Kattenbraker Casa

2008-08-13T09:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this is our summer in reverse. Since we've been so busy and rarely get to talk to, much less see our fantastic family all spread across the states, here's a picture glimpse at what we've been up to. Mostly packing and unpacking the car for shows, running around our yard and drinking coffee and summer drinks. But we did get a vacation last week. between the Park City and Sun Valley shows we went camping up in Idaho at Redfish lake. We canoe'd, fished, swam, went to old ghost towns, and went to hot springs. Some firsts for the kids, and things went really well. Hot springs along the Salmon River in Idaho

we are safety geeks in the river, and now the kids love their life jackets

2008-08-13T09:39:00.000-07:00

The beach at Redfish Lake...

Our campsite
pretty
maia loves water. One of the off shoots of the Salmon River

Swimming in redfish lake

2008-08-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

We stopped the canoe in a gorgeous spot and jumped out to swim Stelly in the water
Redfish Lake and Sawtooth Mountains

2008-08-13T09:27:00.000-07:00

after 8 long years, we got in the canoe...all of us! and we didn't tip! what a relief, we all love it...

swimming in redfish lake

1st stop

2008-08-13T09:25:00.001-07:00

First stop was a rest area with very friendly squirrels!

maia as a squirrel

ready to go again

2008-08-13T09:21:00.000-07:00

kids lounging while we pack...

i think this is the ready to go for Park City and Sun Valley. including all our camping stuff. Our Family Vacations!!!!!!

the wheels on the van go round and round

2008-08-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

Stella all packed in, on our way to Salem.

Maia packed in...this is luxury

car packing

last minute studio stuff

this is usually what happens in the yard while we're frantically getting ready. thank you witch and princess!

home stuff

2008-08-13T09:11:00.000-07:00

Harvesting garlic ala 2 wheels.

beautiful drying garlic

campfire night!

maia, rhys and maddie roasting toasting marshmallows

gaggle of neighbor children. we love summer

back home

2008-08-13T09:07:00.000-07:00

I drive.

rearview

Stella and Loren playing!

HOME!!!

shows

2008-08-13T09:01:00.001-07:00

In Salt Lake city for the show...its beautiful and hot hot hot. Show starts at 12pm and goes till 11pm...because inthe day time its 100 degrees or more. so people start showing up around 7. This first picture is just as the sun has gone down...
This is the garden that was right behind my booth. Across from me was the library and down the street was the clocktower. It was a great spot.

Here's my booth just as the sun is going down, people are starting to show up in droves...

and here it is...around 8pm....let the fun begin! I'm still a little tired when i look at these...

continues...

2008-08-13T08:57:00.000-07:00

Starting to pack for Fremont (?)

maia and Ryley in the tree

headed out for the 16 hour drive to Salt Lake city...yikes! all around!

show season, aka summer

2008-08-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

Maia's birthday party in May, with Amma, Tex, Steve, Brenda, baby Loren, neighbors Lance and Leslie and Mike.

Maia and Rhys as cute old men on the rocking chairs. Intent on getting to the next level...

Garden growing. Cuz, when i have too many deadlines i grow things...

working in the studio!

happy crazy show season!

It's beena good whirlwind and here are some pictures to prove it.

Stella embraces change

2008-06-09T13:30:00.001-07:00

Stella must be feeling this upsweep of change, and she seems to be rolling with it. She woke up this morning and had hardly opened her eyes when she exclaimed "I want to get my ears pierced today!" She has talked about it a few times before, but always shyed away in the end. Today she was determined. Off we went to the (gasp) mall. She was very brave! Now she is singing about it. wish you could hear it.

new skin

2008-06-08T12:25:00.000-07:00

So, i had a little bit of a meltdown yesterday,the likes of which we haven't seen in a while around here. Maybe its because its freaking 50 degrees out and its June, maybe its because my tomato plants keep getting monched by deer, maybe its because my little girl will be in all day kindergarten next year and theres a part of me that wants to cry because of what that means, maybe its because of the part of me that wants to celebrate because of what that means, maybe its also that my little boy turned 8 ( and 8 just seems to be one of those milestones), maybe i'm seeing how fleeting our time is together and it is sharp and all those times of yelling stab at me when i think of how quickly this is going by and why did i waste any minutes being angry? Maybe its because i forget over and over and have to remember it over and over. Maybe its also that I am scared and excited and stressed about this summer, maybe its the mix of being amazed and grateful for all the shows i got into, the galleries lining up, and the fear that i won't live up to this. Maybe its that i'm not medicated, but caffeinated.
Whatever it is/was, my heart cracked and my mind sunk down into it and there was nothing but the blurry sharpness of emotion running through my body. I even threw things. Wonderful patient Scott suggested i go do something, take a nap, a walk, something (so that he could fix the things i threw!). I lay down and couldn't think, couldn't know what i should do to get the thick out of my blood. And then it came shooting through and i knew. The thing i had been wanting to do that somehow today needed to be done. The forever reminder painted on my body of this precious chaotic time of my life. Reminding me how fleeting and ferocious childhood is, and how I am so lucky to get to experience it again by being near Maia and Stella. How lucky I am to get the opportunity to love them and learn from them, and if i'm worth my weight, teach them something useful.
So i went, the sharpness of my emotions were a perfect match to the sharpness of the needle, and when it was all over I cried, because there was a piece of the puzzle put into place. It's not so much about what it is on the outside of me, but about how what's on the inside is playing itself out in my life. And I'm so very lucky to have such nice creatures to constantly show me the things i overlook.

Stella's rendition of she and maia, drawn when she was 4, i know we were living at the Guerrier Rd house. She's on my Left.
Maia's original Nice Monster. Drawn when he was 4, going to the Community School. He's on my right.
I Heart My Creatures!

more more

2008-06-05T10:49:00.001-07:00

Stella learned to ride her bike! She's had her training wheels off for a while, and we had practiced and practiced. Finally one day she said that she just wanted her training wheels back on, I told her when the dad gets home he'll put them back, until then lets just try once more. That was it. She suddenly got it. I could feel it in my hands as i was holding on to the seat. It was so exciting, she said that it felt like she was dreaming, and it left me wondering if thats what it feels like for a parent as the kids leave the nest, flying on their own...
The neighbors came out to celebrate Stella's accomplishment, champagne and all!

The kids love their sidewalk chalk art. I love it more.

I think she's a slight genius.

And cute to boot!

2008-06-05T10:43:00.000-07:00

The back yard, looking into the side. I just like that its green.

The girls picnic, with the dad.

The girls crashing the boys picnic

Nieghborhood boys came to keep maia company when he wasn't feeling well.

one of many fashion shows on any given day. My life is full of frills and shows. i love it.

2008-06-05T10:36:00.000-07:00

Maia and Stella taking their cousin Loren on a walk to the park.

Part of our new backyard, where the garden was going to be originally...

The garden starting. Turns out I'm going to move it.

Over the fence is undevelopable land, which the kids play in all the time. You can see the water and the boats. maia has many forts.

lemonade

2008-06-05T10:24:00.000-07:00

It's only been 8 months. I'm right on schedule with this update, i'm sure.
Things are picking up significantly around here, and as the emails and phone messages pile up, i'm considering that maybe this will be a good way to keep in touch while i'm in the midst of the craziest art season yet.
Maia and Stella are great, they love the new digs, and we have fantastic neighvors...we hardly see the kids any more except within the blur of the bikes swiftly sailing back and forth along the driveway/road. Summer can't come soon enough.
Stella had her kindergarten open house last night. we met her teacher, hung out in the classroom and she loved loved loved it. She'll be in all day kindergarten, which, although I feel a bit of a pang at the thought of my baby there all day, she is so severely ready for.
So, lemonade. We went out to dinner the other night ( i had just arrived back from a show in Spokane, i missed stelly's ballet recital, so we celebrated at the Sushi House). I ordered a sushi roll from the specials, called "sex on the beach". Maia promptly made a face and giggled. The waitress asked what in the world he could be giggling at! He made some comment about sushi being sexy! So we decided to have a hilarious talk about the birds and the bees, attempting to use birds and bees quite literally, pollen and buzzing and whatnot. In the midst of it all maia said "I know, I know, its like when you have a lemon, and you make lemonade". .............what can you say to that? we decided that basically, he's right.

The next day i had hives. I think i'm allergic to "Sex on the beach"

All is well

2007-10-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

All is well in the land of katts de olympia.
we've moved into town, settled and adjusted to neighborhood life (almost). kids are growing and happy. Art shows went really well this summer, and now school life has taken over. The northwest rainy season is heading in, the wind is blowing the brightly colored leaves, my garden is on the rise once more and there's soup in the kitchen. Life is life is good.
love all around, enjoy the picture show of this past year!

Birthday Bash

2007-10-18T15:18:00.000-07:00

Stella's Birthday Bash was, of course, filled with princessy pink.

Stella's teacher, Sarah, making flower crowns.

even scott dressed for the occasion

end of the night sugar injection.

2007-10-18T15:14:00.000-07:00

Dancing the night away. This is NOT a costume!

Maia and his pirate ship.
Stella and her new coat a'la Grandpa Tree and Uncle Mark.
When Stella opened up her new clothes for her birthday, she laid out the outfits...i'd say she was pretty happy about it all!

2007-10-18T15:10:00.000-07:00

Stelly and cousin Baby Loren. They tell each other lots of secrets.

S

The kids are becoming real Pacific Northwesters, here they are eating FRESH oysters scott collected up near Hoodsport. I think stella's crying because she isn't getting enough.

First Day of School

2007-10-18T15:07:00.000-07:00

First day of school this year...maia's in 2nd grade and stella's in preschool. We get to walk or ride bikes every day.

More from TMW

2007-10-18T15:02:00.000-07:00

Maia and Stella's honorary cousin, Wren
Tyson, i couldn't resist adding these...king of your domain...when you're allowed to hold the shiny, sparkly,stick.

2007-10-18T14:59:00.000-07:00

My heart smiles big when i see these! Our trip to see Tyson, meet Martine and WREN!

more summer trip

2007-10-18T14:54:00.001-07:00

after a zillion mile hike UP, we got to an arctic swimming hole.

It was cold.

my backpack turned squirmy.

Summer Trip

2007-10-18T14:50:00.000-07:00

We went to Utah and Idaho this summer, for family camping snuggled between two art shows. We were in Park City, UT first, where we got to see Gramp. Tree, and then headed up to Idaho to the Sawtooth National Rec. Area. Camped and hiked. aaaaaahhhhhh.

Who Knew?

2007-10-18T14:27:00.000-07:00

Now i know why high speed internet exists. this is much easier.

Here's maia and stella eating snakes from maia's brithday cake (May, '07)

you can take the family out of the hills, but you cain't take the hills out of the fam! Maia and stella's fancy new slide.

Stella's favorite thing...snugglebug

finally

2007-10-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

finally. there are pictures, there is life out here on planet kattenbraker.

Maia and Stella in March of this year, when we were visiting Grandma Nutsy.

All the cousins at Hana, Maddie, and Chloe's house! (March, '07)

Stella, Riley, and Maia. goood goood princesses!

Pirate Maia in the Apple Tree

Stella as a flower. On our porch in Olympia. June, '07

peeektchas

2007-01-26T17:30:00.000-08:00

pictures, San Juan Island

2007-01-26T17:11:00.000-08:00

i think he's really yelling about something. as well as standing in a pile of rabbit poo.

behind me are the...something or other mountains. I'm holding onto the kids way too tight, i have a fear of heights. its 22nd on the list.
maia and stella do NOT have afear of heights. They are climbing up a pretty steep hill...they made it to the top and i promptly shrieked.

San Juan Island

2007-01-26T16:42:00.000-08:00

After thanksgiving, we took ourselves on a mini vacation to the San Juan Islands. Up oh so close to Canada, the islands are a haven for, pretty much everything beautiful. We drove a few hours up to Anacortes, where we hopped on a ferry which trolled us through the islands, in a veil of fog. I can't word here how beautiful it was. Of course my freaking compulsive mind was working over time to figure if this was in fact the place my soul is being pulled to, if this could be my perfect utopia. When i finally shut up, i shore enjoyed the view! We got to Friday Harbor, and after meeting some sweet people who's sister ran a Hostel on the Island, we ventured via their directions to a cute hostel complete with driftwood bunkbeds. I highly recommend this version of accomodations. If any of yous other staters come to visit us, we are going there.
The first evening we headed out to the"English camp". Apparently back in the day there was a little war...or battle on the island, to claim it for either the new america or canada. It was called the "Pig War" because the only casualty was a local pig. That's my kind of war. It was all resolved in some peaceful way (probably over tea, in the English garden) and we all get to enjoy the island that was not ravaged by fighting. Anyway, we hiked and watched the sunset and felt happy.
The next day I was pretty intent on seeing some whales and would have gladly swum nekked in freezing waters if told that's what i had to do...well, i was at least hoping to get into a kayak. Since it was winter, most of the outfitters were closed, not many tourists willing to swim in freezing waters apparently...what's wrong with them? So, instead we toured the island, stopping at many a beach. Have i mentioned that maia is never so happy as when he is on a beach, or in the snow? A snowy beach is probably his perfect place. He's scandinavian.
All the while, i scanned the waters, as this is prime whale watching waters. There is a resident pod of Orcas that splash around, and in spring and summer one can see gray whales and orcas migrating through the waters. I squinted and scanned, saw a porpoise and a sea otter. lots of driftwood that i wanted to claim whalish. It wasn't quite my time yet...but it was beautiful. Looking over the water one sees...Canada. aaaaaahhhhh.

Thanksgiving.

2007-01-26T16:14:00.000-08:00

Since its been years since i've gotten to this...hmmm. ain't we all as busy as ever? what happened to the days of sprawling in the grass to see the sky? now it seems we can't see the sky for the roof over our heads...and lets work too hard to keep it there. the point is, i'm gonna start back at Thanksgiving, and work my way up to the present. It's been some good months.
Thanksgiving was complete with dancing and puppet shows, lots and lots of food, muscle contests, music...all the good stuff. I learned that
having an organic turkey is not as important as having a free range one. thanks to our resident organics prefessional (Brenda) i learned that the "hormones" in the non- organic poultry are not able to transfer to humans...its the hormones fed to beef that are more dangerous (Brenda, make sure i'm correct again!) and that the thing to watch for is the antibiotics in poultry- simply because, you know, they increase our resistance to antibiotics in general. so there, little lesson we all know.

2006-11-15T21:04:00.000-08:00

floods

2006-11-07T13:26:00.000-08:00

to update on the "flooding" which at this point is pretty fun...

this is our "seasonal creek" which flows from the top of the property down past (hopefully not through) the barn. Maia and Stella and Scott made boats and floated them down, and the last time i looked out the window they had inner tubes....

the house is high and dry!

This is the view from the barn, down the creek and across the field. you can barely see the gray sprawling house out there, which is now the edge of the Newaukum River.
Here's the "don't worry" disclaimer. We are the equivalent of 2 blocks (for you city dwellers) from that house, as well as elevated....

Here we are at the edge of the river now...looking back up the street (that's Daisy, our inherited dog). You can just see the green barn up there...that's where we are!

Now here's the good stuff!
I am standing in the water on the road...you can see the cars on the bridge across the water...usually that bridge is about 10 feet above the river...
The blue house there is in the water. Where the mailbox is, the depth of the water is about 4 ft now.

I am standing in the same place in the road looking just to the right of the house. Do you see the yellow sign...just past that is where there is a parking area and the trail down to the river...DOWN TO THE RIVER! now it is the river. Can't see much more...but the main road is on the other side of the bridge..I'm not sure how far the river has gone up to that road...i'm assuming pretty far since i no longer hear cars on the road. Helicopters have started flying over, I'm sure checking out the damage...We hope that the people who lived right on the river have gotten out.
I just heard from neighbor that the Cowlitz river rose so much that she changed her coarse...WOW! i love motha natcha- as dreama just said to me the other day, she has been busy...both in the physical world and emotional.
We get a few days to stay home- with food aplenty and enough candy to last us till christmas.
We'll let you know if anything interesting happens...although, without tv or newspapers the only thing we know is how Guerrier Rd is! aaaaahhhh a simple life.
oh yes, we did get to vote...Washington has a Mail - In Ballot that you do, and we mailed last week.
lets hope for good and wonderful changes. maybe the water is trying to cleanse things.
There's a break in the rain now...i'm going out to loook at flood damage!!!!

maia and stella..barefoot elite.

2006-10-29T15:01:00.000-08:00

they're getting so big. maia's pants shrink every day.

stella and monkey. stella got monkey for christmas 2 years ago. she asked for a monkey. she and monkey are now the same size, monkey gets to wear stella's clothes. Stella lays her clothes out every night (with socks in the shoes) and also lays out an outfit for monkey. they are very stylish. She is working on scott and I. I've heard too many times "but mom, thats NOT PRETTY!" i don't wear enough dresses and apparently, i have much to learn. glad she and monkey are around to instruct.

2006-10-29T14:54:00.000-08:00

cute eh?

painted house

2006-10-29T14:45:00.000-08:00

scott is just as we speak putting the final coat on the west side of the house. we have a new door. it will probably get painted. we also have heat! It's all coming along! now if we could just get that floor level in the bedrooms...

Monsta King

2006-10-27T21:38:00.000-07:00

of missing Virginia

2006-10-27T21:10:00.000-07:00

so, there are days when i feel like i can speak of the incredible gap in my heart due to the leaving of Virginia. The leaving of a place, of which i was so fond. The place we stopped out of magical accident to become a family.
Make no mistake, all you Virginians, that we miss it all dearly. In fact, make no mistake that we knew we would. In my journal i spoke of a heart bruised all black and blue and green at the thought of leaving such beautiful people, and therefore, i could not think of it as we did it.
so, what do we miss. aaahh, there is the obvious...the people we love so dearly. the people who are our family- both the family that we were born into, and the family that our children were born into- essentially the people with whom we became a family. That is thick. We miss coffee on random mornings with tex and dreama. we miss coffee on many mornings and throughout the day with my mommas. we miss knowing on a friday afternoon that Grandpa tree and uncle mark would probably be coming through in who knows what car on their way to angels view. We miss other things like the 3 Pigs and running into too many people at the grocery store. We miss the smell.
I miss some things i didn't think so much about while i was there. The energy of some women who, toiled is the only word that fits, for the rest of us to have a vote. The women who finally did. And there is the undoubtable energy of the era of slavery. so many women and men and children that my heart screams with the sheer thought of it. That land is teeming with secrets and messages that i always felt if i was quiet enough i could hear...if nothing else, i could feel the breath of them on a hot day, in the swing, as ones heart just up and sings...
Anyways, its too late now to eloquently say just what it is that we miss, that i miss. But its big and sticky all the same.
In the meantime i go to the river. The Chinook are spawning, and right by our house. I go down to see the big old ladies. Maia watches in rapt silence, keeps his eyes on one and watches its progress, and stella cheers them all on- screaming "go salmon go! you are doing so good!" And maybe we'll go hunting for chanterelles, Although every gourmet cookbook i look in now calls for ramps...

so here's the think i wrote, oh 2 years ago as we contemplated the "adventure move" and as always i asked the question i may be branded with...Where is my home?

My name is Lisa
Where do you live?
I live in music-like Ntozake says
And in color and texture and the fumes of melting wax
I live in the noodles I scrape from the kitchen floor
And in my children’s eyes and smiles
And in the smoke of another burnt piece of toast
And also in the cooking of tomatoes
Which we grew in a muddy garden that was edged in urine.
I’ve lived here since I met the owl that watched over me
During my escape from midnight motherhood
Since the newness of my son
And the crossness of my crying for some frantic relief from his colic
I’ve lived here since the creek-side baptism back in our infatuation
With banjos and the art of fried chicken
Really, since I was young.
As for this house, this town, even this state
I don’t really live here
Someday I might
Maybe when I’m on the other side of the country in a town and a house
Far from this one
Maybe as I look out a window I will breathe in these mountains
And then I will live in the cold comfort of the southern drawl
Which I still don’t understand.
I’ve lived so many places it’s hard ever to say where,
Where are you from?
Well, lately I’ve been living in the “come find me” game
With my breasts hanging out
And in the newly awakened gait of two recent female feet stomping down our hall
I’ve lived in the basement on good nights with my love
And in the take-me-back binges while we worshipped our dreams
But mostly I always live in my dreams
Of color
Of future
Of RV’s and roads, recently
Yeah, I live in music and laughter and screaming
And yes, I do like it here.

So, have i learned my lesson yet?

stella mae as art

2006-10-04T22:01:00.000-07:00

Now here's the fun stuff. I've been doing this "maia series"...which you will all see in good time...This is a piece that is partly taken from a "stella series" she calls it "the girl taking a walk with a nice creature who is a boy". It's just recently finished and i think i love it. I am bringing it with me to a show this weekend, and it WILL be for sale...I'll ask half a million dollars for it and then take you all on a cruise. I rationalize selling it by way of thinking about, you know, feeding...clothing...general maintenance of dear stella. and also, the creature is MY rendition of a creature she has done...its not the real thing. i conglommorated a few of hers into one sweetheart with a hat. The originals- they will be sticking around- staying in the family shall we say. I feel so full and happy to be doing this series- slightly sneaky to be so thorougly using my childrens art as my own (and nearly only) inspiration...but also so greatly fulfilled in it. i rarely criticize these pieces in my head the way i do my others- i know their purity, their intention, their energy and do not question it. Living vicariously through my children? (or their art, i should say). maybe so. Hiding behind their amazing-ness? definitely. Can i rationalize this? barely. I do know that there is a hunger for this...i hunger for it and have met people who also are relieved and excited to be in its presence. It probably is a reflection of the climate of these times...we need a bit of magic and imagination in our faces. We need to remember what it is to see the world in that floaty feeling-knowing somehow that it's slightly a mess, but that there are still yellow ballons to let go of, and nice creatures to take walks with. even some that are boys.

2006-10-04T21:53:00.000-07:00

hey there- glad to see that y'all are checking this out..Since that's the point of it. Feeling far away, wanting to be nearer. We're maniacally -really truly "like maniacs" painting the outside of the house before it rains. Chose some neato colors that turned out to look quite different outside of those flourescent home depot lights. we officially choose to not use these colors on the house we will eventually officially choose to live long years in. In the meantime, it looks better that it did- with the new "Rainforest Dew" (now you see why i chose) and Olive Tape and Red Red Wine (now you really see). We will also officially have heat as of the 19th. i mean, we have heat now- don't you fret gramma nutsy...this will be better, more efficient heat. the kind that you can turn on and off and the kind where we will probably not be able to see our breath in the mornings in the house. I love rustic. I think i prefer rustic in a tent. not in a house that claims to be otherwise. Therefore, we have invested in heat. So there's the house side of stuff.

to expand on schoolbus with balloons

2006-09-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

apparently one is supposed to keep posting on a blog. and apparently one cannot use the enter key when posting... the last picture was "schoolbus with balloons" which is part of a series i started working on this past winter when the rain nearly drenched my whole being. It- and all the parts of this series- come from pictures maia has drawn at some point in his existence- they were about the only things i wanted to look at and that could make me smile this winter. (again- he is way ahead of me). I transferred the drawing onto fabric -either by tracing his originals, or by using my left hand to create a rendition- and then batik'ed away. Maia came into the studio often to check on the progress and often dictated the color scheme. he was very pleasant to work with and we had very few creative differences. He'll be in the studio many more times. So, due to some interest from a few who had seen the pieces, i decided to take them out into the world starting at the Bellevue Art Museum Show (what a first show for maia! his resume is going to be killer!). I made prints, all are named his original names (things like "chicken monster who runs from the city" etc), and i put a little blurp out about how they are a collaboration of mother and son blah blah blah and how all proceeds go to the feeding, educating and general maintenance of maia. Needless to say, they have been a hit! Can't tell you how many i've sold, and even had one couple who joked about saving money so that they can have him paint a mural on their wall! I've got people in Seattle patiently waiting for the next part of the series. What a dream! sometimes i do pinch myself and look at this amazing life we live. Most all of my work at this point is stemming from maia and stella's drawings- its all i have up in my studio- i don't come close to touching the magic they create, but its fun and ispiring to try. And i find it amazing and refreshing to come across people whose lives also need to be touched by that magic, and who consciously search it out and support those of us who are working at putting it out there for them. goal in the next few years is to turn them into a book for children and adults....thought i'd say that one out loud. off my mamabox for now. love you all

maia series

2006-09-09T21:38:00.000-07:00

schoolbus with balloons

2006-09-09T09:43:00.000-07:00

2006-09-08T22:37:00.000-07:00

so, for those of you that haven't yet experienced it, here's our house, our new house, our nouse. cute lil thing. what you can't see, what we couldn't see, is the ridiculous structural damage going on underneath.

so, scott, the remodeling gem, has been hard at work, replacing beams and floor joists and whole bathrooms. We recently got word that we should jack the whole house up about a foot and pour footers and put in a permanent foundation and take down the chimney. Maybe this is the advice of someone in need of work, or maybe he is right. It's a hard call. Really i just want to be where i can see whales, and am having a hard time making this thing work.

Meanwhile, we have a chicken. she digs up my garden and i threaten her with the soup pot. Maia is very smart and tells me that i just need a fence around my garden. where did he get this logic? Surely not from my ranting. I'm grateful he's around.

And did we mention that he started 1st grade? we got a phone call today from his P.E. teacher saying that Maia really impressed him just by being a really great kid, and that he stuck out in this teachers mind this week and that he just wanted to call and commend us on this great kid. Of course i played the message over about 5 times and cried. OF COURSE HE'S A GREAT KID!!!! It's nice to know that others out there see it too.

alright, i blog off. hee hee. love to you all from the PNW

2006-09-08T22:24:00.000-07:00

and now stella-
this is the tree directly in the back of the house. its very bumpy but the kids still love to climb it. Stelly is wearing a shirt that i used to put on one very particular stuffed bear when i was a child, and a bandana that was my hanky, and was kept in my top dresser drawer along with my fallen out baby teeth until i moved out and maia turned the dresser into his rock star sticker lair. She wears many of the baby clothes that my mom made for me to use for my dolls and stuffed animals. she insists that they fit her, and i agree and scoop her up and smell her and try to blend the memory of my days of pretending and hoping for a real baby with these days of the actualization amd reality of it, insanity and all. I tend to think she does this on purpose, to keep me from losing my childhood.

2006-09-08T22:17:00.000-07:00

shall we try this dance again?
yes yes,this is maia ( i call it holy patootie because he's smiling one of those amazing smiles you only get if you are on top of every situation- this is an incredibly vulnerable state of smiling for him) in a bathtub- the one we took out of the falling apart bathroom and replaced with a real live working bathroom, complete with running water and lights that turn off. the bathtub i want, so badly, to turn into a loveseat ala Breakfast at Tiffany's. as of now its a pirate ship.

2006-09-08T22:12:00.000-07:00

i'm trying to put pictures up here....really. this is supposed to be maia, these days.

2006-09-08T21:44:00.000-07:00

pictures

2006-09-08T20:43:00.000-07:00

2006-09-08T20:27:00.000-07:00

Well- dishes piled up, laundry to do, floor is sticky, all those domestic things need be done...a good time to create a blog, eh? The internet is a procrastinators dream. Guess I'll start with some pictures of the lovies. Here you go! Here we go, lets all hold hands and sing aaaaaiiiiiiaaahh!!!!