Journey On

Crisp air, sunshine flowing, soul finally finally relaxing. The past few days I have found my fuse short, and have oscillated between feeling ashamed and self righteous; neither state of mind healthy for long.

But now, deep breath, after deep breath, baby snores the only sound accompanying the tapping of my keys... I feel it, the calm i've been seeking is arriving.

The knowledge that I just finished editing my husband's 34 page paper for his independent study on Clairvaux. The knowledge that my chemistry class is wrapping up and that I did well. The knowledge that the round faced one's teeth are through and we are experiencing some respite. The knowledge that my little boy will be a little boy will be a little boy, and I just need to love him.

I feel like I have a bit more of a handle on life than I had. I've written out a very loose day to day plan to start teaching lil guy the basics of letters and phonetics, and counting and art, and ecology and music and geography... We've decided to put our boy on a movie fast for a month, and that just not being an option has been refreshing... heartening to watch his creativity and industry within play develop.

Plus one of the biggest delights has been the awareness that we are coming into my favorite camping season. Climbing gear has been purchased for the whole family, gear racks acquired for the top of the car, and it is time to play. to explore. to spend evenings around fire pits. to snuggle into our new hammock and learn about the stars.

Hope and anticipation prevail as I allow this new season to surround me and entice me onward.

              
                                                  Thanks for joining me as I journey on.

Hobbit Footin'

Recently Rowan and I have been "hobbit footin' ". This is what my sweet three year old calls going barefoot. My dad just sent us a copy of Born to Run and my husband and I devoured it. It teaches about all sorts of aspects of running and inspired me to give running a chance sans shoes. I ditched them and have been surprised how much I like feeling the ground beneath my feet as I move. What used to be a chore for me has turned into play time. Supposedly this mode of movement is not only fun but is also how we were made to get around. We weren't created with cars or skateboards or shoes for that matter... just highly intricately designed feet. Therefore it is supposed to allow us to self correct our posture and stride - the sensations through our feet teach us what is proper and keep us from injury.

Meg at Sew Liberated wrote a great post about it here that I highly recommend. She also has great pictures of the 50 mile race described in the book.

Worms, Strawberries, and Sunshine

Today was an utter delight -

much awaited -

our first community garden work day. We tilled compost into all the soil, marked out the beds, and had a worm box composting tutorial. (yea!!) SO, now I am sitting at home guiltily enjoying the feeling of a bit too much sun on my cheeks, with a transplanted second year strawberry bush (big score! left behind from last year), and a big box full of worms and compost. Pretty dang educational. I have a big smile on my face and a big question mark in my head as I try to decide what to plant in that luscious and inviting space. EXCITING!!

Outdoor adventures

Warm weather camping season is upon us again and a group of our friends will head out next weekend to just all pop tent, sit around a fire, hike around, enjoy life together. This will be our first group camping experience with kids - any suggestions?

This picture was taken last time we camped with friends + kid. Now that little roley poley is a long and lean three 1/2 year old and we have a new roley poley to bring. We are thinking of getting an ENO double nesting hammock for Ben, so that he doesn't have to make that face again, the "this chunk kept me up all night ... I remember when I got to be man vs wild and ENJOY camping" face.

Again, we would love any family camping advice. Happy spring!

April Update

Quick Update:

This month's plastic fast helped me to become much more mindful of what I use and purchase. I was no purist -sometimes I was outright rebellious, but I definitely eliminated heavily packaged items from my grocery list - started using cloth produce bags, and only regularly cheated with thinly wrapped cheeses.

We've continued our commitment to make our own hair products, extended our cloth diapering to include wipes too, and I am still a vegetarian.

For April I commit to no longer driving to the grocery store - its way too close to drive esp now that the weather is so beautiful.

I have loved these challenges. Each one has served as a regular reminder of the simple and rich life I want to live - constantly drawing me back to my ideals to live gratefully and respectfully for this gift of life God has given me.