Wading Thru My Head

I Am Moving

2010-08-24T06:25:00.000-07:00

It is a time of change. I feel like chapters are closing and i am standing in front of many open doors. Where I will go I am unsure but it feels like time to put this chapter to rest and start a new.
Here is where you can find me.
Take care,
Kate

Dinner Outside

2010-05-04T19:47:00.000-07:00

The odd early spring has been wonderful. We had our first family dinner outside while my in-laws were visiting. Yay!

Ready for May

2010-04-23T08:58:00.000-07:00

This month was one of much working, a break and firsts.
Two weeks ago we had our first bout of lice. Laying in the hammock reading to Ella and she scratched her head a bit more vigorously than usual. I took a peek and there it was her traveling pet upon her head. A lice.
To say the least i got immediately itchy. We popped out of the hammock and I found Sam to check his head - affirmative. I texted Donn the news, grabbed garbage bags and started loading up all our bedding and recent clothing. Off to Mr. Staduim Laundry mat we went. While cleaning the clothes I took to treating the kids. Spray, nit combs and later that night Cetaphil facial cleanser, a trick passed on from some other moms.
Even before we left for Mr. Staduim, Donn was home to shave his hair off and go back to work. I found this funny. Lucking I have very little hair to worry about. It could not be better timing for me.
Four hours later we got home got fed and I was off to work tired from the days labors.

One week and two days later Ella wakes up with SPOTS! Chicken pox. Later that day Sam is spotty. So here we are on day three of quarantine. *sigh*

I am ready for May.

Making Nests

2010-03-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

I took this idea from 5 Orange Potatoes

Yay Spring!

Mine

Sam's Camouflage

Ella's Beauty

The Fairy House

2010-03-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

Eating Area

Camp Site

House, Path and Garden

Garden Gate

Broom and Walking Sitcks

Homeschool Notes

2010-03-24T10:48:00.000-07:00

I am lovin' Joy Hakim today.

We listened to A History of US The First Americans Prehistory - 1600 and LOVED it! And yesterday my friend Syndallas introduced her The Story of Science Series with workbooks.

Now if I could only get organized to implement this stuff :) The kids will be at a week day camp in April and I plan to gut the chaotic playroom in hopes to find motivation and order.

I seek OOOORRRRRDDDDDEEEEERRRRR!!!!

New Old Friend

2010-03-24T10:37:00.001-07:00

It has been surprisingly liberating and wonderful to live without hair for the past week.

I think back on one week ago today and my hesitations about what the night was to bring. It is like having a baby, it seems like so long ago and I can remember what it was like to have hair but it is kind of abstract. This was not the most life changing thing I have done in my life but it was surely one of the most liberating and surprisingly empowering.

It was not just shaving my head either. It was also that I accomplished my goal of raising $3000 for St. Baldrick's. When I set that goal I thought it might be a little lofty and wondered if I was setting myself up for disappointment (I am competitive even with myself). Not only did I raise $3000 I passed that goal.

It was also not just shaving my head but doing it in public on a stage, in a crowded bar on St. Patrick's day with folks taking photos, and sticking microphones in my face as I do one of the most vulnerable things for me - exposing myself. Granted it was not nudity but it kind of felt like it. Maybe I can equate it to going topless. I have never been one to go topless in public (I am surprisingly physically modest) so I am only guessing.

Though during the cutting I did not get emotional except for one time, when the woman with the microphone asked me how much money I raised. For some reason that question choked me up. Other questions were "Why was I doing this?" answer - "Because it felt right." "Where did I hear about St. Baldrick's?" answer - "Emiliy MacBeth" I was a woman of few words that night but that one question got me. I can't quite figure out why. I can only guess that it brought me close to that thin part of me that thinks of all the children and families that are struck by cancer and other challenges.

Before, during and after being shorn I didn't know how I would look, if folks would judge or laugh. I kind of felt like I was in kindergarten on the first day of school. It was kind of terrifying but exciting at the same time. After they shaved my head, of which both of my children assisted, they put a salon hand mirror in from of my face. I was only able to see the left upper quadrant of my head when I looked down and said "OH, SHIT!" I was smiling but I was very overwhelmed. I was not able to look at it yet. My emotions had not caught up yet with what was going on around me and to me. Unfortunately one entire wall of the room I was in was mirrors so it took a good effort to keep from looking. About a half hour later after we had sat down and had something to eat I excused myself to the bathroom of the bar and grill to take my first real look. Surrounded by intoxicated women having random conversations I looked at myself for the first time top naked. A smile came over me as if I were meeting a new part of myself for the first time in that crowded bathroom.

A number of folks kindly tried to reassure me before the day of the event that it would go fine and it is no big deal. I understand thier perspective and intention but it is a big deal.

I strongly feel there are many things through out our lives that we dismiss as "not a big deal" when really if we stop we find that there is growth, or a lesson, or just plain beauty to be found in small (or big) events that can make amazing change. Not to sound cliche but we need to stop and smell the flowers, to experience all the experiences be it a rose, a stink flower, a pine tree or a compost pile. It is the accumulation of the little things, the "no big deals", that really make us who we are.

Last week I met an new old friend, me.

Bald for St. Baldricks $3000

2010-03-22T14:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I raised over $3000 to chop my locks. The most expensive hair cut ever.

Some funds are still on their way to my tally on my official St. Baldrick's website. Check out some pictures there of my new doo. Also I am posting about my experience on my bald blog.

I love being bald and don't know if I am going to go back. The little bean will not be happy about that But the Monkey loves my short hair. We shall see....

Flashback and Google Sites

2010-02-18T06:11:00.000-08:00

Changing over the laundry this morning I had a memory flashback of something the Monkey said to me when he was little.
It went like this
Mom: 'Monkey, you are driving me nuts.'
Monkey: 'No momma, you drive my nuts!'

This is a great way to start the day.

On another note I must share that I have discovered (it was introduced to me really) Google Sites.

Two other homeschool moms I know showed me this on Tuesday. I was skeptical as I usually am of technology. While at the Tuesday play date I got on my friends computer to check it out. By the end of the afternoon I had set the monkey up with his homeschool website complete with the weeks schedule, his school work for each day, a list of links to his school work sites, a clock, a calendar, and a virtual spider. By the end of the day I had created another page on the site for a house calendar so everyone in the house can be on the same page (we have 3 adults in our house, we live with my mother). By the end of last night I added a page for the Bean complete with Her websites, vocabulary list and pictures of cats. I also added a Cafeteria site that lists our food deliveries, Door to Door and Calder and there is a grocery list for everyone to add to when they see we are out of anything. Then I though to make a chores page called the TaskMaster with lists of household chores, hourse maintenance, and long term project. Tonight I want to add a page that lists the places we have memberships to and when those memberships expire. For example - zoo's, museums, parks and rec, websites, etc.

This is all stuff I have on lists all over the place, including my head. My hope (!) Is that this will help me organize and RELAX as we walk through our ridiculously busy days. I often get my hopes up that things will make our life more managable but this time maybe....just maybe.....it will be true.

Blogging About My Journey to Baldness

2010-02-03T21:22:00.001-08:00

I have had many thoughts on shaving my head for St. Baldrick's so I started a seperate blog for just these thoughts on my journey to baldness and beyond.

The Bald Project

If you have not donated do it. I will give you good reading along the way.

Thanks,
Kate

Shaving my head in solidarity and for money

2010-02-03T08:24:00.001-08:00

Ah the silly things I do.
But this one is not so silly.

This St. Patrick's Day, March 17th, I will be shaving my head (razor shaved bald really) in solidarity with children who have cancer and typically lose their hair during treatment, while raising critical funds for childhood cancer research!

In the US, more children die of childhood cancer than any other disease. Please make a donation on my behalf to support childhood cancer research so that all children diagnosed with cancer will have a better chance for a cure.

Emily, who has organized the event at the Uptown Grille in Commerce MI, lost her daughter at the age of two to Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Her daughter would have been 11 this years old this year. Emily is an amazing and strong woman who has lived through my worst nightmare. My heart goes out to her and all the families that deal with the struggles of cancer everyday.

To make a donation, go to my St. Baldricks page and click on "Make A Donation" or donate by mail or phone.

Thank you for your support!

P.S. I will be donating my hair to make wigs for kids in need.

--------

About St. Baldrick's

Since 2005 alone, when the St. Baldrick’s Foundation became an independent charity approximately 196 research grants, totaling more than $41.7 million have been awarded to enable doctors and scientists at more than 230 institutions to pursue the most promising new cures for childhood cancer and to help make clinical trials available to more children than ever.

But the ultimate goal of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation has not been achieved – the goal to cure childhood cancer. Until that day, we will continue to work with you – our volunteers and donors – to fund the best and most promising research to achieve that goal.

*Note the # of make shavees to female shavees*

Savory Oatmeal

2010-01-21T06:50:00.001-08:00

My breakfast has become ritual. A ritual most everyone makes that scrunched up EWWW face at. Most folks think of oatmeal with brown sugar, raisins, or some other sweet item. I think of oatmeal with and over easy egg, Franks hot sauce, a diced tomato and a little garlic salt. YUM!

This has been my breakfast almost everyday for 5 months. Today I have no eggs and I am sad. So instead of eating it I am writing about it.

I miss you hot egg oatmeal breakfast. You make me feel so good through the day and Frank, you give me the boost I need to wake up in the morning. Today I must settle for leftover sour cream pineapple cake (Grandma McPherson's recipe). So sad I am that I am not having my hot egg oat love. *sigh*

The Lightning Theif

2010-01-20T21:01:00.001-08:00

I am so EXCITED! The Monkey and I started reading this book today. We whipped through 5 chapters and I wanted more more more. It was so inspiring that we went to the library this afternoon to get books on Greek gods to further inform ourselves on the characters.

It is the first book of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan and no offense to J.K. Rowling I am liking it better than H.P. I know it is just the beginning but I have not come across a book that captured me like this in a looooong time. The two of us were on the edge of our seat. I am seriously resisting reading ahead after the kids go to sleep. I know though I am a one time reader (unlike my husband and others I know who read books again and again and again). I think one time reading is a possible trait of a slow reader. I am a snail slow reader but I seem to get more than the speedy folk. Slow and steady gets the details. So that being said and the fact that this is definitely a story I want to experience with my kids - I shall resist the temptation of reading ahead.

Apparently I just learned that they made a movie of this book that is scheduled to come out February 12th. It looks like we hopped on this gravy train just in time.

The Bean Labeling EVERYTHING

2010-01-15T15:29:00.000-08:00

She loves to write and we had a labeling day.
She even labeled the lego house that we worked on over the holidays. Now I love Hellboy (the comic and movie) but I didn't know I was married to Helldad.

Night Sledding

2010-01-15T15:25:00.000-08:00

From our night sledding trip with the J-S clan

Not My Placenta...

2010-01-15T15:10:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had a lovely play date with some new friends. While they visited I made Moosewood's Russian Cabbage Borscht. There was more than enough to share with our guests so I jarred some up for her and decided to make a grocery bag for her from our freezer bounty from the summer. Verde, Glut sauce, Greens and even a can of jalapaneos.

As I was digging through the garage freezer I found in the back a plastic target bag. Hmmmm.... what could that be. I dug back and brought it out for further inspection. It looked like two bags of pureed berries (the lighting was bad) or meat or just a mystery item. Then I flipped it over to find an umbilical cord. A placenta!
They aren't mine though. That is a mystery. I think either they are from the placenta workshop I hostes a couple of years back or they are from my friend who could have thrown them in there when she came over once for a play date. (coming from births that is)

(my husband just told me that in the white tubs in the freezer are frozen pipa pipa's which are underwater frogs otherwise known as surnam toads - why are they frozen i asked. the answer - because they are cool. and apparently there is the carcass of a dove that died from flying into our kitchen window four years ago...... I thought we burried that a couple years ago, apparently not.)

The Hamster Incident

2010-01-15T08:33:00.000-08:00

For most families hamsters are a nice experiment into pets. A harmless practice of taking care of another living thing.

I remember my first hamster, Egon. Yes it was in the Ghostbusters era and even at an early age I had a "thing" for science nerds. Egon was a teddy bear hamster that I would play with, take photos of, and make pictures for his cage. It was a great experience for me as a kid.

In my house hamsters have come to mean something else.

Last summer we bought the kids two dwarf hamsters, Hagrid and Curious. They were great .... for awhile. Curious was a bit easier to handle and the Bean especially loved to hold him and play with him. Then one day Curious had part of his ear missing. Hmmm ...... maybe they got into a tiff. I thoughts little of it. The a few days later his eye was scratched and swollen shut. This brought more alarm but then again they are hamsters. What am I going to do?

Then there was that sunny afternoon that the Bean came out to me and said "Mama, the hamster isn't moving and is laying in his cage like this." At which point she did the classic dead animal pose with the legs up in the air. My mental response was "Aw, shit." but my verbal response was "Ok honey, you stay here and I will go check on the hamster."

I went upstairs to peak in the cage and not only was the hamster dead but it's brain was eaten out. EWWWWW! (Although slightly fascinated by the fact I could see the inside of the hamsters skull.) As not to leave the corpse with the remaining hamster I put it in a yogurt cup to be disposed of later. The kids wanted a proper burial for their darling Curious.

Hagrid didn't get much love after that incident and died of natural causes a few months later.

Then were were on to Hamster Experience 2.0, what I was unaware of as my husband and children ventured off to get two more hamsters is that my savvy children would talk their dad into getting a male and a female hamster so they could start a business. (mind you my kids are 5 and 8 and my husband and I are already over committed to work and school - free time is not a luxury we are familiar with)

For awhile we were not positive that they were a female and a male. But just a few days before we were leaving for 10 days to Florida there were babies! It was alright timing as we could do nothing until they had fur. Fine, good ..... right? Well, upon our return from Florida the baby hamsters had fur but the momma hamster had MORE BABIES!!! *roll of the eyes*

Out of those two batches of babies three survived so we were housing 5 hamsters. We moved the known mom to her own cage but since I am not familiar with hamster sexing I procrastinated and in the end I paid the price.

Two nights ago I found another batch of babies in the hamster cage and upon further inspection it turns out TWO hamsters had litters at the same time! I removed the hamsters that I believed not to be the birthing mothers and was thankfully correct in my selection. So now we have the original mother in her own cage, the original father and one other hamster in another cage and the two recent birthing mothers in a cage with their off spring.

My husband is taking no responsibility of this breeding frenzy, claiming the children BEGGED him to get a male and a female for their business endeavor and it should be up to them to figure out what to do. Well, I don't buy it.

So anyone who wants a hamster they will be ready in two weeks for $5 each (and I may even pay someone $5 to take them!)

SAVE ME!!!

Today the Monkey is NINE

2010-01-08T14:56:00.000-08:00

Today my baby is nine. He is four foot nine inches and 85 pounds.
I can still pick him up and hold him in my arms.
He says '"Momma, soon you wont be able to pick me up anymore."
I reply "Oh yes I will. I will go get stronger so I can hold my baby."
He says "Momma, I don't wan tot grow up. I want to stay 9."
I reply "I know baby but think of all the amazing journeys you will have."
He hugs me tight and I hug him back with all my might.
Happy birthday Monkey.
I love you to the moon and to infinity.

The Unspeakable.

2010-01-07T05:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was one of those days for no apparent reason. I can speculate that it was the post holiday hangover. I had gotten very used to Big Daddy being home and us hanging out as a family. It was awesome! Also all of our big plans have come and gone, nothing is yet planned for 2010 for me to look forward to. So it is back to the daily routine - kids by day, work by night, husband in the cracks between. That is depressing.

There are days that every parent would like to check out. Heck there are weeks every parent would like to check out. Isn't the old saying 'it is the hardest job you will ever love'. Or something like that. Well I am also here to say it can also be the hardest job you will ever hate. Don't get me wrong I love my kids and love the life we have made with them but honestly I need to be able to say that. Especially as a homeschooler it is unrelenting and there are days I wish I could take a sick day, crawl into bed with a good book and a box of cookies and nap the day away. They are not that often but the do exist (especially in the winter in Michigan).

Now as a homeschooler I feel like I am not allowed to vent about
1. being an overwhelmed parent
2. not having enough free time
3. not having enough time with my partner
4. being occasionally financially tight

The common response to these ventings (an we all need to vent now and then) is
"Have you thought of putting your kids in school? It may make things easier?"
or
"Well you have made choices to get you here. You need to deal with it."

Upon hearing these my brain screams
"OF COURSE I HAVE THOUGHT OF IT! AND NO IT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! And I really don't think it would be easier, just a more acceptable set of complaints to talk to you about."
and
"You suck. I am never talking to you again."

I must say there are blogs I would love to follow, although I won't list them here. They are so sweet and creative ans snazzy looking but when it comes down to it they make me feel like shit. The mom I am not and never could be. I am a chaotic mom heading in 10,000 directions, a reluctant unschooler who can hardly remember to brush her teeth. I look at the beautiful pictures of the felting crafts, kids making drums out of everyday stuff, making stamps outo f potatoes, it is all so lovely...almost like it is staged. I am not saying it is staged but I have to remind myself that the blogger is painting a picture of their life and there is a lot more to the picture. They get crabby, they have temper tantrums, they fart, they have bad hair days and I am sure their house is not always that sparkly clean.

I am not here to paint a pretty picture, although pretty pictures do have their place - I love to look at them, I am here to finger paint with pudding, mud and sometmes blood. Many days I have thought of the movie The Hours (a great movie) in which there is a mother who checks out and leaves her family instead of killing herself. I can assure you I could not ever do that but some days I can relate to the Laura character who suffers from inner turmoil as a mother.

Over the holidays my awesome mother in law shared with me that there was a time that she was ready to check out from her family. She longed to be a mother her whole life and had her babies as soon as she could and very close together. She wanted a huge family but couldn't for heath reasons but she did end up with four in all. It was a breath of fresh air to hear her say that she had her crap times too. That it was not all roses and sunshine.

Many women of her generation seem to wax poetic about their childrearing years. I know it is easier to remember the good stuff but that kind of washed out legacy does no favor to us who are in the thick of parenting. I hope I remember to tell my kids about the good and the bad and that they are awesome even on their worst days as parents (if they choose to be parents). The fact that we stick around through the crap and love them although we may not like them that makes us great not the rosie painting of the day, potato stamps and homemade cupcakes.

Last day of the Staycation

2010-01-03T13:44:00.000-08:00

It is the last day of our family staycation. We are topping it off with friends over for a daddy burrito dinner. Bitter sweet it is to get back to the routines of life. I have LOVED having big daddy home. It has been great to reconnect. With his work and school schedule and my work schedule and the kids our life is a never ending fly by.

This week I let the house go to crap. I tossed the To Do list out the window and relaxed for what seems like the first time in 10 years. I didn't clean up from Christmas morning for about three or four days. There were sleep overs, late nights at friends houses, and a bunch of nothing doing.

Extended staycations are now on the family to do list. It is a great recharge to get through the fly by times. Big daddy and I are much better when we actually see eachother and can spend time together. It is good to know we still got it - Whew!

I am looking forward to 2010. It seems like we are/ have been morphing into the next phase of our family life. We are the parents of kids. There are no babies in the house. We are all reconnecting and finally getting on the same page. I am geeked for what is to come.

This coming year is the last year of single digits for the Monkey and it is our tenth wedding anneversary. Whoohoo!

I am starting to plan the garden of 2010. We are getting a quarter cow for the first time in mid-January. I am really looking into sustainable composting for our family and calling in help from seasoned verterans. I am as always looking at how we homeschool and what works (lol). I am rediscovering myself. I am rediscovering music. I am getting OWL (Our Whole Lives - sexuality education training) trained this March. I am on call for 4 births total this year, one of which is a twin birth which will be my first. We are going to try ot get down to Kansas City to visit my sister-in-law and her family for the first time and hopefully up to Marquette to visit the other sister-in-law and her family. I am going to start making jewelry again this year. With great help The Birth Project will grow and become the amazing presence (thanks to the help of the amazing Jenna Brand).

t will be a great year and a superb start to the next decade of amazingness.

Bad Bad Poster (but i redeem myself with podcast recommendations)

2009-12-21T20:04:00.000-08:00

I have been neglect this holiday season. A bit vacation to Florida and the holiday season creeping up upon us makes little time for blogging.

Today is Solstice. 4 Days to Christmas. AND we get to experience Kwanza this year thanks to our awesome friends. One of these years I would like to experience Hanukkah.

I am keeping this short but hope that soon a photo update will come soon.

In the New Year my hope is to get more on the homeschool ball but I say that every year ;)

My recommendation of the season is - Check out The Thomas Jefferson Hour (free) podcast found on iTunes. I am in love. My brain is so happy.

"Good Day Citizen!"

If you are a podcast person another is Speaking of Faith. Especially check out the Stem Cells, Untold Stories. Awesome and amazing!

Good Tunes

2009-11-04T06:40:00.000-08:00

A few years ago for the Monkey;s fifth birthday a friend gave us a burned copy of a cd by this fella Billy Jonas. We fell in love the kids and I did with this fella. The Bean's favorite song is Lean on me and the Monkey loves Mount St. Helen from the album What kind of Cat are You? (the title song is brilliant also).

I love his perspective on the world and the wonderful messages in his songs. On super crappy days I like to listen to the song God Is In from the album Life So far. That whole album is great for my crappy days (and good days too). This album is not so kid centric but good for all to listen to (minus one song with a heavier message later in the album, still with a good message).

We are having a lego morning with a side of Billy Jonas' album Happy Accidents (and yes I did pay for it ;)

Last Weeks Kidtopia Update

2009-11-04T04:56:00.000-08:00

Explosive Experiments!

Child Labor :)

What happens when you use Child Labor

With life being so busy it is hard to keep up with posting our daily fun.
Last Tuesday was another Kidtopia week. We had the 7 crazy boys and one brave girl wielding hammers and nails and remarkable no one got hurt. The leaf pile seemed to be more dangerous but it may have been the large metal rakes we armed them with...hmmm.
Anyway the kids made lanterns and as an added activity they mixed Ground Dragon Bones, Unicorn Urine and Tears of Demon for an explosive experiment.
As always a wonderfully chaotic afternoon with some great ladies and crazy kids and a little drama thrown in just to make things interesting.
(the drama among other things was the random baby that was in our care for this time slot - she was a trooper in the chaos)

Workbooks

2009-11-02T15:17:00.000-08:00

As most of you know over the years we have tried many a curriculum. What we have found is that we are not curriculum folk. Monkey is not even a workbook / work sheet kind of guy which I can appreciate. The Bean on the other hand is turning out to be quite the workbook lover.

She would pull the Monkey's old workbooks off the shelf and plop down to do them. Her own way of course never being one to follow the rules. She is getting to the age though where following the instructions is getting a little higher on her list. She is finding it gets better outcomes although not always as wonderfully creative. Just last night she went on about how ridiculous it was that numbers had to face a certain way because you know what number it is if it is backwards or forwards. She does have a point.

In my search for good workbooks, which I have been looking for for years, I came across Miquon for math and Explode the Code - Getting Ready for the Code for reading at the suggestion of a friend. I was skeptical but briefly browsed through it at my friends house and went home and made a Rainbow Resources order.

The order came and last night while the male folk plunked down for an action packed documentary BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs Disc 1 (which they have watched numerous times in the past decade and there is a story of this particular series in relation to my honeymoon that I will share later) the Bean and I went to her room to try out these new workbooks and THEY WERE GREAT! She loved them, I found them not overwhelming as I usually find workbooks - I am excited. So, minus the Bean stabbing a pencil through her jeans almost resulting in a hospital visit, we had a great impromptu night of homeschooling.

Halloween 2009 - The Dead Family

2009-10-31T20:51:00.000-07:00

(the image behind us is a "monster" my friends son made. it looks a little........well.... interesting ;)

Homeschool Field Trip

2009-10-31T20:34:00.000-07:00

Through the Belle Isle zoo in Detroit there are monthly homeschool field trips. This past Thursday we went to Kensington Park for a hike and to talk about dog facts. It was a great day. Victoria, the woman who runs the field trips really knows how to work with the homeschool crowd and she really knew her stuff.
She had dog skulls, we looked at dog tracks, dogs were welcome on the hike, she talked about coyotes and wolf packs and the history of their diminished populations, and we even strayed off into leaf galls, sassparilla and other ingredients of root beer and wooly bears.
A good day in the wood.

the Michigan Shaped Sassparilla.

The Bean and the wolly bear.

All those leaves!!!!

If My Mom Were a Platypus...

2009-10-26T19:34:00.001-07:00

This was my find today at work. It was in the lending library and it is awesome. As most of you know I am usually eyeball deep in birth and love to talk about it and think about it. Now I have another angle to talk to my kids about it. We are a biology family so this is super cool and very up our track. The second animal (out of 14) that they talk about it the African Elephant, the Bean's favorite animal (and hopefully my next tattoo - shhhhhh don't tell)

It is even internet linked so the fun can go on and on!

Kate's Pasties

2009-10-19T18:19:00.000-07:00

Kate's Pasties

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

Crust:
1 c. White Flour
1 1/2 c. Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 c. Sugar
Dash of Salt
1/2 c. Chilled Cut Up Butter (2 Sticks)
Cold Water

Mix everything but the water in a mixer or by hand. Add water until it barely sticks together. Turn out on a solid surface. Make into two large balls and stick in the fridge for a half hour to chill.

Filling:

This is a little less measured so be flexible and play with it.

With some olive oil in a pan (I use my large cast iron skillet and fill it with ingredients so I can just stir the cream sauce in carefully when it is all done) on medium heat add a few cloves of minced garlic and diced onion (one large or two small). Heat until translucent just starting to brown. Add meat. Cook until brown and strain (spoon out) excess grease but leave a little. Add veggies, frozen or fresh. Stir regularly until cooked. I like corn, green beans, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, and celery. Add a little salt and pepper and herb of your choice. I LOVE thyme with my pasties. Set aside off heat while you make the sauce.

Sauce:

This is out of the Betty Crocker’s New Picture Cook Book circa 1961. It was my great aunts and it is awesome. Although I do find myself adjusting many of the recipes it is a great platform. This is the Cheese Sauce recipe found on page 387. I double it. Here is the single recipe.

2 tbsp. Butter
2 tbsp. Flour
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/8 tsp. Pepper (I use more)
1 c. Milk
1/2 c. - 1 c. Shredded Sharp Cheddar
(Betty suggests you also add1/4 tsp dry mustard, I don’t)

1. Melt butter over low heat in a saucepan. A wooden spoon for stirring is helpful.

2. Blend in flour and seasonings. Cook over low heat, stirring until mixture is smooth and bubbly.

3. Remove from heat. Stir in milk. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil one minute. Makes 1 cup.

4. Stir in cheese to white sauce.

Construction:

Mix cheese sauce with filling. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.

Take dough out of fridge. It may be a bit hard but throw some elbow grease into it and star kneading it a little bit so it rolls out nicely on a floured surface with a rolling pin. Roll out until it is pretty thin but you can still pick it up without it ripping. Take a bowl for medium size pasties or a drinking glass for smaller pasties as a cutting device. Place bowl/glass on dough, push down and twist. Repeat.

Transfer circles to ungreased cookie sheet. Place some filling in the center of the circle. Top with another circle. Press down edges. Fork the edges. Poke holes in the top with fork.

Place in oven. Again not an exact science, cook until the bottom of the edges are just turning brown.

Pull out and let cool a few minutes before transferring to a flat brown paper bag to continue cooling.

Repeat and Eat.

Note: They are amazing with a side of my tomato jam!

Beautiful October Day = Cemetery Walk

2009-10-19T14:40:00.001-07:00

We did tell the kids it was not polite to climb on the tombstones....

Notice in this one Scruffy out lived everyone else....

Too Cute...

I wonder if I am related to her.....

I love the old tombstones. The amazing stone carving skills...

Mom and Pop...

Who is Lynn?

No name...

Where the fake flowers go when they die...

A cherub chillin' in the grave yard...

Jen...

Find the dog.....

close up of the dogs bum...

All Seasons Resort

2009-10-19T14:22:00.000-07:00

For the past three years we have been invited up north by wonderful friends for the Fall Getaway at the All Seasons Resort on Carp Lake just outside of Michigan City.

This year we were able to go since I am not on call. Unfortunately Big Daddy came down with a cold last week so we decided to divide and conquer - he stayed home with Monkey while I went up north with the bean. I must be honest I was super bummed they weren't coming up especially since Big Daddy was in Chicago last week for a reptile show but the Bean and I had a great time.

I took limited photos because we were too busy relaxing. Later I may link to photos of the popcorn field we went to and all the squash we bought but for now I have these memories from this great weekend. Thanks KK and Nat!

Leg Warmers

2009-10-19T14:14:00.000-07:00

When I have socks that I love but they have seen their last days I bust out the scissors and make leg warmers.

Today I introduces the Bean to this wonderful idea. She was unsure at first but loved the idea of having bloomers, leg warmers and half socks to wear with her clogs.

Kidtopia!

2009-10-19T13:46:00.000-07:00

The lovely Jen purposed that we work through this great book Kidtopia this year.

Kidtopia: 'Round the Country and Back Through Time in 60 Projects

Last week we did crayon candles. It was awesome!!!!

Another use for the hot bath.

The kids and two of the lovely ladies who rock my world!

My awesome boy. I didn't catch the backwards smock. Luckily the shirt made it though ok.

The Lovely Jen! Without her this would not have happened.

Halloween Costumes

2009-10-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

I might be off the hook for sewing a Ghostbusters suit. Although I still may do it since I have the material but I don't have the deadline I did before.

This is what has replaced the Ghostbusters suit:

Dad is very proud of his zombie boy.

I Rocks with Socks

2009-10-12T06:26:00.001-07:00

For a long time I have been a knitter but not a pattern reader. I have been a simple knitter. Scarves, hats, mittens (my own patterns from me brain) blankets, nothing fancy.

I also crochet and am working on two monster afghans for he kids. I cast on too many stitches and HATE frogging (tearing out) so I am making two blankets the size of single bed spreads. They are getting to the point where they are getting too bulky to lug around. So I decided to tackle a long desired project - SOCKS!

Remember I said I am not a pattern reader. I have resisted for a long time learning the language of the needles, I still knd of am, but I learned enough to turn a heel of a sock last night.

I started these socks on Thursday evening at 5pm without a pattern. A mom friend at D&D told me how to start. She thought I would be ready to turn the heel by the time I saw her the next week. I was ready to make the heel flap by Friday evening but didn't know what to do. A lovely woman at theater practice tried to talk me through how to turn the heel and I thought I got it. But I didn't and had to rip it out Saturday afternoon when I realized that I was not doing it right and if I was going to make a matching pair of socks I should really do it right. Saturday afternoon I called in the troops, well just a friend who is a wiz knitter and has many books. She came to my rescue and dropped off a simple book for knitting socks. I had to adjust the instructions since I had already started the sock and was not going to start ALL over again. Really I think it was a combination of the verbal help and then the book together made it possible for me to get this far. Thanks Stacey, Betsie and Meridith!!!!!!

I am super geeked to be in the sock knitters club. I feel like the whole world is opening up to me. Whoohoooooo!!!!!!

Oh, and the Monkey is even rooting for me. He wants me to make him Ghostbuster socks. I told him not to hold his breath I am not that cool. He should be thankful I am sewing a Ghostbusters jumpsuit for Halloween. Update on that soon. :) Wish me luck!

Blog Collecting

2009-10-07T15:13:00.000-07:00

The Crafty Crow

Almost Unschoolers

Frugal Family Fun

Craft Jr.

Se7en

I Never Know What to do About Math

2009-10-07T15:06:00.000-07:00

I never know what to do about math. I have looked at a tried a few curriculum's and websites but I like it simple. I came across this and it seems simple enough for us to use and cover some nice early basics. The best part is that it is FREE!
Math Drills

Playing House

2009-10-05T07:04:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago I went on a sewing frenzy. This weekend I went on a playing house frenzy. I only got to the bathroom and the bed room of our bedroom but it is a great start.

I had some pictures and some larger frames so I used paper bags as mattes. It goes with the 5$ Taget clearance body pillows. I do plan on making some spiffy throws to toss in some color but that is next weekend.

The Bean has always had trouble opening her closet because the carpet makes it really hard. We decided to ditch the doors and hang a curtain. She likes it but she wanted two panels. I am working on a solution. She may end up with three panels - two while ones on either side of the one shown here.

The bathroom makes me super happy. Love love love! I need two things for it to be done - An IKEA rack to hand the tinctures and oils on the wall and a bathroom radio. I love NPR in the morning. Or loud music... :)

Fall is here and..

2009-10-02T19:36:00.000-07:00

the plants need to come in. My husbands plants that is - the bromeliads. The broms he is trying to cross breed. He has three petry dishes sprouting in our bedroom, where the racks of 15 frog tanks and grow lights are. They take 3/4 years until you can really see thier characteristics.

It is all very interesting but his hobby does take over the house a bit. Here are two pictures of our south facing bathroom on the first night of a frost warning.
Not to toot my own horn but, I am an awesome wife.

(the big plastic containers are frogs and the little plastic containers are the fruit flies that are breed for the flies.)

A Blustery Day

2009-09-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

All I could think of yesterday was - while most children are in warm classrooms Jen and I trucked our kids out in the 52 degree rain and wind to go raspberry and apple picking.

The bounty was limited. Who knew the worst day to go berry picking was Monday. I was hell bent for harvest though. I sent Jen in to warm the children with donuts and cider. I was determined to have enough berries to make two jars of jam. With wet to the skin jeans and a cold nose like Rudolph I emerged from the berry patch with one basket of berries, 4 cups to be exact. Just enough for three jars of jam. A great day indeed.

Lesson learned. Never believe someone when they say you will most likely not be able to get any berries. And sometimes the weather man is right.

Banned Book Week

2009-09-28T16:30:00.001-07:00

The amazing Jen is always on the ball. She has brought it to my attention that it is indeed banned book week.

Read her post love the links and for sure watch the Fabulous Puppet Masterpiece!

Read it up!

Weekend Shutdown

2009-09-28T16:09:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was super social and super productive.

The sewing bug has crawled up my pant leg again and I am so excited. This weekend I whipped up a closet curtain for the Bean's closet since it is very difficult for her to open her doors. I also made a half curtain for our bedroom. I am still looking for complimentary fabric to recover our bed pillows. I also tossed together a cute little hand bag, for whom I am not sure. Last, and what I am still working on is a shower curtain and matching window curtain for the upstairs bathroom.

I will post pictures very soon. I wanted to get them hung first before I post but I cannot seem to find time to get up to the store to get rods. It will happen soon though or I will explode.

As far as the social butterfly action this weekend it was crazy. Friday was an impromptu hanging out and watching Ghostbusters with friends. Saturday was a dinner party with friends and Sunday was a going away party for a woman I had met only a few times but who was living with a lovely friends of ours. It all was a bit too much but nice to see people.

I am very thankful for the great people in our lives and all the love they give but part of me just wanted to hole up and sew all weekend long. It was definitely a hyper focused weekend on sewing. It is my meditation. It allows my brain to shut off for a bit. It makes me happy.

My Messed up Toof

2009-09-24T20:28:00.001-07:00

Here are how my teeth usually look. Not perfect but not bad. Then a couple of weeks ago something was starting to come loose. Not the bolts in my head but my partially fake front tooth. I figured it would hold until my bi-annual dentist appointment that was this week but one night last week mindlessly flossing I popped it out.

Then I looked like the photo below. Big Daddy HATES it when it is out and lucky for him I can put my fake portion back in. I had my bi-annual cleaning dental appointment this week and I took it out so they could clean around it. She said she would need 40 minutes to fix it. Not bad. I head to the desk at the end of the appointment and they schedule my fix-it appointment for October 13th! So I get to hope that I don't inhale or swallow the partial in the next three weeks.

I probably could have made a stink to move it closer but I kind of like the idea of being able to take it out to mess with folks.

I also would love to run a day long behavioral science experiment with my kids. Pick a day where I would have my tooth out all day and we would run errands, go out to eat and do stuff where we came in contact with people and tally how many people mentioned my tooth and figure the percentages. Compare our results to our hypothesis. Test out the scientific method in real life.

(how this originally happened was that i was tripped on the playground in the fifth grade by a boy and i fell face first into the dirt but i am a tough cookie. apparently i needed to try something new since a few years earlier i kicked the habit of splitting my chin open to get stitches)

A Day of Other People Schooling My Kids

2009-09-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

One thing that is brought up occasionally about homeschooling is "Shouldn't your kids get exposure to other people teaching them? For other opinions and experiences..... something outside those of the parents. To diversify their education." My answer - Absolutely!

Other than the fact that it happens all the time in unorganized ways here are just two examples of community homeschooling.

This is RM in her delightfully colorful home teaching science from Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding by Dr. Bernard Nebel. I get to teach the next session..whoohoo! Today they were playing around with the concept of liquid, solids and gases. This was more for the younger kids but Monkey thought he would join on the fun in too. It was all fun and games until after the lesson they started blowing up the balloons up and letting them fly all over the room and after awhile the balloon just became a vehicle for spraying spit all over the room.

Then it was off to Dungeons and Dragons at L's house. She leads this group and I am so thankful to her. She is wonderful! Monkey looks forward to D&D every week. It helps with math, history, geography, imagination, teamwork, and even writing poetry.

Off topic: I also wanted to share my off the hip review session while making lunch two days ago. I was whipping up some macaroni and cheese when Monkey and his friend walked in. I started asking about the continents that we had been learning and then I moved into the earth. On a whim I grabbed a chop stick and stabbed a nearby potato. The kids were a little shocked by my sudden movement. Then I grabbed a sharpie marker and drew line on it.

I proceeded to ask about the hemispheres, axis, equator, seasons and the tilt of the axis, rotation around axis, rotation around the earth - all this revolving around an IKEA kids cup.

(in the background you see writing on the wall. we have lived in our house for almost five years and the family has never been painted and half the wall paper is still on the wall. i have resigned to the fact that it will never get painted so i have started to write on it. in the background is a brief synopsis of the precambrian and cambrian period)

Grocery Day

2009-09-24T18:30:00.000-07:00

Grocery day was yesterday. This time of year it is much more that just going to a grocery store.

We went to the wonderful Ann Arbor farmers market first. The kids bought $1 snow cones from a lovely woman Carol who just shined with pleasure at giving the kids this cold yummy treat. I made three trips to the car, having to drop off produce so I could go get more. Cabbage, Apples, carrots, radishes, leeks, raspberries, lettuce, two dozen eggs, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, patty pans, onions, potatoes, melon and of course apple cider.

Then we went out to the garden. My intent was to just get more kale (to make kale chips of course!) but I found more tomatoes, melon, zucchini, green peppers and a few beets. I made sure I walked right past the ever producing jalapeno plants. I still have a whole big bowl in the garage fridge to process.

Finally it was off to Trader Joe's for the rest - Milk, cheese, chips, salsa (the kind the kids will eat), and a few other things. Although we may sign up again for home Calder Dairy delivery... we miss Stan the delivery man and the great milk, sour cream, cottage cheese.....I am drooling just thinking about it. If you live in SE Michigan and you have not tried Calder products you are missing out on some Michigan greatness!

When I got home it took me almost two hours to put away and clean up all the food to be stored. It was lovely.

When I was done I felt so good and full and blessed. Good food makes me happy.

Tonight for dinner - sauteed patty pan with carrot, onion and garlic with a side of tomato mozzarella basil salad. Happy Happy Happy.

(and I whipped up two jars of raspberry jam- yummy!)

Autumn Begins

2009-09-24T18:25:00.001-07:00

Pep Talk To Self & A Reminder

2009-09-23T15:01:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how things break down so quickly. What I am saying is that we are unschoolers.

I am going to use the curriculum's that we have as sources every once in awhile but school at homers we are not.

I do ask myself why every year I seem to go through this - try to be regimented and scheduled in learning? Why is it so hard for me to let go?

I get tired of trying to answer the questions-
"What kind of testing is done to make sure your child is up to par?"
"Where does your child stand in comparison to kids in school?"
"What are their weaknesses and strengths in comparison to school kids?"
"Are you sure they are learning what they are supposed to?"
and so on.

My faith founders every September but by October we are back to our natural groove.

Today we were driving in the car and Monkey asks out of the blue "Mom, how do we know atoms exist?" My reply was that I didn't know but dad would be a great person to ask that question or we can look it up when we get home or sometime this week.

It is moments like these that smack me over the head that we are learning all the time. The most important thing is to ensure that they hold on to the curiosity to learn and the desire to ask questions. Not to make sure that every kid is learning the same thing at the same time. Life is not a race it is a journey with the only beginning and end being birth and death. I do not want my kids or myself to dread any part of their day. That does not mean that they don't have to do things that are difficult but if they are doing something difficult they should have a good reason for doing it. Dreading going to school or schooling at home does not help the learning process for us.

Then there is also the statement "children need structure."

Some structure in life is helpful. Dad goes to work M-F 7ish-5ish. Mom works M-W at night. Friday is homeschool group and we have pizza for dinner. Sunday is church. That is just enough structure for our house. Every day they ask what we are doing that day so they know. Sometimes they ask the night before. That is enough. When people are over structured is it possible that they lose the ability to be flexible, easy going, go with the flow? Could getting used to being over structured cause the anxiety of unstructured time? Are we as adults projecting our discomfort with unstructured time onto our kids? Is it that kids with unstructured time seem a bit adventurous, high energy, creative, uncontrolled and that is difficult for most adults to be around? I don't know but my kids seem to be doing fine.

I find myself going back to my original thoughts about school-
Who invented the standards that the kids are supposed to be meeting by X time in their development?
How is that the same for all kids?
Who decided what kids should know? What information is important?
How is school a good example of socialization?
How does school prepare them for life on the outside?

I am a non-conformist and that in itself goes to the root of unschooling - ASK QUESTIONS. I find it very hard to take anything at face value. I have a great need to ask why? Why is it that way? Why should I do what you say? (asked very politely of course) Why should I do that? Why does everyone do it? Why isn't anyone else asking why?

The path of non-conformity does make it more difficult and it is a choice I make and it is not for everyone but it is right for me. I choose to be accountable for my kid's education I can blame no one else if something goes not "wrong" because I cut this path. I cannot blame a bad teacher or the school system.

Accountability is not an easy package to carry and it can be even harder when one is swimming upstream. I am very lucky to have wonderful supportive families walking next to me on their path that they are cutting. And I like to picture us all tromping along singing Supertramps "The Logical Song".

Dar a Luz

2009-09-23T05:41:00.000-07:00

I have recently been introduced to this organization by a woman who is training to be a Network Leader.

Dar a Luz

Check it out and pass it on.

Moms with ADD

2009-09-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

Moms With ADD: A Self-Help Manual by Christine A. Adamee

I bought this book 5 years ago. I read about 25 pages and got distracted by something shiny.

Recently I have picked it up again in hopes to actually finish it. (and no I have not finished Birth Day, yet)

This book is like a hug and a voice saying "It's ok sugar, you are not a bad mom you are just a different kind of mom." Something I could really use right now.

I was diagnosed ADD when I was 18 after years of therapists and testing, trying to figure out why I did not quite function like others. Females being diagnosed as ADD is less common and being diagnosed at an older age was also unique. I was put on Ritalin and I could focus better but I felt like I was stuffed with a fog. It calmed me down and I could read easier but I had less ideas to distract me and I was not sure about that. After awhile I decided I did not like it much at all, it was like part of my personalty was cut out. Like phantom limb but phantom personality.

I did not like being labeled ADD so I looked at it as a personality type rather than a disorder. Or maybe a really weird super power. Depression was also something I struggled through in the time as a young adult out on my own. That time was more like swimming in chaos (as most do in their 20's). Three colleges (I kept dropping out when I would hit rock bottom) and 7 years for me to get a college degree. It probably would have been easier to be medicated during this time but it just did not feel right to me.

Even now I have professionals and friends recommend that I try medication. I have had times where I seriously considered it but after all the factors are taken into account it still is not for me.

So here I am reading a self-help book to find more tools to help me stay sane and keep all the amazing things about being ADD.

In the book there is a section on how to handle your children being in school and what works for everyone. She talks about public schools but also introduces charter schools and then I noticed that she lists homeschool as an option! I was instantly geeked to see a bit on homeschooling as an ADD mom.

The excitement was short lived as I flipped to page 135:

"This section is a very short section, because I could find nothing on homeschooling in regards to moms with ADD. In fact, it seems to me that homeschooling would be very difficult for a mother who has ADD herself. At one point my son asked me to homeschool him, and I nearly burst into laughter. I know teaching a child takes a certain regimine and structure, and I also knew it was beyond my capabilities. I told him that it was really not a good idea, because I didn't know how to teach children and didn't think I could learn it, especially 'on the job.'

It is possible that some might be able to handle homeschooling. One mother did tell me that she was homeschooling her children. I suspect, however, that for most of us, it's not a very good idea."

WOW! Talk about deflating. Luckily I like to defy the odds, I am stubborn and I believe in my kids ability to learn in non-traditional ways. The compliments I get on my kids are enough to tell me that I am not doing all that bad.

I am determined to read this entire book. It is full of great insight and tools... even if she is a gray cloud on my parade at times. I will get distracted and forget about the gray cloud by tomorrow anyway.

Work and Homeschool

2009-09-22T05:46:00.000-07:00

Everyday I try to do the best I can with what I have and much of the time I feel I fall short but that is the curse of parenting for me. I just can't seem to shake it.

As a homeschooling and working parent there just doesn't seem to be enough time to catch up and figure out what the heck I am doing. Along with that is the guilt that any free time I may get I should be planning, cleaning, or working. Breath and let it go Kate.....
~~~
I cannot homeschool 5 days a week. Mondays are especially poopy since I leave for as early as 1pm depending on when my appointments are and I do not get home until 9:30pm. I am still working on reliable childcare for the kids on Monday, right now I am flying by the seat of my pants and gracious friends. Tuesday and Wednesday evening I also work and every other Thursday and some times on the weekends.

We are in a reassessment stage post the first week.

I must admit this happens every year and in the past we have degraded (or upgraded) to unschooling. This year I am trying to find a nice place in between.

This may be obvious to most of you but I took me a bit to figure out that just becasue I have a 5 day curriculum does not mean I have to homeschool 5 days a week. With this new information we are going to try 3 days a week and see how it goes. I am thinking of this as a unschool/homeschool hybrid. This also will offer us some flexibility in our week.

For example today I am watching a friends child starting at 9am to 1pm which is prime homeschool time. Today we are not going to homeschool but we will Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. While the Monkey is playing the bean and I will be busting out her sewing machine and whipping up......something.

Pantry Cooking: Black Bean Goodness

2009-09-21T10:33:00.000-07:00

Pantry cooking is the art of being able to make something amazing out of random ingredients found in the pantry or refrigerator. As a habit I put off grocery shopping until we are really down to the bare bones. My family is not fond of this strategy but it keeps down the grocery bill.

Today's Pantry Fare is some Black Bean Goodness:
(I do not use measuring utensils when cooking so I will guestimate the best I can)

In a small sauce pan warm up a bit of (2Tbs. - ish) olive oil. Add more if you feel like it needs it. Take 2 small cooking onions and chop up. Toss in oil on medium low heat. Stir up occasionally. Cook until a wee bit brown. Add one can of drained and washed black beans. Add 4-6 Tbs chopped roasted red pepper. Add a dump of (1 Tbs.) cumin. Stir it up and serve this yummy goodness with a side of chicken, watermelon and two slices of bacon for desert.

Hula Hoops

2009-09-21T06:05:00.000-07:00

At the Unitarian Universalist Congregation that we go to they have hula hooping after the service. I love this part of the day. The hoops are made of PVC pipes so they are bigger and heavier than regular hula hoops. Last year the Monkey could not do all that well and this year he was hula hooping two at a time and could even hula hoop around his neck. The Bean is still figuring it our. I think we need to get some PVC pipe....

Kale Chips

2009-09-20T19:13:00.001-07:00

Kale Chips is what you do when you have kale here, kale there kale EVERYWHERE!

I have enough kale blanched and frozen to last us all winter. Although I may be the only one eating it - yummy yummy with a little Frank's Red Hot Sauce.

I thought I may have a better chance of my family embracing kale in chip form. Everyone in my house loves chips. Green chips, do you think they bought it? Um, no. But I am in love.

So being that I am not a recipe person most of the time here is how I did it.

1. Wash kale and check for bugs n' stuff. Spin or pat it dry.

2. Remove the leaves from the center stem.

3. Tear up into pieces about the size of a chip, like a tortilla chip not a Frito or chocolate chip.

4. Toss them in a big bowl with a enough olive oil to lightly cover (less than you think so be careful) and a dash of salt or garlic salt. You can get creative with cumin, or chili powder as you get used to making it.

5. Lay out one layer on a cookie sheet.

6. Place in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 10 minutes or so. Until the edges are just starting to turn brown. Be aware that if you pull it out too early it will be soggy and not chippy.

7. Remove from sheet onto paper towel to soak up some of the excess oil.

8. Present on a colorful complimentary plate and EAT UP!

Check out eatmorekale.com for your own kale t-shirt!

Killer Headaches

2009-09-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

Last night after watching 2 episodes of season one of Chuck while massaging Big Daddy's aching back (multitasking at its finest) I snuggled into bed at a lovely 11:30pm. At 1:30pm I hear the Monkey come into our room, as he often does, to sleep on the floor next to my side of the bed. Shortly thereafter I start to hear the wee sniffles of him crying. Unfortunately I know all too well what this means - the Monkey has another one of his spike through the head headaches.

Last spring he started to get them once every three weeks or so in the middle of the night. I am starting to feel more confident in my theory of dehydration headaches combined with growing pains. He is sprouting like a weed and he did have wake in the middle of the night leg pains in his earlier years. He didn't have one all summer but yesterday was the first day of homeschool group. This means lots of running around and talking and excitement.

No matter what the source, they are super terrible for him and for us since we feel completely helpless to assist our poor suffering little fella. We have tried - drinking water, Tylenol, homeopathics, cranio sacral, massage, visualization, whoodoo voodoo, you name it we have tried it.

So 1:30am - crying, Tylenol at and a little massage. 2:30am - threw up from headache on white carpet at the foot of our bed. 3:30am - threw up again but made it to toilet. By this point I was weary of trying to sleep just to be woken up again but finally my body allowed me to drift into slumber until the alarm went off at 8am for my 9am meeting.

It was a teacher orientation for the UUAA from 9am to noon. I must admit that I have a very hard time sitting and being talked to for three hours even with breaks. Doing it sleep deprived was a true test. To make things even more challenging my full coffee cup dumped over on the floor of my car on the way to the meeting and all they had was tea when I got there.

Tea was not going to cut it for a three hour meeting so at break I snuck into the kitchen and dumped a couple of tablespoons of coffee into my cup and poured hot water over it. As the meeting reconvened I strained the coffee through a paper towel into another coffee cup to be transferred back to my original cup after I rinsed all the grounds out. That did the trick.

After much talking and "get to know you" activities (that I was so not in the mood for) the meeting ended and my husband walked in with a not so happy presence. He was dropping off the Money for choir orientation but the moment I saw him I remembered I was supposed to take his car that morning so he could take the van to pick up a generator from some friends of ours in Ann Arbor to take to our other friends in Ypsilanti who just closed on their house yesterday, but they have no electricity until Monday and there is no time to dilly dally since they are 38 weeks pregnant with their second child and the carpets needed to be cleaned before moving stuff in.

I then found out he tried to pick up the generator in the Buick and got stuck in traffic on the way to Ann Arbor since it is a football Saturday. En route his phone died and he got stung by a yellow jacket while driving. The generator did not fit. He drove to the UUAA to drop the Monkey off and swap cars to go back and pick up the generator just to find out the choir orientation was canceled. Whoops.

All of this before noon.

The day mellowed out after this but I am waiting for just one day or absolutely nothing. Someday a nothing day will come and I will not know what to do with myself.

Addendum: Later that day I was pulling out of the drive way and got half way down the street before I noticed that the BRAND NEW library book I am reading was on the roof of the car. I slowed to a stop but apparently not carefully enough because the book slid off the hood and I drove over it. I immediately jumped out and pulled it out from under the back wheel a little rumpled. It is a hard cover so it held up ok. I flattened out the pages and stuck it under my butt the rest of the drive to flatten it. Shhhhh.... don't tell. ;)

Book I am Reading:

Birth Day : A Pediatrician Explores the Science, the History, and the Wonder of Childbirth by Dr. Mark Sloan

"California pediatrician Sloan has helped deliver more than 3,000 babies, and he marvelously captures the precarious nature of childbirth—both its joys and its anxieties—while treating readers to an informal and captivating history of the medical practices surrounding birth in America. Sloan shares his first bumbled attempts at delivering babies as an intern, which leads him into reflect on why doctors persist in having women lie down to give birth when standing or squatting are better physical postures for it. Sloan ranges surely and splendidly over epidurals, cesarean births, premature birth and neonatal nurseries, as well as the state of an infant's five senses at birth. For example, he points out that the fetus not only smells the foods its mother eats, it remembers them after birth and tends to like what it remembers. Sloan counsels that women cannot prepare for labor, because events change rapidly during the process. He advises women to surround themselves with the people they love: unlike other labor pain relievers she may choose, their benefits will last the rest of her life."

Distracted By Food

2009-09-18T15:40:00.000-07:00

This is why we did not do our daily routine this morning -

My son and husband tell me often that I cannot save all the food but I choose not to believe their naysay ways. I can and will make use of all these gift that the dirt has given us even if it means eating pesto and tomato jam all darn winter.

I was not planning on this bounty. Honestly I thought I was done harvesting food for the year but the small city plot we had was dying off and many of the tomatoes were rotted in saddness from my lack of visitation to them and my friend had an overflow of her yard garden to share.

So friday schooly activites are bumped to Sunady family time, which may upset the troops since that is MarioKart time if Big Daddy is around, but I cannot let a drop of this goodness go to waste.

My husband tells me that folks may be a bit disappointed to get tomato jam for the holiday but I poopoo the thought. What is better than a gift of food that was made with loving hands and an obsessive heart?

Here is a wee glimpse into what I did with my summer -

Book Suggestion:

The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest by Carol W. Costenbader

“Remember how grandmother’s cellar shelves were packed with jars of tomato sauce and stewed tomatoes, pickled beets and cauliflower, and pickles both sweet and dill? Learn how to save a summer day – in batches – from the classic primer, now updated and rejacketed. Use the latest inexpensive, time-saving techniques for drying, freezing, canning, and pickling. Anyone can capture the delicate flavors of fresh foods for year-round enjoyment and create a well-stocked pantry of fruits, vegetables, herbs, meats, flavored vinegars, and seasonings.”

Goldilocks and the Three Curriculums

2009-09-18T15:34:00.000-07:00

I am a unschooler unfortunately my kids are not so much, they like structure and guidance. This year, with the Monkey being 8 and the Bean turning the big 0-5(!), was the year I knew I would have to pull up my boot straps and get on the ball.

In the past I have tried a couple of curriculum’s in an attempt to be a schooly homeschooler, which is what I thought I was supposed to be. Oak Meadow was our first try. It is a loosely structured Waldorf/Montessori, but was just too loose for my attention span. We made it through a few weeks before I bailed. At the time I tried it I was working nights while my husband worked days so prep time was limited. With this in mind I decided to try something much more structured.

My next curriculum was Sonlight. A heavily reading based and very structured curriculum. Instead of buying the package deal, with all the books used that year included, from the company I decided to do it economy. Which meant figuring out what books I could get from the library or inter-library loan, then see who had books I could borrow, finally I bought the remaining books online used at half.com. This was quite an undertaking but monetarily I think it worked out ok. We made it through maybe a week before I realized it was way too much for us. I was drowning in notebooks, post it notes, bookmarks, books, and to me it just seemed like chaos (mind you chaos that I was creating most likely from lack of organizational preparation time)

At this point I was pretty fed up with curriculums. I found the excuse of having a second child who was running head first into the depths of toddler-dom along with me working a lot to be sufficient enough for me to lay off the curriculums and truly unschool for a couple of years.

Unschooling has been a great experience and remarkably easy. One of the greatest accomplishments in this time was the Monkey teaching himself how to read. This truly taught me that kids do not need to be “taught”. I really believe that since we were so free the past couple of years he felt more comfortable and at ease with his relationship to reading. He was a reading with tears kind of kid early on in the days where I tried to “teach” him. Being able to see it as a relationship that is different for everyone and that grows at its own pace was a very important lesson for me to learn.

The unschooling years also allowed me to de-school myself a bit. To let go of my preconceived ideas of learning and get over the 12 years + of educational programming. I must be very honest here I am still struggling with this daily. I am also struggling with letting go of my ideas of “being a grown up” but that is another post.

This summer I was trying to figure out what we were going to do this year. I got a better handle on my work schedule. I found a great system for managing the house. All that was left was what to do about homeschooling. A friend introduced me to this great into to science book Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding by Dr. Bernard Nebel. searching on the internet for and about this book I came across this website Brining Up Learners. It is awesome! The best part is that they have a downloadable FREE curriculum. How exciting is that? Especially after I have spent hundreds of dollars in teaching materials in the past.

It is just enough to satisfy my kids desire for structure and introduction of new ideas. It is also structured but minimal to meet my unschooly style. As always things may change but for now it is all going grea. Everyday is a challenge but if it were not I would be concerned.

Book Suggestion:

Parenting a Free Child: An Unschooled Life by Rue Kream

"Parenting A Free Child: An Unschooled Life presents a radical approach to parenting and education in a way that seems logical, obvious and natural. I use the word “radical” because Kream’s approach is very different to mainstream parenting, even within the homeschooling community. It is built on an incredible and absolute trust in her two children and aims to give them control over all aspects of their life."

Searching For Enlightenment

2009-09-18T15:26:00.000-07:00

My kids love to chat especially my older boy, the Monkey, age 8. Since his sister started to mumble her fist sprouts of chatter he would HAVE to interupt her budding communication. Her response to this was to just scream in lue of speaking actual words for the first few years. After lunch yesterday we sat down for a lovely bowl of Cookies and Cream / Napolean ice cream mix up and a mellow afternoon chat.

The Bean, age 5, was on the verge of speaking when the Monkey interrupted her by inquiring about going by Morgan & York in Ann Arbor in search of the perfect jawbreaker. He didn’t know the name of Morgan & York so it was a 10 minute conversation of “you know, that one place with the candy”, “that place with the chocolate stuff”, “that place we went to that one time” – you get the idea.

The Bean finally found a lull in the conversation to very sweetly say “excuse me mama”. I reply “yes, sweetie?” She continues ” well mama…… when we all get old we die? We die when we get old? Everybody gets old and dies and then the planet gets old and dies. So, what happens after the planet dies?” Since the topic of death and dying is not new to our house I give my usual answer of “I don’t know Bean”. Then a shock of hope lights through my body that maybe she is young enough that she has the answers to the source of all my anxiety attacks. I ask “What do you think happens?” Hope shimmered in my aura for the briefest moment then she replied “Dunno, mama. ” As she shoveled the next spoonful of ice cream in her mouth I start pondering the big ideas of our existence and the kids troddle off screaming “hey, wanna play adventurer?” “YA!”

I am left with empty ice cream bowls and deflated hope and simmering anxiety. Just another day at the office.

Suggested Book:

Little Big Mi nds by Marietta McCarty

“Little Big Minds is a guide for any adult to take a child into the world of wonder and awe that is at the heart of philosophy. Children are natural philosophers, and Marietta McCarty discovered through her philosophy program for kids from kindergarten through eighth grade just how eager they are to explore ideas and to use clear thinking to understand and to improve their lives.”

Thought of the Day

2009-09-09T21:43:00.000-07:00

This is something I posted elsewhere when talking about my issue of tackling religious discourse with others of differing opinion, with my kids, and how to handle those who differ in opinion and call you stupid for your beliefs.

we teach violence is not allowed. we teach respect for others beliefs even if they disagree and conflict with our own. we teach agreeing to disagree. we teach empathy for others and that their need to share their opinion that our beliefs are stupid may come from a place of strong conviction to their own beliefs which our beliefs may threaten. We teach to have understanding that they may not have the right or more respectful words to convey that our beliefs make them uncomfortable. we teach open minded respectful discourse if that can be achieved by both parties. we teach to be open to ever changing thought and new ideas.
now i am aware that when getting into deeper topic of racism, the holocaust and other crimes against humanity things are more complicated but for now we keep it simple in our house.

Yes, this happened today in the neighborhood, and Sam being very into right and wrong and sound and just, needed to process. It didn't help that the other kid was unrelenting and then got a little physical. But in the end the boy went home and the day went on. Whew, the world is a tough place to figure out.

Mater's

2009-09-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

Oh the year of the tomato.

I still have a fear of canning tomatoes so it has mostly been a lot of freezing and salsa and Tomato Glut (which is awesome ~ it is the perfect hamburger helper!)

This week though I came across the mother of all tomato recipe's thanks to one Monica P. It is the recipe for Tomato Jam. YUM!

It is as follows:
what i used:
• 1 pound tomatoes
• 1 cup sugar... Read More
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/8 broken stick cinnamon
• 7 whole cloves
• 1/4 tsp whole allspice

what i'm doing:
• Wash, peel and cut tomatoes.
• Put them in a saucepan and add vinegar, cloves, allspice, sugar and cinnamon.
• Simmer, till thick, keep stirring.

-------

I made 4pound of tomatoes and it took quite awhile for it to boil down but patience is a virtue and damn worth it. Holy mother of Pete is all i have been able to say all day. I have one jar in the fridge and three in the freezer. I will be looking for more tomatoes soon because I want to be stocked all winter on this deliciousness!

Here is the best find of the day. 10 frozen bananas in my freezer which ended up being a triple batch of banana bread. Take the banana bread and goober on that lovely tomato jam, add a side of a wonderful medium sharp cheddar and you have found heaven in your mouth.

Culinary Genius!

Drinking the Kool-Aid

2009-09-05T20:26:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning I will be drinking the Kool-Aid.

Tomorrow morning I will be joining the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor.

I, the usually non-joiner type, will be joining.

I have not even joined my local Ypsilanti Coop because it is just too much.

But tomorrow I join the UUAA.

This is a decision I have been mulling around for quite a bit. I started attending the AAUU three years ago. The first year I lurked. The second year I joined a chalice circle of women I already knew. The third year I went to the Women's Retreat and joined a book club of the same ladies I knew (it was kind of a morph from the chalice circle) and took the Introduction to UU class. The fourth year I am joining. Also in this fourth year I will be co-teaching the OWL class for either graders. The OWL is Our Whole Lives . This was the motivation for me to take that final step and sign the book. They want all teachers to have a commitment to the UU. So I drink the Kool-Aid.

I am a pretty roll wtih the flow kind of gal (with intense moments) and I didn't think much of my procrastination of this last step or the quick decision to take this last step until two days ago, a few days after I had made arrangments to sing the book this Sunday.

I am surprisingly excited and proud to be joining. I am really trying to allow myself to really appretiate it for the meaningful moment it is to me. Very regularly I will down play moments like this and others things like my graduations and wedding, not wanting too much of a fuss. So I am really trying to let go of that tendency and embrace it as something really neat-o.

So, over the lips and through the gums watch out tummy here it comes!

My 60 year old self

2009-09-03T19:28:00.000-07:00

Tonight at the Doula Collective meeting Jenna told us about the best comforting exercise that she made up in college when she was having a hard time.

In times of stress or distress or sadness or whenever imagine your (she said 40 year old self but I find my 60 year old self more appropriate) 60 year old self giving your current self a hug. She, knowing that this time you are in will pass and she knows how it will work out, she is there to comfort you through this time. Because really no one knows us better than we know ourselves. How wonderful. What a great exercise for self love and respect.

I LOVE THIS.

Book Club

2009-09-02T22:25:00.001-07:00

It has been a summer of reading for me. This is new since I have always seemed to struggle with reading, but it has been great!

I joined a book club - first meeting I went but did not read the book. Second meeting I went having read half the book. Third meeting I missed but didn't read the book. Fourth meeting I went and i skimmed the book. Fifth meeting I went and I read the book. Sixth meeting I will be going having read the book since I recommended it. Now this may not sound like a successful run in the book club but really for me it is. I must note though that I had been listening to all the Harry Potters in the car this year with Sam and Ella but I have been informed by my husband that if you listen to a book you are not reading it - I told him to keep that thought to himself.

So the book I recommended was Breakfast with Buddha by Roland Merullo. My mom recommended it and said she laughed out loud. Now very little makes me laugh out loud (although a podcast of The Moth yesterday did but I can talk about that later). I have not laughed out loud but it has hit a soft spot for me and has made me really reassess how I look at this crazy life I live.

I have read my share of Thich Nhat Hahn but this book takes all those teachings and puts it in a delightful story that my overloaded brain can handle. So I am trying to mindfully put down my calendar and play chess with my son when he asks. I try to stop processing the mountain of tomatoes from the harvest and sit and color with Ella. I try to be present when hanging out watching Psych with my darling husband. I try to make it a priority to make art again and stop being so damned "responsible".

I think I have really been over doing this grown up thing. Some can pull it off well but I am realizing me trying to be a grown up is like a blind gorilla trying to be a dentist. So I am going to go back to what I am good at, it will take some time, there are 10 years of de-programming to do. It will not be easy and I will stumble but the best journeys are along the stumbly path.

Going into to a new year

2009-08-05T19:38:00.000-07:00

This year I am officially homeschooling TWO school age kids!

The bean is five and has gone through the right of passage - SafetyTown. She is official.

I have been looking forward to this time of our lives for a long time. Don't get me wrong I love little ones but Big Daddy and I are really excited about the future of hanging out with our "kids" without toddlers and diapers and nap times and all the other lovely stuff that comes with little ones.

I have already seen a shift in the conversations we have, how we experience our daily outings and even down to everyday functioning (this morning the Bean made everyone breakfast - fruit leather, fruit b'fast bar, cherries with a pit bowl tortilla chips and milk. it was awesome!)

I am super excited about the year to come with my two kiddos and Big Daddy. I have a great feeling about this.

a jar full of honey

2009-07-12T19:37:00.000-07:00

We came home today from a great night camping at the inlaws visiting, finding caterpillars, eating smores, getting quizzed on my vegetable identification, feeding the bunnies and shooting some guns (a secret pleasure of mine). We headed home early afternoon Sunday to hang out with our old neighbors that we miss. They were awesome and got great news that it isn't as far as we thought to go visit them so I hope next month or September to trot on down to really get more than a fleeting hour to see them.

As we get older I am realizing good folks that you connect with well are harder to find but when you do it is good.

When we did arrive home from the in-laws before our old neighbors showed up I noticed there was a bag on the table of gifts for our birthdays from old friends. Eggs, a mix CD (which is another one of my not so secret pleasures) another cd of pod casts and the cherry on top was ....... a jar of honey. nothing warms my soul than a present of a ball jar of honey.

I am suprised and pleased at the pleasure I get from a jar of honey.

Oh, how I love my jar of honey.

I smile when I am sad and cry when I am happy

2009-07-09T14:35:00.000-07:00

These are two manifestations of emotion that I have had a hard time explaining to my children. They seem like oxymoron's to them but make perfect sense to me.

This past Tuesday after class four a lovely couple asked me if I were available to be their doula this fall. I politely told them I am on sabbatical for an unknown amount of time. I could see through her body language slightly deflate at my answer. They were just the kind of couple I would hope would ask me to be their doula. We continued to chat a bit and I felt myself thinking about making an exception, then keeping my boundaries, then thinking they would be great clients, then keeping my boundaries, then..... this continued in my head into the drive home and into the next morning. I was sad about having to say no but I knew it was for the best. I smiled in my sadness because sometimes good things and sad things come together.

Today is my birthday. This morning my lovely children greeted me with hugs and love. My mom brought me coffee and breakfast in bed. I GOT TO READ IN BED FOR A HALF HOUR! I had a house full of amazing women all day with kids running around like crazy banshees. My wonderful husband got me a great book on preserving food. It is the greatest birthday ever but it all started with me getting out of bed and putting my two feet firmly on the floor, having the strong feeling that today is the start of something new. I don't know what that new is but I am open, ready and willing to ride this pony wherever it takes me. Today I cry because I am happy and so very blessed.

Order all I want is order.

2009-07-07T06:11:00.000-07:00

I feel my garage is a physical manifestation of my brain. That is not good.

There is chaos, clutter, saved items for "someday" - oh my goodness it is my nightmare.

My brain feels the same - chaos, clutter, holding on to old ideas, habits, perceptions.

It is time to clean house and gray matter. I am starting to believe in simplifying. That things can wait until later, it all does not have to come now or be now. I don't have to hold on to things with the idea that it will make my goals and ideas come sooner. The things that are reminders don't usually help but hinder my well being by reminding me that I am not doing or being that at this time because really it just can't all be at the same time.

I would love to be everything I ever want to be RIGHT NOW but if I were to try to do that (as I have been trying) the toll is too high for the now.

So today I am taking things from my garage to the recycle center. Finding homes for stuff we don't need. Setting up boundaries in my work life and personal life. Finding value in myself everyday and forgiving myself when I mess up. I am great just the way I am today even though I am not all I want to be today, today I am all I should be.

I've been awarded!

2009-06-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

M, over at The Urban Homesteader awarded me this fine Honest Scrap Award.
Apparently, I now need to divulge ten honest things about myself and then pass the award on to "a fellow blogger whose blog’s content or design is, in the giver’s opinion, brilliant.”

Ok here we go...

1. I will open up to most anyone but trust very few. I have very little to hide - it almost borders on personality turrets.

2. I suffer from extreme post social anxiety which used to hinder my daily functioning (I dropped out of Michigan State University from social anxiety) but I have learned to deal by driving my husband crazy with post social processing.

3. I was physically allergic to the word "dating" symptoms included cringing, increased heart rate, nausea, immediate desire to run away and hide, flushed, nervous twitching and avoiding eye contact.

4. I NEVER imagined I would be married and a mother.

5. I really miss traveling and hope to take up that hobby again someday. Global tromping is a dream/goal (and not like a "tourist").

6. I want to play the cello and sing in a Threshold Choir

7. I am a little obsessed with death, always have been from a young age. I see hospice in my future someday.

8. Making art is my Ritalin. (and yes I have been labeled ADD - big surprise, i know)

9. I find great satisfaction in cooking and feeding people good food.

10. I have no clue how I got so damn lucky to be married to the most amazing man (for me) on the planet. I am so blessed. I do not deserve it sometimes.

11. I am torn between being an extroverted introvert.

12. I am surprisingly anti-authority as an adult (but not in a bad way). Preferring to function outside of the system on my own terms swimming up steam. Surprising because I tried so hard for so long to fit in on "the terms" dictated to me but it is in me bones I guess :)

13. This is where #1 and #12 meet...get it?

alrighty... I don't know if I have that many folks to list but here it is

1. Kim Big Sky Mountain
2. Jennifer Life with Girls
3. Brooke all My Favorite Things
4. Stacey Dandilions are Life
5. Wendy Frenzied Wren
6. Nat Injection Reflections
7. Stephanie A breastfeeding Mom's Journal
8 Grace Blue Cloud Cloth (just to be redundant)
9. Betsie And Another Thing
10. Jen No Teachign Only Learning

XO ~Kate

Being that I am the queen of analogies (often bad ones...)

2009-06-30T05:24:00.001-07:00

I love this -

THE DAILY GROOVE ~ by Scott Noelle
www.enjoyparenting.com/dailygroove

:: The Wild Child ::

Domesticated animals confined to farms, zoos, and
similar unnatural habitats lack a certain "spark"
found in their wild counterparts. They've been bred
or trained to live apart from their nature. They've
adjusted to their lack of freedom.

Put a wild animal in a cage for the first time and
behold the fury! What else would you expect from a
creature who still knows it's supposed to be free?

Children are born free and wild, and they don't
readily submit to "domestication." And thank Goodness
for that! Because those who retain that spark are the
ones who will uplift humanity in generations to come.

Today, look for evidence of the spark of wildness in
your child... and *celebrate* it! Trust that s/he will
civilize in due time. And in the meantime, let that
spark ignite the flames of an authentic, passionate life.

Talking to myself

2009-06-29T19:36:00.001-07:00

Recently in therapy my therapist offered her thoughts on our/my decision to homeschool. Her intentions were all good and she was just offering perspective with the thought of my sanity and "me time" in mind. Helping me find a balance in my world is part of her job that I am hiring her for. I listened and thought about what she said and agreed with some of it but we are homeschoolers through and through.
We are a busy homeschooling family. My husband works full time, goes to school full time (although he is finally taking the summer off) for his undergrad and I have always worked opposite shifts or creative emplyment to make ends meet. It has not been an easy road and there have been many stumbles along the way but we make it work.
Only fleetingly have we thought about putting the kids in school but no serious conversation has ever been had on the subject. Usually the fleeting though has come from our self doubt in our ability to "teach" the kids or just plain frustration (and that has not been infrequent over the years). We grow and change and the kids grow and change and with growth comes growing pains. No it is not easy, actually it is damn hard. It has been a huge leap of faith and a huge lesson in trust in my kids, their abilities and that they actually do know what is best for themselves a lot of the time (but not always ;) but really do any of us)
Recently I have made a professional shift in hopes to be more present for my kids and my family. It had the desired effect and I am so grateful. We are still shifting from old ways to new. It will be another few months of adjusting but this new shift and the bean turning five (!) my heart swells and my mind is open to all the amazing fun and growth we will be sharing together as a family and with our new friends we made this year in the homeschool communities.

~Today the monkey's face looked different, his tanned skin and rosey cheeks under his ice blue eyes, slimmer in the trunk, taller. He now does not want to cut his hair, he is growing it out or wearing it shaggy I guess. He is getting older. As beautiful and smart as ever my wonderful son. I will still curl you up on my lap and sing you "hush little baby" as you snuggle into my shoulder although your legs dangle over swinging your Frodo feet.

~My lovely daughter struggling through four almost to five. Looking for her place in the universe. Loves her hair done (although not brushed), taking her red purse to the store (which can be quite a production), making lists, likes things just so, and is so loving to others. In a couple of weeks she goes to Safety Town a big mile stone in our house. Her brother has been preparing her. This coming year will be full of dance classes, piano, and other activities along the way. I still wake up to the sweet smell of her head every morning "i love you mama" *wiggle*wiggle*wiggle* "its mo-ning time"

I am learning to enjoy the slow although we are very busy. To breathe and enjoy - maybe even forgo many ideas, goals and hopes I have until later. I will always have later but now is slipping away. I want my now with the three of them - every minute of it.

Perceptions

2009-05-20T07:03:00.000-07:00

For a long time I was embarrassed to tell people where I grew up. I never felt like I fit in there as a young person and could not identify with much of anything or anyone there. I grew up in Birmingham, Michigan. More specifically I grew up in Beverly Hills, Michigan.

This weekend a woman I have known for a few years asked me where I was from and I answered honestly. I am from Birmingham. She paused and looked at me, I could almost see the wheels turning in her head. She replied "Really?". She went on about how she is very surprised to hear that and it may take her a bit to adjust. I laughed. She went on to tell me "...but you are so Ypsi.." I am not sure but that is but I took it as a compliment.

I am used to hearing "Really!? You don't seem like you are from there" when folks eventually find out where I am from. I am not going to get into what folks are like there because I know some wonderful folks in that area and do not want to stereotype but Birmingham does have a reputation. As does the town I live in now, but we will not go into that here.

As a young person I was resentful of not fitting in, I judged others frequently for being so "Birmingham", and it was painful most of the time growing up there knowing I just couldn't feign the airs of my peers. As time has past, I have settled into myself as a person and taken steps (stumbling along) to figure out who I am. Time has brought me the gift of acceptance and empathy for other perspectives no matter how different they may be from mine. I realize that I judged others because I was judging myself. I was not secure in who I was enough to be comfortable with others who were different or who believed different than myself.

Be it the woman with the highlights, liposuction, boob job, perfect make-up and nails dressed to a T or the man in the $1500 suit driving the Hummer or the homeless man on the corner with the sign that says "homeless need work" or the check out person at Kroger or the bus driver or the milk man or the owner of an upscale restaurant or a drag queen or my Jehovah's witness who visits me periodically - all of the people I come across in my life have something to offer me. It may be something about themselves they offer me, they may help me better understand myself or my perceptions or my behavior. They may test my patience and empathy. They may show me I am not as accepting as I would like to be or they may show me that love and beauty come in all different kinds of packages.

Every person I come across every day is a gift (including the guy who flips me off while driving down the road) :) and an opportunity to be a better person. No journey is easy or pain free - growth hurts, it is uncomfortable and it takes time but you do end up standing taller.

Great Book for the soul of an unschooler

2009-05-11T05:39:00.000-07:00

On of the lovely ladies of HOG-WARTS had purchased this book - Raising a Free Child: An Unschooled Life.

At a get together I started reading it and did not want to give it back. I did. Then went home to order my own. This is one of those books you want on your shelf to reference when you need a little boost.

So much of it resonates with how we feel about learning and family. It is nice to have a familiar voice to easy my inner beastie.

building blocks

2009-05-05T20:50:00.000-07:00

as time passes i am letting go more and more. learning lessons of being, perceptions, listening, feeling and finding peace.
today was a wonderful visit with judy ramsey, an amazing healer. i knew when i went in that it was going to be not what i expected so i left my expectations open. it was a remarkable session of brain work and heart healing therapy. with this visit i have greater peace and a better understanding of myself and my place and how to incorporate it into all i do. i am looking forward to working with her more, and she is an inspiring rolemodel as a healer.
i feel like i am putting together puzzle pieces for a grand picture of my lifes work.
one....piece...at....a...time. and time it will take so breath in deep and be patient.

not in the mood to share

2009-05-04T19:23:00.000-07:00

oh my goodness it is may. i have been quiet and introspective much lately. like the winds of change are coming and i am not quite sure what to do with that. it is a good thing though.

the gardening front is going well. the beds are in herbs are planted. strawberry patch in. greens to go in this wee.

homeschooling is great. i am starting to accept that we are built to be unschoolers although i have been reluctant. i want order but chaos is more our thing. it has been a huge leap of faith but so far it is panning out more amazingly than i could have ever imagined. it is so much easier now that the weather has perked up though. AMEN!

i am going for a craniosacral appointment tomorrow which is very exciting. this woman is booked two months in advanced and i called today to get on the waiting list and she had a cancelation for tomorrow and no one else on the waiting likst could take it so i am in. the universe likes me today. whoohoo!

i found a therapist which is wonderful although it will be out of pocket which is not so wonderful but i am worth it golly-darn-it. ;) i am very much looking forward to what that path may bring.

i have been invited to sing in a monthly womens group which is so good for my soul. i happened to be at a gettogether on friday that was specifically for recording old circle songs. i thought it was a beltane potluck but it was a singing potlatch, luckily i am easy going. well after i was complimented on my singing *blush* and invited to join a revival of this sining group of ladies. that night i also learned about threshold choirs of which there is one in ann arbor that i am going to look into. my heart warms at the thought of being able to sing.

then saturday i went to what i thought was going to me a herbal talk with Loren Cruden but ended up being this amazing spiritual talk with Loren Cruden. i came away from it with insight and tools for the spirit. she is an amazing woman, and funny.

the last night at a potluck at a friends house i found someone to lend me a cello to take my lessons. i was considering if the cost of rental would be too much, but then the universe stepped in an lent me a hand. i am very excited to start this barter for cello lessons thing. *geeky smile*

so if you cant tell this is a season of me taking care of myself and stepping away from the chaos of spiraling out into the vast everything at warp speed. i still run at warp speed but my mantra is now "stir it back into the pot". it is like the milky way with its tenticles flying everywhere but i am learning to keep it like spaghetti noodles in a pot.

stir it back into the pot...with love.

I heart power washing

2009-03-17T13:20:00.000-07:00

It is almost 70 degrees out today. Maybe winter has broken but I do live in the wonderful state of Michigan so I am not holding my breath.

Today I was planning on delaying power washing the deck but I could not resist. So here I sit with cold toes, one pass done on the deck. Next is to soak and scrub then another pass. Soon it will be set up for proper lounging.

Also this week is seed ordering week. Meeting on Thursday for some garden love. I have been saving toilet paper tubs for seed starter pods. Trays are in the garage ready to go. Game on! I have been told the tiller is lined up and whoohoo - the fun begins. The kids and I are going to be heading out to the farm with the dog so the poor dog can run off his winter energy and we can help get the property ready for the weddings lined up there this summer. I am hoping to try out Big Daddy's waders in the pond, to do what... I dont know but I think it will be fun.

Cans are also on the list to start purchasing and a deep freezer. We are waiting for the tax return to roll in and for the garage to be a little de-cluttered. That is a whole other story.

Today was also the spring trip to Value World. Looking for puddle boots of which they had none but I didn't think they would but we got hiking vests for the kids and some spring clothes for them too. The bean has chosen some interesting dresses that I attempted to return to the rack but she cought me and she is wearing the red white and black polkadot and stripe ditty right now. She has jumped out of the 80's but that is in style now right????

Looking for Spring

2009-03-13T05:34:00.000-07:00

A bit of summer while waiting for spring.

The botanical gardens indoor conservatory is free on Wednesdays so we met some homeschool ladies there after we all had lunch at Pizza Hut.

Now imagine being the waiter at a table of 13 kids and 5 adults. Poor man. He was quite a trooper and the kids did relatively well. Luckily it is a kid friendly place.

Luckily it was a fairy day at the conservatory. The kids spent the afternoon looking for fairies, making scented pouches, books, necklaces and running around trying to stay out of trouble.

Fortunately it was not one of our kids that knocked the large banana branch, banana'a and all, off the tree. Whew!

Going Home

2009-02-27T08:04:00.000-08:00

Going to Julies last night was like going home. We had a garden meeting with much wine and lovely conversation.

This year it will be three families going in on the plot and the best part is that the two other families I adore with all my heart. It really felt like we were having an meeting of extended family last night. I was feeling so wonderful when I got home. To do projects like this with folks you love nothing could be better.

So there is the garden plot, the melons and squashes spot, butterfly garden, an herb garden, sunflowers, maybe even some amaranth on the drawing board. Also getting the pond ready for swimming - that is for the man with the waders.

We wandered through the beautiful seed catalogs dreaming of heirloom and rare varieties. We talked of road side stands, maybe bees to make mead (for big daddy), camping sites off in the woods, chickens (even pickled eggs), compost piles, cherry liquor, canned peaches and pears from the property, the FROG FEST in September and so much more. Some will happen this year and others someday down the line.

There is so much to look forward to - good people, good food and good work.

We also decided to go in on a quarter cow for the year and are looking to split a pig with one of the other families if we can find someone with an extra pig that they are raising. I need to call Old Pine Farms in Grass Lake to see if they have anything. Big daddy mentioned at one point maybe hunting this fall so that would get us venison and summer sausage. I have also been day dreaming of doing something with dear skin. So buying a freezer is in order in the near future which will motivate me to really clean out the garage (again).

In our own home we are hoping to have a worm compost system going soon. One of the books we have says that 70% of all first time worm bins fail and oddly that makes me feel better about attempting it. I would also like to get a three bin system going in the back yard - we have a lot of organic output here so i think more than one system would be good.

And today is Calder Dairy delivery day. I get to see Stan the delivery man.
"No butter or sour cream today please but what do you have for ice cream....oh and do you have eggs?"
"We only have Vanilla and do you want brown or white eggs?"
"Vanilla is great and brown please?"
"How are you doing?"
"Doing good. What are you up to today?"
"Getting ready to go to Chicago"
"Really what are you doing there"
"Taking a girls trip. Going to the American Girl store and the Aquarium"
"Oh, I have been to that Aquarium. It is great there."
"You just going for the night?"
"No, the whole weekend."
"Well have a great time and I will see you next week. You can tell me how your trip went"
"Thanks. See you next week. Take care."

I love chatting with my dairy guy. It makes me happy about my food.

Altruism is the word of the day

2009-02-24T07:44:00.001-08:00

Today it finally happened. I left my coffee cup on top of the car. I made it about a quarter mile from my house when at a stop sign some crazy thing comes tumbling down my windshield spewing brown fluid! I immediately thought of one of the many zombie movies I have seen in passing while living with Big Daddy. Alas it was only my favorite big Chicago coffee mug with freshly brewed coffee. I stopped the car laughing at the moment and ran back to pick up the shards of my mug. Once back in the car there was a thick layer of frozen coffee on the windshield. The kids and I took this moment to reenact the moment, the monkey likes to do reenactments of most anything. Once I arrived at dear Stacia's house, for breakfast and a kid watching swap for the day for work, I got my cup of coffee with a soft boiled egg and toast. I find I do prefer my coffee maker coffee over press pot. Never thought much of it before now.

Now I need to find a new favorite giant coffee mug.

This was one of those moments that I noted could have made me very grumpy at another time or if I were in irritated mood.

Yesterday I was called by a dear woman who had met a couple of times. She was not a client or anyone I knew well but I did give her my number and told her to call me at anytime is she needed anything. I do this for many folks but few actually take me up on it. She had just had her baby an felt she needed someone to call about some hospital stuff that was going on. I finished up my two massage appointments for the afternoon and headed up to the hospital. She had a complication that needed procedures for resolution. I sat with her and her family helping to navigate the medical professionals and the system. I stayed until the mom was taken for her procedure. I called this morning and they were able to resolve the issue and she was feeling much better and baby is great.

I love my work. I am also happy to say that my "work" is not always for pay. Sometimes I use what I know just to help another person just because. My work helps me keep perspective on the world and life. It is one thing to help a friend or family member for no reason or reward but I want to teach my kids (and myself) that it is also important to help strangers. Sometimes that means more than sending a check to an organization, which is a great thing, but to sit and be with with the people you are helping to understand that we are more than one person we are many people, many different kinds of people with different beliefs, ethics, lifestyles and attitudes. We do not always have to like those we are giving out time to, or agree with them and especially not to expect anything in return including kindness or appreciation. And we do not always have to do something for something be it monetary or personal gain.

The flip side of this is to be able to ask for help or assistance when we need it. We have come to exist in a society where we are all these little individual floating orbs. Cash for services and goods are the name of the game. I personally like the pay it forward mentality. If I do a favor for you just do a favor for me or someone else down the road. Yes, there would be glitches in this system but show me a system without glitches. My dear friend and I have worked on this philosophy for a few years now with childcare and other aspects of work. I am sure there may be an imbalance of who has done what for whom but what does it matter?

There is something much bigger out there, much bigger than me and my cup of coffee.

Thought of the day

2009-02-16T05:34:00.000-08:00

I cannot stop thinking about DIRT! Black dirt, brown dirt, dry dirt, mud, worms, bugs...the whole thing.

Over the years I have come to appretiate the seasons of Michigan. They are like the seasons of life. The smaller cycles and the larger cycles. As we are rounding the tail end (I hope) of yet another long winter I sit with my thoughts a bit more than usual. With the holidays passed and birthdays behind us for the winter we are left to wait and think.

I have come to love the hard dark times for what they are which is a learning experience and a wonderful opportunity for growth and change. I do not particularly like them while I am in them, really they are awful and gut wrenching, but I now understand that I can hold on to this blind faith that this too shall pass. Even better I understand now that this too shall pass and if I step back and take time to listen to the universe I may be a better, maybe wiser, or a stronger person on the other side of the darkness.

I used to plow through life head down blinders on pissing and moaning not realizing that I was creating the negativity of which I was reacting to. Kind of like a dog chasing its tail....for what? I thought - to make a difference, to save the world, to.....who knows. What I am finding is that simple kindness to strangers and friends alike and all the other little things make such a difference and to be able to teach that to my children is such a gift.

Sometimes the louder you yell the less people listen but a kind voice with a smile can travel to someones heart with the strength of a tidal wave.

tHE bRAIN eXPLOSION

2009-02-04T04:33:00.000-08:00

This winter has been a huge developmental leap for the bean. It has been so cool to witness.

I don't remember so much when this happened to the monkey. I do clearly remember when his drawing skills were beyond his motor skills and he had to stop drawing for a bit - that drove me crazy. But he turned a corner and picked it up again.

The bean is all about letters, numbers, writing, and wanting to read since just after christmas. I am told by friends that it is a girl thing to be interested in such things earlier. It is crazy. One day she hated even drawing and the next she is writing down letters and numbers all over the place. Also all of a sudden she is drawing full on detailed pictures. It is so cool!!!!!

The Monkey's Sketch Book

2009-02-03T05:39:00.000-08:00

The monkey has always been my drawing boy as my bean is my collage and glue girl.

This weekend I gave the monkey a hard cover big sketch book. He was really excited but admitted he was nervous about it. I told him it was his and he could do whatever he wanted with it but he seemed to feel a great importance about what goes in it.

This morning he came to me and asked if I wanted to read his poetry that he had written in his book when he took a break from drawing. The poetry goes along with the picture he drew. here is the poem:

in the outdoors
where the birds
sing with the winds
call to summer and spring
the animals come
out of their dens
and come out of their houses made of scratch

I am a proud mama this morning.

Language Arts through Mad Libs

2009-01-23T08:10:00.000-08:00

Count Dracula is the most famous of all knives. He trips during the day in a coffin. The Count is never seen without his black dentist which he drapes over his tummy. When he flaps his plants, he turns into a bat and flies off into the president in search of mommies. The Count can only remain immortal by sucking kefir out of human humans. He does this by biting them on the bird with his gooey teeth. Superstition has it that people protect themselves from a vampire by holding up a store or wearing a clove of sister around their neck. It is also believed that the only way to kill a vampire is to drive a wooden fence through his hair.

Birth

2009-01-22T18:48:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted about birth in awhile. I am not quite sure why but I needed to step back for a moment to think, observe, ponder, assess the freight train I have been on for the past few years in helping families in their path. I have come to realize that I had to take a step back to take three steps forward.

Recently I have realized great peace and personal growth that has come out of the chaos of the past few months of stepping back.

Last night I was back in the saddle - at a birth that is. I have only attended two births since September quite a change from my 2-3 a month that I had been doing along with teaching, homeschooling and a small massage practice.

This birth was perfect - really as perfect as could be. The couple is adorable and charming to spend time with. The mother incredibly strong and partner terrifically supportive. She was present and amazing. It was a pleasure and blessing to be able to be there with them.

Over the night, witnessing the coming of this new person into the world, I observed the scene - the birthing mom, her partner, the midwife, the apprentice, the cats and myself. The cats were female and very interested in the goings on during labor and not too sure after the birth when the sweet little baby cried. The midwife and apprentice we present, aware, assessing, charting and doing what they do. The partner was calm, quiet, trusting, loving and in awe of his wife and her amazing strength in her journey. The laboring mom was working hard, trusting the process, opening to all that is, moaning that baby down, leading us all down the road scared at moments but plowing forward towards the unknown. As for me- I offered my hands in helping her stay in her body then backing off when she asked, I offered kind calm words of support and strength to be a gust of wind in her billowing sails, I offered my heart full of love for the process and all the women that have come and will come down that rocky road, I offered my mindful presence to their experience and mine.

This crazy life is more than words, numbers, conversations and thoughts. There is something so large and amazing in the feeling of life and being able to experience the simplicity of life in its purist form. I love the unexplainable part of it all.

On the flip side of this time we call life, when I was present for my grandfathers passing last year it was very similar but instead of where are we headed it is where have we been and of course the presence of the unknown. The unknown that will forever test our blind faith.

I am starting to embrace my blind faith. I have a long way to go but I will always have a long way to go. I embrace not only the blind faith of it All but also the blind faith in myself. There is a path out there for me and I say now that I am open to the unknown. I let my mind drift to enjoy the moments between the surges that bring me forward on this rocky road.

We can choose to make it hard and tumultuous or we can choose to ride the wave.
For now I am choosing to ride, open and at peace with all that may come.

Today is the Day

2009-01-20T02:51:00.000-08:00

Today is the day we try something new. Obama.

I am having folks over and even baking a cake for this historic day. I am excited, scared, apprehensive, hopeful and so much more.

He will not be perfect, he may go back on some of his campaign promises, he will mess up but i do believe he will try his best which, is all i can ever ask of myself so it is all i can expect from others - including our new president.

I am excited for a new world view on the United States of America. I like the man we have chosen to represent us to the world.

I have hope.

Religious Education

2009-01-18T06:04:00.000-08:00

For the past 3 years I have been attending off and on the Ann Arbor Unitarian Universalist (AAUU) Congregation. I went alone for awhile, then with the monkey, now the whole family goes (including my mother sometimes).

This past Christmas 10:30pm service (I have always loved the Christmas candle light service) I went solo. I cried through the entire service. Most services I tear up a bit but this one was full on. It was lovely and emotional. The next Sunday service I could not attend due to illness so it was a bit until I went back again. (This year I have been going almost every Sunday) When I did walk through those doors again it finally felt like home. Many of my friends were now going there also so I now had a community there. Going to church felt like a warm hug.

Now I have decided to take the next step and dive deeper into what this religion is all about. More than once I have heard the snarky comments about UU and it has been offensive but I acknowledge that there is much misunderstanding/misconception about what UU is.

I signed up for the Intro to UU class. My first class was this past Thursday. I will share with you a bit of what I learned. (i love the historical backgroud stuff)

History Factoids:

Unitarian beliefs have been around ince the first years of the Common Era (CE or AD) but they were forced underrgroud. There were the trinitarians and the Unitarians. The unitarians did not believe in the holy trinity.

In the Universalist history it was in 185-254 CE an early church father Origen was a proponent of theological universalism (all will be saved/no original sin). In 544 CE Council at Constantiople declared Universalism heresy.

In Unitarian history Unitarianism (known as Arianism at that time) was declared heresy in 325 CE

This was a time of fear mongering and control by those in power. The bible was only read by priests and the lay person waas told what to believe. The bible was read in service in Latin and only the wafers were given to the congregants and the priests only got the full communion if any communion was shared at all. Religion and politics were closely intertwinded the era of Constantinople was the time where free thinkers or an inclusive religion would hinder the powers of the state and church.

1425 - The Czech priest Jan Hus was burned at the stake for serving the communion wine to people and saying the mass in the language of the people reather than Latin

1498 - Pater D'Aranda, condemned for denying hell as everlasting punishment

1539 - Katherine Vogel, Krakow Poland, burned a the stake for denying the trinity

1553 - Spanish doctor and Bible scholar Micheal Servetus was burned at the stake by order of John Calvin with his book The Errors of the Trinity strapped to his leg

1568 - King John Sigismund of Transylvania issued an Edict of Tolerance, having been persuaded by Francis David, his chaplin, that God is one, not three, and that no one should be persecuted on account of religious belief. Thus was founded Unitarianism as a public religion rather than simply a private belief.

1620 - The Pilgrims founded Plymouth colony, incorporating government by covenant, seperation of civil and religious authorities, and congregationalism (the beginnings of the UU congregational polity)

1759 - "Union" a statement of Universalist theology stressing universal salvation, was sritten by James Relly and published in England.

1770 - John Murray, convinced my relly, came to America and preached a Universalist message from the meeting house Thomas Potter had hopefully built on his New Jersay farm.

1774 - Theophilus Lindsey began the first Unitarian church in England

1779 - John Murray organized the first Universalist Church in America at Goulster, Massachusetts

1782 - John Freeman takes King's Chapel into unitarian position.

1791 - Joseph Priestly, a unitarian minister and scientis in England, had his meeting house and laboratory attacked by a mob on account of his radical beliefs; he immigrated to Philadelphia and had major influence on Thomas Jefferson and the founding principles of his country.

1805 - Universalist Hosea Ballou wrote the "Treatise on the Atonement" arguing that human beings do not need a savior such as Jesus to save them from damnation for their sins, but that instead Jesus showed by example that sin can be overcome by love.

1819 - Unitarian minister William Ellery Channing gave his foundational " Baltimore Sermon" on the unity of god, the Bible as written by humans and subject to interpretation through reason, and religious tolerance.

1825 - The American Unitarian Association formed with 125 ministers, most of them educated at Harvard Divinity School

1838 - Ralph Waldo Emerson gave a Harvard Divinity School address that became another foundational expression of Unitarianism as well as Transcendentalism, stressing that direct intuition of God is available directly to each person, and that Christianity is not the only path to truth.

1841 - the third foundational expression of Unitarianism was Theodore Parker's South Boston sermon on "The Transient and Permanent in Christianity"

1863 - The Universalists ordained Rev. Olympia Brown , the first woman ordained by any religious organization in the United States.

1865 - The attempt to prganize Unitarians (not just ministers) through the National Conference, led by Henry Bellows, led the dissenting independent thinkers to form the Free Religious Association, with Emerson as the first signer of their "declaration of independence" from anything resembling a creed. Emerson then left the Unitarian ministry for a life as a writer and lecturer

1887 - William Channing Gannett wrote his "Things Commomly Bleieved Today Among Us" a significant attempt to bridge the chasm between the institutionalists and theists on the one habe and the atheistic free religionists on teh other, the latter group seeing themselves as both firmly non-creedal and believing staunchly in a strictly ethical basis for religion.

1893 - The Chicago Unitarian congregation of ministers Jenkin Lloyd Jones put on the first Parliament of Religions, associates with the World's Fair; this revolutionary event introduced to the Unitarians (and others) the wisdom of the world's religions, especially Eastern religions, so that "universalism" began to take on a new meaning, and American Unitarians began to be universalists in their thinking.

1933 - The Humanist manifesto was formulated in Ann Arbor, with many unitarian and Universalist ministers as signers. It stressed the universe as self-existing and evolving, science and reason as not seperate from religion, and the betterment of human conditions here and now as the purpose of life.

1937 - Sophia Lyon Fahs wrote the first ground-breaking curriculum for Unitarian religious education for children.

1940 - The Unitarian Service Committee was formed to launch efforts to bring out of harm;s was Jewish people, homosexuals, and others being persecuted in Nazi Europe. After merger, the USC became the UUSC, which partners around the world and in this country with groups working for the well-being of people who are persecuted or otherwise suffering.

1961 - The American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America merged to form the Unitarian universalist Association of Congregations.

The following is "Unitarian Universalism - The Religion" as prepared for the UUMA Convocation by Daniel O'Connel 03/08/02

=many scriptures, not one
=here and now, not the hereafter
=freedom, reason, tolerance,love as overarching values
=deeds not creeds, show your work, live your faith
=evolutionary theology, language changes
=we are saved by love, we are made holy by character

We share withother religious liberals:
=no original sin, God is Love
=unity of experience: faith & knowledge, sacred & secular
-non-creedal, authority of conscience
=need for religious community
=congregational polity, democratic methods
=a spark of "divinity" or the "highest good" in every person
=a destination: an earth made fair, all her people one, we co-create the world.

~~~~

This concludes my report on my class on Thursday.

One thing I feel is intersting to note is that Thomas Jefferson thought that Unitarian religion would become the popular religion before the end of his generation. This did not occur to any fault ar flaw in the religion but the fact that other religions started becoming more open and liberal in their practice.

Also there is a new book out about Joseph Priestly called The Invention of Air I heard an interview on NPR yesterday. Sounds fascinating.

Deciding to be happy

2009-01-14T04:47:00.000-08:00

Deciding to be happy was my undeclared New Years resolution. Undeclared because really I just decided to do it. Clean up the crap and emotional and mental clutter in the house of my brain, body and spirit. I decided to really live the saying "if mama happy everybody happy" - now I realize that is a simplistic statement because some are very comfortable with mama being a train wreck and are not fond of change but they can learn to deal with the new ways.

I have been working out everyday for a week and a half and it has been wonderful. I get it now when folks have the NEED to work out. I think it was just not my time to be like that until recently. We have our homeschooling schedule that we try to keep to in a scheduled unschooly way (yes I acknowledge the conflict in that statement) We are still working out the kinks. But on the whole it is all good in the hood. Everyday we do our journal, reading, math from 9-12 and have something going on at 1pm regularly. Sometimes things get high jacked for example we have two very large boxes in out house right now so some things may fall to the side for a bit as we take on making a sarcophagus for the monkey pharaoh.

We are truckin' through Story of the world learning about the fertile crescent and Osiris and Isis and mummy's and pyramids and .....it is so exciting. We are also working through the Children's Illustrated Bible that I got at church this past weekend. I was raised in a great church but I never knew much about the bible. My husband knows it well as do my in-laws. It has left me with a great desire to learn the stories and teachings. It is an amazing piece of literature that I would like my children to know. I am very excited to learn more myself.

To compliment our path with the Children's bible I am independently reading Living Christ, Living Buddha by Thich Nhat Hahn. I love most all of his works including this one.

Amazon.com Review
If you have always assumed that Christianity and Buddhism are as far apart philosophically as their respective founders were geographically, you may be in for a bit of a surprise. In this national bestseller, Zen monk and social activist Thich Nhat Hanh draws parallels between these two traditions that have them walking, hand in hand, down the same path to salvation. In Christianity, he finds mindfulness in the Holy Spirit as an agent of healing. In Buddhism, he finds unqualified love in the form of compassion for all living things. And in both he finds an emphasis on living practice and community spirit. The thread that binds the book is the same theme that draws many Christians toward Buddhism: mindfulness. Through anecdotes, scripture references, and teachings from both traditions, Nhat Hanh points out that mindfulness is an integral part of all religious practice and teaches us how to cultivate it in our own lives. Nhat Hanh has no desire to downplay the venerable theological and ritual teachings that distinguish Buddhism and Christianity, but he does cause one to consider that beyond the letter of doctrine lies a unity of truth.

The monkey has very interested in working through his spiritual side for the past year and a half. It has been wonderful to walk with him on this road also looking at my beliefs. One great book that has helped me open my mind to this kind of philosophical wandering was Little Big Minds by Marietta McCarty

Amazon.com Product Description
A guide for parents and educators to sharing the enduring ideas of the biggest minds throughout the centuries-from Plato to bell hooks-with the "littlest" minds.

Children are no strangers to cruelty and courage, to love and to loss, and in this unique book teacher and educational consultant Marietta McCarty reveals that they are, in fact, natural philosophers. Drawing on a program she has honed in schools around the country over the last fifteen years, Little Big Minds guides parents and educators in introducing philosophy to K-8 children in order to develop their critical thinking, deepen their appreciation for others, and brace them for the philosophical quandaries that lurk in all of our lives, young or old.

Arranged according to themes-including prejudice, compassion, and death-and featuring the work of philosophers from Plato and Socrates to the Dalai Lama and Martin Luther King Jr., this step-by-step guide to teaching kids how to think philosophically is full of excellent discussion questions, teaching tips, and group exercises.

With MLK day coming up there is much to talk about. Not to mention the inaguration. what a great time to be.

In absolutley amazing news - the monkey went to his first theater audition last night for a Midsummer's Night Dream throught the Ypsilanti Youth Theater and He did great! The best part is that he loved it and had a really great time. We will find out this weekend what part he will get. Being that it is his first go at theater he is hoping for a nonspeaking part although once i explained to hime that in the play if you have lines you have to memorize then and not read them off of paper he was more open to a speaking part. (he is reading but just not super confident yet and Shakespeare is not exactaly Dr. Seusse) I am a giddy proud mama. I have waited a long time to get the monkey into theater he has it in him if he chooses to pursue it.

Yesterday I got two books out of the library that I am very excited to dive into. Both books I have heard much about and come highly recommended. Hold on to your Kids I think is a must read for any parent. The Teenage Liberation Handbook is for those adults and kids open to the idea of homeschooling and the concept of learning over schooling.

The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn

Amazon.com Review
You won't find this book on a school library shelf--it's pure teenage anarchy. While many homeschooling authors hem and haw that learning at home isn't for everyone, this manifesto practically tells kids they're losers if they do otherwise. With the exception of a forwarding note to parents, this book is written entirely for teenagers, and the first 75 pages explain why school is a waste of time. Grace Llewellyn insists that people learn better when they are self-motivated and not confined by school walls. Instead of homeschooling, which connotes setting up a school at home, Llewellyn prefers "unschooling," a learning method with no structure or formal curriculum. There are tips here you won't hear from a school guidance counselor. Llewellyn urges kids to take a vacation--at least for a week--after quitting school to purge its influence. "Throw darts at a picture of your school" or "Make a bonfire of old worksheets," she advises. She spends an entire chapter on the gentle art of persuading parents that this is a good idea. Then she gets serious. Llewellyn urges teens to turn off the TV, get outside, and turn to their local libraries, museums, the Internet, and other resources for information. She devotes many chapters to books and suggestions for teaching yourself science, math, social sciences, English, foreign languages, and the arts. She also includes advice on jobs and getting into college, assuring teens that, contrary to what they've been told in school, they won't be flipping burgers for the rest of their days if they drop out. Llewellyn is a former middle-school English teacher, and she knows her audience well. Her formula for making the transition from traditional school to unschooling is accompanied by quotes on freedom and free thought from radical thinkers such as Steve Biko and Ralph Waldo Emerson. And Llewellyn is not above using slang. She capitalizes words to add emphasis, as in the "Mainstream American Suburbia-Think" she blames most schools for perpetuating. Some of her attempts to appeal to young minds ring a bit corny. She weaves through several chapters an allegory about a baby whose enthusiasm is squashed by a sterile, unnatural environment, and tells readers to "learn to be a human bean and not a mashed potato." But her underlying theme--think for yourself--should appeal to many teenagers. --Jodi Mailander Farrell

and Hold on to your Kids by Gordon Neufeld PhD, Gabor Mate MD

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Like countless other parents, Canadian doctors Neufeld and Maté woke up one day to find that their children had become secretive and unreachable. Pining for time with friends, they recoiled or grew hostile around adults. Why? The problem, Neufeld and co-writer Maté suggest, lies in a long-established, though questionable, belief that the earliest possible mastery of the rules of social acceptance leads to success. In a society that values its economy over culture, the book states, the building of strong adult/child attachments gets lost in the shuffle. Multiple play dates, day care, preschool and after school activities groom children to transfer their attachment needs from adults to their peers. They become what the authors call "peer oriented." The result is that they squelch their individuality, curiosity and intelligence to become part of a group whose members attend school less to learn than to socialize. And these same children are bullying, shunning and murdering each other, as well as committing suicide, at increasing rates. The authors' meticulous exploration of the problem can be profoundly troubling. However, their candidness and exposition lead to numerous solutions for reestablishing a caring adult hierarchy. Beautifully written, this terrific, poignant book is already a bestseller in Canada.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

It is time for me to clean up and get ready for my day with the monkey and the bean. Soon I will post a bit more on the idea of homeschooling high schoolers. It seems to be something on peoples mind lately. Homeschool kids can go to college and do very well in the world in general. Also I would like to eventually cover the idea of parental rights and civil liberties in homeschooling.

BTW did anyone notice the artice in this past weeks Ann Arbor News Sunday paper about the Michigan Virtual High Shool.

Life Learners we are (Yoda style)

2008-12-15T07:41:00.000-08:00

Life Learners is the verb-age I prefer when speaking of our home schooling style. We do workbooks and daily school-y tasks but there are a very small part of our day.

we try to get things going by 9am but it does not always pan out that way. Sometimes I am a bit pokey or the breakfast conversation is too good to rush through to start stuff. Most times we are done in an hour and a half with the "stuff" then it is usually an open day for projects, play dates, books on tape, playing outside, hiking, running errands, etc.

We are not big on "teaching" our kids but rather learning with our children and living with our children. I believe that children can learning (at their own pace) without being taught if exposed to information. Yes, I believe workbooks like our Singapore Math workbooks are ways of exposing out child to math. But I do not test him on the information acquired. I do give him opportunities to apply the information in real life situations. Sometimes he loves it and sometimes it is overwhelming if he has not completely grasped a concept yet so we try again later.

One thing that I talk about with my kids is how it is not easy growing up and learning about the world and how things work sometimes. Along with "learning" kids are figuring out social structure, the ways of the world, and they are figuring out their own emotions in their fluctuating states among other things. That is a lot to take in and not all children take in that information in the same way on the same schedule. I do appreciate being able to pay attention to my child's emotional cues with learning. If he is not in a good space emotionally then it is not a good time for some things. Both of my kids will have enough time and opportunity in life to "toughen up", I hope I am giving them a good foundation to navigate difficult situations with mindfullness and empathy for others.

This is a blog by the woman who is the editor of Life Learning Magazine and Natural Living Magazine I agree with most of what she presents about life learning.

I was asked about statistics of home schoolers the other day. Being that I am not a big fan of statistics I did not know off hand what they were but here is a link to the HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) about some studies done on home schoolers in the academic sense. Mind you the studies are 10 years old and even older but really how much can change with home schooling? Well since I asked here is a link to a more recent study from 2003 about the numbers of home schoolers on the rise.

There was also the question about the " repercussions" of my children not attending traditional high school in regards to their ability to go to college. At first I did not understand the question but stepping back I realized the question was asked from a place of misunderstanding the truth about home schoolers, of which there are many. Like that we are not right-wing bible thumping or move-to-the-country anarchist goat-herders, although the later is more likely. We approach our home schooling on a year to year basis and the kids are part of the decision making process. I am a firm believer in informed consumerism and consent which I try to apply in every aspect of my life and my families life. The monkey has taken classes at a local charter school one semester and has public school, charter school, private school and once schooled now home schooled friends of whom he has asked about their school experience. So in this light as we get into the high school years the kids will be a part of the decision to continue home schooling or not. There are many resources available to them for their education be it tutors, online high schools like Oak Meadow ,classes at local colleges, mentor-ships, apprenticeships, volunteer work, etc. For more information about college admissions and home schoolers I found this great link to the Journal of College Admissions from Fall 2004 . Two particular articles I will link to are Homeschool Recruiting: Lessons Learned on the Journey and Homeschoolers on to College: What Research Shows Us

In general I think it is hard for most to understand what we do everyday and why we do it. What we do everyday changes and why we do it is that it works for us. We are not super religious but we are spiritual seekers. We are not politically motivated but we do have opinions. We do not hole up everyday or shelter out children from the world, we encourage interaction with all different kinds of folks in all different kinds of settings of all different ages. We don't believe this is the only good or right way but it is working for us for now and we like it.

As the "stay-home" parent I have learned so much from my kids in this journey - my limits, my faults, my prejudices, how to be comfortable saying "I don't know, but maybe we can find out",my curiosity, that I can learn so much from my children and there are so many different ways to look at the world.

There are many assumptions that we have about much in life. I cannot count the number of times that the monkey or the bean have asked "why?" about something or other and my assumptions or ideas about things were challenged because I knew the "why?'s" would go deeper and deeper as I gave my answers. I have to stop and ask myself why do I think that way? Becoming humble and embracing my ignorance has been a wonderful gift.

All I ask is that you look at your assumptions and ask "why do I think that way?"

A wee update

2008-12-12T05:48:00.001-08:00

I do find when I am off call it is a lot easier for me to focus in on the homeschooling part of our lives. There is something about the looming phone call that throws me off whack.

We are working on The Story of the World Vol. I. The monkey is working on his family history book. In this project it asks for pictures to be taped or glued on the information page of the family member but he like me cannot choose which picture to sacrifice to the project so we have decided to draw a portrait of the family member for now. He drew an absolutely awesome self portrait (unfortunately it was too large to fit in the box allotted in the book) I am also very into reading books by Audrey Wood at the moment. A very sweet one was When the Root Children Wake Up. I also loved Heckedy Peg.

The Monkey is also working on a landscape project - possibly for his playmobil but I am not sure. The base is a pizza box and other boxes are buildings. Yesterday at their recital the snagged those cone cups for trees.

Speaking of the recital - the kids had it yesterday. They were awesome! They were asked to participate in a project for students at the University of Michigan School of Music. It was a lot of fun. They were in the Christamas Carols group and even acted out T'was the Night Before Christmas. I was pleasantly surprised at the beans acting ability :) This winter the monkey will be old enough to do the local theater. We both are really excited for that. He has been wanting to do something like that for a long time. He is a super ham.

This morning we are off to swim at the A2 YMCA that I am considering joining but I am still on the fence. The kids love swimming and the more I get them in the water the better they will get. The monkey has until this summer to learn how to swim so he can take his scuba diving class. He is great under the water and can hold his breath for a long time it is just swimming on the water that flusters him.

Recently I was asked about homeschooling and our path. It brought up some of the misconceptions about homeschooling so in the near future I plan on talking a bit more on this topic.

But for now - We swim.

2008-11-30T14:19:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we got our christmas tree and today was decorating day. Although a wee bit stressful, the tree looks lovely. We are now officially in the holiday spirit.

After some crazies and grumpiness we settled into the day about 1pm. I want to rearranging and cleaning and big daddy was cleaning out his closet. I went down stairs and the monkey was listening to a book on tape looking out the front window drawing a still life of the items on the front porch. For some reason this was a proud moment for me. With my back ground in art it warms me to see my son voluntarily finding an artistic moment and acting on it. It was on a lined notebook and a loose sketch but none the less it was wonderful.

While the monkey was doing this my lovely bean in true form was breaking stuff. Unfortunately today she hurt herself but bounced back quickly.

I am thinking I may be a person who needs to map out my week. I have traditionally been a fly by the seat of my pants kind of gal but that was more conducive to my on-call lifestyle. As I step back from that craziness I am finding that it is easier to plan things and actually preferable. So now I need systems in place to get things going and working. But first I need order and cleanliness. On that note I am off to clean.

I know my limits.

2008-11-28T06:59:00.001-08:00

Wednesday I had a fairy playdate for the bean.

We decided to make cookies - me and three 4 year olds making cookies. I am aware that I have control issues occasionally but they are usually not focused on doing things with the kids. Writing, art, even cleaning their rooms - I am pretty chill. But I have met my limit with cooking. I cannot cook with my or other children without getting twitchy. I love to cook and bake. I cannot even cook with my husband most of the time without a little bickering.

There was flour everywhere, everyone wanting to use the rolling pin and roll everything paper thin or cutting out monstrously thick cookies so some burn and some are underdone. Oh my goodness.

Luckily, I was able to identify my twitchies and step away and let the ladies do their thing. I came back to a mountain of flour and some messy ladies but they had fun. And inthe end they were all totally jacked up on sugar from the frosting.

A good day.

Tuesday Free Day

2008-11-25T06:36:00.001-08:00

Every other Tuesday I get four hours without my children whom I love dearly but eventually need a break from. Today is my Tuesday.

It has given me something to look forward to everyday. It is like a mini christmas.

Today I am going to go sit in the dry sauna and read (maybe fall asleep since i hardly slept last night). I am going to try to get a chunk of the kids Christmas shopping done. Go to the bank and if there is time slowly peruse the racks at Value World.

Ahhh....quiet sanity for a time.

side note - almost the entire time i have been typing this the monkey has been giving me his dissertation on Playmobil weaponry

Life Learning - I like that better then Homeschooling

2008-11-25T02:10:00.001-08:00

This fall seems to have been the season for me to get into my "homeschool" groove. It has helped tremendously to have met some lovely ladies with boys my age and to have found a group that meets weekly for regular activities.

I realized that like most things homeschooling is so much better when you have a tribe, for me and for my kids. I especially have been blessed with a little fairy who has taken my by the hand and made this year so enjoyable and shown me so many resources like this wonderful one. I linked it to the page with the awesome educational card games that I want to start collecting.

We have gotten into the groove of books on tape which has been wonderful. The monkey and I really love them and the Bean.....not so much at this moment. We have listened to The Penderwicks (i loved this one), How to Eat fried Worms (an oldie but a goodie), Pipi Longstocking, Superfudge (i was disappointed to find that they de-bunk Santa but I think the Monkey missed it) , Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, Ramona Quimbly Age 8, Ramona and her Mother, Toys Go Out (al three of us liked this one), I feel like a am missing a few but right now we are listening to Whittington.

We are also working our way through the Little House series. We started with Farmer boy as suggested by a friend. We are about to finish Little House in the Big Woods and move to Little House on the Praire by Thanksgiving. It is very inspiring to go back to simple living.

I recently made an order to Singapose Math. We got the first math text and work book that was way to simple for the Monkey when we got it so the Bean is working on it. It is going well, she likes ot have her own workbooks. I also ordered their English Grammar book that we are working our way through and seem to like. The Monkey does a journal entry every morning and I pick 2-3 vocabulary words for him to copy from his entry. I really like this exercise but he does not feel so fondly about it to say the least. (oh, the drama) I also picked up a collection of basic science books that is good at covering the basics and filling in some holes that the Monkey may be missing.

We have also found the best website ever for kids - BrainPop and BrainPopjr. We signed up for a year and we have already gotten our moneys worth. We are a family that uses the computer and I feel it is a great tool for learning. The monkey will spend good chunks of time just wandering through learning about this and that. It is a great jumping off point for many topics of discussion. In the Health category there is a section there are many topics that you would think would be there but there are also bits on internet safety, relationships and even divorce. The last topic I really appreciated how they covered this topic. I have talked to the Monkey before about the divorce but it seemed to sink in a bit further with the websites presentation. (it was very well done)

As always the Monkey is asking for more and more science. BrainPop seems to fill that need when he has an itch for new information. This winter will be the season for busting out the microscope and discovering the micro world around us. I am reading Good Germs, Bad Germs by Jessica Snyder Sachs. It has my brain buzzing with amazing information and I am still on chapter one. I am slowly going through this chapter because it covers the initial colonization of the human body at and after childbirth. So cool and fascinating how the system has come up with its own perfect way of working and protecting itself over time evolving with microorganisms. I am taking the time to let it sink in and work through in my head how this process is getting completely thrown out of whack by modern obstetrics. Maybe just maybe it could be one of the reasons we have chronic immune disorders, so many more allergies, and who knows what else. It covers beautifully how the body is built to fight against the infection of Gonorrhea, Clymidia and Group B strep in the newborn at chilbirth - the wonderful Lactobaccili which feed on the sugary glycogen that the vaginal environment starts producing midway through the pregnancy. There is so much more in this book that is opening so many new strains of thought for me. It is mind candy :)

In other exciting kid news we have discovered the wonder of Playmobil. I am in love. One thing that is great is that both kids can have their sets and build on them be it princesses or roman warriors but they can be played with together and interchangeably. We had done that with our mishmosh of toys over the years but it works better when they are all the same kind of toy. I may be a toy snob here but it just flows better. AND they are affordable! I feel like I can pop out and get the kids a treat of a new Playmobil thing for $8.

My plan is to update here on our travels as Life Learners and for the family update thing. I should try to update everyday - I make no promises but I shall try.

(btw- if you read the last post you would have noticed that i did not quite follow my "curriculum" that I came up with- we ditched time4learning and then found BrainPop. This is an ever changing path for us and we seem to be taking awhile to get our sea legs but my homeschool fairy has helped greatly! We did finish the Bone series as far as it is available at this time and are eagerly awaiting the release of book 9 in 2009)

our homeschooling

2008-09-02T19:26:00.000-07:00

this year i am trying to get more organized and having a "curriculum" this year that i wrote. nothing big but some jumping off points. Aesops Fables, The Story of the World, the Little house series, time4learning, journaling, some science books but the coolest thing about this year is that we have fallen into graphic novels. the monkey and i are on the third book of Bone. we love it!

the bean picked up and Adventures in OZ which looks really interesting.

I was excited to find that the library had Hayao Miyazaki's -Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away and My Neighbor Tortoro in "picture book".

I even found an adapted Moby Dick graphic novel. I am going to try to order this from the library or if anyone wants to get this for us for christmas that would be cool too....wink wink ;).

Link to a list of graphic novels for young readers.

Zombies and Logic

2008-08-25T06:46:00.000-07:00

Before I met Big Daddy zombies rarely entered my mind. During our courting period I was told that I had to watch Cemetery Man, Big Daddy's all time favorite film at the time(it still may be but I do not want to make any assumptions on his behalf). At the time my favorite films were those about the Holocaust and Roberto Benigni movies. I thought Cemetery Man was campy and did not appreciate it as I might now being more acclimated to zombies. I can still picture the flies suspended by fishing wire.

Since then I have only been subjected to watch a few other zombie flicks. I am usually not able to sit through the whole thing. The most recent was Zombies Anonymous.

In the evenings Big Daddy will relax by playing Resident Evil on the PSII. Not something I would deem relaxing but to each their own. I usually need to leave the room when he plays. What can I say I am a delicate bird. ;)

Being that we had a boy first it did not take long to our fair child to find a love for zombies like his father. The bean has recently become aware of the zombie undertones in our lives. A few months ago the bean came into the TV room upstairs where Big Daddy and I were hanging out and she was worried about zombies getting her. She was genuinely concerned.

We could not convince her that zombies are not real. So Big Daddy resorted to logic.
-He asked the Bean how zombies walk.
-The bean held her arms out straight and did the zombie walk, she even moaned like a zombie.
-He then asked her "if zombies walk like that how would the open a door to get in the house?"
-She realized that zombies could not open doors and felt better.
-She then trotted off to bed.

Parenting is not as I thought it would be but it makes it that much more interesting.

Next I will post about my children's obsession with amputees. Oh, the conversations we have ;)

What a weekend!

2008-08-19T06:18:00.000-07:00

Thursday I had a hankering for La Fiesta so the kids and I walked down for lunch. While there an old friend from the Zing days walked in with his wife. I always thought Ian was Big Daddy's little brother in another place and time. I invited them over for dinner Friday evening as a surprise for big daddy. Dinner and an exciting game of Clue! Big Daddy was pleasantly surprised. It was really nice to hang out with Ian and his wife(plus he was homeschooled so I got to pick his brain)

Saturday I was up early to head off to Julie's to help get ready for the wedding she was catering that evening. I had a really good time. I miss working in food. Julie is an amazing cook and my car has smelled amazing since Saturday. I was supposed to help through the entire event but my client called at 6pm-ish cookin' in labor. A couple of phone calls after the initial call I headed out to her house and she was in transition. She was very chill- so smiley and sweet. When we got to the hospital she was complete. The baby was born a few hours later but she had a bit of trouble stabilizing after delivery- nothing big but I didn't feel comfortable leaving. I got home about 3:30am.

Sunday morning my sister-in-law was coming out with my nieces to hang out. Big daddy was off to help a friend build a fence. Mom had talked about going to the Heritage Festival but I was soooo not up for it. My sis-in-law sensed that and suggested we just hang out. I was beat and very thankful to just chill at home. My sister-in-law lectured me on my life and how she is concerned about me and my well-being. It was very sweet but what could I say?

I am feeling recovered today. Yesterday was a bit funky but today is good.

simple gifts

2008-08-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

The other night I had a prenatal and a postpartum visit. I ended up driving all over town after a day of driving to Auburn Hills (the Monkey, Nona and I took the Bean to go see The Wiggles).
I was actually able to keep my visits to one hour each so I was not gone until really late.
As I was driving home I reflected on the simple gifts in life. My family was one amazing gift I have. My wonderful friends, chosen family was another. An unexpected great gift were kind clients who gave me gifts of cucumbers and home brewed beer at my appointments.

Simplicity is my mantra. Balance is my goal.

summer flies by

2008-08-03T17:19:00.000-07:00

summer flies by in a flurry of births, teaching, gardening, hanging out with family but i feel like we have done nothin' extra ordinary. other than the Massachusetts trip which was awesome.

We had three birthdays two of which were in the birth marathon week. three clients went in a seven day period. so i spent my bday at the hospital slightly sleep deprived. It usually takes a bit to recover from that so big daddys bday was spent quietly but i did go to the va-jay-jay sewing party and yes i did sew a va-jay-jay. but it was an early night-big daddy stopped by the party for food then we snuggled up at home and had a quiet night in. we took a day trip to bad axe to see my pregger sister-inlaws which was wonderful. been hanging out with some good old friends two of which just moved home (YAY!). we hit beer fest for the first time and had some good beer. I got issue VII of the birth project out just a little late but done. I had a complete melt down and sent the kids to my dads over night and spent every minute working to catch up on life and it felt great! btw - THE BIRTH PROJEC TIS NOW CARRIED AT CRAZY WISOM BOOKSTORE AND NICOLA'S BOOKS IN ANN ARBOR! we are still working on shamen drum, the buyer tyler seems to be ignoring me. but he will hear form me again. and i worked as an extra one night for the movie whip it! in detroit. that was an experience.

i feel like i have been busy but i am not sure with what. lots of laundry that is for sure. writing a schedule/cirriculum for the kids for this year, power washing my deck, and trying to pull $ out of thin air.

as usual when i get bored i need a new project so i have decided to attempt to write a screenplay. yes that is right i am jumping into those merky waters but i think i have a great idea so i am going to give it a shot. i have talked to some folks already about how to do it and off i am running. plotting scene sketches. character background and development and learning the craft and rules of screenwriting.

so folks that is it. the update. so i will now follow with a random photo update for my dad since he always likes the photos. ;) oh, and i cut 14 inches off my hair. like it?

Benefits of having a spontaneous mother.

2008-06-27T14:49:00.001-07:00

Today, after dropping off the dog at the groomer for his annual hair chop, the kids and I decided to go for a bike ride.

Well, this bike ride turned into quite an event - We rode the B2B route from our house to Zingermans Deli in Kerry town and back. That ride is 17 miles. 17 miles that my awesome 7 year old completed. Without a peep of negativity or complaint he took the challenge on with the heart of a super trooper. The bean rode shotgun on my bike and also embraced the event with enthusiasm. She saw it as a good time to practice letters and sing rubber ducky (solo mind you - shhe nixed mom joining in the singing).

About half way through the ride home I was wondering if the monkey was hanging in ok. I stopped by St. Jo hospital for a break and decided to call my mom for a kid pick up and as soon as he heard what I was doing he hopped back on his bike and said he wanted to ride. He got his second wind.

He got a blister, another owie on the bottom of his other foot, scrapped his ankle on the petal and plowed on through it all.

He dropped his chain on the path behind my neighborhood. He said that it was a nice break. I tried to fix it then two nice ladies were walking by and they stopped to help.

It was a good day. The dog is lookin' good. Sam is feeling enormously accomplished. So am I and the only bad part was the sunburn on my shoulders from not expecting to be riding for 3.5 hours. Whoops :)

Cocktail of the hour

2008-06-20T14:27:00.000-07:00

fresh squeezed raw rhubarb juice (sugar added)
with fresh squeezed apple and carrot juice
on ice
with Jack Daniels
and melon pieces
with a straw

The Big Trip

2008-06-03T06:17:00.000-07:00

In three days we will be going on our first family trip. We have taken small trips to Bad Axe to see the in-laws and the like but nothing like a true family vaca.

We are leaving Thursday on the high speed road trip to Massachusetts for one day of the North American Amphibian Conference and back Monday for me to go back on call.

We will be going via Canada to see Niagra Falls. That has been the first destination on the "take the kids" list. Thursday evening we will be staying with some friends in Buffalo.

Friday morning we will be up and off to Massachusetts to camp for the night. The camp site says black bears are common visitors to the site. Big daddy told the kids and now they are a wee bit freaked out. I must admit I am too a bit tweeked but I am trying to be rational about the fact that they will most likely leave us alone even if they come around.

Saturday we will take big daddy to the conference to suck in some knowledge, schmooze a bit and get some new creatures for his collection. The spawnlings and I will go to the hotel to dink around for a bit. Maybe check out some local museums or attractions or just play in the indoor pool :). Big daddy will join us sometime later that night.

Sunday we are off to see the dinosaur tracks south of Erving Ma. The monkey is super geeked about it! Then we round it back home vis States side, maybe staying Sunday night in Buffalo at our friends or driving straight through. Not sure yet.

Whew! Home again Home again jiggity jig.

And I go back on call until September.

I Love Dirt!

2008-06-01T06:53:00.000-07:00

For my fathers birthday yesterday he took my kids for the day and over night. It was his idea. They came up to see his soccer game (they got creamed again but they had fun), we went to Aubree's for pizza and off they went.

For my free afternoon I had made plans to go out and work on my friends garden. They had 10 beautiful acres and are working a big plot this year for vegetables. Maybe adding an herb garden at some point this year. The long term plan is for a hearty farm going in a couple of years. She has other awesome ideas for the land that I am excited to see grow. For two hours we weeded about 300 sq. feet and planted about 80 tomato plants. I got so dirty, it was great.

I got home, we grilled up some chicken with out North Carolina BBQ Sauce (we may have converted to the south side), lit up the fire pit and later watched the rest of LOST. We are now officially caught up and have to wait months upon months for our next installment.

Update and Thunderstorms.

2008-05-30T20:34:00.001-07:00

I got the tooth out on Monday. I hated doing it but it is what he wanted. I will post a pic tomorrow. The root was huge, I doubt it would have come out on its own. Since the extraction his adult tooth has been moving forward. It is crazy to see the change day to day.

Tonight FINALLY the thunderstorms came. I feel better now. Plus my garden gets watered. ( i love planting, pruning, and gardening but hate watering.) My inner water conservationist is at conflict with my gardener. (donn has brain washed me!)