down on the farm

when i was younger and my parents divorced i spent every other weekend with my dad, my step mom, my step brother (my age) and my step sister (one year younger than me). his wife's parents lived about a half mile away on a farm, in an old historic home that was built around the time of the civil war. i spent as much time there as i could. they had horses, chickens, rabbits, and dogs. we rode the horses as much as possible (i got thrown off a horse for the first time on one of our trail rides), there were kid-sized motorcycles we played with, a zip-line, a barn, acres of woods, the list goes on. but what i mostly remember about my times at the farm is exploring off on my own. i remember getting dirty and no one caring. i remember the feeling of mud and horse manure under my feet. learning the smell of the barn and hay, the horses, the chicken feed, the grass....i can still smell them today. i remember watching how the mama rabbits cared for their newborns, and eagerly waiting for them to turn 6 weeks so i could bring one home to my mom's house. i watched newborn horses grow into adults. i tried to nurse birds back to health after the boys shot them...

i also went to horseback riding summer camps, and later in college i lived on a farm with horses, goats, pigs, chickens and lots of dogs (we trained service dogs for handicapped people). and so i learned how to ride a horse properly, and to care for them. as well as the other animals....and that is the story of how a suburbian kid haphazardly learned how to be a farm girl as well.

that farm i once knew has since been turned into a shiny new neighborhood in Cobb County. a few years ago they sold their land and moved to a different farm. shortly after, my step-mom's father passed away. her mother lives in their new home with a few of her sons on the same property. during my Atlanta visit a couple weeks ago, we went out to visit the place. there are only 3 horses now, and 2 chickens, but the land is beautiful and the house is country and homey, as it always was. little man loved every bit of it and even rode in a battery-powered kids truck with my step niece, sort of like we used to do.

being there with my son reminded me how important the outdoors is for kids. and it reminded me how much i long for him to have the opportunities that i had at being in the great outdoors. i want him to have a chance to gain from the natural earth what i was able to. to love the earth and be grateful for what it gives us, to empathize with animals and be thankful to them for what they give us. i want him to learn the smells and the language of animals, and how to care for them. i want him to feel the power of a horse beneath his saddle. i want him to build forts and throw dirt and gather chicken eggs and run wild in the open fields...all the while going to far far away lands in his imagination.

although we are city folks through and through, and we live on a bus and the world is our home, deep down i know i'll find a way to fit it into my children's lives. it's too important not to.

stuck apart

the bus pulled out of charlotte on february 10th, and i relunctantly chose to stay home for a break, thinking we'd fly out to meet them after a week or so. well a week turned into "oh i should stay home for my Mama's 60th (!!!!) bday on March 2" and then "oh i guess we should wait til the bus comes back through charlotte on march 7-8". and so here we are, our family stuck apart, missing one another terribly. but through it all we have learned a valuable lesson: breaks must only be one week, 10 days max. we can't handle any more than that. i am actually longing to be back on that bus right now, and the look in nile's eyes when he says "daddy" is breaking my heart. i guess God knew this is what we needed.

while home i will have managed to be involved with 4 birthdays that i wouldn't have wanted to miss. my niece turned 9 on Valentine's Day, my brother turned 36 the next day, my little love that i used to nanny turned 4 a few days later, and next week my dear Mama hits 60.

i also chose to spend a few days in Atlanta, where i was desperately overdue for a visit, to see some people that I love and miss dearly. my dad and step-mom and step-siblings and step-niece, my 2 grandmothers, Whitney, Katie and Lucy! i'll spend the weekend with my mom for her bday weekend. my grandmother makes her the same ice cream cake every year (yummy:)

when i get home i have only one more thing to mark off my to-do list and i will have accomplished all of the cleaning out and organizing around the house that i had wanted to do while off tour. and that.feels.good.

orange hat

finished this hat yesterday. it's his "springtime please come soon!" hat

knitting frenzy

something about cold days just makes me want to curl up and knit. due to the loss of my iphone and less time on the internet, i've been spending more time knitting. i've knitted a bunch of fingerless gloves for gifts, i'm working on a neck-warmer at home, and i knit myself this cute hat from soulemama's free pattern. you'll have to look at the pattern to see a better picture of the detail of the hat, as my picture fails to do it much justice. i liked the idea of wearing a bright red hat this winter. not sure why, perhaps just to add some spice to the dreary wintry days.

the first one i made turned out too short. but it was so pretty and i was so anxious to get it on my head, that I finished this hat in just 24 hours. i am very happy with it:)

i already have a list of other hat patterns i want to knit next. i'm not sure what i was thinking to pack only one roll of yarn for this trip, but if i can find a yarn shop soon, i can get going on the rest of them. one thing i'd like to do different this year is to continue knitting all year long, so that i can continue to get better at it and learn more things, and so that i'll have a ton of presents ready for Christmas. there, now that i've written my goal for everyone to see, maybe i'll actually stay committed to it this time around.

oh canada

some highlights from the past week on our canada tour....

on the 11th we flew into Portland to meet up with the bus. 

portland was super cool. no pics though.

next day was Seattle. it was as rainy as it's supposed to be


that night little man threw up all night. it was so sad and scary. poor guy.

the next day the other bus babe turned one! we had a small bus party:)


that day we also went to Vancouver! if you've heard how amazing this city is, just know that the rumors are true. and best of all, i got to see my other 'brother', who I haven't seen in 9 years! he's getting married in May so I got to meet his sweetie, too. He took a half day off of work and spent the whole day with me, walking around the city, eating sushi with our family, and then they went to the show.







next day, i woke up with the virus little man had.
vomit & diarrhea & nausea all day + huby had it too so i had to take care of a baby + stuck on a bus driving 16 hours through mountains + bus toilet with no water, using water bottles to wash it all down + 4 other people got sick too = absolute worst day of my life. i can't even explain the magnitude of how awful it was, so that's all that i will write about it.
it was, however, the most beautiful drive i have ever experienced. drove from Vancouver to Edmonton through breathtaking views of mountains and rivers and waterfalls...
from Edmonton we went to Calgary, and then to Saskatoon. it has been cold, but not ungodly cold. 20s, but i was expecting worse. here is proof that babies can stay warm in the cold.
first, make the first layer 100% merino wool, add layers of clothes, wool mittens, winter jacket and hat. put inside of stroller blanket..


then add shield from the wind and cold air.
voila. take 'em out later and they are toasty as a hot bun fresh from the oven
BUT, i'm not going to lie, i can't wait until spring when i can throw a onesie on him and head out the door.

we had a two day break and spent the first one in Minneapolis. we took munchkin to the Mall of America and let him ride all the toddler rides. so much fun, and highly impressive place. too bad all malls don't encompass indoor theme parks, underground aquariums, miniature golf, and who knows what else...it would make rainy days easier on mothers everywhere

today we got the day in Chicago, and i truly love this city. took the blue line down to millenium park and experienced the tangible definition of "Windy City". then we met Rachael and Fletcher and Sarah for tapas and sangrias. what a treat!






took a shower tonight...oh the luxury of a shower. and tomorrow it's back to Canada, and the twilight zone of no phone and no internet. we'll go to Kitchener, Toronto and Montreal, and then on the 25th we'll wake up in the Big Apple for 2 days:) that makes it all worth it

laughter is the best medicine

something that i think a lot of women can understand is this: home is where the heart is. home is where your husband, your dog, your dishes and your underwear are. but home is also where Mom is. and i'm not sure when, or if, that ever changes. so when i need a break, that's where i like to head.

on january 3rd, little man and I bid music man farewell on the bus in charlotte and we headed to augusta for the week. the choice to skip out on 5 days of driving was not hard to make. of course we miss him when we are away from him, but the quiet, clean, cozy home was the perfect retreat that we needed. being with my Mama always leaves me feeling rested and refreshed, and i was definitely more ready to get on the bus at the end of the week than i was at the beginning...

i think i forgot to mention my big birthday present. i asked my mom for it all year and she got it for me-- a sewing machine!

so while i was at her house i re-learned how to use a machine (it has been a long time since i used one) i bought a book, One Yard Wonders, filled with fun projects to do with only one yard of fabric. i can't wait to get started on all of them! so i spent my days dreaming of fabric projects, finishing knitting projects, and resting. little man spent his days being the busy bee that he is. he never stops walking, never stops moving, always on a mission, always something to do. i visited my mom's classroom for yet another reminder to never enroll my children in public schools. we tried the latest fad- chocolate wine. we ate at the yummiest spot in augusta, taco sushi. i finished my last bit of canada-cold-weather-preparation-shopping, and we also found some just-for-fun treasures at Goodwill. i ate lunch with my brother, and saw him and his girlfriend a few other nights. every afternoon i picked my niece (my LOVE!) up from school and we played. she spent the night twice. by saturday we realized she hadn't watched tv once all week! i was so proud of her(us), so we celebrated by spending half of saturday watching tv:) instead we memorized our 4 and 5 multiplication tables, mastered her spelling words for the week, collected and washing rocks from outside, sold Girl Scout cookies, played with my little man, and made this.

it's one of those no-sew blankets. i thought it would be a great project that we could do together, however the "blanket i and niece made together" turned into the "blanket i made for niece." yep, i did it all alone. it was a little more difficult than i had imagined. maybe a better project for a 12 or 14 year old...

i was really grateful for all the time i got to spend with her that week. i love this girl more than life itself. as i tell her every time i see her, she is my favorite person in the whole wide world:) together we are

pure silliness.

winter wonderland

we've driven across the entire country this last week, and i'm pretty sure the whole continental US was having a cold front/blizzard. this is just perfect because the one thing that I happened to forget to bring on this tour was a coat! i've been making due with my Uggs (ugly but they sure are warm), a (fake) fur lined vest and a sweatshirt type jacket. on our way from richmond, Va to Colorado Springs we got stuck in Selena, Kansas in the middle of a blizzard. we stopped at a truck stop (our bus and trailer is the size of an 18-wheeler so we are always at Flying J's. I'm starting to feel a connection to all the truck drivers, like i understand their life or something) and since the next exit with gas stations and food wasn't for another 100 miles we decided to call it a day. so we got a hotel room and tried to stay warm.






across the street was an IHOP (the eating kind) and so we walked there for dinner. it was a short but brutal walk

this was the street in the middle of an intersection

our neighbors

thank goodness for the warmth of uggs

we got to stop for a day and night at the IHOP in Kansas City (the praying kind), which was so amazing. it felt so refreshing to sit in the house of prayer all day, and that night we got to go to a revival meeting (a revival has been going on there for a few weeks). i got to worship some, but little man was all over the place so i took him to the nursery to play. they had a great room filled with toys and 1-2 year olds. i couldn't leave him because it was too cute to watch him interact. i realized how much he's grown. he played with the kids and the toys so nicely, and sat in a chair during storytime while he munched on a graham cracker. he crawled up the back of a plastic slide and slid down all by himself, squealing. it was so much fun! 

the beauty of the drive through colorado and utah blew me away, and i've gotten to experience below 0 temperatures for the first time in my life. at least now i know how to prepare for a month in canada this january!