A Firm Tree

Redirection

2011-07-24T21:11:00.001-07:00

For what are probably obvious reasons (and it's probably fairly obvious already...), I won't be blogging at the address "lbsmithfamily.blogspot" anymore.It'll still stay up, as perspective and a little review of the last few years will be a good thing for me to have... (and I'm wretched about saving photos in appropriate places, so at least I'll have these...) but please feel free to visit me at what will become my new website in the next month or so --

"http://sallysfields.com/ "

It's not up yet, but will be by the end of August, as the new farm begins to take shape.

<3

--Sally

New Farm Names

2010-10-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

Trying to come up with a name for the imaginary farm that I aim to bring to reality in the next two years.

So far, we've got these as the best candidates:

Sally's Fields

From the Ground Up

Double S Farms

Serenity Valley Farms

.....

got an opinion?

Or a new idea?

New Photos

2010-10-14T09:48:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to be able to come here and say... I finally dumped my camera photos! And I finally organized all of them on Photobucket so they're easier to find! And then I signed in, and realized that every photo I'd posted here from there is now a dead link... because I moved them all around. To make them easier to find.

*Sigh.*

but... hey.

I downloaded all my photos from 2010! Who wants to live in the past, anyway??

A few Highlights:

The first day of school. 4th grade, kindergarten, and Rainbow room.

There was a mole in my Garden. A MOLE!! He screamed at me when I dug him up. He was relocated.

There was also a bunny in my compost pile. Several, actually. I couldn't bring myself to relocate them.

The Cereus Bloomed TWICE this year! Twice the fun, too. I love Blooming Parties.

And this is my friend, the Frog. We met on a camping trip in July. He hitched a ride back to the lake, escorted by me and five or six excited kids.

It's been a heckuva year so far, in many different ways. I am so fortunate to have so many wonderful people in my life... if you're one of them, which you probably are if you're here in the first place, ... THANK YOU. You mean more to me than you can know. And this year has shown me just how wonderful you are, and how important you are.

It is still a beautiful world...

2010-09-13T09:18:00.000-07:00

Desiderata
-- written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s --

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,

be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

and listen to others,

even to the dull and the ignorant;

they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons;

they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,

you may become vain or bitter,

for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;

it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,

for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;

many persons strive for high ideals,

and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love,

for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,

it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,

gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,

be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe

no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,

whatever you conceive Him to be.

And whatever your labors and aspirations,

in the noisy confusion of life,

keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Sheep says Baaa, and other photos.

2010-06-03T09:39:00.000-07:00

I love it when the kids get a hold of my camera. Their perspective is so much fun.

(sheep says baaaaa.)

We had our friends the Alts over for a campfire, and fun was had by all. (I love my backyard.)

I made sure my broccoli couldn't escape.

Then this horror occurred:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo!!! Not my BEETS!!!!!

So immediately, I erected this:

I like to call it "Mama Sal's Home For Wayward Flora." It's a halfway house for recovering bunny fodder. (I'll have a story about bunnies coming soon. Pictures, and everything.)

The Sweet William Bloomed EVERYWHERE.

And one Sunday, we took a trip to the Children's Museum in Bloomington. There was a little something for everyone, and we had a blast.

Willow got to paint on the wall as much as she wanted:

Gideon got to play with one seriously awesome train set:

And Glen was kept occupied by a whole wall full of bins of legos of all varieties.

*PHEW!!* It's going to be a busy summer. Bear Hunt has to remind us how important it is to take naps.

(There's all kinds of new photos at my photobucket site: http://s304.photobucket.com/albums/nn184/ssmith0130/ )

Charm-ing

2010-05-18T08:15:00.000-07:00

First things first, updates, and then a story about my unparalleled sophistication.

Everybody got new swim stuff for birthdays from Andy and Leanne. They are REALLY HAPPY about it. They got to wear it all to swim lessons on Thursday.

I got to experience my very first for real mood swing of puberty on Monday night. In retrospect, I should have seen it coming.... Glen took this photo of himself a few days before:

Bear Hunt stepped in and rescued me one day when the boys were really tired and cranky. He just wrestled them to the bed and put a sleep spell on them.

And ... now.... telling on myself.

I was so proud to be wearing the earrings my sister, Sarah, had made for me last Christmas. I love them, and have worn them all year, but one morning I got inspired to show her how much her gift was appreciated. I sent her this picture:

...with a note that said, "recognize those lovely earrings?"

I got a phone call about two hours later.

She says to me...

"I've never made earrings."

"I made you wine charms."

I wondered why none of them matched.

Weather.com, you done me wrong

2010-05-10T11:57:00.000-07:00

Today, a garden update.

Sometime in Mid-April, about 15 days before our last "normal" frost date, I looked up the 10-day forecast on Weather.com. They assured me that for the next 10 days, there would be no threat of frost.

"Well, hot diggity!" I thought. "Then there's only 5 more days until the last risk of frost has passed! There's NO WAY it'll frost again. Let's get those babies in the GROUND!!"

Having a long history of planting the garden in mid-June (due to work constraints), I was over the moon with excitement.

I filled the garden. Tomatoes, peppers, four kinds of beans, cucumbers, tomatillos, spinach, swiss chard, kale, carrots, beets, turnips, garlic, onions.... Now, of course, I still have a bunch to plant, but I filled up the available space. (Now I'm working on finding other space to plant. I could fill 10 acres without batting an eye. I love this.)

Then, this past Friday, I hear the unthinkable.

Frost Warning.

oh, poop.

I had a gig until after dark.

So my blessed, wonderful, insanely understanding parents drove out to the chateau with me in the dark, carrying flashlights, headlamps, and a laundry basket full of ittybitty "blankets".

And we snuggled everyone in for the night.

The next day, I went out to wake everyone up, and make sure we all made it through the night.

(This is the part of the garden with the frost-sensitive transplants.) (Apparently, I'm growing kleenexes.)

Everyone made it through, although some leaves still got a little wimpy -- they got a little too cold. But the majority of each plant made it. *Phew!*

Then on Mother's Day, I didn't have the kids (as it was Larry's weekend), so I boogied out of church right after choir and decided to get my sermon in the garden. :) I put snap peas in some lonesome places, and thinned the turnips, and started what will become a wonderful fence row of sunflowers.

I labeled the row with flags because I'm not the one who mows out there, so you can see where they'll spring up. I've gotten in two kinds so far, both tall, big, and yellow. I'll also be putting in some stunning red ones that grow on purple stems, and then a whole gaggle of them that are designed for kids -- they stop growing at 3 feet, so the heads are right at kid height.

And here, I have big plans for flowers:

By July, there should be a big bunch of old-fashioned farmyard flowers here -- hollyhocks, daisies, zinnias, asters.... Oh, it'll be pretty.

So feel free to come play farmer with my any weekend this summer! It's a lot of fun. And kids can just run free.... and they get so, so, so tired.

Stealth cat

2010-04-29T07:31:00.000-07:00

Stealth cat hides from the bothersome sunlight. (This is Angel.)

Sad news -- Stacy-kitty passed away last Thursday. She had developed an oral cancer, and faded over a period of four or five weeks. I waited as long as I could, but it was time to let her go. I held her and sang to her and snuggled her and told her how lucky I was to know her, and I am utterly certain that she was happy when she went, and that going was a mercy.

Angel, who forever denied loving Stacy, and always acted so aloof.... really seems to miss her. She now insists that I spend at least 20 minutes loving on her before bed, and will chase down children to get them to pet her. She pinned Willow in her bed the other day (Angel is no small cat) and insisted that she pay undivided attention to her. She even (**GASP**) SHARES PERSONAL SPACE WITH THE DOG NOW.

The children told me we need a new cat.

I told them no.

Pipedream

2010-04-23T10:19:00.000-07:00

I've had a little pipedream about small-farm life for years now. Well, really, as long as I can remember, it's been there. (Along with a few friends, like the "grade school teacher" dream, the "famous fiction writer" dream, and the "entrepreneur" dream.)

This dream has crept its way into my life over the years. The gardens get bigger and bigger. The dreams get bigger with them. The Christmas presents that come in Mason Jars get more and more plentiful.

This year, just to indulge my own pipe dream, I'm taking this class:

http://central.illinoisfarmbeginnings.org/farm_dreams/about.aspx

(and likely, I'll take the whole series of courses.)

I can't wait! It's a really neat program, for people like me... big dreams, a (very small) pocketful of knowledge, a love of dirt, a passion for plants, and a remarkable ability to bite off more than I can chew...

I'm pretty excited.

Made me laugh...

2010-04-15T07:49:00.000-07:00

I'm still laughing about this.

If you have time, go see this:

http://www.wimp.com/classicbloopers/

Forts and Go Karts and Gardens, Oh My!

2010-04-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

We've been very, very busy lately.

I've painted my bedroom, and the boys' bedroom, and done a lot of regular spring cleaning. We're having a neighborhood garage sale on Saturday, and whatever is left is going straight to goodwill! It'll be freeing to park in the garage again.

While I was doing all this painting and sorting, the kids were home for their spring break, as well.... which was just a BLAST. I really got to enjoy them up close and personal all week, and I also got to watch them just play, unstructured, in the backyard. There was a major digging operation that ended in a mud fight and what looks like a giant dinosaur footprint in the yard.

They also had fort time:

And one day, it rained, so Gideon dressed for all possibilities:

We started some sunflowers in little pots for them to watch:

There's a cute story to those -- We planted three cups, one for each child. Gideon really, really wanted his to sprout RIGHT NOW, and so he would "check on them" a few times a day. Which sometimes involved shaking them, and other times poking.

His, sadly, didn't sprout. But God Bless my dad, who had a whole pot of sunflowers sprouting in his yard -- I took three of those sprouts and transplanted them quickly into Gideon's cup. I showed them to him the next day, and he was SO EXCITED. He ran to tell Glen and Willow -- "Gwen!! (Ls still come out as "w") Wiwwow! Mine GWOWED!! It GWOWED!".

Some days, I get to win. :)

Then I spent some stretches of time out at the Chateau getting everything ready for the year. My dad came and ran the tiller for me -- It was enlightening watching him run it. I learned all the tricks that I was missing the last few times I ran it. Next time will be much easier! I got in beets, carrots, turnips, radishes, and separated garlic and onions, in addition to the other soil preparations. The whole time, the kids just played and played.

Glen got to "invent" with anything he could find laying around, and he made a go-kart!

It was pretty awesome.

All in all, it's been a great, rewarding, and productive few weeks. I think it's going to be a good year.

Some Days....

2010-03-15T14:20:00.000-07:00

Today, I stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, water running, and I went to button the last button on my pants.

And the button popped right off.

And fell into the running water.

And went down the drain before I could catch it.

Some days, I swear. Like a sailor.

Eso Si Que Es.

2010-03-03T14:41:00.001-08:00

I haven't updated in a while. Wow, that's a shocker, right? :)

Some of that is just because we're busy, but some of that stems from some troubles we've been having. But I hope that to some extent posting about it might help to quell the silly little rumor mill.

Larry and I have separated.

I'm not going to post the reasons why. Those are between Larry and I, and frankly not public business.

We are working on things. We are trying our hardest. The children are of the utmost importance, and are being very well cared for and loved, by both of us, and by both our entire families.

I would appreciate it deeply if other people didn't attempt to assign blame. If we aren't doing it, then certainly no one else has any business doing it, either. Such situations are never entirely the fault of one or the other person. There's plenty of blame to go around, but who is so pure as to assign that blame and spread awful gossip about it?

It has bothered me how much other people whisper. In response to a particularly hurtful and malicious rumor, there has been no infidelity. As if that was anyone's business anyway.

If you are concerned, and want to help, then the best thing you can do is just keep us in your thoughts, or your prayers if you are inclined to praying. Wish us both patience and understanding.

But don't spend even one moment blaming him, or blaming me. That kind of talk is pointless, and will hurt the children, one way or another.

On top of it.

2009-12-07T12:48:00.000-08:00

Wow.

It's entirely possible that I don't update this often enough.

So Welcome to December!

I took down the Halloween decorations last night, which is a step forward. It snowed this morning, and we realized suddenly that I have NO IDEA where Glen's snow pants are. So he wore my 'snowsuit' to school. It's crazy big, but at least he won't have to be the kid who can't go play in the snow.... which is good.

Since I haven't updated since... hmm.... August ... well, there are lots of pictures to share! I'll do a few now, and more later. There's been too much between then and now to even try covering it all, so I'll take a page from Kerouac and ramble like a madman. :)

I got to take a trip to Denver all by mahself, and I proceeded to read four novels straight while there.

I started really increasing running mileage, and joined a running group training for a 10 mile race, but then added too much too soon and now have an ouchy knee. I'm working with it to slowly get back up to 24/25 miles per week.

I quit the paper route Nov. 1, which hasn't helped the weekly mileage -- I resolve strongly to get back to it this week, and add one or two miles each week until I'm back up to where I was in October.

I started taking voice lessons and have been enjoying the heck out of it. What fun!

The cleaning lady came today, and I can't wait to go home and revel in it. ( I spent the whole weekend putting crap away so she could do her job...)

Larry was in several shows this year. My favorite was one about the women in Lincoln's life, out at the Theatre in the Park. He played several different characters and was really great in each of them. He's doing a student-directed play at UIS now, and has some exciting opportunities coming up that are going to be really fun to watch.

Fealty (our recorder consort) accompanied "Shakespeare Shorts", and it was a really cool experience.

We took the kids to Rockbridge, MO this year for Thanksgiving instead of doing the Feast of Plenty (Us, the kids, and my parents all went), and it was a genuinely wonderful experience. Outdoors, hills, stars, streams, rainbow trout, family.... ahhh.

Enough with the words. I'm sure I left out.. well, nearly everything. :)

From the August McDaniel Family visit:

from the Heroes Run for Hope (5-miler, fundraiser for the Marrow Donor Registry)(yes, I'm wearing a cape):

Gideon was too tired to climb the stairs at Gramma's. He just went to sleep right where he was:

I got new Specs, too!

I'll add more when I'm at the other computer, for it seems that's where I've stored them all!!

Finally, an update!

2009-08-01T12:32:00.001-07:00

We've been so busy these last few months! And the spring allows so little time for website updates... the legislature has been so busy.

But, very briefly...

The kids and I got to go to Greenlake WI for the annual church musicians' conference in July. I went to the conference as a teenager/pre-teen, and it's always been very special to me. I'm happy to say that it is now very special to them, too! We had a really wonderful time, surrounded by wonderful people and fantastic music. We spent the majority of our time playing together, and exploring all the opportunities on the grounds. And we discovered how much FUN it is for them to paint ceramics !

I got to go for lots of solo runs (an exquisite luxury!) and also got to take Glen on a nice long hike in a meadow.

More ceramics time (family, don't look too close... wouldn't want to ruin Christmas...)

And we got to go fishing in Wisconsin's deepest lake.

There's also a beach, where we got to play with sand and water.

More beach time. We were REALLY EXCITED about the beach.

Totally unrelated... My parents have a Nightblooming cereus in their yard. It's never bloomed before... but this summer, we may have a bloom happening!!!

These bloom only once a year, and only at night... It's a pretty special occasion.

The garden is going gangbusters. The kids have been helping off and on, but it's really proving to be such a great experience for me. So grounding, and peaceful.

March and April photos.

2009-04-18T16:21:00.000-07:00

New Photos from the Smiths!

Gideon got a hold of the camera and did a series I like to call "perspective".

Then Dad finally had to take the camera away. This, I believe, is him saying, "No, seriously Gid. Give me the Camera. 5..... 4..... 3....."

Madi guards the shed in my parents' backyard every minute she's there. There's somebody living under there... it'll be interesting if they ever come out!

BED JUMPING TIME!!!

Ooli is so happy that it's spring at last.

The boys, getting in some bball with the baby bball hoop.

SNOW! At the very END of MARCH! I know for the Denver people, that's no big deal... but here, it's a good reason to get up before the sun is up and make snowmen!

And, oh yes, to EAT SNOW!

We got to visit John and Sarah over in Mt Zion recently, and we got to play "Farm". It was a blast. Gideon got to drive Scoop -- they'd scoop up big shovels of dirt just to watch it fall to the ground.

Please go see the whole album, if you're interested! (just click the link)

I'm back to photobucket this month.

There's an "Easter" album on there as well that's pretty great! Perhaps I'll post a few of them here in a little bit... but for now, you can just follow the link.

Sal

The Sky is Falling!

2009-02-21T19:41:00.000-08:00

I'm finally getting around to posting new photos!

I'm trying out snapfish for our photo album -- we'll give it a shot. http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=257555841/a=161602221_161602221/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

Glen was Chicken Little in his school's production of "Lemonade" (a cute musical for "young singers"). We were pretty proud of the costume we came up with.

We had Willow's Birthday (4!!), and family came to celebrate. Willow was still a little sleepy, but she's Grandma's girl.

One morning this month, I got home from the paper route to discover what "snuggle" really means:

And Madi and Ooli are really forging a great relationship. We love it when Ooli comes to visit.

Gideon still loves to look at the camera when you're taking a picture. REALLY CLOSE UP.

And he's really getting huge.

And just because I hadn't posted one of me yet... this was a trip to Monical's last week. I get cold in restaurants. It's ridiculous.

Have a wonderful week!

At last.

2009-02-18T10:09:00.000-08:00

All the fixtures in the bathroom work.

And nothing leaks anymore.

It's wonderful!

A little shame faced...

2009-02-03T17:05:00.001-08:00

It has been far too long since I made time to post.

In the interim, I've :

-played a role in the impeachment of the governor, and of his removal from office
- joined weight watchers, in actual person rather than all by myself
-begun training for the Lincoln Memorial Half Marathon
-painted the living room
-gutted and replaced the bathroom, although we sadly still await a sink
-thrown a 4-year old's birthday party
-remembered to mail xmas gifts before February for the first time perhaps ever
-given up on mailing xmas cards or "family letters"
-hired, trained, and equipped a new staff for the coming session
-finally started making 1 hour every night before bed for reading
-decided that we're going to need a bigger house sooner rather than later

So.

Enough about all that.

Oh, and the funniest thing that happened, and actually made me fall to the kitchen floor laughing:

So we've gutted the bathroom, had it replaced (walls, floors, tub, shower, everything). We decide to "finish it up" one Sunday afternoon, and I break the light fixture while installing it. And discover that we can't install the sink we bought without knocking holes in the new (and freshly painted) drywall. So... we return the sink. A frustrating day, but we really took all of it in stride.

And then, I notice that the bucket under the kitchen sink is filling up faster than usual. (I've been ignoring this tiny little drip for MONTHS.) So I figure we'll just clean out the trap and put new pipe tape on it. A nice feel-good job after a rough day -- and maybe we can feel like we finished something.

Larry goes to unscrew the pipes.... annnnnnnnnnnnnnd....

After Larry stopped laughing and picked me up off the floor, we called the plumber.

I'm so done with DIY.

Christmas Bug, and other things

2008-12-26T19:51:00.000-08:00

What a month!!

I did get most of this week off (which was by no means certain, what with all the impeachyness going around at work), and have loved every moment of it!

I was ready for the Big Day wayyyyyy beforehand, which was wonderful, and yet still managed to be up until 1:30 the night before doing things I just forgot about, or didn't plan well enough for. Bread, it turns out, takes 2 hours to rise whether you're in a hurry or not. Huh.

We had pulled back on the reins HARD this year -- everyone got the one item they wanted more than anything, and then some little stuff, but we spent less total than we ever have. I'm particularly proud of the bargaining and haggling. I feel like I made out like a bandit this year.

Christmas was a blast. We had ours at home, then went to the Pike County family for lunch and such -- we did soup and sandwiches this year, with desserts, and it was really great. Much lower maintenance. I'm a big fan.

We wrapped it all up, and came home. Glen got a bit carsick-y on the way, but we made it home and everyone went to bed. About midnight, he came in and told us he had a belly ache, and couldn't sleep, and could he please lay down with us for a bit? We said sure, and dozed off a bit, and within 5 minutes...... the Merry Christmas Flu arrived!! Wheeeee!

He threw up in my hair, on my pillow, on my pajamas, sheets, blankets, ....

ohhhhh, uck. (At least he was facing me, and not dad).

Those who say that humans can't levitate have never had a 7-year old throw up in their bed. Seven-year-olds don't throw up "cute".

We tossed him in the shower, and stripped the bed like a well-trained navy seal team. Tossed the ick sheets in the very hot, very bleachy washing machine. Bleached the (plastic, we're not fools) mattress cover, put on new sheets, found new blankets, and yanked the now clean and much happier child out of the shower.

He feels so great that he asks if he can watch TV. I'm still waiting for my turn in the shower. :(

So the kid gets a new bed of his own on the floor -- starting with a vinyl tablecloth and several old sheets, and finishing with the plastic pillows we've adopted after replacing quite enough of the fiber kind.

I hop in the shower.

It is...

ICE.

COLD.

I do not exaggerate. I would serve water this cold with dinner. You could have used it as an ice bath after blanching.

I got to sit in the bathroom for 25 minutes, waiting for hot water, before I could shower. On the plus side, I got to read two uninterrupted chapters of my book...

It was awesome.

Happily, it does not seem to have been the actual flu. I think it was a combination of an unholy quantity of cookies and fudge and a killer case of motion sickness. Nobody else has gotten it, and he never had any other problems. Thank goodness!!!

There are Xmas pictures on photobucket -- here -- but I'll post a few favorites below.

Willow, in her new sleeping bag.

Glen at Grandma's House.

Larry... with his fancy new phone.

The Whole Clan at Grandma Shaw's (the late-rising bread in the background...)

Oh, and one video.... Glen got the amp he wished for for Christmas.

It'll be a noisy year. But he's already got a band going.

...and a happy new year

2008-12-20T19:34:00.001-08:00

I came in the door at 6 am (we have a paper route... I wasn't out until then!), to find Willow standing all by herself in front of the Christmas tree. The tree lights were turned on, but otherwise the house was dark. And she was singing at the top of her lungs to the sweet little tree -- "We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, and a happy new year!!" Over and over again. I convinced her to do it again a few minutes later, hoping to catch it on video....

yes, I know it's sideways, but it's bedtime and I haven't figured out how to rotate it yet... just turn your head, I have faith that you'll get it.

Santa, Schmanta

2008-12-11T14:22:00.000-08:00

Glen has asked at least four times whether Santa is real.

Each time a little differently.

"Mom, who puts the presents under the tree?"

"Mom, is Santa real?"

"Mom, are you Santa?"

Each time, the same answer, because I'm lame.
"What do you think, honey?"

And each time, in response,
"I think he's real."

...

Because, after all, you can't get presents from a fake guy.

Little updates

2008-12-04T12:39:00.000-08:00

The gig playing duets with Megan on violin (me on flute) and singing duets went so very well!! I have long battled with performance anxiety. In Larry's words, "Sally doesn't do so well on the spot". And boy, that's usually so very true. But this time, after that initial rush of all my body's blood directly to my face during the first song, and the brief moments of panic and existential weirdness, it all leveled out pretty well, and I think I actually (**gasp**) made a connection with the audience!!! I flubbed a few minor times, but they were a forgiving audience.

So apparently, my ideal audience is well-seasoned church and music people, and my ideal venue is the MCL Cafeteria. After all, who's not comfortable at MCL?

And the Burt Carol Sing was as much fun as ever, and then afterward, my parents and Glen and Beth (a friend) and I sat around the piano and sang other Christmas carols. The kids normally come up and sing carols at the end, but we'd skipped that this year, but Glen was all ready to sing.... So we sang. And Beth did her Elvis impression, which made Glen laugh so hard that he couldn't breathe anymore, and he fell right off the piano bench, still laughing and holding his sides.

The gig at the festival of trees was... loud. They miked us, which was nice. But there was a train going around the middle of the room. A TRAIN. As in .... "Jingle bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the... RUMBLERUMBLE TOOOOOOO TOOOOOOOOT RUMBLE RUMBLE... one horse open sleigh!" It was a challenge. But I think we met it pretty well. It was a good experience.

And the recorder consort concert at Cantrell Methodist was a whole lot of fun! It turns out that Dan Blair is a really good MC... and what a great group of people to play for! They made you feel good just for being there. And I got to play the fife for a little snippet (an octave down, for the sake of their hearing).

Anyway, the next few weeks look like they'll be a race to the finish. I am very, very much looking forward to the two weeks off I'll be taking at Christmas, so I can play with my kids on the floor and really pay attention to them and their thoughts and words -- I'm afraid that all the gigs and work and extracurricular activities will take up most of that time between now and then.

Oh, and I am nearly done Christmas shopping! I have NEVER finished before Christmas Eve, EVER. This is so wonderful.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T09:04:00.000-08:00

This year was the first year I doubted our tradition of helping at the church for the "Feast of Plenty".

I've never questioned whether volunteering on Thanksgiving as a family was "good" for the kids -- I just assumed that it was good for them to learn about giving of themselves in order to show gratitude for all that we have. Humility and service are so hard to teach, but so important...any opportunity is a good one.

We usually get strange looks when we tell people about doing that for Thanksgiving -- the ones that say, "Oh, that's nice, but you're a little strange..." (Now, we always do a "traditional" thanksgiving -- we just do it on Friday rather than on Thursday -- so we're not robbing them of turkey-day festivities.)

But this year, as we left the house to get to the church, Glen was stifling sadness. He was doing a good job of trying not to show it, but what he wanted was to have a thanksgiving like the ones they talked about in school all week. He wanted to sit around the table with family and eat turkey and casserole and play games and watch movies -- he didn't really want to go bus tables for homeless or otherwise very disadvantaged people for two hours, then wash dishes.

I just felt awful all the whole drive there. Doubt, guilt, and a little more doubt... are we "ruining" their perception of holidays? Are we warping them, and will they come to resent volunteer work? Will they think forever that I put other people first and them last? Oh, jeez, parenting certainly hasn't helped me deal with this stupid "guilt" problem I've got...

Anyway, all the kids were WONDERFUL for the whole Feast of plenty, and we stayed until nearly 4 pm cleaning and putting things away until next year, and then we went to Grandma's and had a nice little dinner and watched a movie, and everyone seemed to be pretty happy.

Then on Friday, we went back over to mom and dad's for the afternoon, and they prepared a fabulous feast of thanksgiving-y-ness, and everyone had the most marvelous unstructured play time all afternoon. When Larry got off work, we all sat down to our Thanksgiving meal (Gideon ate almost exclusivley summer sausage, but whatever...).

Then the two little guys wanted to watch Wall-E (again, and again, and again), and the rest of us played Rummy around the kitchen table. (It was a big leap from "go fish", and the adults are so happy to have a new game to play!).

After Grandpa had cleaned us out three or four games in a row, Glen looked around the table at everyone, just glowing from head to toe, and said, "Now THIS is Thanksgiving."

So, all that guilt and doubt for nothing. We may have taught them that sometimes you have to put other people first, and then have what you want later. And we may have taught them that we don't always do the same things that other people do. And hopefully we've taught them that we love them very much and expect a lot from them, even when it's not what they want.

But I don't think we're 'warping' them, or their holidays. And thank goodness.... now if I can just remember this next year, when it all happens again...

Pachelbel -- stole this from Sass

2008-11-24T08:32:00.001-08:00

I've seen this one before, but it still cracks me up.

Sass posted it, so I'm stealing it... if you have time and haven't seen it, it's really cute.

Post from Justin I've got to share

2008-11-18T08:47:00.000-08:00

Justin posted this video on his blog -- I love bluegrass, I love shape-note music, I love old hymns... I had to share this with you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKbH6Dga3zo

(and I'm pretty excited that I figured out how to embed a video)

Dinner

2008-11-16T19:55:00.000-08:00

There's a good reason we don't go "out" to eat that often.

Really, it's just more comfortable for the public when we stay in.

And besides, we get to have craft time.

And the kids prefer it, anyway.

The rest of the album is here... Dinner with the Boatmans.

Halloween Photos

2008-11-14T09:31:00.001-08:00

At last, Halloween Photos! The whole album is on photobucket -- you should be able to click any of the photos and get there, if you want to see them all.

Gideon was a Ninja Turtle, in an inspired night-before creation courtesy of Larry (the Shells are GREAT, and made with stuff we had around the house already). However, he got tired of the Shells after just a little while, and took them off -- so he's just wearing a green sweatsuit with a blue mask. Larry said, "It just looks like we didn't try!" But we swear, we did try!! The best laid plans ...

Willow was going to be a flamenco princess in her beautiful new flamenco dress from Spain, but at the last moment was infatuated with the hoop on her purple princess dress-- so she was princess Willow (and remained princess Willow for several days after Halloween. We did finally get her to take it off.)

Glen was Albert Pujols (another stroke of genius from Larry -- we already had everything we needed).

So this year's Halloween was an unparalleled success! We spent $0.00 and everyone was thrilled with their costume!

Willow and Caiti.

Gideon, with the shells on!

Mr. Pujols.

In case the links don't work on the photos, the album is here:

(Caiti, there's a bunch of good ones of Cole there!)

A little self-promotion

2008-11-12T13:40:00.001-08:00

First:

I promise that Halloween Photos are on the way, and will have been posted by the weekend. They're great!

Second:

This Christmas Season, I am just thrilled to have found myself wrapped up (and filled up) with music again! I have lucked into some really wonderful gigs, and am surprised to feel how deeply I'd missed all of this. It's a part of life that I've let go undeveloped too long... (so here's hoping they all go well!)

Here's a list of where and when, if you can make it out:

Nov. 22nd, 4:00 pm -- Seraphim will sing at the Festival of Trees (Orr Bldg, state fairgrounds)

Nov. 30, 5:30 pm -- Fealty (ancient music group) will be playing at Cantrall Methodist

Dec. 2 -- Meagan Turner and I will be entertaining a women's group from a local church with flute/violin and vocal duets (this is just for their women's group, no public, but I'm excited about it and have to mention it anyway!)

Dec 12, 13: Fealty will play at the LLCC Madrigals dinner (they'll play on the 14th too, but I had this other gig...)

Dec. 14: I'll play flute with the Prairieland Voices chorus for the Charpentier "Messe de Minuit pour Noel" at the Episcopal Church at the corner of 2nd and Lawrence (St. Paul's, I believe).

I can't express how excited I am about all of these!

And below, a photo of Seraphim:

And another:

Jingle Bell 5K, and Fall-ish photos

2008-10-25T17:33:00.000-07:00

Last year, I raised funds for the American Red Cross through "Run Red" -- this year, I'm choosing the Arthritis Foundation.

So I'll be running the "Jingle Bell 5K" as part of a team that is raising funds together. (Glen, my mom, and I ran it last year, too, but didn't do any extra fundraising).

PLEASE do not feel obliged!!! But if you want to help me raise funds for the Arthritis Foundation, there should be a link here to my "donation" page, and you can just do it online. There is also a lot of information about the foundation itself.

http://springfieldJBR2008.kintera.org/faf/r.asp?t=4&i=277505&u=277505-237848954&e=1980741017

And now for photos!

We had a cantalope grow into the chain link fence -- it was so much fun to watch it grow there! And it harvested just fine, although it required some on-the-spot surgery.

Larry snuck a picture of me singing.

Our little princess got all dressed up for the ball, but fell asleep before dinner.

Gideon, pretending to be asleep on Madi.

Man, that boy can throw.

The stumps we use for seating around our fire pit have grown the most astonishing lichen this summer. We can't even bear to sit on them, for the beauty of it!

Willow, ascending the play fort in the backyard. (lip gloss first).

Peeking Gideon.

There's a whole album of great September and October family photos at this link, if you want to see more -- http://s304.photobucket.com/albums/nn184/ssmith0130/October%20Photos/

The photos from Indiana

2008-10-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

It has been brought to my attention, ahem, that I didn't specifically state that there are a lot of pictures on photobucket of our trip to Indiana, but you have to click on the photo posted here to see them.

So if you click on the photo posted in the "Indiana Dunes, 2008" post, it'll take you to the album in photobucket where the rest of the photos are, and you can see them, too.

Do it! Click it! You know you want to.

Owned

2008-10-22T10:04:00.000-07:00

Mommy's gotta stay out of the potty treats.

I have this weakness for skittles... and skittles are Gideon's "potty treat" of choice. (We reward successful potty attempts with one skittle).

This morning, he got his potty treat after doing his biz-ness, and then mommy might have had a few as well.

She also might have grabbed a small handful on the way out to the car, surreptitiously so that none of the Little People would notice (and then demand their own, even in absence of potty-ation).

Chewing my three skittles privately, I leaned in to buckle Gideon's car seat. He had been babbling on about the ninja turtles, and waving his hands to illustrate his point, but he froze, looked up, and sniffed twice, like a hound that caught the scent of a raccoon in the tree above.

He looked right at me and said, "Skittle. I want skittle."

I so got caught.

Haiku time

2008-10-21T12:24:00.001-07:00

I'd forgotten how much fun it is to write Haiku.

And they're short and painless, so I'll share. (Since it's just the 6 of us anyway...)

Try one! They're fun!

(and no, I don't stick to the exact syllable structure...that's not the main defining characteristic of haiku anyway...)

dusk falling coldly
smell of fire and burning leaves
lonely autumn road
__

boats rub the bumpers
mud dobbers swarm the boat dock
bluegill play hide and seek
__

gentle running stream
crawdads hide under flat rocks
cold on my bare feet

__
smell of cold
outside the window
snow drifts
__

three jackets by the door
dripping snow melts on the floor
warm dryer running
__

empty summer school
under the second desk in the front row
six colors of bubble gum

August, 2008, Camping

2008-10-17T07:29:00.000-07:00

In August, we camped with the Boatmans out at their grandma's farm, just 20 minutes out of town (which meant that we could camp but still make it to all our 'required' weekend events... it was perfect)

The whole weekend was marvelous. We got to try the most wonderful zucchini relish, went home with enough cucumbers to make our own pickle relish, got to go for an early morning country run, got to see an old cemetery, and got to sleep in the old Ted Williams Tent from Sears that's bigger than our first house together...

And we played and played and played.

Here's a few pictures of the boys (Gideon and Cole) playing on the big tractor together.

Indiana Dunes, 2008

2008-10-16T07:43:00.001-07:00

Still learning the ropes, so pardon if this is laid out a little funny.

I uploaded all the photos from our camping trip to photobucket, but we'll see if I'm happy with this... I may end up pasting my favorites in here anyway.

But enjoy!! It was such a wonderful trip, and we had so much fun.

Photobucket Album

Sand Angels

2008-10-09T08:35:00.000-07:00

We went camping this past weekend at the Indiana Dunes. None of us had ever been there before -- it is just beautiful, and I loved the campground we stayed at. It was, however, COLD. I guess that's what we get for camping in October... But coldness aside, it was a wonderful experience. I haven't downloaded all the photos yet, but I'll get to that later this week -- for now, here's one of Glen making sand angels on the shore of Lake Michigan.

The first moment we got on the beach, all three of our children immediately fell to the ground and rolled around in the sand. We protested for a second, but it was hopeless -- we may as well have dropped them in the middle of a pile of candy, they were so happy to be at the beach.

Camelot photos

2008-10-02T13:17:00.001-07:00

Larry was smashing as Sir Dinadan in Camelot recently, and here are some photos for you to see (credited to Donna Lounsberry, not us). He's the handsome bald one in chainmail.

(I also played in an ancient music ensemble with some lifelong family friends -- we were pretty awesome, too. We're just not in the picture.)

Yes, I know I scanned them in crooked. I rule.

Slugabed

2008-10-01T13:28:00.001-07:00

Dictionary.com word of the day -- I find these are relevant to me suspiciously often...hmmmm:

Word of the Day for Wednesday, October 1, 2008
slugabed \SLUHG-uh-bed\, noun:
One who stays in bed until a late hour; a sluggard.
Slugabed is from slug, "sluggard" + abed, "in bed."

As in:

"Starting on Monday morning, there will no longer be a slugabed in the Smith household, for we shall be slinging newsprint, faithfully executing our shiny new paper route."

:)

Sick Willow's Healing Potion

2008-09-29T07:35:00.001-07:00

Willow has been sick for the last 3 or 4 days with a nasty cold and fever. One night this weekend, she woke up in the middle of the night looking for a drink and some medicine, and we were talking about all the different things we can do to feel better. After a while, she says to me, "All I need to feel better is God, and Jesus, and my Puppy. Then I'll be all better."

Which was hilarious.

But you know, she has been really nice to the puppy for the last week or so. I suppose you would be, if you categorized your puppy with the divine. She is a pretty great dog, after all.

More happy photo time!

2008-09-22T20:27:00.000-07:00

Fear not, citizen. Your fate is in good hands.

I LOVE ILLINOIS WEATHER!!! We have the most amazing storms here. Glen took this picture while we drove underneath the storm front. It was amazing.

There are few things cooler than a big unexplained pile of dirt in the middle of a wide open field.

I loves my goofy hat. And I've got a thing for taking my own picture in elevators. Well, one elevator in particular. It's a thing, I don't know... stupid camera phones...

Me, with my very fine microbrew in Denver when I went for girls' weekend last year.

Our beautiful canine, Madison.

Makin' cookies with mah Glen (April 2008)

New Photos!

2008-09-20T12:32:00.001-07:00

Finally downloaded our pictures from our phones!
We'll get to the ones on the camera in a bit, but for now--- some pictures for you!

Waiting to board the plane to Denver. Gideon was wearing his airplane shirt, carrying an airplane, and whenever he'd see an airplane would shriek, "AIRPLANE!!!"

Willow, at the St. Patty's day parade. We. Love. fuzzy. Hats.

Mom, Gramma, and Glen at the Jingle Bell 5K.

Bowlful of Gideon.

He fell off the couch while sleeping, and didn't even wake up.

Autumn camping happiness.

Willow at the garage sale -- had to try it on one last time.

Visiting with cousins in Denver.

I'll post more later -- there are months and months worth we're finding on our phones and cameras!

Trying a photo post

2008-07-16T07:48:00.000-07:00

Trying it out

2008-07-16T07:45:00.000-07:00

What may become a place to post our family photos and information, to share with the Diaspora of the McDaniel and Smith clans.