Father's Day at Mabry Mill

We spent Father's day doing one of Ted's favorite things meandering to out of the way places.  We drove past Floyd to Mabry Mill on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We stopped for a brunch of pancakes (the kids were thrilled that their's had smiley faces.  Then we hopped over to the Mill to be tourists;

 inspecting baskets

 Mommy is eager to show Dorathea how a loom works. (Someday I will own one).

 Then over to Bald Knob picnic area to run and play.

 A gift from Dorathea

 In the shade of a giant tree

 And then heading home as we gaze out over the mountians.  

I love my home.

The Doughnut Birthday Feast

My Birthday wish, to take my family to Carol Lee Donuts for a Birthday feast.

I got my wish.  

Chocolate sprinkles make us smile.

What kind to you want?

There was some healthyness to this meal.  We ate them with milk.

"Don't take a picture of my milk mustache!"

Donut coma

 Don't even think about it!

One happy Momma

Thank you Carol Lee,

Here's a video by some friends about this great bakery.

http://vimeo.com/15605704

Happy Birthday to me!

Dorathea's birth story

I really wanted to finish that slipcover for the couch when I felt the labour pains coming on.  The day Dorathea was born I had already finished upholstering the ottoman and sewing the rainbow carseat cover.  My doula said, "Allison, you need to rest!"  So I rested myself in anticipation.
    4 hours of contractions were easy 1 was tolerable and then the next three hours came on heavy and relentless.  By the time I thought about an epidural I was pushing.  The sorrow lasted 3 hrs but joy came in the morning.

   I held her in pure bliss.  A mother's high I looked into her clear wide eyes, and she looked back into mine, unafraid from her struggle to be with us, but with a bruise on her nose to show it hadn't been easy for her either.

I closed my eyes and saw her as a little girl with long legs in a field running and dancing.  I was breathless looking at this awesome creature, the vision of her life with us in my mind's eye.  I thanked God that I was thought worthy to be her mom, her nurturer.  That it could be my calling to teach her about love until she was ready to teach others.  I thanked God over and over for the little soul.  Mr Wordsworth said;

 Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The soul that rises with us, our life’s star,
    Hath had elsewhere its setting,
      And cometh from afar.
    Not in entire forgetfulness,
    And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory, do we come
    From God, who is our home:Heaven lies about us in our infancy.

I felt that glory fresh from heaven, fragile and needing (oh wonder, me!) in my arms and praised God for her.

  Ted and I looked at our list of names, baffled at how our before favorites were not the name for this child.   At the bottom of the list I saw Dorathea.  "Yes" said Ted, "That might be right".  "Dorathea?" I said, "Is that your name?"  Her knowing gaze bloomed into a smile.  Not a passing shadow of a smile but a full two minute smile looking into my eyes, and it seemed like, straight into my spirit.  This 3 hour old girl knew her name.  She could still here God calling it to her.

Later others weren't sure it was a good name, until they met her that is.  But I knew she had passed along the message to us of who she was.  Dora-thea;  Gift of God.

When she was one and two we would call her Sweetie-pie and Baby Peaches and Dorathea-bedea and all number of silly names.  Even at one and two she would say, "No no! Not Seetie-pie~!", "Not Baby Eaches!", "Not Bedea!".  We would laugh and know that this child knew who she was.

Her knack for knowing God is saying to others astounds me.  She will whisper "Your beautiful"  to a crushed soul, or "God is giving you flowers", Those eyes still look at you piercing the darkness and revealing God's names for his children.   Trailing clouds of Glory she still is.

 ‎"-this is what the LORD says--he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine." Isaiah 43:1

All Around The Garden

Welcome to the garden.  I've been making some changes... like this gate and roses out front.

and this fish pond I found for 10 dollars at Restore, the Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store

a new swing, and a playhouse still being assembled to be shown later,

a new place to sit..

and a place to rest little birdy heads

I think this one would make a great mailbox for secret messages with it's opening door,

the kids were coloring up the garden today...

and so were the roses, that's oregano blooming in front.

Friends have been coloring up the garden too.  Here's Karen at her birthday dinner.


Come visit soon!  You can try the swing for yourself. - Allison

The Keys go camping

The Keys arrive

Check out the view from the my dad's old tent.  We found Grandpa's spectacles inside :)

and inside

Parents start to cook hotdogs and kids explore

a thousand, "can I have a marshmallow's", and "No, not until after dinner"'s later we open the bag and;

Dorathea- "We don't have any books, so can we tell stories instead?"  So we all tell stories about princesses and kangaroos and fireflies and then D-"Can you sing me a lullaby?"  So Daddy and I sing lullabies as the sun goes down all of us snuggled up together in the tent.

Morning breaks, mist rises off the river, and Ted rises to make the first fire.

Soon Jonathan and I get up too hungry to sleep.  I put the coffee and biscuits on to cook and admire my boys.

The coffee is so warm in my hands and perfect with a biscuit with strawberry jam.  Why do things taste better outside by a campfire?

Canada Geese love this spot and pairs proudly parade their fuzzy babies right in front of us.

The kids eat there fill, we put away the campsite and are off on a hike on the sandy-trailed riverside.

Chasing babies.

nature boy stops to play

Dorathea picks Sweet William all along the way.

At some point the sand starts to sparkle.  Like it is filled with fairy dust.  And a beautiful clearing sweeps in front of us.  The kids play in the sand and we listen to the river's song over the rocks.

She decorates her castle with her flowers. Our first camping trip since children is a triumph, and so we leave sparkling sand and go in search of Asheville and a wonderful restaurant called Mayfels and then home to celebrate Mothers day with roses and chocolate.  I love my family