Hey Julie Mama

Four more Spanakopita pies completed! HEAR ME ROAR! : ) These were accomplished much more pleasantly then the first batch.... with sleeping babies, its a cake.

Yet One More Repulsive Ad Campaign

How can people live with themselves? This is horrible. Coca-Cola is now trying to convince us that its okay drink soda... cause, ya know, it hydrates.

Take the time to watch the repulsive, syrupy intro, then look under "Get Smarter," where is says something about hydration... and be prepared to scream.

http://www2.coca-cola.com/makeeverydropcount/home.html

Hey Julie Mama: February 2006

I am crampy and tired. Period. AGAIN. I am getting my period every 21 days for about 5 months now. Before this, I have only had a few periods in the last few years - just enough after Will to get pregnant with Jack. My emotions are evening out, so I don't want to complain but I just wonder if this is a sign of problems or anything?????

I wish, I wish, I wish, I wish...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/ref=cs_top_nav_wl/002-7871618-2832824

Worm update

Its time to do a little worm harvesting. I attempted yesterday but my compost bin is way too wet. The compost is too sludgy to deal with trying to seperate the worms from the gold. : ) But at any rate, here's what I did:

Spread out a large tarp and dump bin on top.

Pile the compost into little piles, I had about 12 piles.

Shine light on compost so that the worms scurry (do worms scurry?) to the bottom of the pile. Worms do not like light. Once this is done, you can gently scrape the top layers of compost off. Continue this until all that is left is a pile of lovely worms. Put worms in freshly made beddng. Save compost. There are various ways to harvest your compost, but I like this way because I can see how many worms I have in my bin.

The good news is that I saw a lot of worms. I was worried about my bin and the quality of it and if my worms were thriving. Well, they are and they are eating up the garbage in massive amounts. They seem to love banana skins, which is good because we eat a lot of bananas. I often buy big bags of bananas on sale and freeze them for smoothies. I was worried the worms might get sick of them, but nope. B )

So anyway, I put the compost and worms all back into the bin. Later this weekend I am going to transfer them all to a cardboard box, which will help the dry out the soil. Then in a few weeks I will repeat above procedure. Hopefully with more success.

Hey Julie Mama

Oh wow. I will covet these words for a long time. I'm cutting and pasting this post from a MDC thread:

"Think of it this way- some where in the universe when you and (and your child) make the spiritiual decision to join your souls, you knew that you each had exactly what the other needed to learn. You made a pact to do this together, to learn from each other, lessons that there were no other ways to learn. So you came to this place, wher you would be his momma and he would be your challenge but you kind of forgot that you both picked each other and that you were here to work through some tough stuff. "

Hey Julie Mama

Thru hell and high water, I just finished baking 4 Spanakopita pies. Good freaking Lord.

Yesterday. Bad day.
Today. So far so good.

I woke up about 5:30 and had about an hour to myself before Jack woke up so I made some banana bread with flaxseed (the house smells so good, its almost done!) and a cup of tea. Worked on scrapbook stuff and then Jack woke up. He never sleeps long without me next to him. We just reserved more books thru the library system and now I have to decide what to do all day with the boys. At home. Hopefully play outside all day long!!!

And clean my tub. I have an awesome recipe for a coffee body scrub that I've been using, but it sure makes a ring around my tub, if you can imagine.

Thanks, feedmemomma for your coffee grounds!

Here's the recipe:

1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup raw turbinado sugar (I used half a cup because I'm cheap and it was fine)
15 drops peppermint oil
1/2 cup used coffee grounds from a freshly brewed pot

Combine ingredients and store in wide mouth glass jar. Store in cool place for up to 2 weeks.

Apply handfuls of scrub to body in a circular motions, make sure to get those rough spots; elbows, heels, knees. Rinse.

Where were they all my life?

I've met some truly amazing, beautiful women since I've given birth to my two sons. I have learned so much from these women, and have shared in the heart soaring and the heart breaking moments of child rearing. I wish I would have known them before I started this mothering odessey. If only I knew *then* what I know now! I am so respectful of the mamas that learned and *got it* (i.e. attachment parenting and natural living) before having kids. I was not completely ignorant before giving birth. I read the readily available and popular books that were out there to read. I read magazines and spoke to other women. Mainstream everything. How was I to know the *real* way to give life?

Not until I held baby Will in my arms did I discover that everything I ever learned about parenting/children/birth was so against a mother's instinct. Well, at least this mother's. I started the journey then and have really enjoyed my own personal growth over the last few years. I wish, wish, wish I would have *got it* sooner. If only I would have read a Mothering magazine instead of Parenting. If only I had gone to LLL BEFORE Will was born instead of months after. I'm not agonzing over this, I'm not beating myself up about it. Its just a shame, really, that this kind of parenting is so "out there." Cause its more real than anything I've ever lived before.

Hey Julie Mama

Brrrsy. We really, really regret those days of burning our firewood when it was 40 degrees out. We are out of firewood and its 11 degrees right now.

$136 candles

I went to a friend's house today to do some candle dipping with beeswax. It was a great, great day... once we were there. The morning consisted of picking up the truck at the Toyota dealership and paying them $1,000 for repairs (of what, I don't know since it was running just fine when we took it in), and then on my way to my friend's house I got a speeding ticket. Total stress about money right now.

But the candle dipping was fun, the conversation stimulating, and the kids played beautifully all day. Jack nursed and slept in the sling for once. It went as well as it could.

Well, I haven't had a ticket in over 10 years so I guess it was my time. Luckily, the policeman gave me a break - I was in a school zone and he could have doubled my fine. Sheesh.

I'm working on this...

"Eliminate something superfluous
from your life.
Break a habit.
Do something that makes you feel
insecure.
Carry out an action with complete
attention and intensity,
as if it were your last."

Piero Ferrucci

Hey Julie Mama

Some of you have asked about the CSA so here's the info:

400 - full share of produce
250 half share
$50 for 1 doz. eggs for 22 weeks
$50 for flowers for 12 weeks
chicken $2.29 a lb and have to buy whole chickens (usually weigh 3-5lbs)
Turkey $2.49 a lb.
Fruit share is $100.

Its www.coyotecreekfarmks.com

Hey Julie Mama

I'm feeling very lovey dovey about Mark lately. Today when he left, usually he stops out front of the house so the kids can run to the window and wave goodbye. Today, he stopped but the kids took too long to go the window so he left because he didn't think they were coming. Well, Will freaked out so we called Daddy to tell him goodbye instead. Daddy said he was going to turn around and go watch out the window. So we did and he did stop back bye. The boys were thrilled. Its these little things that matter.

Hey Julie Mama

Holy crap, I went to Whole Foods today and spent $65 on I don't know what. This is what happens when Mark keeps putting off watching the kids so I can grocery shop. I cannot shop wisely with two kids, even with a list. Mostly at Whole Foods because I Am Weak.

On that note, I signed up today for a CSA and I'm so excited. I was in Local Harvest for awhile (until they closed) and it was like getting little gifts every week I received my produce box. I miss that. I signed up for:

Produce share (half a share cause I like going to Farmer's Markets too, and we are going to attempt a garden this year).
Eggs (I'll get one dozen a week.)
Fruit share (apples, peaches, pears)
Flowers!!!! Every week for 12 weeks!
1 free range whole chicken every 2 weeks
1 turkey for Thanksgiving
They also may be offering raw milk down the road.
Is this heaven? I am thrilled.

I think I'll save money by staying out of the grocery store!

ETA: Mark just called and said he stopped by Price Chopper and asked if I needed anything. Too late, sucker! LOL!

Daddy;s are for lovin'

Mark took the day off work to spend a day with Will. They were going to have a full day. Another day at Paradise Park (Mark wants to see Will in action) and then they were going to see the movie Curious George. Jack and I are having a peaceful, playful, cleaning kind of day. A day to allow me to bring forth Perspective.

A Day Out And All Is Well

Can I just say I love making titles? : ) Its instilled in me from my days in Journalism, I suppose.

We went to Paradise Park today. Will's energy is mind blowing. He had so much fun - his favorite being the building room. He pretends like he is a "worker guy" and was building a replica of the Paradise Park building. The most stressful room - at least for mom - is the dollhouse/farmhouse room. His play is so aggressive with the people and animals. Re-directed to the grocery store and all was better. This is interesting considering our play at home revolves greatly on pretend play with people, cars or animals. Which maybe is not so great for any on us. Oh, to be outdoors again where Will is truly happy. I can't wait for Spring!

I guess its hard for me because I was the little girl that could spend hours setting up a dollhouse, arranging furniture, folding the blankets around the dolls just right. I want Will to have that quiet, inward play. He is so outward. I really want to talk to Ms. Diana more about this. She will have great insight. Instead of always trying to get Will to play gently with those toys that deserve gentleness (he should learn this, I say!), instead I want to provide him with the building opportunites that he obviously so enjoys. Blocks, logs, dominos, legos. We need some legos. He would love that.

Of course, the stress comes when little brother destroys the magnificient building project that Will worked on so hard. Sigh.

Good day today!!!! I wonder how the rest of the day will go... I suspect we are going to be okay today. And Daddy is taking tomorrow off to spend one-on-one time with Will. He really wants to take him to see Curious George which I am not so thrilled with. I will have to tell Mark the story that Will told me today....

"Mommy, there was a shooter guy who put a power sword right into that guy and then the shooter went right into him and he died and went to heaven."

Yep.

Will watches very, very little TV. He watches at home occassionally, but its usually on at his cousins house, where he has seen a few minutes of Power Rangers or something. And it stays with him. And we have the book on tape "Danny and the Dinosaur" where the writer mentions "guns and swords" in the museum. He has seen water guns at the swimming pool. Add to that our neighbor kids's grandma died a couple weeks ago and we watched the kids for several days to help out so that was the Topic Of Conversation quite a bit.
Which is okay - that is life. But anyway... I know I can't shield him forever but he seems to take things in so deeply... I keep thinking of that Walt Whitman poem.
But I just wonder what it is all like for those kids that watch more TV. Are they as affected, or its it taken in more passively?

I wish I could have been 100% PURE on things with Will... I was for awhile (no candy, TV, blah, blah). How do people do that? I also feel I need to accept life as dirty as it can get and not beat myself up for not measuring up to the Mother I Want to Be. Just keep moving forward with insight and courage....

ISO Supermom

I am failing Will. If he is with me, he pretty much is miserable all the time. From the minute he wakes up, he is whining and crying. I focus on him, I love him, I try to laugh with him. He needs a greater sense of purpose. He needs centered. He is out of form.

Hey Julie Mama

Desparately Seeking Warmth!!!!!! Brrr.

Are you going to eat that?

Yes. Today Mark and I visited a couple pre-schools as part of our information gathering journey into Educating Will. We went to two schools. The first was a Primrose School and it was everything I despise about organzied pre-schools. The laughable part was the sign hanging up in the hallway spouting the delicious, nutririous snacks provided to the children - with a color poster featuring gorgeous green broccoli and red delicious apples.

Guess what the children were snacking on today as we visited the classrooms? Are you ready for this?

Pop tarts. With milk. I couldn't believe it. Yes, let me PAY you to feed my child pop tarts. WTF???? I really should have said something, I was on the verge. Mark and I left that school and Mark wanted to skip the next tour and just go to work. He said he had seen enough.... blah, blah, blah. I urged him to give the next school a try ---- it is a Monetessori school.

So we did and Mark was awed. What a difference. The building was very nice, the classrooms beautiful. Watching the children work was mesmerizing. I can definitely see the draw many have to a Montessori education. It was an enjoyable experience. It was all about respecting the child and not dumbing down their education.

Anyway, it was two very different experiences, that is for sure. The price tags of each school were, um, quite different too, if you can imagine.

Cheers and Jeers, Ups and Downs

Cheers and Jeers for the weekend:

Cheers-----

I am finally lovin' my Diva cup after cutting the tip of the bottom. I almost gave up on it after 5 months of hating it. A little snip at the bottom and it is PERFECT.

My kids are feeling much better.

Even though I bitch and moan too much about Mark (usually in regard to his housecleaning skills), he is a fabulous father. The boys adore him. I mean ADORE him. He is actively involved in their lives. Not perfect, but at least AWARE of their needs and feelings. Seriously too few dads are.

I have a freezer full of dinners made by mama friends.

I love Lake Farm School. It makes our family stronger.

I love the book, "Beyond the Rainbow Bridge - Nurturing Our Children from Birth to age Seven"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0964783231/ref=pd_bxgy_text_b/002-7871618-2832824?%5Fencoding=UTF8

My house is fairly clean right now.

I'm enjoying scrapbooking again finally.

Jeers:

The women in my extended family (i.e. sister, sil, mother) can drive me freakin' crazy with their judgements on how Mark and I parent.

Spending 4 hours watching a stupid football game is not my idea of fun. I could have been doing so many more interesting things.

Spending too much money on eating out at bad restaurants. Mark and I are determined to not do that again.

Mark playing hockey for nearly 4 hours every Sunday morning is starting to annoy the hell out of me.

Hmmmm. Maybe I should have ended with the Cheers so I could go out on a positive note. : ) Okay, so I will...

I love Will's exuberance and imaginative play. I love watching Will and Jack crawl around all night on the floor and act like puppy dogs. I love Will's wild blonde hair, and Jack's buddha belly. I love how Jack smiles for the camera. : )

Hey Julie Mama

I'm coming out of the fog today. Will was really sick, poor thing. On Wednesday, he had one continuous cough, literally. He was also breathing very fast. None of the homeopathic cough syrups were working, and teaspoons of honey and lemon did little to help. Baths In early afternoon with lavender and eucalyptus. Finally, I gave him a treatment of albuterol that I had left from last year's wheezing incident and that helped until Mark came home and I could go to the store for more medicine. I thought we were going to have to go the doctor's office the next day and they would surely prescribe antibiotics. At Nature's Pantry, my favorite herb/natural healer guy was there and gave me some killer homeopathic cough syrup with expectorant and Sovereign Silver. Added this to my aresenal of what I was already doing and he is doing much better today. I'm happy because I avoided more breathing treatments, steroids and antibiotics. Woo-hoo. And his immune system is now that much stronger. Giving my child Silver is a little freaky and I had to go on the faith of my herb guy until I did some research. Ignoring the freaky stuff on the net like the silver lady, and reading some of the studies, I'm happy to use it in small doses on occassion, mostly if it helps avoid antibiotics.

http://www.natural-immunogenics.com/silver_why_sovereign.php

And the site that would freak anyone out to take silver:

http://homepages.together.net/~rjstan/rose2.html

Anyway...

Its taken me half the day to blog this as these kids are so freakin' needy. It gets so tiring. I'm giving up for the day. I started this post before 8 am and its 1 pm. This is why I don't blog like I would prefer.....

Hey Julie Mama

My babies are sick. : (

Hey Julie Mama

My babies are sick. : (