Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 08:03 AM

I feel as though I am attempting each new task, entering each new scene the way that Kramer did on Seinfeld- slightly crazy, but playing it cool.  A lot of helter skelter going on. Between homeshooling, housework, babies (3 in the last week!) and sleep (not much of that actually)...time escapes me. 

I have been wanting to share bits of my trip away with Carl last weekend. Thanks for waiting.

 

We stayed at the Salish Lodge which overlooks...

 

Snoqualamie Falls.  Lovely huh?

The accommodations were beautiful, the service superb, the food...well the food was other-worldly.  Really, if flavors like those are available here on Earth, I cannot imagine what awaits our senses in heaven!  There were all kinds of little details that enriched our experience.  After dinner (and our favorite bottle of wine) we were treated to a couples massage.  At one point during the treatment, I broke the silence and told my husband that I never wanted to leave! It was almost too much.

 

Our cozy room was appointed with fluffy white robes, a bubbly jacuzzi tub, a crackling fire and lavender filled pillows.  See I told you...heaven!

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, we headed for breakfast.

 

(pastries and fresh squeezed grapefruit juice)

 

(pancakes and fruit with Devonshireire cream)

     

(steel cut oats with almonds, raisins, apples and vanilla milk)

 

(eggs, hash browns, bacon, ham and biscuits with honey)

An espresso nudge, a spicy bloody mary, 4 courses and 2 hours later...sadly, it was time to go.

Thankfully I had these sweet faces to come home to.  And flowers too!

   

So yes, I am having some difficulty re-entering the atmosphere, but the weekend is in sight and I am hanging on!  Hope you are too.

stopping for tea

Its been a week.  A busy week.  A week of firsts.  A good week.  Our first day of lessons began Monday.  Bit by bit we are settling into a rhythm, and my confidence grows.  The girls seem to be loving it.  I still cringe a little when I see the school bus pass by, often asking myself, "Am I really doing this? Can I really do this?"

To offset the three R's (reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic) I am trying to add in some really fun things. This is absolutely essential for Hannah (5), otherwise I start to lose her.  As part of our Charlotte Mason curriculum we are studying the poetry of Walter de la Mare, and I thought it would be fun to include a little tea with our verse.

 

We dressed up ( yes- we) in our fanciest, most jeweled fluff and sat for some reading.  It is amazing how much the girl's manners improve when they are served like "real ladies".  We're talking napkins on the lap and all!  Both older girls chose a poem to memorize with the hopes of reciting it at a family gathering later this fall.  Our little tea time was fun and I vowed to make it a weekly event.

So all of those August/September babies seem to be arriving right on time- three in the last week!  This has proved somewhat challenging as I try to juggle midwifery with homeschooling (and homemaking, and gardening, and canning, and...).  Funny enough, a long night spent away welcoming someone else's baby makes me all the more anxious to get back to my own.  I am thankful for my Husband and my friends who have filled in all the gaps for me.  And after the deliciously chubby, 10#  large headed, baby boy born last night...you won't hear me complaining about much anytime soon!

In fact, I am in a semi state of bliss right now.  In a matter of hours I will find myself alone with my spouse of 10 years now, receiving spa treatments, eating gourmet food, sipping fine wine, wearing plush white robes, soaking in our own private jetted tub, and eating the chocolates left on my pillow.  Can you even begin to beat that?  Don't wake me!

I'll be back next week!

happy chairs

Chair problem fixed.

Taking color inspiration from Morgan I snazzed up the chairs at our school table.  The original thought was to replace the vinyl on the seats with some really cute oil cloth.  As I thought about ripping out all those staples and then considered the "skin-sticking-to-the-seat" factor of oil cloth- I changed my mind.  Instead I made a little skirt that can easily be removed and washed.  It really was super easy once I figured out how and what to measure.  I just took the length and width of the actual seat and added seam allowances, then measured around the legs to get the skirt length.  I multiplied the total length of the skirt by 1.5 and gathered it to get the fullness.

Happy chairs and a happy kitty. Success!

** a side note: we can't get enough of this song...some serious booty shakin' going on!