My lawn and I have a lot in common. We both have struggled over the past several years, and we both require a lot of maintenance to thrive. When we first moved into this home that we fully renovated on the inside, there was no lawn. There were dozens – hundreds? – of baby oak…
Healthy Eating
Behind the scenes with Jennifer Robins of Predominantly Paleo
It’s super exciting to watch a friend be as successful as Jennifer Robins of Predominantly Paleo blog and author of five cookbooks including the new Paleo Kids Cookbook that comes out on September 6. I met Jennifer when she came to a Holistic Moms meeting I organized with Stacy Toth of Paleo Parents as our…
Slippage
Whew, this month is kicking my behind. Or at least this week is. So much stuff to attend and cover, so much school stuff – all-day field trip Monday, two health committee meetings today. Business-building phone calls and interviews… Trying to build a team… I am waking early and exercising and writing. But I’m also…
Winter health tip #1: Homemade broth
Inspired by a friend who has a cold, I thought I’d do a series of winter health tips. My top favorite way to stay healthy in winter is to always have homemade bone broth around. If you can boil water, and if you can roast a chicken – or even if you can buy an…
My day in the world
Here is the photoblog I created today after touring the new Arlington MOM’s Organic Market store!
Getting my kids at home outside
“It takes me a while to get to stuff” would be an appropriate opening for at least a dozen blog posts I could write. One of them has to do with getting on the ball about making my kids at home in the outdoors and also getting at home in the garden. When we set…
What I did today
Today I did write before the kids got up, but nothing personal for here. So behold a partial accounting of my day. Today, I: wrote this play review about Hansel & Gretel put together this quick weekend preview of DC-area wellness events after some research, emails, texts and a phone call added this School Garden Meetup…
Writing To-Do List: Making it Public for #NaBloPoMo
Since the start of November means the start of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), I feel the need to make my Writing – and my writing support – To-Do list public: for accountability and to show the whole picture. I have come to understand that I can’t just say I will write every…
On not going to my 20-year college reunion
Since it was a relief when I finally decided I would not go to my 20-year college reunion, it’s a surprise to feel so emotional about it now that it’s happening. About a month ago, I check to see if the friends I most wanted to see were going. Most weren’t. A few of them…
Bring it, Fall!
In the past two days, I’ve actually done two things I really wanted to do and done them with joy. I spent the day at the Natural Products Expo East where I talked with some truly inspirational people about amazing products. And I talked with moms and other local leaders in the holistic parenting community…
Our days, these days
Welcome to the March 2015 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Day in the Life This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have given us a special glimpse into their everyday. *** Since I’m always wondering where the time…
Special Needs Mommy
You know that kid who’s always a handful at a playdate? The one who needs an extra eye at a birthday party? The one who can’t handle surprises, or who needs lots of support through transitions? The one who can’t tolerate the smell at the farm field trip no matter how many times the teacher…
Getting my children – and myself – outside
With a background in environmental education and an avowed interest in connecting to nature, you’d think my children would be outside all the time. Well, at least I’d like to think that I could have little adventure explorers who would never ask to watch anything on a screen. Not so. I blame it partly on…
Under a January sky: Welcoming 2014
It didn’t look like it was going to go well, this New Year’s Day. I had been eating pancakes all morning (sugar-free and GF but not GAPS-legal) and was wearing the world’s frumpiest sweatpant/pajama combo. My daughter was reaching up to the counter to help herself to the sausage she didn’t eat at breakfast while…
A day at home
I’d have loved to jet off to my first yoga class in 8 months or just go somewhere to write, or have my husband take my kids out for the morning or the afternoon. But I had cranberries and apples to use and a chicken to cook, so instead we made pie, and two kinds…
The floor that broke the Corelle plate — Musings on so many sick days
This is what I wrote at 6:15 a.m. and expected to post at 7:50 a.m. once both kids were on their way to school with their dad. It’s now 9:13 p.m. I guess that didn’t happen. But here goes nothin’. *** I’m taking bLOG literally here, as in log. As in, I want to document…
Food as family medicine: living gluten-free and beyond
Welcome to the November 2013 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Feeding Your Family This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared recipes, stories, and advice about food and eating. Please read to the end to find a…
Why didn’t I think of that? Grandma saves 1/72 of the day!
It might be said that I had a perfectly fine day, parenting the children alone from 9 to 5 on a Sunday. Except that I appear to have gained 5 pounds from stress-eating and might have let my children’s eyeballs get singed by TV and computer screens. At least it was from gorging on Mr….
A weekend of many possibilities
For nearly a year, I assumed I’d be out of town tonight. I would either be at the National Women’s Studies Association national conference, hosted this year by my alma mater, the University of Cincinnati. It would have been a reunion of sorts, and I’d have had the chance to talk to people about the…
Humor in Parenting (and Breastfeeding!) Blog Carnival
The hilarious anthology Have Milk, Will Travel: Adventures in Breastfeeding was published in August by Demeter Press (and reviewed glowingly by Literary Mama). The editor is heading up a Humor Blog Carnival this month. Details below! The book contains some 30 essays from mothers sharing the funniest breastfeeding stories you’ve ever heard. Even if the…