Colors of Fall

I like to meet the girls when they get off the school bus.  Even though they are completely capable of making it across the parking lot, past the shop and up to the house on their own.  I still like to walk out to the road to meet them.  A long time ago, I was at a conference for work and the speaker was Gabor Mate and he had just coauthored a book with Gordon Neufeld and he was talking about the idea of holding onto your kids and the phenomenon of peer attachment.  Google it if you're really interested but the funny thing is that even though I wasn't married and had no children when I heard Gabor speak (and I've since heard his buddie Gordon speak many times as well) I have never forgotten the concepts that he spoke of that day.  One of those concepts was the idea of collecting our children and the benefits of a greeting ritual.  Yes. I'm for real.  This is what goes through my mind as I wait for the bus.  How greeting and saying hello to my children will keep them close to me and how beautiful the leaves are and how the sun feels on my face and how happy I am to be alive.

I asked the girls if the wanted to go for a walk to World Rock.  It used to be them asking me but there has been a shift as TV and electronics exert their power as we know they can.  So it is me saying, "let's go for a walk."  Lucky for me, Callie was willing to join me.  Beyond our backyard fence and the trampoline and the too small swing set we have quite the yard to explore.

We make it to World Rock and decided to keep exploring.  Walking down the highway just to see what we could see.  Looking for fall's colors and treasures and just being.

We found some rock solid love around us.  We're loving fall and all its amazing colors.  We're getting ready to store nuts and make things cozy.  These upcoming months are responsible for filling our hearts full to the top, warming them up and keeping them strong through all the winter days to come.

Back at 'er.

The first days and weeks of  the new school year have come and gone and we are back to packing lunches and forgetting to return library books.  Callie has the same teacher and mostly the same kids in her class as last year.  And maybe all that sameness is what made this fourth grade year one of our smoothest transitions yet.  Her exact words, "this is the first year I haven't had bad belly aches". Maybe it's the sameness, maybe she's growing up.  Maybe a bit of both.  Whatever it is, we'll take it.  

 And my sweet little Lexi started grade two without missing a beat.  As long as she's got a high ponytail and tall boots, she's ready for anything.  Grade two feels pretty big kid.  Especially when you have a big sister and all her friends to hang out with.  She needs frequent reminders that she is just seven years old.

I will enjoy another year of part time work.  Getting home in enough time to make supper and meet the girls as they get of the school bus is a perfect balance.  I will treasure this balance as I know it will not last forever.  Cheer to grade two, four and part-time hours.  Let the learning begin.

Seven

We've been talking about getting a camper of our very own for a while now. We've yurted and camped with my parents many, many times but it may be time for us to dive into this camping lifestyle for real.  With all the camper talk this summer it seemed like a perfect time to bring the outdoors in and get ready for a camp party.

Life at seven means...

You're a few teeth short of a full grill.
You love your momma fiercely.
You love sweets just as much as you love your momma.  Sticky cinnamon buns, donuts, chocolate bars, cookies and chocolate milk are your favorite food groups.
You jump around all the time. You're always moving. Always wiggling. Even in your sleep.

You love Barbie and Lego.
You say Toopy and Binoo is your favorite but you watch Full House and iCarley on Netflix.
You've mastered the eye roll and the hair flip. Probably from watching  the horrors of Barbie's Life in the Dreamhouse.
You love to watch movies and eat popcorn.
You like swimming, gymnastics and dance.  You tolerate piano lessons.
You like to stay up late.  Mornings aren't your favorite.

You are always hot.  Even in winter.  You're always wearing tank tops and leggings.
You like to wear stylish boots.
You like when dad cooks juicy steak, ribs and hamburgers.  You order poutine in a restaurant.
You say you're favorite color is pink but it doesn't really matter.
You like to sleep with someone, especially mom, but anyone will do. You snuggle close and kick all night.
When you're grown up you say you want to work in a bakery.

You're always climbing on furniture.
Your sister is your best friend and, at times, your worst enemy.
You run from the bus after school to hug and kiss your momma.
Your favorite thing about your dad is that he makes you french toast.
You are smart and funny.
You are lovable, huggable and kissable.
You are my little peanut.
You are seven.

Family Roots

We took a little trip to experience our first ever Métis Family Picnic and to learn a little more about our family heritage.  It's pretty cool that my Uncle Dennis is doing such interesting work uncovering and researching our family roots. We all get to benefit from his hard work.  Knowing where you came from is pretty fascinating stuff and it's very humbling to hear stories of the past and empathizing with how hard people had to work to provide for their families and the challenges they met at every corner. We learn this stuff in school but suddenly it's become a lot more interesting with real human faces attached to the stories.  I can see a grade four social studies project in the making.

The girls had a few questions about the flags and what they were for and about the music and why we were getting together with family for this event but mostly they just ran around and played with cousins.  Because that's how kids learn about their culture.  Not from books but from everyday experiences that they are immersed in and are just normal to them.  

This little town of Togo has many happy memories from my childhood.  It was where my grandparents spent their retirement years and was a gathering place for my mom's family throughout my childhood.  It is where I ran and played with cousins every summer and although the town has changed and transformed over the past twenty years as all places do, it is still a great place to make memories.  I love that my girls get to experience it too.

Of course, the girls will say what they love most about getting together with family is when they get to ride a horse.  There is something about these tall, strong. beautiful animals that attracts the kids like magnets.  I'm sure some of their fascination is attributed to the fact that we don't see a lot of horses in our northern town so when we do, it is quite novel.  But maybe its more than that. Horses were a love of my Grandpa's.  Early in his life they were necessary for transportation but as time passed and they weren't necessary for getting around, my grandpa continued to keep horses and when I was a kid, "going to see the horses" was a summer tradition.  Maybe the love of horses can run deeper than we can acknowledge on the surface.

Overall, it was a perfect weekend of leaning about the past, living in the present, and making memories for the future.  Nothing better than that!

Back Home

So our holiday road lead us back home to our northern landscape.  And the prize when we got home was that it was finally time for the dad to have some holidays!  Let the fun begin!  To start, we returned to our favorite piece of lakefront property, yurt 6.  This location is a little slice of heaven.

Papa gave the girls fishing rods and tackle boxes for this yurt trip.  They didn't catch us any dinner but they had fun trying.  And I was so very thankful that the dad was on holidays to fish with his girls because if you've ever fished with kids off the rocks you know it's a full time job.  Casting, snags, lost hooks and more minnows... yep, dad is the hero.

And look who showed up to share her northern roots with her prairie children! Same great bunch of kids, new location to grow and solidify their growing friendship roots.

Scavenger hunts, hiking, and biking through forests.  Campfire, hotdogs and chocolaty s'mores...these are a few of my favorite things.  Some may prefer spas and five star hotels with chef prepared gourmet meals as opposed to the great outdoors.  All I can say is that I like both!

Who's to say glorious beach days with bags of chips, games of Uno, football throwing, and hours of swimming can't be five star too?  Especially when surrounded by beautiful friends.

And to complete this five star adventure, swimming by the light of the moon.  These kinds of memories can't be bought.  They just happen when you show up in each others lives and sit back and let things unfold.

We said goodbye to yurt 6 after these days with our friends.  We knew this would be the last time this season that we would be out there and the last time we saw our friends for a while.  So it was good bye for now but not forever.  Till next time, stay beautiful.