spring break

Posted in familyness, let me let me update ya by ElaineMarie

do you hear that? no. you don’t. i don’t either. it’s completely quiet around here. darla done gone on spring break to indiana!!! really it will just be for an extended weekend but i’ve plans for getting stuff done. see:

wanna place bets on how much i actually get done?

and here’s just a few more moments from the week that made me happy:

1. donut date with my girl

2. mike and darla painted balloons

3. treated to an excellent show by my best friends for my {upcoming} birthday

4. sunshine in a house of organized mess

that’s all. wishing you a happy friday, a great weekend and a peaceful spring break!

28Mar2013

i might be responsible for an opossum being dead

Posted in Momma Needs a minute... by ElaineMarie

and squirrel diabetes and cannibal birds. this is going to be a long story…

we started a compost bin last year and darla received a bird feeder for christmas and since then our backyard has been a veritable menagerie of wildlife. since all these animals have been freeloading off of us, somewhere along the line i just started chucking food out the back door and letting them have at it.

our neighbors came over to have breakfast once and i think they noticed me throwing bread crust and crackers out into the yard soon thereafter because they began to distance themselves.

i know what you are thinking of me but i just can’t stop doing it now. they expect it of me. i’m serious. if we get up late and i haven’t thrown darla’s leftover bread crust out the back door by 9 am squirrels are sitting on our back porch railing giving me stink eye through the back window and birds are in every branch of our tree. i am not even joking.

and it’s not just bread crust. i actually drain off our bacon fat and make it into little cakes with birdseed in it to put out for them. there are 2 in our freezer right now that i’m just waiting for the right moment to surprise them with. the squirrels have gotten so fat that i’m quite sure they have diabetes. SQUIRREL DIABEETUS.

and then there’s the bird cannibals.

darla eats eggs practically every morning but she won’t eat the yolk. i keep telling myself that “one day she’ll grow to like the yolk” instead of just buying the egg whites. this means that every day, every damn day, i am tossing yolks out the back door. the squirrels won’t touch ’em but the birds go crazy for them. they have little bird wars. well, i guess there would be a little philosophical debate about whether or not the term cannibal applies because then we’re getting into the whole “potential life” thing. but my point is they’re really mean to each other about it.

i have turned birds, a symbol of peace, into savages.

the worst revelation is yet to come…

all the snow from this winter made it possible to track all the little critters that come through the yard during non-human hours. i have spotted opossum tracks in our backyard and my hypothesis is he/she (please don’t let it have been a momma-she) is visiting our compost bin. i know for a fact that opossums like compost bins.

when i was young it was my job to take the compost out to the bin and one summer evening i was startled by a young opossum taking a snooze in our bin. opossums do not play dead when they are startled. they spring to life quickly and stare at you with glow-red eyes and i think they breathe in a little bit of your life essence like the witches in hocus pocus because I was so traumatized by that baby opossum that i refused my duties for some time.

well, that opossum lay dead the other morning in the alley directly behind our house. i am quite certain it was hit whilst either coming or going to our composter. i hope it was at least post meal for ya, little buddy.

i don’t know what else to say about this situation. i feel it might be getting a little out of hand. do you think i’m an animal hoarder? do i need to go check out a self-help book? should i put the kibosh on our feeder? should i walk the bread crust all the way out to the composter instead of lazily hurling it out the backdoor?

no. no. i probably won’t do any of that. but i do think i’ll stop making those bacon grease squirrel cakes. that’s a good compromise.

^^^see?^^^

27Mar2013

you should or should not let your child dye herself blue

Posted in familyness, kiddie-do, parenting apparently? by ElaineMarie

let me start by stating our household has a long history with food coloring. i made darla food color ice cubes to go in her baths about a year ago and well, we haven’t been able to have a week that goes by without a tinted bath since. if you can avoid starting this practice then you are smarter than i and deserve 10 parenting points.

^^^evidence^^^

so we decided to dye our eggs yesterday – we dyed them without the shells this year because darla eats a dozen boiled eggs a week. that is an exaggeration. an EGGSageration if you will. anyway…

this activity:

slowly devolved to this:

and then this:

this:

and finally this:

photo 102FFC3F-C390-4CD9-904A-046537E9FD51-27592-00001E5100183A82_zps6e16f39a.jpg

i think the breakdown came somewhere in between her asking “mom, can i paint my body?” and me answering “YES.”

It was an allowance that required a lot of time and soap to undo. I can’t say that i recommend it but on the other hand…it was a whole lot of hilarious. to me at least. i think hubster was a little less amused. i honestly asked him if we could leave her that way forever.

but i can’t help but hope that by responding positively to these crazy artistic whims of hers that i’ll be instilling some confidence in her that her own ideas are good ones. i’m hoping she’ll be learning something about support and believing in her inspirations. i hope. i’m hoping we’ll continue to experiment with her own independence and enacting her will on her world. i’m hoping this freedom will build her esteem and sense of self.

so that when all her peers are experimenting with mind altering drugs in high school because they have no other control over the decisions in their lives that she, MY daughter, will simply be experimenting with body paint.

or drugs AND body paint which is still way more ambitious than just drugs, right?

anyway, it turns out food dye doesn’t come completely off. i just dropped her off at school without so much as one word of explanation about her purple hands and feet.

they love me there. they do.

25Mar2013

waiting on a baby; birth doula style

Posted in doula work by ElaineMarie

i’ve been waiting patiently for that phone call. my client has been having her warm-up contractions for several days now. she’s well within her due month so, yes, it’s just a fun waiting game for baby and momma’s body to know what time is the right time.

i rightly declined a trip to indiana for an important family event and have been waiting to spring into action these past few days. i tried going to bed early in anticipation of getting up in the middle of the night. no call. i tried going to bed late thinking that it’s because i was going to bed too early and the universe wanted to catch me off guard. because clearly this is all about me here, right?

no call.

since neither of those tactics have worked so i’m just taking the time to mediate on my gratefulness that the momma is being a champ and patiently waiting through each of these warm-up episodes, trusting in her body and baby.

this is what i signed up for. i wouldn’t have it any other way, except that i’m really hoping my life path takes me closer to my family so i could be there for both my family and my clients. yes, i said it indiana folks. i put it out into the universe. i’m hoping someday i will be a HOOSIER again and help you all birth your babies. HOOSIER DOULA? {seriously indiana friends – who’s your doula?}

well, i haven’t tried going to bed in the afternoon yet so i think i’ll do that and see if that works. g’night!

ps. it’s fun watching me figure all this “doula stuff” out, isn’t it?

25Mar2013

starting our garden: seedlings

Posted in kiddie-do, Run Da House, yum yum eat good, zero waste home by ElaineMarie

we took advantage of that one spring day this weekend to start our spring planting. i’ve never started plants from seeds before so i’m crossing my fingers and darla gave the dirt special blessings and then turned to the window and prayed for hades to let persephone go back to demeter because “we just can’t have any more winter, you know.”

we’ve been boning up on our greek mythology.

i’ve got a nice plan, packets of seeds and garden materials ready to construct once the weather is done doing its thing. i’m sending out some earthy vibes hoping this little garden of ours comes to fruition and helps us on the way to meeting some zero waste goals for the year.

1. yeah child labor! 2. repurposed egg trays 3. finally getting to use my cute herb spoons my SIL gifted me years ago 4. a nice little variety of plants, herbs and flowers on that tray.

24Mar2013

MILESTONE MARKER: she spells poop

Posted in it's cool to school, parenting apparently? by ElaineMarie

as a fan of child-directed learning i’d like to take a post to commemorate the first word my daughter learned to read and spell on her own:

POOP.

D is 4 and in school so we’ve entered the phase of life where poop and pee and booty are funny words. you know that phase that starts at 4 and lasts the whole rest of your life? poop is funny always.

well, even though i’m trying to keep it real and be all “poop is cool” mom to her i have come up with a game that we play that i’m hoping will keep the potty mouth a little toned down in public. while i’m not the best example of a modest mouth {get it?} i would still like to raise her with an example that will at least leave it up to her own choice if she wants to go all surly and sailor mouth later on.

so we have a string of words that she’s allowed to use at home, whenever she wants and at any amount if she thinks it’s funny but only at home. we laugh about it and make up names like “poop lamp”, “fart table” , “tooty poopy chair poop.” all of those were actually said by her during our last sesh. the other morning she said “poop balloon” and since we happen to have balloons all over our floor {because our house is a magical circusland all the time} i wrote it on there and quizzed her to see if she knew how to spell it. she sounded it out, i wrote it, she read it and memorized it and can now recite it at any time. so now her vocabulary is up to two words, one of them being her own name.

with one post i just proved my brilliance as a parent and my daughter’s precocious reading aptitude that will surely take her all the way to the halls of harvard.

because poop is the equalizer, folks.

^^^ the poop balloon ^^^

21Mar2013

photo essay catch-up

Posted in familyness, let me let me update ya, love and happiness, yum yum eat good by ElaineMarie

that was a nice little respite, huh? full schedules, sickness and family togetherness prompted me to tone it down for a bit over here. it was nice. we had lots of regular moments that make me happy to look back upon.

i don’t know if the break from technology and social medianess accounts for my newfound feeling of personal growth but for whatever reason it’s there and it feels DAMN GOOD. things feel hopeful and promising around here. A good friend shared this mantra with me and i’ve been living it these past few days: “i acknowledge progress in any amount, at any time.”

here’s a few everyday details that have comprised life around here:

filling out calendars — husbeau and daughter’s savory monkey bread — solo coffee shop dates — collecting pallets for garden planting — spending time next to my parents’ fire — building forts — secret sweet snacks inside said fort — a little girl who is determined to dress herself in her own style — and learning to wink — mother + daughter movie date — documenting the times the girl insists she can only eat her dinner underneath this umbrella — and happily {read exasperated but willing to indulge the creative whim} obliging — lots of food projects in which the girl exclaims “this is going to messy and fun!” — treats that are not pinterest worthy but this is real life — darla’s visit from the root children for the 1st day of spring. they brought her sweet plums, flower seed packets and some glow in the dark bubbles — HDT and moving confidently in the direction of our dreams.

other thoughts,

we’re all looking forward to movement forward and new challenges around here. spring feels promising, huh? i haven’t felt this free and unafraid in a long time. this feeling is reminding me that sometimes the worst events in our lives are really our salvation.

speaking of bad events turned good: i’ve wanted to jump on the internet and rant somewhere about the disgustingness going around the country in response to the steubenville case. i’m glad i held back and waited for a perspective moment. A friend shared this link yesterday and after viewing it i felt so hopeful. while things have been disgusting this week, the future of women looks pretty damn good. With our gender turning out promising young ladies such as Lena Dunham and Tavi Gevinson we ARE getting some things, lots of things, right for these young ladies. This vid is about a year old but it blows my mind that any organic thoughts on feminism i’ve ever had pale next to the ideas of this high school student.

It’s time we all just admitted that the evolution of women is what is going to take us to the next level as a global society and a species.

and lastly,

there’s been a death in my family. i’m lucky enough to be involved in a spiritual program at this point in my life, without which i would probably be a guilt-ridden mess at the moment. fortunately, i’ve been focusing a part of myself on the connectedness of the universe for months now and i can feel how much it makes a difference during difficult times like these. i can’t say i subscribe to the idea that bad things happen to bring us closer to our higher power but i think that through that being we grow from difficult times. i think of my own relationship with my daughter in comparison. I don’t push her down on the ground so she will get hurt and therefore run to my arms for care and soothing. but when the eventuality of life trips her up or she takes a risk and falls then I am there with arms outstretched ready to receive her if she should need me. if she asks it of me. sometimes she needs a hug, kiss and a minute protected in my arms. sometimes she just needs a reassuring voice saying “i am here” and she dusts herself off and moves on. i feel this relationship deeply with my spirit of the universe at the moment. i will probably need a little of both levels of reassurance in the coming days and i’m happy to know it’s there if i ask of it.

that’s what happens when i go away for a few days. thanks for reading friends. sending love and positivity out to you all.

14Mar2013

new parenting tactic

Posted in parenting apparently? by ElaineMarie

i was just thinking the other day “when am i going to be able to make a decision with this girl without arguing over it?” darla has to contest anything and everything JUST BECAUSE. i try not to get to worried about it and let her have her say in the things she can { i.e. yes, you can have the green cup. no, you cannot wear your bathing suit to school } but it will just be nice when she no longer feels the need to argue to wear summer pjs in the winter and footie pjs in the summer.

i stumbled upon a new tactic: get her to argue about something new that she can win in the middle of the old argument. it worked 100% of the time that one time i tried it!

i will be reporting on the developments of this new parenting motto at a later date.

13Mar2013

not yo’ cheese, my nacho cheese

Posted in doula work, yum yum eat good by ElaineMarie

i love postpartum visits! I have lucked out thus far and had really, really awesome clients.

i got to hold and cuddle a little baby this morning and at the end they gave me 6 pounds of nacho cheese as a thank you. SCORE!

i had shared with the couple that the only really craving i had during my pregnancy with darla was for fake nacho cheese product {other than the last few weeks when i had to have brown sugar poptarts with butter on the back every morning. so tasty}. nacho cheese product remains my achilles heel to this day. i love it. and now i can put it on everything!!!!

i really can. did you see that? 0 grams of fat per serving.

i LOVE birth work.

12Mar2013

maple syrup festival

Posted in advantageous adventures, familyness, Kiddie Hangouts by ElaineMarie

we made the annual trek north to the Malabar Farm Maple Syrup festival this past weekend. Did you know Ohio is the 4th largest producer of pure maple syrup in the US? now you do.

this was the third year for darla and i but mike’s inaugural visit. our besties joined us too. and darla made fast friends with some other folks. that lady in the first couple pictures is a complete stranger. she parked next to us and happened to be the other closest person to her when she decided she wanted to swing.

this event has become my herald of spring. it signifies that time of year that we can get back outside to climb rocks and take walks. this was by far the best weather we’ve seen but as my boots can attest, it was pretty muddy.

as you can see we got the gallon to tide us over until next year’s fest.