Things I am loving right now

(Besides the family.)

(And sleep.)

Green and Black's Organic White Chocolate. Enough said.




Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer, by Novella Carpenter. Absolutely loved this one. She writes in a straightforwardly poetic way - how's that for a description - about gardening and raising animals in the middle of a city.

She just went for it. Already a proficient gardener, she also took up beekeeping (which I am now researching - perhaps a way to help Sharks overcome his fear of bees?), got some poultry for meat in addition to the chickens she already had for eggs, and finally went whole hog (hardy-har-har) and got two pigs.

I love that she never bought food for her pigs - instead she dumspter dived for ALL of it, which meant almost every night, she was scrounging around in the trash. Which leads to one of my favorite quotes of the book: "If we had had time to think about it, we would have realized that we had become these pigs bitches."

Sometimes books like this make urban gardening seem too easy or ideal. She didn't do that, but she does make it seem possible, and if not always fun, at least worthwhile.

And that left me feeling happy. A wonderful book, and definitely inspiring, if urban gardening/farming is your thing. She created something beautiful, both with her farm and with her words.



Mumford and Sons, thanks to my sister's kind gift of their cd. Not really sure how to explain their sound, except that I can't stop listening to it. My favorites of the moment are The Cave and White Blank Page.

Why did I not know about this before?!

Have you ever tried a Woombie? (Minus points for stupid name.) I would totally try one for Finn, except that Chet is skeptical of, well, anything that costs money.

But aren't they oddly adorable?

I don't even know where to begin

So for the first time ever, ok, well at least since writing all those miserable papers in college, I am feeling like there is no possible way for me to accomplish everything I need to each day. There is no way.

Someone always needs something. Even nap time is consumed because the baby might be awake, or Sharks might have sneaked (snuck? snickered?) his way downstairs, or I might need to eat (or read.)

Here's where the trouble lies - since everyone needs something, whose needs do you let slide so that the whole family can function well together? For example, my husband functions best when the house is in order (I'm not talking clean, just generally tidy.) I function best when I am well fed. Sharks likes to talk. Deedo likes to be held. Both like it when I read to them. And Finn, the sweetest little baby around, clearly likes to be held, both to eat and to be smiled upon.

Yet there are multiple times every day (actually most moments every day) when it seems like no one's needs are being met because I am trying to meet every one's needs all at once. I cannot hold Deeds while I'm disciplining Sharks. I cannot hold a screaming baby while reading. You get the idea. (As I write this, I am thinking that maybe I should focus on what I can do, instead of what I can't.)

I'll be honest, the easiest thing to set aside is tidiness. But then I feel like I am not loving my husband well, when he walks into our home after a long day to utter chaos. Or I can wait to cook dinner until he comes home, but then we don't eat until 7, which means the boys go to bed late, which means grumpy city the next day.

I understand that we are a family, and we live to serve each other. This means that we all have to give up some of our desires in order that our family members can receive. So I don't think it is a bad thing that we are in this learning process. I hope that this doesn't sound complaining or rant-y. It's just life at the moment, and I'd love your thoughts on how you maintain balance.

So, what are the things you choose to let go of when life gets crazy? Or maybe a better question is, how do you organize/re-organize your life to accomplish the necessities of daily living?

Potty training, Round 2

I told myself that on the first warm day after finals, I would start potty-training Deedo. And today was that day.

(Though for the record, I had no idea how hot it actually was, only that it was over 85 degrees in our house and since I came up with this awesome plan not to turn on the a/c at all this summer, I decided that we would just deal with the heat.)

Let me tell you, there is nothing like sweating, keeping a squirmy toddler on a potty, playing legos, and nursing, all at the same time. One of those moments you just have to chuckle.

"Here you go, drink some more juice."

"No honey, don't put the lego in the baby's ear."

Is that sweat or milk running down my arm?

"You are doing great, buddy, just keep sitting there."

"Sure, I can rebuild your lego car. Again."

Whoops, the baby just pooped.

"Hold on a sec, I gotta get the baby situated."

"Ok, here's that lego."

"Careful, buddy, you knocked over my water."

I hope that's just water. Please not the potty.

"And legos do not belong IN the potty."

Yet somehow, it was a wonderful day. Sharks did a great job encouraging his little bro every time he peed in the potty. (Seems like just yesterday we were potty training him!) We did tons of high fives and jelly beans. Deeds is excited about his Elmo "U's" (that is what we call underwear in this house. I know. Bizarro.)

Mostly I just set the timer every 20 minutes, then Deeds would sit on the potty for 5. And pretty much every time he would do a little something. (I also let him go crazy with the chocolate milk.) Of course there were a few accidents. Par for the course.

Tomorrow we will continue. Hopefully by the end of the week we will no longer have two in diapers!! And won't that be a joyous day for all.

The Three Amigos

...or the Three Stooges...the Three Musketeers...depends on the day, I guess.

For the record, it is tough to get a picture where everyone is happy. Or where everyone's face is at least showing. Sometimes you just gotta give in to the harmonicas and sippy cups.

And it continues...

Just got back from a wonderful morning date with my husband - coffee shop, organic/local cafe for lunch, browsing through stores we would never attempt with the babes.

We really had a great time - time with just the two of is rare these days and it is great to know that we still have fun together. ;) Plus, it was a blessing after the worst night we have had with the kids in a long while.

We walked in the door to complete silence and thought my mom was putting the kids down for their naps.

Then my mom yells, "Chet? Erin? Help!!" Apparently, my mom and the kids had been locked inside the boys bedroom since we left three hours earlier. My poor mother. She even tried to take out the hinges but the door still wouldn't open.

(The inside handle fell off awhile ago - shame on me for not fixing it - and it is impossible to open from the inside. Unfortunately, we failed to mention this before we left, and Sharks slammed the door two minutes after we walked out of the house.)

Anyway, all are safely out now. We are thankful that all of them were stuck in the room together - just imagine if the baby had been downstairs or something!

God is good.

Lost: brain

Tonight at our Kingdom Group, we were helping clean up when I noticed Deedo was missing. I got kind of panicky because I was afraid he had slipped out the front door unnoticed since I couldn't see him anywhere in the house.

That is when my friend said, "Erin, aren't you holding him in your arms?"

And whaddya know, I sure was.