Eye of the Lion

The day seemed ordinary enough. House work. Sick kids. Out of water. But I knew something was not right when my two female dogs, one black lab one bull mastiff, would not follow me up to the water pump. I started down the trail, getting maybe 100 feet, when I notice I'm alone. Both dogs are shaking and whineing at the edge of the yard. Very distressing. Then I hear it. A low, throaty growl. I look up the trunk of the tree I'm standing next to and about 25ft up I see it. Big eyes. Long twitchy tail. A very muscular mountain lion just hanging out next to my house in the middle of a windy fall afternoon. All I could think was " I cannot be eaten, Bug needs more Tylenol in an hour." So while maintaining eye contact I slowly backed all the way into my front door. An hour later it was gone. My dogs never made a peep. Its been over a week and I still don't let my kids outside alone. When I shared this story on Facebook a lot of people wanted me to shoot it. But I just couldn't. Partly because I didn't want to try while alone with my kids. But also they were here first. I chose to live in their territory. And just because you see them doesn't necessarily mean they want to eat you. And if you don't see them doesn't mean they don't see you. Here's some interesting facts I found on WWW.dfg.ca.gov. * there are approximately 10 mountain lions per 100 miles in California. That makes at least 4000 in this state Alone. * With the passage of prop 117 in 1990 mountain lions became a "specially protected species" making them illegal to hunt or harm in any way. * California Dept. Of Fish and Wildlife get 100's of sightings annually but only 3% turn out to be verifiable public safety threats. * Statistically a person is 1000 times more likely to get struck by lightening then attacked by a mountain lion. * Only 16 verified attacked on humans sincere 1890, six of them fatal. Although the last attack was in January 2007 right here in Humboldt County.

Get Out Of Grief Free Card

It is 2:30am. And as I lay here on the couch next to my sweetly sleeping milk parasite I cannot sleep. I keep replaying my day and trying to figure out what is wrong with me. Do you think its possible for a person to become "full" of grief? To experience so much sadness that they are no longer affected by it heavy tread? When I lost my mother to her own hand in 2003 I was crushed. Left with the usual "what ifs" and anger that suicide produces. When I lost my father to medical complications in 2006 I was destroyed. It took time and therapy and the love of my Hubby, sister, and close friends to bring back my light. Now I measure every loss against that pain. And while one day I'm sure to cross that threshold of hell it isn't today. Today I found out one of my fathers brothers was brutally murdered. And all I can muster is, he is in a better place. How hollow is that? All day my phone rang and my facebook popped and everyone wants to know if im ok. So while I lay here unable to produce the proper response I will slow tomorrow down. I will take the time to love and cherish my girls. To build our life with the happiest memories I can. So whenever that pain does come again, to myself or my girls, we have a deep well of love to draw from and soothe our tender hearts until we are all together again. Now I will close my eyes and try to dream of three reunited brothers riding their horses over the last mountain together.

DIY Pallet Picket Fence

I have a new obsession. To have a picket fence. We have little money to put into this endeavor so I set my Pinterest sights on some DIY versions. Since we live in the middle of Emerald Triangle, a refurbished pallet fence seemed like my best option. The small community we live in has four feed and garden stores, so I loaded up my Midgets and away we went to scavenge there free pallet piles. I love my truck. It took a lot of convincing to even get some slimy over paid used car dealer to sell me a 4X4 but boy oh boy does Baby get some use. Now that I have ferreted away almost 25 pallets I can start to work on the fun part. I measured out the small area by our garden and play area that we use the most and I have my work cut out for me. 200ft of it. At 4 foot long pallet picket slates goes that's a grand total of at least 50 of these dirty heavy suckers that I am going to have to deal with. But oh boy is it going to be worth it. I found this great tutorial on youtube that breaks down the process beautifully. So far I have cut and disassembled 8 picket slates so far. In two days. All by myself. With TWO KIDS UNDER TWO. Its the chicken poop you see. Since we have wonderful free range chickens for meat and eggs we have a large amount of chicken poop. Everywhere. Its DISGUSTING . One day soon I foresee an area free of chicken manure and flies, where my children can crawl on the ground or on the picnic table and not be covered in feces. On that note I will leave you folks for this week. with one last parting shot of cuteness....

Bath Tub Painting

This is super easy and just about the only way I can get Bug to bathe these days. I use an old cupcake tin. Fill each cup with any foaming shaving cream, I use cheapo men's generic stuff. Then add just a couple drops of food coloring of your choice to each cup. Seriously any more then three or four drops will dye your munchkin, which can be fun just not...the day before family portraits or something. Stir your foam up and let the kids paint away. Makes everything smell nice too. Easy clean up just spray with shower head or wipe with wet cloth. Now for some super fun and a little( OK a LOT) dirty Mommy stuff. I read a great, funny, honest blog http://www.brittanyherself.com and recently Brittany has put on these awesome Last Call shows. A group of women get together and hang out and talk smack for bout an hour each week. You can watch live, or like me and all you have for internet is a smart phone and a prayer, you can watch on YouTube. Said smart phone will not let me link in so unfortunately YOU will have to search for Brittany gibbons last call yourself. Gasp! I know you have to actually type and stuff, sorry. One day after I buy myself a boob lift and my Hubby a nut cut I might get to save for an actual computer. Until then I will continue to text out my post to share infinite wisdom, like Last Call, with you. My readers. I actually have readers y'all.* blushing*

Bean Play

Bug and I had so much fun doing this activity. I really needed to distract her so I could make dinner and this was perfect. Kept her close enough I could play to but busy enough to let me get dinner on the table. We happen to buy our beans from Costco, bags and bags of them. My Hubby has the weird idea that the world might end and we have to be ready he says. I figure if 60 lbs of beans are going to take up space in my pantry I might as well have some fun with them. You wash them before you use them anyway right? And afterward Bug even "helped" me clean up. I cannot believe how big and coordinated she has gotten. Cherish every moment they go by so so fast. These are the memories I want to lock inside my soul to be pulled out and examined when I'm old and gray(grayer).

Nature Stamping

I have been trying to find ways to incorporate nature play with our art time. So today Bug and I collected our paint supplies and then went in the yard for nature stamps. We found a rose, a chicken feather, pine cones, madrone leaves and a rock. Bug looked for surprised when i started painting our objects but soon got into it. This is a sample of my work. I used the rose, feather and pine cone.

Co-Napping

As a new mother to two under two, if I could give one piece of advice it would be the gift of co-napping. Bug still goes down for an afternoon nap that lasts anywhere from 1 to 3 hours. I already had her on a flexible nap schedule because little girl gets some major diva attitude if she doesn't nap. When Sunny came along it only made sense for them to go down together to give me a little sanity time. In the beginning I used this time to catch a little shut eye myself. Now that Sunny is almost 3 months old I use this time for ME time. I used to clean the house but now I find ways to do that boring brainless task with the girls. Nap time is now fitness time. Or knitting time. Or just sitting down in complete silence without some small lovely parasitic cherub sucking my life force outta my boobs. And my house might be a little messy, my mail my stay unsorted, my laundry unfolded, but it gives me the little bit if alone time that resets my Mary Poppins Mommy Clock. I'm able to have a little more patience, a little more YES. And that is so important to me. I have to tell Bug "No" four hundred bazillion times a day any time I can say yes I will. Yes you can play in the mud. Yes you can climb that tree.Yes you can help chop vegetables for dinner. So do NOT fell guilty for taking a little Mommy Time Out. And leave a comment, what do you say yes to??

DIY Toddler Bird Feeder

I stumbled upon this really fun and easy bird feeder picture on pinterest. Unfortunately there were no directions to go along with the picture but it seemed simple enough Bug and I just ran with it. For our version your will need: Either empty paper towel rolls or toilet paper rolls, peanut butter, loose bird seed of your choice.(I went with all organic kind because Bug did eat some), cookie sheet, butter knife So very simple, pour the bird seed out on the cookie sheet. Generously coat the outside of your roll of choice with a thick layer of peanut butter. Let your Little have fun rolling it back and forth in the bird seed. Shove over end of tree branch and wait. This activity kept Bug engrossed for at least an hour. And it was pretty inexpensive too.

Facing your Parental Fears

Everyone is always telling me I worry about my Girls to much. Especially my Hubby. And for the most part they are right. While I would love nothing more then to cram my bumbling, distractable 2 year old into a nice padded soundproof sphere its just not practical. My house is far to small. So instead, about 100 times a day I close my eyes, and all the air is sucked from my body while I pray to any form of higher power willing to help, that Bug will not fall from whatever bazillion precarious perches she mischievously finds herself upon. How else will she ever learn balance, and a rational fear of heights if I don't let her do a little solo exploring. And you would think it would be the old oak tree out front, or the tippity top of the slide at the park, or off the back of the couch which she uses as a balance beam that would do her in. Or her own two feet. A week after we brought Sunny home. While out for the only walk per day my cesarean recovery allowed. While standing right next to me, Bug tripped. Falling head first off the last porch step. Onto hard rocky ground. How do you figure out if something is seriously wrong with a hysterical midget that cannot freaking talk? She was such a trooper. Cried for about five minutes and then was very calm unless someone touched her. But no matter what we did, itsy bitsy spider, patty cake, high fives, food bribes she wouldnt use her right arm. So off to the ER we went. With a newborn. And me still on pain meds. Oh yeah and a two hour drive one way. Poor kid was such a trooper. Until the nurses tried to take her temperature and then the blood curdling, screaming ridged body, eye rolling fear began. Two sets of XRays later and its a broken clavical. Only thing to do is brace her arm for as long as she would let us and give her some pain meds of her own.Longest eight hours of my life. .

Oh where has the time has gone?

Wow! I am sorry you guys! When I decided to take a little time off from chronicling my life and just LIVE it I never intended for it to be for over a year. So so much has happened! My family has grown by another beautiful daughter. Sunny is now 7 weeks old today. Bug is almost 27 months. She has grown into one intelligent, vivacious, independent girl. So far her sister couldn't be more different. We are still trying to adjust, learning new routines, and especially learning how to slow down and just enjoy our lives. Keeping things simple while my girls are still relatively easy to please and still want to play with me. I hope to do a lot more posting on here in the future. I was rereading all my old posts during our 4am feeding last night and realized this blog is a great way to keep a record of my girls childhood. Before I wrote for me, to vent and just put my thoughts somewhere else besides my head. And I will still do that but with the added intention of one day showing this to them. Letting them see exactly what it took for me to provide them with our life. And maybe inspire them to live as presently as possible. I hope to fill these "pages" withe a detailed account of all our arts and crafting experiences. Stories of our day to day activities and life lessons. But right now Sunny is hungry and Bug wants to play in the garden.