Category — Portland-centric

Ethan’s been singing the Milo and Otis theme song for DAYS.ON.END. (hence the title of this post). We took many a walks outside this weekend while camping, which included the usual and unusual conversations and play and laughter around meals and bonfires (including one very, very huge one) with old friends and new friends, lots of meals, trails, and even an amazing puppet show (courtesy of Heath, of course) and a tour of a farmhouse/museum (way to slide some “unschooling” in there!).

We are all pretty exhausted (WHAT? You mean I didn’t sleep that well in a cold tent with a deflating queen sized air mattress squished between a 4 year old and a nursing infant and a snoring husband who weighs more than the 3 of us combined so we roll towards his side the whole night??? Didn’t those EAR PLUGS WORK? Ya don’t say?!)

Pictures tell the rest:

Okay, this first one is from the night before camping but isn’t she too cute always sticking her tongue out?

Here we go now with the camping:

Raise your hand if you’re the one who ate all the blackberries!

My friend Katie was my angel helping entertain baby while I cooked!

This is my favorite picture of the shadow puppet show, Ethan with buds William and Brianna. (Can you guess the story? Where the Wild Things Are!) Below is a slideshow with more pics from the puppet theatre and massive bonfire.

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Well, I’m outta here as of tomorrow morning to head over to Champoeg campground with just under 100 other Evergreeners for the weekend. If I could describe my excitement about being outside in lovely weather with my family and friends, knitting and reading and staring at the fire all weekend, I would. I am SO needing this!

What have I been up to this week? Mainly just maintaining life with work, kids, a marriage, so on. Had a knit night last night at Posies with the gals, which was nice, especially since I haven’t had my girl time this week with my running group (my neck was too sore to even think about jostling around like that!) In my spare time I have been reading about herbs and deciding on which avenue of learning I would like to take to learn more. I decided on the simple 1 hour recorded sessions of this lady out in Eugene after watching her free intro course online. She is inexpensive, entertaining, and a seasoned “wise woman” (an approach I really like). I’m so exciting about learning more.

Since learning to knit was last winter’s project, this one is for the upcoming season. As I’ve reflected on before, when I lived in Florida for 20 years I felt like I was burnt out. The number of sunny, warm climate days didn’t mix well with me and I constantly found myself out of sorts. I can’t blame that all on the weather, but I certainly felt a release of that particular feeling upon moving to the Pacific NW. The seasons are distinct and beautiful here, and I’ve come to appreciate them more each year. Many people, including myself, feel a sense of rest and hibernation that comes with the rain and shortened daylight. The kids sleep in longer, more tea is consumed, sweaters and good book follow you around the house. I have found that I scale back on social activities and extend myself a little less, spending more time on my own creativity, processing, and family life. I find that there is a little more time to learn something new, more downtime in between the busy life of a work-at-home-mom. Maybe its my own conscious choice to balance myself out after a jam packed, exhausting summer. Maybe its because its raining and cold so there’s only so much I can venture out to do outside the home without a CAR! lol Either way, I welcome it and call this next chapter of my year: RAIN AND HERBS.

Speaking of the next chapter of life, next week Ethan begins classes at Village Home. We ended up in different classes than we began in, which I think is awesome. He’ll actually be taking “Word World” and “Move and Groove”, along with two family classes for members: Knitting and Organic Gardening. The Word World class is with 5-8 year old’s who will learn early reading concepts through story times and picture games. The Move and Groove class is a physical education/dance category, where the young students are introduced to basic dance concepts and listen and move to jazz, ballet, tap, etc. I think he’ll enjoy the musical aspect of that and love to groove to the music as we so often to while we listen to the radio together!

He is doing super with words and reading lately, it is amazing to me. He could spend hours rearranging the letters on the fridge and trying to spell things out phonetically. He reads along in his early reader books already and can’t get enough of it. It’s like all he can think about, which is very cute. Today out of no where he said the word “sit” in a sentence and then like a light bulb went off he said, “HEY! MAMA! I can spell “sit” watch this: “ssihttt…. so that’s sss- ih – tt, which are the letters S, I, and T!” I love seeing him grasp concepts on his own and be genuinely excited about reading.

Stories and narrative are such an important part of our lives, (another post for another time), and to see him get excited about them gives me chills! Tonight for bed we began a child’s version of the classic “Alice in Wonderland”, something he was very curious about at the Enchanted Gardens. We plan to get through the book while camping (it’s rather long) and then have the classic Disney movie version on hold at the library when we get back.

In the meantime he’s been watching movies in the early morning when I simply can’t get up with him because I’ve been up late working (Chris might as well sleep in too because he’s often up folding laundry while I work ). I honestly love hearing his door open at like 6:30am and he hums and sings to himself from the moment he wakes up, heads to pee in the bathroom singing all the while, and then goes upstairs to get himself breakfast. He utilizes chairs and whatever he needs to fetch and toast a frozen waffle or piece of bread, grabs a piece of fruit, gets himself a plate, and heads down to the “playroom” we’ve carved out of the laundry room, where he eats while rocking in his rocking chair and viewing a little movie to keep him occupied while we’re asleep. Lately he’s been on a REAL “Milo & Otis” kick and can practically recite the dialogue, storyline and songs impeccably, lol. He also likes “Charlotte’s Web” like its never going outta style.

In still other news, I recently went back to work with Wiley on a very small scale basis to help out with a new social media initiative. The extra paycheck each month and the chance to work with “the ol’ team” again will be really nice! Chris is still working at networking and has a few events next week where he will go and talk with people and pass out his card. He also interviewed today for an internship in order to gain some skills with a small local (very local, like right down the road) company who is into social media as well. It was funny and reminded us how small Portland can be in some ways, because when he got there the two people interviewing realized they already knew him. One had seen us as Posies ALL. THE. TIME. and another was attending Evergreen at Ethan and Verity’s dedication a few weeks ago! Small world. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the internship will be his, particularly for the training ground and networking potential. (Shoot, I just realized he might have wanted me to NOT blog about his job hunt so he had some material to post on his sloooooow moving blog at DadaNeedJava! Oops! Sorry, hun. I guess you can always post about how your counseling is going )

In still other news, or update rather, I’ve had a wonderful week eating a “nourishing” only diet. My meals have consisted mainly of a protein, fruit, veggie, nuts, etc. – primarily only “whole foods”. I’ve not had breads, sweets, crackers, nothing like that all week (except one zucchini muffin made by my temptress roommate Lacey today ). You could call it low-carb but the raw honey (for apitotherapy benefits) and fruit don’t put it under that category. Neither is it low-cal or purposefully glutein-free. What it is is SMART calories that give my body the most of what it needs. It’s working so well. My gut feels way less bloated, I’m having tons of BM’s (TMI? LOL), and my hunger is curbed with some nuts or piece of chicken or bowl of whole plain yogurt. I’ve even, get this, lost 2 pounds! lol, hey, it’s something!

Well, I better call this a night and get back to some work and my yummy tea. “See” you all when I get back Sunday or Monday!

I got my Ergo yesterday!!! I heart it, with a cherry and a few backflips on top.

You guys know how much I swore by my Moby. But lately Verity was pushing 16 pounds and the Moby began to get less convenient. I think it would work great if it was only occasionally, but I need something that can withstand 12 hours a day of holding, including while we walk around the city, hop on the bus, etc. My back was not liking that. But MUAW – NOT wear my baby gal? Also not an option!

So enter the Ergo. Everyone swears by it, I see them all over the city (I’m not kidding. I could count at least 20 if I walked around the city for a few hours.) Unfortunately, these bad boys run over 100 bucks new. And I’ve said it before and I’ll said it again: Mama ’tis po’ folk.

Yesterday we finally found the one we wanted on craigslist. It’s an older version, in “terracotta” color, and came with the attachable backpack and wallet (almost like a small fannypack), which is all WONDERFUL when you have no car and your diaper bag consists of everything but the kitchen sink and chickens. The price? An unbeatable fiddy bucks.

Why am I spelling things oddly unphonetically today? Cuz’ I can.

Anyhow.

I’m so glad to have gotten my Ergo in time for the camping trip and Chicago trip later this month too. Yay! I haven’t been able to wear it yet because my neck is still twisted in a nasty knot, but its getting better each day. The thing that made the best difference was a Wild Carrot Herbals salve containing arnica, birch and cottonwood. It worked so well! I am definitely preparing to get more into herbs soon as my next “learn something new” phase. I’ll save that all for another post Vivian the VA… AND a herbalist? hmmmm…

I love seasons. Love them. And I always get super excited for the next one just when I’m getting a bit bored with the current.

With that in mind, FALL IS ALMOST HERE!!!!

Crunchy, leafy, yummy fall! Oh, Portland autumn is just to die for.

There are a plethora of area events going on, making it really hard to have any down time in order to catch it all. We’ll bypass things like the Pirate Festival (aaaarg.), but we’ll plan to make it to a few others. Many are quickly becoming an annual family tradition:

Evergreen Community Camping Trip
Sept 11-13th
(View my coverage of last years here!)

The Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire
Sat. Sept. 19th
I am SO looking forward to this event as the homeschool group heads out here for the day, and can’t wait to see what bits of history Ethan learns! I need to quickly think of some type of costume for us, though!

Sun. Sept 20th
Race for the Cure!
The gal pal team of Misty, Amy, Lindsey, Nicole and I (wow, do those names sounds like the make of a good cheerleading squad or what?!) will be doing the timed race this year. Donation link is in my right sidebar- I really need a little more funding so if you feel so inclined, please make your way over there!

CHICAGO
Sept. 23-27th
I am WAY excited to spend several days with my friend and colleague while we work side by side instead of email to email. (I’ve never been to Chicago, but honestly I’m more excited about late nights falling asleep to Gilmore Girls after a full days work )

The Corn Maize at the Sauvie Island Pumpkin Patch
Oct 5th
The homeschooling group will going together this day, and I might try to fannagle some Evergreeners for another one the next week complete with the bonfire rental like last year… we’ll see what happens.
(View our coverage last year here! – same place as the previous link)

Annual Apple Tasting at the Portland Nursery
(See our post about last year’s here!)
“Portland Nursery
Friday-Sunday October 9, 10, 11 2009
Friday-Sunday October 16, 17, 18, 2009
Every year bring in the holiday spirit, turn on the music, and bring out the holiday cookies. Special children’s area with toys and decorations to delight all ages. Our open house is your first chance to see our stores decorated for the season.”

People’s Co-Op Harvest Festival
I haven’t found the dates on this, but its an annual thing and is sure to fall within this time period…
View our coverage of it two years ago here.

The Fall will be a little busy, yes, as ALL Falls are in Portland with young kids, I’m coming to realize. On top of area events, we’ll be hosting a home community at our Kenton House, hosting the homeschooling group here once a month, and my friend/colleague from Chicago will be visiting mid-October as well! I’m sure there will be the annual Evergreen halloween party and trick or treating on the 31st too. In November, I’m hoping to convince the Hubster that a 2 week trip to FL is in order (esp while the tickets are only $188!!!)

I admit, I can’t wait for Fall this year ESPECIALLY because my adorable kids will look so cute in their mama-made knitted hats Tee hee.

I saw this post’s title on a job ad recently, and while I have enough sense to know that such a job would most likely be a scam, I still felt myself abrupt with an outloud, “YES!” to answer the question.

Tired. Tired of running uphill. Tired of rent, tired of excess, tired of barely making ends meet. TIRED.

It’s been six month’s since we began this community house, and its been a good process for us. But what I’m finding myself conclude lately is that IT DOESN’T END HERE. The simplifying, the community digging/relationship building, the sustainable lifestyle – we want MORE of it.

We’ve made some 5 year goals that include selling everything and living out of an RV until we have saved enough to pay off what’s left of our debt after bankruptcy, followed by the dream of buying a small plot of land and building some sort of amazing, sustainable “tiny house” on it and continuing to raise healthy, beautiful children within a community of love, love, love.

We dream of the day that we get more personal mail from loved ones than bills from collectors; When we have more potluck meals with our community than peanut butter sandwiches in separate rooms. I hear all the time people talk about the need for space, like it’s a scientific fact. I think we Americans value our space TOO much. The majority of the world lives with their family all their lives, in smaller bedrooms or no bedrooms at all. We don’t need MORE space – we need LESS space. We need to be MORE tolerant, MORE flexible, MORE selfless. We need to be more FREE of the trappings of modern life in order to be FREE to “give freely and fully to anyone who has need”.

With our goals set, the sky is currently the limit with regards to what we need to do to GET there: living in ANYthing (RV? Mobile home? Community home? Commune? In-laws? YES!), living ANYwhere (”vhaaat?! does this mean she is willing to leave PORTLAND?!!?!?!?!” YES!), that affords us the opportunity to save our money, love each other, and grant us the mental/spiritual/emotional/physical freedom to dream of what is next.

While I await the road signs of what comes next, I dream of a life of backyard pleasures, fruit trees, family meals around a fireplace, endless great books, linens drying in the sun, a family bed and a rocking chair; I also dream of friends who have become family and family who have become friends.

Sleep tight. Dream big.

(And let me know if you have a similar dream- maybe we can join efforts!)

When you’re a homeschooler, life is your classroom and every where you go can be a field trip!

Today we hung out with a fellow homeschooling mom and her 5 year old boy as we headed to Salem, OR to visit the family owned and operated Enchanted Forest.

For going on 5 hours of sleep (it was a late work night last night and an early morning this morning!), the dread I had for this event far exceeded any actual stress it entailed. I was drifting off on the drive there but once my double americano kicked in I was good to go! The park was shaded and lovely, charming and quaint. Coming from the LAND of theme parks (near Orlando FL), this was a nice alternative to the massive crowds and overwhelmed senses. A true throwback theme park.

I really appreciated knowing the history of the theme park, how the founder and his family literally built and dug and painted and sculpted their way through the forest to create a magical place for families to visit. When we arrived, we were clearly unable to drag the red wagon with Verity’s carseat in it through the hilly cement trails. The founding father of the theme park, Roger Tofte, whose murals and handiwork can be seen in every corner, drove by on a scooter and accommodated us with a left behind stroller tucked away in the gift shop closet. It was like meeting a piece of history, seriously!

It’s hard to pinpoint what was the best part of the day- Ethan getting SO into the outdated “light show” through a lunch of popcorn, or he and I holding on tight in the “sled” together through his first roller coaster experience on the “White Mountain Bob Sled” (pretty intense for a 4 year old!), or watching him hop on board a ferris wheel, something he has wanted to do from the moment he ever saw one on tv. Maybe it was carrying him into the Haunted House, only to have him beg me to turn back as soon as we entered the door. I lovingly obliged. That place was creepy.

It was a really gentle, mellow day. I’m so glad I went, even on such little sleep. Ethan was a sweet gentlemen the majority of the day and truly appreciated the experience, which made it all worth it for me!

Enjoy some pics:
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At just nearly four months old (this weekend), Verity (whom I call my Ver Bear), had her check up today. Weighing 15 pounds, 11 ounces, she is certainly growing adequately. Her head is big too, a whopping 43 cm. What?!?! (That’s Chris’ genes there! Her head was 36 at birth – with an arm alongside it… my lady parts just amaze me.)

As always, things with her are grand. I know I’ve talked a lot about Ethan this last month, so I wanted to chime in a bit about her.

She is large and in charge. She is extremely vocal and alert, is a very aggressive and loud nurser. She sleeps from about 11pm (my bedtime) until about 4am and then nurses constantly until about 8am. This is her “fill time”. After that, she usually nurses about every 4 hours during the day, with a few cat naps and a few long naps. This is okay with me, since I am so busy during the day that having her nurse while I am just laying there half asleep is actually preferable to having to stop what I’m doing every 2 hours to nurse. She sleeps right next to me anc Chris in the family bed, so I can cuddle with her and keep her warm all night long – some of the sweetest moments IN THE WORLD.

She is definitely grabbing her toys and playing lately, she loves her Waldorf knot doll I made her the most. We’re calling her first doll “Sammy”. She has always had a very sturdy solid build, and has great head and back control. She stands constantly, its actually hard to get her to sit down. But lately she has begun to sit up for a few minutes at a time already, especially when Ethan is engaging her on the floor and she gets really focused.

She thinks Ethan is her very own private entertainer, and he thinks she is his very own audience – so that part works out quite nicely!

We’ve decided, for now: Ethan at this stage had my coloration and face shape, but Chris’ facial features, while Verity is exactly flipflopped: Chris’ coloration (darker hair, skin and eyes) and face shape (longer and oval- with his ears too!) but with all the facial features looking more like me (eye shape, eye lashes, eyebrows, nose, and lips). They are both “perfect blends” of us, but its just a beautiful new blend!

Until this season, I had never harvested anything that I seeded. Having only ever used starts, I guessed that if I seeded, I surely wouldn’t get one huge plant from every single tiny seed, would I? Naturally, I overcompensated figuring that I would lose many seeds to my faulty planting abilities. I remember the first warm week of the Spring — me: full term and counting — I put these little seeds in some egg cartons and said a little prayer that my contribution to our garden would be fruitful.

Well, the prayer worked, along with plenty of water and sunshine. I got 41 tomato plants in the veg garden right now, overgrowing and climbing all over themselves, getting heavy with swollen beautiful fruit. After this heat wave last week I thought, my oh my, this summer might just be hanging on long enough for me to get a harvest of tomatoes (despite that I planted them so late). And all this without an ounce of pesticide, fertilizer, insecticide, what have you.

I think it’s safe to say that it is now time for pickin! It was so much fun today to carefully navigate our “crop” for the fruits of our labor. Nothing screams late summer like the colors and shapes of heirloom tomatoes in a windowsill…

Also, check out the clusters of plums hanging ready to pick above the chicken coop:

Ethan: “The firetruck is stuck up in a tree. The cat is going to rescue him for a change.”

Me: “Really? That’s funny!”

Ethan: “Yep. It is, indeed.”

Wow, it sure feels like back to school time around here. Trips to get supplies, organizing, getting a routine… just when you think you are done with school, you have kids and THEY bring it all back!

And so, as many kids go “back to school” this time of year, Ethan commences on Pre-K – just at home. And in so many ways we will just continue doing what we’ve already been doing. In other ways, however, we’ll try new things that direct our focus a little more. I’ve already shared what classes we’ll be doing at Village Home this fall, but aside from that I have a few specifics I’d like to go over with him this year, which we’ve begun in the last few weeks. These include calendar/seasons/weather/time, numbers 1-100 and early math concepts, early reading and phonics, writing, basic daily responsibilities (thank you, Montessori ), and pre-k spanish. Interwoven through out these more specific studies are all kinds of things, including unit studies and lots of enjoyable books and activities and, MOST importantly, playtime!

I have layered his room with resources, organized his toys and books, purchased some supplemental workbooks and writing paper. I got a timer, a ruler, and other random school “supplies” we didn’t have before. Slowly, his room is becoming a schoolhouse. But I think its a fun one

P.S. My kid has an awesome sense of humor, can I just say? He cracks me up. Tonight, when asked to pick up and go to bed, he tells me, “WAIT! Listen. My bones are trying to make me play, but my brain is trying to make me sleep!”