Happy Halloween

Just a sneak peek. With lots of time on our hands, and no place to go this week, we played dress up a lot.

My sicky super hero. His little friends keep saying, what super hero are you? He is shining star, if you ask him what his super power is...he will tell you he fixes people.

A super hero was found hugging a disco queen...

Thanks Debbie, for the costume. We can't find our lion costume of course, and since she loves to shake her booty and has no hair, this costume is perfect!

Our long but mostly wonderful week.

So our Saturday was great. But when Adam woke up Sunday he was so sick he couldn't get out of bed. As I mentioned a few posts back it was hard for me to wrap my brain around Adam being sick on a Sunday. First of all I have known Adam to be sick about 2 times in the past 6 or 7 years. And it was a Sunday. I had need my weekends to recharge, cook, and clean, and get ready for another week. I took the kids to the park for a few hours in hopes that Adam sleeping in would shake his sickness. But when I got back and saw him curled into a ball with chills and horrible body aches I knew we were in for it. Poor man suffered for a full week.

And I was like a single mom. It took a few days to get the hang of it, but I learned a lot.

What made it harder was the kids were sick too, they had fevers, coughs, and were extra clingy and needy. Of course my thoughts immediately lead to them have the swine flu since Adam was almost definitely battling with the flu. Turns out they had a bad head cold that they so kindly passed on to me.

But being the responsible member of society that I am I made the decision to stay home all week from everything we normally do so that we didn't pass on the cold, and possible the flu if any of us got it from Adam (which we didn't). We didn't go to the park, playgroup, Halloween parties, nursery school, the store, the gym, swim class. We missed our friends both little and big.

But you know what? I really enjoyed it. Not the missing my friends part, but the staying home and just being with my kids.

I had the space and time to watch my waldorf inspired daily rhythm flourish. Days were long but flowed so well. We cooked together, cleaned together, crafted together, played inside together, made short trips into the backyard every few hours to get some sun. We napped together, bathed together, ate together, slept together (honestly I did not sleep at all with two magnets, I mean kids snuggled so close to me I couldn't even move.

A few pics to show our products. I am usually all for coloring, painting, and playdough, in fact those things are part of our daily art times, but I went out on a limp here and did several little cute and easy projects. Most of the ideas are from this wonderful blog:

http://chasingcheerios.blogspot.com/

We made twig books, very easy. The kids picked out their sticks in the backyard. I still want to get a bunch of beautiful stickers to decorate....

I made my first pumpkin pie ever, and every part was from scratch. It was really good, but next time I will try to make it a bit sweeter. I also made whip cream for the first time ever. I learned there is a fine line between whip cream and butter.

This pic doesn't do my yarn pumpkins justice. They are adorable and Kate and Charlie both made one (with some help)....

We baked every morning. Alternating between banana bread and pumpkin bread/muffins. My sweet dad picked us up groceries daily...look at those cute bakers.

The kids LOVED this project. So easy and fun. All you need is orange paint, white paint, and black paper. I painted each kids foot (they especially love this part) and had them step on their paper, I then painted their palms orange to make the pumpins. They make cute ghost and pumpkin wreathes.....something we will keep forever, unless we loose them like most thinks we make...

And my nature table is finally complete. Almost everything I made. The Jar-o-lanterns, felted gnomes, pumpkins, yarn pumpkins.....

Finally on Thursday I had the chills, and no appetite, I feared I was catching Adam's flu, and I was tired, so we called Adam's mom to help. Adam's parents came right over and took the kids. We were able to rest, get a break, and enjoy time together...even though we were both feeling bad. The kids had a blast, I am sure.

Thank you to everyone who has offered to help. I have had many texts, calls, and emails throughout the week offering to bring food, pick up medicine, help in any way possible. I love our little town, our community, and our family.

Many places in the world have true winters. Houses are covered in snow and families really hunker down. Half Moon Bay doesn't really have seasons, so we can continue to attend playgroup, classes, go to parks and the beach. This is a wonderful thing for sure, but this week has shown me that there is a lot to be said for staying home and enjoying the ins and outs of being a mom with two little adorable kids....

The calm before the storm....

Last Saturday was amazing. We spent the entire day as one big happy family. Adam didn't play tennis, I didn't workout and this opened up hours upon hours of "free time" The men gardened, the women played soccer in the backyard, the whole family took a nap, then we went hiking in the "deep dark forest" behind Smith field. And finally we did the unthinkable: we took the whole famdamily out to Cameron's for dinner. Now if you know us, and know us well you will know that is A. crazy and B. a first. We haven't gone out to dinner in maybe a year. Sad, I know. But between having two little kids, and not much cashola, it just makes sense to stay home. Oh and when you have a personal chef like me, why eat out when you can stay home and enjoy acorn squash and black bean empanadas (that's right folks). But it was quickly approaching dinner time and we had already told Charlie we would Kate ice cream after we hiked. The little voice in my head said, maybe we should eat dinner before we devour some nilla.

So we took deep breaths, prepared for the good, bad, and ugly, and stepped into the family restaurant.

And it rocked.

Here's what happened in that fun hour:

I got to enjoy this fat mirror pond. I'm a light weight so one good cold beer is all I need. yum.

Charlie was in heaven. video games and TVs everywhere. I even let him play a shoot the bag game, I know I've come a long way. Guns and dolls is my new philosophy. Let him play gun games as long as he also plays lovingly with dolls.

I don't know if it was that she was hungry or tired after running for a straight hour, but this sweetheart sat in her big girl chair and colored for easily 20 minutes. Usually she tries desperately to run into the kitchen, or eat crayons, we are turning major corners here. And I am proud.

There were big TVs everywhere, which as Adam pointed out was nice. A few months ago if we had tried this both kids would be running in opposite directions. But these TVs really distracted them, especially Charlie. The first 5 minutes or so he kept saying, mommy is it ok I watch that?

TV is almost non-existent at our house, except for a few days a week he watches some Curious George with my mom, so he was totally absorbed in sports.

Kate didn't care about video games or TV, she was just so happy to eat. This little porker ate a whole half of a veggie burger, most of Adam's fries, and was in love with her pumpkin ice cream.

Of course when I looked back again, I saw this, the competitive side of Adam shined thru as he put Charlie down and was determined to beat the game. After dinner, when they played again I noticed he gave charlie the gun controller that didn't work, while using the one that did himself. So Charlie thought he was playing while Adam was kicking butt, a win win I guess. I am not a big fan of video games at all, in fact I really think that they take away from family time and creative time. But all things in moderation. I doubt we will ever get any kind of video game thingy for Charlie, but when we come here we will gladly bust out the quarters.

Aunt Kate picks up a few shifts here and there, and although she was too busy to visit, it is always nice seeing her cute smile pass by....

The whole evening passed by so smoothly. When video games were done Charlie simply said, ok. When dinner was served he ate. He waited patiently for ice cream. When it was time to go there was no crying. Of course maybe the idea of playing on this old school british double decker bus helped:

It was a great day. And a good thing because the next morning was the beginning of the longest week of my life....

sickness

I am up to my eyes in icky sicky ness.

So far I have yet to fall.....

I figure no sleep, and poor nutrition will really boost my immune system in midst of h1n1 flu.

I actually took both kids in to Kaiser today, a first for me. My doc agreed that a nose swap would be smart, for if they have the "swine flu" they will have gained natural immunity and therefore there will be no pressure/need to get them a new, practically untested vaccine. Especially because Kate's would contain mercury, and I am just not into that.

But I do take these flu's seriously and if they do not have it now, I will have to once again go deep inside my own head to make a plan about the vaccine.

I have never seen Adam this bad, three days of complete exhaustion and the past two days of terrible symptoms.

On a Sunday?

If you are going to be sick and going to leave me to do EVERYTHING including getting kids down for naps and bedtime at the same time, can it at least be on a workday. On Sundays I expect to exercise, cook, organize, have a fun family outing. I don't expect to deal with fevers, coughs, aches, and on top of it all worrying.

I think a lot of what the media presents is actually hype. But of course flu's every year lead to complications and deaths, and with two young kids, and my mom's health it is natural for me to worry.

I have tried to look at the bright side:

1. my kids are rarely sick. maybe once a year.

2. my job is my family, so I don't have to call in sick, make lesson plans, or be distracted.

3. We co-sleep so I knew exactly when Charlie got a fever, had trouble breathing due to his crazy cough.

4. I am hoping for natural immunity, at least in adam whom I am 99.9% sure is dealing with the swine flu

5. I live with my parents and therefore as soon as my dad saw tears in my eyes he raced out to the store to get no chicken noodle soup and ginger ale

6. Same note my mom has a medical background and so assures me viruses are normal and do hydrate hydrate hydrate.

7. I love and miss adam. I miss talking to him about every little thing, having him help with meals, bath and bedtime.

8. Last night while adam was miserable tucked away in his room, I watched the kids play together in the bath and then crawl into Charlie's bed together and read to each other for over 3o minutes. And when I finally tucked myself in between them they told me and each other that they love each other and they both drifted off. I love it.

9. Health is everything

10. I have spend a lot of time making and baking whole foods for my family, keeping the house clean, and crafting...but now is the time to refocus my energy on supplements, herbs, spices, and oils that continue to build their immune systems through the winter.

Finally: please hope that I don't come down with this flu right now. If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody...right?

Love and health to you all!

S

just a bit of cuteness coming your way

I couldn't find Kate anywhere at the park today. When I scanned the whole perimeter and saw no trace of a short spunky girl, my heart skipped a beat.

And then I saw some orange coming from the picnic bench...

It makes sense, who doesn't like a little rest right after lunch...

Monsters Incorporated

When I was little my mom had her own little home daycare. It actually wasn't that little. On top of being a patient, flexible, loving, and dedicated mom to all of us, she managed to run a very successful home daycare, a daycare that was so big she hired a few great women to help her....She made home-made lunches, had nap time, outside fun, and worked 11 hours everyday. I have said for years now: If I can be 1/10 of the mom she is, I will be doing just fine.

These past two days I got a little taste of what it would be like to run my own home daycare, and I loved it.

At the end of each day I was exhausted. But I felt like I got to combine mothering and teaching into one wonderful job. I got to know another child who I have played next to for over a year, but never had the opportunity to truly connect to. I got to use all the gentle techniques that I have gathered over the years.

My daily rhythm was slightly altered because we stayed home both days, but between playing, reading, art, and outside time, the day just flowed so beautifully.

Charlie was amazing. He was doting, and careful, and protective. He would race across the room to help this little girl turn her book the right side up. Kate finally had the chance to bond with someone her age. I watched her communicate, make up games, and giggle with this adorable girl.

It gave me confidence that I could handle 3 kids if I could ever convince Adam...that I could run a nature-based nurseery school, or do a home daycare. It made me more confident about the parenting pathways that Adam and I have chosen for our family.

pumpkin land

Living in good ole HMBeasy. we love the fall. The sun shines, the pumpkins grow, and outside adventures are endless. Not only do we have redwood forest hiking, beach going, park playing, and bluff walking, we have countless pumpkin patches to frolic in.

Aunt Kate came home last Friday and we took advantage of the sunny day by going to Farmer Jon's. Charlie's first stop was this enormous pumpkin. He ran right up to it and here he is asking a woman (not pictured) if he could buy this pumpkin...she said kindly, no honey, these ones aren't for sale. Good thing, it would have cost me a pretty penny.

Her first stop was to hug this big one. I was proud. We need more pumpkin huggers in the world, don't ya think?

I was happy when I thought he settled for this small one:

But then he saw this "really cool tractor" and patiently waited about 20 minutes for his turn to drive it....

After climbing to the top of a hay pyramid he put his hands out and said, "I can fly?" to which I quickly responded, yes, pretend fly.

All the running around made Kate tired and hungry so after I handed her a snack, she found her own little resting spot.

Kate had a fun time trying to lift heavy ones, she is very strong and managed to get a few giants off the ground, and I am pretty sure she split a good size one in half but since I only had a limited number of money on me I assumed it was already broken when she lifted it up....

Charlie fell in love with this huge peachy white pumpkin. A new variety that set me back 20 bones, ouch. So much for being super frugal....but it is a beauty and it brings him joy everyday. Between Kate and these pumpkins, this wagon was heavy, but being the dedicated brother he is he dragged it almost all the way...

And finally said, I'm tired and climbed right in...

Is it possible my kids are sleep deprived...

These pics are over the last year....

How to make pumpkin soup from real pumpkins with kids (not that I truly recommend either)

First, get jazzed about what you are about to do, because it is not simple or easy to make pumpkin soup from real pumpkins, especially if you have a tired toddler and an even younger toddler who woke up way too early from a much needed nap, but we went for it anyway cuz that is how we roll.

Chop up an onion, and get into a slight battle over whether your three year old is allowed to man the huge chopping knife alone.

Next, get your two beautiful sugar pie pumpkins ready. Charlie insisted on taking the pics.

After you have cooked up your onion in butter, cut open your pumpkin, we carved them into Jack-O-Lanterns too, if you aren't going to do this, you can just cut your pumpkin in half, clean it out and chop away the flesh. Separate the seeds and bake it up, yum.....

Add some celery, carrot, veggie broth and simmer for about 20 minutes until everything feels soft. Bur mix it up!

Finally, add a touch of sour cream and enjoy.....charlie helped himself to two full bowls...

Oh and the last step is to carve your pumpkin faces. Charlie asked for one happy pumpkin and one mad one. They are nice additions to our fall table. Happy fall folks, this is my favorite season!