Rain Romp

Yesterday was far too rainy for gardening, so:









LOVE warm springtime rains...

Homemade Gift (Kinda Sorta)

Annie absolutely cannot stop drawing and crafting. She wants to do it all day long, every day, and she brings at least 5 drawings or projects home each day from school. For her birthday, then, I decided that she might appreciate her very own art box. This way she doesn't have to ask me to get the crayons for her (which are put up because a certain 2-year-old has covered every single downstairs wall with doodles), and I got to introduce some new craft items to her that have been stored in my cache.

In total, this gift cost about $20 because there were a few items that we don't generally keep on hand in the house that I wanted to add especially for her. The box itself is actually my old Caboodle that I kept my makeup and accessories in as a teen. In the box we have:

3 craft punches (dog, cat, and paw print for my little animal lover)-- From my scrapbooking stash

Mini stapler-- Bought new for use in making her own booklets

Large eraser-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

Pencil sharpener-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

Two pencils-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

Glue stick-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

Safety scissors-- Bought new since we only had one pair in the house

Heart shaped paperclips-- Bought new (and grudgingly)

8 Glitter glue pens-- Bought new; the most expensive new item, but I knew she'd love them!

Crayons-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

White sketching paper-- I looked all over for a mini sketchbook that would fit, but couldn't find one. Instead, I cut up some larger sheets we already had at home.

Construction paper-- Again, small sheets cut from larger sheets we already had

Pipe cleaners-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

Beads-- Bought new

Elastic thread for beading-- Bought new

Cinderella stamp and pad of stamping paper-- Received in a party gift bag earlier in the year

Phew! I think that's it. As her skills improve, we'll add things gradually. For now, this keeps her plenty occupied. She makes magic wands from the pipe cleaners, bracelets and necklaces from the beads and elastic thread, and has covered every sheet of paper in glittery doodles. Fun stuff!

The First Snow

Okay, I admit it. I've lost my will to blog. There are things that I could be posting about, like the fact that the twins have turned 5, the few "thrifty" things I got/made for their birthday, my foray into making apple cider vinegar, my insane journey into trying to really connect with my home and redoing our master bedroom, or the battle that is waged every year around this time between me and... everyone else.

But I just. Can't. Make. Myself. Do it.

Yesterday, however, the first snow of the year fell, and it felt like the kind of thing that needed to be put down somewhere. You know, recorded for posterity or some such thing. It started as rain, but by the afternoon, it had turned into a very wet, light snowfall. None of it stuck, and it wasn't the sort of white fluff that makes pretty pictures. But, well, now you know that it's snowed here. :)

I hope you're all doing well out there in the ether...

Now back to hibernating.

Annie Asks...

"Mom, why is toilet paper made of paper?" (Picture is a self-portrait of Annie.)

I love these moments when the children start to catch on to the changes we're making, and it prompts them to ask questions and probe into why things are the way they are and why we're making a change. We haven't completely phased out toilet paper at BobbleHead yet, mainly because my husband is adamantly refusing to give it up, but I have the kids using old baby washcloths to wipe themselves when they urinate. I was extremely tense that they might forget and flush the cloth down the toilet causing who knows what amount of plumbing havoc, but they've not forgotten yet, and it's been many months.

Annie and I had quite the discussion (with Airius and The Bean listening on, of course) about how toilet paper disintegrates in water, which she immediately had to try in the sink. Then she wanted to know why we would want to use cloth when the toilet paper just disappears. I have to wash the cloth. Why would I want to do that? This led to a conversation of where paper comes from, how long it takes trees to grow, why trees are so important to our planet, how much toilet paper costs, etc. My girl is amazing, I tell ya. She knew more than I thought she would, and I'm sure she absorbed the new stuff.

Luckily, she didn't ask why we don't use the cloth wipes for fecal cleanup, but I wouldn't put it past her to do it once just to see how I react. ;)

How do your kids handle all the changes you've been making during your journey to simplicity?

Today's Harvest

The past 24 hours have been a little hectic, so we spent today digging potatoes in the garden, ripping up our sunflowers, corn, and tomato plants, and wondering what in the world to do with the bed still overflowing with prickly borage.

Last night wasn't nearly so much fun. I spent a couple of hours in the ER after not feeling the baby move for 48 hours and waking up at 7am with mild cramping. I'm not the type to run to a doctor, but The Husband was worried enough to come home early from work, so off I went. Before I left, The Husband pressed his cheek to my tummy and told the baby that he loved it and he knew it'd be all right. "Behave for your Mommy, okay?" One last kiss to my stomach. "I'd feel better if the baby had a name," I said without knowing why.

It took the nurse nearly 20 minutes to find the baby's heartbeat. I was sweating bullets, even though I know that ER nurses aren't nearly as adept at this sort of thing as a nurse or doc at an OB/GYN office. Finally, we heard the heartbeat, and at that exact moment, my little one let out an enormous kick and bounced that doppler right off of my stomach. I know, little one. I should never have disturbed you.

I was ready to go home at that point, but the doctor had different ideas, of course. I had a full battery of blood work drawn, gave a urine sample, and was wheeled in for an ultrasound, grumbling all the way. Once I heard baby's heart beating, I knew things were fine. It was glorious to see that baby moving on the ultrasound screen though! The first question from the woman doing the ultrasound was whether or not I wanted to know the sex. Daniel had made a point of telling me before I left for the hospital that I'd better find out the sex of the baby if given the chance. He knows all too well that I'd rather be surprised, but this pregnancy has been all about compromise, so I agreed. As soon as the image shifted to that secret spot between the baby's legs, I knew it was a girl. Though I'd been getting boy vibes for the whole pregnancy, I wasn't surprised. The one name we had agreed on had been for a girl. The baby had had her name all along.

Armed with new ultrasound photos to show the kids, a handful of Vicodin (what? Doesn't your doctor prescribe Vicodin for adominal pain that you've described as mild and a 2 on a scale of 1-10?), and a "diagnosis" connecting my normally low blood pressure with a lethargic but undistressed baby (yeah, right), I finally got in the car and rambled on home. The Husband was relieved, as was I. I still couldn't get her to move today until I decided to put some pressure on my uterus. Then she poked delicately at my hand.

Airius had some trouble adjusting to the idea of a baby sister this morning. After all, the boy had flipped a coin and been told our baby was a boy! He's coming around though. I told him we may still keep the baby in his room for awhile, which is what he really wants. He's jealous that his sisters always have each other for company. Maybe we'll move the twins back in together and let The Bean share a room with the baby. I don't know. Anyone have any suggestions?



Today's harvest, artfully arranged by garden girl Annie in a basket received from a Freecycle offer. I'll talk more about the results of the garden in another post, but for now I'm resting with my children, those in the here and now and those whose faces I have yet to see. Love, love, love.

A Break From the Seriousness

My first handmade preschool gift, from my sweet Annie. Be still my heart...

Annie hadn't even made it all the way down the aisle of the bus before she was excitedly saying that she had a gift for me. When she put the sparkly plastic beaded bracelet in my hand, I admit that I choked up just a bit. How I love this child. So considerate. So thoughtful. So very loving.

Thank you, my sweetheart. I won't take it off. Promise.

Change is Afoot

Dear Airius and Annie,

Today, for the first time in your lives, I left you in the care of complete strangers for 3 1/2 hours. You were both thrilled. Though Daddy and I managed to make it through without tears, it was a bittersweet moment for us. On one hand, I'm amazed that I've managed to raise two children who feel self-assured enough that they weren't the least bit concerned with their parents leaving them. I'm in awe of the fact that you've both been classified as "outgoing" and "talkative," despite being raised in a situation where your social expression has been minimized and your father is content to go weeks without seeing another living being. I feel proud, with a sense of parental accomplishment, that both of you approached this change with unfettered optimism and excitement.

On the other hand... I'm so sad to see you go. Sitting just beyond the reach of that maternal pride is a lump of guilt and a huge feeling of failure for having sent you off to be taught by others rather than having kept you home to learn as a family. I'm so very hesitant to let you go, my two first little hatchlings that really made this nest. It's so very strange to know that some other woman will be teaching you, guiding you, shaping you, and even feeding you! Maybe I'm even just a bit jealous that someone else will wheedle their way into your affections. Maybe.

But, oh! The confidence that you both have! Annie, you didn't hesitate for a moment. I asked you three times if you wanted me to stay until all the other kids came into the classroom. You were having none of it, waving cheerily and sending me on my way, pigtails bouncing as you skipped towards the dolls laid in a mini cradle. I was strong then and walked out with my head held high after giving you a hug and kiss and snapping a photo, but I'm fighting back tears now as I remember that moment.

Airius, you stomped your foot impatiently as you waited for the morning class to file out before you could enter. One glance around the room, and you were off exploring, as is your way. A door opened here, a toy fondled there, your tiny hands (so much bigger than the day you were born, I remind myself) running over the covers of books as you decided which one to pull out. You snarled at me as I tried to catch you in my camera's viewfinder. When the teacher asked everyone to gather on the rug, you were the first there and remained rapt as she read you a puppet-accompanied story. You shouted out the answers to each question your teacher asked. Daddy told me it was time to go. When I arrived to pick you up later in the afternoon, the aide told me you'd been asking for me for the last half hour. Be still my heart!

As much as Daddy and I missed you though, there was one person who missed you more. Your little sister wouldn't show us any affection or speak to us for quite some time when she realized that we were leaving without you. Even a jaunt to a ne'er before visited park with both of her parents all to herself did little to placate her. When we pulled into the garage without her Booboo and Sissy in their respective places, she broke down. The look on her face when she saw the two of you had returned while she was napping... Well, I hope you both remember that. Pure adoration and love.

Yes, you have a wonderful family. A loving family. A close family. An imperfect family. You are blessed.

With all my forever love,
Mommy

~About the photo: The kids were all too cooperative for those kinds of heart-tugging photo ops that I dreamed of for this day, holding hands on the way into the building, heads held high and not looking back towards me even once... But I just couldn't do it without choking up. So, in the interest of Mommy staying strong, I let those opportunities pass and opted instead for the obligatory pic in front of the school sign.~

Treasures of my Garden: June 20, 2008

Ever heard of The Church of the Old Mermaids? It was founded by my favorite author, Kim Antieau, and I'm a firm devotee. Old Mermaid legend has it that the desert used to be covered in ocean. That ocean must have come all the way to Ohio because we've been finding shells in our garden. The one above is a shell impression in a stone. A fossil? I don't know, but it's gorgeous, and it's become part of our garden altar now.


The shell I uncovered today while digging up some more lawn. Its graceful inward curves are filled with dirt, but Annie kept insisting that she could hear the ocean and that I should hear it too. Later, she said she heard a voice coming from the shell. I asked her what it was saying. She whispered in my ear, "she sells seashells by the seashore." LOL Reminds me of Sister Laughs a Lot Mermaid...


I may not have heard the ocean in the shell, but I somehow hear it in the trees. Not the ocean, exactly, but Lake Erie, where I am most at home. There is a very distinctive rustling of the wind in the limbs of our Mama Maple that instantly transports me back to those days of my childhood and teenage years when I could hear the lake lap at the shore from my bedroom window. Oh, how I miss home! Thank you, Old Mermaids, Old Sea, for giving me these little gifts...

Homestead Helper

The twins are only 4, and we've yet to assign any real chores to the kids. Besides picking up their rooms before bedtime each night, everything is left to Mommy, but I really do feel that it's important to have the children help as they grow. Now, when everything is still fun to them rather than work, it's easy to get them to join in. Even when I really don't want them to.

Everytime I bring the basket of towels to the chair to fold, Annie digs right in to find the washcloths and hand towels. Every one of them gets folded to perfection saving me... well, no time at all really, but isn't it sweet that she wants to help? :)

Buggin' Out

Last summer, my kids were all set to chase and catch ants during our Ant Day. This year, they're scared of everything that moves. Go figure.

Annie is a little better about the creepy crawlies than Airius is, but she limits herself to ladybeetles and earthworms. Until today...

Yes, that's a pill bug on her nose. And she put it there. With her own hand.

Turns out, if you call something a "tickle bug" (which is what I called pill bugs as a child), she's all for it! She and Airius played with that one little pill bug for 30 minutes.