http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf

All the same, we have survived and made it into the fall. Mythili began kindergarten this year, and has adapted well to only listening to Spanish all day long. She is already learning some new phrases and repeating them at home, though she did admit the other day, “My teacher finally understanded me when I told her, ‘I have Girl Scouts.’” (Her teacher doesn’t speak English–ironic, right?). While she is a bit tired at the end of the day, she seems to like school, and has also enjoyed joining our Girl Scout troop.

Meanwhile, Riona began her one and only year of preschool. To say she loves it would be an understatement. She knows details about her teachers’ interests and lives and has made a few friends already, though at first she was a bit shy. Bruce has also been taking her to Prairie Preschool at the Plains Conservation Center, where she gets to ride the wagon, feed the chickens, pick vegetables from the garden, and pet the snakes!

Isabella is a full-fledged school girl, delving into complicated subtraction and word problems, reading short books in Spanish, and longer chapter books in English. She and Mythili both participate in a once-weekly after school activity: for Isabella, dance class, and Mythili, art. Both girls are enjoying their school year.

In addition to the usual day-to-day activities, we went troop camping this year at Twisted Pine Girl Scout Camp just outside of Genessee. The girls had a blast creating survival bags, hiking and observing nature, learning about and searching for constellations, singing songs and telling stories around the campfire, and playing outside in the homemade tee-pee. The lodge was amazing, with three large bedrooms, a decent sized bathroom, and a huge, fully stocked kitchen! We can’t wait to try out all the Girl Scout properties and have already booked a different camp, Meadow Mountain Ranch near Estes Park, for some winter fun in January.

In addition to working with new teams this year and teaching a computer class (ACK!), I am also very busy teaching three University of Phoenix online classes back to back until December 20th! In addition to cramming in bike rides to school and walking thousands of steps for our district’s pedometer competitions, busy is the only way to describe my life right now. Fortunately, Bruce has been amazing, taking the kids to and from school, doing all the shopping and errands, cooking delicious meals every night, and dealing with our breakdown-central van. Thank goodness for some stress relief!

On the weekends, we’ve been enjoying the glorious Indian Summer weather in Colorado with long bike rides, hikes, and trips to various farmers’ markets to pick up fresh eggs, vegetables, and Colorado peaches and apples. And of course we made our annual visit to the Aurora Jack-o-Launch, watching the pumpkins fly through the air from their catapult and rifle-like contraptions, enjoying some Dry Dock beer, and watching the kids create crafts and play in the corn box (rather than sand box). Now that autumn is upon us, we’re hoping things will settle down a bit and we can r-e-l-a-x!

Riona and I also made another round of applesauce and I did some “fall cleaning” around the house, just reorganizing things in the kitchen so it’s more efficient for all the company we’re having this Christmas–Bruce’s parents, Donna, David, and the kids! Plus, I had my last poetry group meeting this week, so here is my last poem:

Remnants

I once was that maple
in the front yard
red-leafed and climbable as a child
silver-tinted and clingy as  young adult,
but I have handed
my sweet maple helicopters
and swirling leaves to
Isabella, who will carry
the branches farther than I ever imagined

I am becoming the trees of my dreams
where the white horses
linger amongst the native grasses
left there in this remnant
of untouched wilderness

for they are not trees, really,
with those paper thin barks,
the knot holes that hide away
all their lost limbs,
the pale green-to-gorgeous-gold
hearts of leaves that
dance, quivering with
misty mountain breezes

their roots are all connected
with such intricacy
that if one trunk gets chopped
by a violent storm
the internal organism
will wither, fade,
and everything it touches
will turn to dust

but I will not turn to dust
because I am the aspen
of my dreams,
the grove on the side of the slope
that nestles its roots
amongst rocks, grasses,
and remnants of other trees,
nurturing the warmth
of my connected line,
holding, holding, holding on
until my branches
reach farther than I’ve ever imagined.

Here is another poem I wrote in Kristen’s poetry group. This is the non-bitter one.

Our Place

I am stuck in my own middle place
but not a child who still
wants my parents to care for me–
I am in the middle of who I am
and who I want to be

still trying to decide if I should
go with what I know
or take my favorite Frost poem
and ditch my BK

perhaps you can help me decide
if the yellow wood
is more beautiful
than the path that is so nicely worn
if those are aspen leaves
or just a regular set of trees

there’s only one way to find out
as I play with this poetry
that’s like tennis without a net

you can take my hand
and walk with me this way,
sometimes leading,
sometimes following,
sometimes carrying

and you and I will move from this middle place
to the end of the season,
where the leaves hold sparkles of snow
and the quiet is so loud we cannot speak

they will come too with their
boisterous voices and endless questions
and sticky hands and feet

and the only name that
I will name for the path we have discovered,
the home we have happened upon,
is the right place.

It’s so peaceful to watch, to see the frosting on the grass, the branches of trees glistening under the clouds that tickle them with winter’s early gift. It’s wonderful to take a moment between pouring batter for homemade chocolate pancakes, changing Riona’s diaper, and running off to visit the grandparents, just to watch the giant flakes float languidly down from the sky. It’s exciting for all three girls to try on their “new” boots–Isabella’s from the used clothing store, Mythili’s and Riona’s from their hand-me-down boxes of shoes–and to watch them as they rush outside, gather up every flake they can on their tongues, and pound miniature snowballs into their hands, relishing in the very idea of winter.

But we must remind ourselves that it is only October, that winter is just visiting us for a day, that we still have pumpkins to pick, Halloween decorations to put up, fall break to enjoy, and Thanksgiving to celebrate, before winter rears its blindingly cold El Nino head and pounds us with what I hope will be inch after inch, foot after foot, of beautiful white powder.