From our travels....

Lucy in the sky, with JellyBellys

Chillin with the cousins after riding the roller coaster (note the coordinating purple clothes and they didn't even plan it!)

Kailey, aka Laura Ingalls (this was mine when I was her age!)

After one slide down in the sled, they just went on their bums. They have to hang on because it's so slick at the top of that hill. What fun!

Pure snow filled delight!

One Small Change

Here at the Cirque de Doggett, we like to think of ourselves as pretty green livin folks. We recycle everything we can, we compost, we reuse lots of things, or take them to where they can be reused or recycled, we hand our clothes and toys down to friends who need them or take them to a place where unknown friends can. We eat organic, often locally grown food that, mostly in-season, mostly vegetarian. We're not perfect, but we make an effort. Last week, SouleMama had a link on her blog to a little project they're doing over at Hip Mountain Mama working up to Earth day. I have never really celebrated Earth Day in a major way, but this project sounded like a good thing to me. So, without further ado here is my goal for January:

We have a new baby Doggett on the way, and after spending a bit of time in a baby store recently, I got completely grossed out by all the expensive, unnecessary stuff there is out there for babies. This is our baby #4 and when I was having baby #1 I thought most of it was unnecessary, and now, I KNOW. So, even though there are a million cute things out there to buybuybuy and fill my little house with, I am making a commitment to not buying that stuff and rather using what we have and making what we need. I think it is especially important to show the big kids that having a baby doesn't mean that you need stuff. Love is most of what you need. You do need some things: a sling or carrier, diapers, warm clothes. We have at least one sling, I have material for carriers, I am going to use SouleMama's recipe for diapers from her book Handmade Home with the big bunch of flannel sheets that I have saved for 'projects' as well as wipers, and I am also blessed with many handmedowns from my friends. I am always grateful for these, and often overwhelmed by the generosity of my friends, but I know the feeling of having well loved clothes that need a good home, and keep the handmedown ring a rollin on. I'd like to think that by the end of January I will have my diapers and wipers made and can report back here on the progress.

all you need is love, love is all you need.

Waving at 2010

It is the dawn of a new decade! I have been parenting for a whole decade. Wow. That is kind of amazing. I still feel like an imbecile at it many days. When I look back, which I was just doing, trying to hit Snapfish's sale on calenders (and missing it), I see that we are a happy, busy, messy, noisy family with lots of hobbies and interests and outings and games and stuff and fun. I look at the three growing faces of my children, new teeth, longer hair, darker hair, taller bodies, bigger hands and feet, and the growing older faces of Robert and me. We are all changing and transforming all of the time, under this roof and out in the world. It is happening fast.
I remember the first time I went to the ocean. I was nineteen and I had rather abruptly uprooted myself from my midwest home and replanted myself in the redwoods of Santa Cruz county. I went to the ocean and expected to swim. It was beautiful, it was vast, it was awe inspiring. It was also very, very cold. I got in, still planning on a swim and a wave came and knocked me right over and went over my head and for a moment, I thought I was a goner. And in that moment I also thought it wasn't such a bad way to go. Nearly every day, I feel a bit like the Sarah in the Wave: knocked on my ass, wondering which way is up, marvelling at the power of it all, and thinking that if I survive, I'm gonna be more sane next time and not walk straight into the Wave. Then, the next wave hits and it happens all over again. Somehow, I keep surviving and managing to upright myself and find my way back to the beach and look out over the vast wonderfulness of it all, and go right back in. Sometimes, I even figure out how to get beyond the breaking Wave to the place where I can actually swim, and enjoy the serenity of being in that vast cold, beautiful ocean--that is a rare thing.
I am not so big on resolutions--I seem to make them and then break them the next minute--like the one I almost made about being in bed by midnight. I would like to make a sort of rough sketch of my intention for the next decade, and it shows me, riding the waves, getting beyond the break and enjoying the ride, whatever it is, more often. Sure, the feeling of surviving getting slammed into the sand is exhilirating, and I'm sure there will be plenty of that.
A friend said to me at the New Year's Eve party: "You look so young and pretty tonight!" And I said, "I am young and pretty! I was just pretending to be the other way!" :) And now, since it is just shortly after midnight, I must go to bed.