Happy 2013... From my family to yours!

 Photographer: Valerie Berta
Dec. 2012

Kids, Relatives and the Years to Come

  As my kids get older, and their personalities continue to develop, it's interesting and fun to see how much they are alike and how different they are from each other.  What's really neat is how much they are like relatives that have long since passed.  Interestingly, both girls are very much a mix of tomboy and 'girly girl.'  Georgia's 'tomboyish' traits tend to come out in her long-time interest of creepy crawling creatures.  Some with scales, some with 8 legs or more and some with no legs.  It's not unusual for her to come home with a collection of snails, a new pet toad and once, a new pet 5'' long snake.  Both kids enjoy being outside and needless to say, neither have a problem getting their hands dirty.  Tootie likes to help me train dogs and both girls have always enjoyed 'gardening.'  Which really involves using their kiddie gardening tools and digging holes, piling mounds of dirt and planting acorns or pebbles in hopes of getting flowers or vegetables.  (That rates way high on the cuteness meter.)

  Toot has always loved music.  She loves to make music, she loves to pretend to make music and she loves to dance.  She has a couple toy guitars.  Her hand-me-down toy keyboards get some use, but it's the drums that Tootie is enamored with. Her drumming isn't at all limited to her Elmo drum set.  She has used everything from Georgia's chop sticks to straws, twigs and icicles for drum sticks and has tapped on everything from toilet seat lids to lamp shades.  She pretends to pat a kick drum pedal with her little foot and often wants to wear her tennis shoes so she can accurately imitate her role model, Marina from The Fresh Beat Band. 

  Tootie isn't afraid of much.  It's nothing for her to sit through an episode or two of Goosebumps alongside Georgia, one or more cousins and myself.  Not even the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz ruffle her feathers.  Her strong will has landed her in time-out and helped her overcome a challenge or two.  Georgia is a bit more on the cautious side.  Although she has no fear of climbing a web or swinging extra high on a park swing and like me, enjoys a good mystery, she's less likely walk into a dark room without knowing where the light switch is.  

  Both girls like to dress up.  Toot is going through the dress phase at the same age Georgia did.  They both enjoy hair do-dads, perfume, make up, flowers, nail polish and shopping.  Both girls like to help me bake and cook from time to time.  Georgia tends to lose interest after the first 15 minutes or so, but Toot hangs in there till it is just about time to hang up the oven mitt.  

  Some of Georgia's interests are uncannily like my dad's.  From western movies to magic, they'd have been best buddies   I am quite sure she'd have been chomping at the bit to box jump in and out of a crystal casket or a Hindu basket.  I see a lot of my great aunt Eileen in Tootie.  Already showing an interest in books, I foresee memberships to book clubs and/or regular visits to Barnes & Nobles in her future.  Since artists run in both sides of their family, it's no surprise they both have tried to draw since their fine motor skills developed enough to hold a crayon.  Georgia is, without question, a talented artist.  She has inherited an eye for color and perspective and has always drawn on just about anything from receipts to pieces of cardboard.  Tootie also thoroughly enjoys drawing, but not quite as much as Georgia did at her age.  Truly, her interests lie more in the music and culinary departments.  I can see her in the kitchen with my grandmother twisting taffy and rolling out peanut butter dough in preparation of devouring our family's coveted peanut butter balls.  I can also see her spending countless hours in my grandfather's music room poring over records and resisting the urge to manhandle the knobs and dials on his enormous hi-fi in order to get an over the top animated air guitar fix.

  It will continue to be interesting and fun to see how my girls will grow and change over the years.  It's already been a hugely rewarding experience keeping up with their phases, growth spurts and interests.  Before I know it, the dolls will be traded in for driver's licenses.  Boys and a broken heart or two lie in the road ahead somewhere.  And one day, Eloise and The Fresh Beat Band won't show up anywhere on the DVR list.  

  I sometimes think about these traits, habits, hobbies and interests of theirs and wonder which will fade and which will not.  Time will tell...but as I see it now, Georgia may one day be signing her name on the bottom right hand corner of a piece of canvas and Tootie may be autographing cookbooks.  Or, throwing drum sticks into a crowd...hard.  

Front Window

  Sitting at our family's computer desk in my living room, I have perfect view of my snow laden front yard.  The blue & white glow from the snow flake lights draped over the bushes out front add to the charm of the Christmas atmosphere.  In the window I can see the reflection of my over sized reading chair tucked in the opposite corner near a floor lamp and a footstool.  I have looked out of my front window at this scene several times in the last few days, and it has become a picture I have fondly painted in my memory bank.  As my kids both lie sleeping on the sofas, the cat is curled up on the entryway bench, purring away. Five of my dogs are protecting the yard from what canine terror lurks in the snowy branches lining the ranch across the street.  Add to all of this, the gentle hum of the furnace and somehow, it all seems so very Norman Rockwell-ish.   To me, this is one step away from heaven. 

  Going full tilt on the circus for 8 1/2 months, you need a balance.  You need a place to exhale for a while.  I am a believer in life is what you make it, and the days are what you make them, and I have finally learned to apply those beliefs mostly everyday.  It's one thing to know, it's another thing to practice what we know.  It's not always easy when kids fight, dogs run off for days on end and high winds blow the back screen door half off, leaving yet another project on my to-do list.  But, not letting life's little trials and spills ruin my whole day has taken practice. It has been well worth the effort as I have tried to cultivate a relaxed environment for the kids and me here.  I've learned that not only is tomorrow a new day and a new chance to start over, but the next hour is a new hour and new chance to start over...talk about 'serenity now.'  Since kids are like sponges, it's important that they soak up good habits and lessons that will stick with them their whole lives. 

  Last year I said I was going to enjoy my 40's.  With that I realized I had to look at things differently.  In reprogramming my mindset, regrets became valuable lessons learned that I would not trade.  Memories have become more precious than just about any material possession.  And many material possessions have made their way to the Goodwill.  More time has been spent watching Goosebumps with the kids and less time has been taken up concerning myself over diesel prices and how many trips to town I'm going to make in the week.  That whole 'living in the moment' phrase I was kind of tired of hearing has hit home and feels pretty good. 

 I was thinking not long ago, that I have all the ingredients for a happy life.  Broken screen doors, runaway dogs, head-butting kids, errands and to-do lists are all a part of the recipe.  Add, new perspectives, lessons learned, cherished memories, exhaling, playing with kids, a cozy little house in the woods and mix well.  

More Winter Pictures

Backyard tree

Snowy Sui...I love this picture.

One kid's icicle chop sticks...

...are another kid's icicle drum sticks.

Snowy Otto.  :))

Christmas day.  Love this picture.

Funny face. Proper pose. This picture defines both girls nicely. ;)

This is Ned licking the snow off of Sui's face.  Look closely and you can see Ned's tiny tongue.

And of course, winter would not be complete without snow angels.

Not Pleasant Valley

   I grew up in suburban Ohio and Florida.  Farr Hills Avenue, Maiden Lane and Madruga Avenue were Brady Bunchesque, to say the least.  They were indeed neighborhoods, "where everybody knows your name."  Bike riders, barbecue grills and school bus stops. No complaints here. I thoroughly enjoyed growing up in "Pleasant Valley Sunday."

  When we bought our place here in the country in 2002, there was a slight feeling of isolation at first.  Town is 13 miles away either way you go.  I can barely see my neighbor's house to the right and I can't see my neighbor's house on the left.  Our close friends live two houses down and I have to dial our area code to call them. It all took a little getting used to back then.  By Christmas of our first winter break I started to appreciate country life and consider this place home. 

  Because our time here is limited, it has taken me many years to get the inside and the outside of our house to match our environment.  The country is serene. It gives me a feeling of comfort that, for me, is matchless.  As Georgia says, it rates high on the 'cozy meter.'  Sometimes a woodpecker's labor breaks the day's silence. An occasional passing car or a far off siren from the Faught firehouse may also cause one of us to look out our front picture window.  Late night silence is sometimes interrupted by the baying hunting dogs that live in the houses on the other side of the lake behind us.  More often, it's the singing coyotes that get our attention long after we've left the dinner table. When we come home in October the leaves are already starting to litter the soon-to-turn-brown grass.  Autumn around here is not quite as lush as our neighbors tell us the spring and summer months are.  I've never seen our rose bushes in full bloom and have only seen the grapes on our vine in a picture that our friends took.  But, I don't mind. I love it. It's pretty to me. 

  Now, it's full blown winter.  Snow came around 3:00pm yesterday which brought a perfect Christmas day over the top.  Since the snow around here goes as quickly as it comes, I went a little camera crazy.  Georgia and I agree that the snow can make almost anything pretty or prettier. 

  We hope you enjoy the pictures that follow.

We see this huge tree going to and coming from town.

Today at the back of the pasture.

Sui and Kip

My dog practice area.

Icicles and blue Christmas lights on a bush in my front yard.

Faught Union Church. 

My kids' trapeze.  Compliments of my friend, Sara Greene.

This nest has been on my porch for years.  It's been a long time since we've seen the yellow & gray bird that built it.

Paulina's horse, Wyatt.  He is as gentle as a lamb despite his almost 2,000 pounds.

Another critter that is as gentle as a lamb.

The side yard.

Ready to make snow angels.  And throw snowballs.

Near the pond.  I will put this picture in a frame someday soon.

Mo and me in the back door at Culpepper. Late 2012

Because mustaches are a requirement in my house. So is peace.

Meeting one of my heroes, Dr. Charles Stanley was a longtime dream.

Tootie's movie star face. 

She's an old school map reader. He's checking for directions on his Google map app.

Lana, me dogs

Mo, April, me

Nap time

Annual pumpkin carving circle.

This was taken in the wee hours of the morning when I felt a kick in my side. She is really sound asleep. 

 

Colors

  As much as I love writing, I just don't carve out the time I need to keep up with my blog on a daily or weekly basis.  I have no intention of letting my writings go, but the best I can do on the average is once or twice a month. Rest assured, the couple hours I eek out to tap away at the keyboard and look back on the last few weeks are hours I very much look forward to. 

  Before we laid off for the winter, there were a couple of projects I had my mind set on getting done before the spring.  To my very pleasant surprise, I managed to lay into my interior design projects right away and got them wrapped up long before the time I'd allowed to finish them.

  First project: my bedroom.  The toasty brown walls along with the eggplant and ivory accents match the new bedding's color scheme perfectly.  My niece, April spent a couple of hours painting a custom design above my sleigh bed that beautifully picks up the dandelion motif of the comforter.  Playing around with the furniture placement and strategically placing a large area rug has completely enlarged my former cracker box-sized bedroom.  The warm welcoming dark neutrals make it a little difficult to step out of the room once the 6:15am alarm hits. It only takes about 45 minutes to help prepare Georgia for the school day.  After packing her lunch, putting breakfast on the table and helping her care for her extra long hair we get ourselves out to the end of driveway within minutes of the bus' arrival.  After I 'press play' on the coffee maker, I high tail it back underneath the dandelions till the brewing has ended...the first daily coffee time commences.

  Next on the list: the bathroom.  Again, stark white, unpainted walls made this room feel cold even when it wasn't.  After debating for quite a while on a color scheme, I took my inspiration from a lovely set of towels with a multicolored striped pattern.  Blue-green is not what I'd have normally chosen to put on the walls.  But, this color works well and gives the spacious bathroom a spa feeling.  Ivory and cinnamon colored paints pick up some of the other shades in the bath towels' color scheme, and nicely bring a warmth to the overall design.  I lucked out the other day and snapped up some candles and frames to complete the whole shabang.  I spotted one of those spa sound effects players at the store the other day...I'll put that on my Christmas list, I think...

  I plan on taking a little time away from the paint and brushes before starting in on the play room.  I have thoughts of a cheery orange or maybe a sweet bright purple to add to the future fun-filled feel of the play room.  But, color schemes will have to wait for now.  With other things to tend to like revamping the dog practice area and setting practice schedules for the dogs and foot juggling, the play room project will get underway as soon as I can get my calendar under control. 

  As I have mentioned on more than one occasion, interior design is a long time passion of mine.  Color is important.  It brings forth feelings and can enhance emotions.  Some of my projects haven't turned out quite like I had originally anticipated.  But they have all come out better than I'd ever dreamed. :)