The Mommy Chronicles

Stroller pics

2011-08-31T18:33:00.000-07:00

The turnaround

2011-01-27T05:54:00.000-08:00

I was just reviewing these last couple of months in my head and I realized... it's getting better! I was waiting for it to get better and it is! We are really going to be okay. It's taken a little longer to get back on my feet after each child. Evidently my recovery time (and we're talking whole life recovery here, not physical birth recovery, in case you are confused) for child #5 is 13 months.

Dining Chair Project!

2011-01-06T13:46:00.000-08:00

It turns out that having a bunch of children using nice dining chairs - for meals and projects and also school time - is eventually too hard for the chairs to bear. Check out the sliding on and off damage on these!! Schnikeys! I had been musing about recovering the chairs for some years but when the one on the left split open, I knew it was time. I had purchased some outdoor canvas last spring to try to recover my wonderful outdoor swing that got weathered and turned to shreds after a few years. But... I didn't get that project done... and my budget said now is not the time to buy fabric to recover the dining chairs... but I noticed that the swing fabric went very nicely with the dining room... so I reallocated the fabric that was intended for the swing, and today my mom came to help me get the job done.

The transformation is nothing short of amazing. I found the work very satisfying, though I will confess that my staple gunning areas are a little tender. Mom ended the project with a band-aid, though, so I will hand the badge of honor over to her!

THANKS, MOM!! =)

Just cuteness

2010-12-29T13:08:00.000-08:00

Apparently we have learned to climb things! Odelia is 13 months. The kids got all the Duplos out for her because she seemed to really enjoy Shiloh's new Duplo train he got from SaSa for Christmas. And this is her greatest joy today - climbing up then yelling for someone to come see her and, presumably, get her down safely.

And here's Allegra with "Baby Jesus" in her stroller. An hour ago, she and Shiloh had built a nice manger out of the Duplos and were playing "Mary and Joseph are running in circles around Baby Jesus!" I love Christmas!!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-27T17:28:00.000-08:00

Christmas milky - though she got other gifts for Christmas, this is all she really wanted - and she was very appreciative, as always!

Our Christmas tree. I bought it in 1999 for $19.99. Matt likes to make fun of it but it does the job: keeps the ornaments and lights off the floor and makes a spot to put gifts. I love this tree and its lore for our family but what I love more is that Matt put the tree and lights up for me this year because I was too overwhelmed to be able to manage it. And for my gift he got me this tree skirt the kids told him I liked. I will always treasure it.

See? I told you he was happier later on. This was when I reminded him that he wouldn't smile for me in the earlier picture. He jumped up and posed in front of the tree for me. It's better than nothing!

The Bright Spots

2010-12-27T17:20:00.000-08:00

I feel like I need to say something positive to balance out my dire words a few posts back. Yes, I am still struggling. Yes, 5 is very possibly my limit. Yes, I could bore you for weeks about how difficult this past year + has been for me. But what I want to say is that it's going to be all worth it. And what really makes it worth it is the relationships we get to watch growing between our children. Odelia ADORES Cymbre and sometimes even prefers her to me. Allegra and Cymbre are getting to be friends. Shiloh and Eli are sharing some common interests. Allegra and Shiloh love to play with the baby and protect her from dangers like the stairs. Odelia loves when Eli makes faces at her. She dances when the children sing. It's worth it. It's worth it. It's hard but I know it's worth it.

I mean seriously, this is some champion cuteness.

Christmas morning. After church. Eli wouldn't smile because we told them they needed to do chores while we made lunch and he was upset that Christmas was turning out to be "just like every other day." He was a LOT happier later on.

More serious cuteness. New baby shoes and a red velvet baby track suit. She's my dolly.

Merry Christmas from the Scott family!

2010-12-06T15:03:00.000-08:00

We once again had our family photos done by our friend Devon. This year we did them early enough to have a lovely outdoor shoot! Enjoy!

Cymbre - age 9

Eli - age 7

Allegra - age 5

Shiloh - age 3

Merry Christmas from the Scott family!

2010-12-06T15:00:00.000-08:00

Miss Odelia - 11 months

Sister picture: Allegra, Cymbre and Odelia

Brother picture: Shiloh and Eli

Me and my darlin'

Merry Christmas from the Scott family!

2010-12-06T14:58:00.000-08:00

I decided to do some fun "packin' heat" pictures. These will make me smile when I am old.

Sneak peek - 2010 family pictures!

2010-10-28T11:11:00.000-07:00

Here it is - your sneak peek for this year's pictures, again by the lovely Devon!
In case you've lost track, here's the roster, L to R:
Cymbre (9), Eli (7), Matt, Shiloh (3), Odelia (11 months), Serenity and Allegra (5)

So I'll give it to you straight...

2010-10-16T11:31:00.000-07:00

You know that thing people say about how once you get to 3 kids, you might as well keep going because it doesn't get any harder? Well, like most bold faced cultural lies, there is SOME truth in it. Behold my musings on caring for a "larger" family of 4 kids and a baby.

For example, the older kids are able to help more by the time you get to that point - this can be a wonderful relief to the mom who has gotten through the years of several small ones and no one to help. However, in my experience, 4 children can make a mess of their toys, books, clothes, and bedding approximately 10 times faster than 2 children. Conversely, cleaning up takes 25 times longer with 4 children than with 2 (and probably 50 times longer than with 1, although it depends heavily on the temperament of that one, doesn't it?) because of the addition of distraction and fighting to the activity of cleanup.

Cooking food for 4 children is not appreciably different than cooking food for 2 children. However, getting seconds and thirds of food and drink for the good eaters while cajoling the "too picky to live" children and simultaneously feeding the small, messy boy while nursing the baby... I'll just be blunt, it's exhausting to the point of death. I will say that I feel the need to upgrade to larger cookware at this point because lately using my usual casserole dishes and pots is a fairly good way to ace Daddy out of his dinner - which may or may not matter depending on when and in what condition he arrives home, given his unpredictability in these matters.

Taking the children for outings has gotten really complicated in the last year. No matter where we go, near or far, someone has to use the bathroom. I think the short story is that no matter where in the birth order you are, having a baby and a potty-training toddler is the surest recipe for outing misery known to mom-dom. However, adding in big kids who have their own potty schedules and may be reluctant to go when it's convenient (although normally they do go then and then ALSO need to go when it isn't) but still need to be safely guided to and from the restroom means that on any outing, I will be visiting it more or less every 15 minutes. Even a simple trip to a playground can be curtailed after only 5 minutes of play because someone has to use the bathroom. And back home we go, wondering why we ventured out in the first place.

Anyway, it's been almost a year and things are still not "bounced back" here. I spend all day chasing my tail trying to just stay on top of the urgent and continual needs... trying to keep the kids moving forward in their schoolwork and keep them fed and keep the laundry moving... and every day the lesser tasks get perpetually sidelined for another day... which at this point looks like it will truly never come.

I'm not trying to scare anyone out of having a big family but don't do it because it "doesn't get any harder" after 3. It does. And just like all the other times, we adapt and we change and we pray and we cry and, if history has anything to teach us about this, eventually we do get back on our feet, stronger and better than before. Hoping that will happen soon.

What it looks like

2010-09-24T09:36:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of our usual school day. Yes, it looks something like chaos, but it has been going really well!

Since Odelia was born last fall, I've found myself relegated more than ever to "survival mode." Hence, this fall finds us a bit behind where I'd like us to be academically but more importantly, we are suffering from the lack of consistent character training over the last year. Last week we kicked off a new school year - a year I plan to take by STORM. Our renewed diligence is already paying dividends.

This month our hymn is Oh, That the Lord Would Guide my Ways. I love this group: http://koinemusic.com/ and I selected one hymn for each month that we can play ad nauseam that goes with our character study and some of the other things I've selected for the year. These guys do actual hymn-format music but with kicked up modern instrumentals. I absolutely LOVE them. All the hymns I chose for the year are from their albums so that it's easy for us to listen to them and sing them. =)

What I would LIKE to do is compile a "soundtrack" for each month with the hymn for the month and related songs I know of and like, our theme song for this year (Nothing but the Blood of Jesus by the Branches Band) and stuff like that. I think it would be fun to have those CDs later and be like, hey, remember the month we studied XYZ and be able to play the music we listened to that month (ad nauseam because that's how I do things) and it would really be a neat memory tool. On the other hand, maybe a soundtrack for the whole year would be sufficient.

Meanwhile, I am creating a theme for each week based on this acrostic poem Christian Character ABCs so last week we talked about Alertness and memorized 1 Peter 5:8 and learned about lions. This week we're discussing Benevolence and memorizing Philippians 2:3,4 and writing illustrated stories in which someone is behaving in a benevolent manner. Oh, and we're also reading through the book of John this month, at a pace of one chapter each day.

So... in summary, here is the plan! Next month we'll sing The King of Love my Shepherd Is - and we'll also be reading the 23rd Psalm and studying Diligence, Endurance, Faithfulness, and Gratefulness

Then...November - Chief of Sinners though I Be - and we'll be reading Psalm 122 and listening to another song based on that by another fave of mine - The Branches Band http://www.andyandrachel.biz/BranchesBand/Home.html
And we'll be studying Honesty, Integrity, Joy, and Kindness

Then...December - Of the Father's Love Begotten - that's a little known Christmas hymn that ties in with out character studies for the month of Love and Meekness

Jan - Be Still my Soul - I thought it would be fitting with the quietness of winter and stillness of snow. We will also be studying Psalm 46 and our character studies will be Neatness (hooray - can't WAIT for this one!), Obedience, Patience, Quietness, and Resourcefulness

Feb. Take my Life and Let it Be - we will be reading Psalm 146 and studying Sincerity, Temperance, Unity, and Virtue

Mar. Brothers, Sisters, Let us Gladly - and we will be reading Psalm 133 and studying Wisdom, Excellence, Yielding and Zeal

That brings us to the end of our acrostic poem so I will see where we are at that point and continue my planning and training. The first two weeks have gone well and I think it's going to be a very good year. =)

And as far as academics, Cymbre and Eli are both using a math workbook from Horizons. Allegra and Shiloh generally play with math manipulatives and puzzles a few times each week. Cymbre is working through Spelling Power, which is new for us this year and which we are LOVING. Eli is working through the reading program from My Father's World and starting to take off with it. I have Allegra sit in on our lessons when I can, but she is not always willing. Cymbre and Eli do handwriting practice based on our memory verses for the week. Cymbre got started writing essays with my little sisters this summer and is now writing essays and reports for me that we file in her binder. Science and social studies will be thematic, based on our interests and our many travels. Last week, for example, the children learned about the 1812 Overture with Matt, who used the internet to learn the real story of the war. We then got the CD from the library, as well as books about Tchaikovsky and other music by Tchaikovsky. At the end of the week, Cymbre and Eli put on a reenactment of the War of 1812 using stuffed penguins and Nerf guns that was quite a spectacle of understanding, complete with the Russian penguin praying for deliverance from the French penguin.

Old news, NEW baby!

2010-01-15T10:16:00.000-08:00

The Intern graduated on November 10th after just a short little labor and a straightforward and quick birth in our bathroom. Her name is Odelia Hope and she's sweet and amazing and truly a gift from God.
Here she is at 3 days old:

Here she is with the whole crew at her baptism on November 15th.

Here she is with Daddy at 4 weeks, in her first 3-6 month outfit. She seems to have misread the tags... her early literacy has her confused as to the meaning of months vs. weeks.

And here she is at 9 weeks in one of her her fabulous new BumGenius Organic diapers that were a gift from some wonderful friends and the beautiful afghan that some lovely ladies at church made for her.
(This week finds her ready to bust out of her 3-6 month wardrobe - again, she seems to feel she is falling behind because of the confusion with reading the size tags. It's like she heard that the next size is 6-9 and, being 9 weeks, she's just got to get to it before it's too late!)

Odelia is just a pile of love and smiles. We are so thankful to have her in our family!!

Can't wait for spring!

2010-01-15T10:00:00.000-08:00

I've got a little spring fever here! Looking at these pictures from last spring, I can almost feel the sun... but not quite. This year I hope to grow lots of good stuff to feed my family and to put up for winter. I also hope to get the kids out to do lots of berry-picking and canning/freezing. But for now, I'll just dream of warmth and sunshine and pleasant breezes...

39 weeks with The Intern

2009-10-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

Oh, little dear Intern, when would you like to graduate? We would like to extend to you a full-time position as a newborn in our organization. Our compensation package is competitive and we have amazing growth possibilities for you, especially in the first two years of your stay with us while we will nurture you like no one else can.

We're ready when you are!

Our little rat!

2009-10-13T11:15:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Cymbre danced as a rat in The Pied Piper with the CARE Conservatory of Ballet. (See http://www.careballet.org for more information about this great organization!) She had a great time, did a wonderful job and we're very proud of her!

Here she is in costume. The rats also had a full head mask (hence the half face make-up job) for the show but I didn't get any pictures with it on. Since she danced as a rodent in Carnival of the Animals two years ago, she is a little concerned about being type-cast... but we have confidence she will move on from the rodents in due time.

Here is Cymbre during warm up with some of her CARE friends.

And here are some of her devoted fans. =) Cymbre gave Harmony, Destiny and Noah a tour of the cast so they could get autographs and meet lots of dancers as well.

This may be the biggest fan of all. Eli enjoyed the show so much on Saturday that he asked to come with me on Sunday as well. I kept him busy during warm ups by letting him tidy up the theater: putting seats up and throwing away bits of trash. After the show, he got all the autographs he wanted (save for the Mayor, who apparently doesn't like to do the autograph bit and disappeared before we could catch him) and then wanted desperately to help the parents who were in charge of striking the set. He removed a good deal of the tape from the dance floor so it could be packed away for the next show - and he LOVED it. Plus, once he was helping, a bunch of other little boys showed up and wanted to help as well! It was adorable.

Getting ready for the Wedding!!

2009-05-26T14:00:00.000-07:00

Matt's brother Tim is getting married this weekend and the girls are SO excited to be matching flower girls. We practiced today to get their hair to flip out (Cymbre's idea - and a good one!) and then they wanted to try on the whole ensemble. I love it!

Allegra always says, "I look like Cymbre - only smaller" and she extends it to everything. My shoes are like Cymbre's - only smaller. My hair is like Cymbre's - only smaller. She's very in touch with her smallness.

Cymbre is 8!

2009-04-19T09:51:00.000-07:00

Here's Cymbre, her *8* candle, and her Bright Sky Rainbow cake. We saw the recipe in the mini American Girl magazine that came with Cymbre's Kit doll and I found it online here: http://homepage.mac.com/baroose/iblog/C1523793326/E20070513202546/index.html I made yellow cake batter from scratch instead of white cake mix. I also made the frosting from scratch. I saved white frosting to do the clouds but was too tired by the time I assembled the cake so I went with a "cloudless sky."
Eli and Destiny are in the background waiting patiently for their cake.

Here's the cake in all its glory! It's pretty to look at but, in my opinion, not all that tasty. Everyone else seemed to love it, though!

Here's Cymbre with Harmony, Eli, and Destiny and the rest of the cake.

And here's our little Shiloh, just because he's getting so big!

If you need me, I'll be moving off-grid!

2009-04-02T06:46:00.000-07:00

Watch this! NOW! It's long but seriously, watch the whole thing and open your mind! It makes a whole giant heap of sense out of so much insanity.

Christmas pictures by Devon!

2008-12-26T09:34:00.000-08:00

Here are our 2008 Christmas portraits, done by my friend Devon of Photography by Devon!
http://www.photosbydevon.zoomshare.com/

I love these two shots!

This was the best shot of the whole session - unfortunatly there were no corresponding
stellar shots of the little ones together...
still a GREAT picture of C and E!

Here's our little family! Merry Christmas from the Scotts!

Our silly pictures!

2008-12-26T09:26:00.000-08:00

We all got very silly at the end of our photo shoot with Devon. Personally, I love these!
I know my mom will think they aren't that nice... tongues out and all...
But when I am old, and the kids are busy with their own lives,
I know that these will bring me genuine joy and a plethora of memories.

Coincidence?

2008-11-21T20:01:00.000-08:00

Last night, Shiloh took his first steps. Finally. We were all very excited to see it happen. Cymbre picked Shi up with glee. He was pretty thrilled with himself too. It seems like walking should be no big trick after all these months of Knee-Walking he's done. He is also free-range on the stairs now, which is a huge comfort since we do a lot of up and down all day and our stairs are wood.

So here is the weird thing: We have 4 children. 3 of them have started walking at EXACTLY 15 months and 1 week. Cymbre did take a few steps at 13 months but sat down and did not take up walking as a means of conveyance until 15 months, 1 week. Eli preferred to crawl and would not walk and hold hands or stand on his own until 15 months, 1 week. And now Shiloh, who has been knee-walking for quite a while, not willing to stand on his feet or do the hand-holding walk thing either, just started cruising for real a few weeks ago and has now taken steps at 15 months, 1 week. Seems like a really strong genetic predisposition, doesn't it?? Nothing else about all the children has lined up like this - not gestational age at birth, not rolling, crawling or standing, not age of wanting first solid foods, not weaning age, not age of first using the potty, not ANYTHING that I can think of - just the walking.

Allegra walked before she was a year. Every family has to have a wild card and she is definitely ours.

Don't you love it when they give you something to think about??

We've got PERSONALITY!

2008-11-16T17:37:00.000-08:00

Just some cute pictures of the kids at a recent trip to the Children's Museum.

Shiloh with a spoon he is evidently thrilled about, Allegra dressed as a bee and feeling very cranky because one of the friendly volunteers tried to talk with her, Eli and Allegra dressed as firefighters and ready to save the world, and Cymbre learning to play the piano - with a helper in the background.

Fall at the zoo with friends!

2008-11-16T17:30:00.000-08:00

Shiloh is still my sweet buddy in the sling.
We headed to the zoo to meet up with a long time friend and his kids. We had a great time in the lovely fall weather.

Mini Chad and Mini Matt become friends!!
Okay, so Eli doesn't look THAT much like a mini-Matt but this guy is the spittin' image of his daddy and I just couldn't get over it. Eli has requested to play with his new friend again soon. =)

Our wild bunch was curiously resistant to the group picture.

Halloween!

2008-11-01T08:44:00.000-07:00

Here's Allegra - as a tree,
Eli - as a knight in shining (duct tape) armor,
And Cymbre - as a princess.
This year Matt and I went to a costume party fundraiser for the Holland Area Arts Council. For that reason, the kids got to have fun with their babysitter while we went out dressed as The Incredibles.
We took Shiloh along since we did not know if he would be happy that long with the babysitter. He normally nurses twice during the time we planned to be away. And it ended up being really fun since we designed all of our costume ideas around having him along.

Here is our baby super hero. He loved having the mask on and for the most part he didn't even grab at it. When we showed him in the mirror, he just giggled and grinned. He's such a fun little friend!!

As it turned out, we won a prize for our costumes: they said it was for sweetest but the trophy says funniest. Matt was incensed that they did not take our crime fighting seriously. Actually, we spent much of the evening laughing at his silly foam muscles.

Shiloh was THRILLED with the costume trophy and claimed it for his own, clutching it in his car seat all the way home.

Cymbre's big show!

2008-10-24T06:02:00.000-07:00

Cymbre was in the CARE ballet "Tales of Hans Christian Anderson" last weekend. She danced as a Lily of the Valley in the tale of Little Ida's Flowers. It was a great experience and a great show!

Cymbre with some of her loyal fan base. =)

Cymbre with her friend Rose (a daisy).
They were both rodents last year in "Carnival of the Animals."

A special part of performance week with CARE is the warm ups the whole cast does together. This is one aspect of the CARE experience that really cultivates a feeling of being a close family or team between the kids.
http://www.careballet.org

Fall fun at Meijer Gardens

2008-10-16T08:15:00.000-07:00

Trying to get a picture of my kids has become harder than it used to be... but here's one attempt!

We visited the gardens this week with my parents and my little sisters and brother. This outing was actually in celebration of Noah's "gotcha day" or the anniversary of his adoption. He's been in our family for two years now and what a blessing he has been!
Happy Gotcha Day, Noah!!

All the big kids thought these stepping stones were just fabulous and used them as running and jumping stones... until Allegra got knocked down. Such is her lot in life...

Here they all are!
Harmony, Cymbre, Allegra, Noah, Shiloh, Destiny, and Eli
Cute as bugs and just as wiggly too.

Shiloh wants to say...

2008-10-16T07:56:00.000-07:00

thank you to SaSa for the cozy Hanna suit,
and thank you to Aunt Stacy and Uncle Justin for the stylin' Hanna hat.
He feels that organic cotton is appropriate apparel for optimal comfort while carrying out all of the mischief he's been planning.

=)

Our deck!!

2008-10-06T10:35:00.000-07:00

All the men in the world who love me. =)

These pictures show the deck ALMOST DONE!
It's actually done now (in real time) and it's fabulous!!
THANKS, DAD!!

Photography lesson??

2008-10-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

The only way to get a picture of Allegra on her carousel tiger (with Shiloh, of course) was to let Cymbre take the picture. We have some work to do.

Public Museum Field Trips

2008-10-06T10:26:00.000-07:00

We've been frequenting the Public Museum of Grand Rapids lately. They have a "Whodunit?" exhibit right now that the kids really like. You get to take a close look at some tools of forensic crime labs and be the detective in a "murder." Cymbre likes the computer that lets you choose individual features to try to come up with composite sketches. We tried to make one of Shiloh but it was really difficult, especially since there were really no baby features to choose from. Eli likes the fingerprint demo. He has simple loops on all his fingers. Cymbre has some whorls. Allegra particularly likes the blood spatter comparisons. Go figure.

We watched a documentary about Apollo 13 recently so this Apollo command capsule (once used for search and recovery drills) was very interesting to the kids. They desperately wanted to go in it.

The gorgeous antique carousel is always a hit. Allegra has even started to enjoy it this year and likes to ride the tiger.

Here they are in "Olde Grand Rapids" with their imaginary provisions from the shops. Cymbre has a crate of milk. Eli has a bag of groceries. Allegra, who loves all things cake and cake related, has a handful of candy.

One Day Pet

2008-09-30T10:09:00.000-07:00

Last week on a library and playground walk, we found a grasshopper. It hopped out of our way and I pointed it out to the children. We studied it for a bit. Then came the inevitable question: Can we bring him home??
Well, sure. He can be a One-Day Pet.

And so home he came. First Cymbre tried carrying him in her hands but found it better to carry him in the fabric of her dress. All three of them made a soft spot for him in our "One Day Pet Jar."
They showed him around the house (in his jar) and watched him all day.
This is the wisdom of the title "ONE DAY Pet," that since it is in the name, they can't possibly forget how long he's staying for.
Right?

After they had gotten to know him, I asked what his name was.
I thought perhaps they wouldn't have thought of naming him.
Ha.
I thought perhaps they would go with Grassy, Hop, Hoppy, Hopper, Greenie, Buggy - something like that.
Ha.
Without missing even a beat, they answered, "We named him John,"
Okay, then!

Farewell, John! May you live long and hop much!

Deck project!

2008-09-21T17:35:00.000-07:00

Two years ago we had my dad put vinyl siding on our house. We decided to tear off our old deck because it was, well, old and poorly built. We wanted the new siding to go all the way down and to take care of any rotting at that time. Well, we are finally getting the deck put on with the amazing and generous help of my dad, who knows more about the right way to build stuff than pretty much anyone else we know. Thanks, Dad!!! The entire project is a two level deck with a pergola over the high deck. So far the high deck and pergola are almost done. We also have one new basement window and a real dryer vent installed in conjunction with this project - instead of the old window with one of the panes removed and the dryer vent wedged in with just some insulation and an old shirt!!! Why a colony of chipmunks hadn't taken up residence, we can't say since nothing was actually stopping them. This was a serious upgrade! Watch for updates!!

More camping highlights!

2008-09-06T17:48:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time camping this year! This was our only trip
and in truth I was nervous about it.
We've often camped with our kids very happily - my struggle was more logistical!
We camped two years ago for more than a week in the UP and loaded out van so completely that I just didn't know how we could possibly go now that we have one more child! We settled on a "short trip" plan: to go just a little drive away for three nights and then come back! We went to the Whispering Surf Campground http://www.whisperingsurfcamping.com/ in Pentwater, Michigan. It was quiet and relaxing. They have a nice little playground that the kids could go to *within sight* of our campsite so that was a huge help for us. They also have a great "lodge" kind of rec room that would be great if you happened to camp during a rainy spell. The campground is between Bass Lake and Lake Michigan and there is a sweet spot you can play in the outlet water of Bass Lake that is shallow and warm but on the Lake Michigan Beach. It's fantastic, beautiful and perfect for kids.

Matt really loves to cook while camping. Suits me. It probably has something to do with lighting stuff on fire... but any reason to be cooked for is a good one in my book. He appointed himself to make bacon and eggs for us every morning - but we decided to eat all the bacon the first morning since it was easier to cook it once than to cook a little every day. Yum!

Eli enjoyed his breakfast and enjoyed feeding some to his brother too!!

Camping highlights!

2008-09-04T21:20:00.000-07:00

The best line of the whole trip was while we were playing
here, at the Bass Lake inlet to Lake Michigan.
Eli was so thrilled with the water and the sand and he just bubbled out,
"Now THIS is what I call summer fun!!!"

Shiloh thought this was fun for about 3 minutes. Then he seemed very unsure about touching the sand and water and thought we would all be better off if he were carried.

Allegra is sure now that she can "swim" because of this experience.

Cymbre and Eli were really excited to get to roast their own marshmallows.
Allegra was excited primarily about eating them. She is still asking for more marshmallows.

For Olivia

2008-09-04T21:01:00.000-07:00

Remember these?

One race, two ball games, and three concerts, OH MY!

2008-09-04T20:53:00.000-07:00

August is a great month for fun family activities and we've been soaking it up!
We've been to some of the free concert series at the Frederick Meijer Gardens,
a free concert through our radio station,
two Whitecaps games,
and an auto race.

And what do we have to show for all this all-American fun?

Cymbre and Eli are now fascinated by cotton candy.
I keep hearing them discussing what they think it might be like.
They may have crossed over into *coveting* cotton candy.
I keep telling them it really isn't that good and no, I'm not buying it for them. Ew.
Why couldn't they be interested in Elephant Ears or something at least resembling food???

Eli was especially interested in the baseball and wanted to know the name of every player as he came up to bat.

Cymbre loved the concerts.

Allegra's responses are usually the funniest.
At the baseball game, what she learned was that sometimes hot dogs fall out of the sky!
This is a new pretend obsession for her.
At the race, Allegra was pretty miserable *until* the cars started racing and a few of them would backfire as they were slowing down for the curve... suddenly she went from misery to squealing "pop pop pop!" every time the cars went by, backfiring.
That was a huge improvement in everyone's mood!

Shiloh clapped happily pretty much any time everyone else did.

Shiloh's Birthday!

2008-09-04T20:33:00.000-07:00

When Shiloh was born, I intended to have Matt plant his placenta in the yard
the same day - just as we did with Allegra. But since our boy surprised us by arriving
two weeks before we thought he would, I did not have a plant ready...
And because I had some trouble bouncing back after the birth, we went to the hospital
anyway, and took the placenta along in case anyone there would want to examine it.
They didn't care one way or the other about it, so Shannon, my trusty and fearless midwife
brought it home for me and put it in the freezer.
A year later, it still sat there, untouched and mostly forgotten.

And so although Shiloh's birth was a good one,
and although I was thrilled with my cute and clever baby boy,
I struggled with disappointment for a long time.
I was disappointed that my birth wasn't as *amazing* this time as it was last time.
I was disappointed that I lost a lot of blood and had a really tough recovery for many weeks.
I was disappointed that I felt so weak, struggled with fainting and had to go to the hospital after my home birth.

In celebration of Shiloh's first birthday
and
of my recovery from all his birth brought me, emotionally and physically,
I invited my many wonderful friends to help me
plant Shi's placenta.
For closure.
For the support of women who understand the depth of a mother's emotions.
For room in the freezer - because really, at this point, what else are we going to do with it??

Here's Shiloh and I starting to dig the hole!
Eli is tending the bag - faintly labeled "placenta!" (You rock, Shannon!!)
The tall black-eyed susan is the plant that will grow over the placenta, not more than 12 feet
from the spot Shiloh was born.

Many of the kids were really interested in the placenta itself.
This process brought up a lot of "where is my placenta?" thoughts
as well as started some children thinking about what their mamas might do
with placentas for their future siblings.

Here's some more of the group that attended!
We also had snacks and played in the sprinkler - it was a really fun day!
We are truly blessed with many, many wonderful friends
- and not just any friends - the kind of friends
who will really stick by you and turn out at a placenta planting party!!

New Contest from Nature's Child!

2008-08-12T21:31:00.001-07:00

Win a $250 Speesees organic cotton baby or toddler wardrobe from Nature's Child - Wholesome Goods for Mothers and Babies

New contest from Along for the Ride!!

2008-08-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

Win a Beco Butterfly Baby Carrier and Beco Toy Carrier from Along for the Ride.

The mark of a 3 year old...

2008-08-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

Something unexpected we've noticed has been that as soon as our children hit 3, they have started singing epic ballads about their life situations. Allegra was right on time and started singing her ballads just two weeks before her birthday back in June. The songs are generally free-form, non-sequitur, and endearing. Most frequently these ballads take place while traveling in the car.

Sunday after church, Allegra was in full song and these were some of her lyrics:

I love mommy and daddy
We love Jesus
We go to church for Jesus
Jesus had a cross

I love my mommy
I am in her heart
She loves me
I am in her heart

Shiloh wishes he had hair
He has no hair
He has no hair
But he wishes he had hair
He wishes he were a grown up
LIKE MEEEEE!

Standing corrected again

2008-07-28T08:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this morning his name is EEeesh. Again. I guess this is why we don't let 3 year olds name real children. =)

A lotus bag for Nancy!!

2008-07-28T08:08:00.000-07:00

My friend Nancy is considering having a lotus birth - which is a newer practice in the gentle birth movement in which parents choose not to cut the cord, rather to keep the placenta attached to the baby until the cord falls off. You can read more about lotus birth here at the Labor of Love site. So I spent a little time this morning making this placenta bag for her to use if she decides to do the lotus birth! The bag is a very soft merino wool that a dear friend gave me in the form of a sweater she had shrunk. It was rather small for me to make a diaper cover from but perfect for this project! The bag has an oval bottom and slightly angled sides to make it easy to get the placenta in and out when needed. Then I sewed a bias binding around the top which was leftover from a project I made in college and threaded burgundy ribbon through it for a drawstring.

I stand corrected

2008-07-27T19:26:00.000-07:00

It seems this is happening more and more as time marches on... yesterday I wrote about Allegra's baby Eesh. Well, today the baby's name is Ish with a short I rather than a prolonged long E. Just so you know when you see him.

In other news, I am trying a cheese spread recipe made with kefir. I'll let you know if it is fabulous.

Smoothie Revisions!

2008-07-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

I've made some updates to our smoothie regimen! In my quest for healthy stuff to feed my kids, I've stumbled upon Kefir, an ancient cultured milk beverage, similar to yogurt but with additional benefits AND easier to make, plus it's much, much cheaper than buying yogurt!!! A great blog on making kefir can be found here along with recipes and other fun stuff. My new smoothie contains all the ingredients in the above picture: A quart of kefir, two banans, a cup of orange juice, about 1/4 cup of raw honey, two heaping tablespoons of Green Magma powder, a handful of strawberries, and 6 or so ice cubes.

Here's the smoothie just before mixing - I guess you'd call it chunky at this point, not smoothie. It blends up to a nice even green and is a thinner consistency than my previous, yogurt-based recipe.

The taste testers agree: smoothies rock!

Fun with the SNAP PRESS!

2008-07-26T15:38:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I got this cool snap press to make some diapers for Shiloh. I still have to make the diapers... got to get on that... but in the meantime, look at the cool stuff I can make for the kids! Allegra was playing with this Cabbage Patch doll today that was mine when I was little. The doll only has a couple of outfits and they are all pink. Allegra wanted the doll to be her baby boy, whose name is Eesh. (Yes, that's right, we say it, "EEEEEsh.") Anyway, in a matter of 20 minutes, I made Eesh two blue polar fleece diapers with purple snaps - two, of course, so she can change him and wash the other one up because he is a frequent pooper - and then I whipped up a little matching shirt. Then I made a diaper for Cymbre's very special monkey, Henry. Cymbre chose green snaps which also look nice on the blue fleece. This diaper is complete with tail vent. Then Eli wanted something for Pingu but a diaper just didn't seem like the thing for a penguin. So I made him a little vest to keep him warm.

Shiloh is 11 months!

2008-07-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

Here's my sweet guy. 11 MONTHS! Now that's he's eating some table food every day, he's back in the habit of having a nice poo each morning. He loves to sit on his little toilet and play with a toy or look at a book. It's a nice time for us to be together before the other kids get up.

Shiloh has been such a wonderful little baby companion that I find I am dreading toddlerhood more than ever before. Perhaps it's just that I don't know if there will be more babies in my future. Perhaps it's the fact that toddlerhood is never my forte' as a mom. Or perhaps it's just that the fourth time around I really can see the bittersweet juxtoposition of baby morphing into big kid. The excitement of seeing him grow and develop is, as always, dizzying, but the plain and simple truth that this time will never come again brings me to tears.

Our dear friends from afar!!

2008-07-12T20:48:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful visit from some of our very dearest friends last week all the way from Wisconsin! Beth, Lily and Grayson stopped by for two fun-filled days and even attended our Grand Rapids Natural Parenting group with us. We haven't seen these guys much because they moved away and we just don't tracel much anymore! Shiloh and Grayson are just about 6 weeks apart and just seemed like two peas in a pod! Lily made herself right at home with our three big kids! We miss you guys already!!!

Allegra is 3!

2008-07-12T20:23:00.000-07:00

For Allegra's birthday, she wanted to go to the Frederick Meijer Gardens.
It was a perfect day for it so off we went to play with everyone's favorite: the boats!

Here's Cymbre literally dripping wet and beaming with the joy of it! Our beautiful birthday girl truly had a blast as well!

Fun at the ZOO!

2008-07-12T20:08:00.000-07:00

We spent a few hours at the zoo today. This has been a frequent destination for our family this spring and summer. Our favorite animals this year are the wallabies, the great northern pelicans, and the lions. I'm trying to give the kids the names of the animals in German and Spanish when I can, which adds a little dimension to our visits. We were also fascinated over the last two months by the dozen baby ducks growing up in the moat area around the spider monkey mountain, but I don't believe they are official zoo ducks.

Here you see Cymbre, Eli and Shiloh looking at the waterfowl with Daddy. Allegra was in the stroller but later we tied her on Daddy's back, where she fell blissfully asleep. Cute too, don't you think??

For the first time ever, we took the ubiquitous picture with Mr. John Ball that *everyone* takes when they first get to the John Ball Zoo. Now we have one too.

Diaper contest !!

2008-06-28T15:55:00.000-07:00

This is a cool contest from Nature's Child to win a Bum Genius starter pack! So cool!!!

Here's a super cool contest!!

2008-06-27T22:01:00.000-07:00

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

Crazy consumption

2008-05-12T11:46:00.000-07:00

The Story of Stuff

Many of my friends know how I agonize over the topic of consumption. Sometimes when I need clothes, I'll go to a department store and just lament over all the people who grew the fibers for the clothes, who sewed the clothes, who shipped the clothes halfway across the world - all for probably not enough money to feed their families. And so I often leave empty-handed and proceed to shop at a fair trade store with organic fibers and conscionable choices... and although I would like to, I can't really afford much of anything there... and so I usually leave empty handed. For all this ethical dilemma, the only real solution I can come up with is to only buy what I absolutely *NEED* - which can also be hard in our consumer-driven culture, especially when I am just a flawed Mommy-person who can't actually make perfect decisions all the time, even if there were perfect decisions to make. Should you wonder what on earth I'm talking about, watch The Story of Stuff.

So now it's MAY!

2008-05-02T17:42:00.000-07:00

Suddenly it's May! There are flowers everywhere and green grass and leaves. Did I miss something or was spring spectacularly sudden this year? Our spring veggies are doing great and will be ready for some harvesting perhaps as early as next week. I am inordinately excited to shop the Fulton Street Farmer's Markettomorrow for its opening weekend. Asparagus and rhubarb, here I come. I'm hoping to score some locally started organic tomato and herb plants too.

We have weathered our spring performances. Cymbre's dance recital, _Journey to Freedom_ was magnificent, as was her first school musical, _The Tale of Three Trees_. Yes, we're still homeschoolers but our dayschool at church was thoughtful and generous enough to invite her to join in the all-school musical. It was a joyous experience for her and I'm so thankful for the opportunity to be part of it.

Eli is still in love with ants, worms and roly-poly bugs. Allegra is still very unpredictable. Everyone is enjoying more time outside and hoping to start our hiking regimen next week. We're watching birds and wildlife and learning about plants and flowers too.

Shiloh now has his bottom front teeth and his top left tooth is just poking its way through today, I think. He is a full-fledged crawler now and revels in getting into all the tiny toys and free-range paper that the kids leave around. He also makes a sport of chasing after me. He ate a little bit of mashed banana today and seemed to really enjoy it. And he calls me "mama" which is somehow more special than it's ever been before.

More to come!

The End of an Era

2008-04-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

This week we mourned the passing of Vicki the Fish. Many of you who are parents can relate to the trauma caused in households of small children when a family pet dies, even as mundane a pet as a goldfish. This fish, however, has been a remarkable pet for two reasons: first, this fish was at least 14 years old. Second, this is the last fish whose presence has frequently given us reason to tell this story, which has grown in these years to legend-status in our home:

When Matt and I were in our junior year of high school at Michigan Lutheran Seminary, the decorating theme chosen for the Junior-Senior Banquet was supposed to reflect an "oriental" mood. To accomplish this, the dedicated banquet committee chose to furnish the tables with goldfish housed delicately in ivy bowls. Surely it was unanticipated that as the tables were excused to go through the buffet line, pranksters from other tables took to skewering these live decorations with the toothpicks from the appetizers so that the students would return to the grisly sight of their run-through and now deceased fish. (Who ever thought up high school, anyway??)

Matt saw that this was going on and wanted to protect the fish at their table from an untimely end. He took the fish in its well-appointed ivy bowl through the buffet line and kept it outside with him during the fire alarm portion of dinner. (Anyone else remember that? I think I was in the buffet line and we decided to ignore it...) At the conclusion of the dinner, Matt mooched a plastic cup from one of the cafeteria ladies to further house his charge and at the end of the night he took the fish safely home in the cup holder of his mom's Miata. (Other versions of the legend have this being a plastic baggie carried home in the ashtray - no one is really sure anymore) Then, some weeks later, he and his mom bought three friends for the banquet fish. Vicki (so named by Cymbre when she was 2 and named *everything* Vicki) was the last of these friends; the banquet fish and the other two friends having died at various points in the last 10 or so years.

And so ends an era. Cymbre has finally stopped crying and now wants a new fish that looks like Vicki... and I am celebrating here one man's desire to save a helpless creature from forces bigger than himself.

SPRING!

2008-04-05T18:44:00.000-07:00

I have been reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It is a sort of memoir about her family's undertaking a "local food project" and all that it entailed. Not only has it been a fabulous read, thoughtful and practical, it's really got me fired up about gardening this year.

After last year's disappointments and difficulties (between the drought and my pregnancy I really didn't grow much of anything - other than the baby, that is) I feel a renewed vigor to grow food again. But more than that, I'm feeling a desperate yearning to have a real spot of land and be somewhat more solid and sustainable in this shifting and wild world. However, since we have tied ourselves to this place, I shall be content with my small garden plots and avail myself of local farms and our fabulous farmer's market to as great an extent as I possibly can.

Today the weather was so lovely that I weeded half of my veggie bed. I was happy to see my chives poking up in their little corner and some swiss chard sprouting out of the stalks of last year's plants! I plan to seed lots of early spring veggies tomorrow.

My new sling!!

2008-04-04T04:59:00.001-07:00

I love slings. That may be obvious. I find carrying my babies to be a satisfying as well as practical way to keep everyone happy.

Last week I finished a sling that I have been wanting to make since I was expecting Allegra (in 2005) - the Mei Tai. This is an Asian-style baby carrier featuring a soft body (seat area) and waist straps as well as shoulder straps (which I made waaay too long, incidentally). I am very pleased to find
it quite comfortable for both front and back carries - and just in time for Shiloh's
glorious spring and summer as a baby, during which much yard and garden work needs to be accomplished.

I was very proud of my handiwork on this sling and in my impatience to get it posted, I turned over the camera to my apprentice. These pictures were taken by Cymbre and are her first published shots. =) Note how neither Shiloh nor I have our heads cut off. That's what I call progress!

Happy Spring and other updates

2008-03-20T19:08:00.000-07:00

First off - if you previously read the previous post and notice it's different now it's because I didn't have my story straight. Go figure.

Secondly, the rocks have finished their second grind. We are taking a break of blessed and beautiful silence. Matt thought he had gone deaf when he walked in on Tuesday to the absence of noise. I may run the third grind in the garage. The kids are studying the rocks while they are between grinds. They seem to get a kick out of comparing them in color and texture. Some of them are turning out to be rather pretty.

And third, HAPPY SPRING! This is one of my very favorite days of the year and although it's taken longer this year than usual, I am now fully fired up about gardening this year and have been trying to catch up on my catalog-consulting, veggie-craving, seed-ordering binge that really should have taken place before now... but at least it isn't too late yet!!

Here are some pictures of some of the kids' last snowy adventures a few weeks ago:Cymbre and Eli unburying the sled they'd left out. Oops. Should have made better rules regarding snow toys, I guess.Allegra in her little clubhouse. She loves to hang out in there because it's just her size.
And the obligatory sling shot (pun?) because I've learned that later they'll want to know where they were... and for me the answer is pretty much always the same. If the big kids are up to something, the baby is in the sling. =) Isn't he sweet all bundled up?

Stuff Kids Say

2008-03-10T12:37:00.000-07:00

Cymbre: "Why would anyone make a building out of unpolished rocks and unsanded wood?" Cymbre asked Daddy when they parked next to a building that blew up recently and was completely reduced to rubble.

Eli: "What *else* can I dip in ketchup?" Eli asked Daddy when his fries were gone and he had "leftover" ketchup.

Allegra-ism #1: Legsleeve - as in "Can you put my legsleeves down?"

Allegra-ism #2: Toefingernails - as in "My toefingernail needs a bandaid."

Little Scott Racing

2008-03-06T14:15:00.001-08:00

This is our first pinewood derby. Both Matt and I made and raced cars as kids and perhaps for that reason we are both pretty excited to do this with the kids.

We decided to do a girls' car and a boys' car. Cymbre and Allegra wanted to do a Nascar. So Daddy made this shape for them.

Eli first wanted a sailing ship - so I cut a boat shape from the block of wood. Then he decided he'd actually like a freighter like the SS Valley Camp that we toured on our '06 vacation. I began to make superstructures to fit this idea.

Finally he decided that what he *really* wanted was a ferry like theSS Badger. I could accomodate this last change - but no more!

Here you see the cars nearly finished. We decided to add sponsors like a real racecar - so Cymbre and I raided our Frontier sale catalog and our Children's Museum flyer for logos of "stuff we like" and decoupaged them on. This was extremely fun. We are sponsored by the Grand Rapids Children's Museum, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, USDA Organic, Qdoba, Yummy Earth Lollipops, Eco Friendly Products, John Ball Zoo The Frederick Meijer Gardens, The Whitecaps (baseball team), Equal Exchange, and Bob the Builder. Cymbre chose the number 62 for the car because she is 6 and Allegra is 2.

As for the SS Eli, I had a blast making tiny lifeboats and a smokestack and drawing little windows on. I think Eli got bored with the whole thing because there was so much detail work that I had to do... plus he got jealous of Cymbre's fun logo project.

Because the kids are familiar with Nascar and the teams and so forth, they decided that our cars should be part of a team, which they named "Little Scott Racing." That is the kind of thing that really melts my little heart - so I made little logos of our own that say "Little Scott Racing" and "LSR" for them. I hope the kids have had as much fun with this as I have. And I hope they go fast on race day!

Tumbling Rocks and other loud projects

2008-03-06T13:53:00.001-08:00

As a kid, I *always* wanted a rock tumbler. So, when I saw one at a yard sale a few years ago, I scooped it up. I had no idea what using a rock tumbler would entail, so the first time I got the directions out, I was heavily dismayed to find the process would take weeks and weeks to accomplish.

Now that we are bona fide homeschoolers, though, we cannot shy away from a project just because it will take weeks and weeks... we must forge ahead because there is much to be learned!

Here, Cymbre and Eli are sorting through the rinsed rocks and putting them in the barrel for the "first grind." Once covered with the grinding medium and water, we load them into the tumbler only to discover that... rock tumbling is *really, really, really LOUD* and we have to do this for how long?

The first grind is supposed to take about 3 or 4 days. I started with the tumbler on the ledge in the dining room. The noise causes me to feel anxious and hurried. I keep expecting it to stop, like when the bread maker does its kneading cycle. But it doesn't stop. We are tumbling rocks. At my husband's wise suggestion, I move the contraption to the basement the next day. This is better but still quite noisy - and now I feel bad when I send the kids to play down there...

Finally, it's day 4 and I crack open the barrel to find, well, sludge. But I follow the instructions and fish out the rocks, now much transformed from the rather unremarkable rough rocks we started with. They are smoother and more colorful than at first. Cymbre and Eli were very excited about the changes and played with the rocks a bit, comparing them to the chart of what they should look like when we are finished...

I waited a day before diving in for the second grind. I realize that if I wait too long, I will never do it... and so last night I gathered the children and we set up the barrel for the second phase of our work. It doesn't seem as loud this time. Is it because the grinding medium is finer? Is it because the rocks are already smoothed? Is it because I accidentally added a bit too much water? Is it because the first grind left me deaf? Whatever the case, I now believe we are going to survive the two weeks required by the second grind. I'll update you then!

Smoothie Power!

2008-02-28T18:40:00.000-08:00

I used to complain about my oldest daughter's rather particular eating habits - but then I had another daughter who puts the former level of pickiness to shame. Ah, perspective... if only we could have it sooner to appreciate what was... Allegra will not eat fruits or veggies under practically any circumstances. The older two could be cajoled and "tricked" into trying foods that looked suspicious to them, at which point they would usually find they liked them and begin to eat. We sang songs, flew airplanes, and did all the fun stuff that made eating successful. This child has a will of steel that is compromised by none of our former protocols. Any attempt to get her to try something she has decided not to eat will be met with rejection. And by rejection, I mean it comes right back out without so much as touching her tongue. That's quite a talent, when you think about it! Although I've always been a big fan of smoothies, they have become necessity at this point because I feel it's very important that my kids eat well. While Allegra refuses to *eat* so many fruits and veggies, she will gladly drink them liberally when they are presented in the form of smoothie. I find I can pack all kinds of things into a smoothie, especially after reading _Deceptively Delicious_ and some of _The Sneaky Chef_. I haven't tried any of their recipes but the idea of cooking and pureeing foods that would otherwise not enter the child's system and then sneaking them in undetected is quite attractive to me. Here's my method:

Serenity's Smoothies of Power

2 bananas
2 cups total frozen fruit choose one or mix: strawberries, blueberries, cherries, or peaches
1 cup plain yogurt (I use organic whole milk yogurt)
3 Tbsp. Flax Seed Oil
2 heaping tsp. Green Magma (a barley juice powder, Just Barley is another brand)
4-8 cubes (about 1 oz. each) frozen pureed cauliflower, broccoflower, broccoli, kale or squash (prepare just like baby food - cook, puree and freze in ice cube trays, then store in freezer bags)
Juice (I usually use OJ but Pineapple or a V8 Splash make a nice alternative)

Put all chosen fruits and veggies into blender, pour yogurt on top, add flax seed oil and green magma. The blender should be fairly full at this point but don't pack it in. Pour in juice to fill the spaces. Blend to smooth consistency. Serve to the troops and be sure to have some yourself!

Here's the deal - you don't have to use *ALL* of these things in every smoothie. It's very flexible. Although I gave approximate measurements above, you may note that I do not measure anything when making smoothies. I *ALWAYS* use the banana (it smoothes out the flavor), yogurt (makes it creamy), and juice (makes it possible to blend) but everything else is debatable and subject to what you have on hand. If, for example, you put up 10 pounds of organic blueberries but no peaches last summer (as I did) then you probably won't be using peaches in your smoothies this winter but opt instead for blueberries.

Do start easy with the green veggies! You can slip in a lot of cauliflower or broccoflower but the darker green veggies do change both flavor and color!
If you've chosen green veggies like broccoli or kale or if you've been generous with the green magma, the smoothie may take on a brownish color. If your smoothie consumers might find this unappetizing, either serve it in a cup with a lid (like the kind you get to take home from restaurants) or cover it with a little whipped cream - but watch out for trans fats when you choose whipped cream! Cool Whip is not actually food, FYI. You surely don't want to undo all the good you're doing by serving your lovely, nutrient dense smoothie! Once your children have accepted the smoothie, you can be more liberal with the greens and they probably won't mind a bit.

Diapers, diapers, diapers!

2008-02-27T12:20:00.001-08:00

Here is Shiloh in his brand new Poquito Pants that I managed to make using the pattern at: Wonderbaby DesignsPoquito Pants are designed for families who practice Elimination Communication with their babies - so it's kind of a hybrid between underwear and a diaper. I think this is going to be a great solution for us because although we do catch a lot of pees and almost all poo, we also miss a lot because this guy is just a pee machine! It wasn't too hard to make so now I just need to get crackin' and put 23 or so more together and then we'll be all set. Like I said, we do "miss" a lot.

Here is my current diaper "stash." We have 24 fitted diapers (the stack on the left) that I made with my mom when I was expecting Allegra. They are terry on the outside (good for use with a snappi) with a flannel print on the inside (good for containing runny infant poo) with a soaker layer made of an old Gerber prefold that I used with Cymbre before making the move to 8x4x8 DSQ prefolds once I learned about them and needed more absorbency. They have elasticized gussets around the legs which have worked great to keep the poo off of covers. Of course, now that we are doing EC, there usually isn't poo in the diaper at all, which is a very nice perk. Anyway, I'm using Bummis super print wraps with these and it's been a good system. Shiloh is growing out of the diapers now, though, which is where the Poquitoes will hopefully come in!

The right stack is All in One diapers, which I like to use when we are away from home for more absorbency when I am unable to take Shiloh to the toilet as much as when we're home. We have 5 Bumkins AIO's, which I really treasure because all 4 kids have worn them. They have obviously seen better days but I like to think about how Eli called the farm animals ones the "Foof" diapers because that's how he said "moo." Those were his favorites. I do love their prints and I love the feel of the outer fabric on these, however I always use the Bumkins diapers with a doubler - either a Gerber prefold or a couple of cloth wipes. They are just not absorbent enough on their own. I also have 5 Kushies diapers in this stack. I bought them because they are extremely affordable and I hoped having a few more AIO's around would be helpful. They do serve the purpose. However, the shell is more thick and rubbery than I expected and their hook and loop tape leaves a lot to be desired. The laundry tabs always flop open in the wash and I end up with all the diapers stuck together, which is a bit of a pain, especially when they get wrapped up in a cotton prefold and basically shred it!

It's been so interesting to look back at my years of cloth diapering and see how my needs and perceptions have changed. I started off cloth diapering because I was raised to see it as being the "right thing to do" plus we were pretty poor and I couldn't see paying 18-25 cents for each diaper my child would use. But I didn't have a very good attitude about it and was pretty overwhelmed with the whole thing. I was using antiquated practices, like a wet diaper pail, as well as antiquated equipment, like pins and vinyl covers. Add to that the fact that Cymbre was a very turbulent baby (we called her "thunder pants") and it was miserable indeed. I never went anywhere without 4 changes of clothes for her because she spit up and blew out her diapers so often and in such quantities that it was necessity. I learned about modern cloth diapering options and began the quest for MORE ABSORBENCY in the diapers and better covers to keep everything in.

By the time Eli came along, I had learned so much and had adjusted my attitude so that I found real satisfaction in honoring my baby by keeping him as clean and dry as possible. I had nice, Chinese cotton prefolds by then which I fastened with snappis and covered with more breathable options like Bummis wraps and Alexis nylon covers. I also started using wool covers, which were a great tool for this pee-machine boy.

With Allegra, I wanted infant diapers that would contain poo so that I wouldn't have to be washing wool covers all the time since they need to be washed by hand and take as much as 2 days to dry, depending on the weather. So I made the fitted diapers pictured above and spent my pregnancy knitting cute wool covers for her. That system worked wonderfully. Then, when she was 6 weeks old, I got brave enough to try EC and *it worked!* So she used the potty a lot and always knew what it was for, even when we weren't very successful in "catching." Because we were doing EC, having a lot of absorbency in a diaper became much less of an issue because it was my goal to keep her diaper clean and dry as much as possible, changing as soon as it became wet instead of changing every couple of hours as I had done before. Suddenly it wasn't important to have as much absorbency in the diaper and as much moisture-resistance in the cover as possible, rather it was helpful to be able to get the diaper on and off with as little fuss as possible so that I could quickly get her to the potty when she wanted to go.

With baby #4, that's pretty much where we are. I started EC with him as soon as I could after he was born. I try to keep him clean and dry and give him the opportunity to use the potty (that's a pottytunity) as often as I think he needs to go and whenever he wants to go - which he tries to tell me by fussing, grumbling (kind of a low cry sound but not a cry really) or arching. Sometimes he squawks a bit when he really wants to go - that's a weird sound too. And when he's sleeping, he will toss his head around and pop on and off as he nurses. That's my cue to get us both up and take him to the toilet, as he likes to poo first thing in the morning most days. So I can often be found holding Shiloh over the toilet around 6am, bleary eyed but glad that at least I don't have to turn on the lights to wipe it all off his little bum.

If all this sounds kind of extreme, let me put this perspective on it: I know my baby is going to pee and poo and I can either do something about it when I know it's going to happen or I can wait and wipe it off later. It's just another way of taking care of a baby and I happen to feel that this way is a nice way of respecting his needs and showing him I care enough to respond. Plus, it's fun!

To illustrate, during the course of writing this post, I took Shiloh to the potty 4 times and he also used 2 diapers. That's what EC is in our house. =)

Welcome Back, NASCAR!

2008-02-27T11:27:00.000-08:00

Here's Matt, Allegra and Shiloh watching the Daytona 500. Note Shi's official fan outfit, courtesy of Aunt Stacy. =) Isn't he cute?

Okay, if you know me at all, you'll probably realize that I am not much of a sports fan. I know, how un-American of me! And yet, televised sports have never been anything more than an annoyance of mine. It seems to me that if a person is really interested in a sport, the time would be better spent *doing* it or something related to it or at least seeing it in person (obviously on a local level, not national) rather than follow it on TV. However, in recent years I have come to appreciate this TV sports fanatic phenomenon and to use this fact of American life to my own advantage.

For example, during Nascar season, I can totally count on my husband to sit and watch a race each Sunday. Also, I know that he likes to have the kids watch it with him if they are interested, which thanks to Aunt Stacy and Grandma SaSa, they are, and even have adopted their favorite drivers. So, this gives me 3 hours each week that I can generally count on knowing where Matt is - and during which he is fairly happy to mind the baby while I do a project in the house, run an errand, or if necessary, take a nap. And so as far as I'm concerned, "Gentlemen, start your engines!"

The second American sports event I've come to appreciate in these recent years is the superbowl. No, I'm not crossing over into some football fanaticism, and NO, do not count me as one of those who "only watch it for the commercials." Please. Here's what I've discovered: apparently many people have parties for this occasion and apparently it is the tradition of the football fan to make and eat guacamole on this sacred occasion. I'm a person who loves guacamole (great source of vitamin E, and monounsaturated fat you know) and make it anytime I can get suitably ripe avocadoes. As with any other "holiday" food, the stores really stock up at just the right time. I have been just thrilled with the bountiful, plentiful selection of beautiful avocadoes available for this event! I do wonder how the avocado growers of the world provide such a bumper crop for just one week... it must generate so much waste... Anyway, I leave you with my fantastic recipe:

Serenity's Guacamole
3 ripe avocadoes, halved, seeded and scooped out of skins
1 roma tomato, diced
1/2 sweet onion, diced
splash of lime juice (maybe a Tbsp - I use Nellie's Key Lime Juice)
pile of cumin (maybe 1 1/2 tsp.)
4-6 shakes of red (cayenne) pepper
dash of Mama Garlic (this is a garlic salt with herbs - another garlic salt would work too)

Put all ingredients into a nice mixing bowl, mash with a potato masher. stir, and serve. Sometimes I add some cilantro but only if I have it fresh in the garden, otherwise I don't bother. Obviously the seasoning amounts are approximate. I do not measure anything and it's always fantastic.
Speedy adjustment: Just use the avocadoes, juice and seasonings and use 1/3 c or so of any garden express salsa that catches your fancy instead of chopping the tomato and onion. It's almost as good with a little less work. =)

Laundry Math

2008-02-15T11:59:00.000-08:00

6 = Number of loads of regular wash our family of 6 accumulates in the course of a normal week during the winter
2 = Number of loads of diapers per week for a six month EC'd baby
At least 4 = Number of loads I was still behind from our busy week last week
3 = Number of extra loads added today due to surprise vomit by 2 year old in Mommy's bed

15+ = Number of times this week I should have been on my knees in prayer to thank God for the amazing gift of modern laundry facilities in my home, and yet, it's just crossed my mind this once. It comes so easily to complain about these "drudgeries" and yet they are really tangible evidence of just how blessed we are. Thank you, Lord, for these and all good things!

Pictures on Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T18:40:00.000-08:00

Here is Shiloh at 6 months! He's such a fun little baby. And here is the rest of the crew today too. Sorry, I don't see how to turn the picture... will be learning that later. =) Low tech solution: turn your head!

As it turns out...

2008-02-14T09:56:00.001-08:00

Okay, so no famous brownies were made last night. I forgot to figure church into my logistical plans and therefore ran out of time. And in all the craziness of getting out of the house this morning (Matt's car is in the shop which adds a little complication to our life) I forgot to grab the lollipops for the kids.

So today is one of those uncanny days on which we actually have *both* our vehicles in the shop. Matt's car really needed a few things looked at so his went in yesterday and isn't quite done yet. The van is getting REfixed after the big transmission rebuild two weeks ago. Last week I noticed transmission fluid in the garage (YIKES - you Grand Caravan owners probably know this is a huge problem!) Also, ever since I got it back, the gear shifter doesn't quite act the way it is supposed to. Plus, it has now been super cold for so long that things are starting to just break... the heater fan no longer works at all unless it is on HIGH and the power lock on the passenger side is on strike. This brings me to the realization that this vehicle has no hope of making it to 300,000 miles - well, what did you expect, you may be asking incredulously. And yet, this is the milestone we're nearing with our Mazda - hoping it will keep on going to this goal before it "goes the way of all the earth." Having one car just keep going raises one's standards, perhaps unreasonably. I am now on a first name basis with the guys at our regular auto shop as well as the guys at our transmission shop.

Musings on Valentine's Day

2008-02-13T07:41:00.000-08:00

So tomorrow is the big day of love... the day we are to believe that diamonds and roses and cards must be purchased and presented to express our "true" feelings. Does anyone really do that stuff? Does anyone really believe it means more than our day to day actions?

Here's my big plan for V day: I am going to make a special lunch for my husband and his friends because Thursday is his day for "lunch club." So on the menu for tomorrow are turkey, greens and provalone roll ups in sundried tomato tortillas (which are red), chips and salsa, and some of my famous fudgie brownies. Mundane, I know, but this is what I have to give. And strangely, the fact that Matt's friends love and request my brownies and cookies gives me an inordinate amount of satisfaction. I'm a real mom.

I'll probably let the kids give out some Yummy Earth lollipops at their gymnastics class in the morning... and maybe I'll give them heart-shaped sandwiches for lunch... And I'll call my mom to tell her I love her... but beyond that, I'm not really in for the Valentine's Day thing. Oh, and since Matt is taking Cymbre to a concert (Casting Crowns) I'm just going to be hanging out with the smaller kids all evening. It might be restful...

The bigger reason to be excited about tomorrow is that Shiloh is going to be 6 months old! Now THAT is a reason to celebrate. And yet, what can I do to make the day special for him? He already gets all the milk, pottytunities, dry diapers, and snuggles he could possibly use. And really, what else is there when you're a little guy? He's been working so hard on learning to get up on all fours. It's so thrilling to watch him do his little baby exercises. I find that I keep pondering the mystery of baby development with this guy. How does he know what's next? First, hold head up, then learn to push up on arms. Next, roll front to back - then back to front. Learn to scoot around a bit on belly. Now get up on those knees. Next, sit up on own. It's not like he's read a book on it - it's not like he has other babies around to watch and model. And yet, all babies pretty much learn to do the same things in pretty much the same order. Amazing.