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. 

Pella Crossing Hike

It's Spring Break around here and we're making the most of our time off from classes.

We took a little hike today with our good friends Alex and Ruth O'Connor at Pella Crossing (north of Boulder, right outside of the town of Hygiene, a place I ride past a lot on my bike but had never stopped to explore).

We even drove past the buffalo farm on Nelson Rd. on our way there.

We have beautiful Spring weather around here, a perfect day for a hike.

When Ruthie lagged behind it was Alex who took her hand and hiked with her to help her keep up with the group:

I think this was the first hike in 6 years that I didn't even take the Ergo with me! Last year there were a few hikes that Ruthie did all on her own, but I at least always brought the Ergo backpack just in case. We've moved on to a new phase in the hiking world.

Anna and Josie along the trail:

Tally-ho and away we go! Pella Crossing is a series of 6 different ponds so we had fun exploring the waters edge and seeing what different birds were out at this time of year. Lots of Canadian Geese, robbins, hawks, herons, red-winged blackbirds, and wigeons. We'll have to come back later on in the Spring to see pelicans, killdeer, cranes, and all the smaller songbirds.

The girls thought being a train was the best way to hike:)

For your viewing enjoyment, the train in motion:





We found this huge cottonwood tree at the furthest out point on our hike and of course it had to be climbed before we could move on down the trail.

The wind came up and it got pretty blustery while Anna was in the tree. She didn't seem to mind, though. She looks pretty relaxed up there enjoy the view!

Four little girls taking in the vistas.

Climbing and Running

Ruthie and I went for a walk along the creek path this afternoon and ended up at the camel tree. You can't end up at the camel tree without climbing the camel tree.

Can you tell why we call it the camel tree?


It's a huge Cottonwood that's growing laying over on it side so it bumps up like a camel. It's branches stick straight up in the air. Perfect for a three year old to climb.

Higher than Mommy's head!

From her lookout in the crow's nest Captain Nancy Ruth of the pirate ship Amazon is watching for her sisters and Daddy to return along the creek path.

Pretty cute for a pirate, if you ask me.

Here they come! Anna, Josie and Daddy'O went out for a run.

Ruthie and I were the cheering squad.

Ever since Anna and Josie watched Uncle Chad and Daddy'O run in the Bolder Boulder last year they have wanted to run in it again this year themselves. They say they are training for it and keep talking us into taking them out for runs. They ran 1 and 3/4 miles on this run. The Bolder Boulder is a 10k, 6 miles. They've got a ways to go in their training if they truly want to do it this year, but the running has been fun and good for all of us in the meantime, whether or not they actually run in the Bolder Boulder. What do you say, Uncle Chad, are you coming out again this year to run with your nieces?

Spring Fun

Everything is so new and fresh in the Springtime. The games the girls played last summer have been forgotten and are being newly discovered all over again by girls just a little older and just a little more mature. It warms a Mama's heart to see how the games change as my girls change, to watch Ruthie joining in the games in a way that she couldn't last year, to see her making up her own mind about how and what she wants to do, what she wants to wear, where she wants to go, the games changing as the other two make a space for her to be included.

Chalk play mixed with water play gives brilliant colors for sidewalk art.
Tree climbing has begun again in earnest around here. Anna climbing just a little bit higher than last year. Ruthie climbing for the first time on her own.

The colors of Spring, the smells of Spring, fill the air as the girls climb.

Simply glorious. Who wouldn't want to climb that tree with those incredible pink blossoms?!

Even in the garden Spring has begun. The greens are starting to poke up their little heads. This year Josie has a spot in the garden all her own. She's planting carrots, eggplant and strawberries, by her own choosing.

She and her Daddy'O carefully place the strawberries in the ground:

Even the finches are back, sitting on their eggs in their same spot right outside our door. The Daddy finch loves to sit on our bedroom windowsill and sing. It reminds me to soak in the moment of today, it will be gone all too soon.

Beauty on my Mind

Beauty is

This kind of laughter and fun on a hot day:

This kind of comfortable friendship, sharing in the joy of a new baby:


This kind of yummy abandon:

This kind of unsophisticated play:

This kind of delight in green growing things, paying attention to the details of the garden:

What is the beauty in my life? The grace we have for each other that lets us accept our differences and revel in each other's company. The grace we have for others and ourselves that lets us be light and joyful, free in life to connect and be present, not full bitterness or anger. Grace that gives us eyes to see and soak in the presence of God in the little moments of our daily life. That, to me, is the definition of joy and beauty.

Rock Climbing Adventure

Our church had a rock climbing day this last weekend. Fun times! It was a beautiful area tucked up close to the flatirons. A perfect little hike into the climb, and some good climbing for all ages and ability levels.

The Clement family (you can't see Ruthie but she's in the backpack on my back):I love watching Anna climb! She just goes for it!
She flies up the rock until all of a sudden she stops, looks at you and tells you she's ready to come down.

Then down she comes! She's starting to get the feel of hanging in the harness, keeping her feet in front of her and enjoying the rappel.

I had a chance to climb. Not super challenging, but definitely fun!

And here's Mitch, scrambling up the rock in his sandals! Poor guy, he has such a hard time finding climbing shoes for size 16 feet.

Thanks Jon, Eric and Steve for taking us all climbing!