The Winds of Change...

Well friends the winds of change have blown through here.  Lately, I've had to do a few things I never expected or wanted to do.

My husband and I are separated and I need to find a job.  After homeschooling for the last five years, I have put my littles in school.  This was a painful decision.  I felt like I was letting them down.  I felt like my world was shattering and everything I knew to be true was coming undone.  But we have been blessed with a great school, wonderful teachers and an amazing, welcoming spirit.

One of my very best friends works at the school where I enrolled the kids. She has been like a second mother to my boys. My son Owen just happened to be placed in her class.  I didn't request this, though hoped and prayed for it.  My son Michael was placed right across the hall with a really fun teacher, who is perfect for his personality & needs.  They both are having so much fun in school.  They enjoy it and are making friends and learning well.  I'm so thankful for this smooth transition.

Please send prayers our way.  We still have a lot of challenges up ahead. I don't know what this will mean for my little blog.  It has been very quiet here and perhaps will be for awhile.  I would love to share my MamaWestWind creations here though and I hope you will enjoy seeing them.

Until next time...

Oh October...

Oh October, my favorite month., it's just the prettiest month in New Mexico.  In October it finally begins to get cooler and the plants are full grown and happy after the warm summer rainy season.  Our tomatoes are finally turning red after spending most of the summer green. While we were visiting family in NY the garden exploded into a tangled mess of tomato vines & flowers, mixed with a pumpkin vine or two.  I've been planting morning glories the past two years in honor of my Grandma who passed on.  They are just beautiful, the colors are so varied and truly glorious!

Right now my family is going through a really hard time, my husband and I are separated & it looks like divorce is unavoidable.  I am so sad and grieving for our loss, yet my beautiful garden reminds me of all God's promises.  My garden reminds me, "Be still, and know that I am God".  The God that creates this beauty and wonder, miracles in their own right, will heal our broken hearts and show us the way.

Before we left for New York Owen was super excited to plant this giant pumpkin.  I'm not sure if we'll see giant pumpkins before the first freeze.  We shall see.  We've harvested lots of sugar pie pumpkins though.  I can't wait to process them and get them in the freezer for all things pumpkin; stew, pie, breads and muffins. I've processed and frozen zucchini too for our yummy zucchini chocolate cake.

Our tepee was supposed to be peas & beans last Spring, it didn't really take off until I planted pink morning glories & butternut squash.  Now it's just gorgeous, creating a little hideaway for the boys.

I've also been harvesting lots of basil, making my favorite pesto and freezing it.  Pesto is one of my favorite flavors, so comforting.

If you think of us, friends, send out a prayer or two for us.  Until next time...

If only, If only...

Between home school and my MamaWestWind business life is full to overflowing at the moment. Plus our Papa is working almost non-stop since he received a promotion.  We are so grateful for the promotion but, wow, has it ever been a transition.  For years we've thought, "if only, if only...".  You know what I mean, "If only we could (insert your own if only here), then everything would be perfect".  We've learned a lesson that there really is no "if only".  "If only" is just a distraction from the present.  Your dream can come true and yet life with all its issues does not suddenly stop and turn perfect.  No, I'm really seeing that life is NOW.  All those times we dreamed about "if only" we weren't really living in the NOW and experiencing the good here in this moment.  We were living in a future that wasn't even real.  Ha!  It's one of those lessons that I've heard and read about before yet I really didn't fully understand until I experienced it.  I'm grateful for the lesson and the reminder to stay present.  (That's not the easiest thing for me.)  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we shouldn't dream.  Dreaming is good but it can become a distraction, even a destructive thing if we're not appreciating the present.  It's so important to be grateful for the good in life right now.

So a little update on life around here. We had a simple Michaelmas.  We made our candle, designed by Michael and we light it every evening.  Certainly, the light of Saint Michael's sword has been shining and pointing out the dragons I need to slay, as evidenced in the above experience.

 

In an effort to keep my sanity in motherhood and home school, we occasionally take a mud pie day off, or a time to clean the house day.  It's similar to a teachers prep day at school, a break to prepare or cut loose!  On this day the boys made a whole mud city with a bridge, castle, moat and a whole story that went with it.  They were fascinated by the way the water flowed around it.  They played this for hours and who was I to argue with such creative play.  They loved it. I loved it and took the extra time for inner work.  

 

We've been enjoying the last of the garden.  The Morning Glories we planted in honor of my Gramma, are spectacular.  We also made a tepee and planted beans and peas awhile ago.  We wanted to see how far they might climb before it gets too cold.  Not too far at the moment.  We're excited to plant around it next Spring.

I'm enjoying home school so much more now.  For some time Michael had been floundering in reading and started to dislike it.  This year we began a reading program called, All About Reading, and it's been like a magic elixir to the problem.  Michael is improving now by leaps and bounds, gaining confidence and enjoying it.  It's so wonderful to see. 

Owen is excited to do his bit of "school" too.  So much so that he motivates me to get going in the morning.  I love his infectious enthusiasm.  Both the boys are beyond excited about Halloween of course.  Owen has been making little scarecrows all over the house & outside.

In my shop, I've mostly been working on Fall items.  Here are a few.  

Well, if you're still with me friends, thank you!  What have you been up to lately?

Until next time...

Pumpkins, pumpkins on the vine...

"Pumpkins, pumpkins on the vine.  Growing big, taking their time..." This is a line form one of our favorite Autumn poems.  Autumn circle time is my favorite of the year, perhaps because Autumn is my favorite season. 

This year was the first year we've grown pumpkins. 



We planted Sugar Pie pumpkins and so far we have three pumpkins to make in to something yummy!  Now the vines are looking really spent so we may not have too many more to harvest.

We recently found this book and are loving it.  It's a factual book about the life cycle of pumpkins.  I've been busy collecting some yummy, Vegan, pumpkin related recipes on Pinterest.  What to try first?

How are you celebrating the season? 

Fall Festival Time!

 

It's that time again, Fall Festival time!  Our local Fall Festival is such a treat. Forget carnival games, this is rough and tumble, exhaust the kids so they'll sleep like babies kind of play.  They have a tricycle maze, giant slides, a tractor tire mountain to climb, a corn maze to make your way through (or get lost in), hay rides to the pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkin.  It's all down home, country fun.  

This year we went with some fellow homeschool friends who live too far away and who we see too little of.  Thanks for a fun day friends.

Until next time...

 

Autumn & Halloween dolls...

Autumn has arrived at MamaWestWind, bringing a coven of witches, a monster and some new Autumn babies.  Visit them at MamaWestWind on etsy.

To keep up to date with my shop, "like" my MamaWestWind facebook page. 

Until next time...

So Grateful...

So grateful for...

• Husband's new full-time job, full of meaningful work and challenge and a little more security for our family.
• Fall on it's way and our first few Sugar Pie Pumpkins!
• Little rambunctious boys, full of fun and creativity.
• The week of rainy, gray skies we had, a particular treat in the sunny Southwest.
• A sense of peace about schooling at home.
• Finding friends in the garden who are feasting on Cucumber beetles.
• My Gramma's Morning Glories growing wild.
• Autumn energy arriving to say clear out and de-clutter!