is any body out there?

Man, I can't believe that its been half a year since I posted any pictures of my gorgeous children.  I mean, really, how are you all surviving??  (Oh, right, you have lives of your own.  ;)  I think once a task becomes too big - like, how can I recap 6 months in a cute, witty post? - then, I just don't want to do it at all.  Ever feel like that?

So, here goes.  I'll post pictures and use the excuse that I've been doing my best to just soak up the boys' sweetness, the sunshine when it arrives, and enjoy the moment.  The moments look like this... oh, and if you didn't get a holiday card from us, that's because none went out.  Hopefully next year I'll plan ahead.

Gavin's class pet, Bobo, went biking with us.  

Graeme has perfected his "cheese" smile.

Hike complete with walking stick and Jr. Ranger collecting vest.

Ice skating at Christmas... closest we got to a Christmas picture...

and then fun in Mexico, even though we got scolded for missing too much school.

And Gavin turns SIX!! 

I attempted a cupcake train cake, 

which looked great until Craig noted that the train was actually backward.  

Oh well, it still tasted good.

If you've made it this far, we love you.  You must really care about us!  

Other notable moments, Graeme started riding a pedal bike. Awesome! 

Both boys are still obsessed with trains.  A little less awesome, but manageable.

Craig's riding to work now most days.  And I'm still teaching yoga every morning.  

That's been our life for the last 6 months. 

We've enjoyed it, hope you did too.

Moving on to what's ahead... and he's running which is why you can't see his leg.

What's up my sleeves?

You are busy, especially this time of year.  So you may not have noticed my absence.  But I notice.  And here's the reason: I've been cheating on my blog.  Lately I've been devoting my extra brain space to developing my yoga and life coaching business.  My mission is to bring wellness, joy, and radiance to women who want to enjoy their beautiful lives, but who - right now - haven't got the space to catch their breath.  Creating space in your life for YOU can take a little work, and I want to help. 

If you haven't seen it already, I've created a Facebook page for Cara Maclean Yoga:

http://www.facebook.com/caramacleanyoga

It would be lovely (and I would really appreciate it) if you would "like" my page and share it with women who you think might like it as well.  So far I've been posting links to useful articles on yoga and wellness.  In the future, hopefully soon, I'll have some yoga videos too, so you can get your move on too!

So, get in on the biz side of my life while I'm just starting out, then you'll be helping me immensely and getting some zen for yourself.  My goal is to launch a proper website in January, so please send me good technology vibes too!  I'll need them.  Thank you for your support!

(And, yes, I do realize I don't have any "sleeves" in this picture, but you get what I mean.)

I'm Thankful For...

Well, this is a first.  Listening to the boys play together this afternoon, I'm hearing the words "Star Wars, rocket ship, and war."  Hmmm... (insert grumpy face)... still fairly benign, thankfully, but it might be a sign that they are, in fact, little boys who may not always be content learning names of plants and flowers.  In any case, we've had a lovely last few months even though I've neglected (yet again) to post anything.

If you're celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, I wish you a day (and a lifetime) full of gratitude for who you are, what you bring to the world, and everything that graces your life.  Here's a peek into what I'm grateful for this year.

Creative kiddos in cozy jams.

That Gavin is beginning to smile like a normal human in pictures.

That one day I will get a picture of the front of Graeme's face.  Someday.

My lovely sister and our family.  Kids rockin' it out in the tube.

Getting cousins together.  And, again, almost the front of Graeme's face.

Train diversions on our long road trip home from Utah.  (Thank you to Mom and Dad for hosting all of us!!)  And that the boys were SO excite by two little train erasers, below, that it bought us an hour or so of content quiet time in the car while they played.

Overall, Fall has been wonderful.  Gavin's enjoying school and I've got the boys in swimming and ice skating again.  (Pictures coming.)  There are so many things and people and lessons to be grateful for... so much so that I bought myself a new gratitude journal today.  This, however, begs the question: when does one retire a journal?  I've got a few and can never seem to let them go unless they are complete.  Not a bad addiction I suppose.  Happy Thanksgiving!  Enjoy!

It takes some time...

The first few days of Kindergarten were challenging.  Gavin didn't quite realize the importance of actually doing what the teacher is asking you to do. 

He didn't feel like counting to 100... until the teacher said it was the last day before the glittery letters went up on the wall for the "100 Club".  Suddenly, it was easy. 

He didn't feel like playing in PE (freeze tag isn't his favorite apparently), so he hid under the table.  Then he realized he wouldn't get picked for teams from that station.  Now he's more engaging.

He didn't feel like coming in for recess - there were still construction trucks to watch after all.  (As they were doing finishing touches to the school and field.)  Now he's first in line.

He didn't feel like participating in Music, so he just laid down.  The teacher let him "nap" off to the side.

And this was just the first two days!  Craig and I were worried.

Luckily, after a few weeks, he's acclimated.  He follows the rules now.  The other kids seem to like him as a few yell, "Gavin!" as he arrives in the morning.  He gets hugs from one of the girls, and one little boy even gave him a hug and then turned to me and said, "I love this guy!"  He earned the class pet, BoBo the Monkey, to take home for the night.

Turns out, he IS a pretty sweet kid.   And he is just 5 after all.

Gavin's First Day!

Today was the first day of Kindergarten for Gavin.  

A little delayed because the school is brand new, rebuilt this summer, and just getting finished.  

Overall, I think he liked it! 

 As we were leaving for school, he showed me (as he does pretty much every time we leave the house) the little baby tree sprouts that we have in our yard.  When we met the teacher on Tuesday, she asked Gavin if he was excited for Kindergarten.  That got a smile and nod.  Then she asked how he was going to go home everyday, to which he responded, "Really excited!"

Here is the enormous backpack he picked out.  The first one he saw.  I wasn't going to argue if he liked it!  It is really cute to see all the kids lined up.  And, Gavin just got right in line and, of course, told the teacher right away that he had an electric train.  Cause, you know, that is the information most needed on the first day of school. 

In his class, there are 14 boys and 8 girls.  

A veteran teacher, thank goodness.

When he saw Graeme and me after school, he ran up to us with a big smile!  He was a little tired, but not exhausted and he seemed in pretty good spirits.  He said he had "a little fun".  And that is enough for me on the first day!  No major drama and as long as he learns when to sit and listen... which we knew would be an issue to start... he'll do quite well.  We're pretty happy parents. 

And it continues...

The train track.  Really.  It's all over the house (via Gavin and Graeme's paper, electric, AND wooden train tracks), and now it's expanded  out the front door, down the stairs, and into the driveway.  They even tried to continue the line into the gravel, but that didn't work so well.  We had a little help from some friends, but the boys drew most of this while I picked the endless supply of weeds in our front yard.  Thought you'd enjoy!  It should last a few days as the rain might stay away for the week.

year of the sunflowers!

After a whole week without the boys, I'm ready for a little more noise and chaos.  They have been at grandma's house, and Craig and I have had the week to ourselves to go out to dinner, go biking, and get a little break.  I vowed not to do any cooking or cleaning.  And, it turns out, I didn't do much gardening either.  

This year the theme for the garden is the Year of the Sunflower.  

They are massive.  Some I think are volunteers and others I planted, but they've never really done all that well in previous years.  I wasn't expecting this.  I think the sunflowers were so established before everything else arrived, they ended up sucking away the nutrients first.  As a result, I have very small tomato plants with tiny tomatoes, and little smatterings of other veggies here and there.  Although, that said, I still think we've had a fair amount to eat from the garden.  And that is always very cool. 

One of the smaller sunflowers.

Happy little cucumber blossom... they are trying their hardest to get some sun and attention from the bees!

      

Tiny beans.  I bet they'll be ready to munch after the weekend.

Here is a picture of the sunflowers.
You can see that they almost reach the height of our deck.  

And there are more to the left of this picture. Seriously crazy.  

I hope the bees don't forget the veggies down below all those flashy flowers.

One thing new this year... potatoes!  This is the first potato I unearthed.  

I felt a little bit like a raccoon looking for dinner, but I found four of these little guys pretty quick. 

They are weird plants though, as it doesn't even seem like the potatoes are connected to the plant.  

They just appear.  It's odd to not be able to see the growth at all.

And then chopped for dinner.  Yum!

As I watered the plants today, I noticed a little brown shuffling something in the strawberry patch.  It got away before I could see what it was... and I'm hoping it wasn't a rat.  Could be, but that would be gross.  There was, however, a very cute furry bird that was perched on the fence close by a few minutes later.  He looked young and not very quick... well, he actually looked like a furry grandpa bird with hair coming out of his ears, but I'm pretty sure he was learning how to fly.  I hoping he was my mystery guest.