with thanks to the one who sent me this

"Perhaps one of the most discouraging struggles women endure is that never-ending battle with our own bodies ........

     A woman's attitude toward her own body is fraught with misconceptions fueled by a world that celebrates an almost prepubescent female body as the ideal norm.  For most of us, time moves on.  We are not seventeen, a number of children have made their way through our birth canals, and gravity is exerting its inexorable pull.  Whenever we  look in the mirror, we are reminded of what we are not.  Satan would have it just that way.....thus we enter into a war with our bodies, hating the very tabernacle our Father has given us.....If Satan can get us to fixate on our bodies, either in vanity or self-loathing, then he has caused us to misunderstand completely the role our bodies play in our salvation.....

     I cannot help but think, as I remember the births of each of my children, that this human body, also can make us most divine--that the peculiar pains of a woman's flesh reach her exquisitely, intimately.  What they teach she cannot know beforehand or even know that she needs to know.  But when the pain subsides or is grown accustomed to, she realizes that some time during the darkest of nights or mundanest of mornings, knowledge has descended like the dews from heaven and enlarged her soul.

   Unfortunately, the experience has also enlarged her hips and thighs.  Stretch marks ornament my breasts and hips like silver ribbons.  My hips are two sizes wider, my feet a size bigger than when I was married--my very bones have expanded in response to my mothering.  Some of the effects are temporary, just for the moments of pregnancy....these pass in their time, but the memory remains.

     In that memory lies the glory of this earthly body: though we may be resurrected in a perfect frame, the lessons taught me by my mother-body will rise with me.  The sacrifice, the pain, the fear and faith of my mothering will sink into my soul and remain with me in the eternities.  My spirit and this woman's body inseparably connected constitute my fullness of joy. Time writes its messages on all of us.  Our very bodies have become our book of life, "an account of our obedience or disobedience written in our bodies."   To what have we been obedient?  To the purpose for which we were made; to provide a body and a safe haven for the spirits entrusted to our care.  If we mother well, we wear out our lives bringing to pass the lives of others.  Of the physical fruits--our wider hips, our sagging breasts, our flatter feet, and rounder buttocks--we need not be so ashamed."

                   Tessa Meyer Santiago--Womens Conference 1998, Get Thee Behind Me:ThwartingLatter-Day Deceits, pg.208,211,212.

cabbage patch and kids

We have been purging like mad around here, attempting to regain some order. We have never lived in a house for more than 2 years, upgrading to this house. We have been here for 6 years now! I know that is not long in the grand scheme of things, but for us that is enough time to have filled every corner, every closet, and each square inch of storage space with stuff. Things are beginning to spill and spread....everywhere. I was dejunking the backyard, and I was able to get rid of all the broken, unused, and out-grown kids toys (that felt SO good!). I also went through all my old garden pots and ended up giving most of them away. I only kept a couple. I haven't filled pots in years. But since we are fixing up the front of the house -staining and painting and adding trim, I thought I would buy plants for my pots to put on the front porch.
So off I went to the Nursery today. I had some specific flowers in mind - which they didn't have. And then I saw these -

 Ornamental cabbage. 

I remember the first time I ever saw these plants. I was NOT a fan.
Why would one put vegetables (even ornamental) in pots at their front door?

But today.... today I kind of liked them.

I thought that they would be just the thing.

Now the real test - if they are still there in the morning!

Those deer, I may kick myself for buying them, while they thank me for the tasty treat.

 I am finished this front area - staining, and repainting the trim. 

So much house to go yet.

But shingle by shingle we must finish before the wet weather comes. 

Oh, and this. 

This is my door bell. 

It was one of the very first things I noticed when we came to view this house 

and I have loved it every day since. 

Can one actually be in love with their door bell? 

Well I am.

I am sure you don't care, but there it is, nevertheless.

And while I worked away on the house, the boys did this:

 Over and over, down the hill. 

It made me laugh.

Reminded me a very large amount of a biker and his babe.

(I love Bergen's face in the first picture)

a fresh new year

At the end of May my heart is light and the skies seem extra blue - Summer is here {in regards to the end of homeschool, that is}.

In August the panic and doubt start to creep back in. 

Slowly. 

In from the back door, disguised as unease.

Another year is approaching, and I have yet to begin to prepare. 

I will be, once again, responsible for the education of these children. 

Daunting. 

But this year is going to be different. I say that every year, but this year... this year it really, truly is. 

I pray for help and guidance.

And then I being my planning. 

The ideas fill my mind so quickly I fear I will not be able to remember them. 

I scramble for paper and I feel that peace that always comes - everything will be okay. It will all work out. 

They will learn. I can teach. And we will have fun. 

I read this not long ago on pinterest and decided that it would be my personal theme for this year of home schooling:

And for the children:

You have to have a sense of humor if you're gonna make it out alive!

What ever your style of learning, from our home {school} to yours, have a good one!

As for Long Beach - It was damp and cold, with some sun, but still so much fun.

I was so careful in my packing. I packed enough clothes for 10 children, but when it came to shoes, 

they grabbed what they did on the way out the door. You would think I would check at least Nya, 

but she always gets her shoes, and I assumed she would pick her crocs. But no. 

Not good enough for this lady. She prefers to camp in ballet flats!

(we stopped and bought her some flip-flops on the way)

Nya did not leave my sight. Not for one minute of one day. 

Wherever I went, there too you could find Nya.

Whereas the other children where off with their cousins and friends.

Therefore, most of the pictures I took were of Nya.

And if you like mexican food, and you are ever up Tofino way, please promise me you will eat here!

I waited for 45 minutes and paid $11 dollars for the BEST fish burrito I have ever eaten, 

and I would do it again!

And when good shoes are in need of a wash, I put them in the machine.

When they come out I fill them will cloths and let them air dry. They always come out great. 

And I figure if shoes are wrecked anyway, why not give it a go.