i have no good title for this post

Well it seems that my “oddness” is starting to rub off on some of my family. There are some that often teased or scoffed at the things I found important, like trying to buy organic and locally, or at least healthy with no high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils, or things I found interesting, like the Waldorf philosophies. But it looks like the tide is turning in my favor. My 2 older sisters (who did a lot of the scoffing) have now begun to buy organic and make conscious decisions about the foods they feed their families. They have also purchased gifts from Nova and The Wooden Wagon. And yesterday my younger sister announced that she is starting at the Aveda Institute in the fall. Which I think is a great decision for her. She is such a bright and cheery person, plus her hair and makeup always look great, that I think she will make a great stylist. Who's having the last laugh now? :)


And in a strange, round-about way all of this brings me to baby food. W has been eating food for about a month now, mostly cereal but now we have started on fruits and vegetables. I have been trying my hand at making it. Nothing fancy, but it is definitely more appetizing than the store-bought food.


This is a picture of the Gerber organic sweet potatoes. Yuck. Why is it brown and not orange?And it came in a plastic package that wasn’t even recyclable (at least around here it’s not). I can see why W would rather eat a mashed sweet potato with mama’s milk mixed in. I have no problem doing the simple things like bananas or squash, but once we start moving beyond those foods I’ll need to be a little more creative. I guess it’s time to check out the baby food cookbooks from the library!

By the way, W's ear infection is all cleared up now, and he has started to pull himself around on the floor and push up on his hands and feet. I am not ready for him to do all this stuff!

send kind thoughts

Please send Jackie your kind words, thoughts, and prayers.

And take a moment to remember your own loved ones.

book review

A is a book lover. He constantly wants me to read to him, but there are a few that we return to over and over. These books are so nice and gentle, that I am happy to read them to him. Oddly enough some of these were my brother’s favorites when he was little, so I think are tried and true books. Pelle’s New Suit by Elsa Beskow is such a wonderful book. I love all of her books and she brings the reader through the whole process of creating a suit from wool in such a kind way that you can’t help loving this story. The simplicity of the page layout is very soothing, as is the wording. One of my favorite aspects of this book is how politeness and generosity is emphasized. Pelle is not demanding that others do work for him, rather he is sweet and helpful and everyone’s kindness is reciprocated in his actions.

Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger has always been one of my favorites and it is a perfect book for settling down at night. The story is simple and short, with few or no words on the page, but the story flows so nicely that A always settles down right away when we read it. The illustrations are paintings that are reproduced from their original size, and the detail in such a small space is beautiful.

A’s other favorites are any of the Alfie books and Dogger by Shirley Hughes. Both A and I love these stories. They are of a nice little English boy and his sister and their life. They are realistic stories with nice little plots that A can relate to: getting new boots, racing up to the door only to get locked inside, going to a birthday party, etc. A’s recent favorite is The Big Alfie Out of Doors Book in which the stories take place outside. Dogger is about a little boy who loses his stuffed dog and is then reunited with him – a real cliffhanger at our house. I know that in the U.S. these books recently came back in print (I had to buy them at Barnes and Noble, not Amazon), so I am not sure how available they are outside of the U.S. and the U.K.

I really like these stories that are realistic because A is still at the point where magic and fanciful things are a bit too scary to be enjoyable. Since I am not a big fan of stories where the characters are from TV (Kipper being the exception) finding books that fit these guidelines can be a bit difficult as almost everything is too old for preschoolers or from TV.

happy easter

Our non-Easter weather (10 1/2 inches of snow since yesterday afternoon) and health is shaping up to mean a small family Easter at our house. In preparation I set up our Easter egg tree, which promptly tipped over and broke half of my eggs (fortunately only ones I had dyed myself and those are easily replaced). I think next year I am going to try felting some small eggs so it is a little more child friendly.

A very small project I did over the last few weeks was make some little felt birds to hang on the branches.

We loved the flower fairies my mom made when I was little, so of course I had to make some for us when A was a baby. However, this is the first year A really noticed ours and immediately started playing with them.

Have a lovely Easter weekend!

W has a new antibiotic that we are trying, crossing my fingers that this doesn't backfire the way the amoxicillin did.

spring is sprung?

Though the sun has been shining with more regularity, the temperature reminds us that it is still winter here for at least another few weeks. We've had one really nice day where the temperature reached fifty, but otherwise it has stayed in the mid-thirties. Today it is supposed to snow 6-12 inches here, typical for Michigan in early spring. But at least I have another bouquet of daffodils to cheer me up.

As a side note, does anyone know anything about ear infections? W has thrown-up a few times after taking the amoxicillin, so I have stopped giving it to him. (the doctor's office said this is a side effect and to keep giving it to him, but I hate to give medicine that isn't needed)Should his ear infection clear up on its own? I know the cold he had is a virus, so I would think the ear infection would be too. Any advice here would be great.

my poor babe

I had to take W to Urgent Care last night because his cold seemed as though it was getting worse and worse. A's cold isn't gone, but he is not really sick. W on the other had seemed ill. His temperature was high, he slept in the swing (he didn't even look comfortable in his sleep) all day and if he woke up his temper was short and he just screamed and was in a terrible mood. I hate feeling helpless when my boys need me. Well turns out he had double ear infections. No wonder the poor babe was miserable. Thank goodness for that old stand by amoxicillin. Two doses and he is already a happier baby.

knitted

Both boys had terrible colds this last week so I haven’t had much time to sit down and sew. I have done a little bit of knitting over the last few weeks, as knitting is easier to do on the fly. However, it still took me a week to knit the long awaited hat for A. As soon as I had made W’s hat A started asking for one of his own. It took ages for us to get to the yarn store before they closed, but when we finally got there A picked out his yarn in about a minute. He knew which skein was the perfect one – the bluest yarn in the world (The picture does not really show how brilliant this is). He thinks his hat is great, and I certainly won't lose him at the park.

Another project I have been doing on the side is knitted dishcloths. These are so addicting, the pattern is easily memorized, the yarn is incredibly cheap, and you can just do a row or two without losing count. I love how simple they are.

unfurling

This morning the daffodils were unfurling their blossoms in the grey light that accompanies dawn. (Yes, I got up before dawn, but that isn't saying much this time of year).

Once the sun rose I was thrilled to see that it was going to shine again. Spring is so welcome after all the snow we had and the sun makes the cold so much easier to bear.

~I know I haven't been posting about my crafting lately, unfortunately I haven't had time to get much done. We've been having too much fun enjoying the sun and having quiet days. I hope to post about the few things I have done soon.~

a nice weekend

What a lovely quiet weekend we had. Saturday we ran a few errands with the boys and Papa and I had a much needed date night in the evening. Yesterday was quiet, with some family visiting and some more quiet play with animals.

When I put them to bed the boys love to sleep next to each other and if A wasn't such a roller I would let them sleep snuggled up. But as it is, I have to put a pillow between them until we come to bed! (this was not my original picture of the boys, but when I went to bed last night I saw they were holding hands in their sleep, how cute is that? - march 13)

So Blogger is having some sort of issue where it won't let me post pictures, so hop on over to my flickr page to see what I was planning on posting. (**thanks Jackie for the help with the pictures. **)

fun

Papa's aunt has a small farm that we like to visit often. She always has a couple ponies and chickens, and sometimes cows. Yesterday my sister and I took A and N to feed the hens and collect some eggs.
Each week we get a dozen from Auntie P (via Grandma), but yesterday we collected them ourselves. The kids didn't go in the coop to get them because the hens were especially peckish from the cold. The hens are normally free-range, but in the winter stay inside the barn because of the snow. Plus, this crowd isn't as nice as the last flock because they weren't raised by a hen, they were all incubator chicks - something that is unlikely to be repeated.

Having fresh eggs each week is wonderful. The bright orange yolks are beautiful to look at and they taste so much better than supermarket eggs. I was surprised when I first started eating these eggs at the taste and quality difference. We've become quite spoiled and now will never be able to go back to the flimsy white eggs from the store.
Auntie P has three different types of hens that lay different colored eggs, and they lay a variety of egg sizes. We get some smallish brown eggs - perfect for A, some large/huge brown eggs, and some bluish-green eggs. A especially likes it when he gets a blue egg to eat.

A's breakfast

By A's request: "A crunchy toast heart sandwich."

simple pleasures :: day 7

Ah, the last day of my week of simple pleasures. There are so many things I could write about that give me pleasure, but I think the one I am going to choose is...my sweet boys. I could write all day and all night about what a couple of sweeties these two are.

As I am writing this W is rolling around in my lap, scooting under my arm and trying to get the computer. I can't believe that he will be 6 months on Saturday and he is already trying to climb, getting up on his knees, and get in on the action in general. If A is around W is constantly watching him and hoping to get his attention. I didn't think that he would be so attached to A at such a young age. Even when W was just a little thing he was interested in A, watching his every move and longing to play with him. And even though A is going through a bit of a difficult stage right now, pushing every single limit there is, he is still so loving and sweet that you can't stay frustrated with him. I'll be so mad with something he has done and the next second he has come over to give a hug and say something that cracks me up, or he will sing one of his little songs in that quiet voice of his.

I can't believe how lucky I am to have these two wonderful boys as my children. I know that I am just a bit biased, but I really do think that they are extraordinarily sweet. They give me such joy, and I am so thankful to be their mama.

simple pleasures :: day 6

When A was about two weeks old we had these beautiful pictures taken by a friend of my cousin. (Sorry for my horrible photo - there was no natural light left in the corner where these photos hang so I was trying to take one without a reflection!) I have loved looking at these ever since she took them. There is something about them that captured his personality, even though he was still so new. When W was born I wanted similar pictures, but unfortunately my cousin's friend had moved, so I attempted it myself. This is my favorite of W, but is nothing like him now!

simple pleasures :: day 5

In early spring when the ground is just beginning to thaw, the crocus and snowdrop begin to show their heads. But before that, when spring seems a mere hope, the flower shop begins to sell daffodils and tulips. I love tulips; they are by far my favorite flower. Our neighborhood flower shop sells them from February until May when around here tulips become a precious commodity (believe me there will be more about this at a later date) and I love going in there to pick the perfect bouquet. Do I want all the same or a mixed bunch? Do I want the traditional or the fancy tulip? Bright colored or muted shades? Once I've picked the perfect bunch they wrap them up in brown paper for me to carry home. I know I could go to the supermarket and they would have a similar bouquet (though not as nice, nor as long lasting), but the whole experience of the store and the dithering over the flowers is what I long for in the bleak days of winter's end.

simple pleasures :: day 4

Do you see what I see?

Blue sky and the sun making one of its rare entrances. I think that says it all.