Posts Tagged ‘Homeschooling’

We went to the zoo… day two

Posted on June 20th, 2012 in blog, family, homeschool by jenni

Rory and Finn had so much fun at the zoo it was all they talked about. Steve was coming up for the weekend from Key West and I mentioned that maybe the following day we could all go to the zoo. The kids LOVED that idea. I also decided to bring my telephoto lens instead of my standard lens on the second day. I’ll spare you the eleventy billion animal pictures (except a few I can’t resist) that I took.

I thought a picture with the peacock would be a nice tradition. Then we rented one of those pedal car things they have here. It really was a nice change from the day before when the boys & I walked the whole zoo.

We also went backwards from the way we went the day before so the giraffes happened very early on. I just loved the interaction between the mama giraffe and her baby. The kids fed them too but I wasn’t up on the platform this time because there was also a classroom up there.

The Okapi was trotting in circles too which Finn loved.

Another new tradition with the post lunch kids in front of the pot o’ gold.

I was so excited when this butterfly landed right in front of where I was standing.

I was really admiring the lions when that butterfly had happened past. This guy saw me and gave up quite a few poses for me. Thank you sir.

Of course we made sure to be over near the chimps and the gorillas for feeding time. The boys had even more questions today and even answered a few of their own. This is JJ and his daughter Alice getting ready to have some snacks.

We ended the day once again with some dippin dots and home we went. I being tired forgot to get a dippin dots picture today sorry. I was too busy capturing images of the flamingos/

So what is your favorite thing to do at the zoo?

We went to the Zoo

Posted on June 20th, 2012 in blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

Yes this is another post that happened back in April. It was so much fun. Lexi, Aidan & Jack went with Tia Diana with her to work at the Discovery Channel. So left with just Rory & Finn we headed to the Zoo! My Mom had gotten us an annual pass as part of our family holiday gift and we had yet to use it. Had I realized before hand just how big the zoo here in Miami is things may have been different but we had an amazing day. 

The boys wanted me to take their picture before we even went in the gate with the peacock. The really loved all the little animal statues through the park and made it a point to pose with every single one and because I think they are totally adorable I took pictures. To be kind I’ll just post a gallery at the bottom and add just my favorite experience from the day.

After we had lunch I couldn’t resist taking a picture of Rory & Finn in front of the pot o’ gold.

We wandered around a while and happened upon the chimpanzee feeding time. He answered all sorts of questions from the boys and made a friend for life in Rory when they went in one of the caves and I didn’t have time to warn Rory it would be loud and he just reached out his hand and let Rory hold it. This is Rory’s hair and Finn’s hand next to JJ the gorilla’s foot through the glass.

The LOVE LOVE LOVED watching the gorillas get fed. Even more Rory really loved JJ and learning about him. Both of the boys even asked questions and I love that the zookeeper spoke to them and answered their questions without speaking down or dumbing down the answers. 

Finn was so excited to see the Okapi. I did have to stop him from trying to climb the fence he wanted to touch one so badly. I love that Rory was just as excited for Finn.

Then we fed some Giraffes, ok the boys fed the giraffes. Then Finn got licked by a giraffe which if you are 3 was the most hysterical thing that could ever happen.

We ended the day with some dippin dots for the boys and a cold water for me. It was pretty awesome it was the first time they had ever had them and it totally won me mom of the year in their eyes!

Stay tuned for our next adventure.

March Recap

Posted on May 30th, 2012 in blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

I know I know I said I’d never write one of these again but life with 5 kids is honestly a whirlwind and I feel lately like I’m constantly struggling to keep up with everything.

After Rory’s party things just kept flying by. Some pretty cool things happened though. I got a bike! Yup thats right I got a bike the kids and I were riding daily through our neighborhood, taking nightly walks and somehow I lost a bunch of weight, which is what inspired the bike purchase. Isn’t she cute? I have to admit this is the first time i’ve ridden a bike in close to 20 years.

Then one day Finn and I did something awesome together. We pulled out the herbs and he designed his tea blend, just like his siblings did. He was so proud and he loves to get out the teapot and put the herbs & honey in all by himself and have a cuppa or three because he likes to do everything in threes these days. It will be in the shop soon I just need to think of a name and get it listed. Do you have any ideas?

I also got my craft on a little at my husband’s request. You see he was going through the Coast Guard CCTI program and he needed a fancy charge book and always on a budget I said why don’t we make you one out of your old uniforms. In my head this was an easy task UNTIL he added on all sorts of requests like lets make it so you button it closed, and do you think it can have pockets on the inside and some other things I don’t even remember now that I’m pretty sure I vetoed.

A major thing that happened here which had been pretty awesome in most aspects is BRACES! Thats right BOTH Lexi & I went to the orthodontist and got braces. Its something I’ve always wanted to do and almost did once before as an adult and figured we could do it together. If I had known just how much is was going to hurt though let me tell you I would have probably skipped it, the bonus is I’m losing more weight because of it because well it hurts to snack/eat to I’m eating more smoothies and juicing and skipping that late night tv snacking.

To finish out the month Finn was looking through Jack & Rory’s old Main Lesson Books from when we were using Oak Meadow and he wanted an A gate picture too. What kind of mom would I be if I didn’t then read him the Story of Peter Rabbit and draw with him an A gate picture. Then for fun I posed all three boys together with their pictures so you can see how the different gates of our backyards have influenced my drawing. Please ignore the marker all over Finn he was fighting Zombies according to him.

Rory’s Rainbow Spectacular

Posted on March 16th, 2012 in blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

The planning for this party seemed to start forever ago! I asked Rory what kind of birthday he wanted this year and he excitedly told me a rainbow and unicorn party. I think easy enough and plan on a few decorations and to make the same strawberry cupcakes (note: I alter the recipe to have 1c pamela’s gf pancake & baking flour & 1/2c pamela’s gf bread flour) I made him last year because they were delicious. Then one day I start thinking about the decorations I saw on Facebook a while back of OhMeaghan’s Rainbow + Rollerskate party and dropped her an email which led to her rainbow pinterest board  and me following the links that really excited me and repining and adding to to make my own rainbow party pinterest board.

It started with a trip to the fabric store to get some fabric to make a little bunting. On the way home we stopped at michael’s craft just to peek and came home with the amazing rainbow ribbon and the flowers I later used as a center piece on one of the tables. On the way home from this trip we were talking about food for the party and he said “I hope you have enough cake stands for this.” cake stands really?!?!? who is this child so a discussion about the type of cake stands he wanted happened.

We continued to collect items and narrowed down the menu and ideas. This is when things get really interesting if you know me and know about all of my food “rules”. There have been no, none , zero zilch food dyes allowed in our home to the best of my abilities since 2003. We eat very naturally, organic as often as possible, few preservatives, even fewer “processed” foods, very little soy, at times gluten & dairy free and for three ish years now corn free after realizing many of Rory’s behavior and sensory problems were from him detoxing off high fructose corn syrup. I’ve been known to call it nightmarish because for me it is. I’ve been limiting, over bearing and controlling of what food comes in our home and more preachy than sharing and partnering with my children, This was blatantly pointed out to me not very long ago by Sandra Dodd I had mixed feelings about it but I listened, and thought why not?

The Invitations were ordered. Actually I fell in love with the whole set from the TomKat Studio that I ordered the entire rainbow party pack!

Preparing for the big day involved a ton of butter and baking and excitement by me for rocking a red velvet cupcake.

The day before the big party was Rory’s actual birthday. He started the say off with a mini birthday cake breakfast out on the patio. Rode his bike like Pee Wee Herman in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure his current favorite movie. We finished off the afternoon painting a a rainbow sign for the big day.

Then I put the kids to bed and the frosting started. Who knew frosting a 6 layer cake would be as both easy and difficult as it was. Each layer brought new excitement and fear. In the end it was slightly crooked but I am not a professional baker or cake decorator just a mom of a 6 year old rainbow and unicorn loving boy so this was good enough for me. By the time I finished frosting the cake and the 3 dozen cupcakes Steve was finished making the sandwich skewers so it was off to bed with us as well.

The big day was upon us. I put Rory’s rainbow sign by the front door and hung the Welcome sign and some rainbows from my TomKat Studio Rainbow printables.

I hung one of the buntings and the TomKat birthday banner on the wall behind where I set up the food table. I loved seeing the excitement on Rory’s face when I pulled out the rainbow unicorn table cover which was actually a little too narrow for my 8 foot table.

 I had standard fruit and veggie platters only I arranged them in rainbows as I had seen on pinterest.

I made a quickie tortellini chicken pasta salad and the sandwich sticks I fell in love with.

There were the red velvet cupcakes and strawberry cupcakes both gluten free.

This rainbow cake was all about me being outside my comfort zone first it was SIX layers, called for a TON of food coloring something I haven’t cooked with before this week since 2003 when I eliminated them from our diets at least from home, and I used fondant for the very first time that included corn syrup and yet even more dye for the decorations.  I pulled out my x-acto knife and freehand cut out the letters for Rory’s name ever thankful while doing so that he has a short name.

COOKIES! We had some kid decorated lemon sugar cookies (I used lots of lemon zest instead of orange), cinnamon sugar butter cookies, and RAINBOW shortbread style cookies!

To drink I made our family standard fruit punch (equal parts cranberry pomegranate juice and sierra mist you know because its corn syrup free and a splash of pineapple juice) and pink lemonade I don’t know why the color was so dark on mine but it tasted AMAZING! I supplied ice with a scoop in a rainbowish striped bucket and my favorite thing was the colorful striped paper straws. I put out mason jars in both pints and half pints to drink out of and its a good thing I have a lot of both.

The rainbow bunting and the pom pom & yarn garland were both hung on the back fence for a splash of rainbow color.

The balloons tied to rainbow yarn were brought out with extra pink for my pink loving boy!

With the arrival of our first guests (thank you Julie, Diana & Frances) we were able to get a picture of our rainbow dressed family I even got to have our unicorn leader sit on my lap! I really wish Finn wasn’t holding that balloon and you could really see his green shirt though.

We ate some food & opened some gifts.

Then it was time to sing happy birthday and blow out the candles. If you look closely or even not too closely you will see how butter creme, fondant and hot Miami weather may not be the best of friends as the polka dots were sliding a little bit. I also didn’t realize until about now that I forgot to put the little mini felt cake bunting on the skewers that were more structural than decorative.

I cut the cake and sadly realized the cake slices were too big for the adorable rainbow unicorn plates I had purchased for the party so we just used some boring non matching paper plates I had.

These amazing brilliant colors were totally worth the insane amount of food coloring needed to get them to see the smiles on not only my rainbow boy’s face but the faces of every other person child and adult alike.

At the end of the day the party goers were able to grab a gift bag filled with temporary tattoos & a stained glass mini coloring book (either unicorn or dragon themed), a unicorn swirled lollipop, a pack of crayons, a rainbow crayon & colored pencil and a sandwich size ziploc bag to fill with candy from the candy bar. I had filled jars with skittles, m&m’s, sunkist fruit chews, and little mike & ikes.

What surprised and saddened me the most at the end of the day was the little girl who didn’t fill her bag with candy but filled it with the leftover fruit from the fruit platter. I don’t know if it was dietary or if fruit was that big of a treat to her and I didn’t ask mostly because I didn’t want to embarrass her either way but I will now make sure when she is over to bring out some fruit.

It was a busy day because in addition to my own 5 kids there were about 15 added kids from the neighborhood at any given time (they just all started dropping in and at one point I panicked that we wouldn’t have enough food) in addition to 8 or so adults. I just love that I am STILL hearing from my own kids and party attendees how awesome the party was. Totally makes all the broken food rules totally worth it and not such a big deal at all in the grand scheme of things. When asked what he liked the most about his party he said everything he only wished that Brenna was there for it too because he really misses her.

I’ll update later on with links for all the recipes and inspiration posts and suppliers but for now I’m  going to have a cup of tea and watch my kids play in the pool because this post took much longer to write than I had anticipated.

December Recap

Posted on March 13th, 2012 in blog, family, Handmade MIami, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

For as busy as November was December was even busier! I hope you enjoy pictures! 

December started with a revamp of all the body butter packaging.

Then came my last show of the year with the West Elm + Etsy event. I had a blast stepping outside my box display wise and using props from the store.

Then because Rory had gotten his cast off he was ready to start riding his bike. Finn couldn’t be out done so was happy to play on Jack’s scooter.

Then I had the kids paint some wood cut out birds as decorations for our tree as I didn’t think glass ornaments and hard tile floors would get along well. The kids decorated the tree and we were lucky to have Steve home to hang some lights on the outside. Even if the weather was 70+ it was beginning to feel a bit festive.

Lexi with all her culinary skills made us some fab chicken stir fry one night for dinner.

After the ornament painting the boys were on a painting kick.

As a special request I made some just plain scented bath salts.

My poor mail carrier this is what she saw on a pretty regular basis through November and December.

We decorated some gingerbread houses.

Jack turned 8! Can you believe it EIGHT!!! Pirate themed and an ice-cream cake!! All he wanted for weeks before was a cat so we searched for days on craigslist and scored this sweet little girl he aptly named Mason.

Then it was the first night of Chanukah  and Steve said the blessings for us over the phone and we had amazing sweet potato latkes which I forgot to get a picture of.

Then I decided to take on the insane task of making everyone in the family stockings. Not just any stockings stockings that would match their quilts to come in the future. So now just a week before Christmas while still packing and filling orders I had to nail down color schemes and actual quilt patterns for at least 5 people. Lexi’s actually used leftover pieces and an embroidery square from her quilt. Jack’s was actually easy I knew he wanted an orange zig zag.  Rory would want pink, Aidan blue, and Finn green, but to find patterns to match their personalities was hard.  In the end I think they came to great.

 My crafting actually inspired Aidan to get his craft on too!

On Christmas Eve we were invited over to a friends home to celebrate Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) the food was AMAZING!!! There was mojito pork, rice, beans, fried plantains,  Tres Leches Cake and great friends! We had so much fun and like we belonged! THANK YOU Frances, Julie & Families!!

Then we hurried home to unwrap our traditional Christmas pajamas and climb into bed! If you look closely Aidan & Steve have matching pants.

Then we woke up and opened up some fun presents. That apron Lexi is holding up and the bedside organizer Steve is holding up those were made by Aidan back when he got his craft on. That tshirt I got Steve was really an joke because at EVERY show I do I get asked at least once if when I make soap if it is like the scene in Fight Club.

Then one day I finally followed my kids out with my camera to catch some shots of them all riding their new bikes they got earlier in the month for St Nicholas Day.

We wound up both the month & year with a visit from my Dad and a little New Year’s Eve swimming.

Sneaking in.

Posted on April 20th, 2011 in blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

I bet you thought I forgot. I didn’t Just wanted to let you know about something fabulous. I have lots of things I want to share. Today was a whirlwind. I packed 37 orders today. THIRTY SEVEN! I think I relisted all the sold items in the shop. I prepped another 84,000 orders for packing tomorrow. I planned. While I was doing all that my husband took my wonderful children to the Zoo. I wished I had been able to go.

All four kids

So there you have it with about 90 minutes to spare I continue my blogging run!

Oh and if you happen to venture to the kids blog yes I know I need to get on that again but y’all have kept my really busy, but to the point if you email the kids don’t be surprised if you get an email back from them. They are in charge of their own correspondence.

Quilting Adventure The Dresses

Posted on April 17th, 2011 in 101 in 1001, blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

This has been such  an adventure but the most asked question to my last post via email was what do the dresses look like? Well there are still a few yet to arrive from the lovely Gigi , however I have received the ones from my dear friends Ann & Laura, as well as my mom and little sister. There are also the ones Lexi and I have worked on. When all counted up we have enough for TWO quilts and at least some pillow shams. With out further ado here are the hand embroidered dresses.

And because I know you too will think these little dresses are just so darling you need to make some for your projects too you can have a little sweetness in your life too!

What I’m working on- A Quilt

Posted on April 11th, 2011 in 101 in 1001, blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

What I’m working on now is a little different than you might expect. About a year or so ago Lexi asked if we could make a quilt together. At the time I thought it was a little beyond what we had time for but she really wanted to make something so we made her a cute little wristlet.

I was really impressed with her attention to the project. She has even made a bunch more as gifts and wants to open her own etsy shop as a project for school next year.

Well this year she asked for a bedroom update, you know because at 11.5 she’s not a “kid” anymore. So away went the day bed she has slept in since she started climbing out of her crib at 18 months and in came the bed she picked from ikea in a “grown up” full size. So I started looking at bedding and then thought this was the perfect opportunity to make a quilt. We started with some embroidered squares that I fell in love with when seeing them on etsy one day. Aren’t these dresses delightful?

Lexi embroidering a dress

If you want to score these and the other 3 little designs stop on over to the a little sweetness etsy shop.

I can’t wait to share how the quilt progresses with you!

101 in 1001 UPDATE

Posted on January 19th, 2011 in 101 in 1001, blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

Ok this is yet another thing that had great plans and got pushed aside in the craziness of what 2010 was! Lets see where I’m at I actually completed a few more things than I expected but probably need to rethink a few as well!

1. Ask for advice and take it
2. Have a Yes! day. 0/6
3. Gratitude blog weekly 10 times 0/10
4. Identify 100 things that make me happy 0/100
5. Identify 25 things I like about myself 0/25
6. Go to a coffee shop & enjoy time ALONE! 0/6
7. Blog 15 times per month 0/32
8. Blog a kid or photo post 50 times 0/50

Get Green

Last garden harvest

• 1. Lexi 2/32
  2. Jack 2/32
  3. Rory 2/32
  4. Finn 2/32

1. Trundle bed for Lexi’s room (she wants a full size bed instead)
   B. She also asked for a new dresser like ours

• 1. Bed
  2. Dressers 2/2

Pink Boy Princesses

Posted on January 12th, 2011 in blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

The whole boys loving pink is getting quite a bit of publicity these days. I’m on the fence about it all. Having a pink loving ballet dancing boy princess I understand it. However I also am not doing it because I relate to a celebrity or want my 15 minutes or want to exploit my son in anyway. I am here to help him pave the way, to help others who are in a situation now pave the way, to CHANGE things so maybe he won’t have to suffer quite so much. I do this as nothing more than Rory’s mother. I do this for love.

This was recently brought to the surface again from a place I least expected it. A mother was asking for help because her boy like mine likes pink, princesses and playing with the girls. When she asked him why he simply said because boys don’t fight. Then she said “My husband and I are very strict on this issue and most of the time try to not to allow him to do girlish things hoping that this might change his attitude.can we do anything to prevent it. we are really worried that this might affect his future sexual identity. please help.”

WHOA! WHAT?!?!

I drafted my reply :”This deeply offends me  on many many levels. What is wrong with him liking pink? Will it hurt anyone if for a year or 6 months or 5 years he likes pink or barbie or princesses? Will it make him less of a man down the road to be caring and considerate kind empathetic in ways that many women complain that they wish their husbands, boyfriends partners were? Gender roles disgust me. If it were your little girl doing things that boys do like become educated, vote, work outside the home, become a teacher, doctor lawyer president would you still care? As recently at the 1950′s pink has historically been am masculine color and blue a calmer color reserved for girls.

I see my 4.5 yo boys love for pink no different than his 7 yo brothers need to wear orange for 2 straight years and honestly Rory is less intense and dramatic about it. He is my softer gentler boy. He takes ballet. He loves it it makes him happy so happy the teacher has said he truly brightens the class including the girl who used to push and shove in the class who doesn’t anymore. He was a “boy fairy princess” for Halloween I admire his creativity.

What right do I have to ever make him feel his beliefs are wrong? What kind of a parent would I be to make him feel any less than accepted for who he is! He wants to grow up and be a ballerina and a mommy so he can wear babies in slings and have snuggle time and read stories in nests. I can’t wait! And so what if in 20 years hens the “mommy” I’ll be there to love and support him. He doesn’t put gender roles on mommy & daddy other than mommy is comfort mommy takes care of us. Daddy can be abrupt and stern.

Future sex identity? Sounds to me more like some homophobic fear talking. Would it really be the end of the world if he is gay and happy? Or Would you prefer that he feel unaccepted and shut out in his own home by the people in the world who are supposed to love him the most during adolescence when things are confusing enough and rather than disappoint you or other fears kills himself instead?”

Rory in pink Opening his "the only boy in ballet class" book

Should I have left it like that maybe not but I really wanted to make a point. I offended her. I think I probably meant to. I meant her to get mad to fight for her child to put on her mama bear big girl panties and protect her child to love him to fight for him. She is from Dubai she is using culture as an “excuse” for her behavior. I understand that homosexuality is not always accepted in other places and then I thought is it REALLY accepted here in the good ole US of A? BUT, BUT, BUT before we even get that far lets remember that we are also discussing a little boy here he is FOUR! FOUR! They don’t do things at this point to be gay or straight. They just do things to not hurt, to not feel challenged, or ridiculed.  I sent off a second response. A response that in all honesty I cried while drafting. A response that has since moved me to tears reading it to a few friends over the phone. Friends that I know will be right there by my side loving my children and fighting for them as I will be for theres. Friends I thanks my lucky stars on a daily basis for having. Friends who urged me to share with you.

“This entire thing has been bothering me since I saw it. I was up pacing at midnight and couldn’t sleep til about 2 am and was up again at 4 still bothered by it. My heart breaks for children who are not accepted for whatever the reason by their family. Be it a father who is unaccepting of his daughter’s dyslexia. A mother who doesn’t understand how food is interfering with her children’s behavior. A sibling who torments his brother for liking to cook.

Lazy Sunday

Posted on January 9th, 2011 in blog, family, Lana Bella by jenni

Wow it’s been crazy here since our return from the
holidays. Seems we aren’t the only one starting 2011 with a stomach
thing though. It’s our 1st Sunday all feeling well and our last
before we are back to the grind. We spent it getting a new puppy so
welcome home Pippi the puggle beagle puppy!

Family Life

Posted on August 28th, 2010 in blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

She has been home for a week now and as much as I’d like to say we have done amazing things and are ahead of schedule I can’t. Due to project reorganize the entire house (which honestly is STILL going on nearly a month later) she has been having a hard time finding and/or putting things away. But she is HOME! I missed that girl. Lexi changed so much over the 6 weeks she was gone, I swear she grew 4 inches and really started blossoming from that little girl I sent away into a wonderful young lady.

Counting Down…

Posted on August 16th, 2010 in blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

Its been a long long summer here at our home made to feel even longer by having Lexi my 11 year old daughter gone for most of it. I didn’t realize/took for granted how much her young girl hands helped both our family and the business to run smoother. It is often Lexi who pulls the products for your orders in a timely fashion because its not as easy to do with a 6, 4 and 1 1/2 year old as one might think. She also helps keep inventory of products so I don’t accidentally run out on something popular or make something only I like. Don’t worry I’m not running a sweat shop it was something we agreed to as part of homeschooling this past year and she gets paid in both craft and money.

The good news is she will be home August 23! I’m so excited so much has changed in our home while she has been gone I’ve been on an organizing, decluttering frenzy. I really can’t wait for her to get home to start school again. There is so much I have planned for this fall sewing, baking, crafting, painting, photography and we will be continuing with the theme of prairie life as well.

In order to spend more time with my family though after the whirlwind spring season I’ll be taking on a lighter load of a fall schedule show wise though because I really missed them. To offset this I’ll be offering more discounts in my Etsy shop.

HOMECOMING SALE 8/16 through 12:01 am EST 8/23 10% off all orders AND buy more save more BUY 5 get one FREE feel free to mix and match you will just get your lowest priced item free don’t forget to tell me HOMECOMING in the note to seller box on Etsy for the discounts I will refund discounts & free items though paypal.

Hey what are you still doing here SHOP NOW!

Confessions

Posted on August 9th, 2010 in 101 in 1001, blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

I have to admit it I’m probably the worst blogger you will encounter. I have these grand ideas of the types of content I want to post, the way I want the site/blog to look, the comments I’ll enjoy reading and then that feeling sets in. You know the one where you panic that what you write won’t be interesting, grammatically correct, will most likely have at least one totally embarrassing typo that spellcheck didn’t pick up because it is spelled correctly just not the word I was attempting, and that people will judge that you are some ill-literate poser who has no idea what she is actually doing. And you know what I think I’m mostly ok with that now.

I’m human. I am a busy and sometimes lazy neurotic mother with FOUR small children at home three of who I will be homeschooling this year. I make soap. I am passionate about my beliefs even if they may seem wrong or over the top. I’m exhausted. I believe things that many won’t agree with but they are my beliefs and I’m done with trying to keep things in their little boxes. So you will see more and more of my personal side coming through here and maybe you will like it, maybe you will agree or disagree, and maybe just maybe you will learn something or be enlightened.

Things have been crazy hectic here since mid July when Lexi went north for the summer I apologize for slow shipping and delayed emails and general forgetfulness. We have had summer colds & stomach bugs and well I’m an anxiety ridden mess most days. I’m working on getting my house/family back on track so that it will also help get the business back on track with some new stuff coming this fall.

Thanks for all your support.

How I spent Mother’s Day

Posted on May 11th, 2010 in blog, family, Lana Bella by jenni

Woke up EXTREMELY sore from the windfest and tent holding the pervious say at Squidfire’s Art Mart, but still I wanted to go to the JFX Farmer’s Market. So even though it was only 8am I had a cup of coffee (ok I had 2) and started sending kids off to get dressed. It was cold yet bustling all those plants wanting to come home with me. Instead we got some greens, asparagus and strawberries because they were so yummy and ripe smelling.

Afterwards we headed to Lowes to finish getting rocks and dirt for the raised beds Steve and the kids had built me a few weeks earlier.

So a shopping cart and contractor’s cart later home we head. After a few hours of work where I over worked already sore muscles and this is what I ended up with. Potato bins to the left, the raised bed, and sweet potato and garlic to the right with some marigolds tossed in to hopefully protect everything.

Then on the patio table we never seem to use I have some herbs and my tea cup planter full of Red Clover and Dandelions.

My favorite part of the day was sitting with the kids and planting their seeds in their Sesame Street planters.

Jack planted Bert & Ernie Peppers, Lexi planted Oscar the Grouch Green Beans, Finn some Elmo Tomatoes and Rory the pink Abby Cadabby Pumpkins.

Steve even put some wire on the bottom of the compost bin and got that set up for me too. I’m so excited about our little garden in the city this year!

We even had our first harvest of greens for a salad to add to dinner.

How I spent Mother's Day

Posted on May 11th, 2010 in blog, family, Lana Bella by jenni

Woke up EXTREMELY sore from the windfest and tent holding the pervious say at Squidfire’s Art Mart, but still I wanted to go to the JFX Farmer’s Market. So even though it was only 8am I had a cup of coffee (ok I had 2) and started sending kids off to get dressed. It was cold yet bustling all those plants wanting to come home with me. Instead we got some greens, asparagus and strawberries because they were so yummy and ripe smelling.

Afterwards we headed to Lowes to finish getting rocks and dirt for the raised beds Steve and the kids had built me a few weeks earlier.

So a shopping cart and contractor’s cart later home we head. After a few hours of work where I over worked already sore muscles and this is what I ended up with. Potato bins to the left, the raised bed, and sweet potato and garlic to the right with some marigolds tossed in to hopefully protect everything.

Then on the patio table we never seem to use I have some herbs and my tea cup planter full of Red Clover and Dandelions.

My favorite part of the day was sitting with the kids and planting their seeds in their Sesame Street planters.

Jack planted Bert & Ernie Peppers, Lexi planted Oscar the Grouch Green Beans, Finn some Elmo Tomatoes and Rory the pink Abby Cadabby Pumpkins.

Steve even put some wire on the bottom of the compost bin and got that set up for me too. I’m so excited about our little garden in the city this year!

We even had our first harvest of greens for a salad to add to dinner.

Photo of the day

Posted on March 12th, 2010 in Baltimore Craft, blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

Better late than never right? Photo of the day is of Jack & Rory hard at work coloring their greenstarstudio color your own valentines. I know the boys enjoyed coloring as much as giving!

Photo of the Day

Posted on February 15th, 2010 in 101 in 1001, family, homeschool by jenni

101 things in 1001 days

Posted on February 12th, 2010 in 101 in 1001, family, Lana Bella by jenni

So I stumbled across someone who posted about making a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. Then with a little google I see all these wonderful lists out there they are inspiring and overwhelming all at the same time! Can I do it? Will I fail miserably? How many could I accomplish? How could my list grow? However when you think about it its like 1 thing a weekish even me in my worst procrastination could manage to get something done each week couldn’t I? So who is with me? Oh I guess I need to make my list can that be the first thing?

The Festival of Saint Nicholas

Posted on December 1st, 2009 in family, homeschool by jenni

What some of you may not know about us is that we are a homeschooling family. On December 1 each year we start telling the story of Saint Nicholas in preparation for the festival in his honor on December 6. This is a common thread if you are familiar with Waldorf education.

Tonight after dinner my children and I in our pajamas will get in our pajamas and gather round on the floor of the boys room as I will retell the same story we hear December 1 every year, the story of The Little Boy Nicholas. After we read this story with our hearts filled with hope and love  into bed they go and down to the kitchen I go. I will bake cookies for them to awake to along with 5 shiny pennies representing the cookies and coins in the story and the children who helped the little boy who could not use his legs. These cookies and coins will remind my children to be kind and helpful to each other. This year we are using this cookie recipe Haselnussmakronen as we are currently gluten free and I don’t have flour in the house and no time today to get our usual snicker doodle ingredients.

So come back tomorrow and see how we will celebrate on Day 2 of the Festival of St Nick!