Caught!

So little man gets sent to his room today for a timeout. And, as most kids are prone to do, he likes to push the barriers. For LJ (little Jeremiah) when he's sent to his room, this usually means coming out into the hallway as far as he can with his toes still hanging just over the edge of his doorway - which in and of itself is pretty funny (and cunning).

But today, he tried a whole new tactic.

Today, after depositing himself into his room, loudly and with much protest, he became silent for a few minutes. And for you non-parents out there, when your normally noisy child is quiet, it's a pretty safe bet that something is up and you should check on them. Granted, some of the time he's just busying himself with creativity, but most of the time - yes, most of the time - he's up to no good. And today was no different.

So I hear sister, sitting in the living room, whispering very quietly something about "you're supposed to be in your room, little man!" which is followed by the pitter-patter of little footsteps - running on his tiptoes, which sounds distinctly different - through the living room, down the hallway, skidding around the corner, and back into his room...followed by silence.

At this point, Cat and I exchange smiles and a knowing glance and I use a loud commanding voice and say, "Jeremiah, you are supposed to be in your room!" To which he pauses - you can almost hear his mental wheels grinding away - and says..."But you didn't SEE me, Papa!" Oh. My. Goodness. It has begun! A game of wits. Truly he has a dizzying intellect! I love it!

As Cat says, that child is going to give us a run for our money!

Little affirmations

I've said it before and I'll no doubt say it many times more. It's the little things that seem to have the biggest impacts. This afternoon at lunch, Cat and I were talking about a news article we'd each read in the newspaper (a social commentary from columnist John Rosemond about the importance of fathers and parenting) when my daughter says to us...


Finn: You know what guys? I just love hearing you have conversations.
Me (with a big smile): Why's that, Finn? 
Finn: Because you both just talk back and forth and it's cool. 


Cat and I exchange an emotional glance that says so much in a fraction of a second, things like "gosh we love that kid" and "guess we're doing something right."  For Cat and I, and I imagine many other parents, we often wonder if we're parenting correctly or if the lessons we're trying to teach our children really do sink in. Love those little affirmations that our parenting is having a positive impact on our kids.

A little afternoon canoeing fun

With all the recent rains here in the Willamette Valley, the rivers have really come up, flooding many low-lying areas. And then the rains stopped and the sun came out today! And according to the weather forcast, it's the last sun we'll probably see for the next several days. So we decided to take out canoe out for it's first voyage of 2012 - a little paddle in flooded Willamette Park. We all felt a little shaky at first, dusting off our canoeing smarts, but had a blast. It was so warm Finn wanted to just relax in her seat and take a nap, mums just soaked it all in, and little man was a worry wort the whole time. "I no like it. It's sinking!" he says. "Want to go home. No more boat. Want my boatiak" (that's what he calls our extra stable Zodiac). After the paddle and everything was packed up, he says "Tanks for da ride, Papa. Want to go back out der on da canoe again!" Silly, fickle boy.

Getting ready to offload the canoe at Willamette Park.

Getting ready to launch

On the flooded foot path, near the parking lot bike racks

Me and my girl, post-paddle

Family menu planning

Every weekend, we sit down as a family and plan the meals for the week. It's a good excuse for us to spend some more quality family time together. Not only is it fun finding delicious recipes to create together throughout the week, but we've found it helps our family budget as we only do one grocery shopping for the week instead of a few times throughout the week (where we find ourselves buying more than we planned on). This week's dinner menu, some recipes of which come from The Joy of Cooking (I have the 1997 version but you can find it on Google Books), include:

M - grilled, spiced pork chops, steamed brown rice, lemon-juice/pepper/olive oil braised brussel sprouts
Tu - Angel hair pesto pasta and broiled broccoli/cauliflower
W - Chili-crusted flank steaks on mango salsa bed, mango/avocado salad (pp. 659, 63, 218)
Th - Leftovers
F - Braised pork roast w/ sauerkraut and salad greens (p. 701)
Sat - Spicy maple roasted chicken and rice pilaf (p. 628)
Sun (potluck w/ family) - brioche/kouglof (p. 760, 764)

I'm especially looking forward to the spicy maple-glazed chicken. Yum!

Mother Nature and Mother Goose

This evening while out at our friend's Funny Farm doing weekly chores we noticed the floodwaters rising with the downpour. To help the local, seasonally resident geese avoid nest predation, our friend Roger built a small dirt berm in the middle of an area where there's typically low-lying flood waters in the winter.  A week or so ago, Roger noticed a goose hanging around the berm. He put on a pair of waders and walked out to see if she might be nesting. Sure enough, she was sitting on several eggs.

Last week we had several inches of snow fall (and stick) on the valley floor and in the last few days, we've had a lot of rain and the floowaters have been rising. Tonight, we sensed concern in Roger's voice about the rising waters and the safety of the nest. While in the barn mucking stalls, I spied him several times looking toward the goose, her nest and the rising waters. I wondered aloud to him if he had an incubator in case he had to rescue the eggs from the waters. He said his daughter did but he thought if the waters kept rising, they'd claim them sometime later this night. Given the waters were already chest deep and we were in the darkness of night, he said, with what seemed like a sense of resignation and a heavy heart, he thought he'd let Mother Nature do her thing and hope for the best. While talking about it on our drive home, we had some interesting conversations about the circle of life and some of the harsh realities and beautiful surprises it holds. What follows is a snippet of that...

Papa: Sort of sad about those goose's eggs.
Mummy: Yeah, I wish there was something we could do.
Papa: I know. Me too.
Finn: I know what we could do. We could get a box, put a light on it to keep 'em warm, and hatch 'em out.
Papa: That's a good idea but I think Roger's right in letting Mother Nature play out, hard as that may be.
Finn: (quiet)
Jeremiah: Hey Mummy! I have goodadeeyuh. I geddem. Puh-dem in da box...and shake 'um!
Mummy: I like your idea, Jeremiah, but you'll hurt them if you shake them. They might die. You can't shake baby thing up. It hurts them.
Jeremiah: (quiet)
Finn: Hey, I have a good idea! We can put them in a box in our bathtub!
Papa: Another good idea but baby geese follow their mummy for months and we don't think like a goose. How would we teach them what they need to know to survive?
Finn: We could take them back out there and their mummy could do that.
Mummy: (shoots Papa a quick look like "could that work?!")
Papa: I wish it was that easy but unfortunately, if we take the eggs from their mummy, she won't recognize them when they come back and will probably shun them. Might even hurt them.
Finn: (quiet)
Jeremiah: Hey Papa! I have gooadeeyuh! I geddum. Puh-dem in da box, puh-dem in da tub, and NOT shake dem!
Papa: Another good idea but we really should probably let them be with their mummy. After all, what if the rains stop and the flood waters stop rising. Maybe they'll be OK.
Finn and Jeremiah: (quiet from the back seat for a moment)
Finn: I have another good idea! I just prayed to Jesus for them that it would stop raining and the water wouldn't come up any more.
Mummy and Papa: (together after a glance and smile at each other): That's a great idea, Finn.
Papa: Just know, Finn - and I only say this so you don't get angry or upset if your prayer isn't answered tonight - that maybe someone else around here is praying for more rain to water their crops with. Jesus, God, they have to find a way to balance those requests. That's hard work.
Mummy: But I'm so glad that you though of praying for them, Finn. You have such a big heart. (to which Finn smiles that wonderful missing top, front tooth smile of hers) 

It's still raining pretty hard so we don't hold out too much hope. But we'll call Roger in the morning to find out how Mother Goose is doing...

3/31 UPDATE: The rains have stopped and the flood waters have slowed. According to Roger, mother goose is still on the nest and above water. And as little Jeremiah said this morning when looking out the window, "Da sunz comin' out! Woohoo!"

4/4 UPDATE: The waters have begun receding and mamma goose is still sitting on her eggs. She's left for a few minutes here and there, presumably for food, but other than that, she appears content with her brood. It'll be interesting to see how many of her seven eggs hatch!

The deer dilemma

Awoke this morning to Finn saying there was a deer caught in the fence. I freed the deer but her hip was displaced and her tendon cut. Tribal Police came and put her down. She'll likely feed some elders, here. Or be used in a ceremony. Still, Finn had a hard time with it, initially, but processed through it and came to a reluctant acceptance of the situation.

An Osborne-Gowey Christmas Newsletter: 2011

Jeremiah and Cat, 2011

We hope this newsletter finds you well.  We usually write a family newsletter each Christmas season detailing our past year and how much has changed. This year ended with a bittersweet note of the passing of a dear young friend. Through our grief we had decided not to do a newsletter this year. However, after getting various cards from people with notes about how much you all love our newsletter, we decided to put a quick one together. 

Finn and Little Jeremiah, 2011

Kids are growing like crazy. Our daughter Finn is in kindergarten this year...we know: crazy! We have all officially entered the world of elementary school...wow!  She loves it and her teacher is an amazing man with the patience of Job. Finn is already losing her baby teeth and has enjoyed waiting for the tooth fairy, though she informed us the tooth fairy doesn't bring money but a new toothbrush and toothpaste...which we thought was great. She still loves horses and rides at a friend’s farm every week. She can't get enough of singing and dancing to her "country music" as she calls it, and is the tallest kid in her class (as well as the youngest)...I fear she is going to be taller than her tall mummy. 

Our son Jeremiah is two and half and all boy. We used to say that there is no difference between boys and girls...then we had a son...wow there is a big difference between boy and girl hormones. We think he came out grunting like a cave man and throwing a ball around the house an pumping his fists in the air. We so have enjoyed watching him grow and develop his likes and dislikes. He loves nature, being outside as much as possible, trains, cars, and most of all, his sissy. He and his sister have developed a close relationship...which often involves a lot of fighting. J

We have had a lot of positive changes this past year. For the first half of the year, Jeremiah worked a large amount of hours and was asked to do more than any person should...he was working six to seven days a week 12 to 16 hours a day...too much. He was getting no time with the kids and his sweetie...which he treasures so much. Finally, one day we were sitting down to dinner and our daughter put a picture of Papa at the table and said "see it's almost like he's here"...he had to work late again and wasn't able to get home for supper. Cat took a picture of it and sent it to Jeremiah at work and said “I think we have a problem.” Shortly after that a blessing came to us...with the tight financial times the world is in, his company realized they needed to downsize and he was laid off. It sounds strange but it was such a relief for us...he took with him a few of the projects he was working and started working for himself. We've always lived simply so our finances are small and we don't have a lot to worry about. With his work and Cat’s working off and on for the tribe, we do okay...and Cat’s still able to work from home so the kids have mummy and not a daycare. The Lord provides...just not always how we think He will. 

Cat’s work for the tribe has really picked up. Perfect timing too...previously Jeremiah was working so much she never would have had the time to put into my work like she does now. The tribe has had some changes in the business committee and Cat’s finally getting a lot more support. Five years ago she wrote a grant to start a family violence prevention program...the grant was awarded but many in the business committee were not so happy. She wrote a second grant last year and it was awarded as well, and, coupled with the changes to the business committee, the doors are opening and amazing things are happening. Her program is seeing great progress and they've been able to help quite a few women and their children leave abusive situations. 

We have had our sadness this year at the passing of our dear friend Deanna Kingston (and here, here and here)...but we have had many blessings as well. Our lives are full and rich, we have two amazing children, jobs that we feel really contribute to bettering our world, and we have a safe and loving home...really what else could we ask for!?

We hope this next year finds you safe and well and filled with God’s blessings.

Love,

The Osborne-Goweys