Bird Nest

Sarsaparilla and Lemon Balm

I'm pretty big on holding back with my kids.  I figure they have their whole lives to find out about the world around them, including such things as sugar drinks.  But I just couldn't resist introducing Jbird to the world of root beer.  Of course, drinks like this will still only be for special occasions in our household - but still, he was pretty impressed with his "Sassparilla".  We had just encountered it in a book and when I saw it on the menu, I thought it sounded perfect.  Thankfully, he didn't ask for one this morning when we woke up for breakfast.

We've been heavy in our spring gardening.  We planted three more blueberry bushes (small ones) in our front garden - which means we will have five blueberry bushes out there.  I love having real food out front, and even better to have it mixed in with the garden flowers.  We filled out another garden box and are replacing and filling some gaps in the original garden design.  I've spent the entire week crashing through the garden books selecting just the right perennials.  And of course, multiple trips to the largest nurseries in town.  And now that the garden has just exploded in new green growth, I see I have my hands full weeding and cleaning out all of the errant visitors that came uninvited.  That, and it looks like the Lemon Balm went to seed and exploded in the entire garden.  I can see those little lemon balm seedlings laughing at me in my dreams.

Happy Spring days to everyone.  It finally feels like Mrs. Thaw has finished her work and Spring is here for good.

Spring Sun Rays

 

A little wizard hat for the dress up basket. Jbird also wants an owl hood type thing but I don't know how to even start that project. 

 

And there are now some photos in flickr of the garden at request.  Nothing too amazing, but I'm very appreciative of the work our previous owner did in establishing these garden beds.  And every day I watch with anticipation to see what will bloom next, what will fill into the spaces.  Beyond our new vegetable boxes we just built, I'm thinking about using one of the 4 boxes for more landscape gardening.  I'm madly pouring through the native plant options as well as taking inspiration from what I see in our neighborhood.  I'd like to add a few more blueberry bushes.  These were such a hit last summer and are so sweet in flower gardens.  Who can resist a blueberry from your own back front yard?

As you may have noticed, most of our garden and vegetable work is right in our front yard.  We do have a back yard.  Indeed, a multi-tiered landscape that is partially tamed and also partially shaded.  However, for us, the main gardening happens in front.  Right out on the street.  I find it refreshing to walk past it every day, coming and going.  And often, we are right out in our front, playing on the sidewalk, talking to neighbors watching the world go by on our sweet dead end street.  We can have privacy in our back, or even on the side patio, but usually, it just feels right to be right out in front.   And it looks like we'll be out there all summer tending our new plants and vegetables.

Kindergarten In The Forest

We toured the Mother Earth Kindergarten site today, and now I'm flush with excitement and torturous decisions about next year.  We still have not decided if we will keep Jbird at home, or have him attend the traditional Waldorf Kindergarten/Nursery at our neighborhood Waldorf School, or if we will enroll him in 3 half days at the "outside kindy" program modeled after Nokken where children are completely immersed in nature.  I had plans to hold off on this special outdoor experience until the following year - but after seeing the site, I admit I'm chomping at the bit. 

The children are outside most of the day, every day - regardless of weather.  There are, of course, shelters and fires to keep warm, as well as many, many wool and waterproof layers.  But the point is that the children are immersed in nature.  What a solution to this Nature Deficit Disorder!  There are chickens, goats, gardens, 7 acre farm and all surrounded by forest.  Of course, I'd be more completely sold if Sparrow and I were allowed to attend the program as well - alas, we would be shooed off before the feeding of the chickens everyday.  I guess we could spend the half day walking in the neighboring state park trails, but that might get tired.

We shall see.  Hot apple porridge warmed on the fire, story time under trees, shelter in yurt, kindergarten in a forest, it's just feels so right.  And what a gift to give a child.  The memory of an outdoor kindergarten?

It's february and I shouldn't expect sun...

We went to the beach today, hoping, really hoping that the sun would hold out against the grey skies.  It's February.  In Oregon.  Why did we think that the sun might warm us at the beach?  Oh well, it was still a fun little outing.  Bundled up on the beach, a quick little picnic, some sand and water.
Here we are driving in all of our "stuff".
 
And check out our little wind barricade.

But we have hopes that the next beach visit will indeed be full of sun.  Hope and Patience.

Glitter and Mud

The boys and I went for a hike today in Forest Park while Rooster caught up on work at the office.  I *love* saying "the boys".  Of course, it was almost like Sparrow wasn't there, he is usually asleep in his wrap, and it was just Jbird and I passing through the forest.  Except that occasionally I found it tough to navigate the steep and muddy trails, when I couldn't see my feet and the ground beneath me (with Sparrow attached to my chest).

We found little bird houses nestled in tree limbs and tree roots, quiet little houses for squirrels, birds and also elves and fairies of course.  And someone has scattered glitter in a few tree roots, which was a magical find.  It's pretty subtle and you wouldn't really notice unless you were looking in all the tree roots (like we do).  I couldn't capture a good photo, but the glitter was beautiful, sparkling in the dark crevices and even lighting upon spiderwebs.  Jbird told stories of how the fairies and elves live in those little spaces, and how the glitter lit up their little houses and so forth as we walked along the trail.

We live in such beauty.  And I am so lucky to spend my days with these boys exploring this beauty.
 

Little Snowshoe

Little Snowshoe, originally uploaded by bird nest photos.

We went snowshoeing for the first time last weekend.  it was beautiful.  We rented poles and shoes from REI and headed up to a popular run on Mt. Hood.  Jbird had his own snowshoes, and did quite well, until the last stretch back up the hill to the car.  I strapped little (big) Sparrow into the Mobywrap and he slept through the whole event.   With Sparrow in front, it was like being pregnant again where I couldn't see my feet, and kept stepping on my own snowshoes.  We had a blast though and hope to go again soon - next time with a sled or something more fun for Jbird. 

After days (weeks? months?) of "challenging" parenting moments with Jbird, I feel like I am finally seeing light.  This recent tunnel of darkness has been tough, but in a good way, and now I feel so humbled and thankful for the opportunity to grow together and reconnect.  How silly it feels to be thankful for these bad moments - but really I can feel the growth and transformation happening between us as we try to tackle new responses to bad behaviors.  I'm sure I'll write more later, as I finish reading these awesome books.  In the meantime, I am just taking my days moment by moment, thankful to have these little birds to guide me.

Seattle

A few photos of our trip last weekend to Seattle...Little j.bird would not participate in the family photo experiment.

Our dearest friends Eric and Susan - as well as their pooch Rufus.

My Little Gnome

Introducing the adorable gnome hat we made last week in waldorf playgroup.  J.bird decided to wear it on an evening walk in our neighborhood.  It has since been a regular part of his daily outfits.  I guess people assume we are practicing for Halloween.   

Autumn is beautiful here in Portland.  I'm surprised by the quality of leaves I see in our neighborhood.  We have real fall leaves.  Last week j.bird and I collected a basket-full and brought them home.  I dipped a few in beeswax and created some mobiles using tree branches.  They are awesome - although I thought I was going to stab my eyes out trying to tie the invisible thread to the leaves and branches.

Summer Fairs

This weekend has been a whirlwind of fairs.  On Saturday, we spent the entire day at the Mississippi Street Fair.  I helped my friend Shauna sell her amazing soaps and Rooster and J.bird ran around all day with her hubby and kids.  It was sweaty and hot and we were exhausted after a long day.
So what better thing to do but set the alarm and head off the next morning down to Eugene to go to the famous Oregon Country Fair?! We only spent a few hours there, but got more than our fill of insane hippies, wacky costumes, and those that chose to be clothes-free of course...

Sandy Toes

We are just recovering from a whirlwind vacation week and visit from Grandma Gail and Grandpa Charles (Rooster's folks)...We had a lovely time visiting and driving around Oregon.  Spent a few days exploring the Oregon Coast and had delicious days of dipping our toes in the soft warm sand at the ocean.

With all the time spent driving around in the rental van, I finally finished Omnivore's Dilemma which should be required reading for everyone.  (And on one of our two lucky date nights, Rooster and I saw Sicko - which should also be required viewing...amazing!)

We also celebrated birthdays over the week.  Both Grandpa Charles (and Uncle Christian) and J.bird all share the same birthday.  So we celebrated with an organic chocolate cake, with strawberry jam layer and super thick buttercream frosting.  J.bird is now 3 and I can't believe how quickly he has turned into a little boy.

Many new photos in flickr showing off our exciting travels with the grandparents, but one thing not covered in photos would be the totally awesome potty training that was completed over the week.  Well, we still use diapers at night and nap, but j.bird has totally mastered using the adult toilet on his own!  I can't believe how easy (knock on wood) this experience has been.  We never had to even go down the path of bribes, candy, stickers, rewards....nothing - we just let him freeball under his clothes and lots of reminders.  He does have a special love for peeing on trees outside - which is cute, although a bit of an embarrassment when he pulls his pants down in the middle of hipster Pearl District downtown.  Oh well, I could care less if someone minds - because my boy is potty trained!