it's so bright

I know you all need for me to give you yet another reason why Jason Hubbard rocks because I haven't already filled your head with all the great things he does for us, but this one is definitely at the top of my list of awesomeness.

What is it you ask?

It is a giant light box!!! For tracing quilting patterns and drawings. It is a life saver awaiting my use - not to mention the kids love it too! It's been up and running since Friday and Kalib has traced all kinds of slime creatures from dragon quest (his latest obsession) which have then lead to paintings by both he and India.

If you look closely at what Jason is bent over it's going to be my next critter stolen from his sketch book. I've already got a couple of projects ahead of it, but he didn't like the eyeball on it, so he TRACED what he did like and redrew it and in no time it was pinned to my design wall awaiting my attention. It's coming soon. The quilts and works are a flowing through me.

So, how big is this giant light box you ask? Well... it is 24 inches by 32 inches and he managed to build it for right around $60. I have been looking at these for years trying to justify the cost, but they are so expensive and really too small for what I need in quilting. And we have talked about building one before, but it wasn't until recently that I realized it is just absurd that I don't have one. So, while cursing the last of the piecing for the quilt I was working on (I've already started a whole new quilt and I should have the background finished hopefully today or tomorrow) that I turned to this awesome man and said, "I need a light box. This is ridiculous trying to hold this up to the light so that I can see to get the pieces to line up and they slip apart when I bring them back down from the light. Can we please really think about it and build one?" Now, I had recently read a blog post of someone who built one too and that had gotten my brain going again, but theirs was too over done and probably would have cost us a fortune. My loving husband, went to the computer and started looking at them and how to build them and then he realized we had florescent lights under our bed that would work and all we needed was the box and the plexiglass. The very next morning we headed to Lowe's for the 2 pieces of wood he needed and he set to work immediately. The words of my joy cannot be expressed through my typing. Then, the snow came, and I couldn't order the glass. The box, with the lights all wired sat there, taunting me. I was feeling impatient, so at the first sign of things being safe enough for me to get to the glass store and get that piece of plexiglass I ordered it. On Friday he attached it and now I have a giant light box that cost very little compared to the ones I had been looking at and I am just giddy! I'll take pictures of me using it when I get there soon!!! Now, the big question is where am I going to store it? Who cares?! It's going to be out more than put away!

Thank you Jason for being so awesome!

building trails

I can't take credit for these photos. India took them while Jason and I (mostly Jason - but I did help as did the kids) busily worked on building trails in the woods behind our house. All the land around ours has been logged. It's all filled and thick with brush. There are lots and lots of happy animals in those briars I feel certain, but our land is still healing from having cotton grown on it in the early 1900's. As many of you know I live on family land that I grew up on and our woods are the woods that I played in when I was visiting my grandparents. (Not that my grandmother would all that often let me play in the woods by myself - girls aren't supposed to get dirty), I spent plenty of time in these woods, but my grandparents were of the generation that if you owned the land you could do with it what you wanted. There is a giant gully (or giant hole) on the backside of our land that is the depth of a fully grown tree - it's actually deeper than that because the top of the trees in there are still below the edge... anyhow, I digress, my grandfather dumped his trash in there and he let their neighbors do the same. It is a sad sight, although I have always been very fascinated with the gully - maybe because I am fascinated with water runoff. We have a ditch that runs on the far side of our house and down our driveway that the runoff from the road runs into and it has cut quite the ravine through our woods and into the gully. There's some water that moves back there, but we can't get to it safely - partly because the ravine is so deep and partly because of all the trash in it. When we moved onto our land we decided to let our woods have some peace. We have stayed out of them for the most part in an attempt to allow them to heal. When the kids were pretty small, we awoke one morning to the sound of tractors and trees falling only to look out of my bedroom window and see the trees on the land ajoining ours being pushed over and logged. If you have never watched the logging process it is painful if you have any love of trees. The tractors destroy everything in their path even the trees they are supposed to not be taking down and the land is left in shambles and barren. It was awful. It is like a seen straight out of Ferngully. I sat on my bed and watched and cried. A few days later, we got a call wanting to know if we would be interested in also selling our trees and we said "No, thank you. We will let our woods continue to prosper and grow." So, over the last few years, our woods have healed and they have become a beautiful pine forest and there are hardwoods beginning to grow in size and the pines are beginning to fall and you can feel the energy of the wood shifting knowing it is a safe place. No one is dumping garbage, the trees that fall are being cut up and the land is safe - at least for now, what happens after us, I don't know... Anyhow, we now feel like we can tread back there again in a good way. So, over the last few weekends, that wonderful husband of mine, has been working super hard (no big surprises there) on building us trails. We have 3 lovely trails on our 8 acres of wood in the faux country (we live almost in the city - close enough that it isn't such a chore to go anywhere, but far enough that we are able to have some land - we are only 5 minutes from town, but you wouldn't know it when you are here). The kids - especially India, are loving the woods and the autonomy you get when meandering back there and Tonka is loving all the walks he is getting to go on. I've been trying to take him everyday. It takes about 20 minutes to walk the longest trail all the way around. It is difficult to get a picture of them, but here's India's attempt. Thank you, Jason, for being inspired to do this, and thank you Earth for working so hard to heal our little patch of wood...

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a strange holiday to me, I'm grateful for it for reminding people we should be thankful, but something I don't really get is why we have to set time aside each year to be reminded to be thankful. Shouldn't we be thankful everyday? I've been watching posts on Facebook all month long and people writing the things they are thankful for and I have noticed that a lot of people who are usually complainers have found plenty of things this month to be thankful for, so why not challenge yourself to find something to be thankful for 365 days a year and let's celebrate how great life is on Thanksgiving. Few of us have less than we need and most of us have more than we need yet we still manage to spend a lot of energy complaining rather than celebrating what life offers us. No one has ever said life was easy. It's not supposed to be, but when we put our energies toward being grateful for all that we have - even if it isn't much, we bring so much more into our lives. I try each day to find something to be grateful for. I'm not saying it's easy, but try it and see if life doesn't seem so much better? Now, onto my post...

For Thanksgiving this year we went to my parents house. My mom recently had her knee replaced and wasn't able to stand long enough to make a Thanksgiving meal and my grandmother is no longer able to cook giant meals like Thanksgiving. They have always had a traditional meal and this year they were going to go to Cracker Barrel. We usually stay home on Thanksgiving and the whole cooking thing is usually a huge family affair and we don't usually have turkey we usually have something less traditional. We don't typically gather with family so that we can carve out our own family tradition with just the four of us, but this year, I went all out wanting to give back to my folks. I've never made a turkey of any size before. I think one year I bought a boneless turkey that was already stuffed and seasoned and I don't remember it being all that good. This year, I did my research and settled on this recipe. Kalib helped me with the brine, but he wasn't too into touching the turkey (can't say I blame him on that one) and that 12 pound turkey submersed in water barely fit in my refrigerator. Jason got up with me at 6am the next morning (EARLY for me) to help me get all the veggies cut up and the turkey washed and stuffed and into the oven. We were trying to give it plenty of cooking time to have it ready for lunch. The goal was to have all the food done and on the way to my parents in time to eat by 2. My turkey was done at 9:30 am - I was of the impression turkey's usually take 5 or 6 hours to cook a turkey - evidently not - at least not mine... We got up early for no reason, but it turned out all right because we were able to get the potatoes in the oven earlier and we were able to eat at 1pm. I also made roasted sweet potatoes along with yukon gold potatoes - this was my favorite thing I fixed. I made collards fresh picked from the garden, asparagus, green beans with almond slices, mac n cheese, a loaf of fresh bread and India made a cake. My mom wanted to contribute, so she made stuffing. The food was so yummy and my turkey turned out to be delicious. It was a good day and my parents were super happy they didn't end up at the Cracker Barrel for Thanksgiving (Not that there's anything wrong with that, but they just prefer the tradition). I'm glad we ended up doing what we did. My parents bend over backwards to help us out and they are such an important part of our lives. I'm glad we were able to give something back to them... not to mention we have so many left overs that I haven't had to really cook since Thursday.

Broad River

Saturday was so much fun! We celebrated our friends Shannon and Jennifer's birthdays in STYLE! MAMA STYLE that is with a mix of Shannon Foley flare! She planted the seed of let's Kayak down the Broad and we all jumped on board, so we coordinated on the ever popular FB and made calls for baby sitters and who's riding with who and how can we best carpool to save on gas and made it happen. 10 of us were able to go to the broad without the kids! The menfolk stayed home since we were celebrating Shannon and Jennifer's birthday! It was a blast! Alexa did the math and with all of us there were 27 children! We showed up at the Broad River Outpost a little after 10 and were in the water by 11 and floating down the river! It takes about 4 hours to make it the full 6.5 miles. I love that my friends are so adventurous and fun! I can't wait to see what these ladies get us into next year! (Last year we had sushi and went to the country rock dancing!)I really found myself appreciating the wonderful women in my life as we floated and meandered down the river, both those who were there and those that were not. My life is filled with remarkable role models and inspiration in the ladies in my life. Thank you all!

AND a big big thanks to my sweet Hubby for watching Aaron so that Holly could go too! I know Kalib had fun with him, but I want to give him an extra special thank you from me.

Kalib wants to go for his birthday, so we are going to take him on his big 10th birthday in August. I can't wait to go again!

april catch up in may

The last month has been a total whirlwind of excitement and next to no time to write on the blog. I think this is the longest time span since I started it that I haven't written. So, April, what all went on in April? Lots and lots of trips to the library. Master's Academy Ended with a giant play that the kids did a fantastic job in. I was really impressed with how well they pulled it off. I was a little worried, I must admit, about the play concepts, but it came off without a hitch and the kids spoke loudly, knew their parts, and were fully present and had a great time doing it. We also got to pick up all their art projects and that in and of itself was pretty impressive to me. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do next year.

I celebrated my 35th birthday in style. A whole lot of my friends went with me to see Bonobo, some trance/dance music and we had an amazing meal at the speak easy downtown. It was SUPER fun! I had a new outfit to wear (thanks Holly) and was surrounded by many of my closest friends. There's nothing like throwing a party for yourself! The girls even all got ready together false eyelashes and all. I love being really girly from time to time - not to mention Bonobo was absolutely incredible. I love music that causes the mind to get a little lost from the world outside.

Kalib is loving Kung Fu which meets regularly on Wednesdays. It helps him to stay focused and connected to his body. He also started his own blog for his lego creations which is A LEGOS LIFE He comes up with some really cool looking legos and puts pictures of them up. He's a guy of few words, so it is mostly pictures, but he's all about the legos so check on that from time to time.

Lastly, I had a big opening for the quilts on the 30th with Baraka's Book Signing which was a total blast. I spent most of the month behind my sewing machine trying to finish up a new piece for the show. Thanks to my amazing Hubby and kids and many many supportive friends, I was able to get it all done and have a blast. There were moments when I didn't think I would finish, but I did. There will be pictures of it in June after the show comes down. The show and book signing was amazing. I had prints and note cards to sell and did pretty well with those and Baraka sold out of her books (which is really awesome). The night was so fun and I met some great people and reconnected with some great people and got good feedback on the work I do. I even got a little choked up as I was talking about how grateful I am to my family for inspiring me to keep creating and supporting me in my endeavors. My dear friend, Sambara, came in as a surprise to her and as a treat to me from her sweet loving man, Watson. That was the icing on the cake to have my dear dear friends around me in those moments of nervousness with my heart of the walls of the Healing Arts Centre.

The next day, we had our annual Maypole Party. I was so tired and scattered I didn't manage to get the pictures I usually do so when Jennifer Bray posts some of hers I will be sure to send a link so you all can see the festivities. It was a blast as usual. Another very late night surrounded by great friends and laughter. What more could I ask for?

This past month has been an amazing month, reminding me of how very lucky we are to be a part of such a tight nit community/family. We are surrounded by beautiful people everywhere we turn who inspire and enlighten us, some challenge us in ways we would never expect and we only grow closer through living our lives together. There is the old adage it takes a village to raise a child, and I am so glad my children are a part of THIS village. Wow... you all are so special and what amazing role models for our babies! THANK YOU for all that you do in our lives and all that you are in our lives. I can't imagine my life without any of you in it.

BE WELL-
Sarah

the family crow

OK... Many of you have already seen this because I've put it up on my Facebook and you have seen it in real life, but I've been waiting to put these pictures up until I had detail shots. I am REALLY proud of this piece. I'm always pleased with what I make, not out of arrogance, but the pure joy I get from making things and sometimes I love what I make and sometimes I don't, but this one, this one is special to me. I've never made a quilt the way I made this one before. I've never started with barely a drawing and just rolled with it. When Jason and I finished the drawing of the tree he was worried. I just kept saying, please don't worry, I know what I'm going to do and as it evolved, he continued to worry that I wouldn't get the shading right or that I would regret the way I was going about it, but I never did. When I finished and we stood back together, he was excited at what I had managed to do. It is really hard to create movement with fabric - especially fabric that is printed fabric and not hand dyed or batik. I love the challenge of making what I have work - and then there are times I really like to just get exactly what I need. I did buy a good bit of gray and silver for this piece, but I chose fabrics with prints for the challenge... I have e-mailed the photo to Quilting Arts Magazine in hopes of them liking it and contacting me. I really have no expectation of it, but Jason made the suggestion and I sent it in. With the book coming out in the next few months, I figured Why Not? Thank you all for supporting me and encouraging me to follow my creative voice and THANK YOU HUBB for loving me and helping me to FIND my creative voice and not minding that I shout from the rooftops how happy I am that I have found it! I might never have without the encouragement you continue to give me. I love you and you help make my art happen by continuing to inspire me and filling my life with the best love a woman could ask for.

So, without Further Ado...

The family Crow! (It was a commission for Marci and Justin Manglitz)


The feather look is created by couching down eyelash yarn...




The nest is many types of yarns couched down over each other and the egg was made from the fabric Marci's wedding dress was made of! (Perfect because they had their first baby this year! Sweet little Hilda!)

Birthing Ourselves Into Being

Here's the cover of the book!!!! I am so excited and honored to get to be on the cover of Baraka's first book! It's coming to stores every where in a few months! The book has gone to print, so... I'm still waiting on the date that it will be available and rest assure, I will let you ALL know! It's going to be such a great book as she is such a thoughtful and loving woman. Even though I haven't had the opportunity to read her book I know it is going to be a good thing for our world. A year long journey into bettering ourselves as women and sisters. Just beautiful...

I feel deeply honored to be a part of this with Baraka even in a small way (which in my world is not small at all), but this opportunity came knocking just when my faith in my art was waning some. I was worried my vision was being blurred and that I should be focusing all this creativity somewhere else the very night before I got the sweet note asking me could she use this quilt and many others. I was feeling really lost and not sure where or what I should be doing with myself. I was losing faith in myself and all that I had created around me. This was such a gift to me at a time in my life when I REALLY needed some confidence again. She has used almost all of my work inside the book. I haven't seen it yet, but I have no doubt that it will be wonderful. Just having my artwork respected and printed is awesome and exciting and I feel like it has opened my mind up to so many possibilities and the creative juices are flowing and pumping and my fingers and hands are happy to accommodate! So... here it is! The cover!

in addition to horse back riding

Jason's grandfather made me a chest out of walnut... Similar to the chest he made India for Christmas last year. It is gorgeous and now lives in my living room and holds our blankets and has a lovely seat on top where I put a lamb's wool pad under the window to encourage sitting, but not drinks. Jason's grandfather is so thoughtful and he knows how much I appreciate the handmade items he has made for us in the past. I just love them because I know how much work and attention goes into them and he is also all about the detail just like I am with my quilts. I love it and am so grateful for it because we've had our blankets in an old black trunk I bought at Kmart when I was like 10 and it scratches the floor and just looks old and junky and now we have another nice and heavy made of real wood and hand crafted piece of furniture in our home. I was talking to Gobby about his wood working and he pointed out to me that how many people can say not only that their grandfather made them a piece of furniture, but also that the wood itself came from the land. How cool is that? What I love most about items made from wood are the imperfections of the wood and that you get to see the personality of the wood...

Here it is!

Day 4

We were out late, so we slept in. I was pretty homesick by Sunday. I had only been able to talk to Jason and the kids once for 10 minutes, so I was really wanting to hear their voices and finding myself missing them, plus Costa Rica is paradise and I was emotionally overwhelmed by my whole adventure. We had seen everything I really wanted to see animals, plants, ocean..., I had gleaned lessons a plenty, tapped back into my heart and had become present in the moment again, met some amazing people, the list goes on... I cried very easily and was thankful we did not have anything planned for the day other than getting souvenirs and spending a little more time on the coast and in Dominical.

This is Dominical beach...




Dominical is a small secret surfing destination...




The beach didn't have seashells it just had these flat rocks and some were volcanic rock because there is an active volcano in Costa Rica... maybe I'll visit that when I go back along with climbing the trees...


coconuts:


4 tired girls...


city of Dominical... no paved roads and kind people everywhere.




After spending the last time in the city... we went back to the villa to have some down time and finally some resting... I took the walk to the waterfall for some time of reflection on my trip for myself... The villas are named for this waterfall and the pictures really don't do it justice...

This is view from the top (you can't see the lower half)


The view from the bottom (you can't see the top half from here):


The time I was able to spend here really grounded me and cleared my mind. I felt so fully immersed in the beauty of everything around me and all that I had experienced and seen. So many dreams came true for me on this journey even as short as it was... Costa Rica connected me even more to our Earth and a much deeper understanding of our human potential became much clearer. I feel more present in the moment, in the NOW, than I have ever felt (at least in years) and I am so thankful for it. I hope I am able to keep that alive in myself for many days to come.

where to start?

I am home safely from Costa Rica... I'm worn out, mentally, physically, and emotionally. This was the trip I have been waiting my entire life for. We missed nothing and saw everything we could. Where we stayed was part of the Baru National Reserve where the rain forest is protected from ugly unsightly development, but even where the land is not protected, the people CARE! We interacted with the people and came to know some people well for such a short time. In a way, Costa Rica feels like a home away from home and I KNOW I will return for a longer stay to take more of it in... I cried when I left. It was hard to leave such a beautiful and well loved land. I feel blessed by it. My heart is open in ways I didn't know it could open and I have learned so much about myself and what I want for my life. Thankfully, so much of what we are working towards is already in line with where it feels like I am headed, but my focus is much clearer and my vision is much clearer. I did miss Jason and the kids terribly, but I was totally cut off from the world in the ways we are most used to connecting, so getting in touch with them was VERY hard. I was only able to call home twice for 10 minutes each time - certainly not enough to fill my cup of them. There were NO televisions, NO Internet, NO cell phones, NO telephones... some of you may think that sounds terrible, but other than not being able to talk to Jason and the kids, it was wonderful. I wish more of my life contained less of those things. Coming back, I was thinking of ways to cut down on my computer time, but I do love writing on my blog for our family, but I will be spending a lot less time on here from now on. Coming back to the states was a bit of a culture shock... I learned so much Spanish I am still pronouncing a lot of my words with Spanish sounds and my dreams are in Spanish. I am in LOVE with Costa Rica and its people and their worldly intentions... If you didn't look up the place we stayed even the website doesn't do it justice, but you should look at it from the post below. We stayed in the butterfly suite. I can't say enough good things about Fateh and Franco. There is nothing they overlooked and their 3 villas are not just buildings in the rain forest, they are works of art. I will post photos of the place in a few days once I can get some more of the photos that Ashley took because she took more of our villa than I did and hers came out better... They are very dedicated to their visitors and work very hard to make sure the people visiting their place have the experience they are looking for there. Our last days I sobbed as I explained to the two of them I had been waiting my whole life to spend time in the rain forest (at least since I was about 5 and read my first book on it). The beautiful thing is they cried with me as I told them how my dream had become reality and the role they played in it...they are passionate about what they do and it is inspiring.

So, what is the best part of the rain forest? I could not possibly tell you... I think each of us came away with something different, and today, I don't have the words to explain it as my heart still wishes it were there. It is something you have to experience. It puts the soul in touch with the earth. You feel her loving arms enveloping you and hugging and squeezing you in the way only a mother can. It isn't frightening. I spent some time in it by myself in quiet and was in heaven. The size of the plants we can't imagine. Things that we grow in our homes that are small are giants and our annuals are giants and bloom year round. We weren't there during the flowering season, so I will have to go back to see all the blooms when I return.

I have over 300 pictures and I'm hoping to get Ashley's pictures in the upcoming days as well as the videos Holly took (some I can share, some I won't be able to.) I will probably post photos for the next few days of the trip rather than trying to share them all with you now. I saw most of the animals one would want to see when they visit a rain forest, frogs, birds, a blue morpho butterfly (I did not get a picture of this), sloths, iguanas and monkeys... and so so much more. We also went snorkeling and the fish and sea creatures I saw... It's just so much to put into one post. I learned a lot and experienced a lot and had the most amazing adventure I could have wished for. I am thankful to be home safely, but cannot wait to return! Come back tomorrow for photos...

Kitchen Gratitude!

As I grow older I become more aware of what a great life I have. Yes, there are plenty of days when I'm not feeling that way, but at the end of every day as I lie down I can really only be thankful. I think it is such a beautiful way to live to be able to tell the people in your life how grateful you are for them. Jason and I are surrounded by A LOT of really wonderful people, close friends and friends from a distance, people we admire and people we want our love to overflow too. Lately, I have really been feeling like I haven't had a lot of excess love to go around to my friends, but they still love me and nurture me the only way really great friends should. I hope sometime VERY soon to get to repay my gratitude. There is no Tit for Tat amongst us women folks and men folks, it is a joy to help one another and I know in the coming months I can look forward to opportunities to repay the kindness shown to me yesterday and I really can not WAIT!

I have these 3 friends, Jennifer, Rachel, and Shannon who formed this cool thing that they call the Cleaning Club, every Monday, they get together at each others homes where together they work on a cleaning project. When they get together there is a total of 11 children and one on the way and they still manage to accomplish a lot. The older kids help out with the younger ones while the moms work without any resentment or wishing they could be doing something different, they are just thankful their mom is getting the help they are getting and that they are also getting to hang out with their friends. This is something that has always impressed me about cleaning club is the managing of ALL the children. So, they have accomplished a lot of stuff in each others homes. They have hung photos, cleaned drawers out, cleaned out a fridge, repainted a bedroom, closets are no match for these ladies, and not to mention the support and help they get from one another in the process of it all. So, they are reaping such benefits from it they are now offering to help out friends who need it. Me being one of the people they have repeatedly offered to help. Now, I feel pretty sure you all are just like me and it is SO hard to ask for help when you really need it and I am strong independent woman and I really don't like to ask for help, but I finally did and they came to my rescue in a VERY big way! My dear friend Ashley also showed up to help out too and every hand was appreciated. For years, and I do mean years, Jason has been after me to do SOMETHING with our kitchen to make it more usable and more functional, but I had no ideas and it just seemed like the most daunting task in the world to me. I want things to look nice and be functional and I just had absolutely no ideas where to begin, not to mention I'm only 4'11" tall and can only reach the bottom cabinets in my kitchen. I am constantly kicking around a stool, so I started putting EVERYTHING down low which caused everything to be cluttered... CLEANING CLUB AND ASHLEY TO THE RESCUE!!!!

I called out for help! I picked a weekend (labor day being a 4 day weekend seemed like as good of a time as any) Jason painted the kitchen based on a fabric swatch by Amy Butler. We went with yellow on the walls and gray trim. At first I was a little scared of the yellow, but it looks just awesome, and I'm going to pick up some of the fabric to make a small window treatment to bring it all together... So, Jason spent Friday night and Saturday painting (I was recovering from a stomach flu and was no help at all), but I was busy thinking... thinking... thinking... Yesterday, at 1:30, these ladies showed up. We emptied out every single cabinet in my kitchen, wiped them down (Doors too). We wiped everything in the cabinets down too, Shannon took to the task of cleaning my appliances and most of them look brand new (even the one's we have had since we got married) and then we put it all back, taking down some of the doors of the cabinets and reorganizing and culling through, and I ended up not feeling like I had to get rid of much and still being very happy with how it all looks. So, enough of my talk... on to the pictures, but not without the sincerest thanks I have to these women for helping to make me excited about being in the kitchen and just feeling like my kitchen is a kitchen for ME now! A place where I feel comfortable and every time I look at it I will be reminded of what a great life I have with great friends!

I looked for a before kitchen, but couldn't find a good one...let's just suffice it to say it was messy and an awful shade of blue...
Here it is as Jason finishes up painting.


plastic containers organized? Check!




recycling will no longer live on my counter!












Lastly, the best picture of them all! Ladies well satisfied with work well done, and please notice the mushrooms in the back and how lovely all the plates look standing up! Jennifer put nails in there to hold them up to display them and don't all my bowls just look so nice!


Thank you thank you thank you! I LOVE IT!

What's my next big project you ask? The computer desk and around our table, but there's plenty of time for that and no reason to rush it!

our sweetest stella

I haven't been writing much because August has proven to be a very hard month for the Hubbard household. It seems when it rains it pours around here, but everything has a time and a place and lesson to be learned. We have done some of our first canning this year and we have celebrated Kalib's birthday (pictures to come of both), our chickens are getting big (more pictures to come I promise), and lots of other great things have come in August also, but sometimes unfortunately, I get hung up on the not so good things and because our blog is called Nothing Short of Thankful, I feel like I have to wait until I write something to be thankful for rather than complaining because really, who wants to read a blog where the writer isn't happy, but the truth is, I'm really thankful even for the hard things that happen in our lives. There is always something good to be gleaned from the things that bring us some strife and I have learned a lot about myself in the last few weeks and I am ALWAYS eternally grateful for that. Anyhow, I tend to stay away from the blog when I'm not feeling like I write from a truly joyful place...

Today, I'm writing to share a HUGE sadness is on home. Yesterday, we laid our beautiful dog, Stella Blue, to rest. She had an incredible life of 15 years. (we haven't been able to remember if she was 15 or 16.) She was old - especially for a dog her size. It was a hard day for all of us. She was really ready to go, but seemed to not know how. She reached a point in her life where she moaned with every movement and was beginning to lose the ability to use all 4 of her legs. Getting up and down was hard for her - especially on our hard wood floors and she didn't really like to be loved on anymore because I think it actually hurt her. It was a hard decision for Jason and I to make, we had hoped she would pass on her own, but she just didn't seem like she could get there. I laid down in the floor with her yesterday before we left to go to the vet's and told her where we were going and what we were doing and she looked into my eyes the only way she could, licked me, and put her paw on me as if to comfort me. Now I know there are plenty of you who will read this and think I'm full of it, but I believe Stella knew and was thanking me and telling me it would be all right. Then she made to get up and of course I had to help her up, because that was where she was at in her life. I got her leash and put it on her and we headed out the door. Jason and I cried and cried at the vet office, they were so kind to us.

Stella was the first real responsibility the two of us shared together. We had other pets before her, but she was our first REAL love. She passed gently and we were with her when her spirit left this world. As hard as it was to watch her life come to an end I am so thankful I was with her and loving her and that I am able to see all the wonderful things and feelings and lessons she brought into my life. She was a truly wonderful dog. A dog we will always cherish the opportunity to have had in our life as one of our familiars. When she was a puppy she ate every single pair of shoes I owned, she was a barker... always barking... When I got pregnant with India every where I was she was. She would even follow me into the closet when I went in there. She was by me the whole time like she knew our lives would be changing and she wanted to be there for it. When India started crawling and walking she would sit by Stella's food bowl and reach her hand in and feed her straight from her hand and Stella never got impatient with her, she would just eat it really slowly and wait for India to get bored of feeding her one piece of food at a time. I remember my folks and other people being concerned about it, but Stella NEVER offered to bite her though she would get all over anybody else (meaning other animals) if they messed with her food. When Kalib came along she was even more patient when he would use her to stand up or crawl over her or just come crashing down on her as though to wrestle. No matter what the kids did to her, she was always patient and when they cried if I wasn't in the room, she would come and get me and stand beside me until I made the move to get up (please know when I say this that I had the ability to distinguish between the different types of cries, so if it was an urgent cry I always got up fast). She couldn't stand to hear them cry or fight. She was not just our dog, but a member of our family. We are grateful for all that she gave to us and we will miss her. Her place in our lives will NEVER be replaced. We buried her at Jason's grandparents out in the field under a tree. It is a beautiful place where her body lays. Jason's grandfather was kind enough to dig the hole for us, and leave us to bury her on our own and for that I am also thankful. We are at peace, though very sad for our loss and we know that each day it will get a little easier. Thank you Stella Blue for all that you gave to us. We are so grateful for you and we WILL miss you so much.

girls rock

Yes they do! This was the first year of Girls Rock Camp Athens which is an off shoot of Girls Rock. Most of the girls that were able to participate were there on scholarship. The idea is to give kids the opportunity to try something they may never have the opportunity to try otherwise. Instruments are provided and musicians donate their time to it. One of India's best friends got to go. She already rocks on guitar, but she hasn't had an opportunity to rock with other girls. For a week the girls just work on coming up with a song they write and learning how to perform it. After the week was over, they performed their songs at the 40 Watt. We of course went to support Grace. I was telling Grace last night when she got on the stage I had one of those choked up moments where if someone were to speak to you you might cry because you are just so proud and so happy that what is happening around you is happening. It reminds me of going to see the fireworks at Disney with my kids. I was just so happy to be there and experience something so great and to know and be so proud of Grace for getting up on that stage and performing like that. It's a really hard thing to do. Grace's band had her tell a story before they performed their song which really drew the crowd in. The crowd was sort of excited, but not super excited and then when Grace told her story people got up and cheered and when they were all done, they got a HUGE round of applause. I, of course, am biased, but I thought they did the best. They had a wonderful stage presence and really showed a lot of confidence. I'm really proud of Grace and all the kids for showing one another so much support and for just being who they are. India also knew the other two girls in the band which was an added bonus! We are really lucky to be surrounded by so many wonderful and interesting kids! Anyhow, here are some photos from the show.
Best friends waiting to watch their other best friend

kalib got a new bike

Can I just say he really needed a new bike! This is a great bike because it is a hand me down traded for veggies from the garden and it fits him perfectly! The bike he was riding he had outgrown badly. When he rode it his knees came up to his chest even when the seat and handle bars were raised all the way up. Jason and I have been looking at bikes for him for sometime and we were out riding bikes with some friends and I noticed one their friends was pretty close to outgrowing her bike (which was a really nice bike), so I ask if when they replaced it could we possibly buy it from them? A week or so ago, Rachel e-mailed me to say they were getting ready to replace Grace's bike AND they would love for Kalib to have it in trade for vegetables and I thought oh! We can definitely do that and now Kalib has a GREAT bike to ride that he loves and our friends are getting to eat yummy vegetables from our garden! What a perfect trade! I wish I saw Rachel more often, so I could make sure they were consistently supplied with them, but she's got some coming to her tomorrow night! THANK YOU SO MUCH RACHEL AND JOE AND GRACE! Kalib really loves the bike and is back to riding up and down the driveway every night which of course makes mama happy!



She did not get a new bike, but I really like this picture of her looking tough on her BMX...