This moment- Popcorn

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember- SouleMama

These shoes were made for walking

On Friday the little lady decided to start walking.
I knew it was coming but I was still a little shocked to she her do it. She is only 10 1/2 months old. The little man did not walk until almost 13 months. I knew that she would be early since she started crawling at 4 months. So I guess 6 months of crawling is enough.
I find my self saying dumb things like 'She is walking more and more every day.' Well... ya, that is what they do. Its better than walking less and less.She started off just taking a few steps before falling and now she can make it half way across a room.
She still does lots of crawling. She prefers the bear crawl to the hand and knees but sometimes her little feet get going too fast and she face plants. I am still surprised that her little feet can hold her up. She is still wearing her 0- 6 month leather shoes. They are getting a little snug but the next size up are big and she can take them off. The weather is starting to get a little warmer so she has been able to go shoeless in the house more.
Today was even nice enough to play outside.

She gets so bummed when the little man gets to go outside and play with out her so today was her turn.

My house at 11:04am

Its quiet right now. The little lady is sleeping, the little man is off at school and the hubby is working. So that leaves me in in the quiet.
Well I guess it is not all quiet. My fingers are make noise as I am typing and in the kitchen you hear the sound of beans boiling. If you listen very carefully beyond the noises in the house you can hear cars driving down the street.
The heater just kicked on so that kind of drowns out all the other noises.
We have decided to do a Daniel fast for 10 days. (Eating only food that started out as a seed or is a seed and has not been polluted by man or fermented.)
We are on day 2. All is going well.
Its a very exciting experience for our family. We are very excited to see what comes out of it.
This is a big jump for the hubby. To not have meat in his meals and no sugar. I am very proud of him. He is eating new foods and learning that his body can do with less.
I may be surprised it may be harder for me than I think.
I am very excited to see where God can takes us through this experience.

Tomorrow is a new day

That pretty much sums up my past two days.
I may be exhausted, worn out, drained and dragging but I am still living life and loving it.
In the words of the little man 'peace', until next time.

Five randoms from this week

- Its mid January and our tree is still up. The little man and I took off all the ornaments after we got back from our camping trip. So for almost two weeks our tree has been standing in our living room naked.
- The little lady is climbing and standing ALL the time but she is not walking yet. Sometimes I try and encourage her to walk and than I wake up and say 'what am I doing.' I feel like I am going to miss her first steps unless I give her a little push when I am looking. She is just so darn independent, so she will do it when she wants to even if I am not ready.

- One of my goals for 2011 was to stay up on my dishes. I am doing better, not great, just better at it. There always seem to be a few stragglers hanging out in my sink that just did not seem to find there way into the dish washer. The little man has been helping me unload while the little lady tries her hardest to help me load by standing on the dishwasher top, splashing in the water and throwing thing out and onto the floor.

- We are now a two Kindle family. I used my Christmas money to get a used (four months old) 3rd generation 3G white one. The hubby could not keep his hands off it so he ended up getting a black one last night with his Christmas money. I like it. I am a little bummed that I cant check out books from the library onto it. So I will still be reading many paper books. I guess I know what I will be spending my Swagbucks on, Amazon gift cards. At my rate I should be able to get a book or two a month for free. (If you are interested in doing Swagbucks sign up here. It is a great, easy, fun way to earn free money or gift cards just for searching.) Sorry to sound like a sales women but just wanted to let everyone know (or reading) that Swagbucks is a great way to get free money and who does not like free money!?!
- My house is so quiet right now. Both kids are sleeping, the hubby is gone and I have no idea where my phone is. I think that I might just have to curl up in bed and read.

A letter to my daughter

Dear Miss little lady,
Four o'clock in the morning is not really the best time to have to go to poop. Morning is a great time to go but AFTER the sun is up. I dont mind taking you to the potty you just have to tell me. But sometimes when I am have asleep I have a hard time listening so tell me loud and clear.
I understand that there is so much going on right now. You are starting to say words and communicate with us, you are learning to climb everything and you are very close to walking but still there has to be some down time once in a while. I am not as young as you so I dont have as much energy as you and I enjoy sleep. One day you will enjoy sleeping also. Maybe that day will come soon but until then I guess there is coffee.
Sleep well tonight little girl.
Lots of love,
Mama

{This moment}- Mama

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember -Amanda Soule

Deep in the woods of Washington

Far into the foot hills of the Olympic Mountains, hidden beneath all the trees lives a great woodland creature.

It is not a myth.
Some people might call him big foot or Sasquatch but not me, I like to call him my brother.

Since we were only staying a short drive away from my brother, we decided to stop by unannounced. He was very excited to see us and show us around the 120 plus acre commune that he now proudly calls home. It is a beautiful place surrounded by trees, ponds and animals. We enjoyed walking the trails. We never knew what we might find around the next corner.

There are many little houses built all over the property. Each one built by hand.

And each one unique.

This is the place my brother calls home.
It was a home like the little man had never seen before. After crawling in the small door it was really very spacious inside.

In the middle he has a wood stove that he uses for heat and some cooking.
I am so glad that we where able to do this surprise visit.

Until next time brother.

New years

Ready or not 2011 is here.
I am so happy to be starting the new year off finally feeling better.
We are enjoying a little R and R with the family.

2011 I am ready for you.