Our girls

Fall 2011 and Summer 2007. The stripey girl is Lucy (in a Hannah hand-me-down, of course!).

Time to change

I finally decided that it's time to change my title photo, then I realized that the song lyrics needed a little tweaking, too. Not brilliant by any stretch, but it'll do. I actually find that I don't sing that song anymore, but I have carried on a little naptime diddy that I started with Hannah. Not bad considering that I consider myself to be a terrible composer/improviser and really lacking in the creative side of musicianship.

Hannah's first Canyon hike.

I love this photo of my mom and Hannah. Buddies.

Simple joy.

In the middle of an extensive sidewalk chalk project.

North Korea appears to be missing a small leader...

We're settled in nicely to life with a 4 year old and a 4 month old and me staying home again. I miss the people at my last school, and I miss having fun with students and making music, but I don't miss working. I certainly don't miss getting out of the house early every day, but I'm also glad not to be working on lesson plans, program plans, grades - and all those meetings!


Since summer wasn't a great time for us to travel this year, we took a trip to Flagstaff this fall to hang out at my parents' house for a week. The girls and I drove out and Andy met us for the long weekend. That's right - the girls and I drove for 2 days each way. I'd say that's worthy of a supermom designation, yes? I actually really enjoyed most of the drive. I've never driven the country between Moab and Flagstaff before - Wow! It helped to have a really comfortable car, plenty of time, and a portable DVD player. I think our longest stretch without having to feed or change somebody was two hours, but it worked just fine. Once highlight was the cafe in Bluff, Utah that had the best oatmeal I've ever eaten, a friendly server who held Lucy while I ate, books for Hannah to peruse, and a great swing in a tree out in the yard.


The major drama was finding a bed bug in our hotel on the way to Flag as we were packing up in the morning. Hor-ri-ble. I was terrified about bringing them to my parents' and then home, so started by standing in the room for about 15 minutes panicking and telling Hannah I didn't know what to do. My wonderful daughter responded by hugging me and offering to get me a glass of water, which is the standard treatment for stress or injury at her preschool. (On a side note - it's been really fun to have a daughter who's old enough to act as a friend sometimes. We have plenty of preschooler drama, no doubt, but she's also really caring and helpful and fun.) So after much stress and many plastic bags and a week of less than stellar sleep, we seem to have left the bedbugs where they belong in the Travelodge in Monticello, Utah.



We had a wonderful stay in Flag. Lots of trail running, no trips out of the house without running into someone who knows my parents, and Hannah's first trip to the Grand Canyon. She even got to do two very short hikes below the rim. The first on a really steep precarious trail, and the second on the lovely and understandably crowded Bright Angel Trail. She kept talking about when she'd be able to hike to the bottom. No, honey, not when you're five. Lucy adjusted and slept well on the trip, and Hannah came home with a big-sister gift of a fancy purse and an antique rhinestone necklace from "Auntie" Karen. Very fun.


Back at home, we've been really enjoying the change in season. We've got quite a bit of fall color right now, and the temperature and skies have been gorgeous. I had the honor of running the last six miles with my friend during her first marathon last weekend. It was great to have a goal to train for and I'm honestly feeling a bit unmotivated now. Silly, since it's not like it was my race! I've certainly got baby weight to loose, but I'd rather set my sights on a running goal than a scale.


Next up - I have time to sew Hannah's Halloween costume again this year. It's my first time sewing since my Grandmother died, and sewing always makes me feel close to her. It feels good.