Beauty of the Senses

There is no more wonderful a sensation than a gentle breeze caressing your skin in a mountain meadow. I took the boys to the west side of Falcon Park this morning where we enjoyed some "ice cream for the soul". The 90 degree streak finally broke and in the foothills the whisper of humidity in the wind with the sun on my face was a balm over a stressed out mind and heart. There are days when getting to the hills truly saves my sanity and today was one of them.

I was sad that I forgot my camera because there were some sweet moments when both my boys were reveling in the feel of nature as much as I. Matthew is a boy after his Mamma's heart with his desire to climb on all the rocks. He held up both hands, fingers splayed apart, and told me he was going to climb the pile of rocks this many times! I told him go right ahead and I'd meet him on the other side. Sweet baby Tyler wants nothing more than to walk. He wiggles free of my arms, reaches for my fingers and gets his way as much as he can, whispering "da da" under his breath with each step.

We walked/ran/mosied through the meadow to the other side to see the "castle". Of course we had to stop to pee in the bushes along the way. Matthew is all about nature when it comes to peeing outside. Now that you have that mental image in your mind let me return to our beautiful day. Matthew was also the tour guide at the castle. The rocks walls and chimneys are all that remain of a house that was struck by lightning and destroyed by fire in 1918. He rememberd from our last visit and went around to all the visitors telling them that the house was struck by lightning and was fired. Ah well, at least they won't forget the story either.

Next time I'll remember the camera.

Finally, New Pictures!!!

I got my new digital camera today and took a couple shots. The manual is an inch thick so it will take me a while to fully appreciate what I have, but it is so nice to be able to post photos again.

The baby girl is Alexis Plasterer, daughter of my friend Heather from California. They were here for the day visiting.




Matthew was trying to get his Daddy wet and he got himself in the process - and Daddy to!

Global Warming or Was that Freezing?

Interesting stuff on this topic in the following Canadian websites:

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/environment/story.html?id=4432a41c-7c52-4b74-934e-f0dac3b2bcb8

http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=4df175c5-d861-4bb1-8145-4132fcd49870

Pictures Soon

There is hope of seeing more photos of the VanDewater family. I just ordered a new digital camera that FedEx says should be here on Friday. I can't wait!

Miss Potter

I treated myself to a movie tonight and watched "Miss Potter", the telling of the life of Beatrix Potter played by Renee Zellweger. I thought the movie was very well done. I had a particular interest in the film because of an ongoing little game Matthew and I play. We pretend that I am Mrs. Rabbit and Matthew is Peter. I use a silly English accent and we retell the Peter Rabbit story complete with the threat that Mrs. McGregor is going to put him in a pie. Matthew laughs and giggles and we play it over and over.

There are so many themes in that movie that could be pulled out and mulled on, but the one that caught me off guard was the desire to be creative. I wanted to have some means immediatly to take ideas of beauty from my head and have them show up in some tangible form.

I love the way Beatrix turns to her art as a means of expressing a variety of emotion and to either escape, or feel more fully, the reality of her life. Steve and I have lamented occasionally that since having children it is much more difficult to find time to create. For Steve, that means time to write music and for me it is working with my hands - gardening, crochet, cross stitch, quilting, sewing.

What I concluded is that for now all that creative energy is going into caring for my family. My creativity has to be expressed in imaginative play, making a meal from "nothing" in my pantry, seeing animals in the clouds, and yes, finger painting. So during this season of life my boys become the tangible form. They are the clay that gets molded and I'll always think they're beautiful!

Rewards Reap Humility

When we were still in the midst of potty training I was looking for anything I could find that would be a real incentive to get Matthew to use the toilet instead of his pants. For a time I was using mints as the reward for pooping on the toilet.

Last week I decided to go to Subway for lunch. After the sandwich was all made Matthew spied the cookies at the end of the assembly line and, of course, asked if he could have one. I told him no. But the guy ringing us up tries to be the salesman and says "they're freshly baked", as if egging on my sweet child. I looked him in the eye and told him that wasn't fair. He sheepishly agreed. So, to thwart any further conversation about cookies with my son I grabbed a mint from the basket on the counter and handed it to him. Matthew very gleefully replies "oh, a mint, for pooping". I just smiled and nodded as the man started laughing. Children certainly do keep us humble!