Pirate Dance

Satchel's pal MLC sent him some music from his pirate birthday party. Satchel loved it. Below is a clip. Thank you, Miles!



Pirate Dance on Vimeo

Tings

While wandering around MDG one day, I saw this go-jus necklace and bookmarked the page so I could purchase it with upcoming birthday loot. When I returned they were sold out!

I wanted to use it as a nursing necklace because Satchel now has a habit of reaching into my shirt and twisting my nipple like he's trying to tune in some obscure radio station.

So....I contacted the artist and asked her if she could recreate one so that I may use it to occupy busy little hands. Well, it arrived today and it's lovely!!! Thank you, Courtney. (I will interviewing this talented mama in the coming months)


It is true that I am as picky about jewelry as I am about most things. I only buy jewelry from independent artists. A lot of my jewelry was made by Christopher Roule back when he sold his wares at the flea near Tower on Bwy before he became too famous for me to afford. My favorite earrings were made by Renee Beggsmith and Cleone von Elten in SoHo. And over the years, my uncle has given me six of THESE beauties!





It worked like a charm!

Nap With Red Crayon

your breathing fills me to beyond what i could hold







Cy Twombly, eat your heart out! (The circles are mine, the lines all Satchel)

Work In Progress

Dirty brushes soaking in the sink;
bits of metal, and wire on the table;
the scent of gesso, acrylic glazes and copper; the clink of mallet on grommet on anvil.....


Julie commissioned (we bartered) a journal for each of her sons. She's going to write letters in the journals and give them to her boys when they are older.
Here is a sneak preview of the work in progress.



The vial on the side is for special things...like bits of earth or baby teeth.


Inside left reads: You can be everything you dream.

Multiple Choice

My husband recoils in disgust when he sees a crumb or trace of butter/cream cheese in the jelly jar. Please help us settle an on-going debate:

Which is more gross?

A - Accidentally getting a trace of cream cheese or butter (from the knife) in the jelly jar while making toast. (my husband actually buys me my own jar of jelly to avoid it)

B - Licking off the caps of condiments (ketchup, mustard etc) when you're done using them?
(my husband thinks this nothing of doing this )

C - Spitting in the pan to see if it's hot enough to cook on? (I will not let my husband cook for my friends or family )

D - Both B & C

E - All of the above

Happy Buy Nothing Day!

Participate by not participating

"On November 24th and 25th – the busiest days in the American retail calendar and the unofficial start of the international Christmas-shopping season – thousands of activists and concerned citizens in 65 countries will take a 24-hour consumer detox as part of the 14th annual Buy Nothing Day, a global phenomenon that originated in Vancouver, Canada." - BND Press Release

Check out the tv spot here!

Hey...did anyone watch "Puppet UP" on monday night? It was wonderful. It was like watching "Whose Line is it Anyway" with puppets! It reminded me of the International Puppet Festival in NYC that I went to with my friend, Phoebe!

Happy Thanksgiving

Satch and I spent Thanksgiving alone as dada is in DC looking for our new home. I made Vegetarian "Neat" loaf with organic wild mushroom gravy (thickened with soy milk), squash, and organic apple/peach crisp. The gravy was from a mix because as the mama of a toddler, I've learned that I have to cut corners, cut food, and wash crayon off walls when I'm done cooking.

Satch wouldn't eat a bite of his dinner. The only thing I could get him to eat was almond butter and crackers. As you can see he was looking mighty sad and sticky.











So, I tossed him in the tub and he was happy again. When in doubt, just add water!







This year I'm thankful for: tiny bits of food, mindfully chopped; scrawls of colored wax that mysteriously appear in the most unlikely places; for the laughter; the joy; the sleepless nights; for the honor of being Satchel's mama; for my loyal, loving, and witty husband whom I miss terribly today.








Neat Loaf

• 1 package of ground soy
  
• 1 med onion finely chopped
• 3 organic carrots finely minced
  
• 2 cups herbed stuffing mix crushed
  
• 2-3 left over spinach latkes * can use Dr. Praeger's
  
• 1-2 Tbs Braggs liquid aminos
• 2 cloves garlic finely minced
• 4 eggs
  

Saute onions and carrots until tender add garlic, remove from heat. In a bowl, stir together soy, egg, stuffing and braggs. Add onion/carrot/garlic mixture and mix thoroughly. Transfer to a loaf pan, cover with foil and bake at 450 for 3o minutes. *remove foil last 10 minutes to crisp top.

Quick Organic Apple/Peach Toddler Cobbler (adapted from Garden of Vegan)

• 1 organic apple chopped
• 1 organic peach chopped
• 3-4 Tbsp butter or marg
• 1/2 c oatmeal
• 3-4 Tbsp flour
• 1/2 t of nutmeg (I skip the nutmeg)
  
• 1 t of cinnamon
• 1/4 c sugar

* I use cinnamon-sugar instead and very little of it.

Chop fruit and place in a microwave safe dish. Mix together oats, flour, butter/marg, spices,
sugar and sprinkle on top of fruit. Microwave on high for 10-13 minutes. Let stand 2 minutes before serving.

What are you thankful for?
What did you make to eat?
Would you mind sharing your favorite meatless recipe with me?

Outrageous!!! Hospital Discourages Co-Sleeping

Crouse Hospital of Syracuse NY discourages co-sleeping. Attached are the actual documents. To enlarge, click on the image. (this will take you to flickr) then click on the magnifying glass! (You may also download a copy from flickr.)

*Please note the use of the word "Facts"...these are NOT facts, but opinions of the hospital!

If you find this as outrageous as I do, feel free to send a letter. I would love to organize a mass mailing:

Crouse Hospital
Kienzle Family Maternity Center
736 Irving Avenue
Syracuse, N.Y. 13210

Kienzle Family Maternity Center (315) 470-7753

Read Dr. Sears' article on the benefits of co-sleeping by clicking here!

"This generation of mothers labors under [the] dubious pronouncement that babies sleep best in isolation. Every infant knows better. His protest at nocturnal solitude contains the wisdom of millennia." - Thomas Lewis, M.D., A General Theory of Love



Below is an old photo of my brother when he got pinned under the bottom rail of his crib. By the time my grandfather (Gully) got there to saw him out, he had managed to wiggle free. Crib manufacturers spend a lot of time and money trying to make cribs safer, perhaps they should invest that energy in designing family beds!

The Way of Satch

You wore out your first toothbrush, but liked your new Elmo toothbrush so much that you wouldn't let go of it the entire day.

You went to sleep with a red crayon in your hand.

You insisted on wearing your "tawtaw" socks (turtle) from cousin Kate for an entire week.

You love your chair from "Grammy" and kept kissing my back while I assembled it.



While I'm trying to make dinner, you proudly point out your crayon illustrations on furniture, tv and walls.

*Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is the only thing that gets the crayon off!



You loved your new rug and immediately pulled THREE pieces off of it.


You make a sad face whenever you hear a slow song.



You like placing things on the cat's head when he's snoozing....very Dooce, BRAVO, I'm so proud of you!

More Goodly Goodliness

Satch made the photo feature of Mama Says Om!


















One of the realtors showing our home brought me some of his wife's artisan chocolate from her store, "Chocolate Pizza"! I consider myself an expert on chocolate in that I know good chocolate when I taste it. To say that her chocolate is good is an understatement, it's DIVINE! This chocolate is stiff competition for my other faves: Lilac of NYC, Chocolate Bar of NYC, Dagoba, and La Maison du Chocolat of Paris. (Don't let her playful color scheme fool you, it's SERIOUS chocolate!)

Order her "Wings" (potato chips dipped in peanut butter then chocolate) and hide them from your family.





On saturday we bought Satchel THIS drum by Remo.
It's has excellent sound quality and is so strong it can withstand a child standing on it. We were first introduced to this drum at Satchel's Toddlers' Tango class. He loved the drum so much we had to buy him one. When we got in the car, Robert took it out of the box and placed it next to Satchel's car seat. Satch immediately took a whack at it and exclaimed, "WOW"! It is worth every penny and I think he'll be passing the drum on to his own child one day.

Mama Time

Diggin':

• Edie Brickell's FREE downloads on her site!
• Beth Orton's "Comfort of Strangers" it's a staple...like bread!
• The bjorkish Regina Spektor's, "Begin to Hope"!
  
• KT Tunstall's, "Eye to the Telescope"!
• "The Mermaid Chair" during Satch-naps!
  

Outside

Rootin' Tootin'

Satchel loves imitating sounds, especially those emitted from his bum.


Rootin' Tootin' on Vimeo

So Beautifully

" With your child's eyes
You are more than you seem
You see into space
I see in your face
The places you've been
The things you have learned
They sit with you so beautifully" - KT Tunstall (Universe & U)

• You stack your watermelon cubes into little towers.
• You refuse to put down your crayon to eat and use it as a utencil, spearing your food.
• You point to your elbow and ask, "Da?" (That?) "Elbow", I reply. You point to your knee and say, "LoLo" (elbow). "That's your knee", I say. And then you just laugh at me as if it is silly that two such similar joints would have different names.
• You pretend to feed your toy animals (even those in pictures picture books) and make eating sounds punctuated by "mmmm!"
  
• You slept well last night, waking only twice to nurse at 12 and at 4...a record since birth!
  

Corners of My Home

Well the house is officially on the market and we having showings this week. The house renovation is nearly done.
I'm glad that I will be able to enjoy it for a little while before we move. I know some of you are curious about the "after photos"... which you can see here.




Please send your best house-selling vibes our way!

The B Side

...where in the house becomes a total disaster. The culprit (now running), a mere blur in the bottom left hand corner.

So much for organization...

Satch at 17 mos

"There was a single blue line of crayon drawn across every wall in the house. What does it mean? I said. A pirate needs the sight of the sea, he said & then he pulled his eye patch down & turned and sailed away." -Brian Andreas, Storypeople

He also likes to draw, it seems, on everything.

There is Purple crayon on the armoire (I couldn't help but think of Harold), blue crayon on dining room wall and orange crayon on the coffee table. The marks appear as if by magic, when my back is turned. I've yet to catch him in the act.



"One evening, after thinking it over for some time, Harold decided to go for a walk in the moonlight."

This is the beginning of a wonderful tale....

I nursed Satchel on the Sofa until he was drowsy then laid him down in bed for a nap. When I slipped my breast from his mouth, there was a big glob of food on it. (yick) He always hides a bit of food in his cheek like a squirrel.

Like his mama, Satch digs organization. One afternoon he decided to put all his balls in a ziploc bag.

Ride 'em Cowboy!

Ride 'em Cowboy! on Vimeo

Satchel would like to thank "Grammy Joyce" & "Grampy Lee" for his righteous ride!!!

(If the video is garbled, view the original here)

Banquet of Dreams

And on that day, the boy prepared a vegetarian banquet fit for kings. The animals and his favorite people all sat at the table together and dined slowly, savoring every delicious bite. There was much conversation about wings and far away places. The dragon told the funniest jokes, and the giraffe sang old jazz tunes while the ladybug danced on the rim of a tea cup.


The great hall was illuminated by the glow of fireflies that came to feast upon a garland of sugar cubes delicately strung between the old wood beams. The scent of finely milled hot cocoa filled the air. There was plenty of creamy butter for the warm slices of crusty bread with bits of apples and pecans baked inside. They ate and ate until there was nothing left to eat.

















The boy, exhausted, fell fast asleep in his furry trousers and magic monkey shoes (along with his friend, rabbit) and dreamt of his dada's return.











And his mama cleaned up the kitchen.

Threads

Is it me or is it hard to find fun, funky clothing for boys that doesn't involve drab colors, or navy blue, or graphics of trucks and sports icons?!?! I wish the designers would think like children and sew little tails on their pants and nurture their creativity. I wish they wouldn't dress them like little men. Let them be kids...let them play and pretend and let the clothing reflect the spirit of childhood! There, that's my rant. Now for a rave.....Old Navy finally produced some imaginative t-shirts. However, the colors are a bit boring.



If they had consulted with me (which the didn't) I would have told them that the Griffin shirt would look nifty in sky blue with sahara gold. The Ostrich Joust shirt would look funkier in a pale flamingo and prussian blue. At least that is my humble, artistic opinion.




















I'm a big fan of vintage Oilily and scored these new threads for Satch on ebay. I love Nina Mathijsen's use of color and texture. I'm crazy about the faux fur and fleece pieces. I call them muppet clothes. Speaking of muppets....I, for one, am looking forward to November 20th!!!!

Mom to Mom: Julie

Once a month I will be interviewing blogging mamas. If you would like to be interviewed on Mother Rising, please post a comment here (and let me know how to contact you). It's November, and I'm quite pleased to introduce Julie. I've had the good fortune of getting to know her in person and not merely by pixels. She is a bright, adventurous soul, a loyal friend, a devoted mother AND the only person I know who can measure a nanometer. Her husband describes her as feisty and I agree. Feisty ~ full of animation, energy, or courage; spirited; spunky


Mom: Julie
Of: Payton (Age 6) & Nathan ( Age 23 mos)
Where: New York
Blog: Self-Definition




1. In what ways has becoming a mother changed you?

It would be easier for me to answer how it hasnt changed me:

• My priorities have changed dramatically, I no longer care about having the latest shoe trend or even a closet full of great clothes.. (dont get me wrong.. I still love a great outfit, but its not on my must-have list anymore.) My priorities lie with what my children need grow into successful, mature, responsible adults.

• I've learned to laugh!!!
  

• And to pick my battles, not everything has to be done my way.

• I've learned to slow down; to take in those sweet tender moments; hold onto them and cherish them forever. They grow so very fast and we only have them as little ones for a short time. Take time out for hugs and kisses, even if youre busy!

2. How do you manage a daily routine with more than one child?

Consistancy is what holds us together. Having a routine that the children know and follow helps us a lot as well but I dont let it dictate every moment. I try to leave open opportunities for whatever life tries to throw at us. Your daily life and all its duties change. The most simple tasks of your day become those of such struggle doing the dishes, taking a shower, vacuuming, going grocery shopping, it all needs to be planned.

3. Do you have a mothering tip you would like to share?

Follow your motherly intuition. No one knows our children better than you. Also, never forget that you are your child's advocate. If you aren't comfortable with something, chances are your baby isn't either. Stand up for our babe !

4. How has your life changed since the fire?

We are extremely cautious about fire hazards now, but the biggest change has been with my husband. He's stopped working Satrudays and only works 5 days per week (except for the occasional side job) and is home much earlier. I think he realized that being a father isn't about how much money he earns or how many Nikes he can buy, it's about being there for his children...wiping tears, dinner conversation, reading bed time stories, playing outside.

5. What is your creative outlet/medium?

I'm probably the least creative person that's participating in this interview. I truly enjoy just plopping on the couch...and watching a really good tv show with my husband.

6. Would you say that blogging/journaling has become your creative outlet/medium?

Yes, I believe that it has.

7. How do you carve out time for your creativity?

It's after the kids are in bed and slightly before I go to bed.

8. Why do you blog/journal?

It started as a way to let friends and family see us, and keep posted. We have a lot of family that don't live nearby and we don't get to see them as much as we would like. However, it's since evolved into my own personal journal of sorts. I keep it family oriented, but share my opinions as well.

9. What blogs do you frequent?

My Typography; Mother Rising;
Go Fug Yourself; and What's Your Pleasure.

10. Who are some mama bloggers that you would most like to meet?

Christina from My Typography would be awesome to meet. But I think its pretty damn cool that I know you....(I'm doing our spontaneous march right now!!!)