our weekA

Our days are long. But the weeks and months pass by so quickly.

In just a week Kate will be 2. It is hard to believe, because I still hold the memory of my tiny nursling nestled up to my chest day and night so vividly in my mind.

She stomps her foot now to make her point. Tells me I am bad when she senses anything but extreme happiness in my tone. She pees on the potty throughout the day, and struts around in her underwear like the big girl she thinks she is. She likes to experiment with pushing, kicking, scratching, biting, and pinching, and minutes later is the sweetest little girl you have ever seen.

She has a million different ways to say, HI MOMMY

And often asks Charlie to hold her, carry her, help her.

She has perfect grammar and complex sentences that amaze us all.

She continues to dominate in the area of being sweet, cute, spunky, and fiesty.

My mom says she reminds her of me.

She adores her daddy, who doesn't?

She spends her days eating and eating and eating, playing so sweetly with her dolls, jumping on the couch with her brother, hiding from nasty trolls, and racing cars around the floor.

She struts into Charlie's nursery school like she owns the place, and honestly she does.

She can sing songs so beautifully, and loves to practice swimming on the hardwood floor.

She is opinionated, so well love by her friends small and big, and one you definitely don't want to mess with.

She is my Kate, my daughter, and she is almost 2. That is crazy.

She is almost as tall as Charlie, only a few pounds lighter, and can almost keep up with him verbally and physically, well not really, but she likes to think so.

Here is Charlie enjoying ice cream while in snow clothes on a very rainy day. We were pretending to eat ice cream in the playroom when Charlie said, "Mommy, I have the perfect idea, let's go eat real ice cream." Who can turn that down?

She likes to get wet, get muddy, get dirty....

And is also asking Charlie questions, which he loves to answer.

She is so well entertained by this person, as we all are.

Chanterelles

Adam's new thing is mushrooms, thanks to a great xmas gift from my sister, a big book all about mushrooms. Adam should have been a biologist. As soon as he finds a passion: gardening, composting, and now mushrooms, he reads and learns as much as he can. He retains so much info it is crazy. Smartest person I know.

These mushrooms are a delicacy, they go for aroudn 15-20 bucks a pound at stores. A few weeks back when Adam first came home with some after hiking with Charlie I went to New Leaf and picked up one small chanterelle mushroom, just so we could compare. One little mushroom cost me $1.08, so something like this:

would be over 30 bucks

First we made a delicious shitake, chanterelle, goat cheese and chive pizza. This dough is the best dough I have ever made, and this pizza was so easy and yummy we have made it twice in two weeks. The kids loved it too.

Then Adam came home with another harvest and he, yes you read that right, HE made a delicious cream or chanterelle soup. We all ate it right up. We are lucky to have kids that love healthy, hearty food. This is a picture of the kids enjoying a staple in our home: mushroom-barley soup. Actually when it was time for dinner Charlie said, "I mell barley youp." This time we used the small brown mushrooms as well as a huge amount of chanterelles. Chanterelles pick up the flavors they are cooked with and have a "meaty" texture. Yum

Lately

What I want to blog about is:

Obama's speech and how it pretty much kicked ass. Will anything he said actually happen, who the hell knows? But seriously how can one argue with prolonging unemployment benefits and lowering cobra? How can one argue with taking the money that was lent to big banks and paid back and making it available to community banks who can then lend it to smaller businesses. He actually talked about domestic problems, what we need to do...there was no manipulation, wedge issues, fear-based talk. It was real. I will be the first to admit that not everything is peachy keen, that Obama himself is quite the politician. But who can argue with lower health care costs, and making health care available to everyone (including people with pre-existing conditions) and pretty much everything else he talks about...

I want to talk about education and how I am terrified (yes, I admit it) about sending charlie to school. About my son, a sweet, curious, delicate, intense, smart, and creative little soul sitting in a classroom for what...6 hours...focusing on reading, writing, and math, with very little time for studying the way the world works, natural life cycles, art, handwork like knitting, wax molding, sewing, physical movement. I want to talk about how I am looking into the possibility of starting a waldorf inspired public charter school. And how in past years I have had lofty dreams (being a native american rights lawyer) and have convinced myself I am not smart enough, talented enough, fortunate enough to achieve what I conceive. And how maybe, just maybe this time, with my background in teaching, my passion for a worldview that is drastically different that mainstream education, and my love of mothering, and the natural world...that maybe this time, this dream can come to fruition.

What I want to say is how unfair it is that the schools where I would send my kid in a heartbeat cost 12,000 a year.

And how I want a third kid but don't think it will happen.

And how sad I feel for the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and children in Haiti, and for that matter around the world that have so much less than me, and are dealing with bigger things than education and politics, like life and death.

I want to talk about creativity, and how my whole life I thought I had none. Piano lessons. Failed. art lessons. Failed. Watching my sister and brother succeed at every art form they tackled, knowing that I had just not found my path, my hobby, my art. And then learning more about waldorf families and education...and how I taught myself how to needle felt, sew (hand-sew), knit, create. And although this may seem small and insignificant, it truly is huge for me and my kids.

I want to talk about the women in my life, the mothers in my life that I am growing closer and closer to everyday, and how they inspire me, and how I think about them and their daughters everyday.

I want to talk about Charlie. Charlie. Charlie. He is beautiful. inside and out. Tonight right before bed and after bath I witnessed a pretty cute thing. Kate (the troublemaker and spunkiest of them all) tried to climb over the side of the couch onto the roof of the fort that constantly occupies our living room, and Charlie grabbed her with all his strength and literally carried her from the living room and "threw" her on his bed, and the immense laughter that came from her little being. How a few days ago I walked into the playroom to put away a toy and Charlie stated, "Mommy, I don't want you in here" To which I said, "That's not very nice Charlie, I was just coming in here to tell you how I proud I was of you at the dentist today." And charlie responded with his little hand up in the air, "No Mommy. I REALLY love you. I just want to play alone right now."

There. I said it all. Took two glasses of wine and a quiet house, but now you know what is on my mind.

Gnomes, fairies, and Juniper stumps

I love talking, reading, and teaching the kids about all the forrest creatures. Their faces light up when we drive or walk through a forrest. "This would be a great place for trolls and gnomes to live" is something we hear almost daily. My favorite childrens' author hands down is Elsa Beskow. Her stories are full of creative imaginative creatures and touch upon seasons so beautifully. These days I can sit back (and knit) and watch the kids play. Do they play with their great dollhouse? No, how about the Train set? NO, the airport and parking garage? No.

They play with silks, and their dress up clothes:

Two days in a row the kids woke up to a gnome hat just for them. I haven't had any luck getting them to wear a hat their whole life, until I made them these. They love that they resemble pointy hats that gnomes wear, and they loved watching me make them. They are dying to learn to knit.

They build forts and act out stories. Rainy days are really fine by us. More time for art, books, and pretend play. And I love that their pretend play involves no toys, just their words, imaginations and...our couch. I do wonder if and when we will ever be able to actually sit on our couch. It is always being used either as a trampoline or a fort.

And despite some fighting and name-calling, these kids are truly best buds. Charlie helps Kate all day, and Kate loves her big bro. He is helping her learn to count, use the potty, climb up couch cushions and eat with a big spoon. He involves her in all of his games, as I type this I hear Charlie saying, "Quick Kate, come hide from that nasty troll, quick. quick. quick. Kate we have to hide from this nasty troll. AHHH"

Hiking has become their favorite thing to do, and who can blame them living in a place like this.

We literally stumbled upon this huge male Elephant seal south of HMB. When we first saw him he stretched his big noogin up and out. I was a bit scared.

Heritage Grove, La Honda. Our favorite weekend hike.

It has been magical teaching kids about nature, seasons, the world around us. They notice flowers on walks, save worms in puddles, can spot a mushroom at the park, beach, or woods, and all around love being outside. What kid doesn't.

Yesterday Adam took the kids for a hike so that I could make dinner and relax a bit, he came back with easily a pound of chanterelles...yumm....never thought our loving for hiking would lead to dinner...

We are.....

We are showing all of our friends our favorite place to explore...

and we are finding gnome homes...
and making new things like gnome hats....

We are reading together (when we aren't fighting over the same book)

We are learning to use big machinery....shhh don't tell adam. Hey if they expect baked goods everyday, they have to help cook, eat, and clean...

We have been reading with our grandma everyday.

We are spending more time at the art table than in the playroom....

We are becoming bunnies and scarfman everyday...

Here are scarfdad and super scarf boy to the rescue

And taking dress up to a whole new level.... (can you guess who Santa is?)

We are eating food, all day long. Well some of us. I cook, they eat.

We are spending time with the people we love...

Winter has been good to us.

Saving the world one worm at a time.

A hiking we will go...

Proud father? Charlie took this pic.

and he took this one too.

In our element: the redwoods

in his element: a gnome's home.

Set these kids free in the deep dark forrest and it is all smiles (unless Kate is exhausted and there are sheer cliffs so she has to go in the backpack, then it is screams until she falls asleep)

xmas

I was going to take a break from blogging. I want to make sure I am being real and honest and not just blogging cute and funny moments but also what is hard. But when 4 different people told me in the last week that they are eagerly waiting for a xmas post, I realized that I am not just blogging for myself, that people are reading, enjoying, and following my blog (comments would confirm this...hint, hint)

It is always a funny thing to find out months and months later that someone is reading your blog, has a window to your soul, but afterall it is what you want.

We had a really mellow nice Christmas Eve, I cooked a big yummy dinner and we ate with everyone (except big Aunt Kate), then the kids got to open their pajamas and ornament from my mom, and they each got a winter book from me. Is there anything cuter than a father cuddled up to his son reading. Like last night, both kids were asleep by 7:15.

I overheard Adam talking to Charlie Christmas Eve. Adam asked Charlie what he hoped Santa would bring him. Charlie said a car. Adam said, I thought you wanted a scooter. Charlie said so matter of factly, Santa might not have room in his bag...but I guess he did. Charlie ran out and said, I SEE IT. He was so happy.

Kate's santa gift was a balance bike, being the fearless charger that she is, she jumped right on and of course fell off a second later. She loved getting rides around the kitchen and as soon as we get her a helmet, she'll be ready to rock (as she says)

Charlie went for his biggest present first, of course.

Showing pa his stocking

what more can a girl want: glasses, lollipop, bubbles, and a present

kate's big present from my parents: a doll stroller

Kate loves her little glasses, one of her best friends wears glasses, and all Christmas day she kept pointing to her glasses and saying, I YeeeYa (I am like Lea)

Maybe it was the fact that Charlie woke up at 4:50 or that we started opening presents at 6:45 or maybe it was the Christmas chaos with two excited toddlers, but adam wasn't as excited as I thought he'd be about his gifts from me :Coconut bedding for his worms, a compost thermometer, and a slippers

Josh studying his new book.

Adam may have sat on the bean bag tired the whole present opening time, but when it came time to set up the dollhouse and play, he was all about it. Nothing sounds sweeter than this: Me from another room: Adam what are you doing? Adam: Playing with the dollhouse..