Tree-Tice
By:Douglas Florian

One leaf fell,
Then two,
Then three.
Such is autumn industree.
Four leaves fell,
Then five,
Then six.
A tree-tice on
Arithmetics.

On Saturday we hit the Portland Nursery Apple Tasting. Here are some pictures of Ethan enjoying the kids activities at the event. We collected some apples, all these crazy varieties you can’t get at the store, went to check out and it was only 4 bucks! So we’ll be going back for more this Sunday, and to hear Cana Son, our favorite local Cuban band. (I blogged about them at the event last year here.)

P.S. Ethan said he wanted to be an “Otis” dog for his face painting and went around telling people he was a “pug nosed pup”! I love this kid! (no one had the heart to tell the kid painting his face that he was doing an AWFUL job, lol)

This month I’ve been on a hat knitting frenzy. I love knitting hats. You do the ribbing or whatever band you want, then a few patterns later you are already decreasing and wa la – a new knitted goodie for your kids, friends, new babies, whatever!

Here’s the “Foliage” hat I knit for a friend’s very late birthday present. The yarn is SO yummy – a super soft organic cotton chunky weight, with a really interesting burnt yellow color that reminds me of Fall. Heavenly! (If my hair looks slightly dark purple… it’s because it is! That henna hair dye is a bit unpredictable )

I used the last of the yarn to knit another (Banana Republic Knock Off pattern) hat – for my future daughter-in-law, Brianna Gotta add some buttons…

This one is Ethan’s (Chris will have a matching one soon). It’s a “manly” gray wool hat with a neat decreasing at the crown… (boyfriend hat pattern here)

This one is for my niece Laila. I need to find a cool button with some sort of leaf pattern to go with the little leaf at the top. I made up this pattern, it was fun to go ad lib The periwinkle pastel colors are hand dyed and spun wool. I just hope it fits!

This one is for Verity. With the weather turning, I needed a quick hat that would keep her little head warm. It’s the super soft Misty Alpaca yarn for the pink top and the band is seed stitched with the wool left over from Laila’s hat.

On the needles? The second of the “cabled baby hat” for babies Gavin and Logan, my bff’s twin boys who are due any day now!

If you are wondering where I find the time to knit (cause if we know anything about knitting, its that one hat can take HOURS), the short answer is “where ever I can!”. So if that means 10 minutes in a car, or on the bus, or on a bench, or at the park, or an hour while “spending time” watching a movie with hubby, whatever. You just gotta bring a few projects with you EVERYWHERE and eventually they get done!

The autumn Book of Days is out now – go check it out! http://blueyonderranch.com/

I know, I know, two posts in one day, but these are short and sweet so hey.

I just wanted to describe to you what it was like today on my first bike ride in almost a year.

The day is beautiful, clear skies, chilly temps. The trees are just beginning to turn colors and the air was crisp and light. Verity has impeccable head control and is ready to ride in the trailer with big brother, lots of padding, and only urban land beneath the wheels (no bumps).

The wind going passed my face, feeling limber and strong on my bike (actually, Lacey’s since I sold mine last month) – it was nothing short of glorious. Knowing I could get somewhere faster than my feet or the bus, yet with scenery, fresh air, and silence (as opposed to being stuck in a car with a whiney 4 year old and wailing 4 month old!) Chris and I were agreed: you feel like you can CONQUER THE WORLD. Complete freedom to go down one way lanes, go where ever you want to go, ahhhhhh… There is NOTHING like being on the bike. It’s perfection.

Also, in recent news, Verity’s first meals! She’s been eating mashed bananas and steamed/mashed sweet potatoes at her new (adorable, vintage, $20 at Rerun) high chair! Below are some pics, as well as Ethan and Verity passed out in the bike trailer

This look of hers is eerily similar to me as a baby!

Stuffing face, good times

Asleep in the trailer.

I am not a make up kinda gal. I wear it about once a week to go to church, and not because church is howty towty but because, well, I need to remind myself that I’m a girl for 2 hours once a week

Because I use it so infrequently, I only had to buy new foundation once a year. I have a mascara, black powdered eyeliner, and pack of mixed eyeshadow colors that I have had for YEARS. Not only is buying make up NOT in my budget, but I also couldn’t justify it when I saw the prices at places in the mall. At Clinique, my foundation and powder would be at least 30 dollars, and I would always choke when I was running out because $30 on face coverup is, to me, just $30 not well spent, lol. I tend to spend more money on raw, local, organic foods and skimp on EVERYTHING else in order to afford the things that aid my body. Makes sense to me anyway!

SO – it happened this month. The last of my clinique foundation from over a year ago. It had been stored upside down for two months, so when I went for it all the stuff was ready to shake, pound and squeeze out. But lately it just farts at me. No more. All gone.

I bit the bullet and inquired about mineral makeup from my roommate. I usually see this really overpriced mineral makeup that I just couldn’t spend the money on. I also heard things about Bare Minerals, like adverse reaction on the skin, which is not something I wanted to try out, lol. Then Lacey tells me about my new saving grace: Everyday Minerals!

At first I was like, okay, okay, I believe Lacey that this line works great so I’ll order my foundation and that’s it and just make it stretch as long as I can like I always do. But then I went online to order and found their products surprisingly affordable! For the same amount as foundation and powder at Clinique, I got: base (foundation/powder all in one), an eyeliner kit, an eyeshadow kit (free with any purchase of 35), 2 carrot/cardamom/rose lip balms, and 2 bamboo makeup brushes. The best part if you can order a free samples of things to try it out first, as well as get sample sizes of everything for only 2.50/ea.

So why go mineral? And what makes this mineral makeup different (besides the cost)? Everyday Minerals has just a few mineral-based ingredients, but what they do NOT include (that lines like Bare Minerals) is bismuth oxychloride, which is a by-product of lead and is the ingredient that irritates sensitive skin. Traditional makeup like Clinique foundation contains a scary amount of chemicals, not to mention it is tested on poor little bunnies

I’m also impressed with the coverage and simplicity of my Everyday Minerals products. I promise I am in NO WAY endorsing this product beyond my own personal experience. I have had people ask me so many times what kind of make up I use and I’m always like, uh, whatever’s around! I’m so glad to have finally made the switch (I mean, come on, my deodorant is raw coconut oil, baking soda and lavendar oil, afterall!)

So enjoy the beauty tip and go grab yourself some affordable mineral makeup goodies!

I’ve been trying to stay ahead of a cold for about a week or so now. It’s been fairly easy, but I can feel my body fall behind it a bit when I get too little sleep or eat something sugary, which I did the last two days in a row (darn that new bakery and their delicious coconut macaroon!) … (and darn that the movie “Away We Go” was so darn cute that I stayed up til 2am to watch it!)

So I’m slowing down. I’m sipping “Tonic” tea, a blend from the Alberta Co-Op that includes green tea with herbs and spices like cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, mullein (great for sinuses), cloves, etc. My raw honey mask is on my face and I might rub some essential oil into my feet before bed too. I need to sleep deeply tonight.

Speaking of sleep, I have a post coming all about the different herbs traditionally used for sleep and relaxation aids, so you have that to look forward to.

In the meantime, the NoPo (north portland) Home Group harvest party kickoff was at our place tonight and we squeezed into our living room. It was really encouraging to hear where everyone was coming from and what they wanted out of it: authenticity, real relationships, friends, spiritual depth. There was an agreement that we would not do workbooks or sign agreements in our group. Ever. Instead we’ll do potluck dinners twice a month and a movie night once a month (”film and theology” – esque). I’m really looking forward to getting to know this group of folks over the next year…

I’m feeling emotional better than Sunday, but still kinda hormonal. I think it has to do with lack of sleep more than anything, though there are certainly some heartaches I am enduring from time to time. It’s like how sometimes an aspect of living is really grueling but in the larger scheme of things its all going in a positive direction.

I was thinking about that today, when I was changing Verity’s diaper. She was wailing and so upset with me because she was also very hungry, but I knew that I had to endure that so when she DID get to nurse her diaper would be clean and she could fall asleep, rather than half comfortable with poop stuck to her butt. I know only a mom would get that, lol, but I seriously thought about how God must feel that way with us sometimes! I can certainly be like the wailing, hungry infant who can’t see the logic in getting my diaper changed And the air on my butt is so cold!!! WAHHHHHH!!!

Back to my tonic, my work, and eventually, my SLEEP! Yoga class tomorrow morning, thankyoujeebus.

Everyday I work out the kinks of my life;
Breathe into them, feel them loosen.
It’s hard work, all this working.

Sometimes I grumble and complain.
Sometimes I boast in my own capabilities.
Sometimes I just fall over and give up.

I work out the kinks of my career,
learn new things that make my brain want to POP.
I work out the kinks of my heart,
learn new things that make my soul want to POP.

Even rest often feels like work:
taxing, stretching, challenging, moving, producing.

Today my work looked like this:

The challenge of getting myself and two young kids
ready to brace a chilly Fall morning, then
– catch the MAX, transfer to the bus –
Go to a yoga class,
Have a work meeting through lunchtime,
Carry my 20 pound baby 4 miles home because we don’t have change for the bus.
Break up the cock fights that burst forth every 2 minutes between Chris and Ethan,
Convince everyone to be civil,
Lose my civility by the 3rd mile (survival now: LET’S JUST MAKE IT HOME!)
Home for dinner: feed the baby, feed the preschooler, feed the husband, feed the mommy.
Get Ethan showered, Get baby showered, Get mommy showered.
Read 2 books, kiss Ethan goodnight.
Nurse for the umpteenth time today.
Work another few hours on random projects that have been on the backburner for friends.
Try to get to sleep at a decent hour…

Tomorrow work might look different:
a 9am – 2pm shift on the laptop,
learning things that make my brain want to go POP.
Followed by
grocery shopping,
cooking,
hosting a Harvest Party for our newly forming homegroup…

The next day, work will look different again, and then again…

Mixed through all of this work is internal work: prayers, self-talk, counseling, relationship building…

Even sleep is work: I work away the tensions of the day, I wake to nurse several times, I soothe a stuffy nosed baby, half-asleep rocking upright on my bed until she falls back asleep…

This is a season, a season for lots of hard work. They come, they go. Maybe winter will be restful: lots of painting, journaling, knitting, naps…

I know you readers are used to new content nearly every time you come around, and that hasn’t exactly been happening this last week or so…
Well, I admit it. I am not blogging right now because… drum roll please… I am having a very hard week emotionally. But I also don’t want to talk about it, which is typical of me when I am NOT okay. SO, yep, there it is. If you’re the praying type, my family could use a few

Here are some pictures to keep you company while I am away from the blog:

Ethan and Verity chillaxin’ to cartoons.

Ethan’s rad watercolor fire engine

off the needles: a “Foliage” hat

Verity is such a morning person…

Verity hanging out amidst a living room full of media kit assembling in Chicago.

Ethan and Caleb, best buds forever

Baby girl

Ethan and his homeschool buddies on “apple” day

Ethan’s “Happy Unbirthday” sign and decorations for our unbirthday party Alice in Wonderland themed family movie night

Ethan: “Mama, when I grow up, what kids will have no parents so I can be their daddy?”
(ME: explain adoption vs getting married, growing a baby with your beautiful wife, baby comes out and you are the daddy.)
Ethan: “A beautiful wife?”
Me: “Yep.”
Ethan: [puzzled] “… Am I gonna marry YOU when I grow up?”
Me: [trying not to crack up!] “Noooo, I will always be your mommy. You will marry a beautiful woman your age.”
Ethan: “I’m not sure if I want to do that.”
Me: “Okay, well, what if you and Brianna grow up together and she becomes a beautiful woman you can marry?”
Ethan: “OKAY!!! That’s a GREAT idea!”
…pause
Ethan: “BUT. What if some one ELSE marries Brianna FIRST?!”
Me: “Well, you just have to stay nice to her and be the first one to ask her!”
Ethan: “Okay, I will do that!”
So, it’s settled.