Getting Dressed For Easter

I am sometimes paralyzed and always overwhelmed when it comes to dressing up. Halloween, fancy events, etc is all too much for me. I think the root of the problem comes from living on a budget-I don't want to use all our clothes budget getting the right outfit for an event.



Sometimes the grandmothers really come through though! This year my mom bought matching shirts for the littles and almost-matching for Burl.

 

What was adorable was that no one was as excited to match as Burl was. He felt so proud to match his younger brothers, a feeling that most nine-year-olds just don't have. Fern was in there too, wearing her blue, and adoring her babies as the second mom of the house. 

This was our first Easter to make it to church on time for a parking spot and a seat in the sanctuary, so we celebrated by bringing the littles in for the music. I usually leave my phone at home when we go to church, but today I had it with me and was able to take a picture right before the service started. 

Easter is not at all about the clothes. At all. This is not a spiritual post. This is just a post about getting "fancy" dressed and loving the smiles my kids had. 

Cloudland Canyon

I'm back to blogging! Yippee. My main camera lens broke, which put a damper in my picture making abilities. Our solution was to upgrade my phone first, then save for the lens. I've finally gotten into the groove of getting them on the blog. So...here I go.



We are finally finding our hiking feet as a family of six. Lark and Ridge were so young yet so big, that we couldn't find many hikes where we could carry them both or have them walk. Now, we've got Lark in the carrier on John's back and Ridge is totally capable of walking! While these are minor details to some, they make or break our ability to hit the trail.



We headed up to Clouldland Canyon. First, we hiked the one mile loop where there are several remote primitive camping spots. Burl and I are itching to try backpacking, so we are doing it on our own speed: slowly.



Hiking with Burl is a different experience now. We don't see him much. He runs ahead of us then we catch up with him only to find that he has his knife out and is doing some nine-year-old boy thing. We love it.



We found a couple of creeks and they truly are my favorite outdoor activity. I never met a creek that I didn't love. 

After that exploratory hike, we headed over to the east rim of the canyon for the epic views and the picnic spots. 

Right now we still keep the food simple and stick to the basics. 

Once we finished dinner, we climbed down part of the canyon to a beautiful waterfall with the bluest pool at the bottom. Somewhere deep in my childhood memory, I remember hiking to this waterfall when I was very young and with both parents. I asked my mom, and she confirmed that we came here quite often before my parents divorced, sometimes with other families. This matches with my fragmented memory. 

One of the highlights of our time hanging out here was watching Burl. He ran around the edge and back five times, getting closer and closer to the base of the falls. With a lot of cheering on from me, he eventually stood under the freezing water as it hit his back. He was so charged up by this and said that it was one of the coolest things he's ever done. Gosh, he's fun. 

We set up the hammock, poked in the water, helped the babies and took a picture or two. Wink, wink. 

It was another great time outside. Endurance is increasing in all of us with each hike. It's pretty easy with children that enjoy it and incredible views like these!

Self Care Laughter

There is so much buzz and debate around self care these days. It's something that I think about as well! What works and what doesn't work for me is something that I wonder. For a long time, I used to think that self care for me was a break from the kids to do something on my own or with friends. While those are great things, it didn't always do it for me. It put me in a posture of always waiting to get away from my kids so I could relax, only to feel frustrated when I'm with them and never totally myself when I got back from my break.

Some of my breaks include: out to eat with friends, coffee shop mornings by myself, exercising (oldie but goodie), having friends over after bedtime for a bonfire, etc. Those are all good and I still do them occasionally. However, I've recently learned that actually playing with my children is some of my favorite self care! 

It was a nice day when they kids were off of school recently, so we went to the playground for fun and a picnic. We ate, they did their thing, I watched all the things that they wanted me to see, then I got in on the fun. 

I ran, chased, tickled, helped, and did a lot of laughing. That's happening more often, and I've so enjoyed getting involved and laughing with them. Being goofy with them brings me so much joy. In my search for feeling good in life, giving myself over to my role as mother has filled me so much. 

These are my children that I adore and they have truly been my best self care. 

Ridge's Writings

Ridge is my child who has shown the most interest in writing. Daily he grabs a pencil and index card and draws some very detailed and almost distinguishable picture. This year, he got to deliver his first Valentine's Day cards. 

This tiny right of passage always nudges me to finally teach them how to write their own names. For whatever reason, I found the time to do this during our morning hustle to get the big kids to school. I showed him once and he got it pretty quickly (except for that tricky lower case e). He was very enthusiastic about it as long as we only did three at a time. It was a very happy Valentine's day for Ridge. 

Large Lark Turns 2

Because I like to overthink everything and make things harder on myself, one of my constant mom-thoughts is "does every child have a place and a voice in our big family, are they heard/do they contribute something of themselves to our family?" with a slight undercurrent of "the world does not revolve around each child-don't cater to them!" See, I'm a total mom-nut-job with my unnecessary thoughts.

As the youngest, Lark often gets dragged along to everything and often I wonder if we ever do anything for him. His birthday was going to be my indicator. Did he see it as his own celebration and fun, or did he see it as another activity forced upon him? 

The answer became clear: he saw it as his own. The older three were so cute helping him feel special. While Burl and Fern took over the streamer decorations, Ridge helped with a gentle hype. 

Ridge loved all his toys, while Burl and Fern used their tablets for their own pictures. Our sweet Lark, fresh up from bed, enjoyed the attention and loved his new little toys. 

Later that day, he wore his new, ugly, character shirt with pride. As family arrived, he greeted everyone and showed him his special shirt. We devoured cake and the ever famous charcuterie board. 

The candles were lit, the song was sung, and his smile was plastered on his face. What joy to watch a two year old GET IT. 

After he neatly ate his cake and opened his presents with enthusiasm, he did what he does best: he kept playing. 

As he grows and develops, I'm watching him become his own person. So far, I think we're ok on the everyone has their place. These days it's still just a lot of playing, which is Lark's expertise. He plays so well! For now, that's the most important thing that a toddler can do. We love our big boy, Lark. 

Self Care Play

My friend's husband came up to me a while ago and said, "Jess says she really likes hanging out with you and one of the reasons is you're really good at self care." That made me laugh! What a reputation! 

What used to be be called R&R is now self care, our new buzz phrase. It's thrown at moms the most-having a hard time? stressed out? BUT WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR SELF CARE? There's a pressure for moms to be really really great at self care to keep them mellow.

I'm good at doing things that makes me happy. I hang out with friends, I run, I (try to) meditate, I have hobbies, etc. I'm a hoarder of self care and most of my things are done away from my family and outside of my house. 

Not anymore though! My new favorite, most exciting form of self care is stopping it all and being with my kids. Playing, sitting, talking, answering questions, chasing, etc. It fills me so much right now! I say NO to my perceived fatigue, the mom chores, and all the other things. Like going rogue, I'm choosing self care that keeps me right where I am and embraces the love that's right in front of me. 

Burl Does Bath Time

A babysitter recently relayed some info that she gathered when she was here. Ridge told her that Fern plays with him, but Burl does not. When I passed this along to Burl, he was shocked and almost offended. Burl definitely plays with Ridge-to which Burl pointed out all the ways they play together! Camping, obstacle course, tractor, legos, trampoline, etc. In an effort to regain big brother points, Burl has really ramped up the Ridge time! It's been hilarious and absolutely precious.

I was reminded of all that big brother-ness when I saw these pictures taken a few weeks ago. Burl asked if he could do bath time. At first I micromanaged the potential mess, then I let go and sat back with my camera and my fuzzy mom feelings. 

Burl used his gentile voice and his big smile the whole time! 

When he finished the washing part, he asked me "now what?" I told him now was the fun part. He can just play with them. In true Burl-ness, he started a puppet game with the dragon washcloth. The two littles were buying whatever Burl was selling! Burl was eating it all up. 

One of my hopes is that we are fostering a connection between our children that will be enjoyed into adulthood. While I wish I knew what I need to do now for the future, only time will tell me how it turns out. Instead of living in the future like I tend to do, I'm trying to focus on the now. 

The now is pretty great and the smiles are full throttle. 

A Barefoot Day & Noodles

I'm loving being home with the two littles. They are increasingly more engaging and more fun! It's not hard for me to admit that my time with them often reminds me of my similar days with Burl and Fern. We did the same things, but without the hustle of school. For my sake, I try hard to keep our pace as slow as I can. I linger on the floor with them, take time to tickle them as I buckle them in their car seats, or hold them a little longer than normal. While I can't do this everyday, the days that I do it are the best!

I don't have any new tricks, so I just repeat what I did with Burl and Fern. It worked ok in my book! A household favorite are NOODLES! 

I set up the kids table in the kitchen and give them a bowl of dry noodles with spoons and measuring cups. They love the sensory, the freedom to do it on their own, and making a mess!

I try not to get involved but I do hover with total fixation on them. Look at Lark's little mouth in the picture above. Such focus! I love seeing this. 

Towards the end, I showed them that they could drive their trucks through it to make roads. That turned into them piling every truck that they had on top of the noodles. I loved it so much because it's just another little way these boys are being boys together and ramping up to the next level. I love them and my barefoot days with them.