This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Sunday Outing

The last two Sundays we've taking family outings to the newly opened Fort Vancouver Library.  There were several years where the library wasn't really on my radar. I preferred to buy books.  If we went out, it was likely to movies, a restaurant, or shopping.  When they began building the new location, my shiny-meter clicked on.  We had just begun a family, the economic tide had shifted and I was once again focused on simpler, less commercial living.  I had daydreams of regular trips with my son to the library instilling him with my love of reading.  I realized I could test-drive many more books if I checked them out from the library and then could purchase the ones I *really* wanted. This last outing I was able to get several books on a number of topics I am currently interested in.  We've also discovered the library's fantastic collection of movies and graphic novels which is very exciting to Josh.

One of the big bonuses has been the discovery of the children's floor.  It has this huge activity area that Toby is TOTALLY digging.

  He can run around and explore to his hearts content and he burns that inexhaustible toddler energy.  This is great, especially this time of year when it's cold and yucky out.  It takes the edge off of not being able to go feed the ducks so often which is one of his current favorite outings.

I hope we can make this a common outing.  There is lots for all of us to do and it is a free outing especially good for a rainy day.  And maybe he'll just develop a love of books out of it!

Bundled

Dusting off the Knitting Needles

I took up knitting a few years back when knitting was all the rage.  I bought Stitch N' Bitch and imagined myself knitting up all sorts of cool hats, sock, gloves, and sweaters for myself and everyone I knew.  I started off with a nice easy scarf and was encouraged by the result so I dove in head first.  I twisting scarf, some socks, fingerless gloves and realized I was in WAY over my head.  It was no longer fun.  The idea of even attempting something as complex as a sweater was completely daunting and so eventually I just packed up the yarn and the needles and stashed them away. 

Fast forward several years later.  Priorities have shifted.  I'm a mama.  I'm reading simple living blogs obsessively (I'm not going to lie, I kind of want to be just like her when I grow up), I am slowly stretching my wings with making more from scratch at home, and I want to go back to creating lovely things that my family will use rather than buying if at all possible.  These choices are yes, partially financially driven but also I really have a deep seeded urge to be living my life this way.  I told my husband a few weeks ago that my dream job is being a mommy.  The way I dream about providing for my family is not bringing hoards of cash but to creating a warm, nourishing, healthy home for those I love.  Were a ways off from that dream.  We need to sort out some financial stuff first but I'm hopeful. 

Starting Out

So, last weekend I pulled out the big bag of knitting supplies and started simple.  I decided that after years of reading the praises of homemade dishcloths I would see what all the fuss was about.  I found this lovely pattern at Little House in the Suburbs and started.  I had to reteach myself all the basics but luckly found that it was like riding a bike and was much easier to learn the second time around.  I even had the same brand of yarn (in a marvelously bilious green).  It's a fabulous pattern, easy to do, easy to remember.  So quick too!  After I competed the first one and promptly soaked in the sink with all the dirty dishes, I went back to make a second one for my mom.  I plan on making several to have on hand. 

Early Morning Coffee, Knitting, and a Snuggle Pug - what more could you need?

I'm not sure what my next project will be.  I started reading Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmerman (recommended, again, by SouleMama).  I'm hoping to gain enough confidence to try a sweater for Toby soon.  I would love to see him running around in a sweater made by his mama!

The finished Product - not too shabby!

My Etsy shop!

My Etsy shop is FINALLY back up!  Right now I just have my prints up because everything else needs to be photographed.  It's a start.  Check it out!  I also added Etsy Mini to the right sidebar.

Getting Out

Tuesday of last week I declared to Josh that I didn't want to look back on this summer and realize we spent every evening in front of the television.  It's easy to do.  We both get home from work, I make dinner and by the time everything is said and done, all we want to do is zone out.  The nights that Josh works late or I plan a more elaborate dinner make this worse.  Toby doesn't typically allow me to disappear into the kitchen to cook dinner and our kitchen isn't really set up to handle him.  The more elaborate the dinner, the longer it takes and the messier the aftermath is.  SO, my new goal for the remainder of the summer is to plan simple quick meals for dinner so we can have some time in the evenings for some outdoor time.  We have a really nice walking trail about 5 minutes away from us, a couple of small parks with play structures for Toby, and we could at least spend the evening in the backyard if nothing else.  Tuesday night we had a quick dinner of chicken sausages from Costco (yum) and several different fresh veggies from the garden.  After the nice easy cleanup we went down to the walking trail and walked for about an hour.  Toby spent most of the time in the stroller.  We tried to let him walk a bit but the sidewalk was pretty rough so he fell and scraped his knee pretty bad.  All and all, the walk was lovely and successful.  The trip to the park afterwards was NOT a success.  Toby, who usually loves to swing, had a meltdown on the swing.  Sadly, the park was not very well maintained so there was broken glass and trash everywhere so we couldn't really let him run around.  We finally left with Toby in tears.  Perhaps a different playground next time.

Since then, we've been doing great.  We've going down to the walking trail almost every evening since.  On a work retreat last week I discovered a really great hiking area that is quite close.

 view from the bridge

 waterfall created by a dam

 ducks on the water

We went there on Sunday and had a lovely hike around the lake.  Toby rode in the Ergo.  Not the most hiking friendly carrier, especially on some of the steeper hill that were on this hike but it worked.  We may start looking for a frame carrier for him and we are hoping to let him do some himself as he gets older.

I hope we continue to do this.  Toby is an active kiddo and I want to make sure we can keep up with him.  We love hiking and got out of the habit of it a few years ago so I would really like to make this a part of our lives again. 

Fearless

This weekend we took a day trip to the beach.  I really love the coast.  It's one of my favorite places to be.  Considering how close we live we really don't go often enough.  We piled Toby and the 2 dogs into the car and headed out.  I was pretty apprehensive about handling a very active toddler and two dogs but I took a deep breath and we hit the road.  The car ride started out pretty rough.  Toby wasn't happy about being in the back seat by himself and Pooka was grumpy about being banished to the back of the vehicle in his crate.  We stopped  at our favorite breakfast spot on the way to Long Beach, all little place called The Berry Patch in Westport, OR and then loaded back into the car, this time me in back with Toby to keep him company.

When we got to Long Beach we headed straight to the beach.  Toby's to the age where we have to decide if we should load him into the stroller or let him walk.  Since we would have had to carry the stroller until we got to the hard sand we let him walk. He was very interested in the sand and walking in it.  He walked until he was tired and then I carried him to the harder sand.  That's where the fun began!

Toby was loving it!  I took him up to the edge of the ocean to see how he liked the water and he was totally into it.  He would have walked right in and kept on going if I'd let him.  This brought up some uncomfortable thoughts for me to be honest.  I love how fearless he is and I don't want to squash that but I also don't want him trying to fly off the roof one day.  How do I simultaneously encourage his freedom and bravery while teaching him boundaries?  One of the many parenting conundrums I have to sort out.

Wanting to give him a little more freedom, we went up to where the higher tide had left puddles and I let him play around for a while and then we went and played in the sand.  He had a great time pushing the sand around.

I was still feeling a little overwhelmed with having both Toby and the dogs there but Josh talked me down.  He took care of the dogs while I watched the baby.  Maybe not the most relaxing trip to the beach ever but we all had a pretty good time.

We planned on walking around town for a while.  They were having cake for Jake the Alligator Man's birthday but we felt it was too warm of a day to leave the dogs in the car.  After a change of clothes for Toby, we loaded back into the car, stopped for some french fries and headed back towards home. Baby and dogs were all tuckered so slept blissfully all the way home.

Slowing Down - How I became a Morning Person

One thing I find challenging as a new parent is taking time to slow down and enjoy those little amazing moments. I am so often bouncing from one "must do" task to the next I forget to take pleasure in watching my amazing son or enjoying the company of my husband.   Heaven forbid, the kitchen go uncleaned for a few minutes or the laundry not get folded.

Recently, I’ve started getting up earlier in the mornings.  I’m developing a routine for the first time in my life.  I’m not, historically, a routine person.  I kind of just “go with it” usually.  I’m finding that as my morning routine evolves, I feel not so rushed. Not so crazed in the mornings. 

For now, here’s how the morning usually goes down:

The alarm goes off at 6:30.  I grumble, hit snooze, and snuggle back in with a baby.  Hit snooze a few more times the finally pry myself out of bed somewhere  between 7-7:30.  Put some warm layers on, turn the baby monitor on, then trudge out to the kitchen where I pour myself a nice steamy cup of coffee.  

coffee

Then I make my way to the studio turning on the monitor, lights, heater, and radio.  Then I will either curl up in my studio chair for a quick email check on my phone or go back to the living room to pump a meal for Toby in warmth while the frigid studio warms up a bit.  After the morning fog lifts a bit, I start to ponder how I should spend my time.  At the moment, it’s pretty much used getting my studio in somewhat of a working order.  

studio - in progress but almost there!

This project is (thankfully) almost done.  I’m hoping to eventually use this time to do a little something creative, possibly a little yoga or time on the elliptical.  At about 8ish, I hear the baby wake up and I speed into the bedroom to give him a little nosh back to sleep.  It’s here where I have the urge to rush again.  “Hurry up and fall back to sleep baby!  I have THINGS TO DO!”  I have to remind myself to breath and enjoy this closeness to my son.  I do so love snuggling with him in the morning when I stop and think about it.  His warm little face pressed up against me.  His arm draped across me.  I love the days he grips one of my fingers in his little hand while he sleeps.  Once he’s asleep again, I quietly get out of the bed again.    Then I will usually go back to the studio.  If I’m not feeling it that day I may spend some time cleaning the kitchen, do some laundry, or stuff liners in diapers.  At about 9ish, I start getting ready for work.  Pack lunch, prep the diaper bag, shower, get dressed.  Toby usually wakes up for good around this time too so depending on when that happens, he joins me.  If he wakes up, we take a breakfast break.  He plays in his playpen while I make us breakfast.  Usually a breakfast sandwich for me and a slice of ham and some fruit for him.  Typically much of Toby’s breakfast goes to the dogs as he delights in feeding them.  Then we finish getting ready and head out the door to Grandma’s house about 10. 

It’s still evolving but it’s working for us.  I think the routine is easier on Toby too.  Now if we can just get a nighttime routine.  That’s a harder task. 

My motivation for becoming a morning person?  This face:

Toby

Beginnings: Stepping off the ledge

With a tendency to over analyze and over research I've been pouring over some of my favorite blogs trying to answer the question "How do I begin?  What should my first post be?"  I distracted myself with "designing" my blog all the while telling myself that this was just a beginning design and I can add/change later so I just need to leave well enough alone.  So, with that, here I am.  Stepping off the ledge.  Doing what I've been talking about doing for YEARS.

...

Oh, I'm supposed to say something now?

An introduction:  My name is Maggie.  I'm 32 and a mama to a beautiful 10 month old boy.  I'm sure I'll be talking a lot about him as he is a constant source of inspiration and learning for me.  I have a wonderful husband, two badly behaved dogs and an elusive cat.  I work a part time day job and the rest of my time is spent ideally on keeping house, doing art, and growing with my son.  I prefer green methods of housekeeping whenever possible,  I lean towards attachment style parenting but I refuse to be pigeonholed.  I love to do yoga but have a problem with talking myself onto the mat.  I love to cook but often get bogged down by the state of my kitchen.

It is my hope that I can use this space to share these experiences and focus my energies creatively wisely.  To continually grow as a parent, as an artist, and as a person.

Here we go!