exploringforests

As expected, hurricane Sandy destroyed New Jersey. The coast is a mess, the boardwalks are gone, thousands of people are without homes , some have passed on, some are hurt. Mother Nature can really be a mother fucker sometimes. 

We were lucky. The damage to our own home was minimal; two of our pine trees cracked and fell onto our pool...another two cracked and fell breaking part of our fence. The roof of the wooden playhouse flew off but that was about it. The kids are okay - the goats are fine - the bunnies are surely oblivious to anything that happened because I gave them 10x more alfalfa than usual. We have no power and aren't expected to get any for 7-10 days which is pretty lame, but it's nothing compared to loosing a house, or a life. No running water, no heat and so on but plenty of flashlights and freeze dried food. 

The morning after the hurricane our friends invited us to their home because they had power and we were able to charge our phones and check in on family. Today my Mother and Father in law called to let us know they had power and to bring the kids over for a few days. They were super psyched to leave our chilly, dark ole' house for sweets and snuggles from their Grandparents. All is well here.

 

I hope everyone who experienced the hurricane is okay. Safe. And if you believe in something say a few kind words for those that lost their homes. Donate somethin....cook a meal for someone in need....go through your books, toys and clothes and give them to those who lost EVERYTHING.

Stay strong world. 

Sandy! Sandy!

Well motherfucker, there is a hurricane a-coming.

Last year we had that ice storm which caused Halloween to be a bust, and now this. My poor KIDS! Luckily I've rescheduled our party (who says you can't have Halloween in November) and I've got enough homemade play-doh and tiny plastic skulls and eyeballs to keep us busy while the wind blows.

 

But seriously I'm totally freaked out. I firmly believe in climate change, but don't get me wrong I'm NOT a global warming preacher - I just think that climate change is a natural occurance and as humans we've gotten used to our fancy smancy Internet connections and luxuries so much in fact that if something did happen we'd be in the dark. Including myself - I love hot showers and really expensive face wash..cable television, dishwashers and the list could go on. Did I mention my smart phone? Yeah. 

Even if the storm isn't bad (I think it will be) it's better of course, to be safe than sorry. 

For awhile I've thought about a "survival" chest, and I wanted to share what we keep in ours

Freeze dried meals just like the astronauts (these are a little pricy, and I'm sure gross since I have't tasted them. We have several breakfast options and loads of pasta type things)

First aid kit

Crank radio/flashlight combo

Latern (and batteries to accompany latern...)

Flashlights/headlamps (for the children) 

First aid book with the basics (gushing blood brains falling out stuff)

Essential oils and healing salves that I think are a must 

Propane + mini stoves

Hatchet with storage for good knife in it too

Matches galore (both regular and storm proof)

Candles (long lasting, non scented emergency ones)

Portable water filter capable of filtering our fresh water sources (I have both a larger one that can fit in a back, and tablets)

And now being the ultimate sleepy pants I can't remember what elese...

I  have a full tank of gas, goats have enough to much on for two days (roughly) and bunnies are safe.

Wish me luck

things

This weekend we went adventuring to the Waldorf school in Chesnut Ridge NY for their Autumn fair. 

It was lovely (as expected) and the kids got to make play silks, bubble wands, and beeswax candles..they dug for treasures in the sand pit, went on a "ride" down a makeshift wooden hill on a cart, ate maple cotton candy and played with some wonderful bigger kids in the natural play yard hauling rocks and boards to a little hideout.  It was a looooong day, but a super fun one! 

Sunday was the dog park and it was quite the fall day for it. We were there for HOURS

We've been having some fun here with dollar masks from Target, and owl pellets in the mail

This week we were going to have "moon week" but I've decided it's too close to Halloween (next week already) to do anything but spooky things. I'm not a huge fan of the holiday, but for the kids sake I am trying to make it a blast, and we have our Halloween party coming up with friends, and Trunk or Treat, and a trip to the museum to see what spooky going-ons they have there this Saturday. 

So far on the agenda:

Pumpkin carving! We have a ton of pumpkins in all shapes and sizes, but only one for carving...so this week we will be going to a (local) pumpkin patch to pick up a few more to carve away at. I'm going to let Paige have her first shot at using a hammer so we can have a polka dot pumpking, and I'd love Phil to pull out his art skills and make me a spooky owl :) Paige also wants to paint so I might get the kids one super big pumpkin to get go nuts with. 

We are going to make pumpkin slime! Any kind of SLIME of gunk here is a big hit 

We are going to make harvest fairy spotters, because if there's a time to see fairies and ghouls it's got to be Halloween right? We will go out into the yard to collect Autumn-y nature things. 

I also need to start getting ready for our Halloween party I'm throwing for kids + mommas in the natural parents group. We are going to be decorating foam masks, than going into the yard (or inside depending on mother nature) for a spooky treasure hunt. That + some yummy potluck Autumn foods + kids in costumes and we are bound to have a blast. 

I also decided that Halloween is going to be a day for surprises. I've put together little Halloween treasure boxes for Wyatt and Paige with simple things; spooky playdoh, a craft kit and knit witch dolls...they will have that at the breakfast table on Halloween morning, and before Trunk or Treat can play away. We are going to my old neighborhood for the actual trick or treating in the evening, and will come home nice and early so kids can get to bed at a decent time + have time for a Halloween movie.

We won't be doing the Halloween fairy that trades your candy for a present. Why? Well my kids don't really get to eat candy that often, so it's a real treat come Halloween! And only doing one street means that they won't have tons and tons to go through...and I can always trade the yucky stuff for some fair trade chocolate I will be buying :) 

Now I'm off to to the food store, and to Toys r us. Gulp. Found a gift card from Christmas LAST year and need to use it before it expires. Pirate legos for Phil...er Wyatt, and a treasure for Paige. 

potty-time

If there's anything I've learned as momma, it's that kids do things at their own paces. 

I've been pretty lazy about Wyatt's potty training. In the morning Phil discovered if you scoop him up and bring him downstairs he will happily go use the potty for his morning pee...excpet, first thing in the morning I'm more interested in burying under my warm quilt than rushing downstairs with a two year old under my arm. So again, sometimes he goes but mostly he doesn't and when I make a point of asking him if he'd like to give his potty a try he says "no momma" and goes back to playing. 

He is ready though. I think. Right now our potty is used as a stepping stool to reach the cabinets that are normally "off limits" for a 2 year old. Think rolling pins and spatulas which are harmless but just sort of a drag to find under the couch. This weekend we have some fun plans, but in between that the heat will be on and the pants will be off. If I even notice him making the "I'm going to pee on your floor" face I will rush him to the potty. And yes, when in training we use bribery..normally in the case of small chocolates. Wyatt is very much into trains and stickers so I may make a choo-choo sticker chart for him to get pumped about. 

Lately Wyatt cracks me up. His two favorite things to chant are butt cheeks butt cheeks! His two favorite toys at the moment are his King Triton doll from the Disney Store (he grabbed it, shouted "THE KING" and that was that..) and his tea set. He adores his sister and follows her around eager to just be in her space playing (or torturing) her. He kisses me 20095x a day, and has discovered he loves bacon. He's a blast. 

Today Phil and Paige are off for a Daddy/daughter day in the city. He's taking her to work and she is armed with markers, a notebook and some fairy stickers (and the Ipad which she never gets a turn out..so a treat for her..) she's going to spend her day "working" and Phil promsied a nice lunch and trip to the park. She was up at the crack of dawn giddy with excitment and I'm happy for her. I'm happy Wyatt and I will have some precious momma/son time together, and in his usual gibber gabber talk he told me he wants to go get a new Pirate toy. We shall see -- we ARE going to head to my moms for an early dinner and I'm looking forward to catching up with her + my Dad. 

While in a perfect world we would have a huge homestead somewhere in New England (Maine? Vermont?) living only 15 minutes from my parents makes me super happy. Growing up I was the angsty "my parents suckkkk" teenager, but now that I'm older I appreciate them. I'm able to put all that negative stuff behind me, and embrace the fact that they are super Grandparents who are eager to help out with my kids when I need it, and of course cook some yummy delicious dinners. 

We had a fairly quiet weekend. 

We played outside a lot. We don't have that many outside toys (compared to some) and it seems that even with our wooden play house and swings both Wyatt and Paige just want to wander. We head over to the patch of woods and see what bugs are hiding under rocks. Paige makes fairy houses or just gazes up at the trees daydreaming about who knows what. Wyatt gathers pinecones and hums to himself. We head to the barn to pet the bunnies (we have two new babies, pictures to come!) and play with the goats. Sometimes we go on the trail but with lazy pants Wyatt we don't do that too often. It's just nice to be outside in the fall, before the winter comes and it's too freezing to do much exploring. 

No matter how beastly my kids are, if we go outside the mood is insantly lifted. 

Right now Paige is at her co-op and I'm sure she's having a blast. Wyatt is with our amazing-awesome-super babysitter playing while I sit upstairs and work on my piece for Demeter press + make a food list + food plan for the week.  Want to see what I have (unplanned) for the week? There are no days set ot this so when I'm feeling motivated I can go in for the hearty breakfasts + dinners, and when I'm feeling lazy there's simple meals for all. And this is going with my hopes to eat a more traditional food diet. 

Breakfasts:

Bacon bacon bacon! (Wyatt has discovered his love for bacon, which makes this momma happy)

Scrambled eggs with peppers & cheese 

Sourdough bread with pumpkin butter or jam + side of fruit  and cheese

Oatmeal (Paige loves her some oatmeal with cinnamon and brown sugar) 

Snacks/Lunch

For us these two go together. I've learned that my kids (and most I guess) prefer to graze, so we never do a huge lunch, and instead after breakfast mostly have little things throughout the day until dinner. 

Yogurt which is a huge staple here. I've been know to buy those yogurt sticks because they are so easy and Paige can grab + open herself, but it's so much waste. Yogurt with granola or honey on top = love.

Celery + nut butters

Granola bars 

Sourdough bread sandwiches with nut butters + jam

Smoothies (kids love them + I can include chia seeds, flax, kale and other greens) 

Seaweed (Wyatt loves this) 

Gluten free crackers + cheese + fruit (again my kids love crackers and love cheese) 

Dinners

Broccoli cheddar soup

Taco night - with beef tacos, guac, mango salsa, cheese, beans, and whatever else tickles our fancy :) 

Gluten free pasta + pine nut pesto and garlic

Roasted chicken + garlic mashed potatoes + 

Dinner at mommas (which is happening tonight, I belive pork) 

 

So that's basically it! 

And our homeschool agenda for the week is to spend as much time outside as possible exploring, and Paige would like to take a natural walk on the small trail by my house. We are also going to make making disolving rocks (which was the plan for last week but never happened) and inside I have pirate and horse little figures for the kids to discover as they "disolve" in the vinager. We are going to be learning about adjectives and making Paige & Wyatt mobiles, and working on some math gnomes and math work :) We may also make some Autumn beesewax candles that the kids can roll + decorate themselves. 

This week the mailman is going to be bringing some very fun things. The kids Halloween costumes are coming, so I imagine soon a pirate and Marie Antoniette will be running around the house like mad. And I ordered Paige and myself some new boots (yes!) for doing barn work + mucking around in. I am not a shoe girl and in the summer I wear flip flops, in the Autumn (and any other mild weather) moccasins, and than I have super duper winter boots I got last year (even though it was the most mild winter ever..) I needed something in between and I won't lie, I've been conveting a pair of Hunter rain boots so I splurged and got them.  I also ordered some new books (used) about what else? Sewing and homesteading - the one book has like 100+ projects you can do with just a yard of fabric and I can't wait to rip into it. 

Happy Monday! Now I'm off to get my sweet girl from school 

 

hello hello

So much to post about, and yet nothing at all really. 

Happy Autumn first : ) 

I feel like we had a week of total rain + gray skies that kept us indoors (willingly) but now we've had a few days in a row of sunny skies that have pushed us outdoors to do some leaf and seed collecting. I printed out a few fall nature hunts and the kids both grabbed their baskets and went to town. We discovered a walnut tree on the property and we made messes with the ink and gathered the open shells for our nature table and man fall is so lovely and inspiring. There's no end to the fun that can be had with a few beautiful leaves and some beeswax or contact paper so we have been going to town. 

Homeschoolin' around these parts is going well. We've started our own version of main lesson books and for Paige there's reading and writing, science, the world we live in, and math...the other day we busted out the science book and learned all about pumpkins. Their growing cycle, the different varities and of course the parts of a pumpkin. Paige drew her own pumpkin patch and than labeled the parts of the pumpkin (with a little spelling help from momma of course) and it was a blast. I raided our book collection and found we have um 5 books about pumpkins which all cover the same topics so I'm going to keep two, and donate some...anyone want pumpkin books?

Yesterday we did something a bit special. 

We had a friend over to break open some rocks to reveal DINOSAURS which we matched up to their fossil prints. It was very simple, very easy for mixed ages (Wyatt who's 2, Paige who's 5 and our friend's daughter who's 3) and we scored some new dinos to play with! It didn't really go with our theme for the week, but I couldn't resist - it was the perfect way to spend an hour outdoors on a lovely Autumn day.

I'm happy to say that the amount of free play going on here is just awesome. In between the uh, sibling fights that is - in Paige's defense Wyatt is learning to share and express himself (mostly by chanting butt cheeks over and over in various voices..) so he can be challenging when say, Paige has a doll he wants. BUT!  They are playing both independently and together throughout the day and it's a blast to watch. 

One of their favorite games is "doctor" which means Wyatt lays in bed covered in fabric scrapes and Paige diagnoses pretty terrible things - today she told him he was so sick ALL of his organs had to go. Another day she told him he was loosing his sight like Mary, and would need to use Odin as an "eye dog" which meant that both dog and small human crashed into things and caused a mess. They also have tea parties and go on adventures outdoors. Paige has been going into the corner of our dining room with some felt and coming back with "dresses" for her dolls, and she's constantly making her own potions on the deck of dirt mud and flower petals. Home remedies for Wyatt maybe? I love watching them play, and I love that they have hours of time to do just that.

And lastly, I've been reading quite a few farm-type memoirs and books that interview farmers who are advocates for bio-dynamic farming, raw milk, grass feed beef and so on and I'm feeling inspired. There are some mommas out there who make it all from scratch and well, I'm not one of them.  We buy dried cereals (I call them the healthy alternative to sweet cereals) and I buy our granola. We eat out far too often whether it's lunch dates with friends or ordering in. I'm not much for cooking (but I do enjoy thining about cooking) but these books are...well again, inspiring. 

I'm not going to promise anything because I find when I say things like "I'm going Paleo" I totally don't. But I do want to start doing simple things like cutting back on grains, making things from scratch like Almond milk and butter, and ordering more raw milk from the co-op. I really want to dedicate myself to making our OWN breakfast cereals, and drinking a smoothie (with kale) a day. The first thing though, is to clean out this pantry and fridge - use up what we have and donate some of it that I can't bring myself to eat. The next few days are going to be "make everything!" days, and we will start anew. Or maybe we won't, either way it's okay because baby steps for this momma make anything within reach. 

(note, I just looked out the window and it's gray and the leaves are blowing everywhere and I'm thinking hazlenut hot coco and some leaf rubbings for the afternoon will make for a lovely end of the week)