Animal tracking

So the kids and I had a pretty cool experience yesterday. They were in the backyard swinging and Erik spotted two deer on the trail. They waved to me to come out so we could walk over and see them better. I was reluctant because I was exhausted. I had been up late the night before and was tiiiired. But I didn't want to be a party pooper and thought we would just be walking across the street. So I put on my clogs and out we went.
When we got across the street they weren't there. After looking around we found them out in the road walking up the hill, so we took off following them. We got up the hill and lost them again. The kids started pretending they were detectives and looking for clues. Erik thought he spotted deer tracks and we found them farther up the hill by the high school parking lot. We followed them in and in a while discovered that they couldn't figure out how to get out. They were backed up against this long fence and kept going back and forth trying to get out. A couple of times they ran smack into the fence trying to get over.
I thought we were probably not helping because we were scaring them. So the kids and I sat down on the curb for a while. I explained that the deer couldn't get out because we were following them and making them nervous. I thought we should leave. The kids both said they were worried about them getting hit by a car or the people bothering them. So we fanned out and tried to force them out of the parking lot. At one point the deer came charging toward Taryn. She started to panic and I told her to make a lot of noise which scared the deer to turn around and they finally jumped over the fence and went into the woods by the golf course. We figured they'd be safe there until night when they could make it back home.
I was so moved by my kids concern for the deer's safety. We have a soft spot for this family of deer and we think these two were the babies we saw last year. I was also grateful that I followed their lead to get out of the house so we could share this experience.

Earlier this year I decided to unschool for the rest of the year. Unschooling means a lot of things but for me right now it means that I'm not going to initiate any schooling. I am going to ask them if they want to continue our reading, but they are free to say no to anything. I've always loved the idea but have been afraid to follow it. So I figured now is better than later.
Anyway. After this experience with the deer, Erik came home and decided to write about it. It turned into a cute 2 page story.

Dog sitting

This is Colbie. We got to babysit her for a few days last week. I've been wanting to watch a dog so that I could get a better idea about what it's like. It was not at all what I expected. This dog is the easiest dog I've ever met. She barely makes a peep. She is fully house trained and slept through the night. So I'm not sure that it was a true experience of what it might be like for us.

The thing that I didn't expect, was Erik's reaction to her. He was very possessive and obsessive. Anytime anyone else wanted to hold her he would flail on the ground and whine until it was his turn again. He took her with him everywhere. The upside was that he took very good care of her and was gentle and responsible. He was offended at first when she wouldn't obey his every command, and even whined a little bit that the dog didn't love him enough. But with Erik, nothing is ever enough. I thought he was smothering her, but one day they went to play at the neighbor's house. Colbie tried to squeeze through the fence to find Erik and stood at the front door waiting for him. They when he came home, she jumped all over him and sat on his lap. So I guess they must of bonded.

It was a good experience, and I think we are ready to get a dog, it's just a matter of finding the right one.

More Elk sightings

Thoughts part Two

After my post about what I've created in my life that I'm proud of, I started thinking about what's not in my life that I'd like to create. So I thought I'd put it out to the universe, so that the universe can help me bring it in. They all seem to fall into the category of Self-care:

*I want to eat things that make me feel good
*I want to get out more, move my body and breathe fresh air
*I want to say how I feel and ask for what I want, in a way that respects others
*I want to give more
*I want to share myself honestly and without reservation, to really let people know me and to be myself all the time.

Art lessons

I took this idea from Charlotte Mason. I found this calendar at Fred Meyer for $7. Each month has an 8x10 print by Van Gogh. Every few weeks I put a new one on the fridge and we talk about it over lunch for a few days. The first print had a title that Taryn thought was not fitting to the picture, so she created her own version of what would go with that name. The second was a self portrait. Taryn tried to copy it and didn't like the results, so then decided to do a portrait of herself instead. Erik has interesting tid bits each day of things he's noticed in the print, and has even started to notice Van Gogh's style.

Thoughts

Sometimes when I'm anticipating someone coming to my house to visit, I look around and wonder what they'll see. Today I was doing that and kind of marveling at how I've created my life based on what I value. And then realizing that we all do that, whether purposely or not. So here is a list of some of the things I value and how they are expressed in my life.

Relationships: I don't overschedule myself so that I never feel like I have time to be with the people I love. I often have time to just hang out with those people and really let them into my life.

Freedom: This is a gift given to me by Vic, who supports our family. Because of him, I have the freedom to structure my days one by one how I want them to unfold.

Simplicity: I don't often buy things I don't need, even if it's too many dishes, or more clothes. I like having just enough and being able to take care of those things. My house doesn't get over cluttered with stuff, and we can fit the stuff we have into the space we need. I don't over decorate my house because I like to take in the color of the walls, and the beauty of each thing I've placed without it being overtaken by something else near it.

Conservation: I'm still working on this, but I've really come to value the idea of not leaving things behind. I try and buy items in less packaging, recycle the packaging I do buy, and using up the things we have. I also try and make things myself, or buy them used so as not to consume more products.

Quiet: I almost never turn the tv on during the day anymore. I love when the kids have gone next door and it's just me and the silence. It really makes me feel good.

Learning: I really love reading. I love reading about new ways to think about the dynamics of our society. I love reading how to be a better parent, a better partner, a better human.

I'm proud of how my life is structured around what's important to me. I don't react as much to what other people think or to the things that are thrown at me. I feel like as the years go by my days become more authentic and more directly created.

Our Anniversary

Yesterday was our 11th anniversary. We rented kayaks and went out on Lake Washington. We haven't done this in about 5 years, and so we were both pretty nervous at first. It took about 20-30 minutes to get used to the motion. It's different in the winter too because the thought of being tipped into the water is much scarier. This is the first time I've been in my own kayak, and I like it so much better, more control. The water was beautiful. I have a love/hate relationship with water, but nothing makes me feel more alive than being on the water, and I think nothing in nature is more beautiful. We stayed out until the sun went down, it was pretty cool.

We went to dinner after, and had a chance to talk to each other without being interrupted, which we haven't done for a while. It was a great evening. Thanks Vic.