Second emailed poem from Nathan.

Ghost town

The street lights flicker

The people on the streets vanish

The sky darkens

Purple like an amethyst

The light of waterfront buildings

Streaks of white, yellow and blue

Mountains become shadows

Silhouettes behind the city

Night has taken over

Silence, reticence, quiet

Cars petal to the metal

laying rubber on the deserted streets

The occasional sirens and boat horns

A harmony of sounds ring in my ear

Planes soar over the fireflies below

Clamorous sounds follow them

The ghost town is silent again

The devious wind pushes garbage around

papers, cans, candy wrappers

The smell of factories and smoke float in the air

murky, thick, fumy

Restaurants and fast food buildings

Taunting smell of food wafted in the air

The Amethyst is fading

Transforming

Black as ash

Good Night!

Emails from Nathan

Today as I was going through my email inbox, I opened this email from Nathan.
He has always written beautifully, but this took my breath away.
Brooke, we have some highly deep children. It makes my heart ache with love for him.

Nate Butler

4/14/10

Bourland P.4

Where I am from...

I am from the strings on my guitar

from the bass guitar and drums

I am from the trumpet I used to play in band

its surface smooth and gleaming

I am from the weather beaten tent in the woods

Its thin tarp, the only thing protecting me from nature

The fire pit is blanketed with an orange glow

Crackling as its fiery tendrils climb an invisible ladder

I am from the canoe I paddled in years ago

Its solid metal frame scratched and beaten

I am from Crescent lake

Its emerald green waters entice me

I am from the tide pools at point no point

The sea anemones, crabs and seaweed fascinate me

I am from the hiking pack I once hiked with

Its pouches packed with food and supplies

I am from home plate in sands field

Its bases dirty and worn from years of baseball

I am from the branches on that towering pine tree in my back yard

The top of the tree is up in the clouds

I am from the tree fort in the woods I once played in

I remember it as if I played in it yesterday

I am from the fallen tree that sleeps in the woods

Its insides are hollow and black

I am from the old blanket my grandmother made me when I was born

The memories I treasure are in every stitch of that old blanket

Why not?

So your mama owns a store full of things you cannot touch.
What's one two year old and her active big brother to do?

Luckily there is a long dock like deck you can play on if the weather is nice ... but what if a big box full of goods comes to moms store and miraculously transforms into.....
A great house, hiding spot, chair...(anything but a box).
Where is Rylan?

Why today was a great day....

I got loads of kisses today from Mae, which are a rare commodity, let me tell ya.

After visiting a dear friend, I was invited to come to her studio on Thursday nights to throw clay with the best of em. I haven't "thrown clay" since high school and I can't wait to sit in this studio with friends and CREATE!
I already have some ideas, but we'll see if I can pick it back up ...or not.

Nathan was an ever faithful raccoon protector. They are getting so confident, that they will come right up by the kids. I suppose it doesn't help that Shane feeds them now and then, but, the kids do have fun trying to chase them off. Funny thing is....the cat isn't even afraid of them. They have some sort of spoken agreement between them. I have even seen them all share a food plate with out any hissing or flinching !
Daddy is always the best story reader with all his funny voices and tickles. Tonight was a very funny book that we picked up at the library book sale yesterday, "Take Me Out of the Bathtub".
Silly lyrics set to classic songs. The kids were giggling the whole time. I can tell it is going to be a nightly event.
Myron was called as the President of his Deacons quorum. He was very excited and proud. We were too. He is such a special boy.
LOVE Sundays because we get to read so much. Brennan loves to read to the little ones too, which I loved because it meant that I was able to cook dinner for a change. I made a commitment to myself to cook dinner every night no matter how busy or tired we were. Well......last week, it didn't quite work out that way. Anyhow.....love the below photo and love Curious George, another great story bought at the book sale as well.
Anyhow....great day. I didn't add all the events which included a 5 minute baseball game, a heavenly barbecue with the team and the glorious sunshine and warm weather that allowed me to actually question if I needed any sunblock.

xo

20 Dolla DO!

One of the perks of owning a shop downtown is getting to know all the amazing other store owners. We all have a special bond and give special discounts to each other. My shop is in the same building as the very hip Megan Alison studio. Haircuts here run about 50.00. Way out of my price range. In fact, I have been cutting my hair myself thank you...for about a year.
Anyhow, one of the hairdressers brought in this lovely coupon for 25.00 off ANY service in their salon. I jumped at the chance. Because my hair is shortish, I ended up paying 20.00 for the haircut and 10.00 for a tip. I tipped because not only did my hair look amazing, but I had a scalp massage and instead of the hurry, cut your hair and get you out of the chair service...it took around an hour. Jenna cut my hair and then showed me exactly how to do it myself at home.
So, here's the deal. ANY new customer can get the same deal. Just let them know that Katie sent you! 25.00 off haircuts, colors, perms, waxes, tweezing, etc!
So go get YOUR do!

PS- While I am raving, I have to rave about another awesome friend, Sarah from "The Battle of Land and Sea" and creative mind behind THIS blog.....www.craftyFOLK.org.
She makes awesome stickers, post cards etc. and I just adore her, so jump over there and buy some lovelies. I am putting a cute photo of her latest and greatest OWL stickers over to the left.
xo

No news is good news!

Although I have to admit......I got some pretty insane news last night that I wish wish wish I could post here, but promised a certain new relative that I wouldn't until it is out.
But for those of you that can't wait and aren't relatives.....call me.....you WONT believe it!!!
Let's just say that Karma has a great way of working itself out. :)
For today....it has been mellow which I love. I had two of my amazing artists
come in and hang out for a couple of hours which brightened my day and lifted my spirits.
Seriously,....I have the best job in the world. If you know me at all.....you already know how perfect this whole gig is for me. I can talk endlessly to strangers, learn all about them.....and not take up any of my family's time and still be productive!!!
xo!

OH OH OH!!!! I forgot.....there WAS a blood test taken at my birth to already prove the paternity!!
LOVE that!

Great Great Day!

Great day

It's happened again....I have a whole camera full of cute, awesome photos of the kiddos and the fun times we have had lately and cannot for the life of me find my uploader cord!
It is SO frustrating how it pops up and disappears all the time.
Today was a great day. One of my artists/friends worked at the store for me until 1:30 or so which freed up my entire morning to hang with my little ones and hubby.
We headed to Poulsbo via the backroads along the water. I did this because if you know anything about me, you know my insane fascination with anything oceanic. I read on the Kitsap Suns facebook page that a couple of gray whales have been seen on and off for three whole days right down in the Poulsbo bay. We hung out for a while and my impatience got the best of me.
Well, if I couldn't see my whales, I decided that we should go to the Marine Science center (after an imperative stop at Sluys bakery to get the highly regarded chocolate doughnuts). They were closed! The kids were bummed, we were bummed. We decided the only way to make this day better would be to go to lunch at a great Mexican Rest. downtown and then head to the park afterwards, which we did. It was a great day....I shot some great photos. Really! Take my word for it. I headed back to work, hung out, met some great people, talked to my awesome "new" uncle Jim and got some paperwork done. Really...nice mellow day. Tonight Brennan had a baseball game and it was a close one. Now I am home, nice and warm in my jammies....kids are in bed and I am ready to get in bed with a good book.
It has been a great day. xo