Kidding
A little ambitious, are we? Really Minnesotans shouldn’t start gardening til after Mother’s Day because you never, ever know when the frost will hit. It’s a sneakily long winter. The kids are thrilled to be outdoors without coats on. Earlier last week I had them in their snow pants. YES. to play outside. As an aside, my Whole Parenting Goods shop is going on vacation Sunday til later next month and all leggings will be out of the shop til winter. So use the code “freeshipping” and grab something if it suits your fancy! Our sweet youngest. Who thinks he is a grown man and can wield the same gardening tools as his dada. He’s snuggly but also so filled with vim & vigor! Sassy Knit pants, local mama artisan, for the win, folks! And she’s so delighted in her fort. It’s where she stashes anything and everything and she defends it with impunity. When it is invaded, this is her expression. Right before she screeches. And the more time outside with Dada, the better, right? My sister has a new little love in her life and this pup is staying with us until my sister’s new house is all done with construction. To say the kids are in love is an understatement. How’s your garden coming together this year?
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Family, as in, my children will eat them. Not all are actual “family” recipes, as in, handed down from generation to generation. I get stuck a bit in the kitchen. I used to run a meal planning link up for, what, six months, last year? You can hop over to the eating section on the blog and see it all! When faced with the daunting task of feeding three kids and one ravenous husband, I want to retreat to the pantry to eat cereal myself. Once this intense feeling passes, I gird my loins and dish out a few of these. 1) Pasta with homemade sauce. Don’t get overwhelmed by seeing “homemade sauce”–the sauce is so simple and just takes a few hours. It’s the planning ahead part that’s hard–not the making of it. Simmer chopped tomatoes (canned or fresh) in olive oil and salt for a few hours, adding a hint of water or broth if it’s burning up. Season with oregano and basil and tons of shredded part. Brown beef and season with salt & pepper & those other things as well. Angel hair + combine. Oh, and butter. 2. Red quinoa with sausage & peppers. Recipe here. 3) Chicken noodle soup with amped up yogurt. Recipe here. 4) Rice + protein + mango + tomatoes. Cook rice. Cook meat or tofu. Combine! Spritz with lemon! 5) Pizza. Recipe here. Kinda. It’s evolved. But we use this crust. 6) Beef chili. (grainy iPhone pic!) Recipe here. 7) Monster salads. Butter or…
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I had the great privilege of being a guest on the Jennifer Fulwiler show on the Catholic channel on Sirius XM radio the other week. Afterwards, I felt so chagrinned. We were talking about living out the Pope’s latest encyclical, Laudato Si, and I totally lost my notes beforehand and experienced major mommy brain during and couldn’t summon up all the thoughts I’d had about the topic. Jen, will you ever let me back on the air??? But we did confirm that despite not compost toileting, you’re probably holier than Haley, right? 😉 The reason I wanted to talk with her in the first place was that upon reading the encyclical, I felt panicked. I need my heat! I need my a/c! Pope Francis seems to ask things we can’t do as normal American moms of many! So after thinking about it, here’s my list of ways to live out environmental stewardship as a midwest mom of many who can’t live out the beautiful organic farmer life that I pine for secretly in my dreams. (But then I’d have to give up our ancestral home and I don’t think I can do that!!) 1) Recycle. I’m pretty sure everyone does this. At least, I thought everyone did before I went to law school and met so many people who simply didn’t. Maybe their city didn’t collect it without a fee. Maybe their county didn’t promote it. Maybe they simply hadn’t given it much thought. Paper. Cardboard. Glass. Certain plastics. The greatest city…
Read MoreMy baby really isn’t a baby anymore. He’s 21 months and talking, running, slapping, laughing, and as of the other week, no longer nursing. This is the first time since I was pregnant with my oldest (over six years ago now!) that I haven’t been nursing or pregnant. There’s a bittersweetness there. Kathryn wrote about her youngest weaning and I nodded along with all her musings. Nursing doesn’t work for everyone. Some people don’t want to breastfeed, for others it doesn’t work out despite their best attempts, and still for others, they do a little of both bottle & breast and it works for them. I fully support FED IS BEST. Yup. For me, nursing has been deeply, achingly wonderful. My daughter had a tough time starting out at it, but the boys have been pretty fine, and dare I say, after BabyLoves was born at a whopping 10 pounds and I was so out of it with endometritis (uterus infection) and bad tearing, that when he latched and it didn’t hurt I thought, maybe an excruciatingly large baby has its pros? People asked about weaning as he was the first I *tried* to actually wean. My oldest self-weaned at 14 months and my second at 19 months. But this little man was about 18 months when I went on a “sistermoon” with my sister Molly. That’s when you abandon your children and husband and go live it up on the beach with your sister (or sleep in a LOT and eat food…
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This little lady. She’s something else. My three kids are 5 and a half, 3 and three quarters, and 1 and five eighths. I’m making up the fractions, approximately. Don’t sue me. The days at home with them have gotten easier in many ways. When I had three under four, I was really harried and often desperate for any reprieve I could find {blog, sew, blog}. Now that I’m breathing a little more deeply, I am trying to do certain things with each kid throughout the day. Of course there are all these studies about being present to your children, and what happens when they’re raised in the era of mama having a smartphone. But beyond those potential black holes for guilt, I just want to be mindful of a few things with them. So I’m reading this book by one of my favorite authors and hoping to change somethings into habits. 1) hug and kiss copious times. My boys are more inclined for physical touch than my little lady–so I have to remind myself to smother her with affection too even when it’s not her first love language. I told them their kisses are stored up in my soul and will be with me forever. Jesus, make that true. 2) laugh with them, even when I’m totally faking it. I don’t feel like being goofy or entertaining or fun or funny that often. I often wish they would listen the first time and stop squirming. I’m finding that goofing around when…
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It was just one of the many many lessons I’ve learned from being a mother. Some of the most important parts of my job are to act with kindness and to own my ish. Today everything exploded this morning. Miscommunications, missed expectations, running late to a friend’s house, my oldest suddenly with us instead of having big boy time, the instagram charity auction for Zelie & Co bustling, and a bad night the night before. Cue me shouting and them all shouting and it’s 10 degrees and 20 below windchill and YES YOU MUST WEAR YOUR SNOWPANTS INTO THE CAR. By the time we were all loaded into the car, I felt it. That regretful feeling in my stomach. I’m the adult. I need to control my crabby temper. Just because my kids are being rude and not cooperating doesn’t give me license to let loose on them. I am the adult. And once again, I’ve proven that mothering, for me, is the quickest way to being a better person. Because instead of having control over my life, with minimalism well under way around the house, and days of creative output for me, and a well-balanced diet, and clothes that I enjoy wearing, I’m in the thick of real life with small kids. Our house is messy, our days are well worn with book reading and painting and hide & go-to-seek and naps, I’m eating pepperoni & melted cheese on tortilla chips, and I’m out of shape so my wardrobe is limited…
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