Uh-oh

I'm going to be up all night cooking pizzas. I made 4 pizzas - yes 4 -already but the crust is too bready. I put those in the freezer for Mark and he is forever happy. Now I need to cut the recipe to make thinner crusts.

I really just want to sleep though. Two days of watching 4 kids ages 4 and under has me beat.

SAHM Bliss

Now This Is What I'm Talkin' About!

My boys are sooooo happy. I am happy. Are they happy because I am happy or am I happy because they are happy? Hmmm?

WELCOME SPRING!

Home sweet home

The kids are so happy. They are pulling around suitcases and pretending like they are going to the airport. Will has been naked all day. : )

I need to start thinking cooking club meals. I'm thinking pizza....

Johnny Cash is playing. I just keep thinking of Joaquin. And Phoenix. Wah.

Good day!

My babies are sleeping. Will was plenty happy to fall asleep tonight so he can wake up and go get Daddy at the airport.

Can I just say that most Waldorf "toys" we've ever played with are just magic? Magic, I tell you! I bought a few things the other day at www.waldorfsupplies.com, including square block crayons and wax modeling soap.

First the crayons. Now, we have so many Crapoloa crayons in this house we should buy stock in the company. Wait a minute, we do own their stock... Anyway, Will has never had much interest in coloring. I think its a combination of the straight crayons, and the waxy, not vibrant Crayola colors. He quickly would lose interest in coloring.

I bought him the square Lyra crayons, plus Mark brought home a binder with beautiful, good quality paper (rather than the ugly computer paper we were using). Will colored for an hour. Magic!

Today, I pulled out this cool modeling soap. I have read that beeswax modeling can sometimes be frustrating for the younger children because it takes awhile to warm up in your hands, so I opted for the Washy Squash Modeling Soap. He played ALL morning with it. He'll play with play doh... but once again, bores quickly. This stuff was fabulous. It was soft, smelled fantastic and was beautiful colors. He made a pea pod, airplane, egg, tree, the coast of Maine (yep) and a zillion other things. Then after lunch, more fun was had using some of it in the bath tub. It literally took up half our day (sorry, Audrey, this is why we never came to play). Magic!

ETA: I just have to add that Jack enjoyed both the crayons and soap too, in his own way. He threw the crayons, and ate the soap. Maybe he will "get it" soon. : )

My heart belongs to Waldorf right now for so many reasons.

Anyway.

A few books I'm reading off the top of my head:

Magical Child
Spiritual Tasks of the Homemaker
Square Foot Gardening
John Holts Homeschooling Handbook (can't remember title)
Eating Without Heating
Chop Water, Carry Wood
Kristen's Fairy Houses
Summer
Spring Has Sprung
Johnnycake
Festivals, Familly and Food
Carol Alts raw cookbook
Whatever else is at the bottom of my bed at midnight.
And forget about my ipod. Who has time for THAT? Sigh.

I have to go read now. I believe Spiritual Tasks will win out this evening.

Matrix Interupted

We took Daddy to the airport tonight. Will cried all the way home. : (
Mark will be home Sunday afternoon. So only two nights. Its just really hard on the boys. Although bedtime tonight went pretty well, considering the circumstances.

Mark's attending a convention in California. The convention will have exhibits/vendors from companies that market all natural, or some type of health related products. I told him to get me lots of samples! : )

I'm tired... must sleep.

Tomorrow hopefully I can replant my zuchinni into bigger pots. Its growing so fast!

Hey Julie Mama

This is the tea set I want to get the boys. But I'm afraid Jack would destroy it. I have to decide if I should chance it, wait, or choose an enamel tea set.

http://www.hearthsong.com/hearthsong/product.do?section_id=0&sc=1005&bc=1005&pgc=1038&cmvalue=HS%7CCROSSSELL%7CPRODUCT%7C843

ETA: if anyone is really interested and the above link doesn't work, go to www.hearthsong.com and look at the bunny tea set!

These tea sets are adorable too:

http://www.bluemoontea.com/childs-tea-set.htm

"Jack's Stuck"

That is a common comment around this house. Jack is my little monkey. SERIOUSLY, I am going to try to take some pics soon of one of his antics. Yesterday, he literally was climbing up my kitchen cabinets. I walked in the kitchen and he was hanging off one of the shelves (I don't have doors to my cabinets).

He's also a one man wrecking machine. We brought the TV and VCR downstairs last night to watch a movie. Now the VCR is broken. Perhaps is was the fact he kept climbing on it, or that he kept shoving pennys in it.

Hey Julie Mama

Hey Julie Mama

Mark has left for work and will head to Lawrence after work to watch basketball with his buddy. He'll be back late tomorrow night. I kinda kicked him out (and he was ever so willing) as I can't deal with him screaming at the TV set for the next two days. But I was sad to say good-bye today.

Next weekend he goes to California for some free lance stuff he's working on, and before that even he is going to see OUR favorite band, Wilco, who will be in KC for a rare concert on Tuesday. I can't leave the boys for that late of a night. I am feeling a bit sorry for myself.


We were suppose to do some more candle dipping today with my friend but all the kids are a bit sick. We will stay home and I hope that Will can find his groove, because this morning he is a cranky skunk spraying all of us. Gotta go. The skunk is stuck behind the couch and needs my help.

Hey Julie Mama

Someone please remind me that Mark is out slaying dragons for us right now. I just think he is away making pretty pictures, eating at fabulous restaurants and having stimulating adult conversations.

Wait. Must go read my post a few days back...

Hey Julie Mama

"Ad hoc, ad hoc, and quid pro quo.
So little time,
So much to know!"

----Jeremy Hillary Boob, Ph.D., Eminent Classicist, Botanist, Satirist, Part-time Firefighter and Paperback Writer.

Hey Julie Mama

We are happy but tired here. The kids are running free in the backyard while I'm upstairs sorting thru diapers. I can see them out of our bedroom sliding glass door. I am getting ready to sell off a lot of my stash. Looking over my pathetic diapers, I'm frustrated over the time I spend googling over the diapers. I always ended up buying cheap stuff that never worked well. I keep going back to cloth every once and awhile (went to sposies when Jack was about 14 months and 3 years of cloth), last a couple weeks, get overwhelmed with the crap, and go back to sposies. Now that I am thinning out the stash, I am going to make it a go again. using only fuzzi bunz when out and snug to fits at home. Blah, blah, blah over something that has been bugging me for awhile.

I'm making Thai Pumpkin Coconut soup for lunch. We've been eating pineapple coconut smoothies and I'm using up the coconut milk for the soup. We've been on a coconut kick. Guess I'm yearning for summer.

Hey Julie Mama

I am reading Square Foot Gardening and am fascinated. I have the older book edition, but now want this book:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591862027/sr=8-1/qid=1142308351/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-7871618-2832824?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Back to reading.

Our Need/Wish list

Kitchen schears

Food processor

hot pads

Glass or ceramic water pitcher with lid

Easter for the boys: tea set

Lyra crayons

Beeswax modeling

Beeswax sheets for candle rolling

Birthday for the boys: Face pencils

Hey Julie Mama

I made 5 potato and spinach quiches, granola, granola bars, a sweet potato coconut pie, and filed our taxes this weekend. Yay. I am so glad to be done with our taxes. And I need that money as some of it is going to cover the cost of our CSA share.

Will ate, I dunno, at least 4 sour cream muffins for dinner tonight. He had a lot of fun at our friend's house, and on the way home was a chatterbox... talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.... and then... in an instant... zzzzzzzzzz. How does he do that? But a 6:30 bedtime gave me the time to tackle the taxes. Woo-hoo.

We're planting our seeds tomorrow.

I'm a little loopy from sitting on the computer for 2 hours doing the taxes. A bit scattered.

Some of my favorite pics

I love my boys!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9ActWrVo1bMeY

The Purpose of Our Work

Mama's,
People give lip service to the importance of motherhood and homemaking. But we know how much we can affect change in this world. Need a reminder of why we are doing what we do? The next time someone asks you what you do for a living, remember this:

"If the homemaker asks after the purpose of her work, the answer is:

She stands within the situations from out of which a new society will develop."

----The Spiritual Tasks of the Homemaker
Manfred Schmidt-Brabant

I love it! I STAND WITHIN THE SITUATIONS FROM OUT OF WHICH A NEW SOCIETY WILL DEVELOP.

Now off to build fairy houses with Will....

All Work and No Play. Not.

We are playing alot here and having fun.

Mark and I are taking a Pottery class thru the Continuing Education at Longview College. The class is actually at a nearby high school, from 6-8 so we are able to be home for the boys' bedtime. We threw our first bowl last night!

We have been home alot, although outside most of the time. This means, as usual, that I can't keep up on this house. I'm at a loss. The Laundry Monster seems to be here to stay. And I think I have a few mischievious elemental beings that like to continually add crumbs to my floor minutes after I sweep. And I mean in addition to Will and Jack. Because I swear I could clean for a lifetime and still find crumbs. ; )

Today we were not home. Lunch with Daddy, which is always a big, long affair. Boys are asleep. So I must tend those crumbs.

ETA: Hey Tabitha! I am a near neighbor of yours! I live in the suburbs of Kansas City, MO... far south. We go down to Beaver Lake, Arkansas every year to camp. I think that is somewhat near where you live...

Hey Julie Mama

I just bought a bunch of seeds for our garden. I better get my butt into gear. I hope this doesn't turn out to be a total supreme waste of money. This is what I bought (from www.seedsavers.org):

Description Total
1
Southport Red Globe Onion
Packet 100 seeds
Item: 641 APACKET Price: $2.50
$2.50
1
St. Valery Carrot
Packet 250 seeds
Item: 360 APACKET Price: $2.50
$2.50
1
Kentucky Wonder Pole Bean
Packet 50 seeds
Item: 605 APACKET Price: $2.50
$2.50
1
Black Beauty Zucchini Squash
Packet 25 seeds
Item: 1303 APACKET Price: $2.50
$2.50
1
Wisconsin 55 Tomato
Packet 25 seeds
Item: 1059(OG) APACKET Price: $2.50
$2.50
1
Genovese Basil
Packet 250 seeds
Item: 271(OG) APACKET Price: $2.50
$2.50
1
Miniature Red Bell Pepper
Packet 25 seeds
Item: 842 APACKET Price: $2.50
$2.50
1
Blacktail Mountain Watermelon
Packet 25 seeds
Item: 967 APACKET Price: $2.50
$2.50
1
Sunflower Collection
Item: 1421 Price: $13.50
$13.50
1
Calendula Mixture
Packet 250 seeds
Item: 1066 APACKET Price: $2.50
$2.50
1
Starfire Signet Marigold
Packet 100 seeds
Item: 1133 APACKET Price: $2.50
$2.50

Hey Julie Mama

House is somewhat back to normal! whew.

I never sleep. Its 3 am. Jack is teething... his incisors.

I need to post this as a constant reminder to myself:

There was a child went forth every day,
And the first object he look'd upon
That object he became,
And that object became part of him,
For the day or a certain part of the day,
Or for many years or stretching cycles of years...
~Walt Whitman


I love my boys so much. Will has been so much fun this week. Lots of dancing and giggles. He will always be my baby.

Hey Julie Mama

I just made 6 pizza lasagnas. I cannot even begin to describe how trashed this house is. Mark is going to die when he walks in...but i can't clean because Jack wants to nurse and nurse and nurse and nurse....gotta go. Will has informed me there is a bug in our garage that I just gotta go see... he says its big. As big as an ant. LOL.

Ugh.

Here's my pathetic fridge shot. I'm tellin' ya, I want to go to Sarah's house....
I have lemons, flax, yogurt and the best Honey Peanut Butter ever. What else does a girl need? Oh, a bunch of leftovers on the top shelf....

Hey Julie Mama

Freaky. This is so me... Take the test yourself! : )
The Quick and Painless ENNEAGRAM Test
http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=12721960859055255705

the Romantic
Test finished!
you chose BY - your Enneagram type is FOUR.
"I am unique"

Romantics have sensitive feelings and are warm and perceptive.

How to Get Along with Me

Give me plenty of compliments. They mean a lot to me.
Be a supportive friend or partner. Help me to learn to love and value myself.
Respect me for my special gifts of intuition and vision.
Though I don't always want to be cheered up when I'm feeling melancholy, I sometimes like to have someone lighten me up a little.
Don't tell me I'm too sensitive or that I'm overreacting!
What I Like About Being a Four

my ability to find meaning in life and to experience feeling at a deep level
my ability to establish warm connections with people
admiring what is noble, truthful, and beautiful in life
my creativity, intuition, and sense of humor
being unique and being seen as unique by others
having aesthetic sensibilities
being able to easily pick up the feelings of people around me
What's Hard About Being a Four

experiencing dark moods of emptiness and despair
feelings of self-hatred and shame; believing I don't deserve to be loved
feeling guilty when I disappoint people
feeling hurt or attacked when someone misundertands me
expecting too much from myself and life
fearing being abandoned
obsessing over resentments
longing for what I don't have
Fours as Children Often

have active imaginations: play creatively alone or organize playmates in original game s
are very sensitive
feel that they don't fit in
believe they are missing something that other people have
attach themselves to idealized teachers, heroes, artists, etc.
become antiauthoritarian or rebellious when criticized or not understood
feel lonely or abandoned (perhaps as a result of a death or their parents' divorce)
Fours as Parents

help their children become who they really are
support their children's creativity and originality
are good at helping their children get in touch with their feelings
are sometimes overly critical or overly protective
are usually very good with children if not too self-absorbed
Renee Baron & Elizabeth Wagele

The Enneagram Made Easy
Discover the 9 Types of People
HarperSanFrancisco, 1994, 161 pages