Nature Study

If you're wondering why there are fewer photos of Jack than Xavier these days, you have to understand that my baby is an omnivore. He is particuarly partial to paper these days. By the time I realize he's pulled down a magazine he's eaten all but a quarter-sized portion of a subscription card. So often when I'm getting the camera, he's getting into mischief and doesn't end up photographed. Here's a little photo essay of nature study at MaMere and MoMo's house that illustrates the situation beautifully.

Hats N' Things*

The boys and I heading out for our morning walk. MaMere would be proud that Xavier insists on all of us wearing hats. Of course, we are hardly out of the driveway before Jack pitches his out the stroller or takes it off to munch on. Xavier keeps his on until we get to the little park and says, "Ma, hold dis."
Xavier, where is your belly button?

Xavier, where are your eyes?
Xavier, where is your tongue?
Xavier, what are you doing now?

I sitting in the sunbeam...I see pic?!

*Just thought you might be getting tired of the Photo Dump title.

Way Too Early, Way Too Often

Thanks to my sons, I've been up at rediculous hours most days this past week. This morning Jack woke up at 4 a.m. Usually he'd just go back to sleep. Xavier, however, must have gotten up in the middle of the night to play with toys and fallen asleep on the floor, halfway under his bed I might add. So Jack wakes up, doesn't see big brother in bed and thinks its time to get up for the day. So when I go in the room I have the choice to either try to put Xavier back in bed and calm Jack or whisk Jack out the room before he wakes up Xavier. I chose the latter and together we watched Willie Geist's "Way Too Early" on MSNBC. While I love Willie, I wish I got to see a little less of him.

UPDATE: Xavier awoke at 5:55 a.m. upon hearing Dad run the blender. When I opened the door to the boys room he shoved past me like a Black Friday bargain hunter, ran to the kitchen and demanded a "Shake! Shake!" Methinks it is going to be a long day.

Father Pine

Thanks to the very creative Catholic mamas over on the 4Real Forums we got the inspiration this summer to make Father Pine to help us follow the liturgical seasons here in our domestic church. Lexy painted him and I made his green ordinary time vestments. Unfortunately, Father Pine has been hanging out on our mantel in green for several months now despite several church holidays that called for other colors.

Last night I decided to get back in the swing of things and whipped up a red chasuble and stole for Father Pine to help commemorate today's feast of the martyrs, Pope Cornelius and Bishop Cyprian. A little lace hem tape made a nice trim don't you think?

The reality is that until the boys are older, I am the primary target of all the religious education. Until I started reading up on domestic church family activities I had no idea how much I didn't know about the traditions of the Catholic church. Following the feast days helps dip a toe into Church history while using the liturgical colors helps us prepare for the big calendar events: Lent, Advent, Christmas and Easter.

This looks familiar...

Vaguely familiar.

Boys in Cars

We were so lucky to have Xavier's BFF, Ethan, with us for a few mornings last month. I love love love watching them interact during imaginative play. Here's a little sample. Sorry for the abrupt ending, I had to prevent fraternal domestic violence.

My Brother's Keeper

I've had a few folks ask me lately about where I stand on the current healthcare debate and the prospect of blogging about it has really forced me to nail down my thoughts on the issue.

First I think I need to state that I have access to the best available healthcare today. We have comprehensive insurance through my husband's workplace and are avid users of our Flexible Spending Account. Growing up in a medical family I rarely went to the doctor--a habit I've carried into my adulthood. I was well into my 20s when I realized that most people went to the clinic when they had the flu that was creeping into pneumonia--I just had a relative or doctor friend call in a prescription. While I don't ask for medicines anymore, I still often go to family members for informal second opinions or medical advice. These informal medical consults were invaluable when I was paying for my own health insurance when I was a sole PR practicioner. All of this is to say that any form of healthcare reform probably won't affect my access to healthcare on a day to day basis. Although we are a healthy family, I estimate that about $15,000 a year goes towards our healthcare expenses--that includes the portion our employer pays for our insurance but excludes all but separate insurance costs for my stepdaughter. I can only imagine how much families who aren't in perfect health would spend.

I've also worked in my mother's clinic, as a PR consultant for medical companies and medical associations, and in a medical school and hospital. The maze of insurance reimbursements, Medicare rates, and referral systems is dizzying. My OBGYN's malpractice insurance is likely the equivalent of four years of our income. When Jack was in Texas Children's Hospital, day after day we saw the crowds of uninsured families crowding the first floor waiting room for the ER--for curable things like strep throat and migraines that had exaccerbated to emergency conditions. I have no doubt that the current system is disfunctional and costs are in rising loop that defies common sense. Access to decent basic healthcare is shrinking and there are powerful interests that can mimic and thwart true American interests.

When I form opinions I rely on my two guideposts: my moral grounding as a Christian and my civic values as an American. Now I'm not going to proclaim what Jesus would do with healthcare because I don't know. I'm sure I could find bible quotes that support any political position. But my faith tells me that there is inherent value in human life--even when a particular human may be less than perfect. I am particularly called to care for those who are set apart from typical society: the poor, the widowed, the sick. These are the people that Jesus cared about. I cannot say, well my family is fine so I can ignore these other folks.

There was a time that most hospitals were intertwined with faith communities--they still retain the vestigial titles of Hotel Dieu, Christus, Baptist, St. Mary's, etc. although they have long since been purchased by larger hospital companies. Even most community hospitals (founded by the local taxpayers acting collectively) have sold themselves to larger companies. We have all but divorced the collective or missionary purpose of healthcare from the practicalities of it.

On the flip side are my American values. I favor capitalism. While there is certainly a principle of free enterprise, I would argue that there is also a strong foundation of community collaborative effort in this country. While the Declaration of Independence promotes the "pursuit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" they followed it up with the Constituion with,

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence,
promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves
and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United
States of America."

The problem with a blind devotion to free enterprise and letting the markets working out the details is that markets treat people as consumers--things. Healthcare is about profit now, not mission. As an American I am called to see people as my brothers and sisters, as fellow citizens. As a Christian I am called to see people as children of God. So I want to regard people as inherently sacred and not objects. But if we make capitalism a straw man, we fall prey to the communist trap which holds up the collective good in the form of the government as superior to the inherent value of the individual.

That's the push pull that I approach healthcare with. I don't want to destroy business altogether (even the immorally run ones) or ignore the struggling sick people (even the despicable ones who will take advantage of any system). Here's what I want:

• affordable access to health insurance
• reduced liability to doctors with tort reform
• uniform and streamlined billing and reimbursement processes
• incentives for improved personal health practices

With my taxes I currently pay for healthcare for those 65 and older, poor children, the disabled, the military, the native americans and veterans. I'm not asking for equivalent comprehensive, government-run healthcare for the rest of Americans...just access to decent basic care without risking financial ruin.

This week I took about 15 minutes to call my senators and representative to see where they stood on healthcare. Ted Poe and Kay Bailey Hutchison's offices simply stated that they were "against a public option" but didn't have further ideas. Senator Cornyn at least had a few positive bullet points and a website to give me. I let all of them know that I supported healthcare reform and that I am their consitutent. I encouraged my friends on facebook to do the same.

Now I know that at least 50% of my facebook friends hold different political views from me and may even oppose healthcare reform in its entirety. But I still hope they make a few phone calls even if they counteract the effect of mine. That's where my collective American values trump my personal interests.

I'm willing to be flexible with the ultimate policy changes but what I'm unwilling to do is accept NOTHING. I'm unwilling to accept a pseudo-policy engineered by monied, profit-driven interests or extremists. I've worked for grassroots projects and engineered "astroturf" projects as well. Astroturf works only if individuals let it. Astroturf folks pass out black and white hats, they namecall, they separate people. In short they turn us away from seeing people as children of God and see them as objects/obstacles. I find that immoral, unChristian, and unAmerican.

I believe in our country. I believe in democracy. I believe in the decency of the American public. I believe in the pursuit of greatness as a nation. I pray for God's guidance in our continued growth.

Photo Dump

Jack is officially pulling up on furniture now--a mere one week after he learned how to sit up on his own. They say second children learn to move fast and boy is that true with this little guy. Unfortuantely going up, up, up means a lot of going down, down, down. He's a tough little guy though and hardly cries when he topples over.

All this standing and cruising means that we have to say goodbye to footie sleepers and hello to big boy pajamas. Its a bittersweet moment for this mama.


Xavier on a hike with Dad. That's his tiger backpack behind him.

The family and friends at cousin Matthew's 4th birthday party.

Tot School -- #3

This past week in Tot School we've been focusing on shapes. Here are the boys having a little fun with circle-shaped stickers from Kroger. Those baggers never listen to me when I ask them to only give Xavier and Jack one sticker each and instead usually give them about 10. Fortunately, Xavier only puts stickers on people right now. Jack doesn't seem to mind.


Xavier continues to love doing "crafts" which means using scissors, glue and paper in any permutation. I cut out simple shapes from construction paper--sets of three. I asked Xavier to pick out certain shapes and then we sorted them. We worked on the concepts of small, medium and large as well as shapes. Then we glued them to the paper. Xavier still hates to get his hands sticky and instead points and tells me, "Right there!" to indicate where a piece should go.



In the realm of practical life, Xavier is learning how to set a table. He's been "cooking" his Wonder Pets for quite some time now. This morning while I was doing housework, he put them in bowls, set out napkins, forks and knives, and told me to, "Come see, Mom." We had a nice imaginary Wonder Pet snack.



I scored some .25 cent watercolors during the Target back to school sale. Here's Xavier with his first attempt at using them.

Yogurt: Set It and Forget It

I've been on a scratch cooking kick lately. The thing about cooking from scratch is that once you start doing it, it becomes progressively easier. No, really. You know that you have the basics in the house: flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, yeast, milk or milk powder, eggs, oils and butters, and spices. It means that whipping up a batch of muffins, pancakes, bagels, or cookies is just a matter or measuring out what you already have on hand. It is almost as easy as dumping a box mix in a bowl and adding egg and oil. But with scratch cooking you know exactly what you are feeding your family.

Xavier has loved to help cook since he was about 18 months old. I'll measure and he'll put things in the bowl. He "stirs" and then I stir after him. He can put paper cups in the muffin tin. He likes to watch things bake through the oven's glass door. One of the easiest ways to scratch cook is to find catch-all recipies. I have a basic bread recipie that can use honey, brown sugar, or any other kind of sweetener, as well as butter, olive oil, veggie oil or any other fat as the, well, fat in the recipie. I also have a basic muffin recipie to which I can add overripe bananas, raisins, even leftover mashed sweet potatoes. Scratch cooking is a great way to use up leftovers and boost nutrition at the same time.

A few weeks ago I found an online recipe for yogurt that didn't involve getting a yogurt maker (which just means one more one-use gadget cluttering my small kitchen) or using a heating pad (I'm a little squeamish about using non-cookware for dairy products). Instead this recipie used one of my favorite tools: the crockpot! Here's the recipie itself. I find that letting the yogurt sit a little longer than 8 hours (say 10-11) produces the best results. I put the finished product back into large and small yogurt containers I've saved from store-bought in the past. Just make sure to use a sharpie and masking tape to label the "use by" date on each container.

Now here's how you can extend the recipie even further. If you have fruit that is just this side of overripe, puree it in the blender and freeze into ice cubes. When you're heading out the door, pop a cube into a small single-serving container, fill up with yogurt, pop it in the diaper bag, and you're good to go with a snack.

Another way to extend the useful life of your yogurt, mix it at a 1:1 ratio with water and you have "buttermilk." Make pancakes, pound cake, salad dressing, veggie dip or any other recipie you have that calls for buttermilk. In the past I've always avoided them because really, who buys buttermilk? What do you do with the leftovers?

Lastly, don't forget to freeze a few cubes of yogurt (equal to 1/2 cup) for using to make your next batch of yogurt.

Work

I've been on a rabit trail lately about the American tradition of work. It all started when a mom at the library recommended checking out DVDs (free!) for some at home date nights with my husband. She and her spouse had just finished the Showtime series on Henry VIII called The Tudors. Starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry, this was high on the racy sex factor and not so much with the history. Tim and I made it through about 2-3 episodes before deciding this just wasn't worth our precious quiet time together.

But the idea of watching premium cable series through the library's DVD program triggered my memory of rave reviews of HBO's John Adams series. So I requested that and received it the next week. We both really liked this one. More history, more character development, etc. It makes me want to read the biography that the series is drawn from.

Two things stood out to me: one was how Abigail Adams seemed like a great role model for the modern homemaker. She was educated, thoughtful, supportive, hard-working, and loving. She also worked. She may have planned meals but she also scrubbed windows and floors too.

From there I ended up checking out a book from the children's library entitled Home and Child Life in Colonial Days. It was clearly too advanced for Xavier -- in fact it was just an abridged version of an adult book. But I found it fascinating. Again what impressed me was how much work occupied time back then. Even social events were centered around work: spinning, building, land clearing, and quilting just to name a few. It was considered patriotic to be self-sufficient when possible and neighborly helpful when needed. Pride came from providing for your family and your accomplishements, not from material possessions or leisurly pursuits. The latter illicited enjoyment rather than pride.

All of this makes me realize how little we actually do during each day compared to our forbearers. Sure I do a few loads of laundry a day but that mostly consists of putting things into a machine and pressing buttons. Same with washing dishes. Same with vacuuming. How much of my day do I actually spend engaged in actual work versus leisure (web surfing, talking on the telephone, reading books, sending e-mail).

The past few days I've been trying to find the joy and peace in work, actual work. Not just spot cleaning on the fly but planning and executing. The funny thing is that while I still get about the same amount done each day, I've found that my entire attitude with respect to work has changed as I try to be diligent but not perfectionist. How? I give whatever I'm doing my full attention and when I'm done, I'm done.

I've also tried to be more mindful about what I find satisfaction in. Is it the neatly made bed and tidy room or is it the fashionably painted bedroom and coordinating bedding?

Views from the Hidden Homestead

Clockwise from upper left:

1. The compost bin that Tim and I built. It holds over 54 cubic feet of compost.
2. My garden clogs and well worn gloves ready for 5 minutes of work here and there.
3. Baby clothes hanging in the sunshine.
4. Clothespin basket.
5. Reissentraube heirloom tomatoes.
6. Bird bath left by previous owner. A favorite stalking spot for the local cats.
7. Hand tools for spot gardening.
8. Birdhouse painted by Lexy.
9. The potted herb garden which provided basil for tonight's pesto.

We love our backyard! It is beautiful and functional. I hope to extend the vegetable garden into another bed. Of course our front yard is a fright. Just your standard shrubs and desperately in need of weeding.

Tot School -- Sensorial

We're back on the Tot School wagon. Actually, we never really stopped, I just stopped posting about it. I've been taking a combined approach to Xavier's early education--Montessori meets Charlotte Mason for the most part. In layman's terms, self-directed progressive learning mixed in with lots of books and outdoor time.

I've been trying to make most of our Montessori materials. In addition to being much less expensive, most of the materials are easy and fun to make with a little bit of ingenuity. I find the suggestions in Elizabeth Hainstock's Teaching Montessori in the Home very helpful in coming up with alternatives. I love looking at the "real" materials at Kid Advance and other similar websites and figuring out how to make similar items from what we have available. Fortunately, my materials don't need to be quite as durable as those for a classroom of 10-20 kids.

I do find though that beauty in the materials themselves is very important. Xavier (and perhaps all kids his age) has a keen eye for asthetics and beautiful materials draw his attention unlike anything I've ever seen. Here's Xavier with a set of color tablets that I painted using some wooden blanks. They are meant to be homemade versions of these. I'm fairly happy with they way they turned out.

I have introduced these to Xavier before but each time he got easily distracted or frustrated. Each time I put them away for a few weeks before trying again. I suspect if I had Montessori training, I'd have a more sophisticated assessment of his response but I figure if it isn't fun or educational, we just shouldn't do it for now. To my surprise this week he was fascinated by them. He quickly caught on to the names of the colors, the concept of matching and even making patterns with them. After about 15 minutes, he progressed to turning them into imaginary doors by saying, "Open, shut. I shut doors. I open doors!" While this sort of imaginative play might be frowned upon by Montessori purists, I couldn't help but smile. My boy has an exquisite imagination.



We later moved on to cutting paper. Xavier is getting more and more adept at puting his fingers and thumbs into the scissors and cutting little strips of paper.

This week I'll try to paint more tablets to be ready for when Xavier is ready to graduate to this activity.

Photo Dump!

When I haven't posted in a long time I rely on a nice set of cute kid photos to put me back in my readers' good graces.

Xavier holding his new clothes! Thanks grandma!

Jack with his new rompers.

I don't love that big huge blue recliner that came as a package deal with my husband four years ago but it does hold the folks I love quite nicely.

You've heard of duelling pianos? We've got duelling laptops!

Jack in a self-made baby in a blanket burrito.

My Future Golf Partner

Happy Birthday, Dad! Thanks for teaching me how to play (and buying pretty much every piece of equipment I own!). I'm passing along the family obsession. We're on our way to having a foursome!

Just a few photos

Xavier in his new ABC "jama top."

Jack just on the verge of crawling.

The Stepdaughter Formerly Known As...

My stepdaughter formerly known as Hunter has decided that she prefers to go by "Lexy" which is her middle name. Since the schools around here have two more weeks to go, and camp doesn't start until then, she decided to pass the time with a lemonade stand. We're also hoping it helps us get acquainted with some of the older neighborhood kids. Fortunately our house is the bus stop for our block.

Lexy and I had a good time putting pen to paper to figure out how much it cost to make a pitcher of lemonade (do YOU know how much a cup of sugar costs?) and then she surveyed a few adults (me and Dad) to see what price the market would bear.

So at 25 cents a cup, you can have some nice cool lemonade. Today was her grand opening and she's already made about $4.00. Xavier drank up some of the profits via his sippy cup but that's apparently the price of good help these days.

How I Spent My Spring Vacation

What a fantastic treat it was to be able to take off a week and half to go to North Carolina with my family. Xavier is quite the little car traveller. Jack needs a little more time to adjust. Poor thing just needs a break every hour or so. As a result we spent two more days in transit than originally planned. We even briefly considered turning around and going back to Texas but thankfully decided to sleep on that decision. We turned the corner that night.

I jokingly called this the Meet the (Grand)Parents tour as it was the first opportunity for Jack to meet my Dad and stepmom (Papa & MiMi) and my in-law's (Grandma & Grandpa). Of course the boys were just spoiled silly with gifts, hugs and kisses. Xavier warmed up to his Papa who fed him full of eggs, biscuits and toast for breakfast. Grandma's gift of a cement truck is still being slept with by Xavier.

My folks generously let us use their cottage in Highlands as our "home base." for the trip. The views of the mountain range in the morning and sunsets in the evening were breathtaking. We had a great hike on Whiteside Mountain. The next day we took it a little easier and did the walking trail at the Highland's nature center. I enjoyed all the labelling they have on the plants and trees. It makes me want to prepare a little more for our next trip so Xavier can learn some new words. The last day in the mountains we actually drove just across the border to SC where we found an incredible trail. It is about 72 miles long and runs from Georgia to South Carolina. Tim and I think it would make a great backpacking route once the boys are a bit older.

The biggest revelation of the this trip is that if we are going to drive to North Carolina, we need to spend much, much more time there. Next year we hope to spend a few weeks there.

Look Who's Two!

Hard to believe that I've been at this mothering thing for two years now today. Seems like yesterday that they lifted this beautiful little boy over the drape in the OR. His hands were splayed, his eyes were wide open, and his little mouth was shaped in a perfect "O." It was as if he was saying, "Now this is something COMPLETELY different!" From that first face-to-face moment, my life changed forever. I am so very blessed to have such a dear little one.

We celebrated with a small family birthday party after Dad got home from work and Xavier woke up from his nap. We had the birthday cake that Xavier and I made that morning (the kid loves to bake so I figured there was no hard and fast rule that birthday cakes HAD to be surprises). Then we opened presents.

Light up Spiderman shoes:

A kiddie laptop:

A garbage truck.

He also got a homemade felt pizza kit which I made for him by hand and a set of clay sculpting tools. But his absolute favorite part of today (if you haven't already guessed from the photos) were the two balloons I ran out and got him at the last minute. He held onto those balloons pretty much for the rest of the day. We did leave them at home when we took Xavier to the big park to play for an hour or so on the playground, and I finagled them out of his hands for bathtime but other than that, he wouldn't let them go. Simple pleasures.

Here's a video of him playing with the truck:

Baby Laughs

More baby laughing video. Jack's laugh is infectious!