MommyCoddle

BirdJam

It's pretty safe to say we're a bit bird crazy in this household. Nothing warms my heart more than hearing my daughter cry out from the backyard, "Mom! Quick! Put the guineas in their pen. I hear a Red-Shouldered Hawk!!!"

There is always a pair of binoculars on the cupboard in the mudroom--whether they are Dan's nice ones or Mary's purple plastic ones. And they often get swooped up and carried outside in a flurry of excitement over something calling in the trees. Almost nightly, my setting of the dinner table requires that I first push aside field guides that have been pilfered during breakfast and lunch.

Once your ears begin to recognize bird sounds, it really is amazing how much more you hear and notice when you are out doors. The birds that wake you in the morning are no longer a cacophony of  calls, but become Song Sparrows, House Finches and Nuthatches. It's like walking through life with cotton balls in your ears, and someone finally taking them out and revealing a whole world you only previously heard in muffled, muted tones.

And honestly, there's nothing better than seeing this awareness and consciousness of natural surroundings being passed on to my children. I love that their ears are alert, and their eyes are soft, looking for movement and color in the treetops.

Dan and I have gone through a lot of tapes and CDs of birdsong and calls, doing our best to learn as many birds as we can that are native to our area. And it isn't easy. You learn birds only by sound, but can't remember what they look like. Or you know their picture in a field guide, but can't remember what their call sounds like when you're in the field.

So when I heard about BirdJam on a birding podcast, I knew I had to try it. BirdJam is a program of "song files" that can be loaded onto your computer or better yet, your iPod, to learn your bird songs. Each song file brings up a photo of the bird, their name and their genus species. (if you're feeling really ambitious). It is the perfect combination, being able to listen to a song and call, while having the visual photograph in front of you as well.

And guess who's been stealing my ipod to listen to the "bird song CD"? My girls sit with the computer or my ipod and work their way through the songs, calling out the birds they recognize either by song or photo and they are able to put all their knowledge together.

Bird Jam comes in an adult version, too but we have the version for young birders. It is a companion to Bill Thompson's (editor of Bird Watcher's Digest) amazing Young Birder's Guide. (which he wrote with the help of his elementary-aged daughter Pheobe, and he says it is one of his proudest accomplishments of all his bird content writing. ) We have a lot of kid-friendly field guides, but this one is definitely the best. All the information for each bird is on one page and the photographs and facts about each bird are really interesting. I've learned something new about each bird I've looked up in the guide.

I get the chance to share a lot of good finds with you here on my blog, but I have to say, this goes down as one of my favorites. I hope I just made your holiday shopping a little bit easier because I know you bird loving friends will really enjoy this find. And sharing a love and appreciation for the natural world with children, is something I feel passionately about.

happy bird watching, listening and learning....

bedside

I'm writing this post from my "office". Which, isn't much of an office really, because well...my office just happens to be my bed most days. It's where I write most of my posts, it's where I have a good plug to juice up my laptop's ailing battery, and it's the softest place to sit in the evenings while I wait for the girls to finally quiet down for sleep. Dan and I keep saying to each other, "We've got to start going back downstairs after we put the girls to bed and enjoy the rest of our house!" But he usually cracks open a book and settles down in the chair in the corner of our room, I gather all the pillows from the bed and prop them up behind me as I sit and write and read. Maybe when the wood stove is firing downstairs, we'll find ourselves trickling back down to the living room.

Tonight, I'm once again writing from my bed, though an ailing stomach has brought me to this place a little earlier than usual. In an attempt to keep my mind off the rumbling, I decided to write. And as I was flipping through some recent photos from my camera I noticed several series of photographs of my bed.

It's funny how it has become such a gathering place. I remember my mother's bed always feeling softer and warmer and more relaxing than my own. And I often wonder if the girls feel the same way about my bed now, because they sure do enjoy spending time here.

Making my bed in the mornings is usually preceded by me shooing Mary from the tangle of quilts and pillows. She wraps herself up and tangles her arms and legs in the covers so many times I have to roll her round and over to get her out. She feigns sleep, hoping I'll let her snuggle in the covers just a few minutes more. And usually, I do.

The other day, my bed was an important place for my two oldest girls. It had been a morning of constant bickering, from the moment they woke up. Not my favorite way to start the day. I was absolutely losing my mind with how the girls were setting such a horrible mood in the house. Finally, I sent them their separate ways, banning interaction and play together until things settled down. Awhile later, I found them here. Emma reading Mary a story, both tangled under the blankets, knees bent, feet dangling in the air. I snapped a picture, smiled and walked away.

happy monday, all.
good night.

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if you have a moment, please visit my friend and neighbor, Sarah in her Race for the Cure.

Saturday Morning Book Talk

When Trish Collins from TLC Book Tours approached me about being a stop along a book tour for Kathryn Maughan's Did I Expect Angels, I was excited for the chance to be a part. I love the idea of a book winding its way through the blogosphere, being read, reviewed, commented upon. Just another way this blogging world is unique and full of wonderful opportunities.

I think I read this book in under a week--which is saying a lot considering the fact that my only reading opportunities come when I climb into bed each night. Usually, I spend the first two minutes figuring out where I left off in a story and the next two minutes struggling to keep my eyes open until I realize I'm completely asleep with a book balanced on my chest.

Did I Expect Angels, is the story of a wife and mother dealing with grief and depression. One evening, as she travels through her local store to buy pills to end her life, her plans are interrupted by Henry, an elderly Costa Rican who works at the store and somehow senses her situation and need. Though she tries to put up a fight, he takes her to coffee at a local diner and tells her his amazing story that in some ways, parallels her own.

The book flawlessly flashes back and forth between their two stories as you are carried deep into the emotional journey both characters have traveled. The book is hard to put down and Maughan manages to write about the characters as if she has lived and breathed their lives.

I found myself wincing at some of the moments in the story, especially those as the main character deals with her grief, and her need to be mother to her only daughter. Her half-hearted efforts to pull herself together are excruciating but understandable. You feel frustrated with her. You find you're rooting for her.

Though this review sounds like the book is a depressing ride through grief and life struggles, there is redemption at the end. But it is by no means a light and cheerful read, throughout. However, I think that Maughan's amazing character development is a thrill to read and even offers insight into the hearts of those dealing with grief and depression.

Thank you, Trish, for giving me the chance to experience some of Kathryn Maughan's work. It was a pleasure. And it is a pleasure to pass on this good story to all of you, as well.

You can find the book here.
And read a little bit about Kathryn Maughan and how the book came to be here.

It had to be done...

...because I've been waking up in the mornings and putting on a sweatshirt.

...because the corn is turning brown and the combines are being tuned up

...because dry leaves are starting to blow and gather in the lane

...because things in the garden are going to seed

...because the fields are tinged with yellow-green foxtails

...because I'm hearing geese every morning

...because Fall certainly can't arrive if I haven't started making pumpkin bread. I do it every year.

Recipe edits: It usually doesn't take a full 60 minutes. Use the toothpick method for best results. I line my pans with parchment paper so they come out neatly. The loaves can be wrapped and frozen for later.

content

When life gets full or overwhelming, I find myself continually coming back to the simple comforts in which I find respite from the swirling life around me--watching my hands and fingers rhythmically move with a pair of needles and yarn, measuring and mixing and pouring in the kitchen, pruning and shaping the fruit trees in the orchard that have been sadly neglected by past owners of our home.

There is something special about these processes. Something unique about them. It's the starting with nothing, but a few ingredients--a favorite ball of yarn and set of worn wooden needles, a jar of flour, some spices and cream, a tired sagging tree and a pair of loppers.

It's the ability to start with nothing and produce something. That's the beauty. That's the simplicity. That's where the joy comes from. In creating. In providing. In restoring.

In creativity realizing itself in work.

Of course, you'd have to know that Wendell Berry would provide even more inspiration...from Andy Catlett:

"..the thought has come to me that the old world in which our people lived by the work of their hands, close to weather and earth, plants and animals, was the true world..."

And another that always sits somewhere closely in the back of my mind, also from Andy Catlett:

"The world I knew as a boy was flawed, surely, but it was substantial and authentic. The households of my grandparents seemed to breathe forth a sense of the real cost and worth of things. Whatever came, came by somebody’s work."

Of course there are many things I want to pass on to my children, but if mine were able to reflect upon their childhood and be struck by similar things as these, I would be content.

A place for everything...

I promise, I'm not going to talk about cleaning and organizing for the rest of the year, I'm just a girl on a mission at the moment. This weekend, I was once again confronted by the fact that I am very hindered by mess. This isn't to say I have a clean house, it's the daily struggle to get things in their place, put away, cleaned and dealt with that hinders all other aspects of my life, especially my ability to be ready for anything, ready to jump into a project or activity with my children. If my kitchen is messy, I don't want to bake cookies. If the living room is messy, I don't want to go in there and teach you how to knit. I have to clean first. It's pretty pathetic, I know. Especially when I feel like I'm never completely on top of the cleaning, so it is a daily struggle. 

This weekend, I spent a good chunk of Saturday morning cleaning and putting away things in the kitchen. Things that had been sitting out on the counters, things on the shelves, dishes that needed to be moved to a giveaway box, etc. And having a clean kitchen got me excited to be in there--I baked, I made a good dinner, I even broke out the dehydrator--something I've been wanting to experiment with for awhile now. (Dehydrated apples? Big time, yum. Before you know it, I'll be dehydrating their lunches and storing them in airtight bags.)

As I cleaned on Saturday, an old saying came to mind: "A place for everything. Everything in its place." It's our new family theme, I've decided. Our mantra. What we're talking about this week in school. What I'm reminding myself and my husband.

In the meantime, Emma and I embarked on a little experiment this afternoon. We wanted to figure out which would freeze faster--salt water or fresh water. Our discussion about fresh water (lakes, ponds, streams) and salt water (oceans) made me realize that Emma has never been to the ocean, though we live just a few hours away now. She tells me she'll never swim in the ocean--the sharks, the jelly fish, how deep it is, and now that she realizes it's full of saltwater, it's even more reason for her to turn up her nose. Just wait and see, Emma...

With the absence of two thermometers we had to modify our experiment and began checking our water samples in the freezer every ten minutes. It was a great excuse to use my new TimeTimer, which I love. The visual aspect of the countdown is so helpful for children. Especially my daughter, who needs to know how long until every next event in her near future. "How many more minutes until my riding lesson? How many more minutes until lunch? How many more minutes until Daddy gets home?" The concepts of minutes and hours and seconds have always been difficult for her to understand. But I'm thinking this nifty little timer will help with all that. Plus it's just plain fun to turn that big red dial and watch it disappear.

So the experiment was generally a success. The freshwater froze first. Elizabeth drank the saltwater and spit it out all over the kitchen floor. And tomorrow we're going to race to melt ice cubes with the salt shakers.

Sounds like a good time.

If I can just get the dinner dishes cleaned up. Kidding.

(kind of.)

a morning routine

It used to be that I would have a "make up" day when it came to house cleaning and laundry--a day when my sole purpose in life would be to make a dent in (notice I didn't say finish) the laundry, get everything put away properly, things wiped down and mopped, and prettied up. I was making up for all the previous days when I ignored the spaces and piles around me.

But I'm realizing lately that my time is not completely my own. I can't put things off for tomorrow or let things go so easily as I used to. It's taking more of a daily effort, little spurts of cleaning and puttering when I can find them. I'm trying to streamline, especially my time in the mornings. There are things that need to be done: the chickens and guineas fed, children fed, a run of the dishwasher, a load of laundry, a quick tidy, things watered and picked, before I thrust myself into the meat of my day.

I read a post on Simple Mom about your morning five. Making a list of the five things you need to accomplish each morning. (At least I think I read it on Simple Mom. Am I making this up? Nope found it here.) The recommendation is to have five things you do the same every morning. Your routine. I love this idea and I need to really put what's swirling around in my head into a tidy list on a piece of paper.

I love routine and crave it more in my life. Living on the farm with my grandmother the past two and a half years has made me realize how much wisdom and peaceful simplicity there is in routine.

Of course, all work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy. Or me a frazzled, weak, tear-stained pile of stress on the floor.

Enter my sweet little bag of knitting. Knitting is bringing me more comfort and peace these days than it has in a long time. Not only does it calm me, I find it also calms my children. When I sit myself down in a comfy chair in the living room to work and be still, my children seem to always wander in to the same room and find a place to play. They pick up a book and climb under blankets and pillows on the sofa, they lay on their bellies and disappear into a land of make-believe with their toys.

As much as it is important for them to see me as industrious and organized, caring for our home. It is important for them to see me still and quiet and creative. It's an equally important memory and "skill" to pass on to my children.

How are you finding stillness and quiet these days? Are you knitting something? Sewing? Reading? I'd love to hear how you find your peace each day...

Postscript:
And just another word about SimpleMom....if you're not subscribing to it, you're missing out. Every blog post that shows up in my inbox is something I find practical and helpful to my every day. Be sure to take a moment to visit.

And another (shameless) thing...if you happen to click out of your feedreader and actually visit my blog today, there's a little button over there on the left-hand sidebar to vote for my blog. It was nominated for "best parenting blog" in this year's Blogger's Choice Awards. And I have only one vote. And I'm pretty sure it's from my sister. Vote here.

I don't wear much...jewelry

First of all, thank you everyone for all your "oh, I know, I've been there", "I'm struggling, too", "it will all be worth it", "didn't you know Day 2 is the hardest", "hang in there" comments on my last post. Wow! You make a girl feel pretty good and gave that extra push of encouragement just when I needed it.

I still haven't completely found my homeschooling mojo yet, but our "work table" is losing a little bit of its charm for miss elizabeth, which makes things about one hundred times easier. But things are getting better. This is good, folks. This is right for us, for now.

Speaking of thank-you's, I owe a big thank you to the talented Lisa Leonard. She recently sent me two lovely gifts in the mail that I'm so excited about sharing with all of you.

To be honest, I'm really not much of a jewelry girl. Well, actually I really like jewelry I just don't wear very much. But since receiving this gift from Lisa, I've added a new staple to my jewelry "wardrobe".

I've always kind of pined after those necklaces or bracelets with a small, simple charm for each of your children. But I rarely found one I really liked. So I was thrilled to receive this one from Lisa. I'm sure you can probably guess who those little letters stand for.

Lisa, I love it. I wear it every day. And I'm still in the process of training Elizabeth not to yank it off my neck.

And if you're looking for the perfect little classic baby gift, I think I've found it. I absolutely love these sweet "Baby's First Spoon" which you can find under her "something extra" category. (I can't find a direct link). Wouldn't these make the sweetest engraved baby gift? It seems like all my friends are having babies these days. It is always nice to have such a classic gift to give them. A little something special.

You can find Lisa's shop here. (this month's featured item is beautiful, by the way.)
And her lovely blog here.

Have I just written a whole blog post on jewelry? Me, the jewelry-less wonder? I suppose so. Lisa's work is beautiful and well-worth the few moments to check it out.

More tomorrow, if I can find those three quiet minutes once again...

The things I'd be blogging about if I could find three quiet minutes in a row

Preface: This post has absolutely no inspirational value. Unless of course you find inspiration in stories about chicken hawks, homeschooling pity-parties, and bits about my laundry. Sorry.

++The chicks have taken over the downstairs bathroom and the guineas are outside in a movable wire pen that sits on a grassy spot in the yard. Yesterday I heard them making a huge racket and since I was upstairs with a naked baby, I sent Emma outside to see what was happening until I could get out there. There on the ground beside the pen was a large Red-Tailed Hawk harassing the guineas and causing them to run laps around the inside of their pen in sheer terror. The hawk was absolutely resolute about the whole ordeal. Emma walked right up to him, with just the pen between them. He didn't fly until she really started flapping around and saying "very mean things to him".

I came out moments later after watching it all from the window, to see that he had simply flown to a small tree beside the pen, no doubt waiting for this annoyance of humans to disappear. So, being the quick-thinker that I am, I pulled the big oilcloth tablecloth off my picnic table(the beautiful one from Beth) and began flapping and slapping it around at him until he moved on....to a taller tree just over the guinea's cage. He hasn't been back, but I feel like I may be sending my poor guineas to their death the day they are allowed to roam free in the yard.

++Homeschooling Day 2 was "throw in the towel, put 'em on the bus to school" hard. The first day was marked by Emma saying, "Next year I'm going to real school" every five minutes until she finally asked if she was hurting my feelings. Day 2 was marked by grumpiness, bickering siblings, things being spilled, nothing being accomplished, slamming doors, tears (mine, theirs), naps for everyone, and babies falling off tables.

I suppose every year has its challenges--last year it was lack of space. This year it is Elizabeth. She is the most curious (that's me putting a rosy glow on it) of all my children, a climber, a get-into-everything child. Emma and I sit at a long bench at the dining room table and I spend the whole time removing her from top of the table, and putting her down on the floor. Elizabeth, no. Elizabeth, no. Elizabeth, no.

She brings us tiny counting chips in her mouth and spits them out in our hands. She bites the tops off of Emma's new crayons and brings us the leftover nub. She gives me "quiet" by going into the kitchen, sliding the chair over to the table, climbing up on the table and digging her chubby fists into the boxes of cereal, turning them upside down to get out more and "drinking" the glasses of orange juice left there by mistake. Drinking involves 25% of the juice down her front, 75% of the juice on my kitchen floor--which I now know has a nice little sweet spot smack in the middle where all the juice pools.

++I've had the same load of laundry on the clothes line for three days. This will be day 4 if it doesn't come down by midnight. Upon typing this, it occurred to me that the clothes pins and clothes will by now be taken over by a large population of spiders who find my clothes line the perfect foundation for web-building. The last time this happened the large red striped spider that I brushed (more like a spastic swat) off the clothesline showed up five minutes later on my right shoulder. I almost de-shirted in the yard, I was so freaked out that I didn't get him off. Great. 

++This one's good. Emily and I met for dinner Tuesday night outside Baltimore. We live so close to each other, I love it. You know how when you meet great people blogging and you say to yourself, "Why can't this person live near me? I know we'd be fast friends?" I'm lucky enough to say that I've met a kindred spirit in Emily. Before we knew it, we'd been sitting there so long we both were desperate for the bathroom and realized it was after ten o'clock. To which we left the restaurant and then spent even more time lingering in the parking lot. Next date? Dansko outlet and dinner at Thomas Run--children and husbands allowed.

++This one is also good. Lisa Leonard sent me two beautiful treasures in the mail recently. I was going to share them today, but I don't want to throw their beauty in with all this whining. But let me just preview it all by saying that I love it, I love it, I love it. And the other thing she sent is now going to be my standard issue baby gift--a simple, classic. Stay tuned.

I leave you (if you're still here) with some words of wisdom from my husband, who reminded me last night that things worth doing are usually worth quitting, too. I'm not throwing in the homeschooling towel yet. I liken it to my newborn analogy--those days after the blissful first days are sometimes crazy, you feel like you're losing your mind, how did I get myself into this, when will I ever find a moment's peace, etc. etc. And then the next thing you know, you've found your groove again, your rhythm, and you wonder how you'd ever live your life other than the way it is right now. You can't imagine it any other way. I'm looking forward to that time. I'm hoping it comes soon.

Thank you for listening, or rolling your eyes, or yawning and rubbing your eyes, but making it to this point.

I guess I found my three minutes.

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Momformation posts here & here, & here, & here

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Do I look ready?

I'm up early this morning before the girls. It feels very back-to-schoolish of me. But really, it is out of necessity. I don't really feel ready to start our homeschooling year this morning. But at the same time, with all the time in the world, would I ever feel completely ready? I felt the same way when I was a third grade teacher. Never quite ready.

But if I can just suck down this cup of coffee and get a five minute head start on the day, I think I'll feel pretty good.

I hear voices upstairs....thankfully, my children enjoy a lounge in bed most mornings before emerging.

Dan and I spent the day yesterday dealing with the monster in the corner that is my homeschooling/art cupboard--which had quickly become my, "I don't know where this goes, shove it in the blue cupboard"-cupboard. It is wonderful to have space this year to spread out all my stuff. Last year it was a constant struggle--toting around my "boat and tote" of books, figuring out how to stow away 500 counting bears....

But this cupboard is way more prepared than I am. But looking at it, could almost convince me that I'm ready. Almost.

And in honor of going back to school, how about a little Atom Collider Rap to start your morning? It's good to know you can be this smart, and still a pretty decent rapper.  When she gets into the whole "three dimensions that we live in" thing at the end, my brain starts to thump in my head. Apparently, when this Large Hadron Collider goes into operation on September 10, the things it uncovers will "rock you in the head." 

And last but not least, Emma has a little news she'd like to share with you:

Rhode Island Red from molly balint on Vimeo.

His name is Sunshine. His name is Sunshine. His name is Sunshine. Did you get that? Oh, and it's 2008. Come 2015, I'll be really glad she let me know that.

I hear voices.....Happy Tuesday, everyone!