Month: February 2012

no salamanders allowed

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This past week has been a rough one with the death of two beloved pets!  About a week a ago we came home in the evening and my oldest son found one of his two sugar gliders, Bailey, dead in the cage.  It was really sad!  Then, four days later my parents took the older three to see a movie and when they returned home their cat Kit was at the front door with completely paralyzed back legs.  It turns out she had a stroke and had to be put to sleep.  Both Bailey and Kit were loved and are now greatly missed.  But this is an unfortunate reality when you have pets; they are so much fun to have and love but you do have to deal with death quite a bit.  We have dealt with this a lot because, really, our house has become a zoo.

Bailey

My husband and I started our marriage 16 years ago with Continue reading “no salamanders allowed” →

what was I thinking

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Late Monday afternoon found me sitting in my car outside a drugstore with scissors, hole punch, a tape runner, and a bunch of Tootsie Pops.  Ever try cutting and taping tiny bits of paper while in the drivers seat of a car?   The steering wheel does make a pretty good desk top.  I finally had to stop what I was doing and just laugh, what was I thinking! Continue reading “what was I thinking” →

finding the line

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This past summer we bought our kids a slackline.  If you are not familiar with it think tight rope only a little wider and with slack or bounce.  We strung the  line between two trees 25 feet apart about 2 feet off the ground and we all attempted to walk across it.  It’s really difficult!  As soon as you put a foot on the slackline, the whole thing starts shaking and bouncing up and down.  For us, making it half way across was a huge accomplishment.  It takes a lot of concentration and core strength.

falling off the slackline

Last year my  two older children also took climbing lessons at a local indoor rock gym.  There they learned proper climbing techniques and were able to practice on increasingly difficult climbing routes.  They absolutely loved it and really want to take lessons on real rock faces.

I am really proud of these accomplishments.  I tend to push my kids to move beyond their comfort zone physically in order to allow them to see how much they really can do.  It’s amazing what they can do and the sense of accomplishment is great to see.  They will climb anything- trees, boulders, cliffs, ladders, all without fear. I might be crazy, but while I would never ever want any serious injuries to happen to my kids, I feel a few bumps and bruises are a good thing because they help alleviate fear and produce stronger, more secure kids.  But my question is Continue reading “finding the line” →

surviving the ski trip

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It is February 4th and I have yet to go snowboarding this season!  How did that happen?  This is the longest I can remember going without boarding since we started years ago.  The reason, of course, is that we have not had winter this year.  It was 60 degrees earlier this week!  But, really, that should not matter because there is snow of some form at the ski resort near us. I need to be honest and admit the real reason, kids!

Jeff and I pride ourselves in the fact that we intentionally did not slow down or change our active outdoor lifestyle when we had kids.  We just slid the kids into our adventures.  But there’s something about skiing with four kids that makes me exhausted to even think about it.  Continue reading “surviving the ski trip” →