Babies Don't Keep

An old picture of Benjamin

Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
For babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow
So quiet down, cobwebs
Dust, go to sleep
I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep.

—Anonymous

I think this is the sweetest little poem. And it's exactly how I've been feeling lately...although the distraction isn't ONLY housework. It's too many extracurricular activities, Internet, and everything else that clutters these quickly passing years. Worst of all, my babies aren't babies anymore. Benjamin is fast becoming a little man (he handles all the farm chores when Daddy's out of town), and Annie is "Wild Annie" (the self-christened nomenclature captures her essence perfectly). Do all mothers feel this way? I love the well-rounded little people they're becoming, but sometimes I'd like to swaddle them and rock them quietly in our old black rocker that now sits empty in the middle of our family room. I need a houseful of these gorgeous beings. But that's another story.

Blinded By the Light (of My Thumb)

A Photo by Uncle Andrew at Benjamin's beloved Smith-Rock fake-boulder area.

It's nearly 10 o'clock and the rest of my family is sleeping (including Daddy). I poked Jeff in the eye with my thumb last night; he spent today with the eye doctor, a patch, and me as his chauffeur. He was prodigiously tuckered out. I should be cleaning, but thought I'd silence the requests for an update first (and engage in a little procrastination). So here it is. We're doing fine. We're all looking forward to moving closer to town and our friends, but we're also enjoying our last month next to Smith Rock. I've already turned the house upside down with the beginnings of a packing frenzy, and Benjamin is eagerly anticipating watching too many movies for his own good during what promises to be a hectic September. We started school this week (Benjamin loves it), we're nearing butcher time for our six young roosters (I'm dreading it), and we're deep into the incredibly fun L. Frank Baum books. (We loved The Wonderful Wizard of Oz when Benjamin was newly three, but just picked the series up again. This month, we've read The Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz, and we're halfway through Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz.) Annie is looking forward to her third birthday (on September 2). She picked Hello Kitty wrapping paper today (which she simply calls "my burt-day"). She wants a hootie (horsey) and a pretty dress. That's all for now. The house isn't getting any cleaner, you know.

Sweet Six

Who Is That Masked Man?

We celebrated Sir Benjamin's 6th birthday with good friends, a farm breakfast (including lots of eggs and soaked-oat pancakes in lieu of cake), and plenty of battle. It was also my Dad's birthday. Happy Birthday Papa!

Benjamin the Brave

Benjamin's Battle Cry

Battle of the Browning Boys

Annie

One Year Later...

Okay, so I haven't exactly "kept up" with the blog. And so much has happened in the last year. Here's a speed update:

Benjamin learned to read, mastered big-boy bike riding in a day, and has two loose teeth. He loves all things battle, corn on the cob, and listening to novels (we're currently working on George MacDonald's The Princess and the Goblin and Laura Ingalls Wilder's Farmer Boy). He's growing his hair to look like an Israelite (Jeff's running buddy is sending him some eco-sweatbands to complete the image). Annie created a language all her own, designed and runs a daily love-torture program for our two Humane-Society-adopted cats (Gussie and Dot), and maintains a regular routine of vee-dawing (swinging on anything swingable). When people ask her name, she says it's Annie Josephine Joe (and it sounds like "Annie-Dopey-Doe"). She loves baby dolls, pretty princesses, and mollas (bananas). Jeff won two 100-milers (Arkansas Traveller 100 and Big Horn 100), discovered his passion for permaculture, and continues to amaze us all with his enthusiasm over running and farming (if he could just combine the two...). We sold our home in Bend and are renting a farm in Terrebonne, Oregon. We have 27 chickens, an overabundance of eggs, and a decent desert garden. Frances (our 14-year-old dog) died, Gussie-the-cat fell out of a tree and broke her jaw, and a skunk claimed the lives of our first 14 chicks in a violent 3-day killing spree. That's it in a nutshell. See you next year. :-)

Benjamin and Daddy Playing Banjo.

A Young Deer in Our Yard.

Annie Doing Her Chores.

2008 Big Horn 100 Champions. Benjamin looks like he just ran 100 miles.

Being Silly at Smith Rock State Park (our backyard).

Oh, Annie!

The Browning Family 2008.

Summertime, and the Living Is Easy (Annie's favorite song).

Serious at Smith Rock.

Three Peas

Peau, Benjamin and Annie enjoy a rainy Seattle morning.

We got to spend a fun week with my sister and her little guy, Peau. Here's a picture of the ragamuffins.

The Brownings Really Went to the Zoo

Jeff took the kids to the Portland Zoo a few weeks ago. They had a blast, but none of the pictures actually contain any real animals (so it's hard to prove they were actually there). Here are a few pictures of Benjamin and Annie at the honest-to-goodness, live-animal-containing zoo...

Benjamin rides an a metal otter.

Live children in a man-made cave.

Annie milking a synthetic cow.