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Late August is always a difficult time for me. Stuck in the rut of trying to be creative in my cooking and crafting in the middle of 90 degree heat is just an overwhelming exercise in futility.
This year, the last week in August in bringing about putting together all of the amazing crafting and creating that you are all sharing in Rhythm of The Home. One week from tomorrow the Autumn edition will be here, and it is hard to believe that the last edition in our first year has almost arrived.
Since my own work has been put on hold for just a bit, I thought it might be fun today to take a trip around this blog world of ours to share a few posts that have inspired me to get back into the kitchen and the sewing room, and to get some early holiday creativity going.
Enjoy!
Michelle from Wee Folk Art treats us to a very special Harvest Time and Winter Wonderland homeschooling curriculum for 4-6 year olds.
Erin of Imagination Kids is over on the Rhythm of The Home blog sharing a simple recipe for making natural beeswax lip balm
Hannah of Home Baked Online whips up some sweet sewn potato sacks to enjoy the last of the summer bounty
Wabi Sabi Wanderings gives us a sweet tutorial on how to make a recycled tin can windsock
Sarah of Bella Luna Toys writes a beautiful post on learning to let go as homeschooling parents.
Lisa of Earth Mama is learning to use every bit of the food that she makes in her post From Pulp to Pate.
Francesca of Fuoriborgo gives us a great homemade gelato treat to beat the end of August heat.
Kristi of Fiber Fool shares her journey of making a delicious sounding plum butter.
Sew Mama Sew shares a tutorial for making hand stamped clothing labels, just in time for back to school.
Tonya of Plain and Joyful Living is helping us all get ready for a beautiful Handmade Holiday.
For anyone with a toddler, this handmade Toddler Toy is a must from Life As A Schoolhouse
I know that I am dying to try a little cherry and pomegranate sorbet from Honey and Jam, as a last of summer treat.
Amy of Elemental brings us the second in her three-part beginner drawing series.
Finally, Threading Light shares a beautiful post on finding the real riches in this life of ours.
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The morning before completing my first yoga teacher training, our class met for a final time to salute the Sun, and one another. One of our instructors guided us through a version of Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations) using a gorgeous poem to highlight some of the qualities that we were being encouraged to “Take off the mat, and put into action.”
As the boys and I prepare our garden for the bountiful season ahead, we look to the Sun to provide the warmth that we need for our flowers and vegetables to grow. As we continue to move towards the longest day of the year, the boys and I are looking forward to saluting the sun for it’s many gifts and bountiful blessings that it will bestow.
Sun salutations can help us to provide a deep connection to the earth that we inhabit, and can offer a genuine way for both adults and children to express gratitude for all that the earth has given.
In the segment below, Jacob gives us a child’s like take on the Sun Salutations, and just how relaxed we can be while practicing.
I am a mountain strong and steady
Mountain Pose
The Sun The Sun
Arms over head
I salute the Sun
Uttanasana
I open my heart
Half Way Up
To everyone
Uttanasana (forward fold)
The Sun Rises
Runner’s Lunge
And the Sun Sets
Plank
The Whole World
Knees Down
In my heart rests
Again I arise
Bhujanghasana
Ready to Live
Downward Facing Dog
Happy To Be
Runner’s Lunge
And Ready to Give
Uttanasana
The Sun The Sun
Half Way Up
I salute the Sun
Uttanasana
I open my heart
Arms over head
To Everyone
Anjali Mudra
Having studied in the hatha and Iyengar tradition of yoga, every practice, every morning beings with the Sun Salutes. It is never mundane or boring, but rather just the perfect way for each day to begin.
As the earth comes into the time of transition between spring and summer, it is also the perfect practice to help children honor the time of deep inner transition that has just come to an end, and the celebration of the endless play in the external world that is just beginning.
Jacob loves to do his sun salutes, and he begged me to let him do the photos instead of me for this post. One thing to note is that Jacob’s posture/position is not what it should be for an adult. To learn more about sun salutations, and to get a more in depth look at what the practice entails, please visit The Yoga Site
The technical difficulties have been slowly improving, but I still do not have an answer for the issue with Intense Debate. My only hope is that the problem gets resolved super quick. Thanks for your patience.
Happy Wednesday
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This song has been a favorite of the boys and I for a long time, and the rhythm is so much fun to dance to. It also stands as a good reminder to me of something that has been weighing heavily on my heart.
Lately I feel like every time I turn on any kind of news program, or read a newspaper, or even check the news on the internet, I see so much discussion of hatred. It is not exactly spoken of in that harsh of a tone, but that is really the undercurrent.
I know that for me, I spend a lot of time thinking about making a small change to the environment, or to the foods that I eat, or to my children’s education, etc, but the reality is that I have never thought much about making a small change to the attitude that I carry towards others.
It feels like with all the discussion on politics, and policies, and religion and intolerance, and fear and hatred, we are becoming a world so divided we have a hard time seeing the inherent good in each of us. There are just days when I get lost in the rhetoric, and I feel like the good in the world is slipping away.
The fact is that, naive or not, I still know that humanity is inherently good. Yes there are strong opinions on many issues out there, and a lot of them deserve healthy discussion, but if the belief is that the “other side” is always in the wrong, then we will do nothing but spin a web of division that can be very difficult to repair.
The only thing that I can think to do is choose not to participate. For me, that does not mean stopping participation in discussions, because I think that is so important in times like these. No, I am just choosing to no longer participate in negative discussions.
It seems silly to have to challenge myself to change my attitude during my interactions with people, but I have to admit that I do. I need to not feel defensive about who I am, or what I believe, and I need to stop and think about where the other person is coming from as well.
If serenity lies in our ability to find peace within ourselves, our selves must also be able to make peace with the world we are interacting with. As Ghandi so beautifully put it, “Be the change you wish to see”.
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It feels so good to be back here for Sunday Serenity. Perhaps it was just me, but I have been feeling out of kilter lately, and I needed some true “me” time over this weekend.
Our weekends lately have been taken up with soccer games for the boys. I really enjoy watching them play, and coming into their own by not playing on the same team for the first time since they began. Their games are normally hours apart, so after Elwood’s game in the morning, I snuck home to spend the afternoon with myself.
The rain began mid-morning, and with the temps only in the high 40′s (um, hello Spring, where did you go?), I decided some bath spa time was in order.
Years ago I had a chance to visit an amazing aruvedic center in New Mexico. The experience was intense, but very purifying as well, and one thing that I fell in love with was detoxifying scrubs. While I was there, I learned that the traditional scrubs were used in place of soap, and were created to try and draw toxins from the body. They were also used as full body masks for even deeper purification. I asked one of the aruvedic practitioners what was in it, and all she could tell me was vegetable protein and spices. While that was not a ton to go on, I tried to recreate the smells when I returned home, and I think that I have it pretty close.
I tend to use the scrub as a body soap as well, and always at the beginning of the shower.
As I think that I have mentioned in the past, I love blending nourishing oils for my family, and finding different ways to nurture our skin. I have recently fallen in love with the amazing properties of avocado oil, and since my boys can not live without their chocolate oil smell, I knew we needed to add that in for them. From that, a simple oil was born of melted cocoa butter and avocado oil, along with a few drops of lavender essential oil. It is so hydrating for the skin, and the perfect way to seal the pours after a detoxifying scrub.
Detoxifying Scrub
3/4 cup of gluten free vegetable protein
1/4 cup milk powder
1/2 teaspoon cardamon
1/2 teaspoon coriander
Mix together with a fork or whisk, and store in a cool dry place for up to 2 months.
Hydrating Oil
8 oz organic avocado oil
4 oz cocoa butter
2-4 drops lavender essential oil
Melt together in a double broiler, and bottle when cooled.
This is a very rich and intense oil, perfect for dry or sunned skin.
I am coming to realize that it is important to have a spot that no matter what is happening, is comfortable and relaxing. For me, that spot has become my own bed. I have co-slept with two beautiful souls, breast fed, read, dreamed, loved, dried tears, and been granted a ton of snuggles in my bed, and I feel that it is the most sacred place that I have in my home. For me, it is now a symbol of all that I have become as a mom and a woman, and a place where I can feel free to get lost in myself. My journal, a great book, these are the types of things that I like to curl into my spot with, on a cozy weekend afternoon, and enjoy.
Sitting in my bed, reading a great book, and drinking a pot of tea. That is an afternoon well spent.
I love a great cup of coffee in the morning, there is no denying that. I did not begin to drink coffee until my youngest child was two, but since that time, I have enjoyed it each and every morning. Having said that, there is nothing that I like better than a good cup of tea. My mom was great at introducing tea to me young, and I loved all the varieties of fruits and herbs that were available. Oh how I remember going out to dinner with my parents, as a pretty young girl, and how grown up I felt with my pot of water and wooden tea box at the end of the meal.
Today, I have a blast taking the boys to a fun tea shop, and letting them pick out something really indulgent. Tea time in our house has always been a part of our days, and since we can never go out for pastries or breads, it is nice to create that in our daily lives. Two of my current favorites; Chocolate orange roobios, and apple cinnamon. A friend of mine sent them from a small tea store in New York that she lives around the corner from, and I only ever drink them on special occasions. Hey, some people save special bottles of wine, or brandy. I save tea.
A special blend that the boys and I have been working on is dried mint, orange peel, and a cinnamon stick. So warm and uplifting
With the rain still falling, I (almost reluctantly), dragged myself from my warm spot to go and watch Jacob play his game. Those boys work so darn hard, and after a grueling hour in the harsh weather, my baby was in need of some serious energy. Jake and I have been talking a lot recently about the Green Smoothie Challenge, and some recipes that we might want to try. I think that one of the incredible positives about Jacob having celiac disease, and being faced with some health challenges early, is that he knows how EVERYTHING makes him feel. He knows that when he eats well, when he takes his supplements, when he gets outside and exercises, he feels good. I think that he spent so much time feeling horrible, that he is very attentive to keeping himself in a balanced place.
We stopped off at the natural food store on our way home and picked up some seasonal fruit, as well as some Kale, and headed home to give us both a little bit of energy.
I LOVE cooking with my kids, and I know that is one reason that Jacob going to school is painfully hard for me. Waking up in the mornings, cooking, reading, and just being together has been so amazing. I know that times like these, when he and I are sharing space, making something for the rest of the family to enjoy, that it is going to become sacred time for both of us.
I let Jacob take the reins on our smoothie for the day, and I must say that he did a great job of picking out some yummy ingredients for all of us to enjoy. It was just what we needed
Jacob’s Green Smoothie
2 Tbsp 3-6-9 oil
1 Tbsp flax meal
1 Tbsp probiotic powder
1 Tbsp Spirulina powder
1 Tbsp honey
1 chopped apple, skin on
2 roughly cut bananas
1 box of organic strawberries
1 small bunch of kale
1 cucumber, skin on and chopped
1 mango, chopped
1 Tbsp of chopped fresh mint
The juice of one orange
Place everything into the blender, and liquefy.
Drink immediately and enjoy
And the perfect way to end a simple but wonderful day? Movie night
Friends of ours from Denver came up to stay last night, and brought a copy of the movie Earth for the kids to watch. After some thought, we decided that we all wanted to see it, and we popped some popcorn and got ready to head downstairs (our only TV is in our basement, which is SO nice). As only my Jake could do, he went outside to the garage and came back with individual Chinese take out containers that he knew I had from a party last summer.
Having kids has taught me something that I think I had forgotten; that life is supposed to be pretty and fun, and even something as simple as popcorn should be eaten in a beautiful container.
Indulgence has become such a bad word in our society, and yet, indulging in time to take care of ourselves, time to read and find comfort, time to spend with our amazing children, is what makes us whole. It is what makes us wake up the next morning feeling refreshed and ready to fight hard for our kids safety, security and well being. Fight hard for our work, for our marriage, and for our community. Indulgence is essential, and it is a way for us to take some time away and say that we are worth doing something nice for as well. “Me” time can be hard to come by, but when it comes, it is always transforming.
Happy Sunday everyone
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