It's fall. It's cold. It's stripes.

 

 

Shoes: Soft Shoes
Sweatshirt: Children's Place
Leggings: BabyLegs
Onesie: Carter's

Art projects piling up and our new display wall

Maddox has become quite the enthusiastic artist lately. Right around the 3 year mark he became mature enough to handle markers, glue and paint like a pro (and finally without eating any of it). And now that he goes to an enrichment class twice a week, those projects combined with the ones we do at home have covered our fridge. And made the kitchen look cluttered (even though I love looking at his pictures).

 

So I made an art wall.

 

I bought two interlocking strips of cork board and alphabet decals. A few push pins later, TA-DA! You could easily put up more, which we will need soon. But we've been switchin out the old art with new ones. We may even frame some of our favorites.

 

 

The end of summer and school days OH MY!

 

Maddox started "school." I can hardly believe that a. he is old enough and b. I actually caved and signed him up for a program. Even if it is more a mom's-day-out than Pre K.

 

My how does he love it. Maddox talks about school ALL THE TIME. He asks every day when he gets to go to school, he even asks if he can go back right after we leave to go home.

 

But he also seems to enjoy our days at home more now to. Most weekdays he wants to spend his time outside just being a kid and protests if we have to go anywhere, which is new.

 

Today I caught a glimpse into his world away from home. When I dropped him off the boys excitedly greeted him and when we left a little blonde cutie told him good-bye. Friendships at this age are so sweet.

 

I dread when he will go full-time and try to take photos of all the cute/funny things he is doing. Such as playing doctor in an outfit he picked out by himself..

Granting children the permission to be themselves

Countless childrens books and parenting books tout the importance of letting each child be themself. They discuss the importance of allowing a child to be who they are, explore their interests and talents, and express their feelings in the way that feels "right." Young children still need some guidance, but it takes a parent stopping and listening to really know who their child is and is becoming.

The last three years I've watched my oldest blossom into the person he is becoming. He is outgoing, sweet, inquisitive, soft-hearted, and (not but) also strong-willed, active, loud, and more of a talker than a listener.

He has become a second set of hands for me and an eager helper.

And as time goes on, I hope I can take the time to really "know" my kids. I want to give them permission to be who they are and tell me what they think, even if we don't agree. I want to be supportive of the ambitious and trivial pursuits. And the same person to them in public as I am in private.

Looking back at my own life, it's especially important to me. Because I wish I'd had the same permission.

Knoxville moms weigh in on TIME magazine cover

The Knoxville Lisa Ross Moms Group, which I am a part of, was asked to come down to the birth center yesterday to give our opinions on the latest TIME magazine cover. The photo shows a 3-year old standing on a stool nursing, while his mother is posed defiantly looking at the camera. The headline reads, "Are You Mom Enough?"

The cover quickly spread through the media with nearly everyone spouting their opinions. Some were informative, many were anti-extended breast-feeding in some form and a few even took it to a sexual extreme.

Who knew so many (mostly parents and the majority other mothers) had such strong opinions on the "right" and "wrong" way to nuture a child?

In a world where mothers, adults, and even young people  march in the streets for the right to abort their unborn children, should that same society really give a mother who chooses to nurture her child in a very natural way for an extended period of time really get bashed so unashamedly? Who is anyone to tell any mother they must "cover up," "put it in a cup," or "hide in a bathroom" if she must do something so selfless as choose to provide nutrition to her young.

Sadly, formula companies have gained the lead in America with more advertising dollars and providing financial support and free formula samples to the midical community than natural parenting institutes. And slowly but surely changed the mind-set of modern America into a "can is better than the breast" mentality. While society feeds us images that sexualize women and their breasts as something to ogle. Have we really back-slid into believing breasts are only sexual? That they should be shielded out of sight if used as a feeding tool, only exposed in low-cut and sensual clothing? Really?!?

Yes, pretty much.

I packed up the kids and joined the discussion yesterday. Here is a link to the story that followed: http://www.wate.com/story/18323121/knoxville-moms-discuss-time-magazine-breastfeeding-image-controversy

Our Charlie Brown Christmas tree

A boy, a jar, and a tree.. the makings of a fun afternoon

Cranberries, cinnamon, twigs, and the table

This year, I've decided to make the holidays simple. That means lots of homemade presents, a small spread of gifts under the tree, holiday outings like going to the local Christmas parade, and a table setting that also says "simple" but elegant.

I've always wanted to try putting small bits of things in glass and placing them on a table. This is my version of the idea on a green table runner. I may add a tablecloth but haven't found the right one so I may use an antique crocheted one I have.

The glasses are holding cinnamon sticks, crranberries, and twigs with yellow berries. On the table are a few pine cones and clear ornaments.

Even with how busy my day is, this was easy to do.

Fa la la la la



I made a wreath! Thanks to an incredible Black Friday weekend sale at Michael's, I bought all my supplies for under $10.

I couldn't believe the sales they were having or that by Sunday night the store wasn't very picked over. And since two things make me very happy-- a great deal and a craft project that turns out-- it made my holiday and made up for the long lines at the mall the day before.

The ribbon is glued, but the rest is able to be taken out if i decide to decorate differently next year.

Here's the rough break down:

Wreath: $4

Berries (cut from one stem): $1

White twirly sticks: $1 for a bag

Ribbon: $2 for this piece

Gold ball bunch: $0.89

Tomorrow? Off to spend my JC Penny coupon for $10 off a purchase of $10 or more.

'Cause that's what friends are for

Waste not, my friends

I hate waste. This includes wasted food (when you order too much and don't bother to take it home or buy more food than you can eat before it spoils), wasted time, and wasted resources.

Right now I'm talking just about the waste that pollutes our planet and gets hauled out to the curb where we want to think it "magically" disappears. This is the wasteful society we've adapted to living in. It's a mind set where people feel entitled to doing things the way they want to and using the products they want to when a simple alternative would be less harsh on the environment. America is in love with her bad habits.

I've lived in a few environmentally-aware communities over the years and have developed habits that now come naturally to me. So natural that when I see other alternate practices I've since turned from, it makes me cringe. Sometimes, it makes me angry.

Here are a few examples.

To me, it just makes sense not to use paper products. I keep drawers of towels and rags on hand for different purposes. When my family wipes our hands, we use a towel. When you make a spill, you grab a rag. When I clean, I use an old t-shirt. Paper towels don't exist in my world. Because they aren't necessary.

I know it's a big step for most moms, but I've transitioned to mostly using cloth diapers and using washable wipes on the baby. I feel better about the decision and don't feel it's any more work, and saves us a lot of money every month. Besides, I never run out!

I don't take shopping bags. One of my good friends gifted me with a purse-size bag full of re-usable shopping bags. The product is genius and always on hand so I don't forget at the check-out line. What I find exceptionally irritating though is when I hand one over to a chashier and she proceeds to THROW AWAY the bag I'd be saving. There are items like meat products that I bag in plastic, or times a plastic bag will make it home with me. These are used as garbage liners, pet waste recepticles, and for dirty diapers on the go.

While I applaud the efforts of so many people who recycle religiously, or not so frequently, recycling just isn't the "end all." It's time to take a closer look at the waste in our lives. Recycling is just a small attempt to solve our waste issue. What we need to evaluate are those tricky little habits of convenience that wreak havoc on our planet and continue to be dumped into our landfills.

That's not to assume I see myself as in any way superior. I certainly still have a lot of things I could do differently.

I love my car just as much as the next person. I don't think twice about hopping behind the wheel for the slightest reason and zipping around town. I'm not ready to give up my daily drives or my SUV that's far from low emissions.

Unlike the neighbors, our house doesn't have solar panels. We don't raise our own chickens. Right now we don't even have a garden. (Yes, these neighbors do have a no emissions vehicle parked out front.)

Despite my non-use of plastic bags and paper towels, there are plenty of other products I toss in the trash.

But I value the thoughtfulness and desire to understand the issue. Being aware of environmental impact is a step forward and allows me to make a conscious decision to cut down on what I can.

Why I love my sling..

Is that a baby smile?

Make washable baby wipes-- an easy tutorial

I was recently shopping in a cloth diaper store and came accross some washable baby wipes. They were made from various materials and said you could use them with wipe solution or just spritz with a spray bottle.

They seemed easy enough to make myself so I set out to sew a few to try at home. (I believe retail was around $15 for four?)

Here are the instructions for making the ones above.

What you will need:
A sewing machine
Material (I used old burp cloths. It needs to be soft but absorbant.)
Scissors

I found a small square box and traced around it as my pattern. Then, after trying a few techniques, I stitched two squares together in a zig zag setting on the sewing machine. (May I mention that this was done on probably the coolest antique sewing machine I've ever seen? Our neighbor invited us over to use it-- they're in their 80's-- and found it in Germany. They travelled with it all over Europe by train and brought it back to the states many years ago.)

We tried two ways to stitch the pieces together, one was starting inside out and then finishing it with the seams on the inside, like a pillow. This made it not lay flat though so we simply stitched along the top of the two pieces paired up.

After the first washing, my initial wipes began to fray so we solved this by cutting along the edge of the next set of wipes with pinking shears. It left the edges finished enough that they no longer frayed.

I've tried them on my not-yet-potty-trained two-year old and on my newborn. I like them on my older son for less messy diapers, but I LOVE using them on the newborn. He goes through a lot of diapers during the day and the washable wipes seem less irritating to his skin. They also aren't cold so don't make him cry during changings. We just toss them in a washable bag that hangs by the changing table and put them in with a load of washable diapers.

What do you do with rhubarb? Make one fantastic cake!

A woman in my mom's Bible study class gave us a bag of rhubarb from her garden. We were planning to make a blueberry/rhubarb crisp but ended up buying Concord grapes instead of blueberries by accident.

Well our mistake turned out for the best because I went searching and found a recipe for Country Rhubarb Cake that was amazzzzzing!

If you look at the reviews, there are some great tips for making this doughy dessert. I would definitely add extra rhubarb and probably reduce the sugar. We didn't bother making the Whiskey Cream topping but served it with ice cream. One reviewer added shavings of fresh ginger to the rhubarb which is something I'd like to try next time.

In a house of "non-dessert eaters" (so they claim), this dish lasted less than 24 hours.

Hello big world

I decided to take a few minutes this weekend for an impromptu photo shoot. Trevor is getting bigger and stronger every day and has a hardy appetite. He's a momma's boy, but that's just fine with me.

And then there were 4...

Trevor
7 lbs 10 oz
Born on Tuesday, October 18th at 4:06pm

"I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach." Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Off to pick a pumpkin!

Thanks to the Mom's Group for sharing a link to the pumpkin farm! The original plan was to join everyone for a day of hay rides and picking out a pumpkin with the little ones, but with my due date just days away, we decided to go on our own this weekend just in case we couldn't make it to their outing.

The day was filled with tractors, chickens, goats, tractors, hay rides, slides of all sizes, tractors, and... did I mention TRACTORS?? Maddox was more than thrilled.

Hints of Fall around the house

Veggie-packed Quiche

Quiche is a wonderful comfort food, but most recipes are packed with fat and calories. Each fork full typically offers a minimal amount of veggies.

Here's a great recipe for a veggie-packed quiche that tastes fantastic.

Crust:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup butter

pinch salt

fresh ground pepper

5 Tbs cold water

Combine dry ingredients and cut in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water, adding 1 Tbs at a time until it's moist and forms a ball.

Roll out very thin and place in pie plate. Cut off extra edges and crimp. Prick center with a fork and place in oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Quiche:

1/2 sweet onion, chopped

2 cups chopped fresh spinach or small package frozen, thawed

1/2 cup broccolli, chopped

1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 small zuchinni, sliced into thin quarters

1/2 cup almond milk or skim

2 eggs or egg replacer

1 Tbs thyme

1 Tbs chopped fresh parsley

1 Tbs basil

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 cup mozerella or 2 oz goat cheese

Combine all the ingredients by stirring. Spread in pie crust and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until the top is slightly browned and the middle is firm.

A day for "Slowcooker Chicken Soup"

After a long, rainy week I began looking for a comfort food that was both easy to make and would keep well for leftovers. That's when I saw a post by Nourished Kitchen for a Slowcooker Chicken Soup recipe. Even the pictures look comforting!

I changed the ingredients slightly to use what I could find, but even so it's filling the house with a tasty aroma.

First, I seasoned two large, organic chicken thighs with sea salt, ground pepper, garlic powder, and dried bay leaves (I preferred whole but did not have any). I then covered the chicken with water and cooked it on low in a pot for a few hours. I then added chopped celery, carrots, and a yellow onion. I continued cooking for a few more hours on low until dinner. Towards the end, I will sprinkle in chopped parsley.

I'm planning on serving this tonight with a crusty loaf of french bread from the organic grocery store.

Bon apetit!

End of Summer at the new house

Maddox has adjusted quickly to the new house. It took a few days to get organized and I wish I had my camera to snap some photos, like when Maddox found a step ladder to pull into the kitchen and eat his breakfast cereal.

I'm sure it helps that we have been resurrecting his old toys to his delight, the ones that have been boxed up for half the week that he sadly watched disappear at the old house. And with more room to play and new places to explore, he's quite happy.

Yesterday we went outside for an impromptu photo shoot. Here is Maddox posing (yes, definitely POSING and saying "cheese") around the yard.