Christmas Vacation

Well, the storm didn't bring our little area any measurable rain.  Guess it left it all in California.  So we decided to burn a little energy going for a family walk- the kids, Remington and I.  The sun was just dippin under the mountains when we passed the first mile.

The kids wanted to run, Remi would only go so far ahead of me. (Glad someone in this clan still loves Mama).  I don't run with the camera- replacements are not in the budget.  So here they are waiting a bit ahead while I took the last photo.

It almost got too dark on the way back- oops.  But the three of them posed for a photo.  These easygoing days at home- taking care of the animals, catching up, going for walks- just don't happen often enough!

Wyatt had a project in mind for making holiday candy.  I remember making candy with my Grandma at Christmas time.  He taught Bailey how he had made the ones for his teacher, then they made some creative ones.

Well, the house still isn't clean, the shopping isn't done, and the pens still need working on.  But I really enjoy the little days when I can spend time with the kids and not rush anywhere.  Maybe we have time to prep one last craft project before bed that they can complete tomorrow!

Score One for Compromise

Quads really scare me.  I mean REALLY scare me.  I don't want the kids anywhere near them.  That has been a big issue for Charlie and I, as h finds them to be very useful.  He feels like he can teach the kids to ride safely and they won't become the statistic that so many others do.  I don't want to take that chance.

So we have fought about this for some time.  My father in law, tried to work on me for compromise.  He thought I should meet in the middle if there was a side-by-side two seater with seat belts, roll bars and a limited speed.  I thought I could live with the kids riding his mule, as long as they listened and wore their seat belts.  But Charlie still ha a quad.  Ugh.

So recently, he found this Joyner (as Wyatt calls it).  It is a four seater, with harnesses and roll bars.  So he, along with a good buddy of his, invested in it together.  I said yes under the agreement that if he got his new toy, there would be no more talk of my babies on a quad- ever.

Remington didn't like riding in it, though.  Nor did Hopper Spark.  I went with Charlie and the kids for a ride the other night, we took previously made trails, and went looking at Christmas lights before we came home. 

So the moral of the story here is, I am trying.  But NO QUADS!  And Charlie listened and got something more.  Bet he wishes he could have had his new toy sooner, but maybe not.

I suppose we shall see where this goes, but maybe I am learning compromise in my old age.  Maybe even better communication with the big tough guy I married but don't see a whole lot of with work, tdys, and kids and the farm to keep us running.  Wish us luck, hope you all get everything you truly dream of!

BonBons and Babies

There seems to be this overwhelming impression that all modern women do is sit around with their feet propped up eating bonbons, watching reality TV.  Funny, I really don’t know what a bonbon is.  I think it involves little balls of ice cream dipped in chocolate.  If you happen to know, please enlighten me.  Until then, I will create new delicious flavors in my mind, where there are no calories or blood sugar peaks and crashes.

So in the reality show known as my life, I work, manage the farm and family business, raise children, drive the kids to school (35 miles from home) and handle homework, extracurricular activities and whatever life throws at me. This week, Charlie left early Monday for a last minute trip to fix an airplane (or to try to fix it) that was stuck in Louisiana. Monday night, we dropped into a hard freeze. Having prepped as best we could, the kids and I went to bed, leaving baby goats snuggled into straw with their mama, and a tiny drip from a hose run in a direction away from the pens.


As you can guess from the foreshadowing, we woke to a geyser from a burst pipe and shivering babies (separate area) at 5am. Bailey ran the babies in to stuff into my jacket while I prepped for the day, and the kids got busy breaking icy waters and tending to the other animals. As I started loading the car just at first light, I found the noise I had been chasing- the water junction on the outside that had burst. I called Charlie, trying to isolate the right shut off without making us late.

In the end, we were still late for the meeting time at the carpool, and we arrived with baby goats in the car. The babies were still shivering in the house after an hour, and it was still only 26 degrees, so I had to take them along and run them back home before going to work.

So the baby goats got to go to school for a few minutes, which the students in Wyatt’s class, and some of Bailey’s friends, appreciated. And when I got home to drop them off, it was up to 35 degrees and the babies were finally warm, playing in the car on their little blanket. There were still icicles from the consistent drip of the leaking pipe fittings, so I decided to take a photo of that too.

All this had sidetracked my visit with my Aunt, my morning workout and my pre-class grading and prep time, but my students seemed to like the class anyway. Then on to the weight room for more teaching, and a fast break to pick the kids- Wyatt had a paper due and Bailey had forgotten the proper shoes for basketball in the melee, so they were all quite ready by the time I reached the school.

After reaching home and tending to all of the animals, homework ran until 11, and we decided to keep the baby goats inside as we were facing similar temperatures. They kept Bailey up most of the night demanding to be cuddled from the playpen.

Mmmm… caramel coconut pecan bonbons…

The business counselor tells me the purpose of blogging is that the outside world will understand the worth of the lifestyle we live, and the locally handmade arts and crafts and organic farming. But the truth is- it is hard work, a labor of love. It is exhaustion and long hours, guilt over the drive needed to get the children to a good school, running through lightning to save animals when the barn roof has partly sheared off leaving does cornered, pulling my wedding dress from the broken glass and retrieving Charlie’s football memorabilia after a tornado sends the storage shed flying.

Chris Ledoux (my ultimate favorite singer) sang a song about how everyone should come move out to the country where life is good. Part way through the song he realizes that then the country won’t be country anymore. The he tells the listener to go themselves a city park, where they won’t have to work about the dust and snow and heat and cold and rattlesnakes or any of that.

The business counselor tells me the purpose of blogging is that the outside world will understand the worth of the lifestyle we live, and the locally handmade arts and crafts and organic farming. But the truth is- it is hard work, a labor of love. It is exhaustion and long hours, guilt over the drive needed to get the children to a good school, running through lightning to save animals when the barn roof has partly sheared off leaving does cornered, pulling my wedding dress from the broken glass and retrieving Charlie’s football memorabilia after a tornado sends the storage shed flying.

Chris Ledoux (my ultimate favorite singer) sang a song about how everyone should come move out to the country where life is good. Part way through the song he realizes that then the country won’t be country anymore. The he tells the listener to go themselves a city park, where they won’t have to work about the dust and snow and heat and cold and rattlesnakes or any of that.

In fact, I invite everyone to come visit Patriot’s Dream. Call first, so we can make sure to be there, and give me a chance to run a broom through the house, and don’t be disturbed by the crazy, though. I would love for everyone to understand where the love of this life comes from. And I would love them to leave the expanse of land untamed, so I can still have the amazing stars, and share them with you when you visit. Come do yoga, sink your hands in the soil, hold babies and help collect eggs. Participate in fitness and nutrition. Bask in the beauty of our sunsets.


But this life can be hard, devastating, exhilarating and exhausting all at the same time. My husband came home the other night. He will be with us for a few weeks before the next trip. I am going to remind myself that we are lucky he is stateside this time of year, unlike so many of our brothers and sisters in our extended military family. So I am hoping to be working in the greenhouse over Christmas, while we watch for more baby goats to arrive. Doing extra workouts with Bailey, and trying to catch up on chores and repairs.

I don’t expect to prop me feet up much more than for a few hours of sleep here and there. But I am thinking up new bonbons. Praline Almond, anyone?

Your Own Best Self

I have spent a lot of time lately discussing goals with a whole range of folks. Be it my children, and discussing what the feel is the most important to them, my clients and what their goals are or my students and the goals they are required to set in order to get a good grade in their fitness class. At the same time, we ask “how will you know when you get there?” of ourselves and those we do goal setting with, and it is funny how the answers change as the journey toward the goals unfolds.



I spent some time with one of my older students yesterday, discussing the fact that the younger students often don’t want to listen to the instructors, and that sometimes we all struggle with the balance of learning o listen to the needs of the body while not giving up or cutting short the push to reach for our goals (and even beyond the goals). This particular student is a testament to never giving up. He is self described as the smallest of the brothers in his family, the least physically inclined. Yet in his return to college, he took the time to take classes in becoming a better student and has listened to the feedback of the instructors whenever we talk with him.


From a distance, this student is the big bulky weight lifter many strive to become, do-rag and all, former service member and champion arm wrestler. He comes every day, is completely comfortable in the gym, has a catalog in his mind of hundreds of exercises. But he has spent this semester going back to basics to overcome injuries and redefine his goals, has decreased weight significantly and used that refocus to become stronger than he thought he might. He takes every opportunity to learn new things and try things. And despite his experience, he never acts above others, and takes time to get to know the young guys who are just stepping into a gym for the first time. He is a great example.


While I don’t know his whole story, I always enjoy his positive attitude. We were discussing yesterday he younger students who don’t always want to take direction. One younger boy had been very defensive to another instructor recently, and this student was a bit put off by his unwillingness to learn or talk with the instructor. And he has been taking some of the younger students under his wing. One of the students he had been trying to encourage was one I have been working with regularly, a sixteen year old who is trying to learn everything he can and find his own goals. Funny he brought him up, because that boy had left me thinking earlier in the week.


It was after my usual teaching shift, and I had corrected something for the boy and discussed different modes of cardio after finishing my own workout. He didn’t really want to try my suggestion, and I was trying to figure out what was really motivating his questions. I asked if there was something in particular he wanted to try. He asked about the workout I had done with a student the previous afternoon. This brought a lot of clarity for me. The student he had seen me working with was a football player who is sitting the year out, working through college and trying to get stronger to try out to return to the team next year. He does much of his lifting on his own, and works with trainers a couple times a week on intense plyometric work.


For this young student, I answered that we could certainly teach him a couple new exercises. It wouldn’t address the area he was pointing to, though. I explained I would be glad to give him a few plyo options to try, but he was going to have to practice them a bit before he could start with the larger box he had seen the day before. I asked a loaded question, not sre what the response would be “What are you hoping to get out of these exercises, so we balance your workout properly with the cardio and strength training?” Ouch, the sly grin came with the slow response I had been hoping not to learn. He wanted to get the muscles stronger and bigger. And he wanted to look like the other student.


This young boy, who is several steps ahead of his peers academically, is very detailed and conscientious, but is not really predisposed genetically to the large muscled shape he is looking up to. As I talked to this young student, he revealed a lot about himself. He is still slowly becoming comfortable in his own skin. He really looks up to this other student, whose confidence and muscle and laughter sound like what he feels he is missing.


Funny, the student he seems to want to be like is struggling with a very long commute to school, working, attending school, and trying to figure out how to properly eat and maintain everything simultaneously. Maybe it isn’t as simple as it looks on the outside.


On top of that, my entire yoga class had turned around to look at one another during an advanced option early in the week. So much for focusing on their own mat.


As I was speaking with this first student yesterday, we were talking about how hard the balance is, and how everyone seems to look at one another for comparison. This student said to become “your own best self.” Funny how hard that can be. He reflected on the ups and downs of his own training and the challenges we all face. I agreed that this is always a process for so many, myself included. But watching the interactions of the week made for such a profound statement for me. I will keep trying, for my own balance and for the example of that I set for others.


How will you be your own best self? And how will you know when you get there? What then?

Why my Math Homework looks funny...

Sure, he could have sat at the dining table to finish his math, like Mama said to, but then there would not have been a king of the mountain contest on his back...

Life as an Accidental Rescue

Life as an Accidental Rescue


The gate to our little farm is on a cul-de-sac that borders a very fast-moving road. The road is also popular for truckers trying to avoid the interstate, as well as those running things up from the Arizona- Mexico border. When my husband and I bought the property eleven years ago, the perimeter fence set in concrete and rimmed with barbed wire was a selling point. Despite the fact that the road was much less busy then and there having been far fewer folks living nearby, we could see the growth potential for the road which extends much of the length of the greater Tucson area.


Back then, our dog Callie Jo patrolled the fence line fiercely. Parents weren’t even allowed through the gate to pick up their children from sleepovers without my opening the gate and granting specific permission. Vegas Ace and Hopper Spark would eventually join the pack. After Callie Jo passed away, Remington rounded out the trio of four-legged guardians helping me run the farm. By then goats are gardens were the norm, by the chickens were just about to come along.


The fall after she joined us, when Remi was still awaiting her spay appointment, a little boy dog came calling at the gate. He was not yet fixed either, and had come visiting with less than pure intentions. I thought he must have a home, but after several weeks of trying, I was having a very difficult time finding it, and being a small dog it was getting to the point was I was resorting to crating him almost all the time to keep him away from Remi. In the end, some nice folks at NSG Rescue somewhere on the other end of Sandario, who sweetly gathered him from me during kidding season. I hear he has since found a wonderful home.


In the last several years, we have returned a number of wandering horses and cattle to owners or at least to friends with facilities to hold them while we found the owners. We are almost always successful in returning them. The recent economy, however, has been hard, and the tables have turned some. A month or so ago, followers of our website and blog met a boy we called Bucky. He was apparently dumped near our place, and followed his nose to our property (I think looking for food, water and does.) After two weeks of looking for his family, and following all clues which turned up to support the fear that he was dumped. The livestock officer asked if we would like to keep him. The prospect of another buck was not one we were looking forward to, especially one with horn who wished to challenge Huey for his does. We did end up finding him a herd of does of his own, a family near the university was looking forward to a new friend.


A few weeks later, a mama doe with a broken leg and her baby doe were wandering the same big road. I lost sight of them, but in the morning as I was packing lunches, neighbors came for help catching them. Before I knew it, my neighbors, my daughter and I had caught the does and carried them to one of our pens. The mama had a broken leg, though it seemed to have been broken for some time. As we were soon expecting kids, we were glad when the livestock inspector called the next day with arrangements to take them to the holding facility. I hope they were able to find good homes in a quick manner.


Rescues have come to take a special place in the landscape of modern American culture. They take in the animals whose families are lost or have abandoned them, giving them a new chance at a full life. That is how Hopper Spark came to us all those years ago, and I couldn’t imagine a better best friend for Wyatt Clay. While we have re-homed or returned animals that have come to our little haven, our lives have been enriched by the effort. We are not a regular rescue, just an accidental one where new friends drop in, make an impact on our lives, and move on to new pastures. We sure respect the tireless work of those who can do all they do and rescue every day to boot. It is tiring and happy, all at the same time, and quite a way to get to know the neighbors!

New Babies at Patriots Dream 26October 2010

These babies were born on Tuesday night, October 26, 2010.  The little buck is a dark agouti with white atop his head.  The little doe has the belly band and the white on her leg.

These photos are from right after they were born.  Names are still to come, but we will keep you updated!  The little buck was born first, but they are both cute and very cuddly!

Mama is very attentive, all three are doing well.

This sweet little boy loves to be silly!

Modern Day Mama

This mom thing is much harder than it looked before Bailey Noelle was born.  If the crazy parents in the school parking lot don't do you in (good grief, just go around the loop in one direction it is not that hard, folks!), the complete lunacy at their extra curricular events will push you toward to institution.  We enroll them in activities to give them a chance to be with other kids (we do live in the boonies, you know, well away from their school), and the hypercompetitive parents seem to remove all possibility of teaching teamwork and responsibility.

Charlie and I often talk about how different it used to be, but I remember those stage moms of my ballet days.  The ones who gave their girls stage names and drove them to buy the most expensive toe shoes whether they actually fit better or not.  Who paid tutors to do the school work and schmmozed the dance master.

I imagine that as Charlie and I discuss personal responsibility and what kind of people we want Bailey and Wyatt Clay to grow up to be, that we idealize the times of the past.  I am sure that we can easily ignore the problems that existed in the previous generations.  We have been so very fortunate to be able to provide them with a good school, despite that we have to drive so far.  They are able to raise livestock and compete in 4H, Wyatt plays football, Bailey is in the school play.  And they both do much more than that.  Despite raising them in a military family in such uncertain times, we are tremendously blessed to be able to make so much possible.

I suppose that I hope that anyone who reads this will stop to think what they really want their child to garner from their activities.  Is winning really everything?  What do we want them to learn in the journey, what qualities do we want them to posess when they lead the next generation?  As much as I despise having to explain so often that sometimes adults forget to be adults and emulate positive qualities, I hope that in telling them that they are the company they keep, that they will choose those associations wisely.

As much as I hope to give them every opportunity in life, I hope to foster in them the ability and drive to open the doors for themselves, and to close them and open new ones when needed.  I won't take Bailey and Wyatt away from their activities unless the situation is unsafe.  I will expect them to follow through on their committments.  I will hope that when they see me correct my wrongs they remember to do so too.  But it is so hard when I have to sit back and watch the volatility.

Remember when we were young and our parents looked to have it so easy?  Funny, looking back now!  At least, I think so.  I will continue to lay the groundwork for my children, continue to work with Charlie to reinforce the ideals that we feel matter most.  To make sure they know they are truly loved, no matter what.  And hopefully emulate the kind of people we want to raise with my own behavior.  Wish me luck.  And hey, let's all hang in there together.  Maybe if we show the kids what teamwork means, we will truly lay the groundwork for a better tomorrow- raising barns, helping those who need it, and no expecting anything in return.  A girl can dream, right?

Home from Hunting

The Labor Day holiday means many things...
A three day weekend, the celebration of forward movement in workers conditions in the Unites States over a hundred years ago, and for some- Dove hunting.  Charlie had the rare chance to sneak out early today, and ran out to pick up Wyatt for a little afternoon hunting.

While an unforcasted storm threatened to thwart their last minute plans, they ran south of the storm and bagged a few.  Charlie also was quite glad to have the chance to work one-on-one with our new young hunter on hunting ethics and safety!  (Meanwhile Bailey and Mama were doing Community Yoga Group).

Wyatt is committed to his football team obligations in the morning, then he is off with the boys- and hopefully Bailey- to hunt for the afternoon. 

Guess Mama had better google some good recipes!  Just as soon as she posts the photos of her cuties!

New Arrivals this Week at Patriot's Dream

I might just bet that I fooled some of you with that heading!  Some of you know that Bailey is expecting baby goats in the near future. 

This set of new arrivals, however, involves Wyatt's chickens. 

In preparation for the new farmer's market Wyatt has committed to for eggs in late October, seventeen 3-4 month old chickens came home on Thursday. 

Along with the hatchlings he has been raising since summer, they are expected to begin contributing to the egg sales in late fall. 

For those of you who are our regular customers, consider playing a little match the breed to the egg. 

While these chickens aren't currently providing the eggs you purchase, they are healthy bids who will soon do so.  And these are mixed in their heritage, all with a little Americauna thrown in. 

Should be fun to see what colors of eggs they throw!!!  Enjoy the photos...

To Rescue a Goat

For those of you who follow Patriot's Dream on Facebook, you already know that two weeks ago, someone ran a stray goat off of Sandario to our house.  We've spent the last two weeks contacting the livestock inspector, the local breeders, 4H folks, and the folks in our area who seem to know everyone.  One gentleman said he wanted him, then backed out at the last minute.  Alas, Bucky Boy the stray pygmy buck is still in a holding pen on the northeast area of our property.

In posting on Facebook and Craigslist, I did also research enough to figure out with decent certainty, that someone was trying to sell him quite inexpensively about a week before he appeared at Patriot's Dream.  This leads us to the conclusion that he was dumped.  The livestock inspector agrees with this assumption.  Sad, no animal deserves to be dumped.  The livestock inspector says to go ahead and offer him up to youth in 4H, or anyone who may want him.  If he cannot be rehomed, the livestock inspector will come pick him up.  But he doubts he will sell in the abandoned livestock auction.

Bucky Boy will likely be a sweet fellow when not trying to challenge our buck for his ladies.  Wethering will turn him in to a nice pet, or if we had been able to determine he could be registered, even a show goat.  His random markings would keep him from being too perfect, but other than that he has a nice face and conformation. (Though we all know that each judge sees an animal quite differently!)  For now, though, he is lonely without friends to hang out with.

Our friend, Auntie Sonia, seems to want to take Bucky Boy home.  She lives in the city, though, and I don't know the landlord will go for yet another animal in the menagerie at their house.  She sent me the attachment about a goat rescue in Montana.  Bucky Boy should be very glad to be here than to have waited on a ledge for two days like these precious girls!  The photos make quite an impression!

Bucky Boy talks to us when we are working nearby, and plays with his house.  I am going to announce that he is looking for a home at the 4H meeting next Tuesday.  I hope he will find a place where he can be happy and a member of the herd.  Take a look, let me know what you think.  The next time you see a lost animal, as hard as it is, try to help him find his way home.  Even if the journey takes a bit.  We are all gods creatures, after all.  I will let you know how this pans out.

Science is confusing!!!

I was a vendor at a wonderful event this weekend, called Shannon's Slumber Party.  They expected about 700 women, though I don't know how many finally showed up.  The ladies shopped, got their hair and nails done, and got demonstrations in self defense, Pole Fitness, Zumba fitness, and had a private concert.  They were there to party!

In the midst of it all, a very sweet woman came by and read the sign for Patriot's Dream Farm.  Many people ask me about the name of our farm, and others about the origin of the products we make.  She asked a bit about that, then about what my credentials were in regards to nutrition and wellness.

This wonderful lady asked me about my research backround, and whether I had any research experience with post cancer post menopausal fitness.  I get similar questions all of the time.  The hardest part of science is the reality that no one really knows for sure, especially in medical research.

Ira Flatow recently blogged about having two scientists on Talk of the Nantion Science Friday who disagreed about the findings in 2 ancient bones, and the repurcussions those findings had on evolutionary study.  They disagreed so vehemently, in fact, that the host had to referee a shouting match.  In the last week, the host found himself in similar ground moderating a discusison about where the oil has gone from the gulf oil spill/ leak.  At the end of the day, there is so much we just don't know.

Back to the question from my new friend.  She had been unable to find anything definitive about why her body had responded as it had, and how to get her precancer strength and endurance back.  The truth is, we just don't know.  We expect science and medicine to have the answers, but really it only has clues that we use ourselves to solve our own puzzle.

The response of each person to a given illness is different, as is their response to treatment.  And tey were different from those arond them to begin with.  Add in to that hormones, when treatment or illness fall in the hormone cycle of your body and you have quite a conundrum.  Science looks for groupings of responses in order to draw lines and parallels.  It is up to each of us to work with our physicians and trainers to see how those findigs apply to us as individuals.

That said, it is certainly not impossible.  By working with a log book, and using research as a guide, we make one change at a time, and see what the response was to that given change.  We continue to draw ideas and groups of ideas from science and work to balance that for each individual.  Like you hear all over this blog, patience, perseverance, hard work and being present really do pay off.  We treat each person s an individual, and remember that wat works today may change with fluctuations in hormones or a change in another element of the health condition of the individual.  And by working through it, with the client leadig the charge and at the center of the work, we create a set of options to choose from.  Then the individual has all of those tools in their toolbag to continue to change things.  Refresher meetings are about refreshing those tools and developing new ones.

So science doesn't have all the answers, or even most of them- yet.  But we are scientists too.  And the work of following the clues responsibly is well worth it.  Got a question?  Email me.  Think the answer might benefit someone else too?  Post it as a comment.  Have a great day.  And don't give up.

Watch Kenny Chesney’s New Video For “The Boys of Fall”

I spent today at the first two scrimmages the precede the football season for Wyatt and the Cadet level team he plays with as the Tucson Steelers.

Last year, Wyatt was a newbie. He watched what else was going on, but I was never really sure how much he liked it. The reason was, I didn't want Wyatt Clay to feel like he had to like football just because his Daddy LOVES football. I want him to find his own way. Wyatt didn't seem to feel it yet. For those of you who don't know what I mean, think back to that one special thing, or two, that in your life mean so much.

I was a ballerina, a pilot, and those adrenaline rushes have also manifested in other things over time, like aerobics, running, even the occasional bull riding in my college days. I love dance, I love airplanes. I watch the ballet, I can feel it. I dance when no one is watching to express myself. I watch the planes overhead, and every airshow I can talk Charlie into. He sees the planes like he works on every day. I can still feel the rush of a takeoff, the buffeting of an eminent stall, the last little rush of flight when you coast, hovering just before landing. I still love to watch rodeo, but I don't feel the bull riding any more. So while I want the kids to try everything they want to in life (okay, within reason, I am a Mama), I want them to feel the devotion of those special things they feel in their hearts.

I don't know how long football will mean something to Wyatt. This week, Charlie left an article out for me to read. I read about Kenny CHesney's transformation on the road this last year. How he needed to recharge, and had reached back to the love of his life before music- football. He talked about the rush of it, the way it taught him to work for what he wanted. That it taught him about life, teamwork and family. When he needed to recharge, he worked on a project which not only glorifies youth and school football, it highlights the meaning of the lessons learned and how those lessons stay with you for life. Thosse lessons struck a chord for me.

I passed the article back to Charlie, but he hadn't read it yet. I thought he should, then it followed through the family. Right after, the boys came across the extended video on TV. One coach quoted in the video spoke about the feeling, the rush. And he mentioned that after the weekly games are over, few things equal that rush.

For today, Wyatt was on his feet, or sitting on the sidelines, but engaged in the game. He rejoiced in the success of others, and was excited to come home and show me things. He is practicing on a dummy behind me, as he just missed the sack he went for in the second scrimmage. I guess anything that turns a kid on to working hard for a goal, and gets a child who is as careful as Wyatt is about who he talks to to reach out and compliment kids he doesn't really know- can't be a bad thing to really feel. For now, I will have to swallow hard and watch my baby get hit on the field. And smile as he talks to his chickens and best friend the dog about what he loves when he is away from the farm.

I hope my new little veteran player, and his buddies he is growing up with on the field, always have something to feel like that. And for those of you who might not know country music, here is a link to the video. Hope it helps remind you to keep reaching out for what you love. Even if you have forgotten for a while.


Watch Kenny Chesney’s New Video For “The Boys of Fall”

Back to School 2010

Bailey and Wyatt returned to school for the coming year yesterday! Both excited for another year...

Wyatt is already preparing for his first scrimmage this weekend in football, and is hoping to sign up for the math club afterschool.

Bailey is dreading drama, but enjoying physics and looking forward to basketbal, 4H, and robotics...

Looks to be a pretty busy year!

This is Charlie and Wyatt squeezing in a bit of catch before class.  Good thing Wyatt is a lineman!

Thinking of Community...

Yoga was fun this morning. Tammy and the girls have become the regulars, with a rotating group of semi-regulars. A week or so ago, Bailey emailed Teresa- it has been on my list to do for some time- and wrote one of her flash emails, yoga is tomorrow at 9, hope you can come, Bailey- kind of things. As short as it was, it did the trick to connecting in someone from our previous community yoga crowd- Teresa emailed last night.

When she came in, we did the introductions. I figured she and Tammy had met somewhere along the line, since they live within a mile of one another. They had, but had not really known each other aside from a meeting with another of our former yoga folks who moved to Cailfornia several years back. This led to the reality sinking in that my eight year old's entire life has been almost free of the community yoga group.

That sounds like nothing, except that this group has been my only real connection to the community in which I live. I have been a professional in this industry since the early 1990s. But we moved out here in 1999. And other than the other folks I saw on the site council and PTA in the small district where the children used to attend school, I didn't know anyone. So I slowly started posting signs about starting a community yoga group.

This was well before facebook or craigslist, at least for me. I met my friend Toni this way. She brought friends from the school and I invited other parents. When I took the job on the reservation, it was the girls from the yoga group who helped me find the woman who we used for child care. They threw an impromptu shower for me before Wyatt Clay was born. After Wyatt was born, the group sort of fizzled out. Stacy moved to Montana, Terry moved to California. We had moved the group to the community center, but that seemed to take something away from its feeling as a family, and folks came less.

For the last three years, we have driven our children to town to school in order to keep them on track for college and keep Wyatt in programs to help with speech and all. Many of the other parents still here are doing the same. We moved to a 4H group on the northern end of the road we live on so that Bailey could work with other kids that do Pygmy goat. It has increasingly felt that the only thing we had left here in this community was the house.

I have been wanting to restart the yoga group for some time. Also wanting to teach classes here at the house has helped move this along. When I first logged on to Facebook a few weeks ago, Toni found me almost immediately. Tammy did too, our children having gone to preschool together and done Clover Club together before we moved our children to different town schools. Connecting this morning, and finding how we all fit together and seeing in all of our children the passage of time,it really brought this home today.

Before she left, Teresa and I caught up again as we have from time to time over the years, standing in the hallway where she used to be known for statements that hit home. When I walked her out, we discussed the community feeling and reconnection. She said that this was a kind of community in itself. Outside of our little houses, we come together once each week. Silly, laughing, not strict, but practicing together and passing it on to the next generation while supporoting one another and working on ourselves. Yep, our own community. And everyone is welcome. Thanks for keeping me on track, girls!!!

Steelers...

The Tucson Steelers are having a fundraiser! It is a raffle where the prizes include a ball hoop, and pop shot game, gift cards and much more...

Tickets are $3.00 or 2 for $5.00.

Raffle will be held September 30th during practice.

Interested? Let us know!

Breathe in, breathe out, just breathe.

Community Yoga Group was fun this morning. Many of the regulars were away today. While that can feel like something is missing in a class, today it gave me more time to help the newcomers.

One of the beautiful things about the community yoga group, is that we are open to explore the practice with laughter and practicality, without newcomers feeling pressured with a more strict yoga practice. Although, anyone who has attended my yoga classes in the last 12 years knows that I believe each person is different, and that yoga is meant to be fun and connected- not stale and a performance. This is meditation through movement, not some strict adherence for supremacy.

Folks come into yoga with a lot of perceptions. Some are accurate, others are close, some still couldn't be farther from the truth. I was cuing downward dog, explaining that while it is a resting posture, it never feels like that the first several times when a couple of today's group started laughing. This healthy response elicits conversation, usually. I corrected one participant on straightening the legs, and reminded them that they can change how far their feet are apart to make it work better for them. Many people will always work with a specific spacing of the feet because it is what they originally learned. But each person is different. Today, I found myself reminding them that, as far as I know of, there is no ancient Sanskrit text that defines the perfect alignment in inches for how far apart the feet are. The correct spacing is defined by your body and where you align correctly.

Today we also spent some time on correct breath. But mostly afterward. I found myself discussing that we work toward full breaths and types of breathing for the purpose of bringing forth different physiological responses, leading to eliminating stale breath, voiding toxins, warming the body, lots of things. But this isn't the first thing I teach. The first thing I teach in yoga, as with all exercise is to breathe. Period.

If each of us remembers to breathe, the rest will come. This applies to daily life. Breathe in, breathe out, get up and try again. Don't expect to look like the person next to you. Don't give up, reset yourself and try the posture/ exercise again. Breathe in, breathe out, take on a new challenge. Approach a problem from a new angle. Only expect to control what is truly within your grasp, and only if it meant to be within your grasp. Breathe in, breathe out. Elongate the spine and receive the breath fully. As long as you keep breathing, keep trying, it will come.

See you all next week.

New Ways to enjoy Scents and Aromatherapy

I was reading today about a new trend: more people are using aromatherapy in the shower. Apparently the average person spends 5 to 10 minutes in the shower, and because they are having a hard time finding time for relaxation anywhere else in their day, they are using fizzing aromatherapy in the shower.

I am not picking on this trend. Bailey has had me make her a eucalyptus version of her sugar scrubs and soaps for years now, which she likes to use when her allergies are bad. Other times her favorites trend to the lavender and fruited scents.

I don't usually need anything special, our lavender soap catches the steam of the shower and opens my eyes and mind each time. There are so many healing properties of lavender, and when all else fails it is also just good for the soul. While out running this morning, I was thinking it was time to bring in the supplies for he holiday scents, the pumpkin, sure, but the big call is for the orange, cinnamon and clove spice essential oil blend I add to soaps and scrubs for fall. It feeds my holiday atmosphere of the mind.

In a time where we in the wellness industry are warning against too many scents because of air pollution, allergies and asthma, I would acknowledge the thought, with a caveat. Know what is in the product you use. Harsh chemicals are not good for anyone. Opt for natural products, where the scents come from essential oils an natural ingredients. If the ingredient list contains a long list of things you cannot pronounce, beware.

If you are sensitive to certain things, work with someone who hand makes the items you want to use to help develop your own version. I recently had a parent want me to work with them to make approved lavender items for their child, with a given list of "no's" from the family physician. Since I can make very small batches, I really enjoyed the challenge, and could take it on as a small, individual artisan. I have also had special requests for products without coconut oil.

Anyhow, if the 5-10 minutes you spend in the shower is the only time you have to relax, and you choose aromatherapy while you are at it, make it a quality experience. Consider one of our soaps, scrubs or other products, or at least make it the good stuff. There is always the aromatherapy that comes from the good quality lotions and balms to get lost in later in the day, too. Share your favorite scents and styles in the comment section for everyone!!!

Take time to be Present

Take Time to Be Present
A Sea Star hug and other lessons in life…

We let the kids sleep in after the late night of fireworks on the fourth. Charlie and Dad were painting, and I went to the coffeehouse to do some computer work, then came back as Mom was serving the kids breakfast. The big plan: Sea World.

We spent a busy afternoon in the crowded park, packing into shows, marveling at the wonders, getting doused on rides, shivering against the unusually cold July day. In the evening, Charlie sat with three excited children in the second row soak zone at the beautiful new dolphin show. The kids were thrilled at the coming water promised from the dolphins and pilot whales- the other three of us took the towel and electronics up several stairs. Charlie got the kids hot chocolate to keep the wind at bay.

After dinner, Wyatt still had a few things he wanted to see before he was ready to leave Sea World. We went to the Arctic experience. The kids played together in the exhibit, stared in awe and noted similarities between the creatures. The people around us were taking their time, too. Without the rush of the crowds people were settling in to enjoy the majesty and grace of the large animals. We stared at penguins, noted how they behave similarly to Wyatt’s chickens. Puffins look a bit like silkies as babies.

We had to wander a bit to find the bat rays. Their interaction area had been packed three deep when we had come by earlier. Now the kids were among very few there. The girl acting as curator for the exhibit answered several questions from across the pool. Several rays came up to the children, rolling their wing-like appendages until the children had touched them and felt like they had high 5’s. It was getting late, so Wyatt moved on to the tide pools.

At the tide pools, Wyatt looked up at me and asked if they had eyes. Not having an answer for him, I told him he could ask the girl from the exhibit. Shy little Wyatt walked up and asked. What ensued was about an hour of Wyatt, sometimes joined by the girls, peppering the girl with questions. She wandered all aournd with him and discussed the number of rays (arms) and helped him touch and understand the sea stars, sea anemones, and other plants and animals. They discussed how they eat, eliminate and move, their nervous systems and brains. She put sea stars in his hands to give him sea star hugs, showed him how the other creatures would wrap around his finger to see what he was. The fireworks came and went. He was wide awake and ready to learn about hese things in front of him.

Much of our group had long been ready to go. But vacations come so seldom when you live with all the animals we have, and time for Wyatt to explore without shyness or fear and just indulge his curiosity is rare. An hour ticked by easily, with him making sure I experienced along with him.

Wyatt was teaching one of the tenets we strive to live in yoga- to be present in the moment. We so often bustle our way through life, ticking off items on the to-do list. We are so consumed by all that is going on that we fail to stop, look around us and really participate fully in life. To be present in the moment, the full experience of the life we live.

That night I lay awake in bed, thinking about the day. I was reminded of how Wyatt had drawn me in. How we had let go of whatever else was out there to fully experience what was around us then. our children have much to teach us as we try to teach them. I hope to learn more each day, to be the person they deserve for me to be. To be present in the moment and our lives each day. And, did I mention? I, too, got a sea star hug, too.

More fun!

San Diego is cold!!! OK, I like living in Arizona. Even if we have to leave to run at 5:30 this time of year.

So yesterday, Kaleigh and Wyatt started off with a fizzy project while the men painted and I made breakfast. Meanwhile, Bailey and Grandma worked by the back fence to finish up from Charlie's weedeating. So Dad and Charlie used the winch to pull down a dead tree. They took their frustrations out on it, and chopped it up and took a load of green waste off to become compost. San Diego does a really good job generating revenue through their green recycling and composting.

So then Mom and I took the kids to the park for the celebration there. They swam for over an hour. Wyatt climbed the climbing wall. So Kaleigh climbed the climbing wall.

Sure Heather, we are feeding the kids plenty of really nutritious cherries, veggies, and grapes. But that is everyday stuff, so who takes a photos of it?

By the way Heather, we didn't want yo to feel left out, so we made you a steak at dinner, too. Here it is. The three boys say they will act in your stead and eat it for lunch today. Sound good? Wouldn't want to waste, you know.

So we all went to the fireworks, which was well worth it! Then afterwards, a ship passed by and shot of it's cannons. Very cool. But we think we need some more fun. As I type, the men are painting the back trim. Then we are all going to Sea World. They do a free pass most years for military families. Very nice of them, and we sure appreciate it. This year Charlie will get to be will us. But I am still too cold for the splash zone!!! Anyway, more fun to come. eee