A wind of change

A trip to NY last week led to a long discussion with my husband last night. We talked until nearly one in the morning. Discussing how we wanted to live. I grew up in a normal mainstream house, but on the weekends I went to my Dad’s. My Dad is a homesteader. He instilled a love and respect for the land in me. He built his log cabin himself. He and my step mom live in a way that is very self sufficient. They know where their food came from because most all of it was grown right there on their land, animal, vegetable, and mineral. They were “green” before the phrase had even been coined. I miss that. I miss being so connected to nature. I am tired of Walmart. I am tired of private health care. I am tired of The Gap and Target. I am tired of eating food that is removed from the land, that I have no idea where it came from. I am tired of buying things because I have been programmed to believe I “need” it. Like plastic wrap, and toothpaste, bread, toilet paper, and tissues. Yes, I know what you are thinking, and that just proves how “sold” we all are.

I used the last of the Saran Wrap the other week. I’m not buying more…ever. We started making our own toothpaste with baking soda and coconut oil months ago. We started using family cloth (flannel toilet paper) a while ago too. I figured if cloth diapers and wipes are good enough for Finn, they are good enough for us too.  The same goes for tissues, and paper towels. The list goes on and on.

I am tired of all the processed fake food. We have made some radical changes in how we shop for food, how we cook, and how we eat. I have been drinking 100% whole, raw, grass-fed, organic milk, cooking everything with butter and coconut oil for a while now and guess what. I lost 8 pounds. I have more energy. I don’t crave sweets the way I once did. Probably because my body is finally getting the fat it needs. Yes, I said needs.

There are some new slogans in our home. Simplify. Reduce, Re-use, Recycle. Make it yourself, Make Do, Do With Out. Yes, I am a tree huggin’ hippie earth mama. Yes I am proud of that title. I watch my daughter who is so “plugged in” and think of my childhood and the many summers I spent practically living in or down by the creek at my Dad’s. I want something better than the American dream. Because the American dream is all about me, me, me. We have forgotten how to live for and serve each other. We have forgotten that our actions affect other and our planet. Well it stops now…at least with this family anyway.

It doesn’t happen over night. I have made small changes each day. Making small choices and changes. Already we have seen a difference in the way we live and that’s great. And just to ease your mind, we still have toilet paper in the house for our guests, so you can still come over and visit.

blah, and just…blah

i am…cripes i don’t even know anymore. i am overwhelmed, ridiculously happy, exhausted, freakin’ tired, over weight, in love, too durn’d busy, and many other things.

i am lamenting the fact that i just can’t seem to find my knitting mojo. i went to the mannings two weeks ago and just went blah, blah, blah, meh? no blah. the mannings people. i have been toting around the same sad sock for ages now. i have wanted to cast on a nice tiny lace shawl forever. i think part of the reason i feel so out of touch with my fibery soul is my schedule has up and stomped all over me so much recently that when a free moment comes i freak out just trying to figure out what to do first. i have a miriad of things on my plate right now:  diapers to sew, diapers to cut out, dresses to cut out, dresses to sew, things i want to knit for me, things i want to knit for Finn, things i want to knit for zombie smith.

i want my schedule to stop fooling me into thinking it’s empty and then clobering me over the head with a crap ton of stuff just days before the week begins.

*le sigh* i miss my knitting needles

Fiber Swap

A lesson in the proper eating of a watermelon

The mountain was fun. Night time was interesting though as where we had our tent it got very damp and there is nothing more frustrating than trying to sleep in very damp and heavy bedding. Apparently Finn thought so too as he was up quite a bit during the night. Other than that though it was a wonderful relaxing and peaceful weekend with lots of fun, family, and food. Oh yeah, and bugs, I think we all got eaten alive, except for Finny which we don’t understand because after all…he is the sweetest of us.

I finished up setting the twist on some gorgeous yarn I spun for a fiber swap. I am actively involved with an online forum called Diaper Sewing Divas. We are all cloth diapering moms, most of us sew are own. Anyway, we did a really cool swap, those who didn’t spin themselves sent two bags of fiber to ladies who had the ability to spin. One was for the spinners to keep as payment, the other was to be spun and sent back to the sender. Easy swap…until I saw the roving my swap buddy sent me. Oh.my.gosh! I didn’t want to send it back. It was Selah Targhee Mountain Top in the colorway Reconcile. Amazing stuff and so soft and easy to spin. I got a gorgeous bit of merino pencil roving in a luscious colorway that reminds me of raspberry truffles and cream.

Simply lovely

Mountain Woman

We are headed up to my hubby’s Aunt & Uncle’s cabin for the long weekend. I am packing like crazy. There is so much more to pack this year…baby things. This is The Bean’s first camping trip, as you can see, he’s packing too. Just bringing along our favorite toys. Heeee…it’s called an Ashford Traveler for a reason.

Can I take all my toys mama?

We go tent camping up there, everyone else is in campers. I grew up tent camping. When you have two working stiff parents and 4 kids, it’s what you can afford. My Dad, however, was the one that instilled the love of the outdoors in me. When mom and my stepdad and brothers would go camping it was in a nice state park with all the amenities. Often times when Dad and I would camp, we would hike in somewhere and make camp, or stay at a campground that was similar. I loved it. Aunt V., hubby’s aunt, always calls me “mountain woman” because of my outdoorsy tendencies. They were mighty impressed the first time I set up our tent…by myself…in ten minutes. She was disappointed because she wanted a picture and by the time she got out of the cabin with her camera the tent was up.

I intend to raise our family lovin’ camping as well. We shall see how Finnigan does this weekend. He’s been up there for visits, but not overnight. Breakin’ out the warm pj’s this weekend.

The Party & The Presents

It’s amazing how fast a year goes by. Monday was Finny’s birthday and we had a wonderful time. Our family decided to do a handmade/frugal birthday theme. I made the party decorations with construction paper and cookie cutters of dinosaurs and stars. I made Finny’s cake too. To top it all off we each made him a present. Travis made him a gorgeous rocking horse, I made him some bean bags and an elephant (UFO, I know, bad mama), and big sissy made him a piggy bank using an old jar. On to the incredibly picture heavy post!

Guests arrived at 6:30 and we lost no time getting right into the birthday party spirit with the cake!

Not bad for my first birthday cake in about 5 years.

It was devil’s food with raspberry buttercream frosting. Mmmmm. Yeah, very mmmm.

"Why are all you people singing at me?"

Seriously, you have to wonder what they are thinking. All these people singing and staring at you while you stuff cake and icing in your mouth.

Blowing out the candle

Finny happened to be teething (what a lousy birthday present) that night so he wasn’t feeling particularly up to snuff, but it didn’t stop him from enjoying that birthday cake.

Mmmmmm, I'll say that again, mmmmmm.

Now wash it all down with some cold milk.

After the cake we opened presents, but not before taking a bath in the kitchen sink in front of everyone so we could get this kid “uncaked”. My son is a voyer, he loves taking bath’s in the kitchen sink when there is company. Last week he took a bath in the sink while a Mary Kay party was going on and my kitchen was full of women. I’ll bet once he can walk he’ll be a streaker.

What do you mean I can't stay in the tub?

On to the presents! We crammed a lot of people into our teeny living room. I was really surprised that we managed to do it. Although it got pretty hot and muggy after a bit.

Family and Friends

OK, the handmade prezzies! Daddy’s beautiful rocking horse. Perfectly sized for a wee little lad. I am ridiculously proud of Travis, this little rocking horse will be handed down to quite a few babies in this family.

"Where do you put the quarter on this thing?"

The um, Elephant isn’t finished yet (yeah, yeah, yeah) but, my handmade bean bags were a big hit…with the adults. Finn actually likes them quite a bit too.

Bean bags for the Bean

It's all fun and games until someone...you know the rest.

And of course Big Izzy’s coin bank which will be filled with coins once the wee animal crackers disappear. Lovely job Big Izzy!

Too bad the US Currency isn't animal crackers

Shortly after opening up Daddy’s lovely rocking horse…well…

I think we may need a barn...

The hubby’s Aunt and Uncle bought this for Finnigan and shortly after I told them how Travis was making a rocking horse for him. They figured he could use this one when he gets bigger. He loves both of them already, he was rocking on the one his Daddy made and tugging on this ones ear at the same time.

Another fun present…remember the Little People Barn set? This is the new more modern version. Ah, good times.

Mooooo

Finny received some lovely gifts from family and friends, but more importantly we had a great evening together celebrating Finnigan’s first birthday. I still can’t believe he’s one. We really loved our frugal birthday party and the whole handmade gifts from each other. We have decided that we will continue with this tradition for our birthdays. We figure the kid’s grandparents give them money/clothes/toys. We liked how special and personal our gift giving was.