Camping

Last week was fall break and we went camping in Cherokee, North Carolina.

We went to the Cherokee Village where they demonstrated how native americans made tools, baskets, pottery, etc.  We even danced with the Cherokee (that's Lil behind the leader).

We saw Mingo Falls.

We weren't exactly roughing it. The KOA where we stayed had an indoor and an outdoor pool, hot tubs, stocked trout ponds, a bouncy house, playground, food stand, and a store. Alan perfected the art of balancing on a fence :-)

It was pretty great until Friday night when hundreds of families arrived. People are annoying. Annoying and stinky. Suddenly the bathrooms, which had been relatively clean all week, were filthy and smelled like cigarette smoke. There were millions and billions and trillions of kids. We hightailed it out of there Saturday morning.

Peace out!

2012 Summer Bucket List

That's right, folks. 4 days and counting until summer vacation. Lil stayed home from school sick today, though I'm not sure how sick she truly was. Perhaps she needed a 'practice' summer vacation day. She and Jonny got along famously, made sea shell necklaces, made a car out of a box, and made our summer bucket list. I feel much less anxious than I have in recent years because Jonathan is no longer napping and we don't have to schedule every single outting around that. I also won't have to entertain Lilly for 3 hours while he sleeps. No, I'm not complaining about a child who took 3 hour naps. I would never do that. Anyhow, here's to summer. I'd like to think we'll get to sleep in, but that's not going to happen. At least I won't have to pack any more lunch boxes. Here's our bucket list:

Walk the dog together in the morning
No tv until afternoon
Buy a treat from the creepy ice cream truck
Go to an IMAX movie (I have free tickets from our museum membership - score!)
Swimming
Braves games
Camping - backyard and at Hard Labor Creek State Park after blueberry picking
Blueberry Picking at Hard Labor Creek
Strawberry Picking at Cottle Strawberry Farm (let me know if you know of a better place)
Lake Chatuge
Play in the rain
Treasure Hunt
Create a drive-in movie theatre with cardboard box cars
Visit Rancho Allegre Farm in Dacula
Tubing
Explore photography with Lilly
Buy a flip camera and let the kids make movies
Movie nights
Catch fireflies
Stargaze - track moon phases and check out summer constellations
Frisbee
Read alouds - The Princess Bride, Harry Potter (yep, we're the last people on Earth)
Make time capsules
Go to Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana
Visit Squire Boone Caverns (and most importantly, the Rock Shop)
Write a letter
Paint pet rocks
Take Lilly to a concert
Make homemade henna
Visit Daddy at work
Go to Cochran Mill Nature Center
Calloway Gardens butterfly house
Atlanta Center for Puppetry Arts
Aquarium
Roller Skate

Stocking stuffer idea

What can I say? The boy loves tape. He went through a 3-pack of scotch tape in one weekend. 

I let him because he was quiet and wasn't breaking anything.

 Then I ordered him his very own set of 11 colored masking tape rolls. I could only find 8 of his rolls for this picture. He has one roll in each pocket and another in his hand at all times.

He has a particular fondness for taping the floor, doorknobs and chairs.

His sister made a kite and he made a ring and a handle for his water bottle.

Here's a frugal holiday gift idea:

A large empty box (which every parent knows is usually played with more than the toy inside),

with a few rolls of colorful tape,

and maybe a large lollipop for good measure.

What more could a kid want?

Here we go round the mulberry bush

(from May 2010)


Until a week ago, that nursery rhyme was the only thing I knew about mulberries. Then our friend, Jonathan, posted ‘mulberries’ as his facebook status. Just ‘mulberries’. He later commented that he was trying to work but all he could think about was foraging for mulberries. He and his wife, Lesley, live in Nashville so I assumed their neighborhood was flooded and that they couldn’t get to a grocery store. Nope, they’re just that cool.

Then Alan informed me that there’s a huge mulberry tree in the field behind our house.

So he carried a bucket down the hill and brought these lovely little berries home.

“What are you going to DO with them?,” I asked. “Are you SURE they’re mulberries? 100% sure? How do you know?” He looked at me like I was the crazy one.

I’ve mentioned that my mountain man has some mad baking skills, but I was terrified to try this suspicious little piece of pie. The crunchy-granola girl in me admires the simple living, back to the land movement and thinks growing and canning your own food sounds swell. I mean, how much more local can you get than these mulberries? But the city girl in me got online, started googling pictures of mulberry trees, and researching the possible side effects from consuming its fruit. I whispered to Lilly, “Let’s wait until tomorrow and make sure Daddy hasn’t poisoned himself before we eat a slice.”

Why was I so afraid of the mulberries? The same reason other people are afraid to eat collard greens, kale, swiss chard, or fennel. We’re terrified of the unfamiliar, but it’s the familiar that’s REALLY scary: double D-sized chicken breasts, antibiotic-laden beef washed in ammonia and chlorine to remove E. coli, fake food filled with ingredients you can’t pronounce let alone recognize. So why was I afraid of eating berries growing on a tree behind my house? Because they weren’t labeled and I didn’t have to pay for them – as if that ensures safety. It’s laughable, I know! The point is, as a society, we’re so completely disconnected from our food. We have dandelion greens and mulberries growing all over the city and hungry people who have no clue that they’re edible. I did eventually try a piece of pie and my exact words were, “This is SO good, I don’t care if it makes me sick.” Lilly woke up the next morning and said, “Daddy didn’t poison himself, so can I eat a slice of pie now?”

Beans and rice, rice and beans

I made a huge pot of Cuban Black Beans on Wednesday and I CANNOT GET ENOUGH! I soaked 1 pound of dried black beans ($1.49) in water for about 8 hours, drained the beans and then simmered them in fresh water with half an onion and half a green pepper for 2-3 hours. I chopped the remaining onion and pepper, which I then sauteed in bacon grease for 15 minutes or so. I also made a garlic paste by smashing 7 garlic cloves together with a pinch of sea salt. When the beans were tender, I added the sauteed green peppers, onions, bacon grease, and garlic paste to the pot, along with the juice of 1 lime. I also added a pinch of salt, oregano, cumin, and a tablespoon or two of red wine vinegar. I served the beans with rice, avocado, salsa, sour cream, shredded cheese, and pickled jalapenos. The second night, we made whole wheat burritos out of the leftovers. Today, I had more rice and beans for lunch and I look forward to devouring the rest tomorrow. Seriously good, seriously cheap, and the kids liked it!

WOW! Just WOW!

Mmmmmm, swoop swap

Yesterday I participated in my first soup swap, or "swoop swap," as my daughter kept referring to it. Six moms from Lillian's school each made a huge batch of homemade, vegetarian soup, enough to fill five 32 oz. containers. I made a Red Rosemary soup with beets and lentils, which has become a staple in our household. Check out the delicious bounty I came home with after swapping soup: vegetarian chili, two-bean soup, fava beans and rice soup, roasted tomatoes (which can be used as a pasta sauce or a soup), and green velvet soup. Yummo! I doubt any of us spent over $15 on our soup and we each got five or six main dishes out of it. Anybody up for a casserole swap?

Why would I want the toy when I can have the box?

Today Lillian announced that she wanted to make a boat. After choosing from the plethora of boxes in our attic, she and her Daddy got down to work. The boat soon morphed into a plane, but in the end they determined that Chitty Chitty Bang Bang would be the ONLY vehicle that could fulfill all their needs.

Boxes are the best!  When I was Lil's age, I made a house out of a refrigerator box, complete with windows and a porch, and spent weeks playing in it. Why Would I Want The Toy, When I Can Have The Box? is one of my favorite parenting books. It outlines 101 ways to spend time with your children without spending any money. The author, Rex Bowlby, describes buying an expensive, flashing, beeping toy for his son's third birthday, only to watch him spend the entire day making a robot out of the box the toy came in. I don't think the book was written with the Voluntary Simplicity movement in mind, but it's the best book I've found about living simply with children. 

I'm so pleased to have a lead on a large wardrobe box. We may be building a bungalow box in the near future, complete with craftsman windows and a cozy front porch. 

Our banging wall

The Creative Family, by Amanda Blake Soule, is a beautiful book full of simple, imaginative, thoughtful ways to connect with your children. I first discovered the author when I happened upon her blog last year and it soon became one of my favorite places to visit. Thanks to Mrs. Soule, we now delight in building fairy houses, have a semi-regular family drawing time, and have gone questing through our neighborhood. Our latest endeavor is creating a banging wall, or a wall of sound. Grab a stick or a wooden spoon and either create some music or take your frustrations out on some pans. Mrs. Soule's banging wall is truly a treasure to behold and ours is, well, a little bit white trash, but Lillian really likes it. It's also a great way to reuse pots and pans that are past their prime. Just a warning, if you have crabby neighbors, you may want to build your banging wall in a discreet place so they're left wondering where in the world all the racket is coming from.