dancing at the cemetary

An outside nature table for the elves and faeries and squirrels and....

We just returned from our Thurs. Waldorf Parent/Tot class and while I was putting the stroller away, Emmit created this. Now I kind of have to responsibly add, since the photos look so sweet and demure, that he elaborately told me all about the toilet facilities of his creation.

I love My Library and I Vote!

Since I packed all the kids books, we make it to the library quite regularly. I can't say I will miss the Buffalo Libraries since the one on Orcas is beautiful but I know the kids will miss the plastic shopping carts to fill with their chosen books. Oh and I don't have a hernia or cancer but rather just some crazy swollen lymph nodes. That is always a plus. Doesn't seem like anything to worry about. Poor Dennis has been a bit freaked out by this whole experience.

Post #400!!!: Happy Earth Day

Last night Dennis and I started our list of lifestyle goals for both our coming move and in honor of Earth Day. So here is our list, we are setting or standards high but what a great opportunity to do so. I feel like we do a lot already but need to push ourselves even more:

1. Purchasing Day: any materialistic consumption beyond basic needs will have to wait until the designated day of the week to try to cure us both of our impulsive luxury spending both online and around town. Items bought used that don't require shipping don't count so garage sales are fair game. I think Wednesday is a good day although I am sure the exact day might be a little flexible due to say the rare and amazing Patagonia sales or something.

2. Have a year round garden that provides us with daily food.

3. Cook from scratch- work to eliminate buying canned and packaged foods. This means we will be soaking and cooking our own beans and hopefully doing some canning and freezing this summer. Bye bye boxed organic mac 'n cheese!

4. Buy even more foods in bulk (using our cloth bags) to eliminate garbage from excess packaging (garbage disposal on Orcas is insanely expensive so reducing what goes into the garbage can is essential for budget living.

5. Sunday Hiking Day and Outside Everyday- regardless of weather or plans, we are committing as a family to do a hike together every Sunday morning that we are living on Orcas. We also hope to do much more then just the weekly hike and want to spend time outside everyday all year long. I love my friend Sarah's ritual of a morning hike that they do daily. We did this during the winter on Orcas and it was incredible to watch the kids really develop a sense of place and to truly notice their surroundings and become so familiar with a path that they spotted little changes.

6. Staying fit without a gym- no more gym memberships needed on Orcas so we plan on biking, hiking, running, kayaking, yoga and intensifying our consciousness about how we eat (I must, I must, I must eliminate sugar again for good and no more dairy for me either)

7. End our internet checking addiction- we plan on only being online briefly in the morning and then in the evening once the kids are asleep but no emailing or web surfing during the day.

8. Quality Family Time- designated time in our daily/weekly rhythm for creating together in our "art room", working on the garden, playing games, singing, cleaning and being together as a family.

9. Designated adult art time- Dennis and I love nothing more then artistic alone time so there will be time carved out for each of us each week and we will finally have space to spread out and do it.

10. Restricted car use- we are pretty good now but plan on using our bikes as much as possible for on and off island excursions. We have a single bike trailer and a bike seat for the kids and are walking distance to town and work. Gas is expensive and even more so on the Island. We used to bike everywhere and I look forward to riding again after over 4 years.

11. Mugs- we stopped taking bags at stores in Jan. 2007 so why are we still using paper cups when we get coffee out and about. We are on the look out for our own non plastic travel mugs. I love the glass jar option but I am too prone to break mine with my lifestyle.

12. TV- I am so excited to be leaving our TV behind. I didn't grow up with one and I am not going to miss it at all. Anyway in this world of Netflix and everything being shown a day later online, we won't miss our favorites. More time for time together and creating. No more lying in bed when the kids go to sleep channel surfing because we are too tired to do anything else.

13. Buy local produce- this last year we focussed on not buying produce grown outside of the U.S. due to the fuel used in importing it. Now that we will be in a region where food grows more plentiful I want to focus on eating foods grown as close to home as possible and limit the transport to the Westcoast. Ideally our produce and meat will come from the Islands first and for most!

14. Compost and Worm Bins- I imagine we will do both but I am personally partial to the worm bin option. We are looking into all the options but can't wait to have the space do this.

15. Trash- I would love to have no garbage going into the landfill at all but those are high hopes. We are eliminating our nightly disposable diaper and going completely to cloth and gDiapers. I have been trying out the Bum Genius diapers for night time and they are completely leak free. Asher is also potty training and will be out of day time diapers by the end of the summer or sooner.

Happy Earth Day Tomorrow

The Lexington Co-op where we do all our grocery shopping was handing out trees today and they gave us 6 and we headed off to the St. James Playground. We planted them in the corner and are hoping for the best for these little guys. One the way home, where Dennis was preparing us a feast, Emmit found some chalk and decorated the sidewalk in front of one of our favorite little boutiques. The store owner requested a tree and this is one of the most "shaped or formed" drawing I have seen him do. He really spent some time creating it and then signed his name. We are working on quite a list of "Earth Day and moving to Orcas" pledges so hope to post those tomorrow. I awoke on Sat. morning to a rather painful lump stretching from my groin across my pelvis bone. The thought was that it was a hernia and that got ruled out today. It is some seriously large series of swollen glands. I go back to the doctor tomorrow to get the tests from todays running around. Relieved that there is no hernia surgery in my future but not enjoying these painful and over sized glands. I think they are just the result of some bug bites I seem to have acquired. We had a rough total of 6 hours in the car with the kids yesterday going to and from Cleveland but hanging out with all those great cousins made the trip absolutely worthwhile. We are all keeping Pesach Sephardic style this year, Dennis and the kids too!!!!!

Day with friends at the Aurora Waldorf School's campus

Due to spring break, our weekly city Waldorf Parent/Tot group didn't meet this week so instead we gathered a group together to enjoy the beautiful main school site which is about 40 minutes south of Buffalo. It was the first really warm day and the heat has continued ever since with temps. in the 80's today. It is hard to believe we had snow flurries less then a week ago! We are down to three weeks until our great Westward departure and I think we are all feeling a little neither here nor there. We have succumbed to purchasing a few playmobil sets for the kids just so they have something to play with and distract them from the piles of boxes everywhere. I haven't quite captured the perfect photo yet of the kids wearing their new pink sequined tutu from my mom yet but be sure that will be posted soon. Tonight Pesach begins and we are having a quiet evening at home and then heading to Cleveland tomorrow to spend the day with lots and lots of cousins in from all over for the holiday.

Starting our list of things we will miss.....The Science Spot with our friends

Chasing Light Beams

grapefruits and missing Papa

Dennis did the last post so here are my favorites

It was a wonderful morning of family hiking and not only are we leaving our TV behind when we move but we are also committing to 52 weeks of Sunday morning hikes. Today we built lots of gnome, elf and faerie homes and quite practically moved into one of them when the rain started. I love that my children have embraced this magical realm of faerie so strongly as I did also as a child. We are currently reading Twig and loving the book. Emmit took some birthday money from Grandma Karen and went to the little store at the Aurora Waldorf School and bought some shiny new Stockmar block crayons, Lyra pencils and a few jewels. The house is filling with boxes, art is packed up and now furniture is getting disassembled. Tonight Emmit is sleeping in his silk draped fort. I seem to remember sleeping in new set ups each night too. Dennis heads to NYC tomorrow to go to some photo conference/event and Anna and Lars are sweetly looking after him. Then he is off to meet baby Lily in Baltimore.

Fun in the Woods and @ the Eternal Flame

birthday party day: face painting, bubbles and bikes

It started out cold and quite crowded inside but after some food and ice cream cake we were all sugared up, faces were painted, half the bubbles were spilled on the carpet and so we headed outside for the best part of all which was the bike riding....








In preparation for his garden, Emmit asked for seeds as gifts from his friends in Buffalo so that he could plant them on Orcas in his garden to be. He got a little money from Grandpa Steve and Cheri so while Asher was napping I walked him to the toy store, bill clutched in his hand, where he picked out a gardening tool set he has been eying for weeks if not months. It even has a watering can and carrying bag. All metal and well made!

Here is what awaits the kids when they wake up. Last night I went with some wonderful friends to the Annual Waldorf Auction and tucked away in a not very noticed spot amid tables and tables of amazing donations was this folding fort building set with the silks and clips included. I bid, guarded, slapped a few hands, and by some miracle was the highest bidder. It will be a central piece of decor and enjoyment in our new home. The fort set will be a shared gift, really almost everything in our house is required to be shared except a few most special things to the kids. Inside the fort is the amazing group effort quilt that I showed you before. It came with three needle felted squirrels and this amazing carved marble run. My friend Danielle floored me by bidding on it for me and giving to us as a going away present. I have to admit I actually bid on it a few times before thinking I was letting it go to someone else. The books are some really special birthday books for my 4 year old as of tomorrow!




I can't wait to see how he and Asher respond. Oh and on the topic of Asher, I mistakenly have mentioned several times in the last day or two (including today) that I can't believe we haven't been to the ER with Asher over some injury or another. Everyone warned me that making such a claim would doom me and sure enough! He awoke from his nap with blood coming out of his mouth. We couldn't find for sure where it was coming from and for the next couple hours it died down and then all of a sudden he was spitting mouthfuls of bright red blood.....I headed to the ER at around 5:15 after consulting with his doctor's office. It took them a long time and some moments of panic about where the blood was coming from to find the tiny little bleeder of a cut above his front two teeth. We are to monitor him throughout the night and only soft foods for a few days! Lesson learned.

pussy willow twigs sprouted roots

Someone brought some pussy willow branches a month ago to our weekly Waldorf handwork group and Emmit brought his home and we put them in a vase. I have been fascinated with the making of willow fences and domes for years now and so we watched to see if they would sprout some little roots. I was about to give up and toss them when one morning there they were, little white and growing fast. Emmit really wanted to plant them here in front of this house but after some thought, we agreed they would be better cared for at the site where our weekly Waldorf Parent/Toddler program meets. Teacher Judy helped us to find the perfect spot. Emmit wanted to plant them in honor of Grandmama Shui but at the last minutes said out loud that they were for Teacher Judy. Goodbyes are really starting to be the focus around here and we are down to 38 or 39 days until departure. I feel really good about my contributions to this community and I feel I have created community and friendships for not only us but for others too. Emmit tied his shovel to his jump rope and calls it his jack hammer! Spring is int he air and little flowers are pushing forth despite the crisp temperatures.