Living, Loving, Learning

Yesterday was our first one, Meatless Monday , that is. Bruce and I have been talking about doing it for a while and now it has begun. At Saturday's herb club meeting, Katie Williams gave a presentation about local CSA's that are starting up here this summer for the first time ever. We are super interested in eating local healthy food and will be signing up for a share in one of our local CSA's . This led us to talking about how we are going to use up our share. We received all the supplies to start canning for Christmas, so that will be one good way to use the produce up but the most important way is to eat more of it! And maybe we will share a little with our friends. ;) Meatless Mondays are a movement that promotes vegetarian diets on Mondays for health and environmental reasons . This feels like a really healthy habit to teach our children. Last night we had homemade butternut squash soup, a garden salad and some yummy bread. A great start to a great new cook...

***This video is for adults only, it contains MANY curse words!!! Fair Warning.*** Bruce and I are about to start the fifth and final season of this phenomenal TV show. No longer on the air, we have been getting the DVDs from Netflix. I have to tell you guys, I think this maybe the best TV series I have ever seen. Yes, it's dark, not typically my thing. Yes, it's violent, also definitely NOT my thing. But man, it is so insightful. It is a cop drama, the first and only cop drama I have ever watched, but it is about SO MUCH more than that. It's about our common humanity. It's about working within your community, social and professional constraints. It's about the system. It is filmed beautifully making the slums of Baltimore come alive. The acting is superb with startling character depth and development. There has not been one episode yet that I would call a bummer (unlike my favorite Lost, which always seemed to have one or two bummer episodes a season!) ...

Hi friends. It has been a while since I've had a sewing post. Don't worry, I haven't abandoned my machine, in fact, it gets lots of use almost every day. For a while I was making the same things over and over and over...you get the point, to build up supply for Thread Head. I also have a hugely time consuming TOP SECRET project in the works, so alas, no pictures of that one yet. But this is something I am excited to share, I made my own meditation cushion. It is made out of cotton duck cloth, filled with buckwheat hulls and I even managed to put a little handle on it. You know, for the meditation practitioner on the go! I really love it, and it has really helped me to be more comfortable while meditating, there by deepening my practice. For the last couple of years, in regards to my spirituality I have considered myself a Seeker. I have done a lot of reading, thinking and absorbing of different religious beliefs and practices. I have such a strong background i...

OK, this post has nothing to do with Lottie, but I had to post this super duper cute picture! I have become convinced that I need to develop a daily practice in my life that I am willing and able to commit to. By daily practice I mean a 20 -30 min block of time I spend each day, alone, that's only purpose is to enrich my soul. With Lucy down to only one nap a day and the welcoming of Lottie into our home, time is once again a precious commodity during the day. Laundry, house work, gardening, sewing projects, blogging and correspondence all fight for that hour and a half of nap time each day. Lately, I have felt so overwhelmed that I end up wasting it cruising the Internet , watching garbage t.v. or getting lost in a book. I think this is because I am not taking the time I need to each day to become centered, to BE. I think a daily practice would help keep me focused on each moment, on the big picture, on my priorities for each day. So here is my question for you today, and I...

Christi Leigh, 1976? Thank you for all your super sweet birthday messages. I could really feel all the good energy swirling around me all day. I had a wonderful day Friday, just lazing around in the SUN, reading and resting and enjoying visiting with some super sweet friends that stopped by. My phone was blowing up with amazing people connecting and one especially amazing conversation that I had been dreaming about for years, literally years. The day was topped off with the arrival of the Moms. Bruce cooked me my favorite dinner starring his homemade mac n' cheese and I felt very celebrated. Early in the day on Saturday, Bruce and I took off for Evansville and spent the day doing Adult things! Ahhhh, if felt sooo good. We went to the art museum, took a peaceful hand-holding walk along the Ohio river, saw Alice, had a quiet dinner, and did some browsing of electronics...all things that are impossible with our two little ones in tow (not impossible in that we can't do or don...

So for awhile now, I have really been feeling the pull...you know, my inner voice telling me I was ready to take my passion for sewing to a new level. I wasn't quite sure where exactly I needed to go with it, but I was feeling open. One day I was dusting the bookshelves and this book, Magical Fabric Art by Sandra McCraw Scarpa , caught my eye. The Marinos, I believe, had given it to me years ago. At the time I had skimmed it, thought it had great stuff in it, and put it away for another day when I would have more time to look at it. Well, you know how that story always ends...it sat on the shelf for years. This time though, I read it cover to cover in a couple of weeks. It was the catalyst I needed to get my artistic energy harnessed. The ideas the book contained planted a seed in me that has grown and Grown and GROWN. I really feel now that I have been able to leave "hobby quilter" behind and truly see myself as a "fabric artist". Although, the structure of q...

On Sunday I listened into a Teleclass: The Key to Evolving Beyond Ego: How to Make the Change that Changes Everything. It was taught by Craig Hamiliton, of Integral Enlightenment. It was really good for me, I wish I could have conversations like that every day. I wanted to share my big take away idea, my big A HA moment. Craig was talking about getting beyond your ego, just letting it go and how many of us just don't have the motivation to truely do it. He talked about how everyone we have contact with experiences us so much more than we experience ourselves. How others not only take in our energy when they are interacting with us, but that they are using their senses to take us in. Others see us, hear us, feel us so much more than we do ourselves. This interconnectedness can help give us the motivation for letting our ego go...if not for ourselves, than how about for letting the rest of the world be free of our ego. OK, so reading back what I just wrote, I am not sure it is under...

Griffin Gast Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a good man. He believed everyone should be friends. He believed in peace. I had to share this because it just totally exemplifies what I love about Griffin being in kindergarten. As much as I would love to think he made this up, I really believe he was writing something the teacher had written on the board for them. The week before MLK day, Griffin came home from school telling me all the wonderful things he was learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But of course, to understand his GOODNESS, you have to understand the EVIL he was fighting. Griffin said something like, "Can you believe that white people and black people didn't go to the same schools or restaurants? Can you believe some people thought white people were better than black people? They even made Dr. MLK's Mom sit in the back of the bus!" ***o.k. a few things got a bit jumbled for him*** And this is the part where I started crying. This was all news ...

I know I am biased but I am thinking these little faces are sooooooo gorgeous! Lucy is wearing a Scottish kilt that has been handed down to us. Again, maybe my Mom can post a comment about the history of this kilt but I think it was something she wore as a little girl. Griffin LOVED seeing Santa. I think he surprised Santa with his friendly greeting! "I want gorilla mountain and a camera, a real one, and the underwater shark attack, and the playmobil octopus and the star wars volcano and a hot wheels truck and new computer games and some new books and..." Santa, did you get all that?? Yeah, Lucy was not going withing 2 feet of him without a candy cane bribe, which she grabbed and ran away with. We went back for a second year to the local State Park that hosted Santa in their gorgeous lodge. What a wonderful experience for the kids. They hung out with Santa for 15 minutes without any other kids being around and I got to reconnect with a new friend who works at the pa...

We had Carlie over to play this week and for the first time they actually played together (vs. playing next to each other - you parents know what I mean, right?!) It was super cute! They had the most fun in Griffin's room, of course. I think the Noel Street Players are getting back together, this time as an all girl jam band. These chickies took turn playing every instrument we have and it amused them for at least a half an hour - that must be some kind of record! That was the last time I have seen that smile this week. We have decided to wean Lucy of her blanket and man, is she miserable about it. On Tuesday afternoon, she tripped on it for the millionth time (She is a total Linus, carrying it everywhere!) and got a big goose egg on her head. That settled it, we knew we had to make her leave it in her crib, for safety's sake if nothing else. It has been soooo hard on her. We are constantly having to redirect her or try to get her to swap to a plush toy or doll. It is...

This is a book that we borrowed from our local library and are LOVING right now. We are reading it everyday to prepare our hearts and minds for our Thanksgiving celebration. I would like to share the poem here with you. Giving Thanks To be a human being is an honor, and we offer thanksgiving for all the gifts of life. Mother Earth, we thank you for giving us everything we need. Thank you, deep blue waters around Mother Earth, for you are the force that takes thirst away from all living things. We give thanks to green grasses that feel so good against our bare feet, for the cool beauty you bring to Mother Earth's floor. Thank you, good foods from Mother Earth, our life sustainers, for making us happy when we are hungry. Fruits and berries, we thank you for your color and sweetness. We are thankful to good medicine herbs, for healing us when we are sick. Thank you, all the animals in the world, for keeping our precious forests clean. All the trees in the world, we are thankful fo...

Even Lucy is starting to enjoy Family Movie Night. Now showing, Playmobil's The Secret of Pirate Island. The story line was a little thin and it felt like a long drawn out commercial for Playmobil toys (they are truly preaching to the choir in our case!) Griffin said, "That was the BEST movie EVER!!!" so I guess that tells you what he thought. He liked that it is an interactive movie where every 10 minutes or so you get to choose what the next move will be. That format is excellent (I remember LOVING those choose your own adventure books when I was a kid) and hope that this is a new trend in movies for kids. Also, with pirates, dragons and an army of skeletons, it was just scary enough to thrill a five year old. It's been kind of a quiet week around here - not so much to blog about. We've all been struggling with colds (not Bruce though, with his super-human immune system!) Just kind of taking it easy, enjoying the last few beautiful days of fall (we are still ...

We had a nice weekend around here. The plan was to keep pretty low-key, since I had been sick...but you know what they say about the best laid plans. It looks like I am going to have the opportunity to sell my wares at a party here in town on Oct. 8. With that day quickly approaching, I took the opportunity of a rainy Sat. afternoon to drive into Evansville to stock up on some new fabric. By myself....2 hours in the car....with a fabric shopping spree.....it was like the best day. Ever. I came home and made up my Grandmother's recipe for chicken n' dumplings, from scratch. A great meal for the first few days of fall. This time Griffin was excited to help and really stuck with it, even helping me make a salad and set the table! On Sunday, after a lazy morning, Griff and I went to see "Cloudy with a side of meatballs." It was super cute, and we both really liked it. Unfortunately, I was a bad Mama and did not monitor his M&M intake and I think he ate li...

This is Happy Fish. He came to live with us on Friday. He is Griffin's reward for being chosen as "Student of the Week". I have started a little tradition on Fridays for Griffin. We get a big folder on Fridays with Griff's behavioral report, quizzes and worksheets from the week (I love that it comes home this way and not a few papers shoved in the bottom of the bag every day!) If his behavior was good, he has good quiz scores and I can see his handwriting and coloring has improved he gets a treat on the weekend. Sometimes this is just a smoothie at the Sonic, sometimes it is a trip to a special park or the zoo on Saturday (often something we already had planned that conveniently doubles as a reward), and just this once because he had an especially good week despite my horrendously bad one, a fish. I know some are rolling their eyes, thinking that I should not bribe him to succeed in school, and I totally see your point. I really don't look at it like bribi...

7 years of wedded bliss! And boy oh boy, did we celebrate this weekend. Wine, jewelry, flowers, romance, what more could a woman want? Bruce and I hired our first non-family babysitter since Lucy was born and headed out for a wonderful meal at a little Italian restaurant here in town. It was so good, surprisingly good. We will definitely be back. I got to try a beef carpaccio (they are always carpaccio-ing something on our favorite show, Top Chef!!) which was delicious! Ohhh, and a delightful bottle of Querceto Chianti reserve - YUM. Then to a movie (just ok, really confusing, should have read the book first, The Time Traveler's Wife) and back home. After Bruce walked the babysitter home we lit a bunch of candles on the front porch and enjoyed another glass of wine on the porch swing. Ahhh, the moments I live for. We had a family fun day on Sunday. We drove into Evansville and stopped at a really cool nature center there. The kids loved playing on the playground with both their pa...

and I really could not be more pleased with the result. An interior decorator, I am not, but this suits us very well. We are off for a camping trip, leaving at 4 AM tomorrow. We will be spending the weekend with Bruce's family. I am sure I will have many cousin pictures to share next week. See y'all on Wednesday! Peace.

Well friends, this is my 500Th Post!!! Can you believe it?? Wow, I guess I've had a lot to say. I cannot tell y'all what a great experience writing this blog has been. I have loved the interaction with friends and family and being able to become and remain close to those living far away. I love the stories and memories it will provide for Griffin and Lucy, many years from now. For me it has been the perfect mix of journaling, scrap booking and letter writing. Knowing there are people out there that enjoying reading and keeping up with us makes me feel loved and comforted in my loneliest moments. And to those of you that comment, you don't know how much that means to me. Keep 'em coming. To hear what I truly want to say to you, readers of this blog, click here. ***OK, so just a little bit of business too...we have decided to drop the home phone and just use our cell phones. I am keeping my same cell number but Bruce's has changed. If you need either of o...

Well, I think we have got this school thing down now. We have a lunch that he seems to like because he requests that it be exactly this, EVERY DAY. That sure makes it easy for me. We know which days to wear tennis shoes because of P.E. We know what time to leave the house to get to school without rushing. It is starting to feel like a routine. The best part: We got a behavior report on Friday. Their behavior is rated by color, purple being the best. Griffin got purple every day. And in the special comments section his teacher wrote, "Griffin is a joy." And ya, it made me cry.

I just got the pictures from our little disposable camera developed and I went back and added pics to these posts: Lucy's first camping trip and Day 2 without Griffin . I have to post this photo too. A couple of weekends ago we went to a local Bluegrass music festival. We were only there for 3 hours or so because it was in the 90's and SUPER humid. Griffin looks so hot in this photo! And about that horrendous t-shirt Bruce is wearing....ugh, it's all my fault, you can blame me. See, Bruce LOVES ju ju bees and always needs a box for road trips. I think they are super GROSS but, you know, whatever, if he likes them and it helps him drive, groovy. He made a point a few months ago to show me how on the box there is an order form for a ju ju bees t-shirt. So, for his 40th, mostly as a joke, I got him the t-shirt. (I think I may be the only person to ever order 1 from their website as they were not sure how to charge me for shipping as they usually ship them by the box to stores...

I worked up my courage (and at the encouragement of my Mom) and wrote a letter to the editor of our local newspaper, The Madisonville Messenger. And guess what - it was published yesterday!!! SO EXCITING for me. I wish I could link to it, but you can only view it with a subscription to the paper. Many of you have already basically read it, as I just shortened this blog entry to 250 words. You know, it can be really scary to speak your mind, especially when your opinion is that of a minority (in this geographical region). I have decided though, to be respectful of myself and out of the love I have for my children and my concern for their future, I MUST speak my truth. Even if it is unpopular or progressive. And it is scary, scary that someone will think I am stupid or a terrible writer, tease me or make fun of me, but I will forge ahead anyway. I pledge that to myself and my children. Now, I am sure it will be a good long while before anything works me up to quite the same passion, bu...