wrap your arms around me...

it has been a hard week. hell, it has been a hard year. but the sun is shining here in portland, the trees are plump with green leaves, we have baby blue jays living in our backyard, the garden is sprouting and the kids continue to blossom every day- reminding me of what is truly important in this world. and it's the moments like these that i want to wrap my arms around and never let go...


in other newsly news;
*we had two special visits with dear s.f. friends this weekend--miss laurel & miss peggi
*the chicken coop is almost done and the girls are itching to get out.
*mateo is an insesant babble machine-- sometimes i know what he is saying and other times i guess...
*pilar has only 2 weeks left of being a 1st grader!?!?! crazy!
*i am on my own the next couple of days and am a wee bit nervous...does this feeling ever go away?
*david is taking on a business partner and shifting business direction! this is a good thing! (more later).
*i managed to NOT cook dinner for the past 2 nights-- not cooking dinner is like a mini vacation.

why we love waldorf

PVS-Charter Renewal Version from Hellinabucket on Vimeo.

this video was created to support our school's charter renewal that was up this year. our school's charter was unanimously approved for another 3 years! we are incredibly grateful and it is very clear that many others are as well.

this tender work

mothering is tender work. it brings up so much grief and self reflection that sometimes it feels too much to bear. that is what i am realizing in all of this- this past year and a half has really rattled me, shaken me in to awakening to who i really am and who i really want to be in this world. along with this comes the realization of who i have been and not always liking that person. grief. i know all of what i have been feeling this past 1.5 years has purpose and is slowing guiding me to my own truth but that does not mean it has been without much pain. but slowly, i think i am learning that all we really have in this life is this moment- that's it, the future is uncertain and the past is over. and being in this moment is sometimes the hardest place to be.

newest members of the family

we are joining the portland urban homesteading ranks and have just added 5 new members to our family. please meet nelly, boots, mabel, sunshine, and fern. if luck is on our side we will find ourselves with 5 good hens. at this point we know for sure that 3 will be hens but the gender of the 2 bantams is yet to be known. by late summer we should be enjoying some delicious home grown eggs for breakfast.
pilar is a proud proud mother tending carefully to her new chicks. mateo, well, we keep him at a far distance just because we are pretty sure he does not know his own strength! david is hoping that the next 5 weeks will prove to be enough time to get a coop built. and i am trying to be totally on board, though feeling quite cautious of the additional load. it is a good thing they are so darn cute! we look forward to introducing you to them when you come to visit.

channeling andy goldsworthy

today miss p. had a playdate with one of her sweet girlfriends. it was a beautiful sunny portland day and the girls did not set foot in the house for an entire four hours. they were busy concocting fairy potions and building fairy houses and dwellings and telling tall tales of fairy kingdoms far far away.

here are some of their fairy creations- very andy goldsworthy-esque if you ask me. i wonder if he too is creating fairy homes?

easter day

we have had a very mellow and quiet easter- quite contrary from the usual fanfare at noni & babu's. while we are sad not be be in ashland celebrating easter and tio's return to ashland- we have had a most lovely day including a visit from the easter bunny, playing in the garden, a nap for mama, egg painting with dear friends and a delicious meal. it was a sweet day in the comfort of our own home this year. happy spring to all.




new bunnies for the bunnies




the fruits of this years labor

mateo spells t.r.o.u.b.l.e.

we are quickly realizing that mateo is a very different child than his older sister. pilar was always perfectly happy to sit and "organize" her toys. mateo on the other hand would rather rip things apart, throw things, climb on everything, and in general destroy all he can get his feisty little mitts on. while we love him not even a smidgen less, we do feel entirely run ragged by the end of each day.