What makes a child dance?

The music is playing, he stops what he's doing and starts dancing. Clapping. Smile on the face. A quick look around to see who's watching.

No one taught him to dance. Although we certainly encourage it.

He's got his own style, but it's not unlike his peers.

And, anyone watching would be hard pressed not to smile, laugh even.

His moves have expanded lately: He added the squats the other day - a move that really works your quads if you decide to groove along. Today, he added some raised arm motions that looks a lot like celebration.

My dear, dear boy. He doesn't let me stay down for long.

A ho hum day of blah

Some days seem like a waste.

I wish it was a matter of wasting time sitting around. At least then I'd feel rested.

Today was more like walking a treadmill on the uphill setting. Only then I'd atleast be able to say I got some excersize.

Bear didn't have a good day today either. No one wanted to do what he wanted to do, and no one could figure it out.

Nothing was accomplished today, and no one had any fun.

Here's my pledge to make tomorrow a better day.

Sometimes it's more important to live in the moment than to capture the moment.
Sometimes it's more fun to take a walk without a camera swinging around my neck.
Sometimes I can make up my mind to have a great morning, and it really happens.

Bear and I went walking with the Haleys' near their house this morning. It really wasn't a special event. I suppose you could say we were celebrating the unseasonably warm weather.

Bear walked the longest distance I think he ever has. Up hills and down hills. Running, and trying to keep up with the older boys, and falling, and getting back up again. He got muddied by the wet dog shake and hardly seemed to notice.

He did ask to be picked up a few times, but always wanted back down again. And, he wasn't looking for Mommy. He was actually asking Jen to pick him up more. And, didn't mind having Rael carry him a bit, too.

What's even better is that this walk would have made me happy even without Bear. It was absolutely what I wanted to do with my morning with or without my boy. And, it was what my boy wanted to do.

Ahhhh... It feels good to be healthy.

The icing on the cake (yes, there's just a bit more) ... After we left the Haleys' and Bear went smoothly down for his nap, I had enough time for embroidery. Pulling the needle and thread through the fabric ... that's therapy. Not quite meditation today, but if I get this project going ...

And, that was my perfect morning.

(sorry, no pictures).

Getting back

August was moving month.

September was Katie's wedding month.

October was sick month. (formerly known as birthday month)

I'm officially declaring November get back into a routine month.

I'm bound and determined for that routine to include blogging. For starters, some photos of a wonderful walk Bear and I had between our colds and our flu.

Since we've gotten better again, I keep trying to repeat this walk, but he doesn't to want to cooperate.

The morning we took it, nothing was planned. It was quite chilly, but sunny, and we needed something to do before lunch. We bundled up, got out the wagon and headed down the street. Rather than sticking to the street, I decided we might head into the woods. Bear decided he didn't want to stay in the wagon. This was fine with me; he stuck to the trail and was a fabulous junior hiker. This was true both down the hill and back up.

It was absolutely a GEM on a morning.

The next day, we carved our pumpkin. Bear wasn't quite as into the activity as I expect he will be in a couple of years. But, I was perfectly pleased with how well he did cooperate.

I carved the face while he was napping.

And, we did attempt Halloween dress-up ...

1st Birthday

A little behind in times, but a few random birthday pictures...