We have been blessed with a dawdler.  The bedtime routine itself is enough to drive me to drink (okay, maybe just pull my hair out).  Never mind attempting to have her (the dawdler) clean up the playroom; that makes my blood rise and my heart hurt, and I’m a pretty patient woman.  And in the middle of all this, in my first weeks as a Stay-At-Home-Mom, I’m continuing to try to live the Simple Life. 

 Is life simple when you feel like screaming because your children have no sense of urgency?  No.  Is life simple when you just want to read stories to the kids before bed but someone hasn’t even gotten their jammies on yet?  No. Is life simple when you have worked so hard to put routines and reward systems in place and some days they Just Don’t Work?  No.   Life is complicated and messy and FULL of emotion.  Of course it is, it’s meant to be.  

When does life get simple again?  When you can stop. Simply stop your body and mind.              
Breathe.  And breathe again.  One more time…
and remind yourself:

Because she’s only 5 and a half. 
Because her brother doesn’t help (especially when he decides to be an alligator). 
Because despite all of it, none of it really matters. 
Because before I know it, she’s going to be 12(or 8) and not need my help anymore. 

I’m stuck in one of those “cherish every moment” moments.  You know, the ones when people with kids 12 years older than yours say “cherish it now because it’ll be over before you know it” and you go “what, the whining and messy eating and negotiating and I’m-just-so-exhaustedness of it all?”  Yup.

And the simple life lady in me says that those people are right.  So tomorrow night I will help Bean get her jammies on and I will listen to whatever she is telling me as she’s making her way to start the bedtime routine.  Maybe we’ll find a way to start the whole bedtime thing 30 minutes earlier.  And I’ll have to be okay with that, because my kids are who they are.  And they, of course, deserve a Mom who simply loves them.  

Thanks for listening.  How do you remember to simply ‘be’ with your kids?

Health and Happiness,
Cerissa

So, needless to say, I spend a lot of time in the garden.  And therefore, so do my kids.  My oldest is very interested in doing what mommy does and has her own garden (which at times has grown better than mine!). She takes the time to water it, enjoys harvesting and especially likes to make ‘plant food’ (compost and water) to keep her vegetables and flowers happy.  Bean is pretty focused and has the patience to wait for things to grow.  My little guy, on the other hand, is more happy to play with the worms, frogs and occasional caterpillars that frequent our garden.  Although he has his own garden spot, he’d rather dig in it than wait for something to grow.  After all, mommy already has all the green beans he’ll need, right?

It’s really easy to find ways to be with my daughter in the garden.  It’s harder to do so with my son, so I’ve been trying to find more things to create and make for him to be interested in.  While visiting the Southern Vermont Natural History Museum we learned about creating a habitat for toads in the garden (charmingly named a Toad Abode) and I snapped a photo to remember the project.

When I got home and wanted to start the project with the kids, I found a handy website that gives the basics on creating a Toad Abode like why it is needed and the best places to put it in your yard.  Then I rounded up the materials and we got to work.  Here’s what you’ll need:

*4 inch clay pot

*brushes and paint (we used latex, you can use tempera or acrylic but you should seal it afterwards with a clear poly)

*small saucer (either one that is sold with the pot or a random extra you might have hanging around)

Let the kids get painting!  

Once the paint is dry (and you have sealed the pot, if necessary) start looking for a damp spot in the yard to put your abode.  You’ll also need a rock to prop up the edge of the pot so the toads can get in.  The kids can find dry leaves, twigs and sticks to put under the abode, to give the toads a cozy home.  Set it out and see what happens.  My kids have been checking theirs every day to see if anyone has moved in, they also sing to the toads to let them know there is a place for them.  I’m not sure if that is hurting or helping, but at least we are all outside enjoying nature.

Health and Happiness,

Cerissa

There is a whole lot of romanticizing happening in my garden right now.  The ‘birds and the bees’ have got nothing on the cucumbers and tomatoes.  Every morning I walk out to check on the garden and witness nature doing her job.  It’s beautiful, really; bees buzzing in the cucumber and eggplant flowers, wasp larvae slowly and silently killing hornworms, cucumbers stealthily weaving their tendrils around every other vegetable in their way.  Okay, so I’m not so sure how romantic it is for cucumber vines to be strangling tomato plants but I’ll admit that every time I see it that cheezy getting-it-on theme music from the movies runs through my head.
I’m all about the experience of growing my own food right now and making my own mistakes is more valuable to me than anything.  At least I know that I tend to be a rogue gardener, doing a bit of planning and letting the rest just happen.  After all, I have more than a few rogue tomato plants (sprouted from the compost) growing where they shouldn’t be.  I’ve let them go and have gotten quite a few unexpected heirloom grape/pear tomato looking things.  They are delicious.

Vining on an eggplant

Vining across tomatoes

Now, the fact that I’ve admitted to letting my vegetables carry on like this might make some gardeners cringe.  The more seasoned gardeners may say I’ve broken some cardinal rule of gardening.  The thing is, I’m not sure I have and moreover, I’m not sure I care. Learning all the rules (using that word loosely) of gardening is overwhelming and although I’m sure its all on handouts and dog-eared pages somewhere I’m just not at that part of the process yet.  I’m just glad I’ve gotten something (a lot of somethings) to grow this year.  I’ve out-defended the deer and small rodents and grown some food for my family.  And now, judging by how far flung those cucumber vines are, I’ve got to search out some new pickle recipes.

Health and Happiness,

Cerissa

What are some of your garden faux pas?  What ‘rules’ do you break?

I’m having a love-hate relationship with Swiss Chard lately.  It is so easy to grow in the garden and it seems that every magazine I open lately is touting its nutritional value.  And, okay, its just so darn pretty! (we grow the bright lights variety).  We often have so much of it, I can’t quite figure out what to do with it all.  I fear that those people who belong to CSAs might be in the same boat, drowning in swiss chard.  Over the past two seasons I have been able to find a few great ways to use the big, leafy, green stuff and I thought I should get around to writing them down; lest I forget and start having nightmares of a house full of chard.
Always start by washing and de-stemming the swiss chard.  I then usually fold the leaves in half lengthwise and make a lengthwise cut, then chop the chard.  From here you can easily toss them in a skillet with some olive oil and garlic and call it a side dish.  I’ll also use sauteed swiss chard in scrambled eggs and quiche (or egg pie as it is called in our house) here’s a link to my favorite recipe.
My husband’s favorite swiss chard recipe goes something like this:
*sautee swiss chard with garlic and olive oil, put aside
*in a fry pan with some oil, cook 4 chicken sausages (apple or sweet Italian will work)
*when the sausages are almost finished, add the swiss chard to the sausage pan, pushing everything to the sides of the pan to make an empty space in the middle.  Add a touch more oil to the empty space and fry 2-3 eggs.
*slice the sausages and divide the eggs among plates, add salt and pepper to taste.

Our most recent swiss chard experiment looks like this: (and we definitely would eat it again!)
*one pork tenderloin, slice lengthwise but not all the way through, so you can open it like a book.
*use a meat mallet to flatten the pork slightly.
*season with salt and pepper, place sauteed swiss chard (8-10 leaves worth) on the pork and sprinkle with approx 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese.
*roll it all up and use toothpicks or skewers to keep the meat together.  Brush with some olive oil and cook in a baking dish at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until meat is cooked through.

I have also recently looked in to freezing swiss chard and while it looks promising, I haven’t attempted it myself.  With our fall crop planted in the garden already, I’m sure I will be making freezer space come October!

Heath and Happiness,

Cerissa

I’d love to hear about how you use swiss chard!

A million excuses.  I have them all.  I’m simply going to say “working mom of two young children with a one hour commute” and hope that covers it.  I miss writing and documenting about my family and our adventures and the garden.  Sadly, I just haven’t been able to make it a priority when I’ve been sleep deprived and (lately) computerless.  Okay blog, lets get to know each other again…