Is It April ALREADY?

This post is so clearly brought to you by the sandbox I built and installed last summer.  It is about 30 feet from the new French doors, and has captivated the kids this year.  I may find time to make it prettier shortly, but who really cares?  Now that the weather is warm again, the yard is their amusement park and they can spend hours out there playing on the swing set, hammock, sandbox, deck, and gravel pit.  They paint on the easel in the grass, kick the balls that decorate the yard, and seem to be teaching themselves how to play leap frog with the most hysterical outcome.  Lots of pouncing, squashing, and reconnoitering before the next physical fiasco. 

I'm not sure I'm doing this whole parenting thing right, but the kids? They take up all my time.  Perhaps if I ignored them more, or if they liked to play by themselves more I'd get more done, but most of the time I am attending to them all day and then Homestead Mama comes home after an 11-hour work day about 10 minutes before their bedtime and reads to them, we put them through the 20 minute bed time ritual and then go downstairs, collapse on the couch together, talk about the day or how we really should submit our taxes soon and then watch a DVR show and go to sleep.  It isn't glamorous, but it does work for us.

Here's what I have been doing of late:

:: Tending to a friend's chicks and planning our own coop and flock.  We are set to order a bunch of Sussex, Black Australorps, Barred Plymouth Rock, and Silver Wyandottes.  With a couple Ameracaunas for H-Mama, as she wants the colored eggs. All hens, save for one rooster for Monito.  He wants to name it Big Shot after his favorite character in our current favorite book.

:: Easter! And the requisite lengths of rope in the baskets. What? You didn't get your kids rope for Easter?  Silly readers.  It is the new tape.  It ties in (hardy har har) with the pirate theme we are sporting in this house.  A lovely relaxing hour can be had by a mom sitting and being tied up.

:: Training the boy to not say "You IDIOTS!" to his sister when he gets frustrated.  Thanks a lot, Cruella DeVille.  He only uses it in the plural, because Cruella hurls the insult at the Badden Brothers.  The boy hasn't figured out that his sister is a singular, and this makes is just funny enough that I can't take him seriously.  I take him more seriously when he says "You ASSHOLES!" at his blocks or Playmobil vehicles.  He learned that from, um, Homestead Mama!  Yes!  That's it!  Bad, Homestead Mama.

:: Enjoying the new game my kids have developed, Shoe Fighting.  It happens in the car since we have a micro-minivan instead of the cavernous Odyssey.  When they get a little nutty they have begun pummeling one another.  It is like thumb-wrestling, but with feet, and kicking.  So much fun!  I was parked next to an Odyssey at the grocery store the other day and once I had strapped my kids in I leaned into the wide open side door while the mom-owner was returning her cart to the kiosk. Oh my goodness, we could have comfortably slept our whole family in there.  I stood half in, half out of the vehicle, mouth agape, as I mentally ticked off all the things I could fit in there.  A whole additional child + car seat!  All our vacation packing!  A stroller AND some bikes!  I was ready to sign on to a 13 mpg car right then and there.  Sigh.  Mommy porn, for sure.  I should note that except for not being a cavernous minivan, our Mazda 5 is awesome and I have NO regrets.  If we do have a third kid, though, watch out! 

::Pequita has reached a phase where she mimics a lot. Me, H-Mama, her brother.  This means that much of the time she is either swearing (us) or reduced to almost-three-year-old behavior (her brother).  Good times!  Tantrums, misbehavior, whining, she does it all with a 7-second delay after her brother.  Because is isn't enough to live through the first time!  She is potty trained during the day, and we still diaper her during nap times and night just to catch any accidents.  Today, she opted to stay in her diaper after naps until she pooped in her diaper, something we are working with her brother on.  She stalked in to the room I was in and demanded, "You will change my diaper NOW."  I snickered quietly, and tried to make it a learning experience.  Mistake.  She got increasingly upset and really just wanted the stinky dipe off right away.  I hope the experiment is over, and she won't do it again.  Her stress levels are such that when it happens, it is like a 4-alarm fire. She cannot understand her brother who still resists the change and would prefer to wear his poop around with him for comfort for many long minutes (hours) after the fact.

:: Watching the wildlife return to our yard.  Birds are flocking to the feeders and nesting bags we put out (mesh bags full of yarn & fabric scraps for the birds to use as nesting material.)  Recently a ring-necked pheasant traipsed around our yard for a while, much to our amazement and joy.  The next day, we encountered his body on the road near the house.  Someone had hit him but good with their car.  I stopped the car and let the kids see him.  Pequita remarked that her "heart was very sad".  Mine too, little girl.

::

:: Cooking up a storm.  I'm using up the fruit and meat in our freezer as fast as I can.  Sunday, rhubarb chutney with fresh ham.  Behold the glory of chutney spices!

Recently, several no-knead bread options, Mongolian beef, gingerbread and pies galore.  We have a half side of grass fed beef in the freezer, and are about to pick up a half lamb, and a whole young pig, all non-certified organic and really yummy.  We need to clear out as much as we can before the influx occurs.  On the list of things to tackle soon: Greek yogurt, hot dog buns from scratch, cole slaw (to use up the last of our stored cabbage), and sausage and pate with all our meat.

::Yard work!  Clearing fall brush away, landscaping when I can fit it in, raking, seeding, digging.  We'll have to start mowing this week, which takes about 2 hours at a time since we have 1.5 acres of tended yard.  Plus an extra hour if we mow the path through the meadow. We need a goat, but won't get one until AFTER we have a small barn for it.  Can't wait for the goat's milk, goat cheese, and free brush removal.

:: Double-digging my garden patch.  Last year, my six 4' x 4' raised beds were more to keep the kids and dogs off my planting area.  This year, I'll move them to the edge of the garden and they will become our dedicated strawberry and asparagus beds and I'll leave our regular garden plots on the bare ground.  This patch took about an hour to dig; three more to go this year.  I'll expand more next year; this year, three 4' x 12' beds will have to suffice.

:: Sitting watching the sky at sunset, sunrise, and any time in between.

:: Many cookouts and campfires.  Homestead Mama likes to be active, so will putter in the yard and then burn her gleanings. The kids love to cook their dinner over the campfire.  Up next: foil meals.  Wrapping a potato, some meat and veggies up in a piece of tin foil and setting it in the coals to cook.  

:: Seed starting for the aforementioned garden.  I still have to plan out my layout, companion plantings, and buy starters for whatever doesn't sprout.  This year, we saved our Easter egg shells and started sunflowers and pumpkins in the shells.  

:: Many walks on the property.  The children have A LOT OF ENERGY and need to let off steam in a large area where the creation of another game along the lines of "Shoe Fighting" can be avoided.  We go out into the field and pick weeds, look for birds nesting, track deer, play with our ever-present dogs, and throw things.  It is really fun, always different, and makes me love our investment in 10 acres.

:: Playground and friend play dates.  At least 4 times a week.  The kids are so different from last year.  Pequita was already a master at climbing and physical activities.  This year, she can (be still my heart) make it up to the tiny, bendy branches in the climbing trees before I even know she's gone.  Monito is finally, for the first time, in charge of his body in a way that clearly brings him great satisfaction.  He runs, jumps, climbs, and vaults with reckless abandon and much success, something that has eluded him until now.  He's seen his sister's mastery for a long time and now it is his turn, which is an obvious thrill.  Both kids interact in a whole new way with other little kids.  Pequita has made new friends on the playground, and will hold hands and prance off with sweet little girls to find privacy and giggle and play.  Monito seems to prefer boys he already knows, but the fact that he wants to interact with anyone other than Mommy is huge.  He loves his friends Nate and Desmond because they will rough house with him, and chase, run, sword fight and frolic with him.  He woke from his nap today saying that he dreamed of having a tea party with green balloons and cookies and all his buddies were in attendance and then they played pirates until dark, when they lit a bonfire and cooked things all by themselves.  This is such a huge developmental leap for him - it is both thrilling and heart breaking for me.  My babies are really growing up.  Yay!  (Sob.)

:: Organizing.  Purging.  Yippee!  Homestead Mama made me promise not to ever throw any of her stuff away without asking her first.  Sadly (for her), she works an hour away and I am home with the clutter of a lifetime of collecting.  I have been taking bag after bag of lovely goods to the thrift store and getting my tax deductible receipt for our donation.  In the long run, she'll be happy.  In the short run, she is thrilled at how the house is looking.  Somewhere in between she'll figure out what is happening, but I'm hoping for the best.  I made a play kitchen for the kids using some cube shelves from the local unfinished furniture store and a couple things from Lowes.  They love it, and by winter they'll probably want to be inside long enough to use it a lot.  I still have to cut a door for the 'fridge', but I have a big day of sawing planned for the near future.

:: Pirates!  Did I mention the pirates?  Pequita loves her face paints still, and chooses black and pink.  This equals 'Ballerina Pirate' for her.  Monito chooses more traditional colors, but they are still actively dressing up and whacking. 

:: Pequita is undertaking the effort of reading.  I have been resisting the urge to push them, drill letters, numbers, words.  I have been tortured in a small way by the kids who can write their names already, or write many words by the time they are 3. My mother was an amazing, patient, skilled teacher of Kindergarten through 3rd grade for over 30 years and suggested that I wait, not push them, and let them lead.  All along I've been teaching in the abstract; I read books constantly while tracing words with my finger, spell and sound out words in a general way that they haven't seemed to notice.  Both kids can count up to 30 or more with a minimum of 'five-teens' and can sing the alphabet and recognize a few letters.  Lately, Pequita has been identifying letters, asking how to spell things, and wanting to "read" to herself and her brother.  Yahoo!  I feel like the genie is out of the bottle.  We are hot and heavy into Pequita-led school now, and she loves it.  Her brother is watching and picking things up even as he ignores her.  I'm about  start having a letter per day that we focus on, which should make a proper game out of it all.  Pequita now stops me as I read so that she can 'read' to us; many times her version of the story is much more fun that what was on the page.  In the car there is always a big stack of books between their car seats in back.  She selects a books, asks Monito what page he wants to read and then narrates the pictures to him.  It is a perfectly cooperative experience that they both love.

:: ASL.  Monito asked for Signing Time, a DVD series we haven't seen in a long time.  I started checking them out of the library again and we all hunker down to learn how to sign.  The kids really like it, and practice all the time.  We are all getting better; Monito takes particular interest and pride in his signing.  I can't recommend this series highly enough.  It is wonderfully done, fun to watch, and easy to learn from.  The songs are catchy enough that I don't mind catching myself singing them in the shower.

June Cleaver Moment

Most days the children miss their Mama.  She works at a demanding job she loves that is an hour away; most nights she doesn't get home until 6:30pm and their bedtime is 7pm.  She loves her job and is really good at it.  She stands out in a sea of coworkers who are waiting to retire as she works to help a population of people who don't much want to even help themselves.  Her job allows me to stay home with my kids, something I've always wanted to do.  I only resent it on REALLY tough days, when I'd rather have her with us than helping other people. 

We talk about her a lot during the day.  The kids call her several times a week to cry about an imagined slight, an actual cut, describe a new milestone, tell her they love her, or ask if she'll bring home ice cream.  I facilitate as much contact as possible but do shoulder much of the child rearing. 

My first attempt at teaching them about days of the week ended up with us having 'week days' and 'Mama Days', a.k.a. Friday night and the weekend.  Anticipation of time with Mama is high, and in the most recent developmental spurt, during which our eldest was heartbroken at her Mama spending so much time away from her, we threw the bedtime schedule to the wind and instituted "Mama Friday Nights". Friday is library day and we check out a DVD of a current favorite (right now 101 Dalmatians and The Jungle Book are in heavy rotation) along with our books for the week and a book on CD for Mama to listen to during her commute. By dusk on Friday I have the kids bathed, jammied, fed and ready for loving.  Mama gets home as early as she is able and retires into the family bed with both kids and a sweet treat to watch their movie, snuggle and nurse to their hearts content.  It is the sweetest time for all of them, and I am not remembered until hugs are required right before they are sent to sleep in the nursery 90 minutes later.  

Many weeks by Friday night I am haggard, hair sticking out, nerves frazzled, kids watching Little Bear on TV and me scrabbling to feed us all.  Today, though, was one of those magic times where I was able to present my beloved with a vacuumed and swept home, aired out with frigid-but-fresh air and Nag Champa incense, clean kids, dogs fed, harmony abounding and good food cooling on the counter.  I made a meal from Epicurious, Spicy Beef Cobbler.  Of course, I used our free-range beef, put in black beans, used whole wheat flour and halved the cayenne so the kids would eat it.  HUGE HIT!

So I get to feel like a proper stay-at-home success story.  Lord knows H-Mama doesn't expect it, but I like to feel like a successful professional mom who has it all well in hand.  

Hot Wax

Mid-winter kid crafts are plentiful, and we've been doing a lot of baking, play doh making and building, and snow painting. Based purely on delicious smell, I bought some beeswax at our food coop on a whim several weeks ago. What could be better than hot wax and toddlers?

I was inspired by bees wax hearts here and also here. When I found silicone heart-shaped ice cube molds in the $1 bin at Target I committed.


We melted the wax in an extra pan in a boiling water bath. The kids broke up the big chunks into small bits and dropped them in the pan, and they each got a turn stirring the molten wax under my CLOSE supervision.

Then they lost interest and ran off to play with their glass gems on the carpet in the living room. I finished the melting and the string cutting and the wax pouring in relative peace, which is good since I was more worried about sharing the ladling of hot wax with the kids than any other part of the process. I poured the wax into the molds, and quickly inserted the string loops. They hardened very quickly.

After the kids went to bed, I strung them on red wool. I hung a couple strands in our kitchen above my sink, and they smell divine. We have a few packages to send out to grandma and some lucky cousins - the kids are quite proud of how their hearts turned out. Monito loves the smell so much that he can't help tasting them each time he gets his hands on them. He is always a bit disappointed that the bees wax doesn't taste like it smells. (I'm sending Grandma the hearts with the teeth marks. It will make the strand all the more special.)

Solo

I really want to write a lovely, long, witty post about the first Christmas that the kids have been aware of. It was mostly a very fun day. I am just so overwhelmed and tired. Monday - yesterday! - Homestead Mama's stepmother died as suddenly as one can when one is on the lung transplant list. H-Mama is leaving tomorrow for about a week to stay with her dad 3 hours away, help him through this and start getting things sorted out. I'll stay here at home with the kids and muddle through. I have been thinking up fun activities to entertain them with like night weaning. H-Mama has been the hold out on this, and I not producing much anymore so this seems a PERFECT time to acclimate them to nursing down and upon waking, but not at all during the night. Sounds like fun, eh? Boy, do I know how to have a good time.

I would normally go visit my parents, or friends in Canada with all my free time. However, we have pets that will tie me to the house. (And I haven't managed to renew our passports yet and get them for the kids. Do straight, married parents both have to be present at the post office to get passports for their kids? Talk about a deterrent to foreign travel.)

So maybe I'll have time to blog. Check back soon!

Bounty

One week's fruit share in 2009

(not including the 2 other grape clusters and
4 plums the kids ate on the way home)

We belong to both a veggie and fruit CSA here in town every summer. It supplies us with a week's worth of fruit for eating; many weeks I bought extra fruit from the CSA wholesale to preserve and also because my kids can consume massive quatities of fresh fruit. It is all coming to fruition now, as the snowflakes are falling (as I write this - yay!) Sour cherries, peaches, pears, apples, all by the 5-gallon bucket or bushel crate. I was a tad busy in the evenings.

A couple days ago, I served the kids canned peaches that I put by this summer.
They were complaining about all the apples I was serving them, and I made a huge flourishing presentation of peaches in (very light) syrup over Greek yogurt. They were properly awed, and we got to discuss how these canned peaches happened, where they came from, how much fun it is to have yummy summer food on our table when it is too cold for it to grow outside. I am pleased that they seem to understand the food cycles of our household, and realized I need to start planning our own garden layout for next spring. Hopefully, we can do more seed starts ourselves and buy fewer young plants. I expect to remain a member of the two CSAs until our own gardens supply us with enough food.

The kids and I make our weekly trip to the farm to pick up our fruit and veggies an event. We see our friends there, pick flowers and tomatoes and herbs and fruit in the u-pick fields, we play with (chase) the chickens and guinea hens, and Monito caresses the tractors (only after greeting them by name. "Hello, Green Tractor. Hello, Big Yellow Tractor with Dragging Thingy" Mommy needs to learn the names of more farm equipment, clearly.) I consider it early homeschooling about food, science, nature and the seasons that we get to do out in the sun.

90 Minutes

How did you spend the first 90 of your day?

I got to sleep in a bit today - until 9:10! This is no small favor, as anyone who knows me is aware how very much of a night person I am. Homestead Mama frequently takes the early shift with the kids which usually means that she gets them in dry diapers/ panties and kisses me goodbye, but today she ended up going in to work a little late so she could get the garbage out, feed the dogs, and tidy up a bit since she knew I stayed up until after midnight painting people and watching bad TV. The kids helped her with all these tasks, so it took her almost 2 hours. Having missed the early playgroup meet-ups by getting up so late, I embraced the staying home concept. The kids love to meet and play with their friends; they also love to have Mommy on the living room floor in a pig pile, leading the marching band, or getting down the good paints from the top shelf. What everyone says about how beneficial it is when you are living in the moment, following your kids lead, giving them your complete and utter attention? Very true. Hard to maintain, but that's what meditation is for.

We started out explaining what Pequita had painted on her brother's face while Mommy was in the bathroom (a lion). She paints their faces every day at least once. Yesterday she accompanied me on all our errands with a huge black and purple blotch on her cheek looking for all the world as though I had been beating some compliance into her. She proudly told anyone who asked that it was the Evil Queen from Snow White. A little nonrepresentational, but she got the colors right.

I was treated to a ballet recital by the ballerina in our house while I brushed my teeth. She then taught her brother how to twirl and plie, which is going to be the impetus I needed to order myself a new charging cord for my video camera. My kids dancing together is something that I would love to watch on DVD as an old lady sitting in my quiet house when the kids are grown.

We followed that by playing trumpet on our left over cooked shell noodles from last night. (The stuffed shells with organic pork meat sauce was a HUGE hit with all of us. A good thing, since I made two gigantic pans.)Yankee Doodle Dandy, tooted deep with a whole noodle and ever-shriller as the noodles mysteriously got shorter and shorter in the kids mouths. Pequita bounced on her riding bouncy ball in time to the song. Then I got them dressed while singing This Old Man. The kids got to alternate picking the number verse I sang; Pequita worked her way through 1 - 10, but Monito only ever chose 2. Each time I sang, "He played knick knack on his shoe" there was much cracking up. I think he likes the way showing me 2 feels in his fingers - he uses his index and thumb (a.k.a. Pointer and Thumbkins in our house.)


They spotted the dice jar on a shelf and we spent 20 minutes playing with that. Every time I go to the thrift store, consignment store, or salvation army I buy up all the dice games I can. Boggle is a great one. I then repurpose the boxes and other playing bits elsewhere in our lives and toss the dice into a big jar. We make up our own games, spell our names and whatever words the kids want, and then sort them back into the jar by color, size, letter, whatever. It always changes, which keeps it fun for all of us. I also have a massive jar of Scrabble tiles for the same purpose. The nice stiff game boards make great dance floors or car ramps when Mod Podged with pretty paper or painted over by toddlers.


I didn't post the picture with their names spelled out even though it was the better photo. For now, I am going to keep the anonymity up on the blog. It is annoying to have to write fake names, but as a lesbian family with cute kids in a fairly identifiable town, I just feel safer. I'm actually working on another blog idea, one that would end up being more craft oriented and less of a family/ baby book and would use our real names. Because I need MORE time on my computer. Sigh.

Time Out of Mind

This morning, we've had a few regular individual time outs each. We moved on to concurrent time outs, each kid sent to their own couch. We have culminated with the 'Go to your ROOM' time out where one kid is on the bed and the other on the chaise lounge, with books, and the door closed so Mommy doesn't have to experience the full blast of the screaming. Wow.

I'm stopping the bill paying and photo downloading to go to the NVC page RIGHT NOW and print out some helpful phrases for me to post around the house so I remember to breathe before I act. Seems so simple, yet so elusive.

Angelic looking, aren't they?

Diaper Training

This is what diaper training a boy looks like in our house. Easy access all the way. Who knew that when he snuck off to pee on his own (Yay!) the skirt would act as a funnel, stopping all the pee and sending it down the front of the toilet onto the floor. And that this drama would be reenacted with every shirt Monito owns? Gack. Back to peeing sitting down, if possible. And some clear caulk around the base of the toilet so the smell of urine isn't the FIRST thing one is hit with as they walk in the door. I'd rather it be carcass-covered dog; at least that is temporary.

Autumn = Gingerbread

I don't do things by halves. This is a double recipe, with royal icing piped on for definition. Delicious. Monito's new best love, extra spicy gingerbread cookies. He likes the hammers best, Pequita loves the princess ones of course.

Om

Yoga was awesome again this morning. I want to do it every day. Hmm - some crazy people do. Even 6 am hot Bikram yoga, like I said I might start doing.

Come to find out, the very same muscles that enable me to toss a 40-lb kid above my head repeatedly and wear both of them at the same time on my back & shoulders while I prance about town have rendered me almost unable to clasp my hands together and lift my arms behind me like this:
Clearly I will need remedial help in the shoulder-stretching department. I would rather look like yoga chick up there than this:


I have no idea how to make my arms loosen up. I'll have to ask my instructor to suggest some poses that I can breathe into in between scraping Play-Doh out of my hair and removing the tractor toy from my thigh. My kids never let me entirely forget they are RIGHT THERE WITH ME in yoga class. Today they convinced all the other toddlers to share their foam yoga blocks and build a barn for Pequita's pink plastic unicorn with the sparkly mane and tail. It was the hit of the yoga studio, as its feet and horn light up when you press a button on it. The other moms near me just breathed into our respective downward dogs and smiled.

I really liked ignoring the kids to the song Navah Shivayah from this album which was played at one point. The heavy drumming makes it easy to drown out all but the most persistent calls for 'Mommy!' I may buy it for motivation to yogify in my own home. The kids liked it as well, and took time out from their play to dance a bit when it came on. A little more yoga and meditation exposure and maybe we'll all be more calm. And perhaps we'll cobble together a 'spiritual practice' that works for us after all; the children already have a favorite Hindu deity, but that is a no-brainer. Ganesha is part elephant, after all.

Partners

Sadly, they are partners in CRIME. Illicit use of adult scissors.

Supervision

The brief interlude of unsupervised children roaming the house is over.

In the beginning, they were potatoes and unable to do anything but poop and cry, and oh! how they worked to perfect their few skills.



Then came the crawling/walking time and gates were closed, rooms were shut off, stairs were guarded, and all small objects were put away.

Recently, we've had a little plateau of development during which we could mostly trust that the established patterns would be followed, there was a lot of ritualization in their daily play and I could do things like stay upstairs for a few minutes while the kids roamed the house because I knew that Monito would be downstairs making a mess with the glass gems and Pequita would be studiously working on her three favorite puzzles.

That is all over. The recent sleep disruptions, shifts in nursing, and massive growth have heralded another new stage and I now cannot trust them at all. They are developing a true ability for subterfuge and sneaky behavior. They like to be read stories about naughty kids, dolls spend most of the day in time outs, and I find the kids hunkered down in cozy secret spots they've carved out in the bottom of a cupboard, created out of a pile of previously clean, folded laundry or covered a corner up with a blanket and made into a fort. I peek in expecting the usual excitement at my presence and get a hand waving in my face and a kid yelling, "No, Mom. Pivacy! Pivacy!" as they try to hide the real or perceived contraband from discovery.

The cookie jar has been breached enough times that it is on an upper shelf in the pantry.

Baby gates are back in regular use so we at least know what part of the house they are in. This morning I came downstairs to this sight.



Monito wanted to watch the Teletubbie DVD, and had found it and was reaching for the DVD player. He had already tried to use the dollhouse as a stool, and the sound of it tumbling over was what brought me downstairs. This is one reason we invested in a massive TV cabinet; I don't like to have a big black TV eye watching us all the time, but also to block it from young kids.

Moment later, I heard him running back and forth repeatedly from living room to kitchen. This always bodes poorly. I peeked in on him and found every single cloth rag in a pile on a mess he made. I cracked up, because he had spilled a tablespoon of milk.


I can invoke the drill sergeant, and I am teaching them to march behind me in line because it amuses me and they think it is fun. Next we'll start sounding off, but that will be another day.

Yoga

I got an email a few weeks ago about a family yoga class starting up and JUMPED at the chance. I joined the YMCA a couple years ago and ended up canceling the membership because the kids wouldn't tolerate the FREE DAYCARE that came with it. I am always trying to find some time for my own thoughts, self-care and brain- and body-improving activities in amongst our busy days of being a family.

We had our first Mom & Tot yoga class this morning. We were actually on time at 9 am downtown; the kids enjoyed their goldfish crackers for breakfast in the car. I had them both dressed in leggings and a t-shirt and at the last minute Pequita disappeared upstairs on some imperative errand. She reappeared having yanked on a purple gymnastics singlet on over her big shirt and leggings and declared it her 'yoga suit'. Oh-kay. Cute as a badly-dressed button.

The kids experienced a bit of trepidation as is there style with new things these days, but our instructor Amy has a young kid of her own and was really warm and friendly. We spent an hour in a safe warm room full of 9 moms and 13 kids from 3 weeks old to 4 years. Amy stressed that the kids will follow along if they want to, and the adults should just to do the yoga. I was able to do about 75% of the class, which was a huge and pleasant surprise. Pequita did several of the poses next to me on her own purple mat; Monito sat on me for many poses but chose not to use his own mat at all except for building a mammoth building with the foam yoga blocks. Nothing like using Mom as a slide while she's in a downward facing dog for exercise. I did the plank pose with 80 lbs of toddler on me. I want a prize, because I held the pose for 8 breaths like that. My prize seems to be that I kept up fairly well and was still pretty limber and strong despite not setting foot in a gym for years.

I was so grateful for the safe, chaotic, toddler-friendly yoga space that I gushed a bit to the instructor and her husband, a fellow instructor, before leaving. It was the attachment-parenting exercise class. I will sign up for every series they offer. I may get fit yet.

Making Do

The dog ate my shoe laces. Really. I needed to wear my modified shoes (I have a fused ankle) because we'll be walking all day at the STATE FAIR. The kids are so excited. We are bringing our fab neighbors and Auntie Kiko with us.

No shoelaces to be found in the house so I pilfered the toy chest and came up with a good solution. The strings from the lacing game the kids have are the perfect length. And so jazzy with all the color!

Alone in a Crowd

I have come out for drinks with my friends - Homestead Mama is sitting in the nursery protecting the kids from 'horns' while they fall asleep. I arrived first and am sitting alone in a nice bar sipping malbec with great music playing and am so profoundly sad. I think that since I'm not meditating much (at all) or in therapy or wallowing in free time, anything I haven't worked through wells up in times where I have extra psychic space. Good, I guess. But sad. I'll have a wonderful time once my friends are here - they are amazing women. But I'm sure the funky lights look lovely reflected in my shining eyes.

Apple Picking

More like apple grazing. We arrived at the orchard hungry, ate our weight in apples, blackberries & raspberries and had nothing in our bags to pay for 2 hours later when we left the orchard except for 6 arguably ripe, partially squashed berries that Monito thoughtfully insisted on bringing home for Mama. We shall serve them to her with cream and a flourish befitting the effort it took for him not to eat them himself.

On a side note, I can't believe I'm still hauling both kids around on my back. They are about 80 lbs combined. In a do-over, we might have chosen a more petite donor. Whoof!

Baby Got Back

I had a funny post all written about Monito's diaper-free exploits and potty training and figuring out what the social rules are about a few things when I realized that RIGHT THERE is the line I won't cross on a public blog. Nice to know I have a line!


I have started editing out nudity in pics of the kids and intend to go back through all the archives (sigh) and pull any naked pics after a particularly unsettling episode of Law & Order. Yeah, laugh away, but it emphasized something that I've felt nervous about all along. But stories related with no photo op can apparently render me squeamish too. Hmm. Watch out, all you folks who read the blog and also visit in real life. I've got some funny gross stories that will have you in stitches.

The Hunger

Monito is growing. He is already huge, but he eats everything in front of him and asks for more. Homestead Mama was taking the kids upstairs for naps today and Monito was trailing her up the stairs. He kept seeing things in the kitchen and saying, "Mommy! No eat all goldfish crackers! No eat all neckarines! No eat all miwk! No eat all oatmeal!". Each statement delivered with earnestness. I'd like to point out that while I may sneak ice cream when they have gone to bed I really haven't given him reason to worry I'm going to empty the kitchen like a scourge of locusts. He really is just saying goodbye to his favorite foods while he sleeps. And clearly planning what he wants for dinner when he wakes up.



I made one of my favorite meals from childhood tonight and the kids gobbled it up. My mom, from Michigan, called it 'Mince'. Fry chopped onions up in a large pan, toss in ground bison meat (this was hamburger when I was a kid, but we only eat bison these days) and cook through. Stir in diced carrots, peas and corn or some medley of your kids fave veggies. Serve over mashed potatoes. We had a side of cooked beets tossed in balsamic vinegar and fresh thyme. Kids cleaned their plates, as did we.



Homestead Mama and I realized that we have totally slacked on an important lesson - our kids do not know how to make a moat out of mashed potatoes and then let rivers of gravy wind down to their food. We will soon have a roast turkey with gravy and remedy this flaw in their gastronomic education. Smocks and drop cloths all around, I expect. Night where we have sanctioned food play get a little raucous but are some of the jolliest.

Afternoon Delight

What a crock. My afternoons have been sucking. I have these hyper-competent mornings where I get tons done, make jam, refinish dressers, harvest basil and make pesto to freeze for eating in February, put up quart after quart of preserves/ sauces/ pie fillings, get the dog to the vet, the kids to camp, myself to acupuncture, then get us all home, fed, napped, and fed again. Then it all goes to pot. The kids don't listen to me and make huge messes. I yell more than I want to. We all end up on a forced-march-type play activity, like digging and filling post holes, or spreading mulch; something they'll participate in even if they don't really enjoy it.

Today I told them Mommy needed a time out and they watched two whole episodes of Sesame - more TV than usual and with no fights. Homestead Mama has been working late all week, then some nights heading to softball too. Argh! I was in their room waiting for Pequita to fall asleep when Homestead Mama came home. She knows not to bust up the sleepy zone. Next thing I know, I get an email from myself on my Blackberry. H-Mama sent me a note from my open gmail account downstairs saying, "I'm home, sweetie. I'll start cleaning. Xoxo." A bright spot in my day, much needed.



Vacation is 5 days away. It can't come too soon.

Compassionate Mothering

When it rains there are worms visible on the path through the tree line from the yard to the meadow. Pequita is currently terrified of worms. The only way she'll walk through the leafy shaded tunnel is wearing shoes and holding a hand. Her hand of choice? Her younger brother's. He takes his responsibility seriously, loading his pockets with all his cars, gloves, rocks, etc. to keep his hand free for her. Yes, they are sweet-natured kids but I take some credit for this. I've been quietly encouraging empathy, supportive behavior, gentle touch, and respectful treatment between them since they could hold their heads up. It is manifesting now in clear ways, and is gratifying. And awfully endearing.



That being said, the new house rule, as of yesterday, is that if Monito pinches his sister, Pequita can pinch him back. He does not like this one bit. I've spent weeks discussing, meting out gentle punishments for, ignoring, and discouraging this pinching habit of his to absolutely no avail. So we try this way for a bit. I'm just glad he isn't a biter like I was. My mom gave my sister this same advice - "bite her back!" - when she hit the end of her rope with me in the early 1970s. I totally get it now. Oh, how I get it.