Category Archives: family

July 7, 2010 · 8:39 AM

The Land of the Free

I was in a mood on the fourth of July. For 364 days of the year, I don’t think about New Hampshire… it never enters my consciousness at all. But on the fourth of the July, I miss our tiny NH town and its holiday festivities. I don’t even know if it’s the actual town I miss, so much as it is the idea of it… the whole All-American, baseball-and-apple-pie, small town goodness of it all. We’d watch the parade (and the kids would happily scramble to catch us much candy as they could, tossed from the passing floats), walk through the vendors eating our hot dogs and cotton candy, and return later in the evening to claim our spot on the hill to watch the fireworks overhead.

There were of course lots of various places to watch fireworks around the valley, as well as celebrations, parades, and concerts… but we’ve never been before, they were sure to be crowded, a lot of them cost money, and many were far away.

So we spent the greater part of the morning of the 4th sitting – and occasionally moping – around, trying to decide what to do. As exciting as that was, we really didn’t want to spend the entire long weekend doing it. So at the last minute, we called Mom and Dad and invited ourselves up north. They can watch fireworks right from their driveway, and because they’re far away, the noise is not an issue (an important consideration for a 2 year old’s first fireworks experience). We watched the fireworks, spent the night, and ended up having a beautiful day driving and geocaching in the Mogollon Rim, the likes of which we couldn’t have experienced in Andover, New Hampshire.

All in all, an unexpectedly nice weekend, and a really lovely holiday.

Dressed for bed and ready for the fireworks:

Camping on Maba’s floor:

I was about to write that this had nothing to do with Independence Day… then realized it had everything to do with Independence Day. Paxton and Everett trying on their great grandfather’s custom-made Navy dress blues from World War II. I miss him, and wish the kids could have known him.

Mogollon Rim, another beautiful corner of the world:

Happy Fourth of July to all.

Fish, Mud, and Puberty

Last week, we joined a group of homeschoolers and checked out the new aquarium here in the valley. We clearly weren’t the only ones with the same idea, as it was crazy and crowded. We all enjoyed it though, and look forward to going back someday when it’s not as busy (ie: when it’s not still newly opened and 110 degrees outside)

I was catching up with a friend while the kids played in the playground area. She asked me how we’d been doing, and I answered with my fairly standard, “Good. Busy.” “What have you been busy with?”

Stumped.

What have I been busy with? So much of it is just… life. Life with an active two year old who’s in my arms a large portion of the day. Life with a busy six year old and a driven nine year old and an inquisitive thirteen year old. There’s school (my school) and summer movies, and playdates, and an endless list of weekend activities. The days are quickly getting away from me, and I continually need to remind myself to breathe, to soak it in, to take the time to sleep, shower, go to the bathroom ENJOY IT.

On Saturday, we took the kids to something called Mighty Mud Mania. Apparently it’s an annual event, but this is the first I’d heard of it. It’s only been going on for 35 years, so you can see where I’d have trouble. But now I know, so we went. It was a long, hot, and fun day.

I’ve noticed lately – when I’m going through my hundreds and hundreds of snapshots that I’ve taken at various places – that there are far fewer current pictures of Spencer than the other three. I was somewhat wracked with guilt and confusion over this (why am I excluding one of my children?!) until I realized why. He’s either beside me when I’m taking them, or he’s off doing his own thing…. unless it’s 3 in the afternoon, in which case he’s sleeping on the couch. He’s at “that” age right now, that in-between, not quite a kid/not quite a teenager age. When we were at the mud event, he enjoyed himself, but didn’t really want to do any of the activities. He was happy to hang out with us, drink his water, and watch.

I remember with great clarity – oh so painful clarity – what it was like to be thirteen. I was awkward and confused. I didn’t fit in anywhere. My body was doing strange things. I had a group of not always nice “friends” who sometimes treated me so badly that I dreaded going to school. I was the one with frizzy hair and bad skin. I was mercilessly taunted by older kids. I had a tragically huge and unrequited crush on a boy who was four years older than me. I had no idea who I was or where I was going or what I wanted.

I was not yet ME.

I share this humiliating history to show that I can fully commiserate with my barely-a-teenager son, but also to give a praise of thanks that he is so much better off than I was. He knows who he is, and a great majority of the time he’s happy. The friends he makes are true friends. He has a close relationship with us, and with his grandparents. He’s excited about life and he’s following his interests (currently that means hours at the computer, researching the ins and outs of operating a construction business) And the great torture that was provided to me at school? Not an issue for him. He’s able to become a young man as gracefully – and painlessly – as possible.

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Filed under adventures, family, field trips, growing up

April 29, 2010 · 5:58 PM

Wine on Computers

Two weeks ago, just a few days into our vacation in San Diego, Tegan spilled my entire glass of wine onto my netbook. It wasn’t a splash, it was a flood, and the computer promptly responded by making a sizzling sound, followed by a whoosh and a whine as it shut off into silence.

Now, aside from the obvious lesson – move glass of wine before two year old approaches, or better yet, no wine by the computer! – there were two other lessons to be learned as well. First, the one that’s been the recurring theme my entire life: Don’t sweat the small stuff. Yes, I was bummed about my computer, as well as the fact that we don’t currently have the money to replace it. But in the grand scheme of things, a fried netbook is small stuff! It just doesn’t matter. Secondly, it told me in no uncertain terms that I didn’t need to be on the computer while I was on vacation. I needed to be with my family, live life, and let my little online world continue to spin without me. Even now, back home with 3 desk tops at my disposal, my computer time needs to be more carefully managed, planned, and balanced. And it’s good.

Some other insights from the trip, in no particular order:

You need to stop to enjoy the flowers

Sometimes, you just have to eat straight from the carton

Elephants are cool even when they’re made out of legoes

Japanese gardens are beautiful

Roller coasters are so much more fun when you share them with the people you love

So are flumes

And rides that go up and down

Baby animals, of any kind, are to be enjoyed and appreciated

Bugs are interesting

Learning about the Marines, aviation, and World War II is interesting too

Even pretending to sit at a school desk bores Paxton

Good friends, the kind that you can see twice a year and still pick up like no time had past, are rare, and precious

The ocean is beautiful, peaceful, and awe-inspiring

And finally, it really is about the little things in life:

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Filed under family, vacation

February 7, 2010 · 7:57 PM

Cleaning the Earth

Our very favorite thing to do as a family is to go out into the desert… driving, hiking, geocaching, exploring. Even just breathing in the air and drinking in the scenery. There is something so rejuvenating about it, something that makes the soul sigh and the heart smile. We love the desert.

Yesterday found us joining several hundred other like-minded valley residents for the third annual clean-up of Four Peaks.

We filled trash bag after trash bag,

trailer after trailer.

We picked up, loaded, drove, and deposited.

We stayed for hot dogs, and we stayed for the raffle drawing. Spencer won two off-roading DVDs (a more perfect prize for him could not have been), work gloves, and a Tread Lightly t-shirt.

And Everett won a Tread Lightly sweatshirt, conveniently sized big enough to fit his mother. He was thrilled to get it, as the sun was covered in clouds by that time, and he’d started to complain of getting chilly.

At the risk of repeating a long-held cliche, there truly is nothing quite like the sense of purpose and camaraderie you feel when you’re out in the earth, working with your hands, giving your time, and coming together for a common good. That there’s what life’s about.

Lest the day be too perfect though, there was just one minor “oops” with the trailer

…giving us a perfectly matched set.

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Filed under eco, family, projects

December 13, 2009 · 4:32 PM

The Christmas Race

I feel like we’ve been running a marathon the past few days. A fun marathon, but a marathon nonetheless. In 48 hours, we drove 375 miles, played in the snow, took a train ride to the North Pole to see Santa, spent the night at my parents’, logged 14 geocache finds, went to a Christmas party, and watched a 45 minute Christmas light display. Even today, a day that was supposed to be devoted to decompressing, was largely spent out and about – running errands, getting last minute Christmas things, and picking up the new phones that turned out to be Mike and I’s Christmas presents to each other.

On Friday afternoon, we headed up to Williams to take the kids on the Polar Express. I was beyond thrilled that we’d been able to keep it secret since booking the tickets a month ago, and the boys’ reaction did not disappoint! They were so excited for not only the train ride, but also just to see, play in, and experience the snow. We got to drive through a small squall on the way there, they saw a snow plow in action, and they collectively threw about 38265 snow balls.

The train ride itself was fun too, although the trip would have been worth it just to see how happy the kids were to see the snow! Everett and Tegan especially loved seeing the buildings all lit up at the North Pole, and were happy to give Santa a high five when he boarded the train. We all enjoyed the soft cookies and hot chocolate, and the kids were singing carols with the best of them on the way back to the station. I could not have asked for a nicer night.

Here are a few pictures, and I’ve posted more on Facebook.

After the train ride, we spent the night at Mom and Dad’s, thankful to have a midway point at which to crash instead of driving the three hours home. On Saturday we spent most of the day geocaching in another beautiful mountainous area of the state. We got up close and personal with cows (and their poop), cacti, an awesome assortment of rocks, and curious highway patrol who watched from across the street as we found our final cache on a Stop sign.

Saturday night we stopped at a Christmas party hosted by my parent’s minister and his wife, and enjoyed some more good food, hot cider, and visiting before we left for our last adventure – a 45 minute Christmas light display in Cornville. It was an amazing combination of lights set to music, and even in the cold (and at times, wet) night, the 45 minutes passed by in what felt like half that time. This is just a small clip of his display from 2007, although he has upgraded in many ways since then. It took approximately 8 to 10 hours of programming for each MINUTE of music. Awesome.

We got home at 10:30 last night, exhausted but happy and ready for bed. Now that our recent stretch of being go, go, go is momentarily over, this introvert is looking forward to what I hope will be a calm and peaceful 12 days until Christmas. No big plans beyond cookie making and hot chocolate sipping, resting and enjoying the remainder of the season.

Just a Big, Huge, Blog

Though I’m pretty sure it defies all laws of the time and space continuum for it to be possible, today is the last day of November. Which means that tomorrow is December 1st. Which means…. CHRISTMAS SEASON! But before I can talk about Christmas (and boy howdy, can I talk about Christmas) I have to lay November to rest.

What a November it was.

First, today I logged the 50,017th word of my novel, bringing it to completion – for now – and earning me all the rights, privileges and honors of being a 2009 NanoWrimo winner. What does it mean? Absolutely nothing. But it did get me this nifty little web badge, and well, I admit I got quite a thrill when I pushed “submit” that final time and saw a congratulatory fireworks display.

I learned a lot by doing the project, not the least of which is that writing 50,000 words in 30 days is a lot of writing! I missed one single day, and ended up staying up half the night catching up. I learned that despite my penchant for dabbling, for trying something new then moving on when it gets too boring (or hard or tedious or un-interesting) I can in fact see something through to completion when it’s really important to me. Yes, I threatened to quit about, oh, 23 of the 30 days, but I did not. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I learned how satisfying it was to really devote time to my own pursuit. One of the few things that gave me pause about doing it was that it meant time away from my kids. Not only did they survive the month, but they were also incredibly supportive and interested in what I was doing. I think I’ve had such a great frustration with everyone’s need to get away from their kids (and I do still have that frustration… seeing people complain about having their kids home from school for 2 whole weeks for Christmas vacation? Sad.) that I’ve overcompensated. And well… I don’t spend huge amounts of time away from my kids, and I don’t send them to school, and I don’t make them cry it out so they’ll learn to fall asleep on their own. Those things won’t change. But this past month has shown me that I can – and should– have my own interests and pursuits, and that when I do, my children will show me the same support that I’ve always tried to show them.

And while I’m on the subject of support: Paxton and Everett both had their final games of the fall season this month, and were so excited to have their grandparents, aunt, and uncle there to watch. Paxton burned it up on the pitcher’s mound…

while Everett celebrated with a pizza party with his team…

I haven’t loaded anything onto Photobucket for eons now (see my earlier mention of my quitting something when it ceases to be interesting) but I do have lots of new pictures on Facebook, including Halloween and our most recent trip to the zoo.

On a sad note, on November 22nd I said goodbye to my cat and companion of 19 years (19 years!), Zoya. I was with her when she died, and while there was some comfort in knowing that she was not alone when she passed, it was by far one of the most difficult things that I’ve ever done. I miss her like crazy, and the rawness of my heart cast more than a few clouds over the following week – which unfortunately included Mike’s vacation, and Thanksgiving, both of which were lovely in spite of everything.

And tomorrow, tomorrow we start another new month, and our official countdown to Christmas. The tree is trimmed, the stockings are hung, and the advent envelopes are loaded with twenty five cool things to do as a family.

Just like last year, I’m going to try to post daily pictures and blogs, in an effort to document my favorite month of the year. (Says my husband as he sees me blogging: “Aren’t you sick of writing? You just wrote every day for a month.” And the answer is HECK NO! I am estatic to have time for my blog once again. This is the fun stuff.)

In addition to the advent calendar in the picture above, this year we’re also doing a Jesse Tree.

One of the great things about having a strong faith in God, but not belonging to any one specific church or denomination, is that we learn from, and appreciate, customs from so many different places. I actually got the idea for the Jesse Tree from a Catholic website (I am not, nor have I ever been, Catholic) It is wonderful! Each day we’ll hang a new ornament with a different picture. The pictures all correspond to a different bible passage, starting with creation and leading up to the birth of Jesus. So far we’ve done a dove, standing for peace and harmony; an apple for Adam and Eve; and today was an ark.

I love the marrying of family fun with reflection on the season, and I am so completely excited to experience the next 25 days with the kids.

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Filed under Christmas, family, projects, writing

September 11, 2009 · 4:14 PM

Vacation… sweet, sweet vacation

Here’s the thing:

Mike and I lived in New England for over 30 years each. I was born in Connecticut and grew up in New Hampshire, with a brief 6 year stint in Massachusetts after we got married. We’ve only been in Arizona for four years, so I understand that our thinking might still be clouded with newness (although, lots of people have decided that they hate new areas in far less time than 4 years!), but neither of us has any desire to move back east, now or in the future. So accustomed as we’ve become to the vast open spaces, I have a hard time believing we wouldn’t feel closed in and claustrophobic if we ever returned. There’s just something about driving (and hiking and camping and being) in such a majestic area that makes you feel simultaneously very alive and very small, in the best possible way.

All of that to say, when we recently had an opportunity for a first time, week-long, exploration of the beautiful neighboring state of Nevada, we were thrilled!

It wasn’t a restful vacation by any means, but it was restoring. We hiked (and hiked and hiked and hiked) and logged about 2 dozen more geocache finds. We explored the small town of Pioche, and checked out some old mining claims. We wandered through caves, and we gaped at the beauty of Zion. The boys fished, entered a mucking competition, and tasted their first deep-fried Ding Dong. We watched deer on the hill every morning, and we saw wild horses look right at us before they trotted away. We started each day with the sunrise and a great cup of coffee, and ended each day with a campfire and a great glass of wine.

And it was good.

You can view all 130 pictures here

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Filed under camping, family, traveling, vacation

July 28, 2009 · 11:30 AM

Science Center, Camping, & CT Scans

This past week was perhaps one of the busiest weeks we’ve had all summer. We were on the go daily, to and from everything from dentist and doctor’s appointments, to field trips and mini-vacations. On Wednesday, we met up with our old homeschool group at the Arizona Science Center. It was the first time we’ve been there since Tegan was an infant, and the first time we’ve ever seen the planetarium (where the girl happily grabbed a nap). We were there for over 4 hours, and I’m pretty sure the kids would have liked to stay for 4 more.

Mike took the day off on Friday and we headed north for a couple of days of camping at White Horse lake. As per our usually preferred method, we took the scenic route. It was beautiful!

The campground itself was one of the nicest we’ve ever been to. It was in a gorgeous wooded area that reminded me a lot of New Hampshire. Our site was big and clean, and the bathrooms were surprisingly non-smelly for vault toilets! The first night was a little rough – Tegan burnt her hand on a lantern, and it took more than an hour to nurse her into feeling well enough to get some sleep. By day two she was feeling much better and not slowed at all by her bandage.

We enjoyed hanging around the site…

We visited the lake…

We hiked…

We went geocaching…

It was a good trip, a quick trip. It was nice to come home on Sunday to sleep in our own beds… not nice to get that blast of Phoenix heat when we stepped out of the car. You can see the whole album of camping pictures here.

And finally, I had a full CT scan of my kidney – and related parts – on Tuesday. Is it a sign that I’ve had too many of these things that I suddenly find the field of radiology very, very interesting? Anyway, I see my doctor again on Friday, and will find out what’s next. Thank you to those of you who’ve followed my saga, asked me for updates, and sent your good wishes. I appreciate it more than you know.

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Filed under camping, family, geocaching, health, summer

July 16, 2009 · 8:22 AM

The Great American Pasttime

Last Sunday brought us to a Diamondbacks game. It was the third game that Mike and I had gone to (the second for the kids) and it was the third time we watched them lose. Just like the first two times, winning would have been nice, but it put no damper on our spirits. The sound of the bat cracking against the ball, the crowd cheering, the food, the smells… it was a good day. Besides, I like rooting for the underdog.

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Filed under baseball, family

July 2, 2009 · 8:39 AM

Green Beans and Memories

Last night the boys snapped the green beans for dinner.

The last time I saw my grandmother before she died was at my parents’ house. We were all there for the weekend, and we barbequed, played outside, and took the kids to a local orchard for fruit, rides, and caramel apples. It was a nice weekend. It was also the weekend I first suspected I was pregnant with Everett, and hadn’t yet told anyone. But what I’m remembering, what I will always remember when I see fresh green beans, is my grandmother.

Like lots of grandmothers, she so enjoyed taking care of her children and grandchildren. She always kept busy in the kitchen, always prepared wonderful things. Even that weekend, when she was becoming increasingly slowed by her failing health, there was no denying her need to help.

Her assignment that day was the green beans. I can still see her sitting at Mom & Dad’s little round wooden table… slowly, deliberately, and happily – always so happy to serve others – snapping those green beans. I have a lot of lovely memories of my grandmother, but that one stays the most vivid in my mind and in my heart… maybe because it was the last time I saw her, maybe because it was one of those little things that truly exemplified her giving spirit. Whatever the reason, I thought of it last night as my own boys prepared the green beans. It made me smile just to watch them, and I know that if she was watching, she was smiling too.

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