Farm Life

Last month, just before spring started showing itself in shades of green, we spent the afternoon visiting Aunt Punkie (my sister Jeni) in New York.  She lives on a beautiful farm with her partner, Everett, who bought the property a few years ago.  They are one of the greatest couples I know (and Love).  Jeni is an amazing dress designer.  (You've probably seen this dress being pinned all over Pinterest.)  Everett travels back to the city for business regularly but has this beautiful little farm that is a passion and even offered a CSA from it last year.  

Any experience where kids get to meet animals is the best isn't it??  Addy spent weeks afterward walking on all fours "like an alpaca" haha.  And that kitchen!!  They were still in the process of renovating when we stopped by so you'll notice some painters tape around windows etc.  It's hard to imagine it getting more gorgeous.  Wide plank floors give me a serious "le sigh".

Someday we are going to live on a farm with 17397249835702348 animals. Chickens and lambies and goats oh my.  

Thanks for having us Punkie.  We miss you!! 

A Little Move, Day 6

I was just a touch nervous about this move and simultaneously so thrilled and optimistic.  We were living about 15 minutes outside of downtown Boston and this move takes us 15 minutes farther out.  I wondered if that 30 minutes would seem too long when we used to just pop into our favorite areas (read: Cambridge), whenever, with no issues.  Over the past year, though, I was really yearning for a little more ease of pace and immediate access to nature.

I find that, for us, having to get everyone ready in all of the gear, packing bags, packing snacks, etc etc to make it to the park or the farm or the nature trails really impedes the amount of time we spend with nature.  I LOVE doing all of those things and they are on our schedule regularly, but I also wanted the ability to simply pop out of the door first thing in the morning with a cup of tea and watch the kid play on those days where making a trip out just isn't easy to do.  I wanted time in nature to be a large part of our lives, not something we had to schedule.

I don't know what next year holds for us,  and life with a child, as she grows, will change.  We may want to be deeper in the heart of the city, who knows?  Life right now dictates that nature wins, and I see the positive feeling that pervades our moods already.  I'm taking in lungs full of fresh air and breathing a deep, calm, sigh of relief.

A New Year

Happy New Year, friends! 

My husband has mentioned that he feels there is a stigma around admitting you have New Years Resolutions, because it's sort of eye-roll inducing.  I will shout it from the hill top, I love this holiday.    I've never liked starting anything in the middle.  I want a defined beginning.

This year an important goal for my family is to spend time outside every day.  I feel better when I'm outside and it's truly one of the most important parenting goals for me and, yet, as the weather got colder over the past few months I found myself doing something that makes me feel just awful to admit…I was putting off going outside with the kid.  I wanted to wait until after nap time bc I didn't have the energy to get all of her layers together in the morning.  Then nap time went too long and I had to clean the house before dinner time.  Then it was too late.  Then it was too dark.  Then it was too cold.  Then it was too windy.  Then I was too tired, etc etc.  I found more than one week where we were going day-ZUH, plural, without spending time outside.  It made me feel moody and guilty…and feeling guilty and like a bad parent made me more moody.  I knew what the issue was and I needed to just change it.  Now.

Nothing like the first of the year coming just at the right time.  New Years Day was a COLD one here in Boston, but we bundled up, Mommy, Daddy and kid, and went for a walk through our local Nature Preserve.  The kid was enamored with all of the ice, making Daddy "ice-skate" her across every frozen sheet on the path.  We followed a winding brook and found a part where the ice had been cracked, the kid picked up a giant shard that she had to hold with both hands and she wanted to carry that around with her for the whole walk.  We are now in the midst of a winter snow storm, the kind that makes your face ache from the cold.  Today we all went out in the snow kicking inches of powder as the snow continued to fall.  The kid could not get enough.  Don and I both laughed, as we kept trying to inch her back toward the house, that kids just have no issues with the weather when they are having fun.  They want to play and that's that. 

Have you seen this film, Project Wild Thing??  It's been on my watch list for months and I am determined to watch it this month.  It looks like a must see for all of us.  Wishing you all a wonderful New Year full of fresh air in your lungs!  

PROJECT WILD THING - official trailer from Green Lions on Vimeo.

Handmade Holidays

When The Kid ran to the tree on Christmas morning she flung the door open running into the room and stopped dead in her tracks letting out one word: "Holy!" haha.  Santa brought The Kid her very own tent fort!  

Just between us, Don and I were the elves in charge of the project.  (wink, wink!)  Don built the frame and I made the cover, floor cushion and 3 pillows.  It's funny but putting this together helped to knock me out of a little creative funk I've been in.  It felt cathartic to plan something out of love and enjoy the process from beginning to end.  And honestly, just seeing a project to completion is cause enough to rejoice sometimes, isn't it?

Little Kid, Big Cheer

I have never had so much fun during the holidays.  Watching my child's excitement at this time of year makes me really giddy and kind of high on the egg nog if you know what I mean.  I've found myself in an elevated happiness.  The kid loves doing our holiday themed "art projects" together and all the little decorations around the house which are so festive and special.

Last week we finally finished some wooden bead and jingle bell garlands to display in The Kid's room.  Add some sparkly ribbon and it's one of my favorite simple decorations we've put together.  

Her shelf houses some shells from Marblehead and stones from Versailles, drift wood from Cape Cod and her Nutcracker from Boston Ballet.  Also a handmade clay vase from Troy, NY, a little fishy bowl from her Gagam and an antique Limoges piano.  Little trinkets with meaning to us that add to the "special" feeling of the small space.  

Building these memories and traditions give me a total mom high.  And that's probably a total mom thing to say.