dad's retirement weekend

My sister just emailed me, "sister, there is no pressure here only want you to know i have checked your blog 5 times today and i stare at Sedum.  i am craving pictures from our weekend!  but i am also the sister who told you to relax and rest today so there's that, too."

Well, Annika, here are my top twenty favorites. Could have easily posted forty.

In the words of my brother-in-law Jedd, this weekend was epic. Dad, and the ministry he has led as a pastor was celebrated. Mom, the woman behind the man and the one who held everything together on the home front was celebrated. And our whole family was together. We celebrated our family all weekend long.

Here's Simon. I love this kid. He faithfully pulled these little ones around in the wagon two days in a row. Ivar adores his big cousin and we even got to have Simon Friday night for a sleepover. As we drove back to our house with Simon in the backseat Ivar kept saying, "This is fun Simon. Right? This is so fun."

Simon took a little walk through our field on Saturday morning. And he really did a number on his shoes.

We got to go and visit the kittens at the neighbor's house. And some got to go and see the horses too. A perk of living where we do!

You'll notice Sonna has a broken arm. Clearly she is in a cast. But I think she missed the memo. The girl doesn't act any different with that cast. She was tying water balloons (it's waterproof!), canoeing, jumping off of things that made me nervous, but she is not nervous. It's basically an accessory.

And here's the man of the hour. Dad preached at all of the church services for his last time. It was a momentous weekend...I'll have to expand on this another time...you know, with twenty pictures and all.

Oh how we miss our Seattle family! Claire is getting so tall. I just love her to pieces. And so does Elsie.

And Nellie is a joy. She is four and very determined to learn how to do the high monkey bars. Right now she just does the low ones. She told me all about it.

Mom was in her glory with all of her family around. We spent nearly every moment of the three days we had all together. When it was time to all say goodbye, these four older girls tied themselves together so they couldn't be separated. I love that. I wanted to tie myself to them too.

Today we are feeling full and grateful and so sad that it all flew by so fast.

sedum

First, Sedum. It stopped me in my tracks at the flower nursery. I had no idea we could grow succulents here in Minnesota, but apparently we can...and there are so many different kinds! Don't you just want to stick your thumb nail in it?

Second, in other exciting news: my sister blogged yesterday for the first time in two years! It's an awesome glimpse at mothering three girls. Made me laugh a lot.

And finally, we are thrilled to have my brother and his family coming to town this weekend along with a whole lot of other friends and family to celebrate my dad's retirement. There is a luncheon on Sunday and five hundred people have rsvp'd. It's going to be a good time. I get to speak at the program and I can't wait. I've been sitting on a few stories that are bustin' to come out. :)

Happy weekend everybody!

Elsie at eleven months

Elsie turned eleven months yesterday.

Her personality is coming out more and more and we find her absolutely delightful. Bubbly and agreeable.

Her newest trick is a smile with squinty eyes while tucking her chin into her shoulder. We melt.

She's a snuggler. I adore this picture of her with our neighbor girl. She loves the neighbor girls so much.

Elsie enjoys blueberries, bananas and watermelon the most. She's a hearty eater.

And she's a dancer. If I sing or even if there is music on tv, she bops her body up and down.

She has very sensitive skin.

Her words are Mama and Baba and just recently began to comprehend what we are saying. A super fun stage.

She fake coughs from her crib to let us know she's still there.

And so to summarize: she is wonderful.

Josie's riding lesson

Hi everybody! It's Josie writing about my horse riding lesson with Meghan and Elska! (Elska is the horse:)

Meghan is the next door neighbor who owns three other horses named (and I'm probably spelling these wrong) Litley, Dakota, and Cocoa. Every morning this week, I looked out the window to see Meghan riding Cocoa down the road. I thought it was so funny that people ride scooters and bikes in my neighborhood and here is Meghan with her beautiful, tall, dark brown horse trotting down the gravel path. :)

Above, Meghan is walking around and showing me how nice and relaxed Elska is. Meghan is an excellent rider and taught me some of the basics yesterday.

Uncle Rory pointed out that as I was brushing her, her lip hung in the air and was wiggling around. Meghan said that that was a sign of relaxation; along with the droopy eyelids and the bent back leg.

Getting on the horse wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I've rode only one other time and that was 3 years ago when I was a lot shorter. As my weight climbed up on one side, the saddle slipped, but was soon adjusted.

Meghan was adjusting the foot strap so it matched my leg length. I was paying attention when Uncle Rory suddenly said, "Smile!" and quickly took the picture.

Meghan wanted me to get used to the feeling of the horse moving under me. She grabbed the reigns and gently walked Elska around while teaching me the proper turn signals and how to make her start walking. I simply had to say "walk on" and squeeze my legs together a little bit. That was the easy part. Elska, being so relaxed earlier, wanted to stop more than go. I would get her to walk, but about 3/4 through the track, she would say, "no, I don't want to walk anymore. why don't you try wearing a giant coat in hot, sunny weather with someone sitting on your back and see how long you can last!"

You can clearly see the droopy eyelids in this shot. It was very important to sit with your shoulders, hips, and heels all lined up as you ride. (I tried my best.) It almost looks like Elska has her shoulders slumped with a sad look on her face.

The cones were one of the three exercises Meghan had me walk through. I had to start at the right side, walk through the cones, go right around the first, left around the second, and walk over a small white bar at the end. (You can barely see it in this picture.)

This is the second track. I tried it starting from both directions. I had to walk over the white bar, weave through the cones, and over the thick white bar at the end. Earlier, Elska and I were walking around the rim (called the rail) when she took 2 steps and stopped. Then 2 more, and stopped. This went on for a little more when finally Elska wouldn't move anymore. Megan was behind us and discovered the problem. Let me put it this way: the little brown chucks by the last white pole aren't any chew toys.

Meghan also wanted me to get used to a horse's trot. This is a different kind of horse where instead of a trot it is called... something else that I can't remember. Give me a break, it was almost 24 hours ago:) Because of the different way Elska trots, instead of bouncing up and down, you bounce side to side. Megan said it's an unusual way to move and always makes her laugh.

The whole time I have been typing this, Ivar has come up about three times saying "I wanna see you ride Elska!"

I've had sooooo much fun these past couple days here at The Grovestead! My visit ranged from John Denver, to John Deere to John the deer! I remember two stories I told Ivar at bedtime last night about Jake the Horse, who met a red ladybug named Friend, and about Phil the cow, who needed to listen to his mom who told him not to eat too much grass. :)

I hope to come back real soon!

chicken update

I've heard that I've been slacking in the chicken posts lately. I think the reason I've slowed on my chicken reporting is because now that they are outside with a fence, they don't require a whole lot of attention. They are the easiest animals on the planet. We give them new feed and water every morning and hook the door closed in the evening. And they're happy. And they love us. And they continue to entertain our children.

So up top there is Hamburgerpoopedonthecarpet. A beauty.

And this here is Eggs. Eggs is quite aggressive. I think he is a bully. And I also think he thinks he is at the top of the pecking order.

But here is Almonzo flapping his wings, who I think actually is at the top of the pecking order. He just has confidence like that. I think Eggs is insecure and gets into other chickens business to exert his wanted authority. But Almonzo really is the Alpha Male. Sort of a whole Scar versus Mufasa thing.

I don't have much to report on Zumbrota. This bird sort of gets lost in the bunch, beautiful and black, she or he doesn't seem to need too much extra attention.

Still the favorite is Legos. Our delightful niece, Josie, is here for a few nights and has confirmed that Legos is the most social. Legos lets Josie hold her and is always the first to come out to say hello when she goes for a visit. Plus, just look at how awesome and fluffy this bird is!

And finally, below is Butterscotch Cookies, another bird that doesn't make too much of a scene. Butterscotch is pretty chill, and reminds me a bit of that one guy Bull on that court show that used to be on channel nine on Saturday afternoons growing up. (thanks to a google search: the Bailiff Bull Shannon on Night Court) I'll get a close up and to a comparison another day.

We're thinking we've got a good number of Roosters in the bunch. Which is a total bummer. Because we were going for eggs. But the boys still aren't too loud. At the moment their morning sounds are more like chain smokers barking out a "rook-a-doo" first think in the morning.

But they'll get louder I'm afraid. And when the full on cock-a-doodle-doo comes, we'll have to figure something out since we like our neighbors and want them to keep liking us.

Having Josie here has been a blast. Last night I used her as a model for the picture I needed for The Soul Sisterhood post that went up today. Be sure to go over and check today's post on the importance of a Strong Finish. 

"the moon is scared to me."

A few Ivar fears came out this week. As we were getting ready to go to a parade he came running into the garage and told me, "the moon is scared to me!" He wouldn't go out of the garage. I had to carry him to the car in the driveway with his head buried into my shoulder, hiding from the moon.

In the car we asked him why the moon was scared to him. He said it was moving. (Which is true since Ivar was moving and it kept following him.) And I think he didn't like that it was out in the daytime. He just doesn't trust a thing that comes out as it pleases and follows him wherever he goes. He's suspicious.

Then we went to the parade and he did not like the loud sirens on the fire trucks and police cars. But he didn't cry. He just pulled down his hat over his eyes.

And later, after he fell down I asked him if he was hurt. He said, "I am. I got hurt my feelings."

good mood food

I am tired a lot of the time. And since that's a terrible feeling, I started trying to find a remedy. I went to bed earlier, tried to get a shower in before the kids got up, added some new vitamins to the mix and even started drinking a cup of coffee every so often.

Then Rory, for reasons of his own, began to cut out as much sugar and carbs from his diet as he could. I didn't jump on his train and it was during those two weeks of his eating spinach salads and meat that I was so, so aware of how I medicate my exhaustion with sugar-starchy snacks. Like a bowl of cereal. Or a granola bar. Or a handful of chocolate chips. Or club crackers. And they're great in the moment, but leave me worse off than when I started.

So it dawned on me that I could do something about these sugar crashes, with hopes that it would help my energy too. I started trying to eat only energy-giving food. I read an awesome hippie-dippy article about how we should envision our bodies as fires. You would never feed a fire kindling (sugar and carbs) and expect it to last all day long. But throw a big log on that fire (protein, fiber) and that fire will stay a blazing a long, long time.

So now my question before I eat is: will this meal or snack give me long lasting energy?

It's a great question to ask and has helped dramatically improve my diet, my attitude (most days!) and my energy.

I was greatly inspired by Elise Blaha's post on what she ate with gestational diabetes. She had to test her blood sugar four times a day, and as Elise always seems to do, she made this annoyance seem like a great awesome opportunity to see what foods were best for her body. I read this post and thought it would be interesting to poke my finger and learn this too. Then I decided I didn't need to poke my finger. I could just monitor my own energy.

In her post she writes about the grain-free granola above. She wrote highly of it and so I gave it a try. And man it is so good. Rory likes it, my mom likes it, Ivar likes it and I love it. And it sort of bums me out that Ivar likes it because that kid is bottomless and eats a lot. But I'll get over it.

Anyway, I just wanted to share the link to this granola recipe. It's my new breakfast of choice and it's easy and so good, packed with protein and starts me out on the right foot. Elise recommends cutting the coconut oil down to just 1/3 cup and I agree. Also, I don't have a food processor or vitamix...I just buy the already chopped nuts in the baking aisle and crush the almonds up with a rolling pin like the olden days. And it works just fine. I keep the granola in the fridge to keep the oil solidified and eat it with milk in the mornings. Enjoy!

jealousy: a big, fat waste of life

A few weeks back I read Kelly Rae's blog who had just returned from an art retreat in Bali. Her pictures were magical, her stories were amazing and she gushed about how her awesome husband had insisted that she go, telling her that he would watch their two-year-old son for the nine days she was gone.

You can imagine my thoughts...why doesn't Rory insist that I go to Bali for nine days? Actually, why doesn't he insist that I go anywhere? Come to think of it, why the heck am I always stuck in this house with these two kids all the time?!!

This week it was a dear friend who took a much deserved eight day cruise with her husband. They left their little boy with grandparents and spent time holding hands, swimming with sea turtles and hiking around ancient Mayan ruins in Belize. I looked longingly at the pictures and wondered why we don't have an eight day cruise to Belize on the calendar.

It's so terrible isn't it? It's such a waste of emotion and energy. Before reading these posts I hadn't the slightest desire to go on a cruise or to Indonesia for crying out loud.

But jealousy snuck in. And it sucks. It's so destructive to a happy life.

The irony (and irony seems like too small of a word here, because it's more than ironic. it's rather tragic) is that I, too, am posting pictures and writing stories. And almost weekly I am told, "you are living our dream. we want to do what you're doing so badly."

One friend even told me that it's hard to see our pictures because she gets a little jealous.

Well crud.

When people tell this to my face I am quick to tell a bit of the behind the scenes, the stories that never get told or posted. How most of the time it is just Rory out in the garden and I'm watching from the little windows. How he wishes I could be more of a partner out in that garden, but how my part of the partnership has to be more related to the kids and the house and the meals.

Sometimes my part of the partnership makes me a little crazy. Obviously I adore my kids. I love our home and I feel so grateful for the little life we are beginning on this sweet little hobby farm. But show me a picture of Bali and Belize and I go a little bonkers.

So I've been thinking about this lately. All of this social media stuff is still so spanking new, and we have no idea how it affects us. Except that I think we actually do. The pro side says that sometimes it can inspire us to be more creative with our days. My favorite blogs actually do that. But then there are other times when that jealousy monster creeps into my heart and this farm and farmhouse and simple life I am leading looks like the enemy. And that's ludicrous.

Does anyone else do this to themselves? How do you deal with these feelings of jealousy?

Because when I look at my own life, the one God has put in front of me, I have nothing to be jealous of and everything for which to be grateful.

That same Kelly Rae who went to Bali, posted today that she is moving into a new art studio with friends. She had moved into a studio a year ago by herself but it was lonely. She wrote that she was able to make the move after such a short amount of time in her last space, "because I believe nothing is permanent and we can create what we most need."

Those words shook me out of it a bit and in the end I'm neither going to Bali or Belize. But I did call and get a babysitter for the next three Thursday nights so I can go to the movies with my husband. And that feels like a great step in the right direction.

Take that jealousy, you joy sucking loser.

our first strawberry

So far our little strawberry patch has gone unnoticed by the bunnies, bugs and birds in our area. But there is one pest who is hard to keep away. He joyfully picks the green and white strawberries and proudly tells us about what he has found and what is now cupped in his hand: a strawbally!

It made us wonder if we would ever get to eat a red strawberry. They hardly stand a chance. 

But after lots of coaching and talks of patience and waiting, we finally got to eat our first red strawberry. And we made a big deal of it. 

We split the strawberry four ways. Ivar took the first bite, then Mama, Dado and finally baby Elsie sucked on it for a long time. Then Ivar finished it off. (that makes it sound like it was a big berry. It wasn't.)

But it was one very celebrated strawberry. 

And now, I'd love to invite you to come on over to The Soul Sisterhood where I have my second post on Living your Life as a Great Story. We're not quite writing in our journals yet, so today I am simply introducing everyone to one of my very favorite life stories, my friend Banana Man.  

some sunshine for another gloomy day

The peaches at Cub Foods right now are so good that you probably want to stop whatever you are doing and go and buy eleven of them.

I bought three last night and ate two dripping over the kitchen sink. Rory ate the other and now we are heading back to get more. They're that good.

a card from my aunt annie

My mom brought over my baby book this week and this card from my Aunt Annie was in there. It reads:

Dear Becca,
It was fun to see you and the rest of your family at the Birthday Party. You looked so nice (and much older) in your new hair cut and stone washed jeans. It's fun watching you grow up.

I also noticed another way you are growing. When you were playing with Libby and Mikey you were very kind and caring. You thought about how they might be feeling and tried to make them feel included. At the same time you were gentle and patient- you let them get to know you slowly. The way you acted showed you are growing up on the inside- you are letting your little gospel light shine. I could see you love Jesus. Seeing this made me happy. You are a very special loving girl Becca.

You are lucky to have Annika as a big sister role model. I've seen these same qualities in her as she's growing up. 

Growing up on the inside and loving Jesus more and more is the most important thing. I'm so glad you are growing on the inside. 

I love you Becca
Aunt Annie

***

I don't know what year it was when she sent this...the stone washed jeans make me think early 90's probably. But when I read it this week I was so grateful to have had her point this out so clearly for me. And I needed the reminder and the words of affirmation this week as much as the day I was wearing those stone washed jeans.

So here's an idea for this first weekend of summer. Lots of kids just wrapped up the school year. How about we write some Aunt Annie letters, pointing out how we see the little gospel light shining in their young lives. They may need to hear those words right now. Or maybe they'll need to hear those words again when they're 32.