Newport, Oregon coast

After a v. v. wonderful trip to Oregon, which included an overnight mini vacation for Andy and I, I'm just now getting around to organizing the photos we took.  A few pictures from our stay at Newport coast for a night, just Andy and me:

We visited Tillamook cheese factory on the way down to Newport, went on a brewery tour and ate dinner at Rogue, went for several walks along the beautiful, quiet, cool beach, stayed at the Hallmark Resort (thank you, Mom!!), and ate bfast at Georgie's before driving back to Portland.  It was so good to get away, just the two of us, together, just for a little while.  

La Luna

A long time ago, Andy pointed to the moon and told Nate it is also called "la luna," for Spanish.  Rather than saying "moon," Nate has generally referred to the moon as "la luna."  He and I wrote this song together, after many nights of seeing the moon through the window before falling asleep.

La luna, La luna
She’ll sing you right to sleep.
La Luna , La Luna
Your dreams she will keep. 

Staring at the stars
Bright in the night,
See you right to sleep.
Look up at the moon's
Shining light.
Watch you fall asleep.

La luna, La luna
She’ll sing you right to sleep.
La Luna , La Luna
Your dreams she will keep.

Look into the sky
Late at night.
See you right to sleep.
Look up at the stars
Shining bright
Watch you fall asleep.

La Luna, La Luna
She’ll see you right to sleep.
La Luna, La Luna
Your dreams she will keep.

Someday, I hope to record the music on the piano.  For now, our humming and singing works just fine :)

Practicing the alphabet

What it means: d.a.s.

A friend today asked what the 'das' in 'das bucks' meant.  


When Andy lived in Uganda, his nickname was ddumba. "Ddumba" is Lugandan and loosely translates into "drum."  As he is a percussionist, he became quite attached to the nickname.  His middle name is Steven, which creates Ddumba Andrew Steven, and this was the name he went by in Africa, which was ultimately shortened to "Das."  After we got married, he started calling his family the "Das Bucks."  Essentially, more like "D.a.s." She asked if we used it in the German sense. Nope. So I changed it here to better reflect what it means. 

A few pictures tending to the Buck community garden tonight. Good night, all.

image taken with his grandfather's vintage camera on our first cabin trip together, 2006.

"God helps open doors"

I never know what words are going to come out of his mouth.  Sometimes what he says is so smart, sometimes so hysterical, sometimes so observant.  Tonight, what he said was both profoundly simple and wise.

During prayer time, we shared what we are grateful for with each other.  Since he's been potty trained (so a little over a month now), it has been par for the course that he says he is grateful that "God helps poop, God helps pee, God helps fart." I smile every time at this. It seems so typical for a little boy to incorporate that kind of language, but it really makes sense: potty training him was so seamless, I have no doubt he had a little help.  But what he said next made me pause:


I asked him if there was anything else he was grateful for.  He said verbatim, "God helps open doors." 


I asked him what he meant.  He replied, "God helps open my doors."


So I pretty much sat there staring at him while he stared at his favorite little pal, Mr. Prince. He then looked up at me with tired eyes, laid his head down on his pillow and slipped into sleep.  I laid down next to him beneath the paper stars dangling from the ceiling and just thought about what he had said.


God helps open doors.
God helps open my doors.


Wisdom from a 2 1/2 year old. 

A morning in his world

He's just enjoying a morning cup, watching the construction truck pour all the while.

I sent this picture to a few of my relatives, and my mother replies with this in her note: "This is the stuff life is made of." 


I agree, 1000%.

Little Corners

There is a little place at the pond near our house that is our favorite spot by the water.  

 on the way there

 our spot...

on the way back

a little lavender, marigolds, rosemary and a couple revived petunias that survived a hungry bunny in our backyard. And look!  The grass may be starting to grow back after two recent and desperately needed rains.


We get home, wash out the red wagon, and our neighbor, Karen stops by with this:

I cannot contain my excitement over this rocking chair! Have been envisioning one for Nate for some time now.  So when she brought it over, I am pretty sure the biggest smile possible for my mouth took over my face.  It is a truly beautiful chair and a truly perfect gift for Nate.  


Making it a good day.

Focaccia

Some people I know have bucket lists. I don't have one- at least a formal one. There are things I want to do that would probably constitute what you could call an informal one. Making focaccia bread is one of them. And I made focaccia for the very first time today.


Our neighbors, Karen and Dean, are coming over for wine and apps tonight. She'd suggested a couple of weeks ago that they bring food to our house.  I wanted to contribute in some way.  I figured now would be as good a time as any, and a good opportunity to use the rosemary growing in my little herb garden.

My finger presses must not have been as deep in the dough as I thought I'd made them, because the sprinkling of divots on the surface aren't as noted as ones I've seen on other focaccias.  And there is a little hollow space in the middle, but oh well. The oil settled in the little dip, so whoever gets that piece is lucky. 

Yoga Routine

When I was 16, I did my first yoga routine.  Since then, I have pretty much kept some form of yoga practice going on a consistent basis.  It's always been informal, in the comfort and privacy of home.  When I was 26, a friend invited me to go to a yoga class, so I went.  It was great to have the professional advice on strengthening my form as well as breathing techniques and the importance of cooling down at the end of a session. But I learned pretty quickly that yoga in a group setting is not for me.


I thought I'd share a few moves that constitute my current daily routine.  For years I was able to do these forms in the morning, but with Nate, I just try to get 20-30 minutes of practice in as often as I can. 

Typically start of with the sun salutation.


Then progress into the cat pose.


Then the plank.


Then a basic lunge that moves into triangle pose.


After the triangle on both sides, I move into resting pose, then up into sphinx, which gives way to the cobra, followed by a progression of the locust position. 


Then often this wide legged pose, but not always. 


Come down to this bound pose then Half Lord of the Fishes.


Close down with this pose and/or this pose and finish with the downward dog.  The final cool down after laying in a resting pose after downward dog is to come up into this and then close with my hands placed in prayer position. 


A few other stretches I enjoy but don't have any method by consistently implementing them into my daily practice are: this and this.  One day, I hope to have the diligence to develop my abilities to do more advanced poses (arm balancing, for ex.), continued work on the breathing component, and even introduce essential oils during cool down.  


Picture from our driving to Utah, 2008.