still working on finishing the photos, but in case you already found the blog, I wanted you to see something.  I wonder how fast the post office delivers mail at -20F + windchill.  I expected them to have a day off- cancelled due to weather, but my postman was delivering. 

And this post is finished!!!  January 22, 2014  Happy New Year!

Alizah, 5 years old!  “mmm, so this is what rainbows taste like”



Visiting Pam and the kids in Fort Leavenworth, KS in April and reconnecting with old friends Tony and Laura LaCroix

Visit from Laura and Matt for the 4^th of July

A trip to Cornucopia to visit Evan Thoman Hestikin and help him unload the kiln, and to  Madeline Island to see the Levon Helm film, "Ain't in it for my health."

Boundary Waters Canoe Area trip for Grandpa Vern's 83^rd Birthday! Sarah, Levi, Grandpa Dan and Grandpa Vern went. We had so much fun we talked about how we could bring the girls (are they big enough?  would they fight the whole time and destroy the peace of it?  Anyone who has gone to BWCA with kids, please let me know the scoop!)

September 4, we celebrated our 9 year anniversary!

The Magician and Snow Princess costumes!

Rayna saw her first shooting star on our 4^th annual sleigh ride through Irivine Park for the holiday lights (this was the 2^nd year we had -5 degree temps. We were way better prepared this year!)

Favorite New Game for Christmas!  Herd your Horses. 

2013 Milestones: Rayna went off the high dive, Alizah lost her first tooth

BWCA August 2013

Setting sun photo taken in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area by Sarah Aiken-Felling

During my school break in August, Levi, my dad and I fulfilled one of Grandpa Vern's dreams to canoe in the BWCA.  We spent 4 nights, 5 days canoe and camping and fishing.  Even with the bugs and the heat, we decided we would go back.  Maybe even with the girls.

Happy 83rd Birthday Grandpa Vern!

Thank you to Dr. Mary Tuchscherer for route suggestions.

And a huge thank you to Levi for going along with my crazy plan and doing all the research and major decision making for our trip (while I prepared for finals).  I only had to put my stuff out to pack and plan our food (and I calculated that pretty close, managed to follow my gf diet and grandpa's bean queen diet- well, maybe with a little extra spice- mmm, Indian lentil packets!)

Happy Holidays!

While contemplating whether or not to write a holiday letter, I realized that I haven't updated the blog since May. I don't even know where to start!

I just posted a few family photos from our summer shoot. This was so Rayna would have a family photo for her Children's House classroom.

Rayna is in 5K Montessori. She is starting to read and write a lot. Some of the other "work" she brings home often is: plant/animal drawings, float/sink drawings, map work (names of countries) and she just started decimal beads of 10. Rayna also learned to ride a bike this summer. And she has lost 6 teeth so far (she'll have both front teeth for Christmas).

Alizah also learned to ride a bike this summer (if she didn't have to use the brakes). She had a little leopard balance bike and she decided to get on the little girl bike and could go! but couldn't stop (good thing for Levi's fast feet). Since then we have been practicing using brakes on the training wheel bike. She has also been practicing the letters of her name and is really getting good.

Both girls are in Irish Step Dance classes- thanks to Grandma Sally and Grandpa Dan getting them to their lessons (and watching the girls while I'm in school/working). We just finished watching The Nutcracker on PBS and they are dancing all around the house. They have also been practicing the first few lessons on the organ with Levi (I even had my first music lesson too). They are hoping to learn Joy to the World and Jingle bells for Christmas.

Levi and a few of his friends performed a tribute to The Last Waltz on Thanksgiving night and raised money for Feed my People food bank. Here is a clip from their performance.

I have been busy with Acupuncture classes about 3 days per week. This week I finished up the trimester, and am now feeling a little more in the holiday spirit. If it would snow, that would be great! I am looking forward to sleeping in, sledding and watching a few movies on break. And hoping for a winter visit from the Brannan's.

Uh oh- here goes the first round of "Dominic the Donkey".... (here it is in case you need it)

Family Photo Fun.

 
 
 
 
 

This was a long photos shoot with silly girls. Our friend Anna was very patient.

Happy Holidays!

SC trip- these are few of our favorite things.

Seeing friends and family
Meeting my newest nephew
Celebrating my niece Noelle's birthday with her
City Roots Farm- Columbia, SC.
http://www.cityroots.org/
Clementine & The Talented Clementine by Sara Pennypacker (audio CD)
Seeing dolphins at the Charleston pier
Home Team BBQ
http://www.hometeambbq.com/
Sullivan's Island beach
The smell of honeysuckle on the beach boardwalk (thank you locals who identified it)
Marengo Cave- Marengo, IN
Alizah explaining what Navigate means

Chicken pox for your birthday

So, Alizah did not get passed over. They arrived just in time for a celebration. We held off on the fun stuff until she was cleared up and then celebrated at Chaos water park. This day also signified the day she was officially a "big girl." So the Nuky fairy came and whisked them all away and left a cougar in place (per Alizah's request). She was very disappointed that it was a "magical cougar" in a music box (note attached). She kept saying "its not magic, its just a toy." She really wanted a REAL cougar to eat the monsters. There are monsters on the neighbors roof you know- black around the vents. Levi looked out the window with her and told her they were just vents. Later in the week we took a trip to Gander Mountain and looked at the stuffed cougar. She still thought we should get one, even though all week I repeatedly told her it would eat her for a snack. Levi told her they were not good pets because it would eat her. Some how when dad (not mom)says it, its real. Kids imaginations are so fun!

I Can't Wait

The other week at the library I picked up a CD (in the kids section) because of the cover. Station Wagon: Songs for Parents. It reminded me of old blue, the brown Caprice Classic and of course The Safari. Good times traveling with my dad and learning to drive and chauffeuring Aarika's bachelorette party out to Osseo with 3 full rows of seats. I really like this song and a few more on the disc- I wish I could have added the music- but here is the lyrics.

Sara Groves
I Can't Wait

When you reach the proper age
I will teach you to read and you can turn the pages
How to dress and tie your shoes
Your one plus ones, and your two times two's
And you'll teach me
Of hearts and dreams
And all the most important things
And all that i have lost along the way
And I can't wait
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/s/sara_groves/i_cant_wait.html ]
As you grow, I'll show you things
How to ride your bike and kick your legs out on the swings
To fold your hands and bow your head
How to say your prayers before you go to bed
And you'll teach me
Of hearts and dreams
And all the most important things
And all that I have lost along the way
And I can't wait

How do you sleep so peacefully?
How do you trust unflinchingly?
How do you love so faithfully?
How do you dance so joyfully?
Oh you'll teach me
Of hearts and dreams
And all the most important (essential) things
And all that i have lost along the way
And I can't
No I can't
Come teach me
Of love and dreams
And all the most essential thing
And all that I have lost along the way
Cause I can't wait

February- it is so quiet in the house!

Rayna is back to school and Alizah can finally visit friends after a long week of illness. We have had a full month of illness due to change in daycare and new environment settings. Pink eye, stomach flu, common cold and then we introduced them to chicken pox. (Isn't parenting fun some times!)

Chicken pox was not as contagious or as scary as all the literature warns of, but maybe its just that I have lots of books to give good suggestions. I would highly recommend every parent have at least "Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child" on their bookshelf. Of course I got through it with a little help from my friends- Holistic Moms Network support, online or within a local chapter, is a gift again and again. And a TCM herbalist as part of your health care team is a bonus.

First Rayna had some sort of tight chest cough. Thankfully we have a friend who is a respiratory therapist who helped us out with this. Seems like Bronchiolitis was going around the school. Pretty scary going into Chicken pox because pneumonia is one of the potential complications. Figs, pears, mint tea with honey(had to be in a medicine dropper) and Boiron Chestal honey cough syrup helped tremendously.

About 3 days after the cough she slowly started to sprout a few spots. We have been working with an Acupuncturist/TCM Herbalist and he had given us some herbs for chicken pox. Well, every night or when itch or pain was happening with the spots (really only 1 time a day), Rayna dutifully took her bitter herbs mixed with pear juice followed by a yogurt chaser. She slept through the nights. We had no issues with scratching. She was out of school Mon-Tues because of cough, then Friday-Tues for rash. Alizah never developed a traditional rash because early on she was restless and had a low fever, she hadn't slept well the night before and was really clingy, so our acupuncturist said to give her a little of the chicken pox herb. I gave her 2 small doses 11 hours apart and the next day she had a minor splattering of rash across her chest after a hot sweaty nap and within 2 days it went away and she has been getting more energy ever since. Who knows if a reexposure will make her have the distinct rash in the future but I am grateful for healthy household and quiet sunshine through my window!

Rayna is really happy to be back at school since some new baby birds hatched in her class! I was surprised to learn they are pink- she said they don't have feathers. We asked what color she thought the feathers would be- they are parakeets and the parents are yellow (Ming Ming) and blue (Booksen). Green perhaps?

Alizah is having a playdate with her neighbor friend. Next Saturday she will be turning 3!

I am enjoying an hour of creative kitchen time. Because of shared lab testing for Anatomy and Physiology, I have no class this morning (but I did have to take my test earlier in the week). Actually it was a full week of exams, culminating with a potluck style TCM food therapy discussion. And even though my cultured vegetables did not get voted one of the best foods, they helped stave off any abdominal pain from all the eating!

If you are curious, here's what's happening in the kitchen:
http://christensenka.squarespace.com/imported-20100106014405/2010/1/26/turnip-and-kale-soup-gluten-free-vegan-acd.html

http://www.thedailyspud.com/2009/03/04/posh-spicy-beans/

Christmas Eve Singing

Rayna has found her voice! and it's big (we knew that). She is really loving the music director Ms Jo and is not scared of the congregation anymore. Some day she says she's going to sing in the big choir in the balcony.

Alizah was so cute. She really is doing amazing up there, following her big sister and the neighbor girl, Reagan, who is between them.

After the song, the sermon was about a Christmas program where the kids spelled out Christmas Love. 1 young boy accidentally turned the letter upside down and changed the message. Try as she might, Alizah could not change the message by turning the S. CHRIST WAS LOVE.

Winter Playground

These pics are sort of in reverse order. Levi spent some quality staycation time up on the roof today, getting prepared for the next snowstorm (which is maybe coming on Friday). We then added to the sculpture playground in the yard. Levi was getting creative with his shoveling and built a wall between the driveways. I dug out the snow house in the back. And we added a couple more feet to the top of the sledding hill in our front yard. What a weird and wonderful winter.

 

 

 

 

Roadtrip to SC, April 2010

Here's the mini-movie. It definitely needs some music. Saw that button but I didn't have John Lithgow's Singing in the Bathtub on my computer. If I did, the "Triplets" would be playing over and over as you watched. Or maybe "I had a Rooster" which gives me very fond memories of singing in the van with grandma and grandpa and the girls. We had a wonderful time visiting Pam, Terry and Noelle, Conall and Pancakes.

Como Carousel

 

 

This summer the girls and I went on a few trips to my school for adjustments and then to Como Zoo to see the animals. My dad came with once and Levi came with on the day we rode the carousel.

Birthday Girls

 
Rayna turned 4 in January.
 
Alizah turned 2 at the beginning of the month.
 
Picture 3: nursing their babies in the morning
 
Picture 4: silly princesses

Just wanted to add a few current photos. Life seems busy busy these days keeping up with school and work and the girls. The days have been beautiful, so we have been enjoying playing outside and taking walks and getting to know our garden again. Levi planted peas last weekend. And we have a few kale and collard greens that made it through the winter. Levi is off in CA at a work conference and I will be at the Great River Symposium this weekend.

Our family with chin puffs

 

 

 

Levi decided to research beards before our holiday photo. He settled on a chin puff and I was not very impressed. The beard was shaved before the photo, but it left a good impression with the girls. Here's Alizah talking up the chin puff.

 
Here we are all dressed up for Halloween. Rayna was a tiger, Alizah a zebra and I was a jaguar. Levi was the zoo keeper. We had a Healthy Halloween party with the Holistic Moms group which was a ton of fun! Yummy food and Beth's husband is a juggler! He even juggles swords and probably fire too, although this night, in a small space, he juggled glow in the dark balls.
 
We took the girls out on a sleigh ride at Lowes Creek. Rayna has been afraid of the dark- especially the trees at night are scary- and we had to prep a lot for this. She said a couple prayers for protection and was so easy going once we got there. At the end she said "the bells on the horses kept the big animals away." On the other hand, Alizah was SCARED!, but she nodded off 1/2 way tucked tight against me.
 
This is the 2 of them smiling nice for the camera this Christmas eve. Rayna had a December filled with music. She sang at 3 church services the Alleluia choir version of "Go tell it on the Mountain" and "Twinkle Twinkle Twink." She is a great singer and is a little thrown off my the off key singing of some of her fellow choir members.
 

This one was taken on one of our fun fall days, raking leaves and pushing the girls in the wheel burrow to pile the leaves in the compost bin. In this photo Rayna has one of her many favorite "very special" animals "Rayna Bunny" and next to her her pet worm she dug from the sandbox at my friend Rebecca's house. Rebecca kindly cut some airholes in a container so Rayna could bring him home. I think he is making some fabulous dirt for us in the garden right now, if he's not froze stiff in this subzero weather.

Sarah's starting school

I'm in! I'll be going part-time, working toward my Master's in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, which will probably take me 8 years. School starts in January, so I have been busy putting my projects away....finishing them if I can or finding them a safe place on a shelf for the next 5 years. I'm a bit overwhelmed and really excited.

Good Morning God.

This morning I cut open watermelon for breakfast.

Good morning God. I'm so glad you are in my life too.

June 2009 Family Vacation Mini-Movie

Thanks to Pam's help I have this slideshow mini-movie up on the blog. Next I'll have to learn how to add some fun music. The second slide has a little storyline, so you'll have to pause it to read.

Alizah

Alizah is 19 months now.

In this photo she is saying "Train," "Choo-Choo." Levi and Rayna were rounding the bend back on the Carson Park train.

There is nothing Alizah loves more than having her sister's attention. Well, sometimes maybe mama's attention is better. She gives great hugs, saying "monkey", and squeezing tight. And she still loves her baby dolls, although she does not like other kids her age and younger very much, she's really aggressive (mostly it is just that they might have an interest in the same toy. "hey, you looking at that? IT'S MINE!")

The other day Levi and I were laughing at some of Alizah's favorite words- buckle, broken, (i made a list of these, lost that for now too. I'll come back to it when I find it).
2 1/2 weeks ago Alizah distinctly began saying MINE! MINE, MINE, MINE! We are taking lots of opportunities to practice sharing (especially sharing me).

Alizah loves it in our backyard (and she's decided she likes to sit next to our Maple tree in the boulevard...not too safe...Rayna's very protective of her and brings her back away from the road). Alizah loved picking and eating green beans. Loved picking green tomatoes and biting them and throwing them and then again. But red ones, yuck. One of her favorite games is hiding and chasing in the sheets on the line. She learned to "twisty turvy" swing from Rayna (laying on the swing on her belly and twisting it up). Alizah is not as brave as Rayna about bugs (sometimes they make her shudder).

Peek-a-boo. (This photo was taken at Uncle Zach's. He grew a bunch of zinnias we were posing in front of. This day Grandpa Joe, Grandma Sally and Uncle Zach went to Aiken's orchard and pressed 10 gallons of cider).