Then there’s this tree-shrub-thingy that leans over my head from our neighbor’s yard. Don’t know what it is, but it’s littered with flowers that smell so sweet and the bees flock to it in droves all day long.

And our scarlet Poppies are — well, popping. They astound me every time. They are such weird, tissue-petaled aliens, cracking out of their three-lobed spiny eggs, and unfurling, fully-formed in less than an hour — easily the most striking flower in the garden because of their day-glow hue.

I’d never noticed until this year, perhaps because we had previously only had two colors of Iris, but this year with four it was obvious that the different colors bloom at slightly different times. The more periwinkle of our purples was first, followed quickly by the grey-whites, then the deep purples, followed closely by these gorgeous yellows. I wonder what’s behind this anomaly…

These mini-Carnation-thingys I have always known as Sweet Williams, but whenever I see them at plant stores, they are called something else which I can never remember. I had forgotten they are perennial and so have been very pleased to see them return; Xi even has a few in the little garden plot she tends… Bonus!

These are some of our finest Lupines. We have two kinds of purple and two kinds of pink, and they take over this one bed every year in such a glorious display, with the last of some Irises behind, several purple Columbines scattered amongst, and a few strawberries fruiting at their feet.

The bees also love the Lupines. They fly up, land on the soft, lighter pink (in this variety) pillow at the bottom of each bloom; grab the darker pink part above, and then use their back legs to pry open the flower and dip their faces in to get a sip of nectar; and then like densely-scheduled lightning, they bounce off, buzz to the next bloom, and repeat.

And speaking of strawberries — we are picking our first ones of the year… They are better than any store-bought strawberry ever thought about being. And they usually come sun-warmed too.

That’s some of the lovely stuff we’re seeing these days. We’ve also had Bella return (on Father’s Day, no less…), some friends visiting since the weekend, and we’re heading off to visit Nana and Grandpa George in Alabama tomorrow, but more on all that later. I have to pack!

*

Be well.

Filed under: Beautifulness Tagged: flower in the garden, flowers, life, photos of flowers ]]> http://locallocale.wordpress.com/2013/06/18/the-continued-bloom/feed/ 0 devastra212 Flowersc Flowersd Flowerse Flowersh Flowersf Flowersa Flowersb Flowersg http://locallocale.wordpress.com/2013/06/12/the-end-of-all-tantrums-nathan-mctague-empathy-parenting-advice/ http://locallocale.wordpress.com/2013/06/12/the-end-of-all-tantrums-nathan-mctague-empathy-parenting-advice/#comments Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:13:18 +0000 Nathan M McTague, CPCC http://locallocale.wordpress.com/?p=3219 Continue reading →]]>

A tantrum is generally defined as “a violent demonstration of rage or frustration; a sudden display of bad temper”. When you dig deeper, you’ll discover that a so called “bad temper” refers to a “persisting angry mood”. And if we put that back together, it becomes a bit easier than usual to see that what we call tantrums are literally our children showing us that they are having enduring angry/upsetting emotions — that is, they are “sudden[ly] display[ing] [their] persisting angry mood”. Over time and as a result of societally-induced semantic diffusion, we have come to call any expression of unsettling emotion a “tantrum”; and we regularly intend a derogatory connotation to go along with it — even going so far as to use the term when speaking of adults to mean “any childish fit of rage or outburst of bad temper”. It’s a catchall term, to put it mildly, for any time we don’t like the emotional expression of someone else, especially if we want them to stop it.

You might be thinking — “Um… So?” — after all, who’s to say it’s a big deal that we overuse a word like tantrum, or even if we culturally decided to add some negative import to it as well? The trouble is, though, that as long as the word comes with the heavy judgement now associated with it, any use of the word carries that judgement. I’m sure you can think of other examples of the same thing in our collective word history… The point is, our intentionally negative and over-use of the word “tantrum” is overtly involved in formulating and maintaining the perspective that our children’s emotive expressions are “bad behavior”. Prejudice of that caliber will never do us any favors in parenting our kids, especially since it’s part of our job as the parents to help them learn how to manage those emotions, but it can, and I’d say that socio-historically it certainly has, made our parenting work more — well, work. 

The truth is that I think we’d do best to chuck the term completely, but rather than get embroiled in an argument for that at present, I’d like to spend a little time pointing out what’s really happening when kids have what we call a tantrum:

1. All tantrums are just expressions of emotional processing. Period. Without the kind of judgment that gets slapped onto them when we use the word “tantrum” to describe them, emotions and their expressions are just what they are. And again, it’s one of our main parenting jobs to help our kids process their emotions and learn socially-conducive manners of expressing them, in the first place — if we don’t like the emotion(s) or the expression(s), then we need to take responsibility for both, not blame our kids for being emotional and showing it. In truth, we should thank our kids every time they have an emotional outburst, because of its potential to beneficially guide our parenting.
2. If and when a kid has an actual tantrum — a by-the-book “violent demonstration of rage or frustration” — s/he has  suffered a neuro-emotional meltdown. It may seem intense from the outside, but it is emotional hell for them on the inside. The ability to access the higher, executive-functioning portions and mechanisms of the brain is almost completely lost to a young kid having intense emotion. First, the emotional portion of the brain takes over — in order to secure the kid some assistance through emotional-connection mechanisms — and if that doesn’t work (either in the moment, or habitually), and/or if the kid gets too stressed-out during the emotion, then the instinctual, fight-or-flight, survival portion of the brain usurps control and begins it’s “violent demonstration”. The brain only drives the kid toward such a display in order to get help.
3. St/age-specific periods of “tantruming” are common and even less controllable for our little ones. It may coincide with a particular brain development stage that interrupts or complicates emotional processing — the so-called “terrible twos” represent a version of this, wherein the brain is simply going through a developmental shift that unsettles the evolving balance between the lower (more instinctual, emotional) portions of the brain and the higher (more rational) portions that will later be in charge of the lower portions (if development goes properly). These periods can be long, short, and/or episodic, and during them it simply doesn’t make sense to try and hold our young kids accountable for consistent rational functioning, or being immediately able to control themselves during upset; later st/age-specific types of “tantruming” — see any teenager anywhere — are no less overpowering to children’s brains, but if we’ve helped them manage emotion earlier in life, then they will have a much easier time handling themselves as they mature (not to mention that by helping them process their emotions throughout, we are nurturing that ever precious parent-child bond). 
4. Serious, chronic “tantruming” is a clear sign of a systemic emotional processing issue. There are different versions, but essentially, something in the manner in which the child has been handled — maybe during the first days, weeks, and months after birth when the instinctual brain desperately needs to be placated with a resounding broadcast of safety and security; or in the months or years that followed, when the emotional brain just as desperately needs connection, consolation, and empathy in order to navigate the intense overwhelm of nearly every emotional process. When there is an interruption in and/or to whatever degree there is a lack of support in those periods and circumstances, then the child’s ability to deal with future emotions and instinctual-fear responses is thwarted. The volume gets turned up on the emotions to inspire greater connection, better parental address, and fuller release of emotional baggage from previously under-addressed episodes.

One of the bottom lines here is that all emotion and emotional expression, “pitching a fit”, “being a fussy pants”, “having a hissy”, or “throwing a tantrum” have the same ends — the development and maintenance of an optimal neural network — one that can manage a wide array of tasks, critical thinking, and problem-solving, as well as process the moment-to-moment experience of life in the best possible way for the current circumstances. That is, think rationally through emotional times and even in times of fear, unless it’s safer to just instinctually react — a decision that the healthy brain makes flawlessly without our conscious involvement, but an unhealthy brain will habitually incorrectly make in favor of fight-or-flight type responses. Early on in development, one of the main ways children’s brains manage this process is by using emotional expression to get connection so that the child can get external assistance in stabilizing during emotional upset — this assistance (coming from us) helps the child’s brain form neural habits of top-down processing, and the ability to cope with future emotional processing and mitigating instinctual fear in healthy ways. If we do our part in this well, then as our children age and become more and more capable of higher executive functioning and self-managment, the neural habits we’ve helped them shape will serve them in processing and regulating their own mental states with greater success and flexibility. In later parts of their development they either capitalize on our efforts, or suffer from them (taking us along for the explosive emotional ride…).

In honour of the importance of all of the above, and again because I think that the judgement that tends to come along with it is problematic in terms of what we want for our kids — I have given up using the word “tantrum”. I don’t think we can afford to project that judgement toward our kids’ emotions — or anyone’s. I don’t think it does us parents any good to see normal emotion in that light, nor do I think it does our parenting lives any favors, nor does it offer anything beneficial to our children. So I’m chucking it completely… with one notable exception.

My fellow virtual villager and stupendous blogger, Karyn Van Der Zwet, has just come out with a book that has the last and only good use of the t-word. All About Tantrums  is out now, and though I don’t have my copy in hand yet, I have been scanning sections on Amazon — and let me tell you, it looks to be the best information available on what’s happening and how to handle it at any stage and with any specific kind of emotional expression you can imagine, all the way through the teen years! She writes:

Reaction Tantrums happen when our [whole, coordinated brain and body system, which Van Der Zwet calls the] Mega-System is hijacked by one of our brain systems. This causes our other brain systems and our body systems to either somewhat disengage or completely shut-down. In most circumstances (for those of us who are neuro-typical) Reaction Tantrums can be prevented or easily relieved. When these have habitually been prevented, or well managed, we have a strong foundation from which we can develop excellent physical health, wisdom, and maturity.

Processing Tantrums happen when our Mega-System is forced, due to circumstances or new information, to radically change how it assesses and relates to the world. They can involve rewiring our brains and can be excruciating circumstances. Processing Tantrums are essential experiences which, when well managed, end with people who behave with increased wisdom, maturity, and for whom excellent physical health is their natural state.

As Van Der Zwet points out — and without the usual judgment associated with the word — “tantrums” offer developmental opportunities and if “well-managed” (I love that term) lead toward physical, mental, and emotional health, maturity, and even wisdom. It doesn’t even sound like something to avoid when she puts it that way! It also makes plain that we have a vital role to play in those moments when our children are experiencing intense emotion — managing it well.

In current parenting mythology we still have these doltish ideas that babies and young children can manipulate us with their emotional expressions, and the best way to keep them from doing this is not to give in to these nefarious displays of defiance and coercion. We’re supposed to ignore them, punish them, or threaten them with “you want me to give you something to cry about?!” in order to make them stop exhibiting such unacceptable behavior and go back to being the compliant, pretty rag dolls they are supposed to be. As it turns out, though, as far as the child’s brain is concerned — none of the these methods contributes to a “well-managed tantrum”. The plain facts are these: 1) Young children don’t have even the remotest capability of planning and executing any manipulation whatsoever. That is high brain functioning, which isn’t even available in the sort of capacity necessary to pull off such a deception, even if young children were capable of thinking about doing it — which they aren’t. They can’t learn bad habits of getting their way just by being assisted in times of turmoil either. Seriously. 2) Ignoring their feelings and emotional expressions (however they show up), or threatening and punishing our children for displaying their emotions in ways that we dislike don’t do a single thing for getting rid of that “bad behavior”. In truth, all of those methods only make matters worse for everyone. They may even cause children significant neurological damage.

Margot Sunderland, in her compelling book, The Science of Parenting, pooling data from several sources, makes a potent case for systemic and potentially permanent mis-development of the brain when children’s emotional expressions are ignored or negatively addressed. In one passage, Sunderland lists some effects of leaving a baby to cry without comfort: “high levels of toxic stress hormones wash over her brain; there is a withdrawal of opioids (chemicals that promote feelings of well-being) in her brain;  pain circuits in the brain are activated just as they would be if she was physically hurt; the brain and body’s stress response system can become hard-wired for oversensitivity” (pg 38). Sunderland goes on to describe some of the possible effects of an “oversensitive stress response system”.

It’s a bit like having a faulty burglar alarm in her head, which keeps going off at the smallest thing. Her brain can react to small stressors — ones that other people take in stride — as if they were big and threatening. Also, being wired for stress early in life can leave a child vulnerable to depression, anxiety disorders, stress-related physical illness, and alcohol abuse later in life. This is particularly the case with children who were left to cry as babies and then experienced a childhood of strict discipline with little warm physical affection to compensate. (pg42)

And further,

Essential systems involving the emotion chemicals opioids, norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin, which are still being established in an immature brain, may be badly affected, resulting in chemical imbalances in the brain. Low dopamine and norepinephrine levels make it more difficult for a child to focus and concentrate, which can lead to learning difficulties in comparison with other children. Low serotonin levels are a key component in many forms of depression and violent behavior. Opioids are vital to diminish feelings of fear and stress, so deactivation of opioids in parts of the brain leads to increases in negative feelings and stress, and decreases in positive feelings. (pg43)

The bottom line on all that is simply that if we don’t address our children’s upset emotions, or if we withhold our comforting (to keep them from “getting spoiled” or “learning to manipulate us”), then we necessitate their turning up the emotional volume in the short term (to get the help they desperately need) and risk training their brains to have bigger, more volatile, more “unconsolable”, and more frequent explosive emotional displays in the future; we may even be pushing them toward later substance abuse (of various kinds) as their brains still try to secure access to the chemicals naturally produced  during parental comforting. In case you’re wondering, when we do comfort our distressed little ones, the opposites happen instead. That is, we help them feel safe and secure and therefore calmer (even if they are still crying), so they don’t have to turn up the potency of their emotional expressions; and instead of training their brains to be oversensitive to stress, we train them to mitigate it themselves; and instead of leaving them vulnerable to addictive relationships with external sources of brain-calming chemicals later in life, we help them have a well-balanced, healthy brain, adept at maintaining it’s own ideal chemical stasis. In short — when we help our kids deal with upsetting feelings, we ensure that emotional processing doesn’t turn into “tantrums”.

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Need help figuring out what to do with your upset child? Or help figuring out how to reprogram yourself and your kid(s) in the face of over-sensitive stress response systems? You can start by checking out this post, and/or picking up a copy of All About Tantrums or The Science of Parenting. And if you really want to start making some serious changes — get in touch with me — I can help you figure out how to do it differently, and support you while you are working through it.

In the meantime, I hope you’ll come to/easily be able to see your children’s emotional expressions as just the calls for help that they naturally are; and perhaps more importantly, I hope you’ll join me in setting the story straight on “tantrums”.

*

Be well.

Reblogged from "A Beautiful Place of the World":

I feel a little funny posting about this -- like, "surely everyone has figured this out" -- but I have seen a number of posts on other peoples' blogs, lately, about whether or not it is appropriate or preferable to use corporal punishment with children. And I would like to just say a flat out and resounding NOOOOO.

Not to get too uppity about it, but I think that there are so many reasons not to spank our kids and/or use pain to "teach them a lesson" that I am having to weed through the multitude just to formulate a cogent statement about it without writing a volume.

Read more… 1,131 more words

Here she is. The one and only. The brightest and most beautiful. It’s her birthday today (as well as my own sweet Mama’s birthday — isn’t that cool!?) and we are so glad to celebrate it.

She’s a natural wonder with babies of all shapes, sizes, and kinds — even other species…

She is the center and hub of our family. The one who holds us together and gives us all room and encouragement to be our-unique-selves. She regales children everywhere with her various and amazing talents — whether it’s the characters of Feeleez that she’s illustrated, or Fairy Food the she makes and brings to Saturday Market, or classes that she teaches (as above), or even during Recess Duty at Xi’s school for the last 2 years — kids flock to her to be in her warm and steady presence and to see her latest creations.

She makes the best cakes (and other baked goods) around — so much so, in fact, that she makes them for all of our friends and their kids, too! In the picture above, she’s cutting one of her latest masterpieces at a birthday party near the river in town. Yes, she even brings and distributes cake on location…

She’s the most beautiful, elegant, sophisticated, capable, and loving person I know.

So glad she was born. So glad to know her. So glad to get to celebrate her in every way that she’ll allow us. It’s her birthday and we’re out to make it the happiest one yet. I just hope we can make it as happy of a day for her as she makes us everyday.

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Be well, all.
And Happy Birthday, my dear Love!

Filed under: Beautifulness Tagged: birthdays, fairy food, Natalie Christensen, sweet mama ]]> http://locallocale.wordpress.com/2013/06/07/its-her-birthday-but-im-the-happiest/feed/ 4 devastra212 nbday5 nbday7 nbday4 nbday6 nbday3 nbday2 nbday http://locallocale.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/the-basics/ http://locallocale.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/the-basics/#comments Mon, 03 Jun 2013 19:17:38 +0000 Nathan M McTague, CPCC http://locallocale.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/the-basics/ Continue reading →]]>

Reblogged from "A Beautiful Place of the World":

For those of you who may be new to this blog, and therefore have essentially no idea from where I am coming, and what I advocate for parents and children and the relationships between them, I have decided to give you the layout of the proverbial ground floor. The following is a list of ten of the most important discoveries my partner, Natalie, and I have made in our own parenting world.

Read more… 2,444 more words

And last (for the moment) but certainly not least, here is a new member of our garden — obviously after the flowering stage, but no less glorious by any means… 

These are some of my current favorite things. I’m so thankful that they’re so nearby and so readily able to kick off the lingering frost and utterly transform our home landscape. I consider it our visual compensation for enduring the many months of white and grey here, and this year it’s like we struck it rich!

Hope you’re getting to enjoy the colors where you are too (whether they are spring or autumn colors…)!

*

Be well.

Reblogged from "A Beautiful Place of the World":

• 

It's a new day, friends.

You may have blown it hugely yesterday. You may have done or said your parenting worst. You may have acted in such a way that you think your parenting license should be revoked. You may have done the things you've said you never want to do. You may have gotten angry and made decisions that were not in honour of your relationship with your child(ren).

Read more… 198 more words

Reblogged from "A Beautiful Place of the World":

Ever thought of yourself as a Public Relations specialist? Well as a parent, it's practical to think of it as part of the job. It may not seem like an occupation to combine with parenting, but once our children are conceived, they are immediately a part of society, and as social beings they will be publicly relating before they are even aware of it.

Read more… 1,050 more words

So this girl had a birthday party. What with Spew-fest 2013, and school, and work, I wasn’t able to get to sharing all of the glory with you until now — my apologies, if you were left wondering…

The forecast for Saturday said scattered showers. We got several inquiries from would-be party-goers as to whether or not we had an alternate locale in mind in case of rain. We asked Echo if she wanted us to change the plans, but she was sure — she wanted to have her party at the little private park between the Missoulian newspaper and the riverfront trail area in downtown. So we put the word out that we needed some dining tents or other lawn shelters, and we planned accordingly.

After pooling our resources and our creative energy — we came up with this arrangement. The refreshment lounge was to the left, above — complete with cake, coffee and tea from Butterfly Herbs (avec accoutrements), and some of Echo’s favorite foods: Mom’s popcorn, chopped watermelon, and garlic bread. To the right was the den, for entertaining and getting out of the weather. Behind that was Eric, our tent, whose duties included play area, cake-eating area, and present-opening area.

Echo’s guest list was eclectic. There were friends from the school Xi attends (and where Echo goes a few times a week for recess-duty with Natalie), a friend of Xi’s for Xi to hang out with during the party, friends from homeschool group, play group, etc., as well as friends from the café at Butterfly — like Allison and Mikki (hiding behind Allison)…

Rick and Dirk (and Nan, not pictured here)…

One of Echo’s favorite young men, Jaxson — local infant heartthrob…

Two of her bosom buddies — Elliott (with whom Echo is engaged…) and Sacia (future sister-in-law)…

During periods of sun (when the storms were scattered, so to speak), the kids had a hey-day playing on the lush hills and open, protected area of Echo’s birthday venue. It’s a spot with which she is very familiar — she has named all 7 of the tiny hillocks contained therein, and often asks us to stop by on our dog-walks — and she had a blast sharing it all with her friends.

The girls’ Aunt Emmy sent a package for Echo’s birthday, which fortunately for all of us at the party, included these cups. Each one had a different nose, some with mustaches, some with great gappy teeth. The one Xi had was one of the best.

We also got to eat this stupendous creation. Everyone drooled over it it turn, and once those proper offerings of respect were paid, and Echo was ready for it, we blew through the candle bit, and cut that sucker up, with a crowd big enough that we made quick work of 8/10 of it. This was of course another, and perhaps one of the best, of Natalie’s famous cakes. By request, it was a vanilla cake with chocolate-hazelnut filling and a light “pillow mint” frosting. It was basically the Mint Milano of cakes — made complete, below, with crab apple and lilac blossoms.

This was one of our party favors — we really know how to throw a kid party — Selah, one of the newest arrivals in our local village. I had to wrestle Sacia to get a turn. She forgave me only after I gave Selah back…  Here’s the official party portrait from inside Eric during present-opning time.  Olive, Selah’s sister, and Echo tune into some important birthday gift information from Xi…Eric the tent never held so many hushed and deeply focused kids…
And then there was lot’s more of this… By the time the drizzle and the evening finally shut us down, there were a dozen-or-so worn out and satisfied kids; several relaxed and well-tended adults; one wet dog, and three sopping tents. We shoved it all into Sylvia, the van, and weaved home with smiles and tales of moments well-spent aplenty.

We’ve done a fair amount of stellar birthdays in our time. We like to go all out on the fun and leave off as much of the fuss as possible. This birthday, though, we out-did even ourselves. We were so set on the few simple things we needed to fulfill Echo’s  preferences; and once we knew how committed she was to the locale — rain or shine — and once we tapped our lovely community for help in making it happen, everything came together in such a delightful and easy fashion. I had so much fun, it was like it was my birthday, too — like it was everyone’s birthday — and we all got to celebrate together.

And there you have it folks — Echo’s 6th. I can’t wait to see what kind of year this one is!

*

Be well.

Filed under: Beautifulness Tagged: appreciation, birthdays, children, family, family rituals, fun, life, parenting, village life ]]> http://locallocale.wordpress.com/2013/05/22/sixth-birthday-celebration-part-two/feed/ 2 devastra212 EBD6u EBD6a EBD6c EBD6g EBD6b EBD6d EBD6e EBD6f xinose EBD6h EBD6i EBD6k EBD6l EBD6j EBD6m EBD6n EBD6o EBD6p EBD6q EBD6s EBD6r EBD6t http://locallocale.wordpress.com/2013/05/16/sixth-birthday-celebration-part-one/ http://locallocale.wordpress.com/2013/05/16/sixth-birthday-celebration-part-one/#comments Fri, 17 May 2013 02:05:11 +0000 Nathan M McTague, CPCC http://locallocale.wordpress.com/?p=3164 Continue reading →]]>

Yesterday was the official day. We woke up with Echo in the morning and Natalie squeezed her and said, “Happy Birthday.” They got up and got dressed before me, and Echo came to my side of the bed and whispered, “Papa. I’m 6.” I smiled a sleep-faced smile and croaked, “I know!”.

We all met downstairs before Xi had to be taken to school so that Echo could open a present or two, including a gift bag from Xi, first thing and while Xi was still here (so that Echo didn’t have to wait until after school to open something and Xi didn’t have to miss any openings…). Then after the school drop off, there was a round of birthday waffles, complete with requested chocolate chips; and some playing. But before long, Natalie and Echo and I set off on an unprecedented birthday adventure.

When we asked her (in the days before) what she wanted to do for her birthday, Echo replied that she wanted to “be in Nature”. So sometime midmorning, we headed to one of my oft-trodden haunts just outside of town in an area generally know as Pattee Canyon. One of the best things about Montana (still!) is that we could have actually biked to this spot — it’s that close — but far all intensive purposes, it’s wilderness. There was nothing and nobody around; and no unearthly sounds but the distant ebb-tide-wooshing of the occasional all wheel drive vehicle sliding by unseen on the dirt road on which we’d come. Even the birds were quiet as if listening just as we were.

We set off up an old fire road trail and then quickly cut upward on a game path littered with deer pellets and wildflowers. Natalie brought Echo’s Nature journal, in which Echo has been doing sketches of “Nature things”, and offered it almost immediately for Echo to render a Shooting Star that we were admiring — not one of these pictured below, but one of the other 50 or so that we saw.

For awhile, we just walked and stooped and waited for Echo to draw. I took more pictures. Natalie wandered around us, smelling trees, strolling Henry, and taking in the landscape.

We went to some of my favorite spots and visited an old wonky Ponderosa Pine friend of mine. Echo and I made a ring of pitch jewels around him, and gave him the official title of Grandfather Tree — though I think he’s a relatively young grandpa for a tree…

After that, we headed back into town and went straight to the Cultural Celebration at the montessori school that Xi attends. She has spent the last several weeks researching and studying India in preparation, and we were excited to see the culmination of all that work.

As it turned out, the presentation also included some music that the kids have been working on with the part-time music teacher as well. Here you can see a Sari-clad Xi, recorder in hand, getting ready for the song to begin.

And here she is waiting for the India group to go on and make their presentation.

After the performance part of the celebration, all the families went back to the classrooms to sample regional cuisine from the countries represented made by the kids, teachers, and some of the parents as well.

Following that, and after the temporary coma that the camera went into, we came home for more present-opening and a half-hour bubble party in the front yard. The girls danced and chased while Natalie and I got dizzy and feint from whirling and blowing bubbles… Next, we had a Skype-session with Bella (the eldest sister) wherein we told her a couple of the things that had been going on thus far in the day, and she regaled us all with tales of her social life. Then we biked and got the requested birthday dinner of burritos from Echo’s favorite taco shop, and took them to a park by the river that we call The Hills (coincidentally also where Echo’s party will be on Saturday) to enjoy our picnic. After dinner and some hill running and lounging in the waning sunlight, we went over to Big Dipper for some scoops of our favorite ice cream. For the first time ever, the girls both got mixed scoops — it seemed like a big kid thing to do…

When we got home, the girls played for a bit longer and then melted into beds and dreams of all the fun they’d had and all the fun yet to come on Saturday when phase 2 of the 6th Birthday celebrations will commence.

Today a few more gifts came. Right now, Echo and Xi are playing with a slew of fun new toys together in the living room. I keep sighing with both a feeling of the fleeting beauty of it all, and the warm contentment of watching my pleased and well-loved girls enjoying themselves together (both of them at such serene ease in part because they know all of these toys, and science kits, and stuffed animals, and the love represented by each — are all theirs to share in equally).

We are hoping to revive the camera before Saturday. I’ll update you on the continuing celebrations as they unfold.

*

Be well.

Filed under: Beautifulness Tagged: birthdays, children, family, life, nature, parenting ]]> http://locallocale.wordpress.com/2013/05/16/sixth-birthday-celebration-part-one/feed/ 2 devastra212 6th Birthday! Echo in Nature Exploring Montana Spring Gems The Consummate Naturalist Near the top of Grandfather Tree's Hill EB6j EB6i