September Is...

Lots of playdates with new found friends.

Hammock time!

 Sunny and warm, relaxing, playing in the backyard.

Lots of home time after a busy summer.

 

Hiking in the mountains with friends.

Beautiful colors, glowing Aspen trees.

 



Pausing.  Smelling.  Looking. Touching.  Enjoying. 

Soaking in every moment, every little detail.

Watching for moose.

 How many pink hats would you expect to see on one hike?

 

Recording sights and sounds, thoughts and colors, animals and observations, in pictures and in words:



 And at home once more, there's always more climbing:)  Ruthie is attempting to get on the roof of the house, which, I have since found out, she can do.  I stopped her as she was starting to snake her way up onto the actual roof. 

 

The days of the girls in this house have been filled with sun and outdoor activity, friends new and old.

And I walk beside them, in and out of their play, guiding, directing, spotting, helping with new things, channeling the settling of disputes, watching, slowing down the pace as we slip into Fall so there is time in their lives to settle down, to feel grounded in place and time, to truly engage in the activity at hand and the people we are present with.  My own work weaves in and out of that barrage of activity as Warming Center work begins again, FEEDs in the park continue, the daily life of HOME settles around me in laundry, food, preserving the bounty of the late summer apples and grapes that fell into our hands, dishes, snuggles, biking back and forth to school, reading out loud, grounding the life of our home and attempting to remember to pause every now and then to make sure I am watching the changing of the season.



I Love These Girls!

 Doesn't this picture make you want to curl up on the couch with a cup of hot coffee and have some fun on your computer?  That's what I thought at least.  But I love these girls!  They were so excited to ride to school in the rain today!  You can tell that doesn't happen very often around here.  As for Ruthie and I, we're enjoying an inside morning and I thought I would share a few (fairly) recent pictures with you, since I've been a little lax in that regard lately:)

 

First, you'd better check out these cute first day of school pictures.

Here's Josie, heading off to Kindergarten!  On the bike ride home that first day she told me fifty times if she told me once-literally- that she LOVES LOVES LOVES Kindergarten!

And Anna, all ready for first grade (which she has been absolutely loving so far, too, I might add):

Ruthie and I came with them that first day for the Opening Ceremony/Rose Ceremony.

Thank you Mema and Papa for the fun dresses, the girls love them!

 

 What better tradition to have than ice cream on the first day of school in the heat of August?

 Anna lost her first tooth!  Look at that great grin!

 We are enjoying our new house.  For those of you that I haven't kept in touch with very well lately, we moved into a house here in Boulder right before school began.  We are loving our backyard, back porch (we've had dinner out there every night), new climbing trees, and this Mama is especially enjoying the normal size kitchen with a dishwasher and having a washer/dryer!

 

Three good friends in their climbing clothes eating peaches on the back porch on a sunnier day:

 I designated some climbing clothes for them after they were destroying all their school clothes getting them covered with sap while climbing the 50 foot tall Spruce tree in our backyard.  Anybody have a remedy for sap in hair?  I've learned that the alcohol in hand sanitizer will take sap off hands beautifully (thanks Rob and Michelle!), but I've yet to find a remedy for hair. 

 

One of my favorite recent pics of these three sisters.  Classic.  A moment to remember and treasure.

 Friends over for dinner!  The Kennedy's came to celebrate our new house with us.  Little Ally and Ruthie are fast friends.

Anna, Isaac and Ruthie reading on the couch.  I'm loving this new step into reading with my big first grader.  Way to go, Anna!

 Anna found a way to climb onto the roof of our house.  Whose kid is this???  She was quite proud of herself.

 Ruthie and I love our mornings together while big sisters are at school.  I'm also loving all the space and light in this wonderful kitchen.  Put the two together and you can find Ruthie and Mommy working in the kitchen together on many a morning!

 Anna and Josie are wonderful kitchen helpers.  They're making Daddy's lunch in this photo.  Pancake sandwiches! (Daddy'O Update:  Mitch has 3 more weeks until he's done with his masters!!!  THEN we can truly celebrate!  But it still feels like a big push to get through these next 3 weeks.  Keep us in your thoughts and prayers, we need extra doses of patience and grace in this house.)

 Ruthie climbing the Russian Olive tree in our backyard while I'm hanging laundry.  It's hard to find a time when at least one of these girls is not in a tree.

 Last but not least, I thought I would share our most recent family photo.  It was actually taken in June on Father's Day.