Ethereal Girl

This one has so much spirit, it sometimes overflows. She is our other-worldly, ethereal girl. Today we went to the woods close to our house, and she was in heaven. She was enthusiastically running all around, "Mom! Look at this! Isn't this beautiful? Isn't this a magical place? I believe there is magic here.  Oh, listen to the trees, listen to the wind, listen -- you can hear them talking!" At one point, as she was being contemplative and touching the little stream, she said, "Mama, if I ever have a problem, I am going to talk to this place, because I believe it is magical." At one point, I overheard her apologize to the plants she was trying to step around.

She also made this drawing, which says, "Believe in yourself and you will be God. Child, be your own person and I will love you."

Speaking of love. . .

This girl's got a lot of it.

Sibling Love

I have to keep track of these moments.  There are a lot of moments between these two that are not pleasant.  They are both intense, and sometimes their intensity clashes.  So, when I snag evidence of times when they are displaying love for each other, I want to hold on to it. . . to remember.

They like to "play fight" and are both very physical, which is in contrast with the other sibling.

Doll Tea Party

My mom's house is a very welcoming place, for kids and dolls alike.  G-bear especially loves to host her doll tea parties there.  She has a way of involving the people (adult and kids alike).

Therapy Tree House

Doing work outside is therapeutic.  No doubt.  Thank goodness it's finally pleasant outside again, too!

It is interesting to me to witness Bug's eagerness to please G-bear.  Sometimes he seems to dedicate his entire being to the task. This day, he dedicated his energy to helping with a building project for the dolls: a tree house.  We started off with a pile of scrap wood, hammers, and nails.

We decided the tree would not appreciate having a bunch of nails stuck in it, so we had to be creative about propping the parts in the tree without nails.  The nails were only used to hold pieces of wood together, none were used to hold the tree house in the tree.

Ta da!

Food

I've been here and there and most everywhere, experimenting with food the last several months.  In late summer, I had some "mild autoimmune activity" which caused me some joint pain.  In particular, my feet, my hands, and my knees hurt.  It got worse in early fall, and I decided to get a food sensitivities test (thanks, Dad!). The results of these kinds of things are always interesting.  My biggest vice: beer.  Malt and barley and brewer's yeast were all way high.  Also, eggs, dairy, baker's yeast, and some other various (seemingly random) foods.  So, I avoid beer and eggs and rarely eat bread (though cheat occasionally).  Then I read Wheat Belly and was waning in desire for wheat products.  Then I read most of Skinny Bitch (really because it was so funny, at least for awhile) and explored veganism.

There are so many diets out there.  I'm less interested in the diets that are geared toward weight loss.  What I want (and I believe most people want) is to feel vibrant and energized.  But, whether it's my personality or whatever, I never seem to stick to one diet.  I think it's because I don't believe in any of them strongly enough to totally shift my lifestyle.

But now, after all this experimenting, I have decided this: vegetables and fruit and nuts are energy producers.  Dairy is inflammatory and does nothing good for your immune system.  Meat, well, I just don't crave it (unless I'm in the company of Carlos!), so I don't feel the need, and don't believe we need it for protein.  These things combined point me to the vegan diet. Since I'm not an extremist, I will consider myself vegan-lite for now.  What this means to me is that when I am cooking for myself, I will choose to eat vegan.  When others are feeding me, I will enjoy what their labor has produced for me.  Occasionally, there will be times when I enjoy a bite of ice cream or even a hamburger.  I vow to do this guilt-free, because I strongly believe that food and guilt should not be mixed.

What it comes down to is this: veggies and fruit and wine and nuts are appealing to me, and they're good for me.  So why not?

Tonight, I cooked for myself.  I surprised myself by making something delicious and vegan.  Here it is:

2 red onions, sliced

4 cloves garlic, smashed

1 carrot, sliced

1 package shredded brussel sprouts

cook these things in a pot with a generous amount of olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar.

when soft, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and sliced almonds. 

yum!

New Thrill

A new thrill for 2/3 of our kids: downhill skiing!  The goal is for the whole family to eventually get excited about it.

Our school has a ski club, and we have only gone once, but it was generally a success.

Kid 2 and 3 dove right in, both doing the tow rope alone and skiing straight down the hills solo.  They loved feeling "like they were flying."  Kid 1 had a lot more struggles, because of her natural tendency to be super-cautious.  However, she took a lesson, and afterwards did the tow rope successfully and began learning how to navigate on the skis.

Here's a pic of Bug with his BFF (if 4 year olds even use that term!)

Mennonite Youth Choir

For the first time, Moo went to participate in the Mennonite Youth Choir in Goshen.  It was lot of fun, and gave Mark and I the chance to reminisce over our group singing experiences in childhood.  It's not something that I can say I valued enough growing up, but looking back, I can appreciate.  Even though I was never much of a singer, the experience of singing with a large group is invaluable.  Even though Mark and I do not describe ourselves as religious, experiences like this remind us why it's important to us that our kids at least experience enough Mennonite culture to know what it is.

Extra bonus: we got to spend the weekend with some very close friends!

Work blog

Those of you who read this blog may or may not be interested in my work blog, which I write as well. If so, you can find it at www.greenplayschool.blogspot.com.

What Bug Likes

"Mommy, I like bad stuff, but I also like good stuff, too."

bad stuff: mean spiderman, mean batman, mean inja turtles, mean monsters, guns, sharp swords, mean dragons, dinosaurs, tornadoes, lightning swords, foxes

good stuff: love, heart, hope, dogs, swimming myself, protecting, sports, trees, sprinklers, cuddling, swinging, climbing trees, jumping in water at the Y, going on trips, hot chocolate, syrup, pancakes, cake, flying in airplanes, helicopters, dressing up, hockey, muffins, flowers, daddy's upside-down tickles, cousin Andy, wrestling, hide-and-seek with my cousins, cars, garages, puppies, polar bears, deer, butterflies, owls, huskies, loud music, rock-and-roll, coloring, having Will over, going to Will's house, kittens, muscles, big trucks, soccer, squirrels, clubs

Then, "It's good to have some things in both rows, right?"

Let it Snow!

Kansas Thanksgiving

We decided to make it work for us to go to Kansas for Thanksgiving this year.  It had been two years, and we were missing it, and missing our Kansas family.  We were able to cram a lot it: visits with both my family and Mark's extended family, a tour at my niece's "farm school," a chat with my good friend, the preschool guru, our traditional Thanksgiving soccer game, cousins galore, some quality time with Mark's Oma (who is 92), and some good 'ol Kansas sunshine.

Bug's birthday, 4

This year was the first year we did a "friend" party for Bug's birthday.  We have had family celebrations only up until this one.  Now that he's in preschool, we faced the dilemma of whether to invite all the preschoolers or just a few.  I asked him, and he knew just what he wanted to do: go bowling with just 3 of his friends.  Easy enough!  So, with a monkey cake and 4 boys and their dads, a party was made.

Halloween, 2012

Persephone, Swedish girl, and Dragon, in pictures:

10 year old birthday

Yes, it's late, but I am determined to catch up.  Moo had a chance to demonstrate her impeccable patience this year for her birthday party.  She invited her friends, and we arranged a horse-back riding hike through the woods.  Only one of her friends could come, so we added another whole list.  We were set to go until that day, the weather was due to bring in a severe thunderstorm right around the time we'd be out in the woods on horses.  Not ideal.  So, at the last minute, we went to the Tree House, which is one of those indoor jungle gyms.  We learned that it's fun for a pretty short time for 10-year-olds, but it was still fun.  They came back for a sleepover, and Moo seemed to have a good time, as did her guests.  She didn't seem too disappointed about the way things turned out.  She's such an adaptable kid.

Here's her amazing cake, made (of course) by our amazing neighbor for her horse-themed party!