suburban housewife hippie

Lilah's birthday party!

2008-11-19T07:56:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures from my beautiful girl's 4th birthday party.

We had a tea party.

Toys

2008-11-19T07:41:00.000-08:00

Toys are such a HUGE issue around here right now. Partially because of the time of year, Noah and Lilah both have fall birthdays, then Christmas comes soon after. Partially too because of how I am feeling the need to really crack down on the kinds of toys, as well as the number of toys we keep around here.

As for the kinds of toys, I really want to limit the amount of plastic, made-in-China (or made by children or anyone not paid a fair wage), no-imagination-needed toys. I'm keeping virtually nothing for Rowan that is plastic, since everything goes in his mouth. Lilah and Noah each have some things that are plastic that we'll keep- Star Wars for Noah, a couple of baby dolls of Lilah's.

On a similar note, we've recently gone to a "no screen time" policy around here. No computer, no tv, no (absolutely NO) video games. Every now and then we'll allow a movie or something, and as the kids get older, of course they'll use the computer some, but for now, we're just done. We have always limited screen time, and recently we've limited it quite a bit. But now, we're just going cold turkey. There is so much research out there about the troublesome effects of tv, computer, video games on young children, and just really no benefit at their young ages.

The other thing is just reducing the number of toys we have. NO child needs 50 giant firetrucks, no matter how much he might like them. And, the thing is, the more things we have, the harder time the kids have finding anything to do. Either everything is put in it's place and nobody wants to get it out, for fear of putting it all back, or it's strewn all over and there's nowhere to play.

So, this is a pretty big change for us. We have spent 7 years buying lots of plastic, light up, blinky, talking toys, and watching tv daily (even though in small doses), but when you know better you do better, and so here we are, trying to do better for our kids and the planet.

Aw Shucks Corn Maze

2008-10-08T10:19:00.000-07:00

More from Red Robin

2008-10-08T07:49:00.000-07:00

Lilah is FOUR!

2008-10-08T06:58:00.001-07:00

She got a new bike.But she was most excited over her Pokemon cards. Funny girl!

We went out to dinner at Red Robin.
The waiters/waitresses sang to her and brought her a sundae!
It was a great day!

The week in review

2008-09-27T06:06:00.000-07:00

After a difficult start to the week, I think it went pretty well. The key, I'm learning, is to not really have too much planned and to be *very* flexible in terms of timelines.

It is HARD to get any teaching done when Rowan is awake. When awake Rowan wants to either be (a) in my arms, or (b) causing trouble. So, when Rowan is happily occupied with something other than me, it is usually a toilet brush in a toilet, or the newly planted brussel sprout pots, or dog food. Darn baby!

But, back to school work. This week we worked on form drawing, a Waldorf concept. And, we did a ton of reading. We're just about done the first in the 'Boxcar Children' series and we all really like it. We also started 'Little House on the Prairie.'

It is amazing how it has turned from HOT SUMMER to cold, windy, rainy fall. It is such a welcome change.

This coming week, we are going to start a Math block on the 4 processes. I have not decided whether I am going to use the Enki stories or Christopherus.

We're also going to start learning recorder, which means that either tonight or tomorrow I need to learn some recorder!!

Well, the kids are throwing all the dolls at the wall and I can't concentrate anymore, so I am off.

One of those days.

2008-09-22T19:29:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those days, and not in a good way.

I think it was because I didn't eat breakfast. 8 cups of coffee (1/2 caf) with milk and sugar does not equal breakfast, at least not to my blood sugar and related mood. So, I was not a very patient mama today. Poor Clarke kiddos!

Also, we have reached a milestone in Rowan's babyhood. I get... well... MAD at him sometimes now. Yep, when he was just a sweet smiling lump, I never ever got mad at him. Even when he grew past lumphood and started crawling and then walking, he was still just... well, perfect in each and every possible way. But now he has developed a free will and it is driving me crazy. Not always, but sometimes. And he is still the sweetest little thing and adorable and completely hilarious, so we will definitely keep him, but oh my gosh does he drive me nuts sometimes?!

Ommmmmmmmmm.

Playing in the creek

2008-09-13T09:04:00.000-07:00

More on homeschooling, warning lots of words, NO pictures.

2008-09-10T16:09:00.000-07:00

This is just some boring old writing, no pictures of the Extremely Cute and Talenteds.

I think homeschooling is going to be a lot of trial and error- hey, just like gardening!

It is very difficult, I am finding, to decide what kind of curriculum will really work for my kids. When I started researching this, mid summer '07, I fell head over heels in love with Enki
At the risk of sounding like a total New Age/Hippie freak, it just really spoke to me. I knew in my bones that it was right for Noah. Well, long story short... though there is a lot that I still love about Enki (and that we will still use), we just cannot be hardcore Enki'ers.

So, then I thought, well maybe pure Waldorf might work better. For more on Waldorf philosophy look here
So I bought the Christopherus first grade materials. I really like everything I received from Christopherus, but as with Enki, I just don't think it's for us. I will probably use some of it, but not a whole 100% All Waldorf/All the time approach.

After spending hours (in few minute chunks- HA! the life of a mom) reading homeschooling message boards I decided to try another approach: Moving Beyond The Page

First we got their recommended math curriculum, Right Start math.
We started that yesterday and Noah quickly informed me that math was his favorite subject. Granted, we flew through the first 14 lessons as total review, but he really liked them. He wanted to keep going, but I insisted we take a break. It is very well laid out and easy to use and has tons of fun manipulatives, and I think we will really enjoy it.

Then today we got our package from MBTP. I only ordered one "concept" to start, finally realizing that I ought to try things out before I invest a gajillion bucks in them. So, I ordered the 6-8 Culture Concept.
I am so SO excited about it. I really think that Noah is going to love it, and it is going to be just what we were looking for, along with the Right Start math, the reading stuff (I'm getting to that), and the Waldorfy/Enki aspects that we will keep (crafts, nature stories, recorder....)

Because MBTP doesn't have actual reading instruction, I also bought their recommended reading program: ABeCeDarian
Noah is reading SO well these days. I'm not sure that we really need this, but we'll give it a try and see.

So, that's that. We are all really enjoying our homeschooling adventure this fall. Lilah is going to preschool two mornings a week and loving it so far.

We've joined 2 homeschooling groups: MASC
and 'Waldorf in the Piedmont.' Noah and Lilah both are taking classes with MASC on Monday afternoons. They are taught by other MASC parents. I'm planning to teach a knitting class in the Spring! This fall Noah is taking Spanish and board games. Well, the board games is just playing board games. Lilah is doing a young kids language class and music class. They're both also taking nature classes once a month through MASC.

WitP meets once a week at a beautiful creek to play. The last TWO weeks we have seen snakes!!!

Also, Noah is playing soccer, which means 2 practices a week and at least 1 game per weekend.

And both big kids are going to Sunday School at St John's Episcopal on Sundays.

I am really really thinking about finding a stable and signing them up for riding lessons, but I'm worried that will make us TOO busy. Thinking, thinking....

Homeschooling

2008-09-10T16:04:00.001-07:00

So...

I have not posted anything in so long, and because I have not posted in so long it is hard to get started again because I feel like I have so much to catch up on. So, in the spirit of actually getting back here, I am going to not try to catch up. Instead, I'll just jump right back in, okay?

So, yes... homeschooling. We are, well Noah is. Lilah is going to preschool 2 mornings a week.

First- pictures! These are from the first day of school here at St John's Academy...

and more...

2008-07-27T08:22:00.000-07:00

Actual beach pictures this time...

2008-07-26T07:28:00.000-07:00

More from BHI

2008-07-26T07:21:00.001-07:00

Lilah invented a game called Slidey Chips, and here are pictures of Auntie Liz, Noah and Lilah playing it. Slidey Chips, of course, has a LOT of rules.

Bald Head Island

2008-07-26T05:54:00.001-07:00

These are just the first of a whole lot of beach pictures.

The 4th of July

2008-07-06T16:28:00.001-07:00

Here they are at the Matthews bike parade.

Check back tomorrow for more pictures from the 4th!

Our gardens in early July

2008-07-06T15:56:00.000-07:00

The pumpkin patch, see Noah holding our first ripening pumpkin. On the teepee are some mangy looking bean plants . I'm not sure why they're so puny. To the left of the beans I planted a bunch of purple coneflower seeds, but I don't think a single one has grown. Bummer! This bed used to have snap peas in front. Now it is all tomatoes with the exception of one Japanese eggplant on the far left. The egglplant and the small tomatoes are doing great. The big tomatoes aren't doing as well.

These are the only big tomatoes we've grown so far. If you know why they split, let me know. I pulled them off so they'd stop taking energy from the plant, but I don't think we'll be able to eat them.
Now that it's too hot for lettuce, we have Basil (2 kinds) and nasturiums in the window boxes.

On the left, which is actually the front, of this bed are cucumber seedlings. In the middle are a few peppers (I think I'll add a couple more) and one random zinnia. On the right are bush beans. My friend Christie gave me the seeds for the cucumbers and bush beans.

This is a (hard to see) shot of the straw bale garden. The healthy looking vine is a cucumber. Then there are (were) 3 dead cucumber seedlings. And still hanging on, but not quite thriving are several pepper plants.
The tiniest lizard I've ever seen. Is he eating my pepper plants?
Prickly cukes.
More tomatoes.
The strawberry plants are growing a lot. Hopefully next summer we'll get a lot of berries. We also have 2 raspberry bushes. 1 is doing pretty well, i think, but the other looks dead.

Rowan goes for a ride, courtesy of Lilah

2008-07-06T15:34:00.000-07:00

I was planting a few things and this is what the kids did. Noah was the photographer.

Our walk in the woods

2008-07-06T14:54:00.001-07:00

We've been going for a walk in the woods every morning (well, the weekday mornings at least) this summer. Usually we take the dogs too. Here is one of our walks last week...

Heading into the woods...
Some pretty wild mushrooms for a snack...
(just kidding about the snack.)

And back home.

Meal Planning for July

2008-07-06T05:53:00.000-07:00

This is my in progress meal planning...

-ingredients to use-
quinoa
purple potatoes
garden tomatoes
avocados
eggs

-meals-
black bean and corn salad, with avocado. (Sunday 7/6)
hot dogs (nitrate free, organic of course), with watermelon. (Monday 7/7)
on the road (Tues 7/8)
pizza (dough from bread machine), with tomatoes. (Weds 7/9)
rice and beans (Thurs 7/10)
take out? (Fri 7/11)
frittata (mental block on correct spelling) with tomatoes and squash.

-baking-
blueberry coffee cake
bread
muffins

-lunches-
hummus and veggies (carrots, green peppers)
-breakfasts-

Why I am so tired and my house is a mess...

2008-07-02T05:40:00.000-07:00

It's a good thing he's cute! In these pics, Lilah is actually trying to clean up after him, but for everything 2 things she puts away he throws at least 4 more right back out!

Rowan vs Hummus

2008-07-02T05:30:00.000-07:00

Rowan really really (really) wants to feed himself. So one afternoon I gave him a little bowl of hummus and a spoon. Here is what happened.

Our garden a month ago (late May)

2008-07-02T05:07:00.000-07:00

here is Noah on the edge of one of our raised beds. Rainbow chard is in the front, then Russian Kale, then peas in the back. Also, there is a grape tomato in the clay pot in front. Now that bed is full of totally different veggies- brand new bush bean plants in back, a few green peppers in teh middle, and cucumbers in front. The tomato in the pot is doing really well and has already given us a bunch of yummy red tomatoes.
This is our first try at a hay bale garden. We planted 6 cucumbers (3 pickling and 3 slicing), and 6 bell peppers (3 purple and 3 red, i think). The slicing cukes died, but the pickling ones are doing great. The pepper plants seem okay, but are slow growing.

Here is our pumpkin patch. We "planted" our Jack-o-Lanterns here last winter. Right now we've got about 5 pie sized pumpkins ripening on the vine and lots more blossoms.
This bed had sugar snap peas (that weren't very tasty, in my opinion) in front and tomatoes in back. Now the peas are gone and just the back row of tomatoes are in. Oh, and one Japanese Eggplant. The tomatoes are all thriving now, despite a bought with a ton of aphids and then an incident with too soapy water. We had ladybugs to help, and they probably helped a little but not enough. Brian got some organic bug stuff and that really helped. Our best growing tomato so far is a golden yellow cherry sized one.
Here is our other tomato bed. These are much bigger now and are starting to get fruit, but for some reason they aren't doing as well as the ones in the other bed. Brian says it's because the soil isn't as good in this bed. See, we're farmers.

Outside music with Gram and Poppy

2008-07-02T04:51:00.000-07:00

I have been very slack in uploading pictures, so a lot of these are old.

These are from May when Gram and Poppy visited. We had a picnic and listened to some music outside on a Friday evening. It was such a lovely time.

R.I.P. Polka Dot-Freckle, Outlaw, and Peep

2008-06-25T04:45:00.000-07:00

This was their coop. These are the last pictures taken of our first chickens.

Something broke in and got Outlaw first.

Oops, the saga will continue later....

Rowan is ONE!!

2008-06-06T04:56:00.001-07:00

He really REALLY liked his cake.

No pictures here, just household project planning...

2008-06-02T10:39:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to start a list of household projects, so I guess this is a good place. I can't lose the list if I put it here!

**Playroom**

- ceiling fan
- plantation shutters or curtains
- row of hooks for dress-up clothes
- declutter toys we no longer use

**Kids Rooms**
NOAH
-gutter bookshelf
-shelf for trophies
- declutter (random papers he insists on saving and trucks he doesn't really play with anymore). move playstands to playroom.
-deep clean after chicks move out.

LILAH
-gutter bookshelf
-declutter (toys and dresser/wrong season clothes)
-put in a lower rod in closet for her dresses

ROWAN
-gutter bookshelf
-put crib away/get twin bed (no rush on this)
-give hand me downs back
-put away too small/wrong season clothes

**Master Bedroom**
-curtains for balcony door
-small table/chair set for balcony
-move ceiling fan so we can put the canopy on bed

**Master Bath**

chicken identification

2008-05-20T05:39:00.001-07:00

i took some close ups of the chicks to show the folks at www.BackyardChickens.com. i'm hoping they can tell me what kind the girls (hoping!) are and about how old they are.

Bald Head Weekend

2008-05-18T17:54:00.001-07:00

Brian had a meeting in Wilmington last Friday, so we all went. His wonderful grandmother, Fan, and a couple of his equally wonderful aunts and uncles let us stay at their place at Bald Head for the weekend. We had such a good time. The weather on Saturday was perfect!

While Brian was at his meeting, the kids and I visited with Fan and D at their house. I think my kids are so lucky to know some of their great- grandparents!

The ferry leaves from Southport, and we always try to eat at The Provision Company
before we get on the ferry. Okay, that website makes it look like even more of a hole-in-the-wall than it actually is. Really, it's an institution.

Noah had fallen asleep in the car on the way from Wilmington to Southport. He was quite grumpy when we woke him up to eat.

Here's Lilah on the ferry. All the boys rode inside, but Lilah and I rode up on top. It was a beautiful day.

Saturday morning we went by the Alligator pond. Usually we just see a ton of (cute) turtles, but every now and then we actually see a gator. We were lucky this time!

Of course, after the alligator pond, we headed to the fire station.

A boy and his chicks

2008-05-18T17:31:00.000-07:00

The kids and i have been wanting chicks for a while. Our awesome, local old-timey hardware store sells them, and this Saturday morning I just could not take it any longer! We got three. Noah named his Peep. Lilah named hers Polka Dot. And mine is Outlaw. They are so cute.

We all love them, but Noah really really loves them.

i don't know why that last picture is sideways. i fixed it in my album. argh.

Boy are these chicks getting a LOT of love.

oh, these are cute too!

2008-05-06T18:31:00.001-07:00

this is our loot from the farmer's market on saturday.

this is us eating our mcdonalds after the farmer's market on saturday. ironic, huh?

this is rowan clapping "yay" for strawberries!

Roey still has long hair.

2008-05-06T18:26:00.000-07:00

noah got a crew cut!

2008-05-06T18:22:00.000-07:00

Gosh, he is handsome. We were going to get a trim, I thought. Turns out he wanted a crew cut. It's his hair, right? And, it'll grow back. Those were my thoughts before the cut.

Actually, I think it looks really cute. I think it will be nice for the hot summer too.

It does kind of seem like the end of an era though.

little guys watching lots of soccer

2008-05-06T18:16:00.000-07:00

weekend o soccer

2008-05-06T17:58:00.000-07:00

last weekend was the Matthews Soccer Club U8 league season championship tournament.
noah's team, the cougars, had 2 games on saturday and 2 games on sunday. that, friends, is a lot of soccer. it was fun though.

both of games on saturday ended in ties, which was funny. on sunday, they won their first game, which earned them a place in THE championship game, later on that day.

all the kids played so hard, and they were winning 1-0 most of the game. but in the 4th quarter the other team scored and they were tied. since it was the final game, they couldn't end it a tie. they had one overtime. neither team scored. then they took away the goalies, and started another overtime, sudden death. the other team got the ball, took it down and scored. so, that was that. noah was seriously sad, but he survived.

pics follow (of course):

l1

2008-04-24T11:20:00.001-07:00

Noah's Kindergarten program 1

2008-04-24T10:30:00.001-07:00

noah is a star!2

2008-04-24T10:28:00.001-07:00

noah is a star!2

2008-04-24T10:27:00.003-07:00

r2

2008-04-24T10:27:00.001-07:00

rowan crawling

2008-04-23T18:38:00.001-07:00

my girl is crazy!

2008-04-23T17:13:00.000-07:00

she decorated herself with markers . cute, huh?!

just some beautiful kiddos

2008-04-23T17:07:00.000-07:00

scaling the sofa pillowsyay baby! rowan claps. isn't he smart?

our gardens

2008-04-23T16:51:00.001-07:00

tomatoes:

chard, kale, sugar snap peas:

lettuce in our boxes:

peas in the front, tomatoes in the back:same bed, different view:
more tomatoes:
a pumpkin patch AKA where we put our rotting pumpkins last fall:

strawberries:

"we're knights, that's right!"

2008-04-11T18:27:00.001-07:00

while noah was flying the kite, and lilah was waiting her turn, she was a very brave knight on a tower. she is not doing "the chicken," though that is how it might appear.

this is noah flying a kite.

2008-04-11T18:21:00.001-07:00

if you click on the pictures, you'll be able to see them better.

this is what rowan looks like when he's sad.

2008-04-11T18:14:00.001-07:00

i think he wanted to chew on an electrical cord. that's not allowed here.

more of the cute baby.

2008-04-11T05:35:00.001-07:00

then he did a little crawling on the bed...

2008-04-11T05:27:00.001-07:00

then he bonked his head on the wall.
but he got over it quickly.

rowan was taking a nap...

2008-04-11T05:19:00.001-07:00

this how rowan gets around

2008-04-11T05:15:00.001-07:00

he always puts his left leg up, like a little flag, an d pushes off with his right foot. it looks tiring to me.

2008-04-11T05:12:00.001-07:00

rowan

2008-04-11T05:10:00.001-07:00

this kid really likes to get dirty

2008-04-11T04:53:00.001-07:00

6 isn't so bad after all.

2008-04-03T18:08:00.000-07:00

noah made this for me at school today:

the little guy

2008-04-02T18:16:00.000-07:00

each kiddo gets their own corn eating post.

2008-04-02T18:13:00.001-07:00

this is what lilah looks like when she is eating corn and watching tv in the other room at the same time. mama was very tired by dinner time tonight.

and today we had corn.

2008-04-02T18:09:00.001-07:00

this was yesterday...

2008-04-02T18:04:00.000-07:00

my soccer boy...

and my baby boy...

the baby is a player...

2008-03-31T17:54:00.001-07:00

"mom, isn't she cute?!"

"baby, your skin is so soft!"

"smoooooch!"

cuteness cannot be stopped!

2008-03-30T18:17:00.001-07:00

and without further adieu, the cuteness you have been waiting for...

i assure you that noah was also adorable today (as he is every day).

saturday was a good day, except...

2008-03-15T20:00:00.001-07:00

my camera died. i think it was the kids supreme cuteness that killed it.

this morning we all went to the farmer's market. this is the basket we take full of this morning's purchases- a bag of kale, a
big bunch of green onions, some organic, grass-fed ground beef, and some pastured natural pork breakfast sausage. oh, and some free range eggs too!

noah had his first soccer game of the season. he is now in the U8 (under 8) league. it is a BIG difference from the U6 league, where he was about the only one who understood the basic premise of the game. he was very very nervous, but it all worked out fine in the end. his team is the 'cougars' and i am the team mom!

brian took this cute picture of me and rowan at the game.

after lunch brian had to go to work. the kids and i made brownies.

i think i'm going to try one of the kids fisher price cameras tomorrow.

frugal-ish us

2008-03-14T17:58:00.000-07:00

lilah, rowan, and i had lunch at costco today. it cost us $3.78.

2008-03-13T18:42:00.000-07:00

this was a very complicated game, in which lilah had a whole lot of babies, six i think. first we all had to have a sleepover- on the floor. i was the grandmother. this part involved a lot of set up- all the pillows from the sofa in the family room and the big chair in the living room and several blankets. the actual sleepover took about 10 seconds.

after we "slept" we colored. i, of course, did this ALL WRONG, no matter how many times i was corrected. oy, it must be hard having such a dunce for a mother, i mean grandmother.

the boys were cute today too

2008-03-12T18:40:00.001-07:00

lilah's likes...

2008-03-12T18:23:00.001-07:00

1. baking:

2. and port o potties. no picture of that one, but she told me so today. her exact quote was "mommy, i really like port o potties." when i asked why, she added, "because they're so fresh and clean." she is usually really smart.

babies like spring...

2008-03-11T15:55:00.000-07:00

for dinner!

and, just because he is so cute...

he can fly!

2008-03-11T15:53:00.001-07:00

testosterone?

2008-03-10T15:49:00.000-07:00

noah and i both woke up with itchy and slightly pink eyes. thinking it was another round of pink eye i kept him home. mistake. he was fine but very bored, which led to some really bad behavior. it was a really long day.

BUT we recovered. the weather was beautiful, and we spent the end of the afternoon outside. check out lilah weeding while slinging her baby. that's my girl!

building our strawberry beds, with a side of very muddy girl

2008-03-09T17:17:00.001-07:00

noah got a haircut!

2008-03-09T17:12:00.001-07:00

lumberjacking

2008-03-09T04:34:00.001-07:00

okay, so i'm posting this on sunday, but i took it on saturday. does that count? it was supposed to be 70 degrees out and we all were really looking forward to that. instead it was FREEZING COLD (by which i mean 50 degrees). in my defense, it was very very windy and that makes 50 feel colder.

brian got out the chainsaw and chopped up our fallen tree. we're using the rotten tree to make a bed for our strawberry patch. look for a picture of that soon.

the kids and i planted some seeds for our spring garden- golden chard, red russian kale, peas, and sugar snap peas.

be startled mom, i'm a troll!

2008-03-07T06:43:00.001-08:00

Day 1!

2008-03-07T04:56:00.000-08:00

Hmmm, i've already taken 1 picture but who knows if it will be THE one for today.

so far today it's rainy and dreary. noah woke up with major attitude, but settled down pretty quickly with da's help. now he's at school and it's just me and the littlers at home. we have a lot of cleaning to do today. lilah has ballet too.

after a fabulous coffee and walk with my friend anne yesterday i've been thinking a lot about the life i've settled in to. i'm going to let it wiggle around and percolate in my brain a little longer and then i'll write about it.

it's quiet here so...

2008-03-06T11:16:00.000-08:00

why not type? right now there are (hold on, i need to count) 4 kids in my house- 2 are mine and 2 are my friend, Erika's. 1 of mine, Rowan, is sleeping. the other 3 are watching 'The Berenstein Bears.' score 1 for the suburban housewife! tv was made for times like this though. it is doing us all good.

poor Erika is having a really tough time because her son, Rory, is having a really tough time. Rory has an appointment so i'm watching her other big kids for a little bit.

soon Noah will be home and then i'll hae 5 kids. i kind of like it. have to say that i'll kind of like it when the babysitter gets here at 4:00 too!

okay, so photo to come tomorrow....

new blog!

2008-03-06T11:08:00.000-08:00

i'm going to try one of these photo-of-the-day blogs, like my friend Erika. i'm going to start with the photos tomorrow though, because it's always better to start things tomorrow.

chrissy