Garden envy

I have garden envy. It's true. No doubt about it. As I walk around my neighborhood lately, I find myself passing a bit slower at these marvelous urban gardens - each an oasis in it's own right. I want that for my family. Alas not this year. I may be the only person alive who planted both yellow and green squash and got nada, nothing, rien!

PS - you can click on the image above to see a larger view and more detail! Happy gardening. The rain is coming as soon as tomorrow and so... as soon as the sun comes up today, I'm planning on getting out there.

Too many tantrums

This morning was not a good one. Baby girl's temper tantrums are getting to Mama's emotional state. I'm trying. I know other Mama's of 3 year olds are in similar boats. I'm rereading "How to talk to children so they will listen and listen to children so they will talk" (or however exactly that title goes). While looking for Mama resources, I found an interesting blog called 1smartmom.com and enjoyed this Bill Cosby quote I found there (hate to confess it IS often too true and I'm trying to change that). Read it and let me know if you've experienced this feeling (if you are a mama or a papa that is).

Sugar & Spice

Sugar & spice and everything nice... Isn't that how the old saying goes about little girls? Now I'm SO totally not into gender stereotypes that even writing it down bugs me a bit but today I'd be happy to have just a wee bit more sugar and spice and a little less tobasco sauce splattered on my screen door and less water soaking into the rug in my bathroom... that's MY girl. Gotta love her.

Turning things around

Picture this:

"In the spiritual path, joy and suffering follow one another like two feet, and you come to a point of not minding which 'foot' is on the ground. You realize, on the contrary, that it is extremely uncomfortable hopping all the time on the joy foot."

John G. Bennett, 1897-1974 British Author, Scientist and Mathematician

This quote comes to me by way of Inspiration Peak where I often find much which is uplifting. Bennett's statement reminds me of a great piece someone sent me a few years back about how our children learn. The gist was that our children cannot truly learn to be kind without being at some point unkind, cannot learn happiness without experiencing sadness and the like. Ying and Yang. What a great reminder.

Has anyone else experienced just how much more beautiful Fall leaves are after your eyes have been looking down, how much more sweet and crisp the autumn air feels against our skin after crawling out from under a blanket curled up in our beds?

A date with your son the budding photographer, a hike with a view, gathering chestnuts with 1st & 2nd graders, sharing a picnic lunch under a tree with 3 & 4 year olds -- all made sweeter for the senses by a few days of being down.

Would any of us choose a bee sting or a preschool temper tantrum - probably not. But if we can see them in context and remember the ebb and flow of our days, an occasional bump in the road is well worth the price of joy. Someone with better brain power could probably link this to the concepts of The Great Turning... concepts I hope to return too soon. But for now, just enjoy.

Mama math

Add some more bubbles, several extra deep breaths of cool crisp morning air, a good cup of coffee and some gorgeous works of art (otherwise known as crayon cupcakes), start getting a mama groove back...

Add six thousand three hundred forty seven 3-year old tantrums and things start to get a little funky:


Throw in finding a pair of cute shoes and one decent sweater for $10, sprinkled with a touch of Pirate Partying under a bridge and you are up and running in the right direction again...

Until a bee sting (under my arm OWWW), kids who want to do ANYTHING but see the band you SO enjoy, a beer garden where you cannot be since you have said kids, and a few more tantrums... and you arrive pretty much back at square one. Match point. Let's try again tomorrow.

Going with the flow

When you are a mama, I find you've got to learn how to go with the flow. Best laid plans and all that. Today was supposed to (in my mind anyway) be all about making crayon cupcakes and homemade pretzels with my little ones (a very Great Turning, Great Mama kinda day). Instead we have ended up with extended playground playtime, macaroni & cheese dinner and a couple of G-rated kid video rentals (not ideal). I keep swearing I'm going to lock up the TV's in this house for an extended period of time but when I'm sick, that's just not the time. Can you see my struggle here -- between what you think you want/your goals of how your home life should be and reality as it currently is... just ... gotta ... keep ... trying...

Back to getting my groove back. I gotta say thanks SO much to all the fabulous folks who've taken the time to share their 2 cents worth! You rule and you're groovy too. I'm gonna try a little bit of all your suggestions (or at least give it my best shot). The groove was helped a wee bit yesterday by this great inexpensive girlie purse find (kinda wish it was mine).


And blowing (and catching) bubbles with the girl! Bubbles rule. The world needs more bubbles - I once saw bubbles coming out of someone's car as they drove down the road (don't try this at home -- or try this all the time but just have your passenger be in charge of the bubbles while you drive responsibly or vice versa). Happy weekend and keep groovin'.

Gettin' groovin'

Still trying to get my groove back...

What do you do to get your Fall groove going?

A) Go sweater shopping
B) Clear out the clutter in your home
C) Organize something (office, house, closet)
D) Go for a walk/hike
E) Make something homemade (bread, craft)
F) Play with kids (or big kids)
G) OTHER Please share ________________________________________________

If you love me or this blog, please share... and by that I mean comment to this post (as opposed to sending me a personal email). I'm having a heck of a time and could use advice from all you wonderful folks who are mostly a groovin... if you are grooveless like me, maybe someone else's advice will help you groove too!

Happy weekend - go step on some crunchy or soaking wet leaves (with kidlets if you've got 'em or can borrow 'em for a few hours)! Anyone wanna borrow mine for a little while? :-)

Fall back position

Fall is back in the great Northwest. It is usually my favorite season. I love the crackling leaves, the crisp coolness in the air, sweaters (the boy's new vest begins to take shape above), fires in the fireplace and cocoa too.

For some reason this season I'm having a hard time finding my bearings, getting my rhythm. I feel out of sync. It's not a surprise really, for me anyway. For the last several years (mostly once becoming a Mama), getting sick and spending days in bed really throws me off kilter. It seems like my world's been tossed in to a blender, mixed and strewn back out but now all discombobulated. It is harder to recapture the momentum. And even though I suppose I should be forcing myself to slow down a bit and understanding that I need the down time to rest, I see my list of to-do items growing by the minute and me getting further away rather than closer to their fruition.

I don't know about other folks but I just feel like I'm going through the motions: get up, have my coffee, make the kids breakfast, get us all dressed, go to school, meet for lunch, etc., etc... hoping to get my groove back (Stella can get her groove on, but I just need mine back). I realize that if I were a more structured or motivated, harder on my self (?) -- that maybe I'd just snap out of this but then again that's just not me.

The kids and their grooves are just fine - here they are playing an early morning game of put out that house fire before school! Blowing bubbles and watching my daughter's smile, coupled with her giggle is the closest thing I've found to feeling a bit back on track or in the groove. Gotta go for the giggles and let the kids lead me on the way back to normal. That... and go sweater shopping (used of course) :-)

Welcome back mama

For those who pay attention to this blog, I've been out sick for about 5 days - ugh. Not e-coli, just a nasty cold/stomach flu kinda thing. Now I feel like a bit of a newcomer, being thrown in, trying to figure out what's going on and what's my part in it. Today, my rousing welcome back includes:

• putting out the garbage and recycling (that didn't find its way out last night),
  
• making two decent healthy breakfasts for my kidlets (oh and me too),
  
• getting not just one but two lunches prepared and ready to go for the wee ones,
  
• being designated carpool driver,
  
• making sure the check and order form for school photos gets to the boys class,
  
• making sure that same boy is wearing something decent for his pictures,
  
• looking for the boy's missing laptop lunchbox in the lost and found at school,
  
• getting to the girl's preschool QUICK to set up for my first parent helping day!!!
  

Welcome back to the world Mama. Wake up!

The difference a day makes

This is how I'm feeling today... like an old forgotten watering can,


A dried up old pile of leaves,

An abandoned and empty recycling can, summarily dismissed.

Yesterday vibrant and alive, able to make homemade bread and other goodies, today crampy, achy, frustrated by a lack of ability to deal with a child afraid of fire drills, a daughter sick and throwing yet another tantrum, feeling the effects of an on-coming cold, and then dismissed as just not good enough before getting a chance.

Homemade day

Not sure why... maybe it was the cool crisp edge to the air today or getting the boy back to school, but today was homemade day at our house. First the princess and I made wheat bread from scratch - I left the dough rising when I headed to work and entrusted Daddy to bake it in the oven. Note to readers ... I've never ever made homemade bread from scratch before in my memory!!!


Was inspired yesterday when the girl and I managed to make oat bars (thanks to the Laptop Lunchbox ladies). It was a bit of a comedy of errors. We substituted a few things during our first attempt (syrup for honey, canola oil for walnut oil, oat flour for wheat flour). Sometimes substitutions work great and sometimes (this time included) they don't work so well. But stalwart chefs that we are, we tried again after a jaunt to the store. Voila! With the correct ingredients, the recipe worked like a charm although the kids keep asking when we are going to make them REALLY yummy by adding apples or raisins or carob chips or something. Did I mention I've promised the girl that I'll make us matching cooking aprons someday (hmmm I suppose I should get a working sewing machine before attempting that feat).


Also yesterday, when I was filling time with the boy waiting for princess to finish preschool, we FINALLY found a great vest pattern and some cotton yarn. I knitted much of this while waiting in traffic on the way home from work today. Sometimes there's nothing I love better than a good knit while waiting in traffic.



Got home to yummy bread - YAY! Really can't express how satisfied I feel in being able to make bread and oat bars that my kids will actually eat and being able to knit clothes for them too. The boy is getting a vest and then ... next on my docket is a dress for the girl. After that, I've got 3 baby items to get'a'knitting on... since I've got 3 nieces and/or nephews coming by Spring! Baby, baby, baby, OH baby.

What did I say?

Five Reasons McDonald's Should Dump the Hummer

1. Hummers pollute high levels of smog-forming chemicals that cause or worsen asthma, which hits hardest among children.

2. Hummers are the worst example of the lack of commitment to cleaner and more efficient vehicles by General Motors and other American automakers.

3. Hummers spew the pollution that causes global warming, contributing to killer heat waves and hurricanes.

4. Hummers are gas guzzlers, helping keep America dependent on oil from the Middle East and threatened by the region's extremist politics.

5. At current gas prices, filling up a Hummer H2 costs almost $100 — money parents could spend on healthier food for their kids.

You can make your own sign or send a letter with your thoughts to McDonald's at www.ronaldmchummer.com.

The big day #2...

Today was officially the girl's first day of preschool! It went a little like this:

• Brother sick.
• Brother's 1st sick day.
• Sister says "I don't wanna go. I don't wanna..." get the idea?
• Brother says he'll keep teacher from seeing sister - sister agrees to go.
  

• Sister arrives and gets frustrated with girl who doesn't want to share.
• After a zillion hugs, sister agrees to let Mama leave "for awhile."
• Mama and brother return to find sister had a fabulous time.

The chef whips up a little something for us before we take our leave.


Her "royal majesty" pauses briefly between activities and ends up having a fabulous first day of preschool!

She'll rule the roost in no time if I know my girl.

Ahhh my prince and princess will soon become king and queen.

Day tripping

Now here's a trip... Who knew that it can be fun to take the bus? I sure didn't -- have avoided it like the plague for years. Now however, in an effort to be more environmentally concious, I've been trying to take the bus with the kids when I can muster energy and have a little extra time -- most often that is the weekends. We've had great adventures and the kids LOVE IT!

On our most recent bus trip, we were lucky enough to find these wonderful lady bug rainboots along our route and they fit the girl perfectly ... for just $1.00! Can't beat that deal.

Like many families, we have two cars. And like many folks these days, we are trying to think about replacing one of those cars with something more eco friendly (and less gas guzzling) but what can we afford? I'd personally love to get a hybrid but even used ones aren't cheap -- yet. Better even, I'd be thrilled to drive one of those funny looking electric cars but they are even less affordable as far as I can figure it -- unless you can wait a few months and you live in India! So instead, we've been looking at biodiesel-ready used cars which are more in our price range but I'm a little concerned about just what's involved... with our packed schedule, I fear my visions of us sweating over a hot strainer of used restaurant veggie oil in our garage late at night after putting the kids to bed. Hmmm. So for now, we drive what we've got, carpool to school and take that bus whenever we can.


Speaking of the bus... the boy has shown a real interest in taking photos (especially with my expensive digital camera) and took this shot of our bus approaching! Love the angle. Well... gotta leave for the girl's first day of preschool soon, so I'd better go. No doubt there'll be more stories to tell later. See you on the bus!

Girl talk

Girl quote of the day, "Next time, I want a penis."

Has she already figured out at such a tender age that women get short shrift in this society or is it just more fun to have something you can see rather than something you cannot? Maybe she realizes just how powerful she is but senses that without the add-on, others may not see it as quickly... hmmm.

3 Random Mama Thoughts

I have 3 random thoughts to share this Friday morning:

1) In response to his father mentioning the changing autumn leaves the other day, 1st grade boy said this, "but not the conifers!"

2) Speaking of trees... While riding to the mountain, the princess asked this, "Do trees have num-na's? Do mountains have num-na's? WHO HAS NUM-NA's (translation: breasts)?

3) Stealthy Mama Trick #1: When you are about to be thwarted by tiny footsteps despite your best efforts to get up incredibly early to exercise while the others sleep - what do you do? You exercise in the dark! Swear it's true - it worked. Want details, just ask.

Beautiful day

Day two in the great 1st grade adventure was a beautiful one. Got up in plenty of time to feed the kids, get them dressed and ready to go. We even had time to waste, playing in our front yard, waiting for our carpool to arrive.

The kids took advantage of this treat by having a race, lounging on our car and generally enjoying a wee bit of pre-school freetime (and by that I don't mean preschool freetime)!

With a healthy meal packed in his trusty Laptop Lunchbox, 1st grade man was ready to roll. And that he did, receiving high marks from his teacher who later reported to me he'd had an excellent morning. Yay!


Anyway, back at the ranch... in a short while after the boy's departure, after getting some paperwork done, I loaded up the girl in the Burley trailer and we headed out to none other than the library. We read a few books, checked out a few more and hopped back on the bike heading for brother's school just a few blocks away. We arrived just in time to eat lunch with the boy (and boy's multiple new friends in a cafeteria full of 1st/2nd grade energy). Today's lunchbox offering included turkey/cheese wraps, grapes, popcorn and salad. The boy ate all but the salad while requesting yogurt in a tube, notes from Mom and circular sandwiches in future lunches.

After a filling and fulfilling lunch date, the girl and I walked with the kids back to their class and bid them adieu. Then it was time for the girl and I to head for home. Bless her little heart, she was asleep in no time.

All in all, a lovely day!

The Big Day #1

I LOVE my boy! I get so excited seeing him excited and enjoying school and a life of his own. Today was the big day and we managed to get there on time as well as getting pretty much all the supplies AND making a healthy lunch. See:


For those who can't tell, that's peanut butter (no added anything) and jelly on whole grain bread (not homemade yet), fruit salad (no added sugar), cherry tomatoes from our back yard w/salad dressing and Joe's whole grain mango O's plus 1 graham cracker broken up for a treat. Not the world's healthiest lunch but certainly not the worst either. Of course... it's only the first day.

Joined the boy for lunch (I love that about my kids school too). I love seeing those young faces and getting a chance to connect to their world. The boy ate all of his PBJ, about half his fruit salad and that was that. Not bad I suppose. At least it is a start.

The funny thing is that now Mr. little guy has a schedule set out for him and tasks laid out for him each day. I, on the other hand, am left to figure this out for myself. Do I shop, go to the library with the girl, clean house, blog or other? And if I figure it out this week, well then, it's a gonna change again. Seems in my house that everybody's got school but me... and yet I'm learning.

The part of my schedule that hasn't changed is my 20 hours of work a week and they are beckoning me... oh so close. I've got to change my clothes, get the girl back in the car, meet Dad at the Zoo, exchange vehicles and roles. He'll get to take the girl and pick up the boy. I'll work a bit early in order to spend time with Mr. Man (no doubt playing baseball which is his new favorite past-time) before bedtime again. Life sometimes feels like a bizarre ritual of over and over again but the little precious moments are spinning so fast. I only hope I appreciate them to my fullest ability before they are gone. Another good reason for capturing much of it in pictures.

I tried like heck to add a picture here of the boy in his first day wear but try as I might, Blogger Beta was having none of it. Now I'm feeling faklempt (I doubt that is the right spelling). Until tomorrow.

By the way, for any of you out there who enjoy some of my meandering blog thoughts, please consider clicking on any of the comment buttons and telling me what you think. I promise, as long as it's not mean, it will make my day.

It's official

It's official now. Summer's over -- not technically of course -- but the days of lolling about and day excursions and no school are come to a close. When could I tell? Yesterday is when. Getting out of Portland, taking our last big day trip of the season brought the end of Summer into clear focus.

We've begun a family tradition of riding the ski lift at the end of the summer. This year was the first time with the kids. Wiggly children on small chairs high in the air isn't the most relaxing thing ever, but once we arrived at our higher elevation the view and the solace made up for all the scary squirming.

Feeling the icey cold shock of snow between my toes (yes I wore my Keen sandals) followed in quick succession by warm, dry, rocky sand made for an interesting juxtoposition, an intriguing mix for the senses and an odd reminder of the ever-changing seasons.

And so the seasons change, people climb the mountain and are replaced by the next season's climbers (I loved these great historical photos on the walls of the lodge -- and the glass of Chardonnay I had too), and the school year starts anew. Tomorrow its the 1st day of 1st grade. Next week the girl starts pre-school. I'm ready and not ready too. Just like saying goodbye to Summer and Hello to Fall. And I hope to be present for all the adventures to come this season and this year, including this adorable chipmunk (big thanks to my baby girl for noticing it and staying still long enough for me to take its picture).

And now I must read "Olivia" to said same daughter who sits on my lap while I'm a'typing, then it's cleanup time, bedtime, and get up to make our first school lunch time. Good night and be well.