So Long Ordinary

So grown up. You can see the school bus picture that she drew and taped on the front door a few days ago. She could not wait to get on that bus! The moment she'd been waiting for! Such a big bus. Such a small kid. Well, she's done it. She's started kindergarten. Yesterday was Brooklyn's first day of school. You never saw a kid so excited. It broke our hearts to see her get on that bus like such a big girl. We have now entered a new era and some uncharted waters! Madison was asleep when Brooklyn left and it took her a while to figure out that Brooklyn really was gone. Poor kid! She was hopelessly lost without her sister around...actually, we all were! It was a very strange day. Madison, when she realized that Brooklyn was gone said, "Mommy, I'm sick!" That's how heartbroken Maddie was! I felt weird all day too.... We did survive the day, though. Maddie and I are still figuring out what our days will look like without Brooklyn here at home....

My oldest child really hates getting her hair brushed. Without fail, the simple task of brushing Brooklyn's hair becomes a huge dramatic episode with much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Every. Time. We. Brush. Her. Hair. It's the reason I've chopped her hair short twice before and it is the reason her hair often goes unbrushed (shh...don't tell her that I'm afraid to brush her hair). We did recently get a soft brush that works great when her hair is dry...but after every bath the tangles must be worked out with that mean old "hard" brush. Tonight, as I pulled Brooklyn closer so that I could (gently) brush the tangles out of her wet hair, she said with her usual dramatic flair, "Mommy, no! I'm very, very allergic !" You try to continue on without a loud outburst of laughter! She got a full three minutes of reprieve before I could get myself off from the floor where I was rolling about in a fit of mirth. But the hair was then brushed. A...

Paige is officially 8 months old now. She's just on the verge of learning to crawl. Won't be long now... Paige LOVES Cheerios and rice. A starchy girl. Brooklyn starts school in a week. Yikes. While I'm still pretty nervous about the whole thing, I'm also excited for my girl and all the fun and new experiences of her first school year. She's gonna love it! Sean watched the older two girls on Saturday while I went shopping in Salida with my mom (and Paige, of course). What a treat! I had so much fun and even found some red antique beaters. That and a rag rug. And a few other things. Like I said, FUN! Apparently, Sean and the girls had a good time while I was gone. The house was a wreck (granted, I left it that way) and these were the pictures on my camera when I got home. Hey, he even made sure they got their nap! Maddie is no longer a toddler. She amazes us with the things she says and she keeps up with her big sister just fine now. She's got more ...

That's chill and relaxing combined. We really thought this was clever of us to come up with this one. Until we found out the whole continental United States (and Hawaii, of course) use the word "chillax" quite frequently. Okay then. I still like it. CHILLAX, dude. I just finished reading "Not So Fast" by Ann Kroeker . In it she describes the struggle of slowing down and enjoying life rather than filling our lives with too many noble pursuits. It comes down to our own personal limits and being able to recognize when we're too busy to worship, love, show compassion, create, be in the present with our kids. I loved the book -and I needed it badly - but as I read the final pages it occurred to me that one year ago, when we were still in Mexico, it would have meant nothing to me. Honestly, in my time in Latin America I never experienced over-busyness. We were busy sometimes, yes, but never more than we could handle and only for a short season. There were f...

Brooklyn turned six last week. It was a happy occasion. I decorated. There were plenty of princesses and pink stuff. She got a special birthday outfit to wear. And plenty of other gifts too. Of course there was a party - well, as much party as two sets of grandparents and one set of parents plus two baby sisters can provide. Her cake was strawberry, just as she requested. This is the same cake Mom made my sister and I for years (and still does, actually). It looks terrible (always does) but, trust me, it's awesome. Actually, mine didn't taste as good as Mom's...wonder why. And did you notice those sparkly things in here ears?! Yup. Got her ears pierced for her birthday, too. She looks more and more grown up and I can't stand it. I love this little girl. I'm proud of who she is. I can't wait to see all she becomes. But I'm not handling things so well. This growing up stuff is for the birds. Today, we went and registered her for Kindergarten. Kinder...

Sean took my camera to work with him today before I was able to download my pictures (he couldn't miss any photo ops and, remember, his camera is broken). There are pictures that go with some of this - they'll have to come later. I just wanted to recap on the past few days.... Sean and I had a great date on Wednesday night. We went to the Rio Grande Country Club. I love going there...even though I have to pretend I'm cultured and wealthy! Okay, I like to pretend that. What a treat to have lots of time to talk with my best friend and simply enjoy some grown up conversation! Brooklyn turned 6 yesterday! Oh my goodness. She had a GREAT day. I'll post about that a little more later. I took a pretty significant tumble after our date on Wednesday. I completely forgot about a step down into my in-laws' garage and whoops, there I went! I was holding Paige at the time and just naturally twisted myself so as to protect her. She came out just fine...I'm a total...

Nine years ago today, I married my high school sweetheart. Oh my goodness, I was eighteen, crazy in love , full of zeal for the Lord, and perhaps a bit idealistic about life. I also didn't like to show my teeth when I smiled. Good grief. Never once have I regretted my decision to marry Sean Cannon. I can't believe how young we were and one might have wondered back then how two teenagers could possibly make a marriage work. All I can say is, I married my best friend. It wasn't hard. It hasn't been hard. Oh, we've had our fair share of trials in this journey called life - but never once have we been anything but a team. We're one flesh. We're in it for life. We're in it together. We've lived in Canada, Colorado, California, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Mexico. We've packed up homes and settled new ones together more times than many people do in their entire lives. We've brought three little girls into this world - each one such a miracle. ...

We went on an outing one day during the reunion to Bishop's Castle. It was weird. The castle, I mean. Okay, this place was actually very creepy. Weird music playing; several pagan flags, statues, and symbols; odd feeling; dangerous stairs way up high with no railing. It isn't exactly the type of place you picture Cinderella...it's more of a place where you envision the evil, conniving magician wizard living. I kinda think that is the point. Creepy. Won't be going back. Cool chair, though.

My uncle's ranch in Westcliffe... Yeah. It's that cool. All because Ted and Jean fell in love and decided to elope.... Future farmer? Hay ride, baby! No bath in four days + hours spent outdoors on the ranch = one dirty, happy, smelly 2 year old! We had a blast at the Clark family reunion this past weekend. What a blessing to get to be there! It was cold, rainy, hot, and...rustic. Everything a stay at a Colorado ranch should be, actually. We had it pretty good in my folks' camper trailer, if a bit crowded. We had one shower in four days...so coming home to a hot shower was pretty wonderful. I kinda like roughing it for a few days, just to appreciate anew the blessings of a cozy home, running water, and electricity! Highlights included a delicious fish fry, fresh gooseberry pie, line dancing lessons (and the impromptu dancing that followed), hiking in the mountains, making gak and walking sticks, going on a hay ride, goofing off on ATV's, shooting the potato gun, ro...

When we got home after basically a week away, I was astonished to see we had some work to do in the garden. Yeah, weeding. But more importantly, it's finally time to do some pickin'! Yee-Haw! The sunflowers are even starting to bloom. I didn't know how to pick the lettuce. It's been ready awhile and I finally just started pulling it up! I'm sure there's a better way, but before it gets too tough.... The tomatoes have been going gangbusters in our greenhouse. I love them. Nobody else does. I've shared a lot but now I'm thinking of hoarding this bunch and making some homemade marinara, salsa, or pizza sauce! Yellow squash! Yummy. We'll be eating this stuff for the rest of the summer, I do believe. Zucchini. We've got lots of this coming...I love it fried, grilled, sauteed...or in bread. Hmmm....which to do with this batch? There is a small radish in there. I don't like radishes. There's a whole slew of them out there going to ...

It's good to be home, to have a nice, hot shower and to get to sleep in our own beds! Looking forward to a little more normalcy around here...will blog more about our weekend family reunion soon! We had a great time and made some unforgettable memories that may or may not have involved a Clark Family Rendition of the Electric Slide.