Liam gets dramatic

I've known from birth that Liam had a flair for the dramatic, but this week, my suspicions were put to the test. His school had a local drama club starting up - K-6 students were putting on a play, and he would have to stay after school two days a week to participate. I wasn't sure if he would like it, really. But when the activities bus rolled into town at 5 p.m. I got to hear all about it. And there was a lot to hear.
"I have lines I have to study, Mom," Liam said. "But my part isn't very big."
Upon returning home, Liam pulled out his script from his backpack, went to the couch and read it - really read it (I didn't realize he was that far along in reading ... this seems to have happened overnight). Then he walked around singing the songs and telling me about how this one was a really sad song, and this one he was singing in a light-hearted way... good god.
And so it begins. *grin*

easter images

It's only 8:01 and yikes, what a busy two hours. Take two children. Add magic. Add sugar. Result - chaos. I made a doll house for the kids as their big Easter present, but tried to keep it low-key on the "stuff" factor otherwise. Liam showed amazing restraint as he gave every second jelly bean he found to Théa while she focused on the toy house. Then it was bunny pancakes and bacon and after that, we cranked up the fiddle tunes and tried to dance off some of the sugar. And it's only 8 a.m.

A day with Théa

On Saturday, I picked Théa up around noon and we came home to hang out solo for 24 hours. I so rarely get that kind of time with her, and every time I do, I am reminded of how special she is. Of course, we all think our kids are special, but really, that's the whole point of this blog. To remember and revel in it.

What I think about Théa is this. When you take her away from the competition factors like her brother or my time, she blooms. She is so funny, dancing around the house like a little pixie, playing with her babies, helping me make bread, talking nonstop, and oh, perhaps my favorite memory of all is her reading to herself book after book - so cool in her own language with tinges of English

full circle

Last week was spring break, which essentially didn't mean much, other than a more relaxed morning schedule. Liam went to Nikki's most of the week, which was OK, it seemed, despite the average age of that group being somewhere around 3.

We did get outside a lot as the weather was awesome. Lots of rolling in the snow, built a snow fort and shoveled a lot. I find myself so used to being busy busy busy that sometimes I have to force myself to step back and play with the kids instead of being productive, but I think I managed that last week with beach time and other outdoor fun.

The other cool thing that happened last week was we started getting Full Circle boxes. These are boxes of fresh, organic produce that come weekly with a variety of items. Last week's included an eggplant, which I'd never cooked with before. I made ratatouille, a delightful blend of veggies and spices that I can't seem to get enough of. I would make it again in a heartbeat.

What I was most worried about was that we wouldn't eat all the stuff - the boxes aren't cheap, though since they also have lots of fruit, which we typically spend about $20 a week on, I think it's not much of an increase in cost. But anyway, we ate it all is the amazing thing. Liam got introduced to fresh zuchinni, which he liked, and even ate a mushroom, which he didn't. And they both devoured the pears.

It's funny how important it is to me that my kids eat a healthy, fully-balanced diet, and know what a freakin' zuchini is. It's almost like a crusade for me at this point. And as a side effect, I am also enjoying expanding my cooking knowledge quite a bit and diving into new things. Good all around, and true to its name, I really do feel like I've come full circle from my hippie-flower-child upbringing to my current goals and aspirations for health and self-sufficiency.

In love

This week, I finished my painting. I started "September, I Remember" over Christmas, working on a 4-foot-by-4-foot piece of plywood. It was inspired by a run I took in Anchorage amid the birch trees as they were changing color. I had just started running, and it was an amazing run - fast, hilly, long. And I ran with all my heart. It was like my legs had a mind of their own. I felt no pain, just deep gulps of crisp fall air with the sunshine glistening from the brilliant yellow leaves as they fluttered to the ground. The sky was dark, a storm approaching, and made the sunshine appear even brighter. I never wanted the trail to end, and as I ran, I processed the huge life decision that I could no longer go forward as I was, that things had to change. I will never forget that run as long as I live. It was an end. It was a beginning. It was a defining moment in my life, and the lives of my children. It was tear-stained, but also relieving.

And this painting, which now hangs in my dining room, captures all that for me. I am so in love with it, I can't stop looking at it. It really wound up being two or even three paintings in one. The sky is its own element, as is the leaf-covered ground. The tree, which I had never intended to leave white, seems to work so well that way that I will leave it as is, at least for now, and see if it continues to work. I think it will. I still have some work to do on the contours of the ground, but I will figure that out easily enough.

I am proud, inspired, thrilled to have this thing hanging in my house that is so much what I love to look at visually.

And I'm not done. I already know what the next painting is. It's light streaming through the snow covered trees, which I saw today during a wonderfully long ski on Crossman Ridge through a pristine 6-inch layer of fine powder with every branch laden with mounds of snow.

I can't wait to get started.

snow day

Today was a crazy crazy snow day. The snow started falling last Friday, actually, but we finally dug out from that, had one sunny day on Sunday, then back to heavy snow Monday morning and by 4 p.m. Monday afternoon, the snow situation was out of control - blowing winds, heavy snowfall, drifts all over the place.

But this morning, when I opened the door, I saw a wall of snow like I have never seen before here. Easily 4.5 feet tall, it was so high that the dog couldn't even get through it to go pee.

arrrrggg

BLIZZARD WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM AKST TUESDAY AROUND
KACHEMAK BAY...

THE BLIZZARD WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM AKST TUESDAY
AROUND KACHEMAK BAY.

A POWERFUL STORM WILL TRACK ACROSS THE WESTERN GULF TODAY AND
THEN MOVE INLAND OVER THE EASTERN KENAI PENINSULA TONIGHT. AS IT
APPROACHES THE KENAI PENINSULA EARLY THIS EVENING WINDS WILL
SHIFT TO WEST TO SOUTHWEST 30 TO 45 MPH ALONG KACHEMAK BAY. THESE
WINDS WILL COMBINE WITH SNOW TO PRODUCE VISIBILITIES OF ONE
QUARTER MILE OR LESS AT TIMES. BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED
TO CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY MORNING WHEN THE SNOW WILL
TAPER OFF.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS
AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITE-OUT
CONDITIONS...MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. ALL TRAVEL AND
OUTDOOR ACTIVITY IS STRONGLY DISCOURAGED.