Dear Salty Sailor,

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what did we even do this week? i can’t remember much. i think i blacked out the whole entire day on tuesday. i know i got to see your handsome face twice and that’s about all i remember. awwww. i miss you so much and seeing you two days in a row really helped.

other things that made the week radical – lovely biking weather. a day with the burkeybuns family at cosi where darla and adam controlled their wrath for a good 2 1/2 hours before unleashing. that is a big success in my book. running into josh and clare bear at cosi. sat in on new client interview with jenna. she was so very kind to extend the offer to me and i’ve learned a lot from observing. what else? darla and i tried Winans, the new chocolate shop on 3rd just north of the park. hot chocolate for her and caramel apple cider for me but we shared. ahhh. life has been really good. i’m really very happy. just tired. and missing my pardner.

funny hilariousness spewing from our child this week:

“i watched peewee this morning, mom. it’s not normal.”

one morn we saw a caterpillar on the ground. she grabbed a handful of grass and told me she couldn’t come inside yet b/c she had to “cover up this poor little creature.”

“boys and girls can both be humans.” she says this A LOT now and i don’t really know where it is stemming from.

last night while we cuddled on the couch – “mommy, you have to have me.” “what do you mean, love?” “you have to have me with you at all times.” oh my gosh just melts my heart like butter. mmm butter. yeah, irish breakfast butter. i think that would be my heart butter.

on wednesday we went to cosi. we started the trip on the bike but had a minor fiasco when 3/4 of the way there the scioto mile trail was closed down for some repaving and i had to turn all the way around and go back to front street. at that point i just said hells bells and biked back home b/c i am NOT in good enough shape to cycle 8 miles, yet. plus we were running extremely late. to top it all off, darla had a conniption fit when we turned around. i couldn’t seem to convince her that we were, in fact, still going to cosi. maybe she just couldn’t understand me through all the wheezing. once we made it there our world (w)righted itself. sarah and i chilled while the kids ran around the dora and diego exhibit. darla even photo bombed once! i’d have to say it was my proudest moment as a mother thus far. anywho-ha, we ran into josh and clare and then we wrangled all the kiddos to go see posiedon. while in the oceans exhibit we spent a few minutes looking at the water vortex display. then on thurs she was sitting in the back of the car on the way to gymnastics shaking her sippy cup so all the water swirled around. when we parked she looked up and said “it looks just like a tornado mom. it’s a vortex.”

we’ll pause for photos and then there will be pity party after the break.

anybody else wanna get in on this hot chocolate mouth gargle? this last photo is when darla took our pumpkin over to meet the neighbors pumpkins.

this week has been hard on me mentally. it seems like your return is still so far away. it seems like there is so much still left for me to weave into the fabric of life these next few weeks. so much needs to be planned and sorted and thought over and alllllll i want to do is DANCE, DANCE! and make romance. wink wink.

i want a staycation. what i really want for christmas from you is a one night stay at a hotel by myself! i want to check in and sit down and read for hours and then maybe get my nails done and go and have a girls dinner and maybe do a little dancing and then be still be in bed by midnight and not have to wake up until 10 am at which time i will return to you and darla refreshed and replenished! can you put that in a box with a bow on it? please?

i’m done complaining. i know all i really need is you. i know all i really need is cosmic cousin visit starting in just a few hours. i know that all i really need is… to DANCE, DANCE. and make romance.

that’s all i got for you. i hope it gets you through another week. sending you all our love. and darla sends a butt pinch.

xo, wifey

G’day mates

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

guess what our letter day was? G. aw gee. shucks.

i’m tired of writing out all the details and i’m sure it’s just annoying and boring to read. BOOOORRRRIIINGGGG! from now on i’ll just be posting pictures with a general outline and if you ever wonder how the day went just imagine me over your shoulder all day long pointing out every detail that starts with said letter of the day. every damn thing. my kid is probs going to strongly dislike me someday.

gymnasticsgroovy spoon fro yo with gummi bears

she refused to use green to color in her G.

we finished up with some geography after grocery shopping

what i bought on the internet this week REVISED

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last week darla and i made new friends.

translation: darla and i ran into a father and his daughter several times last week in various locations. each time darla stalked the little girl and forced herself into their world until it was apparent that the father, chris, and i should meet and become friends. i’m ok with that. kids are good icebreakers. and so far darla’s judgement has been spot on. we got meg, cory and elsa out of the last deal.

each time we met chris was toting a sketchpad and various drawing implements. also whiteout. darla’s mind was scrambled by white out. he was kind enough to show her how the liquid correcting fluid works. in eventually unfurled that chris draws a daily comic based on his day with his daughter, mabel. he has a project on kickstarter to try and self-publish a book of all the comics he’s done for mabel and his deadline is almost up.

today i donated. i think his project is totally rad and i can just imagine how cool mabel will think it is someday when she sees her childhood recorded in such a creative fashion. she’s gonna be all like “my dad was so (insert some futuristic term for cool).” i wish i had the skillz to do something like that for darla. you can check out his stuff at chrismonday.com. it reminds me a little of crappy pictures but a little more advanced and on acid.

i hope all my graphic designer friends will put this idea in their back pocket and do something like this when they have kids. i say WHEN because if i have anything to do with it they’ll all be pushing them out in like 2-3 years.

i also hope we continue to run into chris in mabel. they were some cool peeps. a regular sized peep and one little small peep. i’m sure chris doesn’t really look forward to running into us again b/c darla has managed to incite mabel into her tornado fury both times but i hope the kisses and hugs that darla freely doled out to them made up for it a little bit.

also i just like to say mabel. darla, mabel, elsa….these kids have the best names!

what i bought on the internet this week…

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i bought the internet! MOMJEANZ.COM !!!

i finally bought the domain momjeanz.com so now you can rest your lovely digits and skip the whole wordpress part. i am now committed to recording our life until oct 4, 2012. on that day either the domain will be up for renewal or the world will end according to the tobin’s spirit guide.

sorry about that last part. darla is watching the ghostbusters right now and i had to throw it in.

also, “print is dead”

everything else i purchased this week is top secret birthday/christmas gifts. surprises.

we share R day

Posted in it's cool to school, parenting apparently?, Run Da House by

when i awoke – to a suprise mr. mike call from roda, spain – it was raining. and i remembered the recyclables were in bad need of transportation. sounded like the makings of an R day.

rainy morning

miss darla helps with the recyclables

restaurant. mmm mmm.

then reading and rest.

railroad.

rainbows.

and after our evening trip to the gym we followed up with a dinner of red beans & rice compliments of our friends. can you tell i love constructing these days?

                    

we be scrubbin’

Posted in Run Da House by

i bet you were wondering what i did with the foraged mint we found this weekend. or maybe you weren’t. probably not. b/c you’re normal and you aren’t interested in every little thing i do or say or think. why are you even reading this? ha ha ha ho ho ho he he he. hum. sorry.

i decided to make a sugar scrub with our mint, which turned out to be spearmint. it was so simple and quick that i’m officially never going to buy a sugar or salt scrub again.

I used the above pictured safflower oil b/c it is “high in antioxidant vitamin e” which has natural preservative qualities. then it was simply a matter of measuring out sugar, oil, and crushing the spearmint before mixing. i didn’t even mess with measuring cups, just eyeballed it. also, i of course gave the mint a thorough washing to make sure “deer dew” wasn’t a secret ingredient.

the end result was a scrub that smelled so scrumptious i wanted to stick my hands in my mouth and chew on them for hours to freshen my breath.

Dear Salty Sailor,

Posted in parenting apparently?, Travels by

week 7 without you. is this the hump week? yep, just coasting from now on. yeah right. it’s been an amazing and busy week for us. but i’m lonely. i’m ready for you to come home? can you com home?

i was sad to attend another oktoberfest without you. it was less than relaxing. i just wanted to eat a freaking pierogi and drink a heffewiesen but our daughter had her own ideas of bavarian revelry. let’s just say she stole the show from some tracht clad 80 year olds doing the polka and they were none too pleased about it. she and burkeybuns did enjoy some bouncehouse fun, crafts and her first face paint.

i went to see richard buckner. i decided that if i could have my voice sound like anyone’s in the world it would be his. sorry, celine, you just got bumped. also decided he was a scottish highlander in a previous life and that i wanted to braid his hair with mine into one joined plait but he had packed up and was not returning to the building by the time i decided it would be a good idea to tell him all this. another chance to embarrass myself in front of a musician is lost forever. or is it? also, i didn’t know how you’d feel about me picking you up from the airport with richard buckner ajoint my bahhh-day. i have an inkling you might actually like it though.

we attended henry’s third birthday. it was such a sweet little party. the soiree was a buzz with talk of how the buzzkers were missed. it was a pretty hip party too. i saw at least 3 other peeps who transferred themselves from the party to the buckner show. one of them being the balloon animal man/lead singer of the black swans. he was dressed in full get-up at the party so when he showed up in his street clothes i wasn’t 100% sure it was him. i approached him and asked “were you by chance just making balloon animals at a birthday party?” as soon as the sentence left my mouth i thought “dear nessie, please let him say yes or else i’m gonna sound like a supha-freak.” he did confess.  also, the guitarist for the black swans lives 2 blocks from us. i met him at the party and had a lovely convo with him and his wife.

oh, shizz, forgot to tell you a story about our visit to Spoonful last week. one of the most prominently displayed albums on the racks was bowie’s diamond dogs. darla exclaimed “hey, look! David Bowie!” as soon as she saw it. brett and his dad were thoroughly impressed. they must think she’s the most musically schooled tyke out there between this and the beatles incident. i of course didn’t tell them we have the album hanging as wall art. they don’t really need to know both were acts of sheer coincidence. i’m just sad you weren’t present for either of these moments so you could take some deserved credit.

funny things said by our child: “ooohhh mom, you’re so shiny” upon seeing my leg hair. i made the first batch of souper veggie soup from our green bean delivery this fall. Darla takes one bite and says “mom, i’m so glad you made this soup. it’s delicious.” it was so touching until she proceeded to repeat it over and over and over the whole meal. probably 50x. it was the first time ever that she actually sat through a whole meal. the one time it would have been helpful for her to only sit still for 3 min. darla got up from her nap early and i asked her what woke her up she said “because i just wanted to be with you.” she has been so lovey dovey this week. her daddy quote of the week is “daddy’s not home. we miss him. can you wipe my butt now?” whenever i ask her what your name is now she says “uncle mike.” hmmmm. I’m wondering if i should send some of these in to Preschool Gems.

 

we’re finishing up the week back home again in indiana and it’s been one hell of a visit thus far. darla got to walk willow and feed her as well as cowboy, the pony. we spent a beautiful afternoon outside exploring sandbox and the wilderness.

   

our finds in the wilderness: freshly fallen walnuts, deer tracks and wild mint!

we finished the evening with a trip to the bouncespot and roscoe’s tacos! ahh indiana.

then friday was spent getting ready for the tucker annual bonfire. you were missed and much talked about. but mostly we talked about babies. i stalked melanie and courtney to talk about birth and pregnancy. i’m sure you would expect no different. here’s d all bundled up for the campfire comraderie.

now we’re getting ready to start our saturday. but you’ll have to wait another whole week before you find out what we get into. sorry hubby.

sending you lots of love.

fwifey, now wifey.

Awestruck Autumn

Posted in Kiddie Hangouts by

cordelia has added a whole new dimension to my love for this fall season. biking around columbus has been fantastically enjoyable these past few weeks, when it’s not been raining. columbus, i think i like you a whole lot more from a two-wheel vantage point with blue skies and temps in the 60s. lets see if we can keep a good thing going.

A Day on Wheels

once all geared up and ready to go, we cycled to the library again. our next movie, Ponyo, was ready for pick up. Darla enjoys the grand entrance of the library b/c the words MY TREASURES are etched in the marble. She loves to run her fingers through the grooves as she says the letters. i felt very connected to this moment on several levels.

then it was on to Juergen’s bakery in our hood. this was our first time stopping in but it won’t be our last. the place was the essence of kitschy charm and they had an adorable little table out front which was just darla’s size. well the chairs at least. the table not so much. darla had chocolate plum pudding and i had a sugar pretzel. she ate both.

after riding around for a little bit longer we headed home. little miss decided that our pumpkin, clumpy pumpy, needed to go for a ride as well. ahhh these days are so sweet.

signing off,

the luckiest momma evah

which way to school is cool?

Posted in Kiddie Hangouts, parenting apparently? by

because i can’t decide which method of schooling we are going to jump into – oh my gosh i can’t handle the pressure of this decision! – i’m just sticking to an amalgamation of homeschooling and unschooling for now. i’ve come up with the letter activity project. i focus on one letter a day and integrate the letter into our days activities.

we started this project today with the letter L and we ventured to none other than….the library! as far as libraries go, columbus’ is topnotch. no, really, it was voted national library of the year. i’m not LYING – an L word. See how good of a teacher i am? here’s pics of the day.

first we found the lion on the felt board. then we read about little leo.

then momma loaded up on books

we found the letter L in the magnetic letters

then we headed upstairs to the gallery space to LOOK at the art exhibit. The Carnegie Gallery at the main library branch has an exhibit up called Strands and it was quite beautiful. the exhibit will be running through oct 21. little lovely lady enjoyed it. (all L words. wink.)

we stopped for a little cupcake snack b/c darla was pretty good and b/c she’s a treat nazi.

we finally returned home to bask in the spoils of our Learning (L word!) i might have gone overboard with the libros this time. meh.

we followed up the library outing with a Listening Lunch which really means that i just put on a record album to aid our digestion while we munched. the album was rumours and i cried during songbird. troof.

here’s to learning from life until i can finally stomach the thought of shelling out thousands to educate my preschooler.  i’ll post our progress but please don’t expect me to be able to do this in 26 days. Also, i don’t plan on going in order, obvio. I just don’t have the organizational skills and the energy to to do it that way.  annnd i hope i can come up with some activity for letter u that isn’t unicycling. maybe. on second thought i might keep that one in there.

all i need to know i learned in kinderbirthin’ class…

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see what i did there? i took kindergarten and changed it to kinderbirthin’ and it works as kinder birthing too. awwwww shucks.

that really sums up the workshop though. kinder birthing. i hope i can keep that as one of my focus points as i get more involved. it’s all about kinder birthing for mom, dad and little tiny babes. also, i’m aware that kinder may or may not be an acceptable english word.

you may think doulas only support women who are having non-interventive birth. this correlation can be attributed to the fact that many women find the support and companionship of other women during her birth essential should she choose to forgo medication. but, doulas are also relevant for medicated births and cesareans. studies show that what happens to a woman emotionally matters more to her than what happens physically during labor and birth.

we learned a little more about the etymology of the word doula which is more than what you’ll find on wikipedia if you’re going to go look it up right now. it will say that doula is greek for female slave but it’s a little more than that. a doula was a woman who entered into servitude voluntarily and vowed to serve only one woman, her mistress. she took care of her mistress’ daily needs and was in turn given room, board and protection. these bonds were usually very long lasting. it’s touching to see how this term has evolved and integrated to childbirth today. i think it’s beautifully fitting.

if you are expecting please take the time to consider having a doula or at least meeting with a doula for an interview. if you’re in central ohio or indiana then consider having me as your doula! i wanna see you push a baby outta your lady regions! not many people are going to say that to you (maybe not even your partner) but i am. so take me up on it.

i just stumbled onto this on the interwebs while researching doulas and midwives and all i can say is WOW. lots of info and kinda dense at times but well worth a read. also artistically beautiful. as with the ina may book i recommended here, there are bits of this zine that don’t sit right with me and probably won’t with most of you either. but at least let those parts make you think.

Outlaw Midwives Volume 1