Frenchie Pants

I want them. IwantthemIwantthemIwantthem. If I get and wear them while riding a bicycle in Portland will I somehow become French. Maybe if the bike has a basket and I have a bagguette hanging out of said basket??? Why is it that anything with the "French" designation is automatically more stylish, better tasting, and more desirable.

I have really tried to embrace the art of simple living in the past couple of years, and I have been successful in some areas of my life. We eat mostly whole foods at home, I grew some of our food last year, I rarely buy anything except for... well here is where we get to the crux of the matter... except for clothes. I get so much enjoyment out of going to my favorite small or large clothing stores and finding beautiful things to wear. There is something so satisfying about it to me? Retail therapy?? Nah, just good old fashioned fun.

Our Portland Home (for now)

After searching for days on craigslist, making endless phone calls to potential landlords, and generally not meeting any of the needs of my children, I managed to find us a place to live in Portland. We are going to be residing in a section of town known as Irvington. It is here that we are going to be best set-up to meet a community of others--there are lots of baby strollers, two parks, and many stores within walking distance of our new dogs. Even better, my brother is likely going to be living just a short bike ride away. All of my dreams are coming true--except for the fact that we are going to have no friends in this new land AND Brian is going to be spending the next 3-4 months on the road. Now THAT is going to be hard on everyone involved, but we have a job and are grateful for that in this economy.

We are going to be living in a part of Portland known as Irvington--evidently the heart of Music Together in Portland. I am hoping that we will meet as many friends in Portland through the MT program as we did in Montclair. Irvington is as close to Montclair as you can get on the West Coast. Th shops are quaint, there are not a lot of franchised businesses, and it is relatively urban as well. In fact, it is more urban than Montclair. Our backyard will be roughly half the size of the yard we have here, but this will be all the more reason from me to get out of the house and head to the park where hopefully some other nice mother will take pity on my lonely soul and invite me into her group of friends.

Brian and I were originally considering renting a place in the West Hills--still in Portland proper but much less citified. The place we almost rented had a kitchen constructed out of juniper and was virtually in a forest! however, at the last minute, we decided against it. Because he is going to be traveling so much, we worried that we would feel too isolated. I have this vision of all four of us living on acres of land, growing our own food, and truly living a sustainable life. BUT... now is just not the time.

Instead we will enjoy our little backyard in the big city...

Outdoor Play

Wow--it has been a whole week since my last post. A lot is happening around here--we are packing, we are sick, we are finding jobs, we are rejecting jobs, we are trying to sell a car, we are booking flights, we are saying long goodbyes to friends and family, we are selling our possessions, we are... doing just about everything under the sun and trying to remain nice human beings that people want to be around. I am not sure that I am doing a great job at that last part.

So, to make myself feel better as a mother and as a person, I thought I would post some happy pictures of Norah and Hoiyo playing outside this past week. As I wrote in another post, I enjoy taking them to the park and letting them roam around amidst the trees, birds and bushes rather than to the playground. Part of this motivation is selfish--I don't have to worry about Harvey teetering over the edges of structures that are way too high for him to be on. I can let him crawl--in the mud and the dirt. He is dirty but he is safe. So while original intentions may have been selfish, I have come to truly appreciate the scenarios that Norah can imagine with the woods as her canvas. And I have come to love Harvey's discovery of the natural world in our small corner of the park.

We went to the park the morning after a very big Texas storm here in New Jersey so many branches had fallen. norah picked one up and started calling to an imaginary crowd, "Balloons. Ball---lll---llloons. Anyone want one?" My whole body swelled with love.

My Very Own Summer Bag

Amanda Soule of SouleMama posted the greatest idea the other day--a summer bag (hers is a beach bag) exclusively for mamas! No sand, no diapers, no toys--just mama stuff. This is a truly novel concept and one that I have already adapted for myself. I change the contents of it pretty regularly, but as of today it has the following inside of it:
1. my current mindless knitting project (the Baby Boo Sweater) by Alchemy Yarns of Transformation
2. a video camera--I have been quite intent lately on catching my kiddos at some of their cutest moments
3. summer reading (Healthy Child, Whole Child)
4. an old pair of sunglasses
5. some honey candies if I am lucky
Mine is not exclusively a beach bag as we spend very little time at the beach. I take it to the park, outside in our backyard, on trips to the in-laws, etc... Because this is my bag, I end up carting around two bags for every trip--one for diapers, toys, and general kid stuff and then my own. It is so worth it--there is no spilled milk in my bag, no plastic bags full of dirty diapers, no renegade raisins. I love it. I love my summer bag.
In other news, we have been eating like kings and queens this summer so far. On Friday, when H woke up from his nap, I had this waiting for him on his high chair tray. Hazelnut spread with bananas and raspberries on a dessert crepe from a recipe out of this book. Wow was it good. More time in the kitchen and time in the outdoors to come this week. Happy Sunday.

Sandplay

We have really been enjoying the fruits of summer as of the past couple of weeks--fresh berries, herbs grown in our garden, time in the plastic pool in our backyard. Yesterday we went to Lake Valhalla in the afternoon when the kids woke up from their nap and boy did they have some fun in the sun. Harvey crawled right into the water and stayed there. Norah ran back and forth, exclaiming, "I'm running" all the while.

I thought I would take the time there to get some reading done but it was too much fun to hang out with them in the water. Harvey just loves splashing--gets the biggest kick out of it and Norah, well she just loves life. I have never met a more exuberant child.

I love summer. I love summer. I love summer.

Dare I Say It?

I think that maybe I might have witnessed my two kids playing together just a little bit over the past couple of days maybe. I am holding my breath. I have been scared to out those words into the air because I don't want it to go away like I have noticed and they have noticed that I have noticed and therefore they are going to stop playing together (I think they are playing together--NOT sure) for oh ANOTHER YEAR or so.

They have entertained one another before, that is for sure. Harvey makes Norah laugh and then Norah makes Harvey laugh and this whole episode lasts maybe...10 seconds or so and then they are back to needing all of their entertainment from me Because H and N are only 14 months apart, life has been pretty rocky for their ol' mama. Strangers in Starbucks will sympathize with me when Harvey is on my hip crying and Norah is tugging at my dress crying, but they offer these words of consolation on a very VERY regular basis, "You just wait. It is hard now but you will be so grateful later. They will play together all of the time." I never ask though when this "later" actually arrives. Maybe I don't want to know? What if the answer is, "in five years or so." I think I might die right there on the spot. Or maybe cry. Melt down in a puddle of tears.

Don't mark my words. Pretend that you did not even hear me say this, but I think this later might be starting now.

Hot and Sticky

We are in the middle of a scorcher here in the Northeast and I am loving every minute of it--I will be so sad to see the hot days of summer go. It was in the high 90s today and it is going to be like this. Heaven. A true taste of Texas Heaven here in New Jersey. After some significant drama today, we broke out the aeropool and had ourselves some backyard fun. A little beer, some hamburgers, a lot of "running around naked" on Norah's part, some deucing on Harvey's part--fun was had by all.

In other news, I have begun a new knitting project--one that involves a sweater and size three needles. The Baby Boo sweater for a close friend made from an Alchemy Yarns of Transformation pattern. I was initially concerned about the length of time that it would take me to produce the thing (supposed to be a Christmas present), but it is coming along quite well. I am knitting it in the round and making significant progress so I will keep you updated.
Finally, I made myself a simply and tasty dessert last night--one that reminded me so much of my mom that I could cry--strawberries with sour cream and brown sugar. What a treat.

Knitting and Cooking

I have been a lot of the above this past week. As I wrote in the previous post, I recently got my hands on a couple of Moosewood Cookbooks from the library and so I have been on fire in the kitchen. Yesterday I made the coconut rice and despite the fact that burning half of it and overcooked the other half, it was seriously yummy. Brian came home late so he did not get to partake in the rice--it was a hot commodity between the three of us. I made a spinach and potato dish to put on top of it (minus the spicy part). it was all around delicious if I do say so myself. I didn't realize this when I checked them out, but the Moosewood Cookbooks are exclusively vegetarian. As it happens, I am doing another round of readings on children's health--my children (as well as 99% of the rest of American children) don't eat enough vegetables. I have discovered recently that they will eat them if I cook them correctly and offer no other option. It is also about exposure. If I keep putting small portions in front of them, they will eventually get used to the taste and texture and give in to eating them. It feels soo good to see them going into their little bodies.


It also feels good seeing garments that I have knit on thier little bodies. i recently finished the baby hoodie by Blue Sky. I made it with the intention of it fitting H in the fall. As it turns out, it fits his perfectly now--a sweater in the dead of summer. He did get to wear it this morning though on a chilly trip to the park but sadly, I think it will be too small for the fall. Even more sadly, we will probably have PLENTY of midsummer chilly nights in Portland so he may get more wear out of it than I expect. Both of the patterns I have made from Blue Sky patterns have come out significantly smaller than expected despite the fact that I got gauge. Hmmmm. Good to know for next time.

Cooking Again

I have been on a cooking hiatus since all chaos has been reigning in our lives. We have been living on sandwich meat, take out, and, well, air (at least in my case). I am back in the saddle again though. I have been trying my hand at some of the healthy stuff. On a recent trip to the library, I checked out a couple of the Moosewood Cookbooks and have had some success with the recipes in there. I heard about these a year ago in a chat room for natural parenting.

Tonight, I made Thai Carrot Soup which was light enough for summer and extremely yummy. I really love Thai for the spiciness of it, but I am not able to add the chiles with the kids. Kind of a bummer but still yummy. Then I made an asparagus penne pasta with Parmesan. The pasta definitely needed some salt but it was still good. Neither Harvey or Norah found either dish very appetizing but I thought they were yummy. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

i.love.summer

i love it. i love everything about it. i love the heat. the sweat. the sandals. light, flowy clothes. i love the food. the humid quiet. the night stillness. it makes me so happy. i am going to miss the dense heat in our new region--the Pacific Northwest. We close on our house in July and off we go.