Gentle

Love Thursday

Here's some love on Thursday. This was on the ferry from Tacoma to Vashon Island (which we took out and back, just because...) There was some tickling and lots of rain.

Here's the backstory: I read some mommy blogs. For a couple of years, I've read Dooce religiously. She's funny sometimes, and she takes good pictures and has cute pets and children. I know she gets alot of hate mail basically because she is so well-known and puts out so many opinions and often talks more about herself than some people really care to know. I am not emotionally invested in her blog, but I guess that many people are (for good or bad). Still - today she put up a link to all of the hate mail she gets and has blasted it with ads, in an effort to turn the hate into money. It's all just a little sad. I can't imagine getting all of the hate mail, but I also can't imagine putting it out there for all to see and to make money off of it. It's kind of an example of two wrongs not making a right.

On the flip side, I also read Chookooloonks. This is the blog of a woman/mom/wife/artist on a journey to bring more love, authenticism (is that a word?), beauty and truth into her life. Her blog is not read by as many people as Dooce, but she has fans - mostly those who also think that sharing and spreading love and beauty and truth are worthy goals. She is a lawyer turned artist, and she has some lovely thoughts. One of these is Love Thursday. When I checked her blog today, she had 24 Ways to Show Some Love in the next 24 Hours. I thought this was so much more the way I wanted my day to start off today, that I, too, decided to share a love photo and to maybe try one or two of the things she suggests. Sorry, Dooce.

Sunday Morning Quality Time

We are not a religious family. Jay and I both have a sense of wonder and awe when it comes to the world around us, but we have what seem to be similar skeptical views toward Religion and Church. We live in a county with LOTS of churches - especially the non-denominational Christian type that seem to be very into kids and reaching out to people in the community - even in the schools. I want my kids to be able to articulate their own philosophies regarding faith or whatever you want to call it, because I know that if we don't intentionally dig and then attempt to fill that hole in each girl, we will be leaving it up to the first friend they encounter at school who asks them to come along to church with them. We respect everyone's beliefs, but don't want to leave our kids' faith journeys in the hands of others - or leave those journeys up to chance.





So, this year, it is a goal of mine to figure out how we want to awaken their appreciation for the world around them, foster their sense of goodness, and define our Sunday mornings as time to spend happily and peacefully as a family. Maybe these mornings will someday involve some sort of something a little more structured, but for now, I like the idea of a walk in the woods, a spin on the merry-go-round and a stop to throw rocks into the Lewis River together.

Sleeping Beauty

Demi-Plié, Relevé

So, um, do the kids look excited for their first day of dancing lessons this morning? If you think they do, you should have seen their mother. I was completely beside myself. We were even ON TIME.


Once inside, Ellie achieved a state of steely concentration most often witnessed during the all-around gymnastics competition in the Olympics. Nothing was going to take her off her game. Not even the fact that she was wearing a swimsuit, the result of an early morning leotard accident. No harm done. We'll just call her Shawn Johnson.

Well, so much for steely concentration. That is a long hallway with a cool carpet that needs to be run - or maybe she was pacing out the steps she'd need for some imaginary vault.

This photo includes Karen, the very kind, funny, well-postured proprietor and instructor. I know the photos are basically silhouettes, but you can see the positions so well against the light from outside, and I couldn't use a flash for obvious reasons (including a sheet of glass between me and the class). As a little kid, I would have thought this studio was the absolute best thing ever. Look at the barre!

Reaching for the stars.


Like a cross between a Degas and a Cassatt.


Maggie took this one...


Listening...


Maggie's turn in the older class. Time for some serious line-toeing.


...and barre work.


...and skipping one by one across the floor. I found out later that Mags was not happy being last.



...but she DID get a personal escort. We may have to do some skipping homework - not because it was assigned, but the girl needs to learn how to skip. I believe we got a book on that recently - from Aunt Bev?

This whole thing just melts my heart. I don't remember myself being quite so precious. Probably because we wore black leotards and shoes, not pink. Or, maybe because it was the '70s and was anything really precious in the '70s?

Yep, she likes it.

The Outbuilding at Dawn

My views to the right and left from bed at dawn in the outbuilding. Makes me want to stay out here indefinitely.

Goodness and Light

I love photos of my kids having fun. Fun that doesn't involve sharp knives, electrical outlets, Sharpie markers or scissors. I also love the outbuilding. So happy kids on the bed out there is pretty much as good as it gets. Although those same kids NAPPING on that bed would be right up there.

A Day for Celebration

Today, I became an aunt! Leslie had her baby boy, and I know nothing other than that his name is Kieran Timothy. I was not home when Gramma Jerri called with the news, and well, Jay's not one for details. But yay, City Relatives - Cousin Junior has joined the family!

What else? The sun is shining. The temperature is perfect and I have both cold beer and cold wine waiting for me. And a bounty of tomatoes from the garden. And my little garden out front is doing surprisingly well for me.



What else? We went to IKEA for lunch with the girls and they had Face Painting there, and look who let a complete stranger decorate her skin. And the same kid actually told the woman what she wanted to be painted upon her face. I think we are growing out of the painfully, frightfully shy in the presence of her parents stage. And as one of those parents, I say that is cause for celebration. So Ellie got her face done, too - just like her sister's. And Jay, who was really wanting to get home to paint the kitchen, recognized the significance of the event and went along with it, even though it took a bit of time. Of course, my children plan to never sleep or bathe again in order to keep their faces in their present states. Actually, Mags does plan on sleeping, but only on her back with her face pointing straight up at the ceiling.



What else? Could I be out of good news? NO! I have saved a doozie! I am finished with a year of college chemistry - and my 20-year old self is right now standing in her bedroom down at JMU, looking into the future and wondering who the hell is 40-year old Colleen and why isn't she off using that history degree? Yes, I have more classes that start on Monday, but for 36 hours, I'm going to try to party like it's 1991.

Diggin' for Friskies

Ellie and Mags were on the porch when I heard a bit of commotion. Nothing too crazy, mind you, just enough to know that something was up. When I inquired as to what might be amiss, Ellie was kind enough to say, "Cat food up by dose." Then she giggled. And, thus began the search for tweezers, the extraction attempts (her nostrils are kind of small) and the end result on the tip of the pincers without a single tear or even darkening of anyone's mood. They don't teach this stuff in Mommy School.

The Apple of Her Eye

The temperature on Monday was 80 degrees, and it was as if the heavens were smiling down upon us. We had a little scavenger hunt, a picnic and some really enjoyable girl time! Farley had a good time, too. The old guy likes the sunshine.