I live at the shore, and I think I always have.  Some of my youngest and most vivid memories are from trips to the coast with my family.
  
Mountainous sand dunes line my memories much as they line the shore.  I imagine my parents reading or dozing on a blanket in the warm dunes, sheltered for a time from the pounding wind while my little brother (there was only one then) and I clambered up to the top of the dune and slid down, or played hide and seek in the sharp beach grasses.  I can still remember the feeling of the warm, dry sand under my feet, the grit of the sandy sandwiches and snacks for lunch, the snapping sound of the kite whipping in the wind up from the string my dad and I hold together.

I can sit and stare at the waves hitting the beach for hours.  I still love to run in them, pausing to feel the sand slip back out from under my feet, scanning the wet sand after each collision for treasures the sea may have left behind.  Am I now too old to jump into the waves?

To bring my children to the place I live is a joy.  To run with Lyddie up, down, up, down the beach, letting each wave chase us and shrieking with surprise when the wave is just a little bigger, faster, stronger than we expect.  To sit with my toes and fingers buried in the sand and watch my husband build a castle with Millie and to hear Rosie's little voice singing to herself as she scoops up sand - "Dump it out... dump it out..."  These are precious memories of a short trip to the sea. 

Where do you live?  I'd love to hear about it in the comments.  

lots of books

Hello my friends, from the rainy Oregon Coast! We have had a whirlwind of a week. My brother's wedding near Seattle was lovely with the three most beautiful flower girls you've ever seen. Pictures forthcoming. Unfortunately my phone fell in a lake with me and has not resurrected so quick access to pictures is difficult while traveling. 

My knitting has been sorely neglecteed except while we drive but I am still  working on my Hitofude. I finished reading Death Comes to Pemberley, and finished listening to The Enchanted April  which I loved! I am now reading several things:

• Big Cherry Holler by Adriana Trigiani (sequel to Big Stone Gap)
• Listening to Sense and Sensibility on the CraftLit podcast
• Teaching from Rest by Sarah Mackenzie (of the Read-Aloud Revival podcast!)
• Listening to The White Moll on the Forgotten Classics podcast
• Home Education vol. 1 by Charlotte Mason

Looking forward to catching up on the Yarn Along link up after missing it last week! Check out Ginnys blog at www.gsheller.com !

Unicorn Farts {oh my, how indelicate she is tonight!}

  

  

It was an indescribable blessing to get to spend time at the Oregon Coast with some of our dear friends.  Jesse and Danny (er, Pastor Dan - so weird to say) have been friends since high school and when he fell in love and married Amber, we were so excited for them, albeit a little envious since our own engagement was at the same time but a year longer since we were living long distance at that point.  We have visited Danny and Amber several times over the years and at different stages of family growth and every time I remember what a kindred spirit I find in Amber, all the more so as our children get older and I see the Kingdom mentality borne out in the way they are rearing their children too.  It was so fun and so encouraging to get to spend five days with them in their home in Pacific City where Danny is now the pastor at Pacific Coast Bible Church. 

In my life I don't often have much "girl time," (unless you count the 13 hours a day I spend with girls four and under).  My children are young, younger than any of the other moms I really know here and my life is still so dictated by their needs.  When we moved here, we moved away from the place that had always been my home where many of my oldest and closest friends and some new and incredible friends have settled down and I really miss them and the time spent just talking and laughing and doing goofy things together.  I know it takes time to develop those kinds of friendships and I am blessed with several incredible women who have befriended me here.  But when Amber and I were trolling pinterest together late one evening after the kids were all abed, and came across THIS hilarious idea, it was so nice to just collapse into giggles with her and then try our hand at it for the Kids Day Amber was planning for the next day.  Jesse and Danny talked about Serious Things in the other room while we mixed and poured and problem-solved how to proceed with this silly baking project.  So, if you're reading this, Amber, thank you for just being goofy with me.  I enjoyed our serious talks too, but Unicorn Farts and sack races and watching our kids put on a concert are some of my favorite memories now.