Morning, Noon and Night

Morning, noon and night...three little peeks into my day yesterday.

 Morning, 10am

 Noon, 2pm

Night, 5pm 

***If you would like to play along leave your link in the comments section so I can stop by and visit.*** 

Thoughts on My Morning Run

It's dark when my feet hit the pavement. The air is calm, the earth still asleep. Moving slowly, one stride at a time, I watch, I listen. A bird starts to sing in the woods, a squirrel chatters. As I turn the corner the rolling hills I will run stretch out before me and the sun gently rises in the sky. The earth awakens before my eyes, as the meditative sound of my feet settle my mind. My spirit soars, my soul feels alive. As my heart beats faster with each hill, the rhythm of my breath, inhale, exhale, is my focus. The only thought is pushing ahead, to the top. At the top the road flattens for a bit, I find a comfortable pace and settle in...until the next hill.

Life is kind of like a run. At times we are comfortable, living life on the flat road, things are good, we are happy, and live seems to be moving along at a good pace. Other times we are working those hills, maybe struggling for a breath, we dig deep inside to find that last little bit of energy to get us to the top. Finally, we get there, and when we do, goodness, it feels wonderful. And then we hit the downhill. At first it feels good, exhilarating. Gravity does the work, we just lean into it and go. But as we reach the bottom of the hill we need to find that rhythm again. The place where things are settled and comfortable.

My runs push me to new limits, stretching the athlete inside, but they are also a wondeful reminder that like a run, life has its ups and downs, its good days and its not so good days. But no matter what, I always end up back at home. Home, a place filled with memories, and love, a place I feel safe, and a place where I (and we) have built a solid foundation on which we have grown and continue to grow.

So if today you are struggling up that hill, keep going, push through because the other side is a little easier. Know you are not alone, others are with you, working to get up that hill. You will make it to the top, we all do, it just takes a little longer for some. If you happen to be enjoying the flat road at the moment, the flow and ease of life filled with good things, enjoy it, and maybe make an effort to throw out a smile to one of those struggling to get to the top today. One day you will need that smile too.

Blog Hop

Last week, the lovely Tracey tagged me in a little Q&A blog hop. If you have never been to Tracey's blog, I definitely suggest you hop over and say hello. She captures so much beauty with her camera, and her knitting projects are always inspiring.

Here we go:

What am I working on?

On the knitting front I am knitting Winter Solstice hats, and I have finished the body on my February Lady Sweater, and will get started on the sleeves very soon. There is also a little hand stitching happening...shhhh, Christmas gifts. And I am always creating salves, body butters, lip balms, and soaps.

How does my work differ from others?

I am not sure that it does. I mean the things I create are created by many others in this world. I honestly don't think about how my work differs, I create because I enjoy the process. If it happens to be different, great, if not, no big deal.

Why do I create what I do?

I create what I do because creating is just part of who I am. It is intricately weaved into each of my days, a row or two of knitting here, a salve made there. Simply put, creating is just something I do, much like breathing. And the same goes for my hubby and my little man. We all create, every single day. It is part of our every day lives.

How does my creative process work?

Hmmm...I guess a lot of my process is determining what we need and then figuring out how to create it. Winter is coming, we all need hats, so I knit hats. When we need soap, lip balm or body butter, I set time aside to make it. I guess you could say my process is utilitarian in nature. If we need it, I first determine if one of us can make it and then go from there. This is not to say there is no joy in the creating, it is filled with joy. Nothing makes me happier than to create something for my family.

Thank you so much for inviting me to join the blog hop Tracey, that was a lot of fun. I am going to ask the following bloggers to keep the hop moving:

***Alexa at Cozy Corner Creationz

***Sally at Wonky Patchwork

***Yanic at Family, Food, Faith and Fabric

All three of these lovely ladies fill their days with creativity, I hope you take some time to stop by their spaces and check them out. And just because I didn't tag you doesn't mean you can't take part, feel free to jump in on the hop and share your creative story.

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P.S. This very talented lady opened her Etsy shop on Friday. Be sure to stop by and check out her hand dyed artisan yarns. You won't be disappointed. 

40/52

"A photo of my little man, once a week, every week, in 2014"

 

Reece, a little time spent in the woods by the creek. So good for both of us.

Joining Jodi for the 52 Project

Gratitude

~ for the sound of crunching leaves underfoot

~ for the stunning beauty that is fall

~ for friends and their littles who love spending time in the woods with us

~ for the connection to nature my little man is developing

~ for my greatest teacher...his lessons are profound and challenge me to my core

~ for family

~ for this life, it is one that has been carved with mindfulness and intention, and it is pretty darn amazing

~ for this space, which has been the catalyst for some pretty wonderful relationships

What are you grateful for today?

Reclaiming My Mornings

Mornings...my favourite part of the day. Before Reece, I was a morning person. The alarm would go off a few mornings a week at 4:30am so I could make it to 5:30am swim practice. If I wasn't up for swim practice, I was up for a run, or a bike ride. And some mornings were set aside for a little quiet "me time". Justin is not a morning person, so I always had the early morning to myself, which I loved.

Then I became a mom. Reece was what I call a cluster feeder. He would start nursing around 4am each morning, and nurse on and off until about 7am. Of course, that meant morning "me time" was a thing of the past. Truthfully, I didn't worry too much about it, I realized that this was just a small part of my journey, and if I had to give up my mornings for my little man, well, I was okay with that. That is not to say I didn't miss them, but I was okay with missing them.

What I didn't realize was that Reece would go on to nurse for quite some time. His evening, through the night and morning feeds were the ones he clung to. It was around the beginning of this year that he gave up the middle of the night feedings and the morning feed. Can I tell you how wonderful it was to sleep through the night? I bet you know exactly how wonderful that was. And no more morning feeds. But we were (and still are) co-sleeping, so now that I could get out of bed in the early quiet darkness of our home, my light sleeper made that a little difficult. I would use every acrobatic move I could think of to wriggle my way out of bed, and tip toe out of the room. I would make it to the kitchen, get the kettle plugged in, and then hear "Mom" from across the house. And so back to bed to snuggle I would go. I would try to sneak out again, sometimes successfully, sometimes not.

It was sometime in mid-May, as Reece began what I believe is the six/seven year transformation, our breastfeeding relationship ended. He was still sleeping through the night, and all of a sudden his morning sleep was much deeper. I was able to quietly get up, walk out of the room, and spend a bit of time alone in our home.

I was in heaven. The journal came out, and I wrote as I enjoyed my hot water and lemon. I squeezed in a little exercise and meditation, and moved my afternoon runs back to the morning. I was able to check in with emails, read a few blogs, and sometimes write a post. The kettle would be put back on, a cup of tea made, and I would get ready for the day. By the time my little man tip toed out of bed, I was dressed and completely ready to start the day.

I have reclaimed my mornings, and I can't tell you how wonderful that is, although I am sure some of you know exactly how I feel. I have to admit, I have been a bit hesitant to write about this, you know, jinxing it and all, but after 4 months, we have fallen into a nice rhythm with it, and I think sharing here today will be okay (but I do have my fingers crossed). He did wake up at 5:30am yesterday morning, shortly after I got up, and has done that a few times. Most times I can convince him it is still night time, and he will fall back to sleep. Not yesterday morning. But he did get dressed, and then came out to the sofa and sat quietly finger knitting while I finished my exercise and meditation, and did a few preparations for our day. And so, as with most things on my mothering journey, there will be an ebb and flow to this new rhythm, and I am perfectly okay with that.

Are you a morning person?

On His Bedside Table

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."

~ Anne of Green Gables ~

I have a long list of things I have been patiently waiting to introduce to Reece. One of those things is the classics. Reading has, and always will be a big part of our days, but there was a little part of me that was very excited to bring the books I read as a child to Reece.

I tried last summer, with Little House in the Big Woods. At the time, Reece was four, and it didn't really capture his attention. Not even a little bit. So I put it away, saving it for another day. Fast forward to this summer, and I find a copy of Anne of Green Gables/Anne of Avonlea tucked away in a box. I had picked it up on sale two years ago. I pulled it out, and one night before bed we started reading.

He loved it! He couldn't wait to read another chapter, asking many times, as soon as he woke up in the morning, to read, so he could find out what Anne was up to. We devoured Anne of Green Gables, and moved on to Anne of Avonlea. After that I decided, to wait on the rest of the series, and instead try the Little House series again. We started with Little House on the Prairie, which he loved, and on Monday night we finished Little House in the Big Woods. Last night we jumped into Farmer Boy, the second book in the Little House Series. 

Snuggling up with Reece each night, sharing these books, is a highlight of my days. At a point when I am tired after a long day and, at times, wish bedtime was quick and easy so I can soak up some mama time, the classics have brought a new spark to our bedtime rhythm. A spark I am happy to be sharing with Reece.