building a tinker tent: {carnival of natural mothering}

Welcome to the November 2013 Carnival of Natural Mothering! 

This article is a part of the Carnival of Natural Mothering hosted by GrowingSlower, Every Breath I Take, I Thought I Knew Mama, African Babies Don't Cry, and Adventures of Captain Destructo. This month's topic is Incorporating Natural Into the Holidays. Be sure to check out all of the participants' posts through the links at the bottom of this page.

I recently wrote an article in the holiday edition of Rhythm of the Home about how we are trying to limit the amount of stuff we accumulate, both during the holidays and year-round. I have gotten such great positive feedback from y'all that I decided to share some of what we're doing gift-wise for the kids this year.

Easter with southern flavor

Note: crocs and sneakers were the kids' choices. But they did run around outside all day in them!

I'm titling this post with the name of one my favorite bluegrass banjo songs by Bill Monroe. I reckon it could serve as a mighty good soundtrack for this here post.

Maybe it's the fact that I'm in the midst of re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird, or because I just always miss my family, but I decided to give Easter supper a southern flare. We had "hammus Alabamus," as my Grandaddy would say, cucumber salad, potato salad, homemade bread with butter, pickles, and ambrosia. Basically, I ripped off my aunt's traditional Easter supper, minus the bunny cake she always makes, which involves lots of coconut and is rightly gilded with plenty of jelly beans. Instead of bunny cake, I swapped in our tradition of hot cross buns (n.b.: cute video of Charlie in that link), except this time I made Jacques Pepin's brioche and used Thomas Keller's idea for how to put them in a pan instead of a brioche mold. Hot cross buns are supposed to be made on Good Friday, but I couldn't get my act together by then.

The ham was so easy. I got a pre-cooked and spiral-sliced ham from Trader Joe's that came with a packet of glaze mix. Ambrosia is easy too; I leave out the nuts and marshmallows and just keep it at pineapple, mandarin oranges, cherries, and coconut, tossed together with a little sour cream.

For an appetizer, we took half the Easter eggs (that hadn't gone into potato salad) and made deviled eggs with them. Mine include salt, lemon juice, mustard, mayo, and dried dill or dill relish, with the obligatory sprinkle of paprika on top.

What did you do for the holiday? Hope it was tasty!
xoxo
~J

on the range {week 3}: eggnog rice pudding

This is how Vivi felt about making pudding with me. A teeny bit excited.

On the Range

January 15-21, 2013

roof permits are hard to come by...

Between the Lincoln logs, Duplos, and wood blocks, we've got lots of building going on 'round here. If only Charlie would let us put a roof on it...

The kids are enjoying their new holiday loot, and meanwhile Nate and I are dividing our time between college bowl games (nearly done! phew) and basement shuffling. New year, new stuff! Purging seems to be a disdained activity in many households, but I know I'm a broken record when I say I love rotating my belongings.

How are y'all holding up? Any resolutions? I'm going with the standard "more exercise, less sugar" routine. And maybe some L-glutamine to help my tummy along...

I'm also going to try to take some sage advice and keep my list of regrets down to a minimum. I love the "what is my legacy?" and "who will be there with me?" questions he poses in that HuffPo article. Thought provoking to be sure.

Hope you're having a splendid start to the new year!
xoxo
~J

Happy New Year!

We rang in the new year Boston-style with some fantastic sledding. Hope you're having a good time wherever you are! Be safe, and I'll see you again in 2013.

Christmas fun

We are having such fun with the girls! Best Christmas EVER!! Here are some pictures, and I'll get more video up soon.

Window shopping in Concord

happy holidays!

                                                Source: lifeinthenow.com via Maryann on Pinterest

Our house is already a mess even a day before the main event, but I am enjoying every moment to its fullest. We are waist-deep in presents and macaroons and chocolate moose. The fireplace is fixed now, so we reveled in our first living room blaze in the new house last night. I am also patiently waiting for my new oven, an unexpected gift (our last one broke last week) that will arrive the day after Christmas. I hope you're enjoying some great holidaying as well. I'll try to update again when I can, but for now here's a few videos of Charlie exuding holiday cheer.

the star of our show

Yes, that is a pretzel ornament behind Vivi. What can I say? We kinda like food.

Christmas is right around the corner, and Genevieve couldn't be more excited about it. My mom is in town to celebrate with us, and she mercifully allowed the overjoyed child to open one of her gifts early.  It was a box full of dress-up clothes, and Vivi got to work right away accessorizing herself with boas and frills. A girlier girl has never existed, nor one who is more anxious to step out on a stage somewhere. She's the yin to her wallflower sister's yang, and being a bit of a wallflower myself, it's a hoot to play the role of stage mother to one of my own flesh-and-blood offspring. What a ham!
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{this moment}: turkeydaying

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. Photos capturing moments from the week. Simple, special, extraordinary moments. Moments I want to pause, savor and remember.

{animoto}: family togetherness rocks!

My mom is coming today for Thanksgiving. We are so excited because it's been over a year since her last trip up to Beantown. I am really happy that I was given an opportunity to make a video where I could showcase our enthusiasm about the family togetherness that the holidays bring. Click here to see my video and learn more about how you can get a free video too! (No contest required!).

DIY holiday fun

Welcome to the October 2012 Simplicity Parenting Carnival: Holidays
This post was written as part of the monthly Simplicity Parenting Carnival hosted by The Lone Home Ranger and S.A.H.M. i AM. This month we are discussing how we simplify the holiday season. Be sure to read to the end to see a list of the rest of the excellent carnival contributors.
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In the past I wouldn't have considered myself the crafting kind. That's an understatement, really. I tried one Martha Stewart craft project in college--creating my own criss-cross ribbon photo board--which was an abysmal failure. Lately, though, I've been enjoying taking up more craft projects with my girls. Perhaps it's the fact that they are so small that makes me adventurous. After all, who cares if a child's art project isn't perfect?

May flowers

I had a great Mother's Day weekend! The hubs really pulled out all the stops, so I had another holiday of not having to change diapers, give baths, or make dinner. We went for a long bike ride yesterday to our town center to have some ice cream, towing the girls in a trailer for the first time. I only feared for their safety 99.9% of the time; but even with the fear, I'd call the trip a deliriously fun success.

I am enough: a Mother's Day declaration

When I saw the Time magazine cover story announced yesterday, "Are You Mom Enough?," my initial reaction bore mixed feelings. On the one hand, I applaud the message sent by mothers who want to show that breastfeeding at any age can be a good choice for them.* Above all else, I am tired of the "mom wars," in which we judge and berate each other's parenting decisions, particularly the decision to breastfeed. We even go so far as to create laws that would hinder those decisions. There is such a sad double standard in a society that allows barely-clad breasts to advertise sex on billboards but restricts mothers from feeding their children wherever and in what way they see fit to do so.

homemade Mother's Day video & Animoto giveaway!

Happy May Day! I'm going to start off this month a bit differently on the blog and host my first giveaway. I'm not a giveaway girl usually. Maybe it's because I'm a book nerd, or because I'm frugal, but I don't often find myself getting excessively hyped up about any new product or electronic toy. I'm a simple chick. I have a dumb phone--you know, as opposed to a "smart" phone--and I prefer to scrub my floors on my hands and knees to the fancy steam mop that Nate bought and that, less than a year later, has just been donated to our church rummage sale.

Now that I'm past that little rant, I'll tell you about the electronic toy I love. When Clever Girls Collective offered me a chance to make videos from my pictures, I thought: how fun! It was perfect timing because I just scanned a bunch of pictures of my mom that my dad found and sent me. Since Mother's Day is coming, I decided to make a movie for mom of the pictures I scanned. Happy (early) Mother's Day Mom!



And guess what? I'm not the only one who gets a freebie. There's something in it for you too. Just go to Animoto and enter the code CleverFL to get a free video. AND one lucky reader will also get a free one-year subscription to Animoto Plus, which gives you unlimited full-length videos.

Here's how you can win the free year's subscription:

Leave a comment by midnight on Sunday, May 6th letting me know who you would make your free video for. Also sign into the Rafflecopter widget below and complete as many other entries as you'd like. The winner will be selected randomly by Rafflecopter and announced on Monday, May 7th. Good luck!

As they say on their website, making videos on Animoto is "shockingly easy." This is important because I have only a few minutes to spend on learning new things, due both to my post-baby brain power and hectic mommy schedule. But dudes, I'm serious when I say that if you already have the pictures and song, it will take you about five minutes to make your movie. So go for it!

fostering a love of the Earth

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Welcome to the Earth Day Blog Carnival
This post is part of the 2012 Earth Day Blog Carnival hosted by Child of the Nature Isle and Monkey Butt Junction.  Each participant has shared their practices and insights of earth friendly, environmentally conscious, eco-living. This carnival is our way to share positive information and inspiration that can create healing for our planet. Please read to the end of this post to find a list of links to the other carnival participants. Happy Earth Day!

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Happy Earth Day! I've been looking forward to Earth Day this year because it's the first time Vivi--at almost four years old--understands the word Earth and what it means to protect it. I'm certain my children's understanding will grow and change with age, and I'm looking forward to sharing my knowledge and passion for environmental stewardship with the girls over the coming years.

spring break!

Yes, okey dokey is the day

when all you Rolie did was play.

-from Rolie Polie Olie by William Joyce

We spent our entire day outdoors with great weather. What a wonderful way to start spring break with a bang. We made it to church but didn't actually step foot inside the building. Vivi asked me if she could just play on the playground instead (her absolute favorite jungle gym), and I couldn't say no. We spent two glorious hours playing and chatting with the first service folks as they came out and with the second service folks before they went in. Then we had a picnic at home, went to Vivi's favorite park in the afternoon, and stopped in Winchester for ice cream on our way to dinner with friends. The perfect day! (minus Daddy still being gone)

an Easter full of peekaboo and buns

N.B.: This title is no doubt going to attract some p0rn searches, but whattaya gonna do? 

I know I've already posted once today, but I couldn't resist sharing the game of peekaboo we played while eating our special Easter snack, hot cross buns. As you're about to see, Charlotte kinda liked it.

Hope you had a splendid weekend! I'm off to make eggs and sausage for dinner, cuz that's the kind of day we're having.

xoxo,
~J

p.s. I didn't video Vivi because she's gotten a hair cut, and I'm talking more about it (and showing a picture!) on Tuesday.

celebrating new life and new opportunities

I enjoyed telling Vivi the story of Easter...or rather, reading a book to her on the subject I got from the library, Easter by Gail Gibbons. It's a sweet book that wraps up all of the elements of Easter nicely. If you struggle as I do about how to incorporate Jesus, hunting for eggs, candy, and the Easter bunny together, you might also enjoy the book. Er, well, it's a bit late for me to be telling you. Next year you'll enjoy it. File that one away somewhere.

cod with apples and onions {kid-friendly meal}

I was raised Catholic, and although we are no longer of the Catholic faith* and don't participate in Lent, I still tend to abstain from meat on Good Friday out of a fondness for my childhood memories (ditto hot cross buns; I tried Pioneer Woman's recipe this year). When we lived in Wisconsin, we adored the Friday fish fry tradition, which is held year-round as opposed to just during Lent. I miss Fried Fish Fridays! (or as they would say up there..."Do ya' miss Fish Fridays at all?" "Yah, I miss 'em").

Erin go braugh (or "the Dude abides")

I'll begin by saying I really do not like the word vomit. I don't like when people say "I vomited in my mouth a little" to be funny. It is not funny to imagine you vomiting in your mouth a little. Having said that, I went grocery shopping yesterday, and it looked like St. Patrick's Day vomited everywhere. I'm not even joking. I only wish I could show you the NINE pictures I took with my phone of the NINE St. Patrick's Day displays in Stop 'N Shop, but my phone is evil and hates me and refuses to allow me to share. Darn you, dumb phone. I will definitely be swapping my phone for Nate's in a matter of days. But I digress.