weekending 42

Posted in familyness, gratitude adjustment, i dig music, it's cool to school, love and happiness, parenting apparently?, weekending by ElaineMarie

it’s boot weather. this weekend was very much out and about. friday is looking to be our family day this fall. we braved the homecoming crowd to take in the blues for smoke exhibit in the afternoon. this was a precursor to our friend’s performance there friday evening with Lonnie Holley. Both performances blew my mind but Lonnie gave me a new catch phrase that’s been stuck in my head: thumbs up to mother universe.

between the two wexner events we walked past a new little donut spot {literally named the little donut shop} and had to stop in for some tasty maple bacon goodness. mike got a samoa and darla got her standard sprinkles special. those last two pics are us as cheerleaders for the columbus marathon. this was my first time as a spectator at a marathon and it was more inspiring and entertaining than i thought it would be. that might be due to the pair of sideliners dressed up in the horse mask, followed by his friend clapping cups behind him up and down the road. it was fun to cheer on the runners.

i guess this is the only time of year we visit the wexner center since the last time we went was about a year ago. it’s a great way for me to make observations about darla’s cognitive progress, though. last year she didn’t really want anything to do with looking at the exhibit. this year she was just really motivated to look at only the things she wanted to take in, which is pretty wonderful in my book. no standardized tests needed here!

but it does make it a bit hard for mike and i to have a personal experience. luckily, the wexner offers free tours on thursdays so we can return again at a later date.

but what i mainly want to say about life thoughts from the weekend is how thankful i am to have this little family that runs around getting involved in so much life. i can let myself get pretty stressed out at times about the fact that laundry piles up, dishes don’t get done and there never seems to be enough time to clean up all the messes. and then i remember that’s a sign that i’m living my life. i’m not simply maintaining it. a clean house is life management, not life. we get out there. that may be our strongest area as parents up until this point, we get darla out for experiences. she’s done a lot in these short years. she’s learned to be the master of her own universe. she’s learned to seek out life. and for that i’m thankful.

21Aug2013

unschooling: batelle darby metro park

Posted in advantageous adventures, it's cool to school by ElaineMarie

it is gorgeous days like this one that remind me why i’m keeping this blog. i will cherish these times always.

so here is a not-so-short list of things i can remember that we discussed and learned at batelle darby:

architectural structures
rock formations
gravity
the difference between bison and buffalo {fact: there have never been buffalo in America, only bison.}
flower names
the ecosystems of a stream
touched a turtle and a snake {not me, but darla did}
practiced the different sounds a rock makes when it’s thrown in the water
looked at decaying wood
hiked in woods and prarie and compared them
looked at bones and pelts
examined feathers on bird’s wing and magnification
different frog sounds
bird migration patterns
bees
trees

and honestly, i can’t remember b/c there was just so much to take in. we spent a good 4 hours there. 4 hours and no bison, however. they were hiding for the day but that gives us a reason to go back.

i am so thoroughly in love with the metro parks system. I am hoping we have a good 2-3 more months of outdoor exploration. we still have so much to see and revisit.

i hope these posts show how truly thankful and grateful I am to have the opportunity to spend these days running around with darla. it’s hard to imagine ever doing anything differently than the way we are now but i know to take each day as it comes.

i’m just filled with gratitude and love when i look back on some of these days. i want to put that down here for my darla.

2Aug2013

“my house felt chunky”

Posted in Momma Needs a minute... by ElaineMarie

the air felt smooth and warm. the smell of frankincense was heavy in the air. the house rang with the clear notes of the bell. i walked in a line with 4 women and 3 children exploring each corner in the house. my intention was clear in my mind. i asked, as we moved from room to room, that every good memory be sealed up in the hearts of all that had been there. i asked that any bad energy flow from the house and dissipate. i asked for peace and serenity within those walls for all that would come after.

this was my first experience with cleansing a house. please don’t confuse this with cleaning a house and get grossed out by that last sentence. this was a cleansing. it was entirely different.

the energy cleansing of our dear friends’ house was an amazing experience. i kept looking at our little ones, as they had their energy cleansed, and sent up little prayers to please let them remember this experience always. they were so tuned in and curious during parts of the ceremony and i hope it will make a lasting memory for each of them. so many memories are within those walls. many of them already forgotten by the kiddos.

i felt so fortunate and honored to be a part of such an occasion.

it is weird to have such an emotional connection to a house that was not even your own.

but then again, if you’re doing it right your home will feel like home to everyone who enters and these people definitely do it right.

i watched kiddos grow from babies to toddlers to kindergarteners in that house. there’s a magic there for me that cannot be described. and now our friends have moved on, really, officially. while they still owned the house it was easy to pretend that someday they would be back but it is permanent now. they have moved on and i am still here, stagnant.

when the ceremony began the house felt different. the consistency of the air felt patchy, fluctuating from cold to hot. meg summed it up post-cleansing: “my house felt chunky.” it was crazy to feel the transformation that took place with the energy inside the house. you may not believe, and that’s alright. you don’t have to.

i’m so thankful for the experience, the friendship, the memories, the ways people and life continue to expand my consciousness of the world around me. it’s sealed up in my heart now in a way that it wasn’t before.

thank you, friends.

26Jul2013

daily moment

Posted in daily moment, familyness by ElaineMarie

my interpretation of inside darla’s brain:

“This gourmet push pop is so boring. Oh, wait, do I have something on my face? I have something on my face don’t I?”

24Jul2013

daily moment

Posted in daily moment by ElaineMarie

bad picture. good moment. my girl D doing a drawing of robots while i finish sweeping up the shop.

16Jul2013

balloon fight

Posted in familyness, love and happiness by ElaineMarie

darla requested a water balloon fight over the weekend. experiences like these make me cognizant of how happy i am that i’m a parent. it has been a really long time since my last water balloon fight. i have forgotten some of the simple pleasures in life that come flooding back in a whole new way when you’re experiencing them with your child. Like looking for worms, swinging, catching fireflies and water balloon fights.

is that what summer is about? is summer eternal childhood?

i think i would like to think of it that way for the rest of my days.

15Jul2013

daily moment

Posted in daily moment by ElaineMarie

optical hopscotch.

caption courtesy of my husband. and guided by voices.

15Jul2013

is this day camp?

Posted in advantageous adventures, it's cool to school, Kiddie Hangouts by ElaineMarie

no. no it’s not. well, it was for someone else’s kids. we just swooped in after the camp kids went to lunch and played all up in that shizz.

i promise this looks more peaceful and idyllic than it was. there were various gradients of dirt play with darla leading the pack in no shoes and worm wrangling. there were various gradients of child breakdowns with darla being the leader in that category, also.

but i got to hang out with two babies i saw borned of this world and i already mentioned that it turned out pretty in pictures. as long as my life looks good then i’m not really to hung up on the rest…

i just want to pause and mention how happy i am with the free-wheeling, unschool summer we’ve been having. even though the day was somewhat of an emotional failure i still walked away feeling accomplished, secure in the thought that my girl had learned and enjoyed and i really had a good time in the midst of the choas of 6 children. i just want to extend summer for all the days and explore our world. this city has an amazing parks system and i’ve got my sights set on experiencing some new places with my girl.

can it be summer camp forever???