It's almost that time...

This little guy decided to dive bomb the kitchen window. I wasn't sure if he was going to make it, but after warming him in my hand and finding a safe spot under a bush near his friends, he's doing better and has even found a low branch to hop to.

He'd better heal fast, for our little yard panther is becoming quite the formidable predator. The Shadow Princess hunts in the evening and by the time we go out to sit in the swing after the boys go to bed there is usually some sort of carcass awaiting us. Just this past week she's brought us a foot long ringneck snake, two or three mice, a few moles, and what was left of a snowbird. Then she dances in front of our feet waiting for praises and pats.

I drew the line at watching her torture a little deer mouse the other day and managed to sneak him back into the field, but she didn't speak to me the rest of the night.

But the truest kind of torture is putting out a few presents the day before Christmas and watching the boys squirm and panic about when they can open them. I love paybacks :)

We decorated the tree Sunday, and it brought magic Christmas snow.

Full circle

For ten years or more, anytime I visited my dad when he lived in this house, I would try to pick up a piece of slate from a pile he had collected.

My intent was to paint them. And so, moved by the irony of having unpacked these pieces of slate that I had carried under my car seats or tucked away in boxes through multiple moves, and now having them end up back where I first found them, I finally painted one.

I guess I'm going to be even later getting the Halloween photos uploaded, since I can't find them at the moment. Rest assured, they exist - now just to find them before Christmas pictures are due.

We're preparing for winter and enjoying the warm fall afternoons. We've been chasing turkeys, walking through crunchy leaf-filled forests, and feeding the snowbirds stale bread. In the mornings the boys spread construction paper, markers, glue and scissors across the table and make christmas ornaments and decorations, all before a busy school day.

They're reading so well now! - fast enough to hear sentences instead of individual words, and soaking up new words every day.

Everything is slowing down for the year, although getting busy in different ways.

Now to just make it through winter...

Now that the boys have turned six, they are quickly learning the ins and outs of life. Well, maybe not so quickly, but they are acquiring the basic skills needed to become a teenager, and that's starting to scare me.

The other day, they rushed in to tell me that they had cleaned their playroom ALL BY THEMSELVES (in all caps because that's when the squealing reached their patented high-pitched tone-of-instant-headache).

Dubious, I allowed myself to be dragged back there, where - I have to admit - I was pretty impressed. Where once there was gobs of multi-colored plastic toys strewn across the floor, it now sparkled and shone. Even the desk and other usual collection areas were spotless.

So I did what I had to do - fixed two giant bowls of ice cream and gushed over their new skill, an attempt to implant this favorable turn of events into a possible long term habit.

And as I sat there, something occurred to me. I snuck away to take another look.

As I listened to the excited banter from the other room, bellies full of ice cream and a new sense of accomplishment, my eyes fell to the closet. I think I knew before I even opened the door, deep down in that long forgotten part of my own life - the one that used to be (I'm fairly certain) a teenager.

The pile was pretty impressive - three foot high with good stability and excellent use of color. They are still amateurs, of course. But I have a feeling that won't last long.

In the corner of my mind, I could see my Dad snickering, along with a soft voice whispering in the wind: paybacks....paybacks...paybacks...

Queen of the Shadows

In clearing a section of the forest, I was lucky to get some poses from an absolutely beautiful Black Widow.

Six

Well, two-hand age has arrived. My boys danced through Chuckie Cheese for a couple hours on their birthday, overwhelmed as always by the noises and lights and too-many choices of games.

They enjoyed new Wii games and a few small toys, lots of attention, and a kick ass little pirate birthday party.

Of course, when I look back, I will most likely remember the three hour trip back with large pirate helium balloons being batted around the back seat.

Circus!

Before we left to go to the circus, we stopped to talk to one of our resident dragons, a 'northern fence lizard', so Google informs me.

Two seconds after taking this shot (while leaning over the railing - this is actually upside down) he jumped onto Brent's jeans (seen above) and crawled down to his feet, to much shrieking and laughing.

And we headed off to the circus.

Slowing it down

After 2 1/2 weeks of school, we're getting our routine down. At 7:00 the boys come tumbling down the hallway, wrapped in blankets and rubbing their eyes. My thought is usually about how adorable this is, followed by worrying if I'll get their hair in any kind of shape not resembling a birds nest within the next hour. So far we're about 90% on that.

If they wake to find me on the back porch nature watching, they scramble out and go to their favorite place on the deck - the sacred pee spot overlooking the woods. I send out the normal instruction - don't aim for each other. And yes, I have to make sure I say that every time...

Hey, if I was a five year old boy, that's what I'd want to do. Plus it keeps the deer away from the house.

We learned early on to conduct a final inspection before walking out the door. Things to watch for:

1) Is there a ring of toothpaste circling their mouth, resembling an inverse Ronald McDonald?

2) Has there been, in the two minutes since wiping and blowing their nose, a gravity defying spill that has even traveled somehow to the forehead a time or two?

3) Have they transitioned from pajamas to school clothes (don't laugh, sometimes it manages to escape my attention)?

4) Bookbags? Snacks? Library books? Daily sheet signed? Homework in the folder? Ice cream money? Little miscellaneous things they need to take to and from school - designed by the teacher, I'm sure, to ensure I have to have at least one cup of coffee in the morning just so I remember everything?

The morning drive necessitates a shifting of places in the backseat, so that everyone is properly rotated out of the dreaded sun spot. And if it happens to be Brent's day to visit it, I can plan on listening to a lot of whining.

For the first two weeks, we were lucky to hand them their backpacks before they tore out of the car. But the last two days Brent has turned around to say "I love you Mommy! Have a great day!". Today I even had a hug request, a rare phenomenon these days.

Once I get back, I take a few minutes (and usually another cup of coffee) and plan out my day. I've become very attached to the daytimer my boss got me a couple months ago. Since I am essentially doing the same work as I did in the office, I spend at least a couple hours getting little tasks out of the way, and the rest of the day is dictated by whatever situation crops us. For at least a couple hours a day, I am basically on call, but have freedom to roam the property as long as I keep my cell phone handy and don't stray too far.

I couldn't take a picture including the camera, but that's a main ingredient on my mid morning walkabouts. Armed with my garden scissors, hand pruner, utility knife, gloves, cell phone, and pen & paper (which all fit in my four jean pockets amazingly), I head out to explore.

Yesterday I pruned any small trees and grasses along the path down to the lower part of the field, as well as any overhanging branches I could reach. I'm hoping to cut down on a) the many spider webs this time of year, and b) ticks and bugs falling into our hair.

Today I ventured a bit toward the spring back behind the chicken house. When it comes to clearing into the woods I'm a bit more careful. I like to study the layout of the trees and vines, and work with them. Plus if I come across any nests or homes, I give them berth as much as possible. A lot will have to be cleared through the winter, when the woods are napping. As I make my way further in toward the spring, I want to tag any trees I want to keep and prune out some of the others for firewood.

Here's a closeup of my gloves (my second pair this year actually) - a testimony of the gardening and wandering I've done this summer:

And my office is where I spend most of my day right now. My desk has been upgraded, and I finally got the fax/scanner/printer down here to clean up and get running. On the left I have my work computer, daytime, and other folders/papers. On the right are various open projects I have going - a pair of leather earrings, assorted leaves I've been collecting to identify, wood burning projects and painting supplies. In the middle, my personal computer. On the window, a phone and my woodburning equipment. And behind me, a tackle box full of beads, wires, tools and accessories.

I get more done in one day now than I did in three before. And by the time the boys come home, I'm more than ready to hear their daily renditions and stories, help with homework, cook dinner in this beautiful kitchen, then give the boys their baths. Sometimes we divide and conquer when it comes to bedtime reading, other times one of us will just lay in bed with them and all read together. Either way, their minds are ready to rest by 8:00, and we can sneak off to unpack a few boxes, go outside and watch the moon come up, then catch some tv before bed.

Then off to start another perfect day.

Spider Pictures

Some before school photos:

And also, I'm rolling out my new Etsy shop. The beginnings are here! http://www.etsy.com/shop/featheredtreasure

Little pinches

Here they are, at the beginning of their second week of school, and I haven't even written about their first day! Or got around to uploading the pictures.

I guess it's just now catching up with me, that among other things. I keep having to remind myself that all of this is real. This beautiful home, this land, the boys on their new adventures...

We dropped them off for the first day of school. Their hair was combed, their faces clean and bright, their backpacks full of potential. We got there early, both Mike and I trying desperately to remind them of all the things they needed to remember, until I finally just stopped talking, realizing that this was it - the last five years we've spent grooming them for life and here was their first big lesson. The bell rang and they sprung out of the car without looking back. We watched as they disappeared into the building, on their own and exploring life without our hovering umbrella parenting.

Mike and I went grocery shopping - silent, anxious grocery shopping. And then trundled off to our too-quiet home. I immersed myself in work, brainstorming on a game plan for my own new adventures. My boss is keeping me on, to work from here the majority of the time, with some day visits to the office (3 hours away) to keep up with things there. So far, things are running smoothly, maybe even more so than before.

Any spare time I have is spent working toward my side business, which will hopefully be unveiled in the upcoming weeks. The flow of everything is coming together in ways I never dreamed possible! I just keep on stopping to pinch myself.

And that first day, like every day since then, we waited at the school to see the boys and their excited smiles walking out of the school. We listen to them fight for attention, retelling stories and singing songs from the day.

It's been perfect - all of it - every day. I just keep pinching...

I wish I had pictures of my Dad's visit over the weekend, but my camera battery died and my charger hadn't made the journey down here yet. Bittersweet, as always...our time is always short. Because of them, all of this is possible - this house they built, this opportunity they've given us. I don't even have words for it. Except thank you. With a pinch.

I stopped in the middle of the 'highway' to catch these buzzards.

One of our many resident dragons.

Finally after many many attempts, the butterfly bush at work.

These missed the original mushroom post, but were definitely worthy.

The reason we are waging war...

A casualty of the hornets.

Waiting for his bath turn