raspberry kissed couch

snow day

it snowed today. a lovely, white wetness lay heavily on grass and trees. i had been telling Kaiden and Miette for weeks that as soon as we got a good snow we would go outside and build a snowman as well as have a snowball fight. truth be told i actually said owen would go out and do the mentioned activities. i despise being cold and it would take quite the convincing to induce me to play in snow. Kaiden and Miette on the other hand in the true spirit of childhood craziness think it lovely to be dirty, wet, and cold and so i bundled them up and they went out with owen. we went to my parent’s for lunch after church today so it was actually their yard that was blessed with a rather large misshapen snowman. Kaiden was disappointed that my mom didn’t have any coal and so i promised him that we would call nana in the morning to see whether the sun had melted that snowman and if it hadn’t we’d take a couple of pieces of charcoal over there to use as eyes. no carrot nose though – i am sure he will be able to find a substitute.

my battery is nearly gone and so is my energy – to bed.

together

Parade and Park

Last Saturday was the annual Veteran's Day parade in downtown Colorado Springs. My dad is a Vietnam Vet and drove my grandpa's old car in the parade. Owen and the three children joined him in the car and had a wonderful time riding and waving to all the people . Kaiden waving his flag at the parade.

watching the parade from the side of the street.

Every fair weathered Monday we walk down to Monument Valley Park for a nature walk

sister hug

Ellis loved eating the leaves

going live

As some of you know there is a plan in the works for Owen to run for State Senate district 11 here in Colorado Springs. Owen has a passion for making a difference in our coutry and I am excited to see God work out our future through the lens of this desire. It has been an interesting past few months thinking, praying, planning, talking to people.
I am not so politically minded but I do love this guy i am married to and will do anything I can to support him. I came up with a fundraiser idea when we first started talking about him running and it quickly morphed into an idea for a movement. V for US was born out of a love for our nation and a desire for unity and difference-making. V for US will officially launch in January when believe me, you all will be asked to help spread the word. For now the V for US team is still working out our message and image. Our friend Rowan at prize winning photography.com has been so kind to work with us on this project and I look forward to seeing all the images captured that display American individuality and patriotism. Right now Rowan and his team are working with us on a photo contest to capture images for the V for US website. Take a look and join the contest if you'd like.

V for US photo contest

Check out the V for US website (still in the works) to get a history lesson and some inspiration.

Start a movement - be American.

Everyone needs an Alice

My friend Erin just told me about this site - seems like some great deals and you can't beat free shipping. The prices are great...hmm, i never need to leave home again.

Alice.com

Mother at Home Pg. 47

"And how can a mother expect to govern her child when she cannot govern herself? Family government must most emphatically begin at home. It must begin in the bosom of the parent. She must learn to control herself; to subdue her own passions; she must set her children an example of meekness and of equanimity, or she must reasonably expect that all her efforts to control their passions will be ineffectual. " John S. C. Abbott

soccer guns and chess

more on this later -

no words

Baby A

Every time I do a newborn shoot i wonder at the small perfection of such a tiny life. Sweet baby A was the most cooperative baby to date. She slept the entire time and let me bend and shape without a wimper. I love a newborn girly.

Pumpkin muffins

I made these pumpkin muffins a couple days ago and we all liked them so much that i baked another batch this morning. They are perfect for a cold autumn morning - not too sweet but very buttery. You never know what kind of recipe you will get when you just google it but this worked out great for us and I will definitely be using it again.
I am watching a friend's two children this morning and I can hear craziness going on upstairs. I am not sure what I was thinking when I let a 5, 4, 3, and 2 year old do water color paints unsupervised but they seemed to have fun with it. Yes, we did end up with an entire cup of mud colored water spilled on the floor but praise God for crummy hardwood floors.
I have been thinking lately of what it means to show your children Jesus. What does that look like?

Poem a Day

Both Owen and I really enjoy poetry and are always looking for good recommendations as we are not exactly well versed (no pun intended) in our knowledge of good poetry. A friend of ours, Davey Talbot, who is actually a good poet himself has a great gig going on that you should take part of. If you are interested in poetry Poem a Day is a Monday through Friday subscription where he sends out a well selected poem each day to your email. We've really enjoyed his selections and he is getting quite the following. Just email him at Davey@PoemaDay.org to subscribe - it's a lot of fun.

Thoughts on women by Lewis

A society in which conjugal infidelity is tolerated must
always be in the long run a society adverse to women.
Women, whatever a few male songs and satires may say to
the contrary, are more naturally monogamous than men; it is
a biological necessity. Where promiscuity prevails, they will
therefore always be more often the victims than culprits.
Also, domestic happiness is more necessary to them than
to us. And the quality by which they most easily hold a man,
their beauty, decreases every year after they have come
to maturity, but this does not happen to those qualities of
personality—women don’t really care two pence about our
looks—by which we hold women. Thus in the ruthless war
of promiscuity women are at a double disadvantage. They
play for higher stakes and are also more likely to lose. I have
no sympathy with moralists who frown at the increasing
crudity of female provocativeness. These signs of desperate
competition fill me with pity.
—C.S. Lewis , God in the Dock

Facebook

Check out this article on Facebook - makes you think.

Down With Facebook

As Kingfishers Catch Fire

AS kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies dráw fláme;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
        5
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves—goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying Whát I do is me: for that I came.
 
Í say móre: the just man justices;
Kéeps gráce: thát keeps all his goings graces;
        10
Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is—
Chríst—for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces

Gerard Manley Hopkins

The blog idea is on hold for right now as life has been busy and I don't think I am going to have as much time as I would like to make the blog what I would like. Thanks to those who sent ideas; I will save all of them and use them another time. They were great suggestions and thoughts and I look forward to exploring them in the future.
Yes, Autumn is officially here and in CO we are back to coats and close toed shoes. I told Owen yesterday that I am quite sad about retiring my Chaco flip flops until next summer. He bought them for me for my birthday in May and I have worn them every day since then. They are so comfortable and I will never go back to Old Navy flip flops again. Besides, these should last me years.
I miss the lovely summer weather already - mostly the joy of being able to send children outside to play without three layers of clothing on. We still try to make it outdoors every day as children must have fresh air every day, or so a friend just told me. This morning we found a plant full of migrating ladybugs (or ladybeetles as I recently found out is the correct name). I had read an article in the newspaper about this being the time of year that ladybugs migrate but you usually find the clusters higher up in the mountains. Kaiden pointed the plant out to us today and even as I type he is outside watching over them. He really has become such a sweet boy and I am encouraged by his ever growing love for others. It gives me hope as Miette is just now moving into the high maintenance discipline years. Wow, boys really are a lot different to raise than girls. I can't believe I am saying this but I really think that Kaiden is/was easier than Miette. Now those of you who have heard of my struggles with Kaiden will find it crazy that I am saying this but with Kaiden it was what you see is what you get. He blatantly, openly would disobey and he would reap the consequences of it. He would accept his discipline, whatever the situation warranted, and we would move on. Miette on the other hand throws hysterical fits about the smallest things and is in tears over inconsequential things. Girls, the drama.
I really am supposed to be editing photos but wanted to catch up a little.

ideas

Okay, so the new blog idea is in the works and here is where I need your imput. I would love for you to send along some topic ideas. Spiritual, practical, impractical, whatever. What are ten girl issues that you find interesting or you would like to see discussed? Email me at owenandemilyatgmaildotcom. It will probably be a few weeks until you see anything related to this as I am throwing ideas around right now. Thank you, thank you for your help. I look forward to hearing from all of you!

bits of this week

Yesterday my mom and I went down to Penrose, CO to the Happy Apple Farm. We had a lot of fun together reaching for apples up high, wading through a pumpkin patch and braving a local diner full of fried chicken and mashed potatoes. The babies all had a great time.

Last Saturday was Kaiden's first soccer game. I feel like such a "real" mom now going to soccer practices and such. This is all rather foreign to me as neither I nor any of my siblings did anything of the sort growing up. Kaiden is definitely one of those children that distractedly looks around and tears up grass while the game is going on.