Tramming it

Trying not to think

Lord knows a few things about me:

1) Trying not to think is like trying to breath water,

2) It is Spring Break, so of course my kids are sick yet AGAIN,

3) I would like to be more organized ... and to that end could use this and a better cup of coffee!

Happy Thursday!

Brand new

Ahhh the smell and feel of a brand new baby. And we got two! Can you tell. -- my twin nieces have arrived! Holding bitty babies feels a bit foreign these days. I'm more used to elbows in the face and accidental knees in the stomach than sweet sound sleeping little bundles of joy.

By the way, the amorphous looking pink blob above is actually a precious little mary jane bootie that I've been wanting to knit for awhile. First there were no girlies to knit for, then I couldn't make it work and got caught up in other things. Nothing like holding a new baby to give you inspiration (I knitted this one last night after the kids were in bed). It should look better once I stitch it together (oh and make the other one - actually make that three).

What else is new for Mama around here?

A wave of depression for some reason or another. Not sure why since I'm VERY excited about the new nieces. New babies bring thoughts of possibility and joy, dirty diapers and unfolding personalities. They are cute and they don't talk back (unlike a 4-year old). I think maybe just maybe this Mama is struggling a bit with the realities of our schedule and temperaments on our family life. I love my kids, they are great and I enjoy them so very much. But around here, we are definitely past the cute baby phase and we are not the Cleavers (nor would we want to be). We luckily aren't the Osbornes either, but there is room for improvement. Ahhh the rites of spring: house cleaning, new plants sprouting, new birds nesting, new babies arriving ... and a chance to improve.

When you were growing up (or) with your kidlets now, where does your family fall on the spectrum... Cleavers on one end, Osbornes on the other? And what would you most like to improve?

Welcome to the world baby girls!

How many did you say?

My blog has been viewed 2000 times!

(I realize that isn't 2000 seperate people) but to me it matters. Thanks for caring enough to look or read or even come back again and again. I hope you'll continue to visit and enjoy my ramblings.

How do you know?

How do you know you've got a spirited child?

Your child insists they MUST do something that they have been wanting to do (and won't let go for ever or at least hours), although to do so would require time-travel into the past!

How do you know you're spirited yourself?

When you attempt to give other options, try to provide what the child wants in fantasy, try to get to a YES ... yes we can do that "another time, another way, later today etc." and so on and so forth, eventually run out of ideas on how to move past this "issue" and end up trying to take a Mama time out (only to be followed), desperately give in, or finally lose it and have a bit of a parent tantrum yourself (followed by kicking yourself when you are down).

Ahhh parenting. Around here it is never boring. If I manage to raise these kids well, I will have leaders and I'll be able to get rich imparting my knowledge in books, videos, lectures and workshops! Now that would be an upside. Here's looking for the upsides in your family today (even if it is another rainy spring break day with colds)!

In the garden

Finally got into the garden a bit this weekend for some weeding and early planting. I think the girl is a potential gardener (either that or just a big mess maker who likes to fling dirt around).

She HAD to have her very own gardening gloves (sorry to say ... they are Dora the Explorer) and more flowers than I intended to kick off her little patch of our garden. We finally got them in when the sun came out yesterday along with giving two of our beloved former kitty's their final resting places (ashes) in the back garden under the stepping stones, complete with a mini-ceremony. We think they'll be very happy in the back garden by the hedge where myriad birds hang out and the squirrel runs through. The kids helped to put the ashes into the ground and we talked a little bit about each cat... luckily no one was too grossed out by the bone bits in the ashes and no one asked too many questions, preferring to play with the urn and climb in the tree. We have talked about concepts of dying before, but it is always hard to know just what to say - what they are ready for...

We love you Kitty and Rio (rest in peace).

Pirate play

What do you do when you wake up to one of the first days of Spring Break with skies that are gray and very rainy?

Break out the beach tents and create a pirate castle world - that's what... all the while hoping for drier skies and warmer temps.

Everything's coming up pirates around our house lately - thanks to all the pirate treasures received by the boy for his first pirate party birthday (with family). Later today, we'll continue the theme by creating swarthy invitations for Pirate Party #2 (the one with the KIDS)!

Ahoy mateys!

Do you have a plan?

It is happening - Spring is here (and with it Spring Break)! I can feel myself beginning my yearly pre-spring break ritual (which of course just started last year when my oldest entered public school) which is this... realizing I haven't planned anything really and wondering if I should have. I begin to get nervous and second guess my "wing it" way of living.

Of course I know there are many parents out there who don't have the luxury of taking the week off and who work full-time thus leading to a "no option but to plan it" way of dealing with the kids being out of school. For those folks, I take it there are all-week long, all-day long camps and such.

There are those (which we are not), who I hear rumor use spring break as an excuse to take a family vacation someplace exotic, maybe even Mexico or Hawaii. A parent can dream (at least that's what I'm doing right this very second).

But for those who don't HAVE to have their kids in an activity booked 9-5 or who aren't on vacation, what do you do? Another classic parenting connundrum revealed... do you book them up with activities to keep them as busy as they'd be during a normal week or do you attempt a slower paced, family oriented, laid back kind of a time together? This issue could really apply to parents and non-kidded folks as well... in general - do you plan it (or) do you wing it (and NO I didn't say wing nut :-))

Learning and growing

Today is school conference day for both of my children. While they continue to learn and grow, I am doing my best to do so as well. Parenting from the Inside Out was recommended to me recently and since I realized it is due at the library pretty darn soon, I'm doing my best to get it read (and absorbed).

For any of you who have ever heard or felt yourself do something with your children or in response to them and you weren't quite sure why you responded that way (or) maybe you responded just as your parents would have with you even though you'd rather not... this may be the book for you.

Interestingly enough, this book includes quotes of praise from both Michele Pfeiffer (mother and actor) and Kate Capshaw Spielberg (I guess her name is sufficient to tell you who SHE is...), but the quote that seems to most clearly sum up this book to me is by Sal Severe (great name), Ph.D., author of How to Behave So Your Children Will, Too! (add that book to my list).

Dr. Severe says this: "By combining the latest research on parent-child relationships with new discoveries in brain science, Parenting from the Inside Out shows parents how to understand and integrate the experiences from their own childhood into a nurturing style of parenting that promotes healthy communication, meaningful attachment, and trust."

Mind you, I haven't found this the easiest of books to read but I feel as though the effort will be well worth it by the end. Good information for both scientific minds and those less so. And as the authors and their book tell us, "Parenting is an opportunity for lifelong learning. Children offer us the chance to be in a relationship that encourages us to deepen our connections with others and with ourselves"... and so does this book.

4 years

How many children have been born, turned one, two, three or four ... since this mess began? Just thinking. Our children, Iraqi children, all children world-wide really, deserve to know peace and a better world. Got more work to do.

Feeling swarthy

I find that after a weekend where I've had little time for myself, I'm pretty swarthy.

Time spent sprucing up outdoors at preschool, preparing for and enjoying the boys' 1st pirate birthday party, spending time with relatives getting ready for newborns, and raking leaves with 6 & 7 year old sunday schoolers is all time well spent, but lack of mamatime makes me feel a bit like walking the plank (as does enforcing the rules around the new pirate sword in the house)... but instead I'm off to pick up the groceries! Yarrrrr.

How does this Monday morning find you?

More signs of spring...

Everywhere I'm noticing more signs of spring on its way: watching our bleeding heart come back to life, monarch sightings, sparrows beginning their nests... that plus our to-do list with it's spring cleaning, spring refurbishing/decorating and now garden and yard work too!

Another task on my personal to-do list is to update my Etsy Shop with some new individual cards very soon -- if not this weekend, then probably next week. Hope you'll check back.

Experimenting...

with energy savings by line drying our laundry in our basement (thanks to the previous owners of our house for hanging the wire),

and seeing just how close I could get to our favorite back yard squirrel as he rests in his favorite spot... closer...

And c l o s e r...

C .. L .. O .. S .. E .. S .. T!

Also experimented with taking the bus to see the boy for lunch (which the girl and I did successfully). Once at school we got to see the boy experimenting with pretend weddings. First grade, first crush (maybe). I can't keep up lately... one week it's kickball, the next marriage!

ALso experimenting with a few new photo cards for the Etsy shop... so check back soon.

Grocery grind

Is anyone else sick of the weekly grocery grind? I'm so tired of trying to figure out each week nutritional and interesting things for my family to eat (and things that the kids will eat, not just the adults). Everything has to be fairly easy but healthy. We try like heck to get vegetables into these squirts of ours, but unless it is the new V8 juice that they don't realize is 1/2 veggies, it is a chore.

Thanks to my friend Karen who sent this great link on getting kids to eat their veggies (besides V8) it is also available in the comments to this post. Thanks Karen -- I LOVE IT.

Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack... My kids are so picky these days, it is hard to fathom. I almost fell over this evening 'cause the girl asked for "hot dogs." She got them in the form of veggie dogs in baked beans (an old standard in our day) but she wasn't having it. She ate her dog seperately along with some corn and called it a night.

To our amazement, the boy said the following: "These weanies'n'beanies are SOOOOOOOO yummy!" We gave him a high five!" You take it where you get it!

And by the way... speaking of technology (as I did in my last post I believe), I am writing this after succumbing for the 2nd time to online grocery shopping (maybe it is #3 or 4 as we did it when our son was first born and had it delivered to our door). Hadn't done it since but ... with our crazy schedules it seems to be great to order tonight and have the hubby pick up manana! Plus I am glad to be able to order online when I can have a large selection of organic and locally grown. Even if it does cost us a few bucks extra.

Anybody else ever grocery shop online?

All the pretty ponies

Woke up and played pony-ville with the girl this Friday morning while the boy continued to sleep. The boy has been wanting a pony for about a month or so (his very own) but I think he knows that is unlikely. The stint in pony-ville was fun but reminded me of an article I read about peak oil and going green and getting a horse for transportation (but only if you have enough land to grow its food)... and I got to thinking of my frustration trying to figure out just what future to plan for, what to expect for my kidlets, what to prioritize and what to chuck. One group of folks envisions us in flying cars much like the Jetsons with talking hyper-efficient appliances and every luxury technology can muster.

On the other side of the coin are those envisioning us all making our own clothes, bartering for everything, gardening every spare piece of land and living with as many people as we can fit in our home in order to keep it from being foreclosed. I don't know about you, but I do believe that things are changing and that we need to step up. I get frustrated at seeing women in Chanel sunglasses driving their Hummer down the street as if it isn't discordant and excessive given the current state of the world and I lean toward the belief that we will not be living the technological high life in 2020.... but where is the reality? Should I plan for my kids to go to college or take that money and put it into our mortgage to save the house or get off the grid? Can't buy a pony in the city so we'll have to upgrade our bikes and buy a bus pass. Anyone else have a sense that they know what's coming?

And on a completely seperate note... I was just remembering back when a weekend meant inordinate amounts of time to do whatever I pleased (or so it seemed). I don't know about other mamas and papas of course, but I find I move toward weekends with excitement for the possibilities and trepidation as I realize just how much I want to get done and just how unlikely that is... this weekend I was hoping to begin revamping the kids' bedroom, cut down a big old shrub and begin replacing it with a new garden bed, finishing book marks and photo card orders and finally getting my budget done so we can look at where our money should (and should not) be going. And then of course I have been wanting to try making my own paper (to aid in recycling) for fun and maybe for use with my photo cards. Somehow looking at it in writing, it seems well... overly ambitious.

What are you planning ... for the future and for this weekend? Do tell.

Sustain this

As I think about Spring coming (and it is just about all I can think about)... my mind of course is on the garden, plants, and the environment. Plus hubby and I have "An Inconvenient Truth" sitting by our DVD player just waiting to be watched. I also have a meeting with my women's group this month and the topic is sustainability. So that's where my brain is going.

My assignment for the group is to bring a list of what we are either doing or willing to commit to that helps in the area of sustainability.

So here goes:

• We buy most of our clothes secondhand (or trade),



• We used recycled products whenever possible (such as toilet paper),



• We are buying more and more organic products,



• Trying to compost more and throw away less,



• Reuse when possible (although without a better organizational system this could add to my nightmare),



• Looking into appliances that save energy,



• We save rain water for use in the garden,



• Using a push mower instead of the gas or electric version,



• Trying to use the bus more (but haven't been succeeding much lately with rainy weather and colds),



• Working on better gardening (eventual goal to be able to feed family),



• Adding berries, maybe grapes to our garden,



• Shifting over to green household, cleaning and gardening products,



• Hoping to heat the house with fireplace more and thermostat less next winter,



• Carpool kids to school,



• Ride bikes more places this Spring and Summer,



• Researching biodiesel and electric vehicles for when our Altima dies,



• Looking into solar conversion (although that price tag is hefty even with tax credits),



• Working on cooking and living more slowly, more naturally, less packaged and rushed.



• Trying like heck to get the kidlets out of occasional pull-ups and fully into underwear!

So that's what sustainability looks like in our household or hopefully will someday sooner than later. What does sustainability look like in your world or what are you working toward? Please share. For some "real world" suggestions, check out today's article at Parents.com. And speaking of Spring... I'm most likely putting in an order for some spring flower photos to make myself some notecards ... with some holidays and other life events coming our way... if you'd like some spring flower notecards please email me ASAP and I'll hook you up.

Random thoughts

It is Monday morning, just about time to go to work, and all I can muster is a bunch of random thoughts:

• Want more sunshine,
• Want to start planting some spring flowers,
• It is hard to adjust to a new schedule,
• Spring is coming,
• I love my kids and family,
• I've got some herbs and an exercise video to buy,
• When am I going to buy something on Etsy,
• What to get for my best friend and brother's birthdays?
• What to do for a 7-year old's birthday?
• Broken water heaters and colds mess with cleaning schedules,
• Gotta get groceries,
• I like local politics better than national,
• I will get organized this year - somehow,
• Need more coffee, then green tea and water!
• Need to organize my list of ways we work toward sustainability around here...

Here comes the sun

... well sort of anyway. Sunshine was happening for just a wee bit this morning and it wasn't raining, so the boy and I grabbed the dog and her leash and my camera and snapped a few pics of spring flowers doing their darndest to bloom. Can you find the ladybug?

The boy has already proclaimed that he'll be staying inside most of the summer because the sun is just ... well... "too bright". The prince plans to come out to occasionally play in the sandbox on our beach vacation, but that's about all according to him. We shall see.

A mystery

When something goes missing around our house (or once when a piece of the playground equipment went temporarily missing at school), my kids are fond of saying "We've got ourselves a mystery to solve!"

And so, as I look for more signs of Spring in my garden and hope for sunshine (see above), I am also beginning to try more seriously to trace my steps, turning into Ocular Migraine Detective. It is a lot like being a parent.

How you ask? "Simple," I respond.

Whether tracking down the potential sources of a health issue (such as my visual migraines) or the triggers to your child's behavioral issues de jour (bathroom accidents, tantrums, anger etc.), you have to play detective.

In either case you are looking back before the event to attempt to ascertain what may have set it off... was it lack of sleep, not enough food and/or water consumed, other stresses at home, work or at school that could be contributing or fanning the flames...?

In the case of the boy melting down on multiple occasions last evening, I concluded it was most likely a long week, not enough sleep, needing more food in his system and overstimulation (needing some down time alone), that triggered the tears.

In my case, well... let's just say I'm still working on it. I have only been writing down the dates of my multiple migraines and thinking briefly about what I may have eaten the day or night before. Now that I'm having these ocular who-ha's more than once a week, I'm feeling the need to step up my investigation. Watch out CSI... (which I do not watch), our house is soon to be the OMSI -- no I don't mean Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. I am entering the Ocular Migraine Scene Investigation Zone!

Here goes... last night grumpy and stressed out due to yet ANOTHER COLD - ugh. Had a little white wine (not red). Ate soup with LOTS of garlic. Took my normal medications plus Nyquil and a swig of cough medicine to get through the night. Another half-dose of Dayquil and iced coffee to get through the morning and voila - ocular migraine #6. Hmmmm. I'm not seeing a pattern yet but I'm starting my OMSI notebook today.

Hope your day is better and your vision clear! Happy Saturday.

PS - *** ETSY SHOP UPDATE *** several individual cards available.

Greeetings from the NW

Every morning this week, my son has asked me whether it is raining or not and when I inevitably say "It's raining," he groans "not again!!!" I don't know about you and yours, but we are ready for spring. I need a little sunshine to help us energize and motivate to organize the house, take on those big spring projects, start getting the yard and garden into shape (and us for that matter). I can feel the raindrops keeping me down (that and a 2nd wave of a cold clinging to me).

I've been wanting to see spring flowers blooming and have been at the ready with my camera to capture some for my friend Cathy (whose yard has apparently lost its bloom -- at least temporarily). But alas, these daffodils appear to want to burst forth but are holding on for a tiny ray of sunshine and warmth...

Daily my daughter sings me new songs (from school and from her imagination) but every day for the past several, we've included the classic "Rain, rain go away, come again another day" in our repertoire. Anyone know if there are any other lyrics to that song? She's been asking. We'll no doubt keep singing and playing living room campground until the sun comes to call. What part of spring are you most looking forward to?