spring means summer on the coast

Spring is the time on the coast when you start to think, "Oh, it's so warm, summer's coming." We forget that these seasons that sandwich summer are the warmest, when the fog doesn't develop and even the wind is warm. We've been soaking it up, from a CSA picnic (gotta have sustenance before you start picking strawberries and lemon balm) to a river stroller walk to an alfresco dinner (with some tempeh reubens so good Isaiah said, "You rock, mom dude.") Yes, he's 3.

Isaiah had a long phone chat with his Grandpa from the stroller. He said, "I didn't take a nap and Meli's sleeping, so I'm just taking a stroller walk and enjoying the view." So am I, Isaiah, so am I.

I learned today how much Isaiah needs to be in charge. We ended up at the river alone, on a spontaneous playdate. He told me what to do each step of the way. Where to sit on our ship. Which willow branch to use as my fishing pole. How it had to exactly touch the "sea" below. Standing in the river, I was allowed to choose my own rocks for bait, but had to do it in exactly the same way as he did. I told him afterward how nice it was to let someone else make the decisions for a change.

Happy Mother's Day! One of the joys of motherhood is that you always have someone who will share your breakfast in bed with you...sweet moments. We were happy to send off our long-distance felted bouquets to grandmas this week...small tokens of our love.

I also want to do some bragging about my super-skilled husband who spent 2 years working with the owner of this big off-the-grid timber frame/strawbale house. Steve and Paul chiseled each mortise and tenon, planed each piece of wood, build the frame and helped it go up on crane day. And now a family lives in it, making it cozy and turning it into their sweet hilltop home.

If you want a chuckle, please enjoy this mom's day song.

When Your Team Is Down and Out, It Is Time to Jump and Shout

One thing among many that I love about the library--it is full of surprises! Isaiah chooses DVDs from the library and is allowed to watch them upon waking on Saturday and Sunday mornings. When he picked out the Bella Dancerella cheerleading workout, I almost said no, and then thought, "Hey, jumping, stretching, why not?"

Well, it's taken hold here and this morning found me up from my desk, Steve roused from bed, all of us trying out the starburst jump, the arm roll, and reminding each other to "Make your good better and your better best!"

Yes, those balls of roving wool are our makeshift pompoms until we buy our Bella mats and pompoms and skirts and sweaters. . . not.

And thank you, dear readers, for your supportive comments, emails and phone calls about our soon-to-be uprooted status. I feel the connections and really feel that on this earth ship we are all in it together.

Beltane!

Happy May Day!

We've been celebrating by reading Elsa Beskow's delightful The Flowers' Festival and by starting what might become a new tradition.

I loved our spring egg tree and so enjoyed blowing out the eggs and decorating them. As the buds were drying brown on our "tree trunk," it was obviously time to make space for the coming solstice. I had read and heard that we could save the eggs from year to year, and maybe when the children are older and can do their own blown ones (they only worked on the hardboiled eggs this year), we'll save the keepsakes. For now, though, I know I'll want to do at least as many next year and how many eggs do we really need?

They've been hanging on our fairy tree this week--which is in full bloom with deep purple lilacs--and we've been waiting to see what the fairies do with them.

Today--which in addition to being May Day was also Isaiah's first day of a Montessori home-based preschool!--Isaiah and I decided to help the eggs along. We're never far from a bat these days, with baseball fever upon us, so he slugged away at each egg strung up on the tree. Many of them got batted down whole, at which point I pitched them to Isaiah and he smashed them to smithereens in mid-air. I got to do one, too. Fun!

What's next? Skeet shooting?

warp speed

Moving at 100 miles per hour leaves little time for the creativity of new posts. Somehow I'm fitting in over 30 hours a week of editing while scrabbling together bits of childcare. Usually that means me editing from 6:30 to 10 am. Plus the 3 days a week we have babysitters. And I'm working in the teeny, tiny cracks to prepare for a big conference presentation in June (for which I'd like to finish a little booklet and have a website together.)

The scrabbling together part might be changing. Isaiah is going to try out a home-based Montessori preschool, just 6 children and 1 teacher for the next couple of months, twice a week. His little buddy C goes to the school and as we were saying goodnight to them after a baseball-filled, ice cream truck excited dinner (the sheer joy of the boy house!), Isaiah got to say "See you at school tomorrow!" to his friend.

He is in equal parts excited and apprehensive. He tells me doesn't feel like going tomorrow, then talk about the lunch we planned and the backpack he'll take it in. Of course, lunch and snacks have received elaborate planning from our little gourmand.

I'm curious how others handle the juggle of work, ambitions, and inspired family life. I seek--as with everything else I've ever done in life--to find that precise optimal balance of challenge, inspiration, relaxation, stimulation. It's a joy (and essential for us) to keep the money flowing in, and I have some large ambitions that are important to keep working toward, and I want to give the children the best of my time and energy. It's an ever-evolving spiral, isn't it? Rather than one perfect moment. It's all the perfect moment.

Isaiah is full of his first joke these days, learned from TQ:
"Why did the banana go to the doctor?"
"Because he wasn't peeling well."
And Miel, bless her little heart, repeats it over and over, a laugh if you already know what she's saying..

returning home

It seems odd that traveling home from a visit with Grandma and Grandpa should be an epic affair...a full day of flying and then one of driving, but for us, for now, that is the case. Either that means I should move closer or I shouldn't be so daunted by the distance of living in a foreign country.

A warm bath calls, but first...

At Real Goods Solar Living Center, our favorite pit stop to load up on healthy snacks, use recycled pill bottle restrooms, browse the sumptuously groovy shop, ride the solar carousel and play in the water. After a mini shopping spree (including puzzle boy's first 100-piece jigsaw), the children stomped in the water trough and the huge puddles in the parking lot.

Fortunately for me, I am totally relaxed about these things and went to the car to get them some dry clothes for the next leg of our journey. When I had everything ready (and realized we'd be lucky to get home by 6 pm), I called out, "OK, When I count to 5, I want you over here at the car." Isaiah called back, "When I count to 6, I want you in this puddle."

Hmmmm...I'm still in the grace period. He showed up at the car without missing a beat. I wonder how long that will last.

pesach on the beach

We took advantage of the full moon rising to have a memorable seder on the beach. Isaiah said the 4 questions and found the afikomen for the second night in a row, and Miel really got into dipping (and drinking) the 10 (or 40...) plagues.

beach life

Isaiah, our baseball-, soccer-, basketball-loving sportshound has picked up a new sport. There's talk of getting him a set of graphite clubs next year. Lucky boy.

Everyone has adjusted easily to beach life...finding hermit crabs in shells, great blue herons in the marsh, and lots of treats at Grandma and Grandpa's house!

jet set

ahhh...let's just take a few moments to appreciate the glamour of air travel with young children. Changes of clothes for everyone? Check. Daughter picking out goldfish to eat that is stuck between airplane seats? Check. Proud potty power boy using the facilities 4 times on a 4-hour flight, just as our aisle-seatmate is dozing off? Check. All in all, this one was a very easy flight for us frequent fliers.

And the props totally go to beeswax modeling sticks. $1/each at our local environmentally-friendly store Solutions...and they each get us at least a half hour of play. Which on the plane equals about 2 1/2 elephant years. The temptation to give in to airport branded toys/fastfood/dvd world is strong, but yum, the smell of beeswax on an airplane.

We got a perfect view straight into the Grand Canyon...Isaiah's first glimpse when he could actually appreciate it. And the Mississippi River.

Oh yeah...hour plus naps for both children at the same time.

Like I said, an easy flight.

daily wardrobe

Miel, Miele, Meli, meli-moo, moo-moo, jalapeno jelly, rascally, sweetie-girl, honeydrop, faygala, bugaboo-boo, wonderlove, screamer (sung to the tune of Supertramp's "Dreamer"...just a few of our favorite endearments. And let us not forget the most often used...SqueakerBee for our little squeaker.

These days, this jacket and these boots are her daily wear, hands in pockets indoors and out.

Exploding with sentences among the family, glaring at others under her eyebrows until she warms up to her true silliness. Must have "my bear" and "my hat" with her at all times.

Loving the first day of baseball season almost as much as her ball-crazy brother.

swapped

We received a lovely thank you from Melissa and family for our swap package. It was so much fun and I can't wait to take the children to the post office on Monday to unveil our goodies.

Melissa asked how to make the felt journals for the children. So easy! I cut the size felt we wanted, cut drawing paper to a slightly smaller size, then staple the drawing paper together and stapled the felt over top. Then I needle-felted yarn onto the cover for the edge and names. I felted some dots and needled them onto the cover. Next time I would do the cover embellishments first, then the stapling, but it was creative process. You know how it goes.

The headband is a strip of knit 2, purl 2, stitched together at the end.
We hope Sammy and Abby and their parents get lots of fun and some independent playtime with their new toys.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...we love to play family games in the evenings, especially guessing games. Tonight after we finished our birthday celebration dinner with dear friend Claire, we played our guessing game version of charades where one person acts out what he wants the others to guess (remember, this is a 3 year old and 20 month old so we definitely keep it simple).
After moving through the standard snake, cat, chicken laying eggs, I took the position of chair pose, also known as strong pose. After Isaiah guessed "tree," I took a deeper seat, hoping to get a truer shape. "TOILET!" Isaiah yelled out, naming not only a very specific kind of chair, but his favorite throne these days.

And Miel chose to re-enact flamingo pose several times for us, each time putting her boots on first.

lovely day

After getting our swap package ready for the big swap (and of course posing for a picture), we had a wet feet river walk/lunch/t-ball date with our buddy TQ. Some playdates end with a speedy ragged goodbye, others extend into the dreamworld.

every saturday is mother's day

Well, after so enjoying today, I was told that every Saturday can be my holiday. Ok, I'll take that. It was so nice that on my first day of not teaching at night after 5 straight, Steve picked me tulips, mopped the floor, and made black bean soup and cornbread.

And at our after-dinner family campfire, Miel gave new meaning to "slide guitar." I already see her piercings and punker look, our little "jalapeno jelly," so sweet and spicy. And yes, that's her art above. She's discovered the splatter (and so have the curtains and walls).

As Miel napped on our favorite neighbor's tummy, I thought that everyone needs a 12-year-old family best friend.

making quality time

This is the month we've been gearing up for. I'm teaching 4 nights a week (teaching Asian Bodywork at the Arcata School of Massage and teaching my own form of bodywork for the first time--blissbody therapy is the working title), editing, still trying to keep up forming LUNA Kids (our cooperative preschool) and basically being a full-time mom with Steve and I picking up the pieces late each night.

The good news--I came home to fennel, jerusalem artichoke and potato gratin; chard, raisin and pine nuts; and freshbaked shortbread! Gotta leave them to their own devices more often...go Steve!

But...it takes its toll on the children, all this crunched time and chaos. All of a sudden Isaiah can't put on his light-up sneakers by himself. I asked him today why, after all this time, he suddenly has difficulty putting them on. "Because I want to be your baby."

And I'll take every baby minute I can get.

scents of spring

And for today's food idea, I'm going to have to borrow from the lovely Cheryl, because tomorrow for breakfast we're going to have leftover quinoa with blueberries, apples, toasted sprouted seeds and yogurt. Yum...wholesome bliss!

rational beings???

I've heard them called "little savages." I always thought that was a harsh misnomer, a generalization right along with "terrible two's." But some days in our family and in those families we're close to, the description equals 3-year-old.

Isaiah's best buddy TQ is a gem...curious, articulate, precocious. A good guy. I just want to clear that up right from the beginning. The story his mama told me about him must be repeated and written at least here in case she forgets to write it down herself.

TQ, potty-learned for over a year now, has been peeing all over the house when mama is away and papa is in another room. He leaves these puddles for papa to find. Gleefully it seems. This has taken place on 4 occasions in the past few weeks. The last time he did it, while papa was cleaning up the mess in the living room, TQ went into the bathroom, plugged the sink and turned on the faucet, letting the water run until it flowed over the sink onto the floor. Papa came in from drying the living room to water on the bathroom floor.

Later, after mama was home and sweet 3-and-a-half year old TQ was in the bath, he was telling her about his misadventures.

"How do you think Daddy felt when you did that?" she asked.
"Angry!" he replied with a wide smile.
"And how did you feel?"
"Happy!"
"Well, I hope this isn't going to happen again."
Big smile, "Oh, it will!"
"Really, were do you think you are going to do it next time?"
Bigger smile, "all over the bathroom floor!"

forest sprites

Saturday afternoon in the redwoods with Clairy-berry...We are so lucky!

get out and stay out!

A report from the wild side...gone fishin', mud slinging, kale picking. Finally we stopped at our beloved CSA, Redwood Roots Farm and got to eat our brussels sprouts morsels off the stalk, pick collards to later stuff with "squealers" (the butcher's personal blend of elk, buffalo, pork and beef), rice and olives, and munch on all the kale we could eat.

No, a pastoral farm isn't wilderness, but it is a place where the children can run wild. The only rule, run between the rows, not on them. And be gentle with the plants that give us so much food. It was the first time we've been to a farm since moving and we were all so relieved by the smell of food growing in the soil. Isaiah says to me every other day, "Mama, I miss the goats." Me, too, buddy. We get to see goats around here, and cows and horses and chickens and ducks, but the experience of living with them and caring for them and receiving our daily milk from them is something we hope to create soon for ourselves again.

We're enjoying this beautiful spring weather in our little town yard. We planted our snap peas together and got some arugula and bitter salad mix in the ground. The daffodils are springing up and the trees in our neighborhood are bursting with pink blossoms. We find the wild in the pile of red worms in the compost pile and the big bay tree that looms over the footbridge down the street.

And yes, Isaiah has been really sweet as he's been exhausting himself in the agenda-free outdoors.

daily practice

Gentle words, gentle voice...firm intention.

the call of the wild

As we've settled back here in town, the laundry room and dishwasher have become familiar routines. Another chore in the rhythm of these very full and busy days. We spend as much of our days outdoors as possible, yet I keep wanting more. This evening, walking Belly, the stars were magnificent, even atop the glare of the streetlights. I imagined how they look in the dark of the farm.

I feel this pull toward the wild in the children, too. Isaiah has been acting out, mostly directly onto his little sister. Sure, he has a lot going on....his grandma and grandpa just left, he's got "potty power," he loves picking out his own clothes and putting them on himself, he prances on his two-wheeler like a prince on a steed. Could the changes in his behavior be all these 3-year-old landmarks or could he be experiencing a lack of the green absorbing sponge of the pastoral wilderness? I know, you ask, how could I even be thinking this? We don't live in Manhattan or San Francisco or even Portland. We are in Redwood Nation, home of rivers and beaches and all things green. And of course, it's developmental. But what I've noticed is that soft, misty, watery green absorbs this energy like a fairy waving her wand.

We've been very civilized this week. Playgrounds, the library, cafe lunch dates. We are outside a lot, but on the bike, scooter, at the playground, gymnastics class. Living on the farm I thought a lot about WILDNESS in our children and how misunderstood it can be. How often the term is used perjoratively..."That boy is wild," "Calm down, you are being so wild!" (said by me yesterday) But what could be better for our children than to live like weeds, like birds, like squirrels, like fish...getting dirty, getting wet, getting wild.

Tomorrow, I'm going to find some mud for us to wallow in. I'll report back.
"wild thing...you make my heart sing...you make everything...groovy...wild thing"