The fabulous marine science classroom, complete with touch tanks.
This is about 1/5 of the class, which was one of two groups we homeschoolers were split into today. We are privileged to know a lot of homeschoolers.
Yes we are amusing. You may laugh at us now.
We hiked to a tidal creek where we were privileged to watch Chum Salmon spawning. Our little monkeys, imminently comfortable in the woods, took to the tree for a better look. Imagine their surprise when our Naturalist asked them to climb down!
The Christmas tree is sparkling, the fire is going in the hearth and I have pumpkins roasting in the oven.
We’ve spent the week enjoying both the season and the break from some of our classes.
We enjoyed Santa’s early visit to our neighborhood, where he gave the kids candy canes and took G’s letter. We’ve made cookies, and we decorated the house inside last Thursday, before meeting some friends for playtime at the human habitrail. Unfortunately, despite my repeated admonitions otherwise, G kissed her crab beneath the mistletoe and spent a day and a half puking from the couch. She rallied from that in time to go find a tree at a neighborhood tree farm, where me met this really awesome woman. I won’t bore anyone with all of their commonalities to our family, but let’s just we were saddened to see the big giant for-sale sign in their yard.
I went out alone to enjoy that evening with a woman’s night out at a friend’s house. She had real food, real wine, real coffee and we had a gift exchange. It was almost jarring to just be ~L~ for a while, and to use my beadwork. I even regifted the ball-warmer purse I have been holding on to for two years. I stayed out until after midnight, which is freakishly unusual for me. That definitely supports the idea that I need that! Much fun! Yet it didn’t stop! The very next day G had a party for a friend of hers at the Y. It was so exciting for G to have a girls-only event, and the little girl actually liked G’s present, so I was happy too. It could have gone either way, as G made a felt doll out of Popsicle sticks! (One of her gifts for Christmas is going to be a huge supply of her bendy dolls materials, because she’s completely out.)
Today I had planned as an inside-laundry-let’s be quiet-and-recuperate-day. Alas I am out of oatmeal and dishtabs. I am tired of a week of handwashing our dishes. Spoiled ~L~ is taking on Costco after the pumpkins are done.
we became Washington State residents.
It’s hard for me to understand, but it’s true. Sometimes I can’t believe it has been that long, and sometimes I think “only three years?”
~N~ thinks he was born here and has no recollection of the “place” of SC, only the feelings and the people. ~G~ remembers, but things are fading; she told me this morning she can’t really remember what a proper sandy beach looks like. ~D~ was not yet born–barely–when we flew into SeaTac at 6.30 that evening. It is incomprehensible for someone born and raised in a wholly Southern family, as I was, to have my children not know our city like they know their mother.
Time keeps on rolling for us all, and some friends from our past stay fresh and constant while others have faded into their own lives. We still love them and miss them all. We had family-friends in Charleston. I still think this was such a horrible time of the year to move away from family, to try to sell a house. Yet, I am wholly grateful we didn’t have to deliver ~D~ unassisted, as we had planned. All blessings come with a balance, I think. We would be hard pressed to imagine our lives without our newfound friends in it, and were we to pack it all in and go back East to a culture we (adults) understand, we’d have a whole other group of people we’d sorely miss.
I do not pretend now, sitting here, that I have any idea where this family will be in another three years. I do intend for us to be as much a unit as we are now, together and thriving. Beyond that, I dare not hope for more.
Memories: http://mama-hobbit.blogspot.com/2004/12/and-fast-forward.html
Yesterday was an idyllic day to begin our winter months. We enjoyed a leisurely pancake breakfast, and then the snow began to fall. The kids pulled out their snowbibs, snowboots, hats and gloves, and went catching the gigantic, wet flakes with their tongues.
P-daddy started a fire and we set out on a short walk. It was too warm to accumulate much where we live, so close to the sound, but the snow was falling fast enough to coat the trees and houses with a beautiful white mantle. After talking to some neighbors, we decided to head over to Kitsap to see what it looks like over there. Just a few miles away from the water, everything was whiter and colder, including the roads. Even though we were driving slow, the van didn’t stop for the turn into Horseshoe lake when I tried to brake. At 32 degrees, enough had melted on the roads to make it slushy and icy, so back home we went. It was completely worth it though– the kids and the parents alike just loved driving through “winter wonderland,” as ~N~ called it. The farms especially called to the boys, with their expanses of white, while the trees are what held my eye. I love snow days for their inversion of light– the whole world seems brighter.
When we returned from that short trip, the family made a snowman and had a snowball fight while I went in to make a pot of hot chocolate. With warm tummies and hearts, we made our way down to the tree lighting in the harbor. Three years we have been here, and this is the first time we remembered it on time! Not snowing anymore, it was just a freezing rain accompanying the festivities. It didn’t dampen many people’s spirits though; they had free cider and hot chocolate, and there were elves handing out Santa hats and glow sticks to all the kids. We got to meet a live Reindeer, and strolled the docks where the boatowners had a light display of their own going on. ~G~ made sure we had front row spot when Santa finally arrived and we counted down the tree. We were right there when the lights came on, and I have to admit I think my eyes didn’t appreciate that.
By the time we arrived home at 6.30, all our snow had melted. I told P-daddy I was so glad this had been a Saturday. With the exception of our little snowman, there would be absolutely no evidence of the beautiful day we’d had, and I was glad he’d been right there with us. What an incredible first of December!
As I write this, the ground is again covered in a new dusting of snow, and it’s falling again, though somewhat slushy. A little voice woke me up this morning, “Mom, hey, it’s snowing……..”
And a beautiful one at that, albeit cold. I don’t want to be home, for some odd reason. I want to be gone already. Maybe I will make an early lunch, stuff them like piggies and just take off. Tuesdays are special days anyway, because the kids get to be dropped off at their classes by Mom and magically picked up again by Dad.
I am feeling very connected today to my friends, even the ones I hardly get to see. There’s a lot of transition going on right now; careers, school, pregnancy, health issues of myriad kinds. Over a month away, I already feel the solstice calm growing. I’ve never felt it this early before, so it’s …interesting.
Of course, now that I write that out, I think it could be just a shadow of last year’s solstice. Yesterday we had a storm that knocked out our power for a few hours. We had Y classes so we barely even noticed it. When we returned home we had power again, but we still screwed something up on our woodstove when we decided to have a fire anyway, and had roiling smoke billow into the living areas. Yup, pretty much exactly like last year. 
I am finally doing this in the coming month. If you are local and willing to pickup Chez Moi (except for someone who can not drive right now for health reasons) then you can be included in the co-op. Please let me know. We only need 250.00 for free shipping and between even three of us, we’re golden. I won’t be taking any action on it this week as we are settling into our new YMCA-bloated schedule.
Feast your eyes: https://wholesale.frontiercoop.com/whslpubl/FrontierWholesaleCatalog.pdf
Last night the house was quiet. No TV, no computer, no voices. Everyone else was asleep and I was up babysitting the huge pot of potato soup I had been brewing all evening. It wasn’t late, maybe 9 PM, but the moon was out in its bright, silvery blueness I had not encountered before moving to the Northwest. With the lights out, I carried my steaming bowl into the living room, guided by the light of that moon, when I was swept up by the calming emotion I get when I feel like I am in the right place at the right time.
Or maybe I just relaxed. I don’t know.
Warm bowl in hand, I leaned against the chilled window, peering up through the evergreens at the huge silver disc in the sky. It’s that classic Northwest wilderness iconic image that is so quintessential to the mystique of this corner of the world. And it was my comfort tonight, as on so many nights here before.
When we moved here we ended up in a very congested part of Federal Way. There was little of the expansive wilderness one expects to breathe in upon arriving in the Northwest. The neighborhood was beautiful, to be sure, but it was that crafted, after-the-fall rebuild, using native plants and landscaping. I would stand in G’s room after everyone slept and peer far into the East on nights like this. In the distance, the Cascades would silently guard the horizon; I could see the conifers everywhere, and the moon glimmering over everything. It gave me comfort then too, that we were at least on the right track. Wrong place, perhaps, but in the correct world.
Here in the wooded harbor, the home we chose is unprotected against how overpowering that world can be. We don’t have streetlights, but I am awakened several times a month by the glare of that moon. We have skylights and large windows. Even though they are curtained, one can’t shut it out, the nature of the Northwest. The owls sing to me, the coyotes bay in the distance and the moon lights it all. The power of this region, guarded by the massive sentinels of the Olympics and the Cascades, and nourished by the huge flows of water that comprise the Sound, is palpable even in this day and age. Living here, on the fringes of the urban world, makes me question whether I could even tolerate the raw energy of the true wilderness. People do live there, and they commute for HOURS just to bask in that beauty whenever they aren’t required to satisfy the demands of modern life. Were I to try that, I know I could be lost to it.
Maybe later. Right now I have children to raise, a book to finish and a life to finance. The moon can keep me company in the meantime.
(click the link for a silver Northwest moon)
So with last week’s news, whatever makes me me exploded and I kind of spun out for a few days.
“It’s only money” works for me until we don’t have it anymore. This repair– 1800.00 will sink us for a while and we actually had to draft a budget. One I don’t like, but it pays the bills and that’s the important part. We haven’t had a working budget in a few years so this is not a bad thing. I will look up and ahead.
Found out from this mechanic (this is the second time another mechanic has asked “Um, who did the engine replacement?”) that Eric-the Dumbass in Port Orchard failed to put in two bolts that hold the engine IN the VAN. Further, he omitted to replace the harness that holds an O2 sensor in place, and it had been melting on the exhaust of the van. NICE. So I have chosen to be grateful for this fault because it probably saved us from an engine fire or worse.
G continues in Karate, and had a meltdown on Saturday because it is a mixed belt class. A more experienced student tried to toss her. G, who wasn’t paying attention to the instructions, flipped out and was upset for a few days.
N started indoor soccer league on Saturday and some serious cuteness (and noise) abounded with 30 5 year olds running around chasing balls.
We had our campout last week at Camp Seymour, and the children duly had a wonderful time. It amazes me still how well run that program is. In 24 hours the kids learned to shoot bows and arrows, use orienteering compasses and sharpen their boating skills. Mom also learned a few things; this was much more of a “slice of camp” experience, and I felt confident for the first time that my kids could take part in a sleep away camp. They are really thriving in this program. We were only able to make it this week because another homeschooler loaned us her car while ours was getting fixed. How cool is that?
D-baby made me nuts the whole time though– constantly escaping and being very TWO in a non-TWO environment. God bless homeschoolers; the staff was GREAT with him but it was the other children who really made him feel part of the experience and made ME feel at ease that he wasn’t ruining it for them. During one breakfast, for instance, an entire cadre of Bainbridge Island home high-schoolers drummed on the tables and stomped their feet so Dougie could breakdance in the dining hall. P-daddy came at night, and while he couldn’t stay because he had to go to work, he did share supper with us and he got to go to campfire. That made us all very happy.
