gratitude

I wake this morning and I give thanks for all that I have! I am blissful, loved, awake, alive! I fly on wings of joy and surrounded by this gorgeous family I can soar as high as the stars. My well of gratitude is deep, is wide, it knows no bounds! Not only for what I have, what I have been given, but also what I have not received yet, and that which I do not have, that I later realized I never truly needed, so much thanks! Love flows from me, from my heart to the world...and as the circle is always moving, love is flowing towards me in beautiful, powerful, mind bending waves; covering me and my loved ones in a cloak of yummy life. 

May your gratitude be as deep as your love is huge!

spring is in the air

Oh the joy, the smells, the bliss filled gentle breezes. It is official, at least in my heart and around my neck of the woods, Spring is knocking down our door! The leaves are greening, the trees are popping off with layers of awe inspiring blossoms in glorious lavenders and pinks and whites, and bird song is loud and clear. All you need do is look up into the trees to get a full blast of Spring in her waking glory.

Photography by Loki (age 7)

love in black and white

I am absolutely in love with black and white photography. I am also in love with film photography. It has been a slow journey for me into the world of digital pics; but now that I am here in full swing, I am in love. There is the whole planet loving aspect of not having film, but mostly it is the instantly gratifying experience of seeing the picture I just took shining beautifully before my eyes! As I grow with my photography skills, I will invest in a more awesome camera (wishlist for the bday maybe...hmmmm) and then the sky's the limit! As I am only just recently getting to know our digital camera personally, I failed to realize that it can do sepia and black and white. Score!!!!! I was giddy to see my gorgeous boys in black and white glory. After being sick for nearly 7 days, running around in the yard taking pictures and playing with the boys seemed the perfect way to spend the day.

 My young photographer has a really great eye...he took the next three photos!

 Our plum tree in full blossom...oh yummy anticipation!

sick day activities

It has finally happened, we who are almost never ill have been laid low. The croup and laryngitis have taken over our house. What to do what to do when everyone feels yucky? Well face painting of course!

  Cutest tiger ever!!!

We are all still on the mend so I am making this short and sweet. Have the best day you can possibly imagine and stay away from those yucky germs!

the forest for the trees

 looks like a monkey

Quite simply, I love where I live. I love that I homeschool. I love that we can take pre-dinner hikes in such lovely places together. HOw blissful our lives can be!

Many Aspects One Me

Over the years I have run into a frustration within me that is constant. It neither overwhelms nor recedes but sits quietly in my field of view watching, listening, waiting. This frustration stems from my deep need to be true to me, all of me, in every aspect, every arena, every appearance be they virtual or visual. The thing is that within me lives a proverbial community of "me's". I'm not saying that I have some sort of mental lapse going on; quite to the contrary. I have a rock solid core and around it dances my many dreams, ideas, visual representations; all of me in stark relief!

I am the ecological warrior fighting to breath new life into this our home Earth.
I am the Doula; the battle ready birth advocate. I will fight to my last breath to bring the right birth to each woman that she is meant to have without the restrictions that some "money hungry medical machine" wishes to place on this woman's body...this such a sacred time and place which was never meant to be the frontlines for political  or fiscal battles.
I am the eco concious mom who feeds her baby's from scratch and wants to make all of their shoes and clothes and toys (aim high!). The mom who Homeschools and cloth diapers and ask for no ones permission or approval on how she raises her children.
I am the once professional dancer who craves the studio; to move to drums or piano so long as I am moving. I crave ballet and modern as deeply as I crave belly dance and fire dance and yet it all seems so right. I crave the pulse moving from within me pushing me toward a wholeness that I have found no where else; the desire to move so great that sometimes the movements escape me before I have time or a choice to stop them (isn't it funny to dance in the store or in line at the bank because you are compelled to dance RIGHT NOW!?).
I am hippy, steam punk, back to the land, "burner", festie girl.
I am beyond description.
I am the author of books (soon to be published) who has ideas waking her in the middle of the night.
I am a crafter, a designer, a DREAMER!
I am the woman who blends into the back drop so well you may question if I was ever there.
I am the girl who loves to dress up and be so brash, outrageous in my opinions and ideals, honest to a fault; a girl you have no doubt you have met because you are still vibrating long after she is gone.
And if we are connected by the bonds of deep friendship or love I am the most fierce, most loyal person you could ever have in your corner.
I am...
WELCOME to me!

picture perfect

It is one of the many joys of homeschooling that P.E. is anything and everything we want it to be. Among the many activities my 7 year old loves is skateboarding. And while it is intimidating for me to let my guy run around helter skelter on his "deck", I trust his judgement in the way of being safe...and we have insurance! So with these two little pieces of knowledge to comfort my mothers' heart, I sit back camera in hand and watch him perfect his skills waiting for the perfect shot. I think these pictures show just how "rad" this boy is!

 prepping for some serious tricks

just hanging around!

Mama Bliss

Hi all! Today I am honored to be taking part in the "Bliss Filled Mama Blog Tour" presented by Kathy of Bliss Beyond Naptime.

Among my many "talents" and abilities is bodywork. And as a body worker, I have found the the most complained about area of the human body (outside of back pain) is the feet. We beat, batter, bump, and bruise our feet on a daily basis and very rarely do we offer them the thank you of pampering. It is usually only on a special occasion  that we get our feet rubbed and scrubbed and treated with some love. This is not good!

Our feet carry us, and as mama's our children, every where we need to go. So as a thank you to our hard working, unsung, feet, here is a recipe for a homemade foot soak and foot cream from Natural Foot Care by Stephanie Tourles...

De-Stressing Foot Bath

Items you will need:

foot tub

German chamomile flowers (any organic or whole food store should have these in bulk herbs)

enough water to fill foot tub ankle level

1/4 cup (60ml) Epsom salts

1/4 cup (60ml) baking soda

1 tablespoon (15ml) borax  (click on the word borax for information on it)

3-5 drops lavender, German chamomile, geranium, or clary sage

Yield: 1 treatment

To make:

1. Use 1/2 cup (120ml) of dried German Chamomile flowers for each gallon of water. Boil the water, remove from heat, and add German chamomile flowers. Cover and steep for 5 - 10 minutes. Strain and cool until comfortable.

2. Pour all ingredients into foot tub and swish with feet to dissolve salts. 

To use:

Soak feet for at least 10 minutes. Pat dry. If you know how do a mini reflexology session or massage (or get someone you love to help you with this...I will try to post a good reflexology session in a few days). Reflexology is best practiced on dry feet.

Vanilla Foot Butter

Items you will need:

4 tablespoons (60ml) almond, olive, jojoba, soybean, or calendula oil

1 vanilla bean (can buy from trader joe's for a less expensive price), chopped into 1/4 inch (.6cm) pieces 

1 tablespoon (15ml) beeswax

2 tablespoons (30ml0 cocoa butter

1 tablespoon (15ml) anhydrous lanolin (click the word lanolin for a link)

20 drops geranium, rosemary, or peppermint essential oil

Yield: approximately 1/2 cup (120ml)

To make:

1. In a small saucepan warm the oil over low heat.

2. Add the chopped vanilla bean, cover, and allow to steep for 1 hour.

3. Remove from the heat and strain. It's all right if you see tiny brown specks in your oil. That's just the vanilla bean seeds - they're harmless. Save the vanilla bean for other uses.

4. Add the oil back to the pan and add the beeswax, cocoa butter, and lanolin and heat until just melted.

5. Remove from the heat and stir in essential oil if you desire. If left plain it will smell like white chocolate!!!

To use:

Scoop out approximately 1 teaspoon (5ml), rub between your palms to warm and improve spreadability, then massage into eachfoot as necessary to keep them wonderfully moisturized and smooth.

Storage:

Store in a 4 ounce (112g) jar...preferably glass. No refrigeration is necessary. This butter may harden in cold weather, but will soften upon skin contact.

Sweet Potato Tacos

As I was sitting at the park hashing out what was to be had for dinner...as is done every afternoon in my house...I decided that I had to have sweet potatoes. It was a sudden and demanding craving and one that the family seemed inclined to join me in. What to make, what to make that would be simple and filling and would involve this yummiest of "potatoes"? Well tacos of course!

Sweet Potato Tacos

 Ingredients:

taco filling-

1-2 sweet potatoes; washed and cubed (leave the skin for the vitamins!)

1 green bell pepper; sliced thin

1 medium red onion diced

3-5 cloves of garlic chopped

a decent sized chunk of fresh ginger chopped (remove skin) 

2 tablespoons olive oil (though I use liberal amounts of olive oil)

ground cinnamon

garlic powder

 salt and pepper

Directions:

Cube the sweet potato and steam covered until just starting to get tender. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or wok add the sweet potato, onion, bell pepper and saute until the onion just starts to get clear around the edges. Add the garlic, ginger and seasoning to taste. Cook 2 -3 more minutes.

Toppings-
Fage plain greek yogurt in place of sour cream (or any other greek yogurt you desire)
green onions chopped
cilantro chopped
black olives sliced
cheese shredded finely ( we used monterey jack but any cheese that makes you happy!)

Tortillas:

Ingredients

31/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
11/2 cups warm water
11/2 cups oil (olive, vegetable, canola, etc)
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons salt

Directions:
Mix all dry ingredients; you can add some flair here by adding powdered garlic or any other seasoning. Add the oil and water and mix until the dough has firmed enough to knead. Knead on a flat surface for 3-5 minutes. Break pieces off to form balls. You can do small pieces (the size of  golf balls) for tacos or larger pieces (double that size) for larger tortillas. Place the balls onto a floured surface such as a cookie sheet or cutting board. Cover with a damp cloth and let sit for 3o minutes or so. Flour a flat surface and a rolling pin take one ball at a time and flatten it into a tortilla-esque shape. They may not be perfectly round but I prefer mine funky shaped; gives them character! Heat a skillet on medium high heat and place the flattened dough onto the skillet (no oil is required). As the one is cooking you can begin to flatten another. Flip the tortilla when the first side has started to get a little color (some spots will start to brown lightly). Place the cooked tortilla onto a plate (or a tortilla basket should you have one) and cover to keep warm. Continue to do this stacking the tortillas on top of each other (they don't stick) until finished. Fill with your favorite toppings, or leave it empty, and chow down!

Sorry about the foggy pictures, I failed to notice the baby fingerprints on the lens until this morning. He is another budding photographer!

Happy Weekend

As the fog breaks, we prepare to start this beautiful weekend. So many plans to be made, so many fun things to do, so many chores to finish...but doing all of it together makes for the joy in our lives! Happy weekend to you all. May it shine as only you can make it do!

{this moment}

{this moment}- A Friday ritual. A single photo -no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary, moment. A moment I want to pause, savor, and remember.
If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. 
(Inspired by Amanda Soule of SouleMama)

*******

out and about

 Memorial Labyrinth

 Horsing around!

Can you spot the tiny baby frog?