Completely random thoughts

Time is going by at alarming speed. I know it is because I have wee ones, but it is also reflects the changes of the season and the resulting pace at which Jason and I prepare for the coming colder months. We are scurrying to amass fire to warm our bones through the long, frigid Canadian winter. Jason as been felling/cutting/splitting firewood in his spare moments and days this past month or so, and our front porch grows more and more beautiful with the collection of firewood, stacked neatly and ready for service.

As I write this, I am enjoying an evening bowl of granola with raisins, bananas and rice milk and a cup of jasmine green tea. I cooked dinner early, Jason and I having missed lunch altogether. We were busy outside the whole day and so I made a quick meal of french toast, especially delicious because I used our own chicken's sacred eggs.

Ollie has started walking at the tender age of 10 months. Jude is getting much better at loving his little brother. It has been a bumpy ride but not so rocky as some. Ollie's nature is so jovial, so happy and full of constant delight that it makes things much easier. Jude is an intense soul, passionate, sensitive and strong-willed. They balance one another beautifully.
I love them so much.
My Bella, who is now 11 and so close to being 12 is my quiet one. Calm, sweet, and accepting. Easy-going and so immensely creative. She owns my pride (: This year she is in the 7th grade at a new school. The one she attended last year only went to 6th grade so she upgraded ~ along with her friends ~ to the school in the town next to ours. Ironically, it also happens to be the school my Mom went to.
That makes a count of seven schools that she has attended. From homeschooling to Canadian schools to California schools to more homeschooling and then back to more Canadian schools. It's really quite something, Not at all what I imagined her life would be and not at all what I would have wanted her to experience and yet, nonetheless, that's the way of it. She is usually a bit nervous on her first day at a new school but unless you know her really well you wouldn't be able to tell, and by the second day she has already made fast friends. It's really quite something.

I am tired of doing housework; it all gets so overwhelming at times. Dishes are the absolute worst but I also very much dislike folding laundry. I enjoy the washing of it though; a lovely sense of satisfaction comes from using my own homemade detergent. I especially love the cloth diapers ~ They to me are so satisfying a possession. Nothing gets used quite so much in our home and I love knowing I am not being wasteful by using up hundreds of disposable ones.

The horses are a sight, lolling about in the pasture and nickering at me when I greet them each morning. I am quite in love with our Coaltrain, as he is sweet and gentle and loves to greet us when we stroll out in the pasture. He actually bumbles up to us like a goofy puppy, happy to say hello and share a hug. There's nothing quite like it.

(: