learned.

Playgroup Pumpkin Patch 2016

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This was our 5th Annual Playgroup Pumpkin Patch trip!

Oh my, how we’ve grown!

2012
2012

This year we were back at Northern Lights Christmas Tree Farm, but it didn’t feel the same.  For one thing, they more than doubled their prices, so we ended up not doing the hayride at all.  We were lucky with a warm, non-rainy day.  It was also Henry’s birthday, so we all dressed up and had cupcakes.  It was fun, despite the fact that we didn’t get to do the hayride.

I have already gone on and on about how much I love these people.  Let me just say that I’m so incredibly happy to have them as my tribe and how happy I am to have my girls grow up with these fantastic kids.

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OCTOBER 2016: CURRENTLY

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reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

knowing it would be so much better live, or in a fully written book.

wishing I could fly to London with tickets to the play in my hand.

listening to my Autumn Playlist on Spotify.

feeling nostalgic, which is apparently my Autumn mood.

wanting to be more creative, more consistently.

cutting all the felt into all the shapes and letters.

preparing to sell felt things at a bazaar next month.

watching all the Friends reruns on Netflix.

getting excited for Halloween.

looking forward to November, when I practice 30 Days of Gratitude.

thinking that I might start a few days early.

feeling like we all need more gratitude in our lives right now.

imploring that we can just vote early and get this shit-show over with.

reading and watching way too much about the election.

fearing the worst.

hoping for the best.

enjoying the colorful days and dark nights.

stopping to watch the leaves.

choosing to see the beauty.

reminding myself that playing with the kids is what I should be doing.

going outside.

Winter, Spring, and Summer Book Report, 2016

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And Then They Summer BooksWow, it’s been a while since my last book report!  I don’t know how this got away from me.  I’ve certainly been reading.  Here are some quick reviews of what I’ve read so far in 2016.

10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works–A True Story by Dan Harris.  This was a book club book, and I have to say I wasn’t impressed.  It was about Dan Harris’ on-air “panic attack” and how he changed his life afterward.  First of all, Dan Harris is completely unsympathetic.  I just didn’t care.  His public humiliation wasn’t very humiliating (watch the video… seriously… nobody would have noticed his flub).  I mean, it’s great that he became 10% happier, and tamed the voice in his head.  Good for him but frankly, I don’t care. 

Less is More by Kimberly Hill Campbell.  I really liked this education text book.  You can read a full review of it here.

Maus and Maus II by Art Spiegelman.  This is another one of those books that I read at least every couple years.  My brother gave me this book for Christmas the first year he was in college.  It’s an incredible Holocaust biography graphic novel where the Nazis are cats and the Jewish people are mouses.  I got to see Art Spiegelman speak a few years ago in Eugene.  If you’ve never read these books, go do it.  They are genius.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.  Has anyone not read this yet?  Such a horrific, heartbreaking, hopeful story.  Without spoiling too much, this book is about people before, during, and after a pandemic flu that kills almost everyone.  Station Eleven jumps around in time and between characters, presenting the story in an engaging, masterful way.  Seriously a wonderful book that is hard to read, but impossible to put down.  I love this kind of story about possible futures, but I hate reading about huge disasters because they totally stress me out.  The cool thing about this book, is in the end, it isn’t a disaster book.  It’s a book about relationships, art, human spirit, and strength.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling.  Whenever a new Harry Potter book would come out, I would reread all the previous ones.  That means I’ve only read the final book one time, and I figured it was time to read it again.  But I can’t just read the last one, that would be crazy.  So I started the series.  Unfortunately, the middle school where I was working didn’t have the second book in stock (and it’s the only one I don’t own because it’s my least favorite), so I stopped after the first one.

Cinder and Scarlett by Marissa Meyer.  We read Cinder in my book club, and I read Scarlett on my own after I finished Cinder.  These are cool young adult science fiction books set in a dystopian future.  They are really interesting and have strong, brave female characters who only get a little bit sidetracked by love.  They are predictable to my discerning adult reader’s mind, but I can see how they would be amazing and surprising to a middle schooler. There are more in the series, but I haven’t gotten around to reading them yet.

Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison.  Another book club pick.  This one is a book of essays by a narcissistic, mediocre, millennial writer.  I kept checking to see if the book was actually written by Hannah Horvath from Girls.  I have to admit that I really did like a couple of the essays – the first one especially – but there were a few that were almost painful. There are so many metaphors the book almost flew out of my hands and into the wall, fracturing into 40,000 paper cranes flying back to the Iowa Writer’s Workshop.

Image Grammar by Harry Noden. Another book report to renew my teaching license.  This is a good book about how to incorporate figurative language into writing.  Maybe Leslie Jamison should read this to be reminded of the importance of doing this in an artful way.

10 Things Every Writer Should Know by Jeff Anderson. Yep, another text book.  The ten things are pretty obvious, but the author did a good job giving strategies and materials to teach these things to students.

The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant. I really liked this book.  It was well written, in a way that was unpretentious and relatable.  It told the story of a Jewish girl growing up in Boston right after the turn of the 20th century.  She is present for women’s suffrage, labor reform, and all those other amazing things that happened in the early 1900s.  I loved Addie and loved how she was a strong girl who stood up for herself and made her own way in the world.

The Red Tent by Ania Diamant.  After reading The Boston Girl, I was ready for another book by Diamant.   The Red Tent is now one of my favorite books.  This story of motherhood and womanhood is so important and beautiful.  We all know the story of Jacob, but I’ve never even thought to stop and wonder about his wives or his daughter  Dinah’s story is eternal and beautiful and connects us all together in a way that Joseph’s never could.  I don’t even really have words for how this book made me feel.  You know how, when you finish a really good book, you close it and feel sad that it’s over.  This book devastated me when it was over.  Dinah’s story was so tragic, but the last two pages destroyed me with hope and love and connection.  I took a photo of the last two pages so I could always have them with me.

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff.  Book club!  I have to say that the discussion about this book might have been the best ever.  There were so many things to say – so many observations, questions, ideas, reactions.  I still don’t know if I liked the book.  I mean, it was really, really good, but I’m not sure if I liked it.  The characters were completely unlikable, even though they were presented as perfectly adorable.  It was an interesting story with lots of twists and turns and it makes me happy for my beautiful simple life.  I’m glad I read it, and I would recommend it to other people.  I just have a hard time with unlikable characters.

Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda.  I got this book through an Instagram hashtag.  A woman sent me the book along with some fabric, and I sent it on to another woman with some of my fabric.  The book was a good, interesting story with painfully stiff dialog.  It took me a while to get over the dialog and the writing style, but the story was sweet and sad and will stick with my for a while, I’m sure.

Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist with reflections by Debbies Grable and Gibson.  Here’s another self-indulgent book of essays.  My mom and aunt read this book together a couple years ago, and sent their reflections to each other after each chapter.  My mom put all those reflections into a book and I read that along with Cold Tangerines.    I have to say that my favorite part of the experience was reading what my mom and aunt had to say about it.  I learned about how they see the world, and that was more interesting and powerful than seeing how Niequist sees the world.  I didn’t relate to her very much at all, but I found new ways to relate to my mom and aunt. 

A Day in the Life – October 6, 2016

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8:23 – I want to remember these girls and the cuddles in the mornings.  Now that they share a room, it’s more likely that they will stay in their beds, or at least their room, and chat and play before they come into our room.  We do all, usually, end up in bed together for a few minutes.

8:47 – I want to remember how the girls love to play with new things.  They made this goo the night before at a Science Fair at the university and were really excited to play with it first thing in the morning.

8:56 – I want to remember this view, with the gorgeous yellow birch, the flaming red dogwood, the landscaping growing up and getting bigger.  The junky car that’s been parked across the street for a few months, I’m happy to forget that, if only it would go away.

9:03 – I want to remember how great it feels to wake up to a mostly clean kitchen.  I never want to do it at night, but it’s always worth it in the morning.

9:08 – I want to remember these autumn breakfasts.  Oatmeal with frozen blueberries for them, tea with orange oil for me.

9:14 – I want to remember how Harriet says “hot cococo” for hot chocolate.   I don’t want to remember how she threw a huge fit because I gave it to her in the wrong cup – I’ll just choose to remember that she eventually accepted the cococo in the Santa mug (the one she usually wants).

9:25 – I want to remember that this was not a normal day for us.  My To Do List isn’t usually a bunch of chores around the house.  We usually actually leave the house.  I don’t usually spend the entire day cleaning the house.  I do want to remember how good it feels to clean up our messes and be able to have such a wonderful home to take care of.  I also want to remember how using the essential oils to clean the house makes it all so much more fun.

9:48 – I want to remember how the girls are actually eager to help me these days.  Harriet loves to help me cook dinner.  Alma likes to help with the dishes, dusting, and sweeping.  I’m working on giving them daily and weekly chores.

9:52 – I want to remember these eggs and these chickens.  I love that my chores include getting eggs, taking out food scraps, and giving them water.

10:07 – I want to remember the corner of our kitchen where things build up.  Art projects from school, mail that needs attention, empty shoe boxes.  These are the things that show our busy existence.  I especially love when this corner of our kitchen gets sorted and put where it all goes.  That was my job this day.

10:12 – I want to remember how these girls play together.  They use their imaginations and really work well together.  They used these boxes as houses, horse stalls, tunnels, who knows what else.  I also want to remember Harriet’s love for her new boots and her tutu.

10:25 – I want to remember the imaginations in these girls.  They had a full conversation between these two candlesticks.

10:31 – I want to remember these candlelit meals and snacks.  Candles, while eating, are pure magic.

10:49 – I want to remember the love and care that goes into keeping a house.  These wood floors shine thanks to me and my care for them.  And essential oils.

11:56 – I want to remember these plates and the little hands that made them.  I want to remember these peanut butter sandwiches – honey for Harriet, homemade strawberry jam for me and Alma.

12:59 – I want to remember all the sewing.  I haven’t sewn in a couple months, so it feels great to get back to it.  I finished Alma’s witch dress, fixed my sweater, and got started on Harriet’s much needed big bed quilt.  I love giving my girls quilts so they can always be wrapped up in my love – and a tangible representation of that love.

2:03 – I want to remember how much I love Christmas and how much I love making good things for our family.  These blend perfectly when I use Christmas Spirit oil (Orange, Cinnamon, Spruce) in my homemade hand soap.

3:13 – I want to remember how Harriet is the queen of the pout.  She will sit down and pout, or just stand in the middle of the room and pout.  Here, Alma is her horse who ran away.  The pout went away once the horse came back.

3:20 – I want to remember these colors and snacks.  Pink and honey for Harriet.  Blue and jam for Alma.

3:52 – I want to remember these slow, cloudy days when I don’t get around to taking my shower until well into the afternoon.  And my old Cal Young tie dye t-shirt that I use for my hair after my showers.

4:15 – I want to remember these days of forts, and make believe, and reading corners.

5:31 – I want to remember how our friends came over, bringing us a fake Christmas gift for an upcoming music video, and how it was fun to wish them Merry Christmas in October.  I also want to remember how they all came inside and hung around for a little bit.  Surprise guests and good conversations fill my bucket in a big way.  Even if I forget to take any photos.  Especially when I forget to take any photos.

6:11 – I want to remember this season and the comfort food that it brings.  This was a baked potato bar, using lots of things we happened to have on hand.

6:18 – I want to remember “Come Lord Jesus, be our guest; let this food to us be blessed. Amen,” and how Alma and Harriet say “Come Lord Jesus, be our guest; let this family to us be blessed. Allmen.”

6:49 – I want to remember the chaos that falls at bedtime.  It is a constant battle to get them going in the right direction to get their teeth brushed, jammies on, and everything else that needs to be done when there are so many other things that they’d rather be doing.

7:03 – I want to remember the calm that settles when we’re all in our bed, reading a story before they head to their own beds.  A few final cuddles and they race to their room.

7:04 – I want to remember how the girls need just a little bit more chaos before they can settle into their beds and eventually fall asleep.

I want to remember the time that Jesse and I get after the kids are in bed.  We watch shows, get stuff done, clean up a little, read books, and eventually fall asleep ourselves.

Other Days In The Life:
May 12, 2015
September 9, 2015
November 11, 2015
January 3, 2016

September 2016, In Seconds

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Did September fly by for everyone or was that just me?  Seriously, it feels like I blinked and it was over.  I’m not complaining because October is my favorite, but you know.  The days are long and the years are short and the months are shorter.

Toxin Free Laundry is the Best Laundry

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I’ve been working on eliminating the toxic chemicals in our house for a few years now.  I started thinking about all the toxins we come into contact with during the day – shampoos, conditioners, soaps, detergents, dish soap, floor polish, the list goes on and on and it’s really overwhelming.

Things have really changed this year, and I’ve been able to eliminate so much in the past few months.  It all really kicked into gear when I got my starter kit of essential oils from Young Living.  Not only did I get the oils to just make the house smell good, but I’ve also started making my own shampoo using four simple ingredients, I can mop the floor with no toxins at all, I make my own sugar scrub that I use for shaving and exfoliating, plus so much more.

My favorite thing I’ve done, though, is eliminate the toxic chemicals that I was using in my laundry.  It’s really intense when you think about how much our laundry, and the chemicals used, can affect our daily life.  We are constantly wearing clothes that were washed in the chemicals, sleeping in sheets with chemicals, washing our faces with washcloths, drying off after showers, etc, etc, etc.

I found this website: The Environmental Working Group, that breaks down things and grades them based on the chemicals and toxins in them.  I found my old laundry soap, the one that I bought because it was supposed to be chemical free and natural (the one I bought to wash our diapers, the things that are closest to our baby’s skin) – and it had a D grade.  That isn’t good.

Now I make my own toxin free laundry soap and I’ve been really happy with it.  It has simple, natural ingredients, that when individually entered into the EWG website come up clean.  Here’s another surprise:  Borax scores really poorly, in face it scores an F.  This is something that a lot of people put into their homemade laundry soap but it has concerns for reproductive health among other things.  So, I skip the borax.

My recipe is super easy and lasts a long time.

  • 1 bar of Castile soap, 5 oz
  • 1 cup washing soda
  • 1/2 cup baking soda
  • 1/2 cup citric acid
  • 1/4 cup coarse sea salt
  • 10-20 drops essential oil (optional)

Just grate the soap, add the rest of the ingredients and store in an airtight container.  I use 1-2 Tbs per load.  For the essential oils, I like to add Purification, Lavender, whatever smells good.

Another huge contributor to chemicals in laundry are those stain removers.  We’ve always had a bottle of that on the shelf and the amount of perfume has always bothered me.  I looked up the kind we’ve used and guess what – D.  It may get the stain out, but at what cost?  A moderate concern for respiratory distress, asthma, developmental and reproductive problems and cancer.  Doesn’t seem worth it to me.

I have another solution.  I bought Young Living’s Thieves Laundry Soap a couple months ago, but since I’m cheap and love a DIY, I only use it as a stain remover.  I just take about a tablespoon of the laundry soap, rub it into the stain and throw it into the washing machine (sometimes I let it soak for a bit).  I don’t even add more of my homemade soap because a 1 Tbs of the Thieves Laundry Soap is all you need for a whole load of laundry, thus that tablespoon is doubling as stain remover and laundry soap.  That’s music to my deal-loving ears.  Also EWG hasn’t graded Thieves yet, but I went through the ingredients list and most things are A and a couple are B, so I’d guess it’s around an A-, which is way better than the D I was using before.

Want proof that this method works?  When Alma got her head wound and my shirt was covered in blood that set up for days, the Thieves took it right out.  Blood.  Gone.  Harriet’s favorite jellyfish shirt, covered in soaked in, dried hot chocolate:

And after treating it with Thieves Laundry Soap and washed like normal:

So, there you have it.  Go to the EWG webpage and enter in your laundry detergent and dryer sheets and stain remover and decide if you want to keep using them.

I love this toxin free laundry soap and that I’m not leaching toxic chemicals into our clothes and towels and sheets.  I love that my clothes get clean.  I love that we’re saving money.

Oh, here’s a bonus!  If you sign up for Young Living this month (September), not only will you be getting a diffuser, eleven bottles of essential oils, lots of other good stuff, but they’re also throwing in a bottle of Thieves Laundry Soap.  There’s really no reason not to try it now!

Click here to get started with Young Living!

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Our Third First Day of School

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Today was different than other first days.  The girls were excited.  Our time at home was relaxed and slow.  We got out of the house a few minutes later than we’d wanted.  We showed up to a very full parking lot.  We got some rushed photos near the school sign.  We went into Alma’s classroom, where the circle time had already started.  I told her to go find her name on the floor without a hug or a kiss or anything.  She sat by her teacher and got to be the first calendar helper.  We waved and exchanged some excited, nervous smiles.  We took a grumpy Harriet out to the playground, where her class begins their day.  We dropped off bike helmets and extra clothes.  We showed Harriet how she can still look in Alma’s window to wave to her.  Then we left.  On our way down the hallway, we could see Harriet, peeking in at Alma, no longer grumpy.  We walked back to campus together.  Now I am sitting at a table in near silence, enjoying the solitude, looking forward to nine whole months of time that I know the kids are being enriched, socialized, educated, and loved.  And looking forward to nine whole months of time that I spend by myself, thinking, planning, writing, reading, walking, or with teenagers, working, teaching, talking, learning.  Man do I love the first day of school.

 

August 2016, In Seconds

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Forest Fairies

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Sometimes, when you go camping in the forest, the fairies find you.  I mean, this probably usually happens, but sometimes you see the evidence.

During our camping trip, the girls found beaded necklaces hanging in a tree by the fairy log.  As Alma put it, “This is AMAZING!”

Alma and Harriet wrote them a thank you note and let them know about our fairy door.  Lately Alma’s been pretty sad that the fairies have never visited us in the door.  I suggested that maybe the fairies just didn’t know about the door.  Alma had me write our address and that they should fly safely since it’s a long trip from Wind River.

During our trip, Alma lost her necklace in the rocks.  Luckily when we got home, the fairies had been there.  They left a note thanking Alma and Harriet for telling them about the fairy door and even returned Alma’s lost necklace.

There’s always time for a little bit of magic, right?

Parenting is Not for the Faint of Heart

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There is nothing worse than seeing your child’s blood on the outside of their body.  If there is one truth about blood, it’s that it belongs on the inside.  But, sometimes thing happen that destroy that truth.

This weekend, while camping, it was a rock that destroyed that truth.  A small rock in the middle of a path, directly in front of another rock that stuck out of the ground just far enough to trip my oldest daughter.

All the kids were running laps on a path that was alongside our campsite.  They ran and ran and ran.  Then one of them fell and they all stopped.  I don’t remember getting to Alma, but I do remember the blood.  It was already pouring down her sobbing face.  I scooped her up, said, “JESSE.” and don’t remember getting down to our picnic table.

I do remember exactly what went through my head:

  • Don’t overreact.
  • Where is a hospital?
  • Head wounds bleed a lot.  It’s not necessarily a big deal.
  • Don’t overreact.
  • Head wounds bleed a lot.  It’s not necessarily a big deal.
  • Head wounds bleed a lot.  It’s not necessarily a big deal.
  • Head wounds bleed a lot.  It’s not necessarily a big deal.
  • Head wounds bleed a lot.  It’s not necessarily a big deal.
  • Don’t overreact.

Everyone rushed to help.  Devon got the ice.  Heather got the band-aids and wipes.  Jesse, somehow, miraculously had a pocket full of paper towels.  Antonio and Drew got the lollipop.  Harriet got Sarah Bear.

Thankfully the bleeding stopped pretty quickly, and we were able to see that it was more of a puncture wound than a cut.  It clearly didn’t need stitches, though, in my opinion, it looked crazy how deep the wound went.

I also remember exactly the things that Alma said as I held her in my arms, bleeding:

  • We never should have come camping!
  • I don’t want a lollipop!
  • My sister is the best sister in the whole world.
  • I want to go see where I fell.

The rest of the evening was spent sitting in laps and getting extra cuddles.  I watched Alma carefully for signs of concussion, even though I had no idea what the signs of concussion were.  I only cried once, and not where Alma could see me.

We stayed two more nights and Alma bounced right back.  The bump has gone down and the cut is healing nicely.  The only wound that remains is the piece of my heart that broke along with the skin on Alma’s forehead.  But that’s the thing about parenting, and that certainly won’t be the last bit of my heart that will feel my daughters’ pain.