Make a Heavy Baby

Both the girls love their heavy babies, which I made as birthday presents this year. The pattern is from www.dreampixie.com, and is so easy! There is something different about a handmade toy that we have never captured in the store-bought variety. I think my girls can feel the love that went into making their dolls every time they hold them. I wondered if watching me make them would diminish the magic of seeing the finished baby, but I don't think it did. If anything, it made them appreciate the effort it takes to make a toy.

Michaelmas Finery

Last year we celebrated Michaelmas for almost a week, culminating in a big celebration on the actual day. Each day we had a puppet show and practiced a song:

The Autumn winds blow open the gate,
St. Micha-el for you we wait.
We follow you,
Show us the way,
With joy we greet this Autumn day.
Good morning! Good morning! Good morning!

The first day we dyed silk capes, the second day we opened dragon masks, a gift from my dear friend Hilary and her sweet son:



The third day we unwrapped handmade wooden swords of light, and the fourth and final day we made Dragon Bread. Since it had to be gluten-free, I had a little trouble with the consistency. We changed course midway through, putting carob chips in it and forming muffin-shaped rolls instead. These we called "Dragon Eggs" and they inspired a fitting activity:



The girls donned their capes and carried their swords through the "woods" (our living room, which we set up as an obstacle course), on a mission to find the eggs (which I hid throughout the house). It was really sweet, and went with the stories and puppet shows we had been working on that week.

I can't wait for more inspiring ideas for this year.

Lazure Children's Room

Clean Your Home Naturally - Easy Homemade Disinfecting Spray and Toilet Bowl Cleaner

I have been wanting a really simple recipe to make that will disinfect the bathroom and be a good all-purpose light cleaner. When you just want to disinfect and don't actually need to scrub off hard-to-remove residue, this spray is perfect. I use it in the bathroom and on the kitchen floor (which is linoleum :(...) and it leaves a light, really nice "clean" scent behind.



Bathroom Spray - Use this to disinfect the toilet, tub, and other surfaces in the bathroom. Spray on and let dry for best results.

You will need:
A spray bottle
8-10 oz. distilled water
20-25 drops eucalyptus radiata essential oil
20-25 drops tea tree oil
10-15 drops lavender oil

First label the bottle with permanent ink. Then add the water and the oils and swish around to mix.
This should be good for 6 months, but you'll probably use it up faster than that.

*For incredible, non-toxic toilet bowl cleaner: Combine 1/4 cup baking soda and 1 cup vinegar. Stir together, dump in toilet, let sit for 5 or more minutes, scrub with a toilet brush.

Finding Our Weekly Rhythm

Being of sanguine temperament I always struggle with sticking to our rhythm. I even find it hard to "finalize" our family rhythm, because I get so hypnotized by all of the lovely details, and want to do it all. One thing I strive for is no media in front of the kids. This is nearly impossible, as I have two jobs which require computer and iPhone time. However, my goal is zero media so that I expose them to as little as possible.

Probably also due to my temperament, I have to stay busy, doing at least two things at once, or else I go crazy. In the past this has meant 1. knitting a sweater while watching a movie while writing my thesis, 2. reading a book while checking my email while cooking dinner, 3. doing an oil painting while talking on the phone while journaling, etc. So much of what I did before kids is on the back-burner now, but I still crave doing multiple things at once.

The bad days look like this: watching my children while sneakily working on my iPhone while filling jewelry orders every time someone is not crying. Not ideal. It is so important to me to make time to play with my kids, and I definitely do that, but I think I needed to find some other things to do in front of them while they play independently or with each other that would be enriching for their lives as well.

When I do a meaningful task, like folding laundry or making dinner, the girls either join me or play *for the most part* happily somewhere near me. The second I try to do something on the computer, or pick up a book or my phone, suddenly they are both falling apart. I think it's so good for them to see me working at something purposefully with my hands, and I don't mean typing on a keyboard.

I am working on writing up a chart for a weekly rhythm, where each day lists an activity taking care of the home. Some contenders are: folding laundry, deep-cleaning the bathrooms, weeding the garden, push-mowing the grass (have to get a push-mower...), mending clothes, and re-beeswaxing the wooden bowls and utensils. I do all of these things every week, but there is no real order to them. I would like to have the sing-songy "Wednesday is polishing the bowls day" about these tasks, and when I have it all drawn up, I'll be sure to post it.

Make A Little Fairy Mobile

Beneath the Rowan tree on easy sells, among other things kits to make sweet little fairy mobiles. I am always on the lookout for fun projects to do with Isla during our "special time" while Lyra naps. This was a good one, and you can buy one here. It would also be a sweet project for a pregnant mama expecting a little one.



Here is our finished mobile, hanging up in the play room:

The Best Kid Hike in SB

One of my favorite hikes to do with children is Tucker's Grove. To get there, take the 101 north to Turnpike exit and turn towards the mountains. Once in the park, drive all the way to the end and park near the trailhead. Here's Lyr, on our way back, with a little friend she found on the road:

Get Camping

There are so many beautiful places to camp near Santa Barbara, and it's not as hard to pull it off as you might think. I didn't camp for years after having Isla, thinking it would be too difficult without Ryan, who was busy working and building our business. Now that the girls are 4 and 2, I've taken them twice, without the hardworking hubby, and both trips were surprisingly easy.

Our most recent trip was to Big Sur, which was an easy 3 hour car trip away (ok, maybe 3.5 hours since we had to stop 4 times to go potty!) We stayed at Plaskett Creek, on the Southern side of Big Sur.


It was a great spot, with lots of room for the kids to run and climb:



...and a very short walk to the bluffs and beach:





Because we were only staying one night, and setting up/taking down a tent seemed like a lot of work to me, we camped in the Prius!



We didn't bring a stove, (which we will be sure to bring next time!) so I just brought a cooler and a big basket of easy food like fruit, yogurt, nut butter, rice cakes, corn cakes, gluten-free pizza, prepared gluten-free pasta, prepared oatmeal and agave, prepared rice and beans, cold chai for me, coconut water, salami and turkey for my carnivorous children, avocados, lots of veggies like carrots and zucchini, etc. I will admit, we met some of our dear mamatoto friends there, and Emma made us a gourmet dinner that night, but we arguably would have survived without it...

We left home at 6am, arrived by 9:30, played all day, ate Emma's homemade gluten-free s'mores around a campfire, slept in the car, packed up, and headed home around 11. Both girls were happily exhausted and slept the whole way home, so we made it back by 2. An entire vacation in 31 hours. Success!

Everyday in the Waldorf Kindergarten

This is such a sweet book. Children who go to a Waldorf school will love it (like mine do!) and it would be equally wonderful to familiarize a child who will be new to Waldorf before he goes to school. Here are some of our favorite parts:







*I believe they are only available on the Bella Luna Toys website, which is where we purchased our copy.

Sweet Book for Summer Solstice and All Summer

"Sun Bread" by Elisa Kleven

Summer Rhythm

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

There is something about being under big trees and around water, flowers, lizards and squirrels. Although I prefer "wild" nature to the more groomed variety, I still love the Botanical Gardens.

Dr. Mom

There are a couple of indispensable books in our home right now:

Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child is the first thing I turn to when one of my girls gets sick. I love how I can look up the illness and see the detailed description (to make sure I've made the correct diagnosis!), the conventional treatment, herbal treatment, homeopathic treatment, dietary guidelines, nutritional supplements, acupressure, and general recommendations. For many, preventative measures are also listed. If you only buy one book for your family, this is it.



To supplement SMFAHC, we have "Compresses and Other Therapeutic Applications" by Monika Fingado, which lists in detail how to apply compresses. I have found this invaluable in bringing down high fevers, and it is for adults as well as children.

Summer Fish Verse

Summer Bee Verse

Sweet Bohemian Baby

More fabulous finds on etsy:

Newborn quilt by Peace Love and Quilts:



Bamboo baby wipes by Gnome Clothes:



Organic velour baby blanket: by Maple Sugar Designs:



Pants by Sunshine Salad:



Elephant pants by 3 Moss Flowers:



Changing pad and burp cloth by Stickelberry:

Blueberries!

If you take the 101 north, just past the tunnel you will see a big sign with the words, "BLUEBERRIES" painted on it. It takes about half an hour to get there from SB, but it is very worth the drive.



We go picking every year, at least once and usually with the other mamatotos.



They open at 10am and it is pretty key to get there as early as possible, because it gets HOT. It's really sweet at the farm. They have little nostalgic metal pails for everyone to use while picking, and have some adorable farm animals on site to visit with.



We finish off each day by reading "Blueberries for Sal" and making a pie, topped with coconut cream.

Here are some of the "Little Sals" trying to sneak blueberries out of Ryan's pail:

Mobiles

Here are a few of my favorite mobiles for Baby on etsy right now:

By Mama Earth Creations and Dancing Seed Mobiles:




By Butterfly Cove and Magic Wool: