From the mountains I heard you call
so i went running to collect them all
the gifts you showed me, all your best parts
when I got there all I saw was..

Blue Mountains for the heart of me
and a highway where you must be driving since you last saw me
Over my heart, over these hills you’ll go
Over my heart, over these hills you’ll go

If you’re running for the hills why don’t you
Find a place for us to dance slow
By the light I’ll say I love you
we’ll be hanging there right under..

Blue Mountains for the heart of me
and a highway where you must be driving since you last saw me
Over my heart, over these hills you’ll go
Over my heart, over these hills you’ll go

~ Jenn Grant, Blue Mountain

It’s finally here! The kids have been counting down the weeks and days and finally it’s here.

We’re arrived in the beautiful mountains of British Columbia for a week of sport and refreshment. We started planning this 2nd annual trip during last year‘s vacation so needless to say we’re excited. And once again my sister is joining us – yay for a slow archaeological season in March.

The trip was somewhat harrowing. Sleet, rain, snow, and ice. Ugh. Rather unfunny that after waiting, hoping, and praying for some sweet winter snow it came on the day we are leaving town. And even more wonderful that we were leaving town for the even snowier mountains.

We were rerouted to another highway which took us much longer than we’d hoped. We ended up driving in the dark which we’d hoped to avoid and missed our early check-in. 

My sister followed behind us in her little rental. I kept tabs on her through the side mirror (see the happy Mazda lights?). I worried she’d be about as tense as I was feeling in our vehicle but it turns out she was (nearly) as cool as a cucumber. At our snow-covered bathroom stop in Lake Louise she greeted our grey faces with a much more cheerful shade.

Maybe she was just thankful she wouldn’t be left in charge of catching any nephew up-chucks this go round?

The kids were so good to us. I guess the 12 – 14 hour trips to the grandparents Jay made the relatively short (five hour) trip today seem easier. They even seemed to go easy on the snack demands although I did ply them with chocolate a few times. We stayed entertained with The Famous Five and carrot sticks. We sang along with Raffi and Florence.

The weather got worse. We lost the light. I freaked out a little and Dan looked a bit grim (he doesn’t often look grim). I worried anew about my sister – this being, after all, only two days after she told me she can’t see well to drive in the dark.

When things were looking quite bad, we paused the story and requested some praying help from the back seat. Once again the faith of a child (or children) astounds me. What my silently whispered prayers weren’t seeing in the front seat those shouted prayers from the backseat   saw in less than a minute. We drove out of the driving sleet and snow onto dry pavement just like that. As Elizabeth describes it, it was “pretty cool”.

The rest of drive was peaceful. Liam marvelled that he didn’t feel the least bit carsick (another word of thanks on that one). I picked up my knitting for the first time during the drive. My sister went hoarse singing in her car.

We got in to our home for the week with some rowdy, hungry people; filled up on cereal; and settled little people into beds. The last little standing was the two-year-old who was finally sung to sleep around 11pm.

And now our vacation has truly begun. Dan has hit the slopes. The big three will join him this afternoon. I’m cozy by the fire here taking care of food, naps, and snuggles. And of course I’m the official vacation knitter. I can handle that.

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal

into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our

past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

~Melody Beattie

In the name of gratitude and truthfulness I’ve decided to post a little piece of reality here once a week. Likely just a single picture. See my original post here.

Not everyone gets excited about all the meals that happen here. During one of the recent big family dinners, this boy enjoyed his chicken leg with a side of puffed corn cereal. And now dinner is often accompanied by the statement, “I havin’ cer-rear!” He is not one bit impressed when it is denied him. Such is drama of dinnertime with six children.

I am more grateful than I can express for these family dinners, though. The noise, the mess, the complaints, along with the thankfulness, the laughter, and the memories. Despite the sad fact that we no longer fit comfortably around our small table, we squeeze and shuffle, bump elbows and kick shins. Somedays these meals feel like a jumble of chaos and confusion. Somedays there are tears, “see-food”, and bad manners.

But…there is always love; always abundance; always gratitude; always family.

::

If you’d like to join in with a reality check of your own, please add a link or note in the comments!

P.S. Moving ::reality check:: to Tuesdays starting next week – see you there!

I’m finally taking the chance to share about the sweet package that arrived at my door a couple of weeks ago.

As you may have read here, Jen and I organized a little hat exchange. She was much more up to the cable challenge that the thistle cap presented and I have more patience for the stockinette of the wurm hat. Her packaged arrived as a sweet gift at the end of a hectic day. It was lovely.

Jen didn’t stop at the hat but was so thoughtful to send me a new mug (!!) and a “jay” measuring tape. And the bracelets she added for the kids have been a huge hit. Seriously huge. At the end of every day I travel around collecting them and returning them to their owners because they would most certainly be missed.

But the thistle cap is really the star. It’s wonderful. The colour is absolutely perfect, the wool warm and cozy, the pattern delightful. Oh, I love it. I’ll admit that I actually have the pattern so one of these days I think I’ll have to take a go at it myself….and defer to Jen if the cables wear me out.

And now that Jen’s hat is safely in her hands (and hopefully warming her head), I can finally show a peek at the wurm hat I knit for her (ravelry notes here).

To be honest this pattern isn’t one I’ve oohed over previously but I while knitting it I decided I really love it. The doubled rim was a bit of a pain but so worth it for the extra coziness. It is slouchy without being too slouchy and the fit was perfect (hopefully it fits Jen’s head as well as it did mine). I thought I would send it off unblocked but thought better of it. The blocking once again did its trick and the hat showed its true colours afterwards.

I knit it in Marisol Yarns Akapana. I’d been saving this in my stash for a few years (because if there is a colour I go weak for after red, it’s green). When I learned that Jen loves green I knew this wool had found its purpose. I really enjoyed how the wool worked with the wurm pattern. The flecks of browns and black were subtle but beautiful. The soft, delicate drape of the wool fit well with the simplicity of the pattern.

Yep, it was sad to say goodbye but wurm and I parted friends.

Now I have two patterns to queue up for later: one I want to try and one I want to try again.

(Sorry for more dark photos. One of these days I need to brave the cold with my camera again…)

::

Anyone else queuing up new patterns to try? Please share! You know I’m always looking for fresh knitting seduction.

(Erm, sorry for the princess, but I couldn’t resist the chicken clown’s face.)

Hello again!

I’m back after my brief hiatus. Dipping a toe back in tentatively, hoping WordPress is kind to me and spares my posts from the glitch that was bothering me last week. It would seem there is a bug, yet unfixable, in the newest version of WordPress – which sadly I have.

Even over this short break I’ve missed sharing here but the break has been refreshing. Refreshing because in taking a break from writing here I’ve taken a break from my computer.

I’ve been feeling so muddled lately. Moving too fast but getting nothing done. Filling my spare moments with poor choices which were only tiring me out more. I was forgetting to enjoy the silence, those few moments when I find them. I felt trapped in some crazy cycle of exhaustion. And I started to worry it would lead me to another attack of shingles.

Stepping back – if only physically for a few days – has been good for me. I’ve been thinking about boundaries and choices and priorities. I’ve been brainstorming, coming up with lots of ideas but not a lot of solutions. While I wonder about all that, I’ve pulled back a little. I apologize for unanswered emails – I’ll get there but I’m taking my time and taking it wisely.

I’m remembering the firsts in my life; putting pen to paper again; setting limits and wearing internet blinders (in hopes that I won’t be distracted by every shiny nugget). I’m retrieving the peace I’d neglected, ditching stress, planning more time with my little people, and most of all remembering grace.

I’ve yet only taken a couple of baby steps but I’m feeling better all ready. Today has been a good day. School was done, baking and dinner accomplished, laughing, smiling, embracing. I didn’t feel like a crazy person. That’s good, too.

These moments are too precious to miss, these people growing in leaps and bounds, these days blurring by. But I’ve discovered I can freeze them, even if just for a moment, and breathe deep of this goodness.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Here are a few peeks into our week. It has been a busy one. My parents stopped by (from across the country) for a couple of days on their way to a conference Add to that my brother’s return after two years in Asia, a teething little lady, and an attempt to keep the house from falling apart…It’s been a full, joyful, and rather exhausting week. It’s been wonderful, but needless to say I am ready for the quiet day we have planned tomorrow.

I’ve also been having some problems with wordpress. Some of my posts have been removed to draft status, some have disappeared completely, and all comments from these posts have been deleted. It is definitely frustrating me so until I figure it out (any suggestions???) I may be all little more quiet here. Maybe I’ll get to chance to work on the stockpile of posts I have dreamed up…

I’ve been feeling somewhat overwhelmed with life lately and this may be the breather I need. The days just seem to fly by despite the feeling that I’m not getting much accomplished. I’ve been missing my visits to many of your online spaces but I haven’t been able to make it happen. Please know I always appreciate your visits and words even when I am silent. The community I have found here means a lot to me.

If you need a more reliable way to contact me while I try to sort out the glitches here you can email me at rachel(at)housefullofjays(dot)com.

March is just around the corner. Wishing you a most wonderful end of February weekend. xoR