the bean sprout

a local farm and vineyard

... is a lovely place to spend a Saturday afternoon.

:: picking muscadines and scuppernongs

 

 

:: enjoying the bounty

 

 

:: anticipating eggs in October

 

:: cooling off with homemade ice cream in this shady spot

 

Also in season at this farm are butternut squash, persimmon, and all kinds of pears.  We stopped by another sweet farm for some handcrafted blue cheese and when paired with the pears (and figs) is absolutely to die for.

*****

Visit Food Roots at Nourishing Days for more posts on
"Where Does Your Food Come From?"

the beach

... is the main backdrop of the lil' sprouts year-round play time.

From winter (and spring) ...

 

 

... to summer (and fall).

   

 

the girls room

 ... is the only room in the house that has not yet become a disaster.  Nobody ever told me how challenging it would be to keep up with the house with three active children.  Clutter and an overflow of stuff have taken over most of our living spaces.  Regardless, I thought I would take you on a tour of the one room in the house that gives me a tad bit of some mental peace.

Being the largest room in the house, this space has gone through many changes in the eight years we have lived here.  It was too big to be our master bedroom and too big to be a home office, but it is the perfect size to be both a little girls' room and a nursery for round-the-clock care of an infant.

This room houses a twin size bed, a full size bed, a crib, a dresser/changing table combination for Baby Girl, a dresser drawer for Miss Girl, and a dresser drawer for Little Man.  Oddly enough, Little Man's tiny room does not have the space for his dresser drawer.

Since I have never found a crib bumper to be useful, I re-purposed the fabric and made two buntings, one hanging over the changing table and the other hanging over the crib.  (Why the flags are called buntings, I do not know.  I'll just call it that anyway.)  I also made a little bag to hold plastic bags for the waste basket.

I 

This crib, by the way, only gets used as a place to put an awake Baby Girl while I do quick chores upstairs.  What?  Sleep? ... In there?  Whatever for?  No baby of mine has ever actually slept in a crib.  That would be unheard of.  Hence, the full size bed to be next to me.

 

The only space left for Miss Girl's dresser drawer was in front of the non-usable coal burning fireplace.  On top of the dresser is Baby Girl's little potty which she has used since birth since we do EC.  Yes, yes ... we're one of those strange attachment parenting types.  ;o)

Not pictured, but I have to mention, is a gliding chair and ottoman that my dear husband bought for Mother's Day before Little Man was born.  It is near the sliding door to the balcony and gets some pretty light and warmth from the sunshine when the blinds are open.  The spot is perfect for sitting and propping one's feet up ... I think I just might head on over there right now.

What is your favorite room in your house?

(home)school starts

... TODAY!  Beginning a new school year on the Monday following the Feast of the Assumption will be our set tradition.  The date is easy enough to remember and it allows us to finish the school year by the end of May, leaving the long summer months to enjoy.

 

Blessings to those of you starting school as well! 

eating local and organic

... is one of the many steps we have recently taken towards making conscious decisions regarding the food we put into our bodies.  The changes we have made all started with the Feingold diet for Little Man eliminating artificial colors and flavors and petroleum-derived preservatives.  With our Feingold membership, we received monthly eye-opening newsletters that revealed a lot of intriguing information about the food industry and certain food products.

 

Once we started eliminating the "no-no's" for Little Man, I realized that I do not want myself or my family eating unnecessary and potentially harmful substances.  So we started grocery shopping a little bit more at our local co-op and farmers market for organic foods and making wholesome foods from scratch as opposed to buying prepackaged items with all the artificial substances or fillers.

 

At about this same time of perusing my new cookbook Feeding the Whole Family, my dear husband's mother handed me Animal, Vegetable, Miracle which I read all the way through over a few days while nursing Baby Girl.  This book made TOTAL sense to me and connected all the pieces and parts of information I was getting from many different sources over the years.

Although I have been long aware of certain issues in the food industry, I was never moved to make major changes in what I eat or how I cook until now.  I guess having a family has made the difference where more than just my own health is at stake, but I have a dear husband and the lil' sprouts to consider as well.

****

Edited to add a link to Food Roots at Nourishing Days.

the view from here

... is of our sweet little girl

  

... born on June 7, 2009, at 4:12 a.m. weighing 7 pounds 13 ounces and measuring 21 inches long

... and baptized on July 4, 2009, as the 28th baby since 1940 in this exquisite handmade dress.

not too shabby

... for my first time making sushi.

Yesterday was our eighth wedding anniversary.  My dear husband took the day off from work and in between this lunch and dinner time, our little family of five went for a walk on the beach.  Sushi and sand ... I could indulge like this every day.

the sidebar

... has been updated to include our newest lil' sprout.  Baby Girl (I know, really original) was born on June 7, 2009.  Life was hectic for a few weeks as we got off to a rough start, but we are now settled into somewhat smoother days.  I imagine that things will certainly get quite interesting when we add homeschooling into the mix in about a week.

Now, about this blog ... I have gone back and forth in deciding whether to switch back to my old blog on blogspot since it is FREE.  I do not really feel like I have gotten my money's worth with Type Pad since I post so infrequently.  When I made the switch last year, I intended to document more of our home learning with all the nice features of Type Pad in hopes of putting together a good Kindergarten portfolio.  When the end of the school year came around, I did not have much in terms of blog posts for Little Man's portfolio and what I came up with in the end was adequate, but not stellar.  The portfolio did not turn out to be the keepsake I had hoped it would be.

So ... I may try just one more time this year, to do a better job at documenting our learning and posting more frequently.  Wish me luck!

i love that

... I am home with the lil' sprouts and get to witness first hand their stages of development and milestones in learning.

... a lot of the lil' sprouts' learning has been self-directed and self-motivated and that I am here to provide the support they need.

... after a year later, Little Man is STILL writing and illustrating books with wild abandon.  He has gone from dictating stories to us to write them down to writing stories on his own, with some help for spelling out words.

... Miss Girl has recently followed in her big brother's footsteps, dictating stories to us to write them down and illustrating the stories with the cutest drawings.

... Little Man reads several stories in a row to Miss Girl cuddled up on the couch or rocking chair.  This has been a huge help in these days of my pregnancy.

... after being read a story, Miss Girl (in her loud voice) reads the story using picture cues and adding ideas of her own just to make things interesting.

... the lil' sprouts learn from each other. 

... I am constantly learning so much from them.

i just love that.

what works for us

... in our little homeschool and our home life, in general, are the following:  

• a daily rhythm, rather than a rigid schedule to follow;
  
• no more than two hours in the morning of formal or structured lesson time;
  
• plenty of free play time, preferably outdoors;
  
• opportunities for artistic and creative pursuits - drawing, music, painting, handwork;
  
• following the Liturgical and natural seasonal rhythms of the year;
  
• including Miss Girl and making her feel a part of lesson time;

I can now see and understand the wisdom of Montessori and Waldorf schools in grouping three to six-year-olds in Kindergarten together.

• setting the bar high when choosing quality children's literature;

I do believe that our days of phonics readers and phonics instruction were (thankfully!) short lived due to frequent reading/cuddling time on the couch and exposure to good books beginning at an early age.

• healthy food and nutritious meals;

Last summer, I became a Feingold member in an effort to eliminate specific preservatives, artificial colors and flavors, and highly processed foods from Little Man's (and our) diet hoping to help him with a few health issues.  Cooking from scratch with healthy and fresh ingredients is always a good thing for anyone to do, but the biggest challenge has been trying to stay away from offending foods outside of our home, especially at events where highly processed candy, cookies, and cakes are abundantly available.

• and last, but not least, adequate rest and sleep for all;

If any of us are sleep deprived, we become cranky and have unhappy days.  Late afternoon naps or quiet time are especially helpful in transitioning toward peaceful evenings.

What works for you?