My Chair

"Bring your chair. Put it there. (My Chair, by Betsy James)"


I love my chair. It's Kelly green, with a rounded back, and soft buttons. It's short, for a rocking chair, but perfect for my 5 foot body. I've rocked at least one of my babies there every night since Winston came home from the hospital.


"My chair works because I bend in the middle. My chair holds me up in the air."


Actually though, this chair was not originally mine. It was left here by the elderly woman that sold us her house. Our home was built in 1954, but we are only the second owners. After her husband died, the sweet lady who lived here decided to move to Louisiana to be with her kids.


She left behind so many wonderful things that have become our treasures. My favorite frying pan, a 1970s record player, handmade furniture that her husband built. But the thing that means the most to me is this chair.

"My chair smells good... ...because it used to be a tree."


I thought for a long time about writing to her and telling her about the babies that were rocked here. That this chair is how I know I'm home when we've been gone for a long trip. I do my best writing, praying, thinking, reading, knitting in this green seat.

"My chair is a fort, a forest, a tower, a truck, a gate, a cage, an ocean..."


The chair is part of my nook. A corner in my bedroom that is my space. I let the boys sit in the chair every now and then, but this spot belongs to me. The curtains behind me were made for my husband my the mother of a foster child he was counseling. Black with bright green, pink, red, and gold flowers, they shine with the sunlight behind them and mesmerised my babies when they were little. To my left is a painting by a New Orleans artist called "Bread of Heaven"; a picture of a parent holding a small baby bundled in a white blanket. And if I look in the mirror across from me over my dresser I see "The Lovers" by Magritte and the two belly casts my husband helped created when I was very pregnant with our children.


How could she have known? That sweet woman. The home that she created has become our home. There is a quote from one of Vicki Iovine's books about the house where you bring your children home being your Bethlehem. That is how I feel.


"Who does not use chairs? Birds, fish, skunks, pigs, weasels- everbody but us."

She told the lady down the street that she was ok with us having her house because she just knew we were good people. I didn't change a thing inside for a long time because I wanted so much to honor what she and her family made. Now when I see the things she left for us I know they will come when we have to go too. This house, when we are threw here, will only go to someone who she would be proud to have it.



"When the world is too big, my chair is just right. ... My chair is for me. My chair is here. My chair is home."

Wednesday Speak

The third day it all began to make sense. With his big brother, who started talking in complete sentences before he was a year old, gone to camp, talking suddenly became an option. After naming everyone else in the family he pointed to himself and said his name, with s serious cajun accent.

It has snow-balled from there. He talks all the time. His favorite consonant seems to be "p", while his vowl of choice is "ee".


Here is a short list, so my "foggeh" Mama brain can remember all of this linguistic love forever:

Cup= Pup

Tummy= Pummy

Rooster= Doot Da Dooda Dooda

Donkey= Eeh Aww, Eeh Aww

Pickle (the kitten)= Peepoo

Goldie (kitten)= Dodie

Excuse Me= Ettoo Muh Hulee>> "Excuse Me, Huxley"

Cracker= Kakee

Cookie= Tootie

Medicine= Meemee

Jelly Bean= Bean Bean

Candy= Tandy

Sausage= SawSaw!

Toothbrush= Joob Juh

Clip= Pleep

Butterfly= Flufffly

Diego= Dohdohdohdoh!

Puzzle= Puddy

Good Job!= Job Job!

I'm sure there are more that I just can't remember right now, but that's a pretty good sample. He is the sweetest, most patient boy. When he falls down he checks on everyone else to make sure THEY are ok, and he loves to hold his brother lunchbox when we pick him up from camp.

When my boys hug each other in the morning Winston bends down and put his arms around his baby brother's tummy. And that little brother says, "Oh Oh!" and grabs his big brother's face so he can "Tiss" him. Sometimes they sit together on the couch and Wednesday asks Winston questions about what things are, whether they're hot, who people are. When they talk together like that all of the worry and pressure about having them so close together disappears for a few minutes. I know they were meant to be brothers, and that they can let each other shine.

Etsy, to the third power

It's contest time again here at Cookiemonks!  As you know I got my gorgeous gifties from 3giraffes last week and I'm ready to start something new!

The rules are the same as the last time we did this.  Leave a comment, if you win you have your own PIF, etc.  My birthday, August 1st, will be the end date for this contest.  How fun to choose a winner on my Bday!  Yay!  Let's say bedtime (10 pm) for a closing time.  So I decided my prizes would come from Etsy this time.  I love that place and have found so many neat things there.  Each prize package has a story to go with it.  When a winner is chosen then can let Winston pull one of the prizes out of a hat, or they can tell me which one they want.  Here we go!

1:Frida:  I love Frida Khalo.  It was not an immediate love.  The only thing I originally new about her was that Madonna owned one of her paintings, which was a definite turn off.  But as the buzz for the Salma Hayek movie by her name wore on, I became very intrigued.  I watched the movie and fell in love.  I bought art book after art book and read her biography.  Then, to seal the deal, I saw an exhibit in San Diego of only photographs of her and her loved ones.  I was crying by the end, so moved by her strength and her beauty.  It was so obvious that she was broken, and that made her even more glorious.  She is one of the main reasons I love Halloween like I do.  So the Frida prize package includes these things below.

This beautiful card by catboxartstudio entitled Mourning Me.

It's comes with a matching envelope and is blank inside.  

Another card by the same artist called Frida and the Hummingbird

This one is also blank and comes with it's own envelope.

And this set of four thanks you notes with a gorgeous portrait of Frida by PressaRussa.

These are so pretty.  When I saw them I knew they had to be part of this prize.

2.  Chain Maille:  When I was in High School we went to a choir competition at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.  It rained for most of the time we were there, so it wasn't greatest trip.  One day, while my friends and I were trying to stay dry, we happened upon a little shop that made chain maille accessories.  I had never seen anything like it!  It spoke to my Arthurian Legend loving heart like nothing had before and I new I had to have some.  As my hair was long enough to be considered epic at the time, the guys working there let me try on a head piece that went down my back and was made of sterling silver and Swarovski crystals.  It was like I became a princess!  I still wear the earrings I bought all the time, and people are always shocked that they came from Universal Studios.  So our second gift package will include the following:

  

This gorgeous bracelet called the Byzantine Chainmaille Bracelet with Olivine Glass by lunaarcana.  We need a Lancelot to wear that thing, right?

And these amazing earrings by blackbirdmaille called Punk Chain Maille Earrings.  I adore these, and they're purple like mine!

3. Cats:  I'm in denial about my cat collection but am here to admit today that I have an unnatural obsession with nifty cat inspired things.  Books, Decoration, actual cats...  But it's a fun prize package.  Let's see...

This is a really cute, folksy belt buckle from leatherarts (I can choose something else if leather offends anyone).  It's based on the artwork of a Kuna Indian woman from Panama.  It's called the Flying Mola Cat leather handpainted belt buckle.

And last but not least, to go with the belt buckle we have this Oh So Savvy headband.  I love these kinds of headbands, and the cats on this one make me think of the cats from Lady and the Tramp.  Beckababe made this one;  the Turquoise Blue and Chocolate Brown Cool Lounge Cats Headband.

So there you have it folks.  The second contest.  For a comment question, how about...  What is your favorite piece of art, either official or homemade?

I hope you enjoy this one, I can't wait to choose a winner!

Sissy

It's what my brother called me when we were little, and what he has started to call me again now that we are mostly all grown up.  

I love my brother, and always have.  Except for the couple of years where I hated him and beat the crap out of him more than he deserved.  But we got through it and have a darn good relationship.

Now that I have my own boys, I love my brother more than I ever have.  Something changed, especially after my second son was born with so many features and mannerisms that remind me of my brother.  He came for a visit in May and I couldn't keep any one's name straight.  I finally understood why my Grandmother calls everyone by the wrong name when we're all together.  There are so many people that you love so completely in the same room that your heart and your mouth can't keep up with each other.  To have my husband, my babies, and my brother all in the house together was enough to make my heart skip, literally.

So recently my brother made a decision to take the summer off from college and just work and be a person.  I supported him and helped him talk to my parents and it's all been pretty good.  He'd do the same for me if I asked him to.  But then he decided to take a trip.  A trip I feel is rather selfish and with people that I don't believe love my brother the way he should be loved.  And I was so torn.  As a Mom I wanted to tear him a new butt.  But as a sister, I want him to live this life he's been given and figure things out on his own instead of letting my parents make too many of his decisions.  

So I sent him an email, it's the only way we keep up with each other consistently, and told him what I really thought in the nicest most constructive way possible.  I cried for 2 days.  I woke up in the middle of the night just sick about what I had said.  I had been too much of a Mom and not enough Sister.  So I sent him more messages, apologizing and trying to explain how I felt now that I have the boys.  It took him a long time to get back to me and I thought I had really messed things up.

But then, he wrote me back.  He said he respects my opinion more than anyone else.  I don't know why he does, but it made me see who he is even more clearly.  He said I've taught him so much about life and that he is so grateful I'm his sister.  That I have tried to do; to tell him that life can be what you make of it and isn't a never ending path that someone else has laid for you.  I've tried to let him know whenever I can how grateful I am for him in my life and the life of my kids.

It's all ok now.  But I didn't know that there would be such a change in how I feel about him after becoming a mother.  I want him to be the biggest dreamer and keep him absolutely safe at the same time.  It helps me remember every day the kind of kids I want my boys to grow up to be.

Shall we name this brother for my little blog? .... How about HHB, hairy hippy brother.  It's pretty fitting.  He is one of the greatest people I have ever known.  He is loving and funny and sensitive and calm.  

Being a mother has changed every relationship I have, almost always for the better.  This one just snuck up on me, and I still need to learn how to channel what I know now into being a better support for my brother.

If you click the question mark at the top it will take you to the picture I tried to add.  I can't take it off now, If anyone knows how let me know!

So

I think I have everything chosen for my next contest.  I'm going to plan on having it posted by Friday unless something happens.  We have big weather headed our way, but we're not supposed to get more than lots of rain.  

Also, I'm finding it very difficult to be a sister and a mom at the same time these days.  Such is life...

I'm going back to bed.  Sleep well.

Bebellyboo's Book Meme

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cookiemonks/2651145275/

So the best I can get my 2 computers to do is a link to the mosaic I created for Bebellyboo's meme. But let's talk about them like we can see them anyway,ok? The purpose of this meme was to type in the names of your favorite books and authors and choose the photos you liked best.

1. Jane Eyre: This is one of those books that I hug. I read it in high school and have seen every movie multiple times. I love Jane.

2. American Gods: Neil Gaiman: This is a great illustration. If you haven't read this book I think everyone should. So much mythology and religion and great writing all together.

3. The Red Tent: I read this while I was pregnant with Winston and in was very empowering. A retelling of biblical stories from Dinah's perspective. Fabulous book.

4. Brave New World: Aldous Huxley: Another one I read in high school that changed everything. You must read this book if you haven't, I think we have 3 copies in the house.

5. The House of the Spirits: Isabel Allende: I love Isabel Allende period, but this is the first book I read by her and it is so sweeping and magical. It pulls you into another beautiful world.

6. Waiting for Birdy: Catherine Newman: I love love LOVE Catherine. If there was such a thing as a writer crush, she would be mine. I read this while I was waiting for Wednesday. It was the best book I read in preparation for having two kids.

7. Tenderhooks: Beth Ann Fennelly: She is a fantastic poet. There is one poem in this collection about nursing that makes me think of Wednesday when he was so tiny. This is the second book I've by her. I read Great With Child first, which is also so beautiful.

8. Anne Lamott: I've read everything she's published. I love her. I love her aunties. They make me feel better every time we go to the beach.

9. Olivia: Ian Falconer: I read these books before I had children and loved them, but my boys think they're hilarious as well. Olivia and the Missing Toy is their favorite.

10. Eloise: I never read Eloise as a child. Sad times. The boys and I watched the movies first and then I bought a big collection of the stories from Half Price Books. She is a funniest little girl I have ever read about. The way she speaks is spot on for laughs, especially for Winston.

11. Bitten: Kelley Armstrong: These books are on the light side, but I love them. Werewolves, vampires, demons, witches. They are so addictive. My bookshelf looks just like the one in the picture with my books are crazy.

12. Queen of the Damned: Best Anne Rice book. I love this book still and Stewart Townsend was a much better Lestat in the movie. I love Jesse and the wall with all the family in it.

This was such a fun idea and I'm so glad I did it. There are other books I could add but this is a pretty fair representation of my reading history and preferences. Happy reading everyone. I still have The Host and Suzanne Finnamore's newest book in my to-read pile.

P.S. I added links! Woohoo!

A package FOR ME!!

So my husband opened the front door to go start the sprinkler on the honeysuckle and there was a package!  For Me!  I squealed before I even got it open.  I started with scissors but that was too slow so I just ripped in to it.  Woo it was worth all the squealing, let me tell you!!

First there was the sweetest card.  With tall people on it.  The same tall people that are on a card I gave my husband when we were dating.  I don't know how you did that, Chris, but I am seriously impressed!

For the boys there are Magic Grow Capsules, which will be so much fun to play with on  Sunday morning.  Also a cd called Steve Songs.  It looks great.  One of my son's favorite songs is sung by Steve Burns from Blue's Clues.  He calls it the "Steve Song", so he is STOKED.

For the Mommy there is the most gorgeous knitting book, Knitting Little Luxuries.  I have already read the introduction about how she used the buttons and things from her grandmother's sewing box to decorate the projects in the books.  So precious, I just can't wait to get started on SOMETHING.  I think a hat!

Then there is the funniest magnet.  It's a mood magnet with vintage photographs.  See that Indifferent lady with the glasses?  She's my favorite, makes me laugh and laugh.

So it was a great package of fabulous surprises and I'm so so Happy!  Thank you so much Chris and the 3giraffes beauties!  Y'all have fun tonight and tomorrow!

I'm Back! (mostly, anyway)

So I'm on the way to feeling human again. I'm tired of talking about that. So I won't.

We got home from our short trip on Saturday. Friday we went to the Natural Science Museum and saw 2 really great exhibits. The first was a Butterfly sanctuary kind of thing with a bug "zoo" along with it. The boys really loved looking at all of the different bugs. They had cave cockroaches (not icky), hissing cockroaches (very very icky), millipedes, centipedes, tarantulas, etc. There was also an entire wall of butterflies in various stages of coming out of their chrysalises. We saw one with only it's head out, a gorgeous monarch walking around for the first time, and a black and white butterfly whose wings hadn't dried yet. That was really amazing to see.

Then we went out to the actually sanctuary part. There were so many different kinds of butterflies! They kept flying right in front of me where I'd have to step back. I kept saying "woo!". So intelligent, right? Anyway. Winston saw about 5 HUGE butterflies eating at a little nectar station they had set up and Wednesday pointed out a black and red butterfly to me. They really enjoy it. And we got to stand under a waterfall (we didn't get wet) at the end of it!

After a short rest we saw DINOSAURS!!! And Winston was seriously impressed. They had skeletons and recreations and fossils. I don't think I had ever been to a dinosaur museum, and if I had it hadn't been since I was a child. It was very humbling to see a dinosaur I had always thought was the size of like an extra -super -big sea turtle that is actually the size of 12 bears! Wednesday was so funny. He kept saying, "So High!" and he'd throw his head back and look at the tall dinosaurs. He finally let me put him down toward the end of the visit and went and watched the chemistry video they had playing about 6 times while he climbed on the seats. Winston went through a whole kid-centered Earth science section of the museum with my mom who is an Earth Science teacher. They had a great time, and Isaac new his planets (Thanks Blue's Clues) and my Mom was so surprised and happy.

The Next day before we came home we went to the Children's Museum. Crazy! A Cacophony of kids and Mommies and workers and oh my. It was fun. We went to Mexico, we saw a giant man made out of telephones, we painted our faces. There was an entire grocery store of pretend food. I have never seen so much plastic food in my life! There were baby chicks, that Wednesday started bobbing his head at like they were doing under the plastic. There was so so much to do I can't even remember half of it. It was super good times, though.


To finish, please send my pumpkins happy pumpkin thoughts. They have been neglected since it quit raining and I got sick. They were VERY droopy when I went out there. I watered the heck out of them though and they look appreciative. I talked to them and apologized. The Ol' Zebs are putting out flowers! AHHHH!

Next week

I want to do Manager Mom's group post on your thinking/working space, and Bebellyboo's meme on your favorite books and authors.  Fun stuff!  PIF forever!  Huzzuh!

Tada! Pursize!!!

Contest Goodies!  These are the magazines and Texas things, along with the tab markers and photo pen.
Here we have the adult books I have available right now, but I can pick others too and save these for another giveaway.  The fun bookmarks and magnets from Half Price Books are here too.
This is the children's stuff I have put together.  I'd like to include at least 1 actual children's book as well.

Old Lady

So I took some Tylenol and Chlorotrimesomething...yeah spell check try that one! And I am better enough so that if the boys accidentally bump me I won't scream. That was NOT fun this morning. Winston has a very slight ear infection and is on meds for 10 days. I took the pictures of contest goodies and will post them during nap time if I'm not dead...


I went to sleep at 7:45 last night. So did my kids. I think we all feel like total crapito. I'm walking around like a stopped old lady! I'm taking Winston to the doctor today, and hopefully we will all feel better soon.

My goals for today are to get up pictures of what I have accumulated for my prize for Mommy Daisy and add all of the fabulous blogs I found through the contests to my blogroll. I hurt my wrist knitting... Seriously, I have turned into an old person.

That's all I can manage. I'm just sitting here like a blob... real posts to come, promise!

Where the Wild Things Grow

  

Back on the 10th of June the boys and I finally planted the pumpkin seeds I've had for almost a year.  I bought them last year after reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingslover, but didn't realize until they got to me that it was too late to plant them.  

So I worked for a week getting the soil ready in a patch behind the tree/sandbox.  I don't think I've ever sweat so much in my entire life.  But it was good work, and brought back fond memories of mud pie making as a child (we had cherry and peach trees plus a grape vine, so they were actually semi-edible!).

Winston helped me dig the little trenches and push in the stakes to mark the rows.  We planted the seeds together, his little hands so big that in the pictures it's hard for me to tell us apart. 

All of this happened on the second day of Summer Camp with Wednesday playing close by in the sandbox.  I wanted the pumpkins to grow with the boys this summer.

We came in all hot and disgusting, me knowing full well I wouldn't have time for a shower until AFTER I took Winston to camp the next morning.  I'm sure I was beautiful that Wed.  I had The Mr. look at his calendar, which lists famous people's birthdays for almost every day of the year.  It was really kind of strange what came up.  June 10th in Maurice Sendack's birthday.  The man who wrote Where the Wild Things Are.  Last year I was reading Barbara Kinglover's book all through the Halloween/Fall season when I ordered the pumpkin seeds.

Last Halloween, after much thought and lots of planning, Winston and I decided he would be a Wild Thing for Halloween.  More specifically the one with the striped fur and horns.  So the seeds that I bought last year when Winston was a Wild Thing were planted on Maurice Sendack birthday.  And of course, Wednesday's costume for his first Halloween last year was....

a sprout!

It's so funny how the universe can put things in order like that.  The pumpkins sprouted on Fathers' Day and started to put out vines on Independence Day.  I think they are some very smart pumpkins... 

Sea of Love

(I wrote this last Sunday and then forgot to push publish.  I didn't want it to interfere with contest stuff so I've held on to it...)

We just got home from the beach. It was fantastic. My legs feel like noodles and my brain is nice and sun-fuzzy. We took the surfboard and The Mr. caught a couple of small waves. Winston sat on the board and The Mr. pushed him with the wave. That child just balanced perfectly on the surfboard for 15 yards or so. He just sat there like it was the easiest thing he'd ever done. He is my husband's child through and through.

Wednesday was not fond of the scratchy seaweed today. I wrote their names in the sand with my foot and he sat down to play. I showed him how to press the wet sand into his legs and feet and he was completely enamored. I offered him my feet too and he was in heaven. The partly dried sand looked like elephant skin, or really good brownies, all brown and cracked. I wet his hair in the water and the curl it created was shaped like the caricature of a wave. Perfect beach hair without even knowing it.

We ate figs from the Farmers' Market yesterday and drank big glugs of Fresca straight from the bottle. It was a great trip. The pool noodle even made an appearance toward the end.

Here's a song to help set the tone of our beach noodleness...

Winner Time!!!!

I'm so happy about this I squeaked!! The winner is Mommy Daisy!! You were number 79 and that is the number the "atmospheric noise" on random.org picked. Woohoo! I will email you in just a second to get your mailing information. You win lots of cool stuff and so does your little boy! Yay!!! I will post pictures of the things I've already mentioned later today, and then of the surprise things after I know Mommy Daisy has received her package.

Also, I won the contest at 3 Giraffes! So we'll be having another PIF very soon, probably as soon as I get Mommy Daisy's things in the mail. My brain has already been percolating...

The End of the end

Don't you miss those old cartoon where Porky Pig burst through the screen and said, "That's all folks!"? The closest thing I can think of is a Backyardigan sticking their head out of the door at the end of the show.

Anyway, today is the end of my Pay it Forward Contest. You have until 10:00 tonight to enter if you haven't yet. Then, tomorrow, probably during nap time, I will plug my numbers into the Random Number Generator thingy and pick a winner. I myself couldn't keep from commenting on your comments, so I will take my numbers out if they are chosen.

I really enjoyed this contest, and every single one of your comments. My plan is to keep up with all of you as best I can, so that maybe I can start a regular (seasonal) book giveaway/read-a-long if y'all are interested.

And, just because I never answered my own question...

I love pecan pie and pumpkin if it has whip cream. But for the most part, I will eat any cake that is close enough to my face to shovel it in. My favorite is probably my Grandmother's chocolate cake, followed by her pineapple, followed by my own birthday cake recipe adaptation from the Betty Crocker Cookbook. Let's throw in red velvet because my stomach says so.

So Happy End Of Contest Day! I'll see you guys tomorrow for winner time!