{this moment}....the hot springs

Knowing that snow is just around the corner makes the hot springs feel luxurious and decadent. It was in the eighties the other day and it was pure heaven.  My children are all of an age that I no longer have to watch them. We walk in and they all go their separate ways and are totally in their own groove. I am free to swim laps or just loll around under water watching sun beams refract off of turquoise. Pure heaven, I say!

Is my sweet girl fixin' to kick the living hell out of this poor unsuspecting child? I believe she is.

Mom is too busy taking pictures and pretending to be a fish to discipline anyone.

Have a lovely!

hiking

I am chaperoning a seventh grade hiking trip tommorrow. Max’s class. We are climbing Perrin’s Peak.

Max comes into the kitchen this morning and asks me what I’m going to wear hiking.

"Probably just an orange leotard and a cowboy hat, the weather should be really nice.” You have to throw in a realistic twist to fool them just a little.

"Why do you do this to me?” he asks.

And to coin a phrase that a friend of mine uses in reference to her kids....

"It is your path, my child.”

"Just promise me you’ll wear the cool new running shoes.” he says.

Yes, dear.

Eeee gad, I’m glad I’m not in 7th grade.

voice fantasy

Listen to this. Seriously. I love this song. It was a one hit wonder and is long gone from the air waves, but alas I'm still hanging on. I have a voice crush. So stop and listen. For me. I have a little story for you.

His name is Julian Velard and he seems so damn competent, doesn't he? In a sexy, Brooklyn kind of way. I loved this song the very first time I heard it. I imagined a creamier Michael Franti with the style that his French sounding name would impart. Sort of Euro, sort of islander, very laid back and tall with long lean muscles.

****

Let me interupt this fantasy real quick to say that this is more than just a sick foray into my lame imagination. It is a reminder, OK? To keep your inner sexy honed. Packing school lunches is NOT sexy! Driving children to soccer and gymnastics ain't sexy, neither. It's oh so important to remember yourself, your romance, your man, and a touch of frivolity.

****

Back to it. So Julian sings and I listen and the mind can wander. His voice says so many things.

And then I went and did it. I wanted to check him out. I you-tubed the song because I wanted to see what he looked like. Bad idea.

I think his boarding school roomate shot the first video that I pulled up. He sat on a bed covered with stuffed animals. In the second he was performing at his Bar Mitzvah at the community center. He's like, 12. Max looks more mature. I shut it off quick, in hopes of preserving the image in my mind.

Do you have stupid fantasies? Of course you do.

Dear Matt,
I ran into Julian swimming laps at the Rec Center. He had on a eurosuit and we’ll be back on Sunday.
Much Love,
Ivey

And everything would be fine because kids really can survive on nachos and gatoraide.

I know what you’re thinking. Does this bother Matt? It’s OK, cause he has his own little fantasy thing going. He’s a therapist, you know.

He thinks he can ‘cure’ Lindsay Lohan.

And he probably could, but then we’d have to mud wrestle to the death.

For more odd fantasies go here.

monday love

a picture

a song (if you can sit this one out something is WRONG!)

an idea for dinner

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fried green tomatoes with bacon

blue cheese coleslaw
jalapeno cornbread
butter pecan ice cream with sea salt

{this moment}....the crib

I got your attention when I said that one of my children didn’t live in the house. Maybe I should kick them all out and get a reality TV show. Max lives in ‘The Crib’. The interior was not fit for a photo shoot, so today you just get the outside. The truth is, it’s one of the nicer ‘rooms’ near the house.

He and Lew shared a room and it was getting tight. They bickered sometimes. Unusual, I know.

Add me a room, Max said.

Normally, we would consider such a request. We ain’t scared to bust out a wall.

But the landlord might object, mightn’t he?

The grandparents were shifting around their out buildings and I boldly asked for the one that was getting relocated to the back forty.

They are awesome and said 'take it’!

Here ’tis.

Wait till you see the inside. It’s super cozy and the envy of all his friends.

It seriously has million dollar views.

We all sleep out there when he let's us.

I find this amusing. Our neighbors at the bottom of the driveway are building a funny little structure in their backyard. (They have a boy in Max’s class)

"Whatcha building?” Matt asked

You guessed it.

A crib.

what mama eats

My children are good eaters, but let’s face it..... there are times when we want something that isn’t necessarily going to be appreciated by the whole clan.  I feel like all I do is cook, and I am at the bottom of my own list.  This doesn’t seem right. So today, it’s all about mama. Forget the kids for a minute. 

Still eating tomatoes 24/7.  This tomato salad is simple and yummy. At your supermarket’s olive bar, get the spicy mix with kalamata and green olives and hot peppers. About a quarter pound. Not much at all. At home, add some balsamic and olive oil to the container and maybe a little apple cider vinegar. Shake it around and pour onto chopped tomatoes. Add little bitty mozzarella balls for an interesting added texture. This is good alone, over a big green salad, or on top of roasted eggplant.

Sassy Cilantro Dip is made up of sunflower seeds, walnuts, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and lots of cilantro. Swirl all that together in your food processor. It’s pesto like, but I eat it with chips or on a sandwich or mixed into a big green salad.

And then there are the times when it’s only about fuel. Calories...pure and simple. A long run or ride is sustained by almond butter smeared on whatever is available. Fresh bread, rice cakes, bananas, apples, or much more likely, the remnants of some child’s breakfast. See, they surfaced! You didn’t need me for that, probably.

This is a gentle reminder to take good care of yourself. Eat good food.. Get outside and breathe hard and sweat and soak the natural beauty around you into your soul. Drink plenty of water. Have tea with friends. Let your creative side wander wild. Laugh out loud. Wear pink frills. Listen to music that makes you FEEL......

Be well, Mama!

the boy

We go through many phases of mothering. There is the first phase of adoration and wonder and newness that is overwhelming and all encompassing. There is no separation; we are one with child. We look out from this bubble of love and everything else is a blur. It starts to come into focus eventually, and then we just pray to sweet baby Jesus that we can get through the grocery store or across town without someone crying for the duration of the experience. This too shall pass, and they don't wail in public anymore, but now they are bored. Whaaaaa?

I'm pretty laid back about it all these days, but my oldest is entering unchartered territory that is all new to me. He's 12. He still loves legos, but is also taken with the Cadillac Escalade. He points at them all over town. Where this gangster SUV fits into his psyche, I'm not sure. He has a spray bottle to tame his glorious thick red locks. A cool dude. He has a voice that he's using more and more often, and it's sometimes saying things that, honestly, annoy me.

I am most grateful to have a psychotherapist who specializes in adolescents living in the house. Matt is very close to the bone when it comes to understanding what makes a boy tick. Mostly he reminds me to hang back and allow for space. To watch closely, but let him be. To listen and not talk so much. To trust.

I do.

The little boy is still right there, too. Throwing mud and giggling with his brother and sister, wanting me to snuggle with him before bed and come back later for the final bedtime kiss. He went to meet our new rector the other day at church, and without a word from Mom, he pulled out all the stops....eye contact, smiles, hand shakes, so-nice-to-meet-you.

Little boy.....young man, straddling the two must be a fine balancing act for him.

I’m just going to continue believing.

I’ve said it before.

My goal is to teach my children to fly.

How can he fly if I hover?

{and i mentioned the other day that this same precious child of mine doesn’t live in the house....lots of you wanted to hear more...hang tight, it’s coming!}

what’s hip in 4th grade: friendship bracelets and bouldering

via purl bee

I work in the same school my children attend. I have a long break at midday and can go find Della or Lew and hang out with them. It’s quite nice. Last week I ate lunch with both of them and then went with Lewis out to recess. Lately, he has been coming home with an ever growing stack of friendship bracelets on his slim, tan arm. He’s ‘in’ with the gal who makes them. She sat across from us at lunch and we talked ‘embroidery floss’. Her mom bought it in Farmington, she said.

So out on the playground, I sat with a bevy of darling girls and watched. Lewis picked out some cool colors and would bounce in and out of the scene. Maddie’s fingers flew so fast I could hardly follow her. I picked up the basics enough to finish Lew’s by the end of recess. He was in awe.

"My mom made this one." he gloated.

We came home and Della wanted in on the fun. I taught her the very simplest design and she worked all weekend!

I surfed it up and am taking it to the next level. You can too. Go to purl bee for this super easy tutorial and you’ll be hip to the 4th grade scene!

Lew and Dell are modeling theirs while bouldering. Fall is the perfect time for bouldering. We have an amazing spot just down the road that we ride to.

work it sister!

Lew is working on a bouldering ‘problem’ with these cool dudes from the fort. They had him all pumped up with their "sweet, man, bust for the jug, yeah, he’s rockin’ it, wish I’d started at his age, dude."

bracelets are hard to see but the crack climbing is top notch!

monday love

a picture

a favorite song

an idea for dinner

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ny times macaroni and cheese

 baked tomatoes

green salad with dijon vinaigrette

banana tarte tatin

meet my newest sponsor! pop art says what?!

I have a new sponsor and I am over the moon about her idea! Do you ever meet someone and know instantly that you really, really like them? You just click, right off the bat, and skip all the preliminaries? That’s Jill. She called me the other day to tell me about her food cart and to get details about advertising on DM. I LOVE food carts and hers is awesome (more on that soon!), but then she showed me this other thing that she created and it was love at first sight!

Check it out!

You write on these fabulous portraits with dry erase markers. 

You say things to your family via pop art! 

It’s art, it’s a portrait, it’s a message center....all rolled up into one.

This is so clever! 

This is my friend Amy shouting at her darling kids in her front hall...

I can hardly stand it, really. Think of your house with these. They would make perfect gifts. I called my sister, because she’s planning a mega-wedding, and she’s going to use portraits of the bride and groom in the bathrooms and people can write funny messages on them. Let your imagination run wild with the potential here. 

I want to do myself and Matt spouting out words of wisdom and our favorite quotes! We are big on quotes around here; we print them out and stick them around the house and the kids usually memorize them, but this is a much better venue! 

Right this minute go check out Jill’s website. Her fun button will reside in the sidebar and you can click on it a hundred times a day if you need to. 

And here’s a little more about about Jill, too, because you’re going to love her as much as I do. I only wish you could hear her lovely Aussie accent. In her words.... 

"I am an australian single mum of two kids, 10 and 11 years of age. I came to the USA in 1986 to be the chef on an ocean racing yacht and then continued to sail around, our beloved planet earth, on various other sailboats, and that is a great way to see the world! Trust me! 

I have always been an artist and art lover, but my art has, for the most part of my life, manifested itself in my cooking. I have been fortunate enough to win awards for my culinary skills as well having the great delight of cooking for some pretty amazing people in the process. If you want to know how old I am you will have to cut me in half and count the rings. Not really ... 49”.

We are neighbors! She can practically see the stack of dirty dishes in my sink from her kitchen window. Our kids go to the same school. We have tons of mutual friends, but our paths had never crossed. Hooray for the internet. And now you know her, too. Take a minute to look her site over and figure out how some personal pop art is going to make your life better. She is a single mom who is making it work with some serious creative mojo and that is something worth supporting whole heartedly. 

And look forward to hearing more about her food truck, Louise at the Museum. Yes, she’s set up at the Durango Discovery Museum, and it ain’t your average food truck!

{this moment}.....this week

looking for rainbows

rainbow chard choke cherry smoothies

homegrown balance beam

kitchen sink quesadillas

late afternoon fishing

smile.

I’ve bent the {this moment} rules beyond repair. I apologize. It’s my nature to just wander down my own path.

Have a lovely!

homemade donuts

It’s Sunday morning. The kids are roaming around the house. From between my warm fleece sheets I hear the first grumblings.

.......hungry........me, too..........the sound of kids rummaging in the cabinets, refrigerator door opens, shuts......footsteps coming down the hall......and they call out the first one of the day.

“MOM! We’re....”

“I know. I’ll make homemade donuts in just a minute.”

Long pause.

"You’ll do what?” Max is suspicious.

“I’ll make homemade donuts in just a minute."

"SHE’S MAKING HOMEMADE DONUTS!!!”

There’s pandemonium and shrieking. They had no idea that such a thing was even possible.

And these could not have been any easier. They took about 30 seconds to make. Seriously. Pour about an inch of vegetable oil in a deepish skillet. Pop open a can of biscuits and cut them in half or punch a hole in them if you’re feeling authentic. Mine looked more like beignets. Drop them in the hot oil and they cook almost instantly (15 seconds or so). Flip them over for a few more seconds then remove to a dish of powdered sugar.

It’s one of the perks of being a mom. A pan of hot grease can elevate you to ‘rock star’ status.

Might as well work it, you know.

I hardly got a photo snapped before these babies were gone!

And yes, I realize that this is a very loose interpretation of home made. 

I’m OK with that.

oh rats

Situation:   Max, age 12, wants a rat. As a pet. Not a hamster, or a gerbil or a guinea pig, but a rat. The kind with a tail.

How do I feel: You know me, I’m open to most things, and if said rat is a member of the family then his ‘rat’ status loses some of it’s gross-ness. Right? Feel free to set me straight on this.

Max’s pros on rat ownership: The rat only costs $3 dollars and he eats cat food, which we already have. They dance(?) and love affection and are the underdog in the vermin kingdom.

Mom’s cons on rat ownership: Three dollars is doable, yes. BUT! I have absolutely no intention of paying good money for a tank, cage, habitat, whatever, at the rat store AND why are we concerned with vermin and their ranking?

Max keeps pushing: Let’s go to the thrift store, OK Mom? He’ll live with me, not in the house.

Shit!:  The thrift store has a lovely habitat and it’s only $2 and Max has a point, he doesn’t live in the house, so the rat will be ‘off site’. I won’t be able to watch him dance(?).

(Have I ever mentioned that one of my beloved children doesn’t live in the house with us? It’s true. He lives out in the yard. More on that soon, because you’re probably curious.)

An urgent warning to all from Max about rats: NEVER feed a rat citrus. It will kill them.

The thought bubble above Mom’s head: oranges...good to know....good to know.

You saw this one coming, right?

He’s sorta cute, isn’t he?

cousin sophie and della

He was a big hit at lacrosse. We let him free range. Max was so thrilled that he had saved him from his previous status as ‘snake food’.

"He’s lucky to have us, right Mom?”

And within 20 minutes, I’m already sentimental about our sweet underdog, Roger.

gift giving 101

Do you think birthday presents are tricky? I do. We live in a world that is really over the top with stuff. Kids especially, have way too much stuff these days. So much is disposable and there is nothing worse than a present frenzy followed by ‘is that all?’ I know you know what I’m talking about. I think that there should be a universal price cap on birthday party presents. Lewis once got an $80.00 set of Legos. Eee Gad. I was praying to Chucky Cheese that we wouldn’t get invited to that boys party!

I’m thinking five dollars. Or handmade. Or thrifted. Or, how about recycled? The key thing is this. Your child should be somewhat excited about his gift giving experience, so you need to be a little creative.

We make these sometimes. The little bird is $1.00 at the bead store. We have the rest on hand.We can do it together and it’s pretty quick and easy. Lewis loves it when his friend wears hers to school.

“Mom, Maddie wore the bird today.” he reports back.

Packaging is important. Be creative. I love something small and special on the outside, too. It can be anything. A feather, a bit of branch with an acorn attached, a pencil. I love these little pins from my sister’s store, firefly.

Last week, in a tizzy, I ran into Walgreens to shop for a very last minute present. We sometimes get these fun electric toothbrushes that come with tons of stickers to decorate them with. Della loves them and they are always a hit and they are about $5.00.

Little Miss stopped dead in her tracks at the end cap on aisle three.

Mini pillow pets.

Game over.

Pink and purple baby unicorn. Ring her up.

Do as I say not as I do.

monday love

a picture

a hip song

an idea for dinner

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 greasy guacamole burgers with fresh salsa and grilled hatch chilis
(we eat burgers on english muffins)

roasted beets and potatoes with rosemary salt

split an inversion ale with your true love (because it’s only monday for pete’s sake)
(i don’t much love beer, but this one is sublime)

zucchini whoopie pies

{this moment}....seeing red

bounty!

 goodbye summer dresses......

hello fall.

camping

We went camping this weekend. We were at the top of Molas Pass, near a friend’s cabin, surrounded by elk hunters. It’s bow season in these parts. There was still a smattering of wild strawberries, the night was a touch past crisp and the views were stunning. We left Della at a birthday sleepover at the cabin, so the dynamics were fresh, with just two sweet boys. 

I like to mark time with laughter. You?

 Lewis says that he is ‘ripped’ and going to be 'more buff' than Daddy. He was always finding himself in the smoke from the fire and declared that this was because he’s ‘smoking hot’. Where did this child come from, and what are we going to do with him? Watch out, girls!

I am always in awe of the moss and lichens that are positively glowing with vibrance. 

Early morning wood gathering.

This was big. Yes, they are drinking coffee. With lots of cream and sugar. 

Food tastes so much better outside. This was our breakfast appetizer.

della and claire.

 Cut to Della at her party. She said it was just like summer camp. Scavenger hunts, campfires, hiking, and lots of darling little girls! Thanks Roan!

The cabin’s water source is a spring a ways on up the mountain. The boys followed the pipe to the spring head and drank their fill of ’sweet’ water.

We are headed out again this weekend. This time with friends and LOTS of kids. LOTS. It’ll be the last of the mountain camping for awhile. We’ll switch over to the desert for the rest of the fall.

Happy trails. 

play date

If you’re over here for a play date there’s lots to do. I try to feel parents out. Are you hip to our brand of fun? Are you the litigious type? Yep? Then turn that Audi around...

No, not really, but sort of. Maybe I should draw up a waiver.

First off, I don’t really supervise. Let’s be clear on that one for sure. I feed, I fix boo boos, and I locate supplies on an as needed basis. I’m around, mind you, but the posse is self governing unless things go WAY south.

And it is a posse. Just so you know. Your sweet as pie 6 year old girl is going to be running with a large group of smelly boys.

They do things like:

Throw knives.

They usually aim for the knife throwing target.

Is your child comfortable with heights?

Because this girl is no wall-flower.

BB Guns? Check.

Bears? Check.

Mountain Lions? Check.

I’ve recently fed a visiting child a venomous snake.

I don’t own any hand sanitizer. I don’t even like writing the words.

They roam and I encourage it. Go explore!

They go to this place that they call 'flat rock' and I know that they are fine because I can hear their laughter ricocheting off steep cliff walls.

I might not see them for hours, perhaps all day.

Parents will come for pick-up and I’m all “I have no idea where they are.”

"Drive down the road till you see a pile of bikes, and then stop and yell, and they’ll come down.”

At Lew’s last birthday, a mom came to pick up her boy. He was gone. They all were. She got panic-y.

“Where ARE they?”

I knew that they were in an approximate 300 yard radius of the party site (a mountain bike loop in town). I knew that they were playing a game on mountain bikes that involved a fabulous imagination and a lots of awesome boy energy. I knew that they were well-fed and that they would return in the near future.

Her energy made me nervous. I imagine that my energy made her nervous. I don’t want that, because we’re all different and that’s what makes things tick. It was clear that we do things very differently and I’m down with that.

And then you could hear them. Whooping it up, coming down the trail, they might as well have had flames licking their tires, they were so lit up.

Her son threw his bike down and proclaimed for all the world to hear.

“I’VE NEVER HAD SO MUCH FUN IN MY WHOLE LIFE!!!”

Whew. I absolved myself. I hope she did.

Because deep down I know. It’s the wild and free that sings to the soul.

And that requires a little letting go.

I’m just laying it all out there.

You can decide whether or not you still want to be our friend.

monday love on tuesday

a picture

a bitchin' song

an idea for dinner

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black bean and sweet potato burritos with cilantro cream sauce, fresh salsa and sriracha

cilantro lime cole slaw

buttery baked apples with vanilla greek yogurt

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flour sack give away

It makes me sad that I can’t send you all a flour sack. I’ve been stewing on this all week. I thought, perhaps, that they would give me some sacks if I asked really nicely. No. These are sort of a big thing in the flour sack world, which I wasn’t aware of because they sit on my grocers shelf and I walk by them most everyday, just taking them for granted.

There are lots of them available on ebay...click here.

But alas, I sort of came up with a solution. You’ll have to come visit. It’s beautiful here in the fall. And we can go to City Market and buy some flour. We can bake some cakes to take camping, so you don’t have to 'carry on’ a sack of flour. So let’s do that, OK?

Except for Tracey at Clover. Hi Tracey! You won! (email me your address!)

But you can still come visit!

I’m going to do this again. Because this company has two darling flour sacks that the flour comes in...the other one is covered in very vintage looking roses. Stay tuned!

{this moment}....the backyard

Pretty soon this will be a patchwork quilt of gold and red and orange. And then..., well, let’s not go there just yet....I am savoring the green, thankyouverymuch.

And in the front yard....

a simple game of catch in the drive-way. Father and son were chatting and laughing and solving the worlds' problems one toss at a time. The rocks just listened.

Have a lovely.

We’re eating them three meals a day and the mother lode is still green on the vine out in the garden. It’s a good problem to have.  The kids will eat plates of them, sliced with lots of salt and pepper. My all-time favorite is a tomato sandwich...pure and simple.

Running. I’m running a good bit these days. The groove is right, the weather is perfect, and most importantly, I’m feeling inspired. These are the easy times. What about when you’re not so inspired, when you actually dread it. I love reading the little red house during those spells. She paints an excellent picture of pushing through the pain and getting to the YES!