Tutorial: UPCYCLED WOOL DIAPER COVER

This post is for the moms over at DS who asked for it!

These soakers take all of 15 minutes to cut and sew if you are an experienced seamstress.  Or tailor.  Whatever.  And while knit wool soakers are really cute, hours and hours versus 15 minutes... laziness wins for me!  Also, I use preshrunk sweaters for these, so if dh accidentally tosses them in the washing machine, all is not lost.

In this post I am going to share the secrets I've learned for sewing these covers SUPER FAST, with the fewest tears, and broken needles. 

 

There is a great free pattern on the web (google Katrina Soaker pattern), but the above soakers are made from the Sweet Baby pattern by Wired Up Designs on hyenacart.com.  I'm not affiliated with Wired Up in any way, but I've tried at least two dozen free and bought patterns for wool diaper covers, and this is the only one I use anymore.

 

So, you'll need a wool sweater, a pattern, and a sewing machine:

 

Secret #1: Only use REALLY GOOD wool for these.  Most thrift stores charge the same for junky wool sweaters and name brand wool.  I am using a 100% Italian Merino cardigan for the first soaker here.  It is super-soft and pre-shrunk by somebody.  I machine washed and dried it prior to cutting to be sure it wasn't going to shrink any more.  It is still VERY thin, though fully felted, as many fine merino sweaters will be!

Secret #1.5: Be sure to SNIFF the sweater really well before you buy it.  If it smells very perfume-y or you get even a hint of mothballs- pass.  I don't care if it's Niemen Marcus.  You won't get that smell out.

 

Cut out your pieces.  I consider 2 full body pieces a must.  You can use 1 layer if your sweater is super-thick, and you can stitch a second layer only in the wet zone, but for a beginner, just go for 2 layers of a thin or medium-thickness sweater.  The cover will be bullet-proof and the finished product will look more polished than a wonky double-wetzone.

2 body layers, 1 waistband, 2 leg cuffs.

(Now, you CAN cut a waistband and leg cuffs from the body of your sweater.  If you do that, follow the pattern.  You will cut a double tall waist band and leg cuffs, fold in half,  and stitch the long edges to keep everything from shifting while sewing to the main soaker piece.)

 

BUT-

Secret #2: If your sweater has a nice, ribbed waistband, as most sweaters do, use that for both the waistband and the leg cuffs.  See how stretchy it is?

Plus, a 1-layer cuff or waist is easier to sew on to the body of the soaker.  (Just don't discard the excess ribbing.  It is very useful for other upcycled projects.  You may find another sweater that doesn't have ribbing.)

 

Secret #3: Because your ribbing is so stretchy, cut it SHORTER than the pattern calls for, otherwise your waist and leg holes may gap.  Like so:

That pattern piece says "Sweetie Bums," but it is actually the Sweet Baby pattern.   



These leg cuffs actually came from the neck band of my sweater because the waistband was too short.  Do NOT attempt this unless you are pretty experienced with sewing stretch fabrics.  The stretch is diagonal on these pieces here, and it makes it sorta tricky.  If you are a beginner, just use a sweater with a long/ big enough waistband for both the waist and legs of your soaker!

The reason I like the angled leg cuffs is that the leg opening are larger, but the cuffs pull in nice and snug, and this gives the soaker an overall trimmer fit than most pull-on soakers in this style.
 

If your baby is already here, the only reason NOT to cut your waist and leg cuffs shorter is if your baby is incredibly chubby, and you can't find a diaper cover that doesn't squish her thigh and tummy rolls.  In which case, use your stretchy ribbing and cut the proper size!

***Now, if you are a beginner, you may want to sew both your main soaker pieces together so they don't shift while sewing on the legs and waist.  I don't ever do this because I am lazy.  Make sure both pieces are right side out, and stitch all the way around the outside edges of the pieces with a long straight stitch, gently (GENTLY) stretching the fabric as you sew.  This is generally what you do when sewing knits. 

After this, pull your soaker pieces on the edges to make sure your stitching is not too tight.  It shouldn't decrease the stretchiness of the fabric.  If you pull the edges, and find your stitching is stopping you from pulling, and if you stretch the fabric any further, you break the stitching...  STOP.  You need a longer stitch, OR you need to stretch the fabric more as you sew, OR your machine tension is too tight.  Do the first 2, and if things don't improve, you might need to take your machine where you bought it and ask them to show you how to loosen the tension just a bit.  I wouldn't rely on your manual or google for this.  It is tricky.***  (Now, if you really want to get this done, and your sweater only cost $1, and your baby is due to wake up in 20 minutes, just sew the whole thing with a medium zigzag stitch.  It will sidestep your  machine's tension issue, but the seams will wear out sooner.  That's why a cheap thrifted sweater is so nice.  No need for perfectionism!!!)

Sorry I have no pictures of the above, but like I said, I am too lazy to sew my main pieces together into 1 piece.  It does make the next steps easier, though.

(The rest of the steps use a 1/4" seam allowance.  Don't forget to secure your seams by backstitching at the beginning and end of each seam!)

Most, or all, soaker patterns will instruct you to sew the side seams of your main soaker (BUT DON'T), then sew the side seam of the leg cuffs, (BUT DON'T), and then "set-in" the cuff into the leg opening like you would a sleeve in an arm hole.  Lazy sewers will go to great lengths to avoid set-in sleeves because they are tricky and unpleasant. 

Here's what we'll do instead, which is Secret #4: Lay your main soaker pieces face up on your work surface and then pin your leg cuff along the leg opening, right sides together.  Sew like so:

Bad pic... but the three layers are going through the machine here.

 Don't forget to stretch your cuff to match the leg opening if you cut it short. 

And here's what it looks like from the right side:

Add the other cuff just the same way:

 

NOW sew ONE side seam, which includes the leg cuff and main soaker:

AND NOW STOP!!!  DO NOT SEW THE OTHER SIDE SEAM!!!

 

Instead, take your waist band, and pin it right sides together with your soaker.  Sew, remembering to stretch it to fit if you cut it shorter than the pattern:

OK, see how nicely it is coming together?  That step saves you from having to sew the waistband on like the cuffs, set-in.

 

Line up the second side seam: cuff, body, and waist band:

I pinned that just to show you... I usually would just go for it :).  (Also, ignore that seam across the butt of the soaker.  I had to piece the 2nd main soaker layer because my sweater was so small.)

Sew:

 Isn't that pretty?

 

 This is the seam allowance of the last side seam... trim diagonally at the top (waistband).  This will ensure your seam allowance doesn't show from the front.  Sorry if that is confusing....

 

And here you see the angled leg cuff.  You don't need to trim the seam allowance because the angle of the cuff hides it:

On a soaker leg cuff that is cut straight, instead of angles, you'll want to trim the seam allowance here, too, to prevent it from peeking out while being worn.

 I do not finish my seams on the inside because they won't fray if the sweater is felted .  Also, when I have overlocked or zigzagged them on the edges, they get somewhat stiff and bulky.  And scratchy.  So I use really soft sweaters and leave them alone.  I think this is most comfy for babies.

 

Although this pic shows the waistband seam, and it is very obvious, it is much more subtle when it is on a baby.

 

And another soaker, 2 layers of a thick cashmere with the rest of the merino waistband:

You may be able to tell that I did not trim as much off the waistband here.  The waist doesn't pull in as much as on the soaker above.  It should still be enough to prevent gaps.
 

The pink cashmere sweater didn't have a stretchy ribbed waist.  It had a firm edging like this:

The cuffs were fine for the legs, but I wanted a stretchier waist.  So I used the leftover ribbing from the first sweater.  Waste not, want not!

 

Happy sewing.  Leave any questions in the comments and I will try to get to them asap.

 

 

"If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?" ~Milton Berle



WAIT! I didn't know!

Ivy in her hammock

OK, we didn't tell anyone what we were naming Ivy.  Ivy is my favorite girl name of all time.  When I was a girl we had a bed of ivy in our side garden, and the little purple flowers, something like stars, were my favorite, more than any flower in my mother's amazing gardens (yes, plural... there was more than 1).  It was originally intended for Rosemary (Rosie), but we took a lot of heat for it from, shall we say, various sectors, and I wanted to name a baby after my maternal grandmother, so in the end, we decided to switch our first daughter's name to from Ivy Rose to Rosemary Catherine (also due to my then-recent obsession with Catherine of Siena). 

Then Rosie was born on the feast of St. Ives, which we didn't notice till she was a month old.  When I told Ed, he wanted to change her name.  No kidding.  He was more than upset and really, so was I.  But Rosie was already Rosie, and we knew another baby girl would come.

And come she did! 

Since I didn't want any more guff about baby names, during the pregnancy we just didn't tell anyone our name.  After all, once a baby is born and named, no one feels very free to say things like, you know:

"That's an awful name!"

"I hate that name!"

"Oh, like poison ivy!?!?" (Ummmm, so clever, people.)

After a baby is born and named, people say politely, "O how nice," and then go talk about your baby's name behind your back.  Right?

So unfortunately

NO ONE COULD WARN ME THAT BEYONCE' NAMED HER DAUGHTER IVY!!!

Blue Ivy, actually.  Or that Ivy is currently on a Disney Channel show, once appeared on 90210, and is also featured on some popular video game.  Or that Ivy is currently in the top 100 baby names in Great Britain, according to some sources.

Well, rain on my parade why don't you.  I thought people would just think I was odd, and slightly eccentric, maybe obsessed with herbs and other plant life, when I introduced 2 daughters named Rosemary and Ivy... now- horror of horrors- people are going to think I'm TRENDY.

UGH.

Now every time someone asks her name I'm going to want to say "Ivy- but really, I didn't know about Beyonce' when I named her.  I had the name picked out for YEARS..." while blushing and feeling really dumb.

MORAL OF THE STORY:

Don't tell anyone your baby names in advance of said baby's birth... but, for heaven's sake, don't forget to consult Google.


"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
-Juliet

I'm still babymooning, but soon I'll return to my regular old blogger self...  I've got some allergy remedies to share, a new cough syrup recipe, and some gluten-free recipes to share.  Gluten-free recipe development is a pretty slow thing, I'm finding, so bear with me.  Heaven forbid I post any recipe here before achieving 100% success.  You know, gummy cookies-  I just can't do that to you.

32.5 and counting

 This in not my current belly!  It's Rosie in there, at about 38.5 weeks.  (I'm nowhere near this big yet, at the moment.)

"When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced.  Live your life in such a manner that when you die the world cries and you rejoice." 
~Indian Saying

I start to focus inwardly at about this time during pregnancy.  Externals fade into the background and what's going on inside seems a lot more real than what's going on outside of me.  (You know, homes being bought and sold, landlords trying to screw us, 3,000 square feet of packing, trading in mountain canyons for tidy square lawns....)

 I thought we were nuts just a few months ago, planning a pregnancy that would mean giving birth just weeks after a major move.  Some moments I still do.  But I also realize, as always, life's insane timing is a blessing in disguise. 

"There is no other organ quite like the uterus.  If men had such an organ they would brag about it.  So should we." 
~Ina May Gaskin

My stress tolerance is quite low.  Usually I would be a mess, a total mess, with all the logistical and financial stress we're going through right now.  But instead, I have this perfect, peaceful retreat right under my heart, where I can escape every day.  It seems easier with every pregnancy to feel the baby's... soul? spirit? personality? in utero.  And the last couple of months of pregnancy I feel like I really live in 2 worlds.  The regular day to day world, and the secret, dark world inside, where only myself and my baby exist.

(Doesn't she look big and healthy?  9 lb 6 oz!)

"Babies are bits of star-dust blown from the hand of God.  Lucky the woman who knows the pangs of birth for she has held a star." 
~Larry Barretto

My last birth was nearly perfect.  And, honestly, it was painless.  However, I attribute that equally to mental prepredness, perfect baby positioning, and really, really, REALLY high pain tolerance.  (I can't handle a lot of stress, but I can handle pain.  That's the lasting benefit of surviving a major car crash and extensive bone surgery, I guess.)

"There's time enough, but none to spare." 

~Charles W. Chesnutt

Attended homebirth is illegal in Nebraska.  This means we have to choose between an unattended birth in a hostile environment (i.e. in case of transfer/ emergency/ complication), with a lot of difficulty surrounding aquisition of a birth certificate, blood typing for Rh factor, and so on, and giving birth in a clinical setting.

(My what big hands you have!)

"Women's bodies have near-perfect knowledge of childbirth; it's when their brains get involved that things can go wrong." 
~Peggy Vincent

 I realize that to families who have never experienced homebirth, it can be quite mystifying why it is SO important to some of us.  But all I can say is, once you have experienced a homebirth...

 things will never be the same.

"Life happens too fast for you ever to think about it.  If you could just persuade people of this, but they insist on amassing information. "

~Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Birthing at home is safe.  Statistically, babies fare the same and mothers fare better, both physically and psychologically, compared to hospital births.  (WHO statistics.)

 Luckily, we found the almost brand-new birth center in Omaha to be fantastic.  The midwife is about as excellent as one could hope, and she herself wishes she could attend homebirths, as is passionately pursuing legislature that will allow her to in the future. 

"Birth is not only about making babies.  Birth is about making mothers... strong, competent, capable mothers who trust themselves and know their inner strength." 
~Barbara Katz Rothman

(In fact, her assistant midwife was a homebirth midwife for 20 years before she was threatened out of business.)  In other words, they get it.

 So now it's only a question of whether we can actually make it the 30 minutes there before baby just *pop* arrives. 

"$13 to $20 billion a year could be saved in health care costs by demedicalizing childbirth, developing midwifery, and encouraging breastfeeding." 
~Frank A. Oski

(My recurrent dream is waking up in the middle of the night, realizing I'm in labor, and before I can even get out of bed, FER (fetal ejection reflex) takes over and baby just slides out.  And no kidding, John Paul was almost like that!)

(First nap, 12 hours old.  Isaiah stayed up till 2 am to watch Rosie's birth.)

"I brought children into this dark world because it needed the light that only a child can bring."

  ~Liz Armbruster

Anyway, between packing and laying around with my babies, all 4 of them, blogging isn't really at the top of my to-do list these days!   

(A little bit of heaven.)

"Children make you want to start life over." 
~Muhammad Ali

I've got ice cream, vaccines, birth preparation, unplugged travel, and a number of other ideas on my blogging docket, and we'll see how many of them materialize here over the next few weeks and we head from the mountains of northern New Mexico, to the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona, through our home on the Kansas range, and on to our new home in Nebraska.

Our Lady of the Way, pray for us.

"There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval." 
~George Santayana, "War Shrines," Soliloquies in England and Later Soliloquies, 1922

The Chicken Pox Vaccine: Let's Call a Spade a Spade

(Editing to add:  This blog post is my opinion and understanding of information gathered by myself, for myself, over the last 9 years.  Your health and your child's is your own to read up on, decide on, and make peace with.  Here is anexcellent article with more info on the history and statistics involved with chicken pox and shingles, before and after the intro of the vaccine(s):
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/11/02/chicken-pox-vaccine-creates-shingles-epidemic.aspx )

How long can you write a blog on natural living and children and avoid the vaccine issue?  As long as you want, I guess! 

In my opinion, the issue of vaccination is not cut and dry by any means.  That's why my favorite vaccine to discuss with folks who get up in arms when anyone questions vaccine at all, is the chicken pox vaccine.  (And btw, this information is not esoteric, repressed, or secret in any way.  There are a number of places you can look it up.  One of my favorite, balanced books on vaccines is What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About(TM) Children's Vaccinations . It is on sale right now for $6- a serious bargain- and I can't recommend it highly enough.)

Let's start with what the chicken pox vaccine does for your child.  Does it prevent your child from getting the pox?  Many parents think it does.

It doesn't.

The vaccine, simply put, decreases the amount of time your child is contagious during the chicken pox.

Really?  Yup. 

(Editing to add: This info is based on the old recommendation of a single dose- now children get 2 doses which supposedly "fixes" this problem and gives better- but never 100%- immunity.  It is up to you to read the info from various- aleays conflicting- sources and make decisions based on your knowledge!!!)

Interestingly, your child will receive this vaccination AFTER the extreme 'danger zone' for chicken pox is past.  Why?  Because your infant's immune system is too immature to handle the vaccine before. 

Why then, does your child receive the chicken pox vaccine?

Well, Merck went to the federal government and said, hey, did you know that the economy loses about 5 billion dollars a year due to parental time off for chicken pox?  If we develop this vaccine, parents in 2 parent working homes or single parent homes will only need to take off 1/2 to 1 days versus 4-5 days of work for each incidence of chicken pox. 

And our government said "COOL! Go ahead!"  and now your child receives the vaccine, even if you stay at home and the time-off-work thing wouldn't affect you at all. 

THEREFORE, in the case of the chicken pox vaccine, if one parent stays at home already, the chicken pox vaccine carries 100% risk (medications always carry some risk) because as designed, the vaccine benefits you 0%.

So, let's see here.  A vaccine was developed to save us all money?  Hmm.  (How much of that 5 billion saved is funneled directly into the pockets of pharmeceutical giants like Merck?)  I thought vaccines were developed to safeguard the health of our children and the population at large?  Well, many were, but not all. 

(Obviously, the posters on the doctor's office wall aren't advertising the history of each vaccine!  You have to dig, but just a little, to find some of this info out.)

This is how I personally like to get informed about different vaccinations:

The first question is WHY was this vaccine developed?  You might find that question especially pertinent to any vaccine developed in the last 10-15 years, (ahem), and very especially in cases of vaccines like HepB, Hib, HPV, and HepA.  (You really might want to ask yourself if vaccinating against sexually-transmitted diseases is appropriate for newborns as opposed to, say, 20 year olds.  Then you might want to ask yourself if you find it appropriate to vaccinate against sexually-transmitted diseases if you are opposed to handing out condoms on college campuses and such... see the connection?  It's part of the same mindset.)

The second question is, when is the vaccine administered as opposed to when is the danger zone for the disease?  In the case of chicken pox, your child is already mature enough to handle the disease (assuming you are a loving, responsible, and reasonably-informed parent with competent healthcare) by the time the vaccine is generally administered.  Is there a more appropriate time to vaccinate against this disease?

The third is a more difficult to answer question, because many health care providers don't know or won't want to tell you- if I delay this vaccination, will the whole series be required?  Is there a more appropriate time to vaccinate against this disease, when my child is older and a single dose will be as effective as a 3 or 4 dose series now?  (Remember, most vaccines are the same dosage whether your child weighs 12 or 50 lbs, so vaccinating 3 times on an infant is exponentially more foreign material in his system than 1 dose at age 3 or 4!)  For instance, my John Paul recently nearly severed his big toe when a very dirty bench fell over on it.  I wanted a single-strain tetanus vaccine, but it couldn't be gotten in time.  So I agreed to the DTaP.  I asked both the ER nurse and doctor several times about the need for boosters and both very clearly explained that boosters were unnecessary.  I asked why infants receive several doses of the shot, then?  (The doctor thought the shot wasn't absolutely necessary, but the nurse kept emphasizing it was hospital policy.)  No one was willing to answer me on that!

The fourth is what does this disease do, how common is it, and what risks will it incur for my child if he or she contracts it naturally?  Is there any documentation of factors that increase natural resistance or better ability to withstand the disease?  (I'm forgetting where this came from, forgive me, but in the case of polio, it was noticed that many people had the virus but no symptoms.  Their common factor seemed to be a diet especially low in sugar.)  Your children or child may have particular issues that make it sensible to vaccinate against certain diseases.

One big criticism of non- or selective-vaccination is that the more people who do not vaccinate, the more some diseases now rare will reoccur.  However, there have always been large pockets of the population who have never vaccinated.  Think some Christian sects like the Amish (apparently many sources claim the Amish vaccinate so I will stick with the 2 groups of whom I have more first-hand knowledge), traditional Mennonite,  and Christian Scientists.  (These sects do not NOT vaccinate because they are Christian sects, but because they have beliefs as groups that make them less likely to choose an artificial drug over a natural alternative.)  These groups often live en masse, in their own communities, but with lots of co-mingling with outside populations.  Do these communities have higher incidences of the diseases we usually vaccinate against?  Do you know the answer to that question?  If you don't vaccinate, or you feel threatened by those who don't, then you SHOULD know the answer to that question!

I could probably write more on this topic, volumes and volumes more, but I hear little people stirring upstairs.

Happy reading-up and have a great day!


"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." 
~World Health Organization, 1948

"The... patient should be made to understand that he or she must take charge of his own life.  Don't take your body to the doctor as if he were a repair shop." 
~Quentin Regestein

Tips for Picky Eaters

I learned a lot about feeding picky eaters from my grandmother. When my oldest was a toddler, she would cut his food up into tiny bites, put it on a dessert plate and stick some toothpicks into some of the pieces. It never failed to amaze me how much more he enjoyed eating with little helps like that.

Over the years I have developed a set of strategies to use with my picky eaters. (My children tend to be pickiest when their allergies are acting up, most notably hay season in the fall and early blooming season in the spring.)

-Problem foods don't live here. For my kids, that means store-bought crackers never come home in our shopping bags. For other children it might mean a long fast from cheese or cow's milk... I know some kids who will literally scream for cheese or milk when other foods are served. These foods might be allowed away from home, when eating with friends. But since the bulk of anyone's eating happens at home, simply excluding 'addictive' foods from your kitchen can be really helpful in avoiding fights over them.

(Is this cruel? That's what many people think. But I don't think so. When my kids ask for crackers I don't say "no," I say, "we don't have any." No yelling, no bickering. And generally kids will eat when they get hungry. I don't think it hurts a child to refuse to eat while figuring out that mom really means there's no cheese in the house.

-Reasonable portioning. When our oldest was a toddler, my husband thought he didn't eat enough. We were putting food on a dinner plate for him and my husband would get upset when he didn't finish. I started serving his food in small portions on a dessert plate and then he would ask for seconds! Don't serve food to little people on big people plates. Use salad plates for 5 or 6-12 year olds; dessert plates for 1-4 or 5 year olds.

Portions for children: If you serve yourself 1 cup of raw carrots, serve 1/4 cup to small children. If you eat a whole pb&j, maybe serve your child 1/4 to 1/2 a sandwich. They will always ask for seconds if they want more! For instance, the newest dietary recommendations for a 2-3 year old: 3 ounces grains (1/2c rice, 1/2c oatmeal, 1 slice bread), 16 ounces milk (or equivalent dairy), 2 ounces meat (1 egg and 1Tablespoon pb), 1c fruit, 1c veggies, and 3t fat (butter, salad dressing, etc). This is not that much food. You add extra servings for extra-active kids, like mine!!!

-Always let the child shop with you. Even if your child is a terror in the grocery store! Take him or her and let him or her choose a couple bright fruits and veggies to try. If your child screams for cookies when walking down that aisle, it may need to be an extra trip you take with your children, after the basic shopping is done. Go straight to the produce and only shop there. But I'd rather put in this type of positive effort than fight at the table, myslef. It's about teaching lifelong habits and developing good health habits, too. Hassle? Yes. Worth the work? Yes.

-Make food fun. Tiny bites, eating with toothpicks or chopsticks, using an icecube tray or other snack tray like this trayfor individual bits of food, cookie cutters in your child's favorite shapes, and the like seem time-consuming and annoying, but it pays off.

This

is not a bento box, but a baby-food storage tray. We have repurposed it into an AWESOME nibble tray/ toddler bento box. It is made by the company BEABA and I'll be doing a full review next week. (It's lid is water tight!)

Hobby Lobby usually has sturdy cutters for 50 cents or a dollar. Let your picky eaters each choose a couple, for apple slices, sandwiches, cucumber, etc. Also, Amazon sells this setof super-fun shape cutters great for bananas, zucchini, carrots, apples, you name it.

-Let yourself and your children get hungry. Again, some mamas think this is 'mean,' but I totally disagree, and this comes from a very gentle-discipline sort of mother. Go to the park or take a loooong walk with a big water bottle, but no snacks, while your lentil casserole cooks in the crock pot. It is AMAZING how much better food tastes when you are REALLY hungry!

-Let the children 'cook.' Here is Rosie sprinkling "cheese" (nutritional yeast)

on her homemade personal pizza. She rolled the bread dough out, spread the sauce and ground beef, and after cooking decorated it with "cheese." She ate every bite! Your little person might like to cut lettuce with scissors for the salad, sprinkle nuts or seeds on the oatmeal, use cookie cutters on their sandwiches or toast, etc. Have them stir the ingredients into the granola, push the buttons on the blender, anything they want to help with!

(I recently purchased John Paul a set of train silverware for his meals because we're low on kid forks and he loves them. Silly things like this really help a 2 year old try new foods, in my experience.)

I'd love to hear YOUR tricks for picky eaters! Leave a comment and get entered in the drawing for some fun lunch tools at the end of April.


"How can a society that exists on instant mashed potatoes, packaged cake mixes, frozen dinners, and instant cameras teach patience to its young?"
-Paul Sweeney

Home is where the

mess is.

Sigh. This morning I made a mistake.

My house isn't a pit, but it's not as shiny as usual. My kitchen is littered with breakfast detritus and I'm a bit too tired to deal with it at the moment. I stayed up till 3 am last night snuggling, talking, and watching movies with my husband. I somehow managed to get up at 7 am with my eldest offspring and chat with him over breakfast.

Now I hear an entire box of Legos being upturned in the playroom. I also hear a very bouncy almost-5-year-old thumping around in her closet, which means 18 pieces of clothing, formerly folded into matching, seasonally appropriate outfits, are now scattered over the floor at random.

Anyway, I read a blog. Someone else's blog. A blog where a mom cooks 1-2 meals a day, nurses a toddler, and sends her older children out the door at 7:30 am to climb onto a schoolbus. Then she tidies up her house and preps a gourmet dinner. Then she goes shopping- I guess she doesn't live in a mountain-top village, either!

The blog is called "How to have complete control over your life, home, and kids."

OK, I'm paraphrasing.

And I shouldn't have read it.

We live in our home. And our living gets messy. We do art projects and wood projects and food projects. This house is a laboratory, not a museum.

One of the moms who originally inspired me to homeschool sighed to me, several years ago, "If my kids were out of the house 8 hours a day it sure would be easier to clean. Of course, it wouldn't need so much cleaning
either!"

While I happen to be a neat-freak and clutter-hater, and I really enjoy organizing and streamlining anything from pantries to morning routines, I really bristle at the 'how-to-get-it-all-together' genre of modern self-help literature. From blogs to books to systems-in-a-box. Everybody has the answer.

I've got kids and a home. I'm blessed. And no matter how I organize it out, I spend a goodly chunk of my day picking up, washing things, and fixing things. There's just no way around it-

Life as a homemaker and homeschooling mother involves work.

Lots of it.

And I can get resentful about it sometimes. But it's a choice. I'm happier and my family is happier when I just accept the work. And think of it as a gift.

The mess means we're learning; the dishes mean we're eating well; the legos (and crayons and wood scraps and paint stains and rearranged furniture and overturned storage boxes and pattern blocks in the bathtub) mean creativity is flowing through my house.

So, O Boohoo, I've got to pick it all up at the end of the day- poor me! More like: Wow- what a great day! I can't wait for it to all happen again tomorrow!

I've got to do the work anyway, so why not make the mental effort to love it?

(And yes, my kids have chores and help around the house! But there's always the 2-year-old, right?)

Hope you enjoyed the seasonally inappropriate nature photos!

Have a great week!


"Childhood is a short season."
~Helen Hayes

Sick kids

Kids are getting a cold.

Had to break into my immature Echinacea Tincture.

Have used up a LOT of that double-strength Elderberry Syrup JP and I made.

Got an order in the mail today of 8 pairs wool socks (made in the USA, even!), 3 hats, and 3 pairs waterproof gloves.

Everything fits- phew.

I took a stroll tonight; it was 30 degrees. I was almost warm after trotting 2 miles.

Shaping up to be a great five months of winter.


"Brew me a cup for a winter's night.
For the wind howls loud and the furies fight;
Spice it with love and stir it with care,
And I'll toast our bright eyes,
my sweetheart fair."
~Minna Thomas Antrim

A Christmas Story

So we're talking about stories that enrich our children's experience of the holidays. When we read one of our books, we're often inspired to do. Not that I plan out a schedule of 'activities to accompany stories read.' Hardly. But I know every year when we read the 'Legend of the Birds' from Hark! A Christmas Sampler, I'd better have peanut butter and millet on hand so we can make bird feeders right then! Nothing spoils a special "let's do it" moment like a trip to the store.

Of course, we might be inspired to do something simple, like trace a favorite picture from a book to make a Christmas card, or 'sweep the house from top to bottom' (mum sure likes that one, Strega Nona !)

Lots of our favorite stories, like Jingle the Christmas Clown inspire cooking! Unfortunately, many- ok maybe ALL- holiday treats are, simply put, bad. for. you.

What's a mum to do in a dairy-free, sugar-free house?

But you know breadwithHoney, and what we do here! Jingle's star cookies? Yup, we've hacked them! Seriously- can you make sugar cookies without... sugar?

Absolutely! And ginger bread cookies, and pumpkin pie, and cinnamon coffee cake. I'll be pulling out the big guns this month, sharing all my sweet secrets....

Food and stories; stories and food. Christmas, and my personal Heaven, in a (raw-honey-saturated) nutshell.


"Mankind is a great, an immense family. This is proved by what we feel in our hearts at Christmas."
~Pope John XXIII

Christmas is Coming...

The goose is getting fat!
Please put a penny in the old man's hat.
If you haven't got a penny
Then a ha'penny will do-
If you haven't got a ha'penny
Then God bless YOU!

In our consumer-driven, sugar-saturated culture, it can be difficult to develop one's own healthy, spiritually meaninglful holiday traditions.

I've been waxing long on nutrition and food- man, that series of 11 posts was a lot! It burned me out a bit. What do you do to celebrate the Holiday of holidays when you choose not to resort to gingerbread houses, a bottomless candy dish, piles of presents, and all the other typical Christmas trappings?

Well, at our house, we don't decorate for Christmas till Christmas Eve.
We mark the passing of December, Advent, with stories. The stories start with a big, red book on the purple-clad buffet in the dining room. (Purple is the traditional color for penance and waiting.) An Advent wreath sits on the dining room table. And on the first night, we begin.

Every night we hear a story from The Jesse Tree and each child makes a tree decoration with a picture of the story. For years I've been working on a fancy-shmancy embroidered set of Jesse Tree decorations, but this year I officially give up. I don't think it would mean as much to take turns hanging up a pretty bauble mommy made- they take so much pride in creating their own tagboard picture, tying on a ribbon, and hanging their story on the tree. And there's no fighting over who's turn it is to hang up the decoration!

In addition to reading through the history of the Poeple of God from Adam and Eve, to Noah, to Abraham, to Jesus, we revisit all our favorite Advent and Christmas stories. For 28 days, we will read and bake; play and plan. We usually start with Merry Christmas, Strega Nona becasue of the emphasis on preparation and waiting. Then come all our favorite St. Francis books- Merry Christmas, Strega Nona being our favorite! We talk about how different Christmas would have been without St. Francis' gift- the nativity scene.

The stories build to Christmas Eve, when, before Mass, we listen to the story of Christmas from the Word Itself (the Bible), and we place our Baby in His waiting manger. (Our nativity is great- Mary can hold the Baby, so He's usually there- "Where He belongs, Mommy!" the children say.)

Can tales and really mean as much to children as Christmas wishlists, 'Toy Boy' (remember him?), and cookies for Santa? I certainly think so! After all, what is Christmas but the beginning of the greatest Tale ever told? And even in a family that celebrates a more mainstream presents- cookies- Santa Christmas, making the telling of stories of the real meaning of Christmas part of your family traditions adds a layer of richness to the experience of the season.

Here are a few more of our must-read, Christmas-wouldn't-be-the-same-without-it story books:

The Real Santa Claus: Legends of Saint Nicholas

Hark! A Christmas Sampler

An Early American Christmas

The Night of Las Posadas
(This year we will actually get to go to the "Posadas" in this book, in Santa Fe, New Mexico- we are very excited!)

Baboushka and the Three Kings

Do you have any special books that mean "Christmas" to your family?


"Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas."
~Peg Bracken