Tea for me, tea for you

My husband and I are huge tea drinkers. I used to be a coffee drinker before kids. Something happened to my body after having children and it cannot handle caffeine the way it used to. There is something about the simple act of making tea that I love so much. It is slow process that makes your body and mind slow down as well. The process of brewing the tea, then letting it steep, and lastly sitting and enjoying a cup or two. I find that even in the middle of a busy day it is what I can make for myself and enjoy a few times a day as a way to quiet my mind. My ritual so far is to have a cup of chamomile or orange tea in the morning with honey, some type of sweet & spicy variety like Good Earth or Celestial Seasonings Belgian Spice. Then at night I have a lemon ginger type. I have always wanted to get into using bulk loose teas. There is a wonderful company in Vermont called Love & Tea that makes awesome loose teas. We tried using tea balls but we were never really happy with them. I had been eyeing some wonderful ceramic tea pots that have a built in tea infuser that sits in the pot. The concept is you boil the water for your tea in a different pot and then pour the water into this ceramic pot that contains the loose tea, let it steep and then you have a nice little pot to put on the table and serve tea from.

So when trying to decide what to get my husband for Christmas this year I came across one at a local store and thought it would be a perfect gift. I chose to get one made by Bee House that looked like this




I was very excited about my gift. I would him some orange tea from Love & Tea to go with it and wrapped it all up.

Chrismas morning came and he gave me my present. I was suprised beyond belief when I opened it and found that he had also thought of the same idea and bought me a tea pot. It was a different version. He chose one made by For Life. Same color though. I actually almost got this same one for him This is the one he got me.





We laughed so hard over this. How funny. We were not sure if we should keep them both at first but we have since decided to do so. The one I got him is a bit smaller. It holds about 2 mugs where the one he got me holds about 4 so we thought they would both be useful. So now here we sit, sick as dogs, sipping lovely tea and trying to heal.

happy health to all. drink more tea.

Close enough

pure joy

Ok I stayed away as long as I could. So much has happened and so much is about to happen that I thought I better start doing some updating now. I can't wait any longer.

First off here - Happy Holidays! It has been a rough month for us. As I mentioned earlier I developed pneumonia earlier in the month. It put me on bed rest and forced me to slow down. The good thing was that I learned to crochet while in bed that week. See my projects here.

The week I was finally feeling recovered my oldest son E swallowed a magnetic ball from the popular toy set Magnetix Magnetic Building Set. I was in the kitchen cooking dinner and he came in and said "Mom I just swallowed one of the magnets." I freaked out (shouldn't have) and actually yelled at him at first. I was scared and pissed. He has never put stuff in his mouth before. Anyways then I got scared. I called the Dr. and they told me to take him to the ER. Of course this was the day JB went snowboarding so I was without car. The Dr said we could wait for him to get home (he was about 40 minutes away) because it was clear that the magnet ball was not obstructing his breathing or anything. I started freaking out even more when I googled these things and saw there was a recall on the. Read about that HERE. To make a long story short we had an extra and it confirmed the ball made it into his stomach and was not stuck in his chest anywhere. We had to wait the weekend to see if it came out. By the following Monday it hadn't so we had to go back in for another X-ray. At this point they were giving us a week. If it was not out by Christmas Eve we would need to go back in and have them take it out. Not what we wanted to hear. Luckily it ended coming out on that week and we danced a happy dance of joy.

This is a dangerous toy. If more than one magnet is swallowed it can cause serious internal damage and possible death to a child. I threw my set away. I will not take that risk again.

Ok so 2nd ordeal of the month over. Next JB came down with a cold and bam I got it the Sunday before Christmas so we were both sick as dogs over the holiday. Thank goodness we were not traveling or entertaining anyone. It just really sucks because I feel like I have been sick now (because I have) since before Thanksgiving. This is a different virus and really just a head cold but still. It really sucks.

So that is my quick update in a nutshell. It feels good to be back. The break was much needed. I am excited to unveil a new project I am now involved in. I will be sharing the news in the next few days. Probably after the New Year all the ducks will be lined up and ready to go. Good things to come. Keep your eyes peeled.

Thanks for waiting.

Neck Warmer

My second crotchet project was a scarf for my oldest son E. I will post a picture of it tomorrow. My youngest son wanted one too so
I decided to make
him a shortened version and made a neck warmer instead.
Here it is. My third crochet project. Pattern free.
Thanks Erinn for the idea to stitch a different color around the edges.

My new obsession

Being on bed rest this past week with pneumonia drove me crazy. So I decided to finally learn how to crotchet. With a big plastic crotchet hook from my son's weaving kit, some nasty old acrylic yarn I found in my studio, my laptop and a video from Expert Village I taught myself how to crotchet. After making a few pieces that came out a triangles I called my dear friend, the master at Urban-Farmgirl and she set me straight again. Since getting her advice I have been able to keep my stitches straight. Well sort of. Here is the scarf I have been working on. I am officially addicted. Thanks Erinn for the help!

See you in January

I have decided to extend my blog break until after the holidays. I am finally starting to feel a bit better but I still have a long way to go. Because of this and because of the upcoming holidays I will be taking a much needed break from everything. Getting pneumonia has taught be that I have recently taken on too many things. Between blogging, my crafting business, taking on a 20hr/wk job at home and raising two kids full time I have over done it. I recently got to a point that I remember too well. Two years ago when I decided to quit my job to stay home I had come to a similar point. It was too much for me. I realized then, and I have been reminded now, that I am the type of person who cannot take on too much. My body reacts badly to stress. I get sick, I breakdown, and I lose myself.

It is unfortunate that I let myself get off track and ended up getting this sick. I will learn from it though and move on. Being on bed rest has already done a lot for me. In the past two weeks I have:
1. Read The Road
2. Read Middlesex3. Started teaching myself to crotchet
4. In an attempt to stay away from the computer I picked up my journal and have attempted to begin handwriting again. What a concept. I think my hands actually forget how to use a pen.
5. Just started reading You Must Remember This

As I head into a new year I look forward to taking on the following resolutions:

1. Say no more
2. Finish crocheting a scarf
3. Read Eat, Pray, Love
4. Use my yoga punch card from last Christmas
5. Finish my written work for my Childbirth education course by this summer
6. Say no more.

I wish you all happy holidays and a wonderful new year. See you 2008

Slow down, reflect, buy less, love more

xoxo

The Queen City Craft Bazaar on Saturday was a smashing success! Thanks to everyone who came out for the event. Here is a picture of my table.

Here is the lovely Sara from Made Boutique & Gallery. She is also my partner in crime. We co-organize the Queen City Craft Bazaar together. She is amazing to work with. We handpick all of the artists and the result is a wonderful mix of the best of the best indie crafters in Vermont.

Zoe from Birdie Handmade is a dear friend of mine and a genius crafter. She makes the most amazing things from recycled wool sweaters. She is a selling machine too. Those stuffed creatures were almost sold out by the end of the show.

Sara also had a table at the event selling off many wonderful handmade goods from her store. If you haven't heard yet she has decided to close her shop (boo-hoo) at the end of December. We will miss her terribly. We love you Sara!

blog break

I won't be around much this week. I just found out I have walking pneumonia. I haven't been this sick in a very long time. I pushed myself way too far. I don't know what happened to me. I was the poster child for slowing down and taking care of yourself when sick. My life changed two months ago when I took on this 20 hr a week job while staying home with my kids, plus running my jewelry business and getting ready for three holiday craft shows. I just kept going thinking I was getting better and now here I am on bed rest. I am not good at just laying back while my JB does everything. He has been amazing. Taking care of the kids, the house and trying to get his work done at night. I have had to zip my lips when dinner is late and bedtime is later. I am too sick to care and it feels awesome. I think he actually likes being able to just do things his way for once. So i got some drugs today and my orders to stay in bed. JB got me a pile of magazines and I watched a movie on the laptop while laying in bed today. It was nice today but I know I will be going stir crazy by tomorrow. At this point I just want to feel normal again. I am pissed at myself for letting this happen. I took on way too much and my body bit back to say no more.

I am taking a much needed rest and won't be blogging this week.

talk soon

xoxo

I feel like I have been gone month. I didn't really go anywhere but the computer was the last place I have been in the past several days. I felt a cold coming on a week ago. My youngest son was getting over a nasty chest cold and I felt mine starting to brew. My husband felt his coming on about the same time. I managed to run around last weekend and finish up picking up my kids Christmas gifts. By Wed I began feeling worse. Perfect timing I thought. Right before Thanksgiving. Thankfully we didn't have any plans to travel and were were not expecting any guests so when I woke up on Thursday with a full blown chest cold, feeling like crap, at least I knew I could stay home. We managed to have a nice Thanksgiving despite the fact that I felt horrible. By 4pm we were feasting on Tofurkey, stuffing, potatoes (thanks Dustbunny for the crock pot potato recipe), mixed veggies, rice bake, mushroom gravy (homemade by DH), and for desert pecan pie (also homemade by DH).

Friday I relaxed and tried to get well. DH had the day off so I was able to let up on my Mama duties. I started a new book. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. I ended up reading it in 4 days. I highly recommend it. I actually shouted out two times while reading this book. It caught me by surprise a few times. It has been a long time since I have been able to read a book in less than a week with the kiddos and all. Anyways, I was dreading the weekend because I had paid a space in a two day craft show. The biggest in our area. By Friday I was not feeling like I could pull it off. DH and I came up with a plan. I would get up Saturday morning and go set up my booth (7am) and work it as long as I could. If i could' hack it I would drive home and switch with him. I would stay with the kids and he would go work my table for me. JB selling my jewelry at an all Women's craft show. Now that would have been a sight to see. But he was willing and I was grateful. I ended up being able to pull off both days myself. It was very hard but I did it. Unfortunately the show was very slow, I didn't make that much (no one did) and by the time I got home Sunday night I realize I had over done it. I felt horrible. DH had made chili and dealt with the kids. He even unpacked my car from the show for me. I got my but in bed early and prayed for a quick recovery. The next day was Monday after all. Back to work for DH, back to school for DS#1, and back to race around, Mama duties and work part time on the side for me.

Here we are now. It is 1:05AM on Monday morning. I woke up having a huge coughing fit thinking it was almost 5am or something. Nope it was 12:30 am. Shit. If I wake up this early coughing I know I won't get back to sleep without taking some cough medicine. I don't like taking it normally but if my cough wakes me up in the middle of the night I know I have to. So here I am waiting for it to kick in before I head back to bed. Wishing I had rested a bit more. Wishing I hadn't signed up for a two day craft show on Thanksgiving weekend. Wishing I had done it all just a bit differently, but thankful too. I am thankful I was able to have a nice quiet holiday at home with my family. I am thankful to my DH who stepped up and took such good care of me and the kids while I was down. I am thankful for the new friends I met at the craft show this weekend. Sometimes it isn't always about making money.

Happy Thanksgiving

What's In A Flu Shot Video

Talking to children about death

Last night at dinner all of a sudden my 6 year old started crying. He finally was able to get out in words what was upsetting him. He said he is afraid to die because he doesn’t want to not be able to live anymore. My heart sank. Tears came to my eyes. I wondered to myself how do I talk to my child about something that is also my greatest fear? The only death we have talked to our children about so far is of pets. Our neighbors lost a cat that we used to take care of. Next was our fish. My oldest son took these loses very hard. We discussed it with him but never gave more than what he asked for information. We never even brought up the fact that people die. We figured at one point the switch would go off in his head and he would put two and two together. Well he has.

It was a very difficult discussion to have with him. I myself went though years of therapy after I had babies because I suddenly suffered from health anxiety. After I had my first child I found myself terrified that something would happen to me. I didn’t want to leave my children. I didn’t want to die. I think everyone has these thoughts and feelings but for me the hormones raging through my body after having a baby made it worse. I guess it was a form of postpartum depression. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helped me through those times. Becoming a parent thoughts changed me forever and I will always teeter on the edge of letting those thoughts consume me. Everyday I have to choose to look at life instead of death. Everyday I try to not be afraid.

So you can imagine how difficult it was for me to talk to my son last night. I held him, cried with him, and told him I am afraid too. Without promising eternal life to him I tried to comfort by saying he has a very long life to live and that it is very important to focus on living and being the best person you can be now.

It was hard on me but good in a way too. Facing the dreaded topic and being forced to look it in the eye is a great way to deal with it.

I found this great article about talking to children about death. It gives a helpful breakdown to ages of children and where they typically are with their thoughts on death. I am sure there are many many wonderful resources out there.

Slow Cookin' Italian Lentil Stew

Here is the recipe for the Italian Lentil Stew I talked about in my slow cookin' post below.


Italian Lentil Stew
serves 6

1 3/4 cups of dried lentils, washed (You can actually use any kind of bean here. Lentils are great but tonight I didn't have any so I used white beans. Garbanzo would work well here too. I also used canned beans and it worked well).
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1 inch chunks
1 25 oz jar of pasta sauce
2 cups green beans cut in half
1 small green pepper, diced
1 large russet potato, peeled and diced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 cups of water
1 tablespoon olive oil

In a slow cooker, mix all ingredients EXCEPT olive oil. Add 3 cups of water to ingredients.

Cover and cook on low heat setting for 6-8 hours, or till the vegetables and lentils are tender. Add olive oil just before serving.

Serving suggestion: a big salad and warm, crusty garlic bread.

***A few notes: You could alter this to use any veggies you have on hand. To speed up the cooking process use canned instead of dried beans. I put mine on around 11:30 and it was done by 5:00ish easily. Both of my kids loved this. It is very flavorful.

Reflection

I feel time moving faster and faster
I see my children growing / stronger
I find myself crying more.

I wonder why we live for tomorrow
I try to stay in the moment / longer
I need to start saying no.

If I could freeze each moment
and bottle it up forever
I would study the little things / harder
and try to find the magic cure.

Slow cookin' Sunday

It has taken me a long time to like Sundays. It is hard to really enjoy the day because I never can get out of my head that the next day is Monday. I have started a new ritual that I call Slow cookin' Sunday. Around mid morning before I start lunch I begin a crock pot meal. Today it was chili. Last week I made Italian bean soup. It means more time in the kitchen earlier in the day but I find the time it saves me later on is priceless. For some reason I feel like my day is longer because I don't have to interrupt my Sunday afternoon to start dinner.

p.s. Happy Birthday Mom!

Holy shit my kid ate meat!

Ever since my oldest son started kindergarten this year (which is public in our elementary schools) I have felt like I have lost control. First he started drinking milk for the first time in his life because that is all they serve there and now to top it off my vegetarian child has had meat for the first time. I have been allowing him to have hot lunch a few times a week when they have vegetarian options. One of the days they offer a hamburger, cheeseburger or veggie burger. He has been getting the veggie burger so far. I picked him up from school on Friday to find out he had eaten a cheeseburger. When he asked for it he thought he was getting a veggie burger with cheese on it. He doesn't know. He has never eaten meat before. Come to find out he has eaten this the past few weeks thinking he was eating a veggie burger. I felt crushed. I just felt it like was one more thing I have lost control over. Like all of my values no longer matter because once he walks in those doors he is in a different world.

I have always said when he was old enough to make his own choice of whether or not to eat meat I would let him. Although I will never cook meat in my house. I have asked him over the years and so far he has not wanted to. I also make sure I tell him what meat really is. I think it is important for children (of a certain age) to understand that meat is not just a package of food you buy at the grocery store. I have told him that animals are killed to get the meat.

I am not sure what is going to happen. At this point he seems to be looking at me to still make the choice for him so I have told him that we will have a deal. For now he will continue to not eat meat at school lunch but if he ever wants to try it again to tell myself or my husband (who does eat meat) and we will allow him to do so. He seemed to like this deal. I think it was too much for him to choose on his own right now.

Happy Halloween

Here is an update in pictures of what we have been up to.

Hiking

Apple picking

Enzo went to his first concert. Justin Roberts.

Pumpkin carving

Happy Halloween!

Working Girl

I have been a bad blogger. My life went from what I thought was crazy to absolute insanity. I took on a 2 month contract job that I am doing from home 20 hours a week while still having my youngest kid home with me. Within the first three days I had regrets. Many old feelings of stress and anxiety came back to me (it was a job I previously had) and I found myself unable to juggle my life. All the reasons for why I quit working in the first place hit me like a ton of bricks and I realized I got myself in over my head. I have since hired someone to help me out in the mornings with my little guy so that has helped a lot. It will enable me to get through this 2 month deal but after that I am done. Even though I only have to do 4 hours each day, because I have to spread that out between school drop off, lunch, naps, school pick up, dinner, and managing my family I end up feeling like I am working all day because it takes from morning to night to get the full 4 hours in. I am stretched beyond belief. I feel like my head cannot be where it needs to be which is on my family. So all in all I guess I learned a good lesson. I am just not ready. I am not ready to go back to the rat race. The extra money is nice right now of course but it is so not worth the strain on my family, myself and my sanity. We have managed without it and we can do it again.

Now you are six

Tomorrow is my oldest son's 6th birthday. Today at his school they had a birthday ceremony for him. Parents can bring in a special birthday snack for the class. At circle time the child circles the center of the floor holding a globe, each revolution representing a year in the child's life. Parents are invited to attend the ceremony and share stories, pictures or artifacts to illustrate each year. The ceremony is concluded with songs.

I baked banana muffins to bring in. I wrote a poem for him and brought in a few pictures. The children were so wonderful. They loved the poem and asked a ton of questions when I was finished. They are learning about rhyming words right now so I thought it would be fun to discuss with them what a poem is. They especially liked seeing the pictures of my DS when he was a baby.

I wrote it in a very simple voice so it could be easily understood by the children. I thought I would share it with you.

Now You Are Six

Once a baby oh so small
So quickly it seemed
you learned to crawl.

You learned to walk when you were one.
Watching you change was so much fun.

At age two you loved to dance and sing
You loved books, art,
and learning about most everything.

Age three and four you were out the door
digging, building, and exploring more.

Age five was the year you sprouted tall.
Biking, swimming, and soccer
You loved to do it all.

Now you are six and in school at last
Meeting new friends -
learning and growing fast.

Happy Birthday my sweet child.

Job Interview

Yesterday I went on my first job interview in 11 years. It was horrible. In the end I was told I was a strong candidate but when I got into my car I burst into tears. I am left torn and confused and quiet honestly I hope it is not offered to me. Before becoming a SAHM two years ago I had worked for the same company for 9 years. My experience at this other company was wonderful. I got a ton of experience and learned so much about myself and business. It groomed me to be independent and a self starter. It paved my way to becoming a self employed entrepreneur that I now am. Being thrown back into an environment of strict schedules and corporate life was shocking to my system. I started to doubt why I was there. My intent was to get a part time job through the holidays to bring in some extra cash. The reality would be that I work 4 nights a week from about 6-11pm plus one weekend day. I thought perhaps it could be a little less than that but it doesn't look that way. I feel like I am struggling enough as it is keeping my family organized and my small business afloat. I honestly do not think I could burn both ends of stick by working until 11pm, getting to bed at midnight, and then up at 6am for my other full time job - my family.

My DH and I talked long and hard about it last night and I don't think he wants me to do it. He knows me too well and thinks it will be too much on me and the family. Talking to my mother did not help. She was a nurse and worked 3-11pm until I was in College. When I asked her how she did it she simply said "I had to. It was sink or swim." Although the money would help us a ton it isn't as dire for us. We have gotten by this far and we can continue to do it. But yes the money would help.

I am so torn. If I go with my gut (which I am a huge believer in) it would be to say no if the job is offered to me. I feel lost and confused.