gardening with young children

 is certainly not as easy as doing it on your own!
I could do more during naps, but naptime is precious and already taken by other activities.. (computer anyone?)
Other downsides of gardening during naptime:
 it can get hot in the mid day sun, well so far we have had only a couple warm days, sadly.
And the children can't be part of it.

As young as they are I like for them to be there, see what matters to us and learn early is ok and what is not.


-The little baby is either asleep in his seat nearby (I leave him in the kitchen and check on him every now and then in case he wakes up) or awake, in which case I bring his seat outside or carry him around in a babycarrier.

-While wearing the babycarrier, with a baby in it! there is not much I can do, I mostly try to engage with the toddler.
I can also pick a few weeds,
make a mental list of what is to be done and how soon
check for pests and invasives
day dream a little bit :)
take pictures to show my husband who misses out on the fun and cute so we can have this lifestyle..

-with just a toddler, things get easier
he loves to just play with a stick
or imitate, a friend got him little tools which are really really sweet. I let him dig in the raised beds, in between plants.
He also loves to play with water, if it's warm enough outside I let him. I know he will be soaked but that's fine with me. He gets a warm bath and dried clothes pretty soon after. We do garden usually in the afternoon, before dinner, bath and co.

 
here he is spraying himself with a spray bottle of water, you can also see his little blue spade and the green mini rake.
Playing with an old coffee pot, I showed him to water the leeks, but it didn't last very long! 

As much as possible I try to give him a little task that really helps me. Of course it is not always well done, but it doesn't matter so much. 

A toddler can help for:
-planting seeds in a specific area (in egg boxes, or spread seeds if you show him were)
-watering (not too long though, then he waters everything, especially his shoes..)
-picking hazelnuts on the ground and bringing them to a bucket (or basket or whatever you like)

 Most important tips to make gardening with a toddler a good experience:

-as for everything when in charge of children, remember raising the kid is your main activity and the gardening is the distraction/way to get there.
It doesn't matter if your row of corn isn't straight, it matters that the child helped dig the holes and pat the ground around the freshly planted sprouts.

-encourage, a lot. He is only.. months/years old, this (almost anything) is a great achievement! encouragement will make them want to do it again.
My toddler is so proud when I say "well done! We'll have to tell daddy about this tonight!" :)

-set clear boundaries.
and by clear I mean easy to identify.
I use straw for example. Walking on straw is not allowed. This protect the strawberries and the peas without having to help him identify them each time.
He is not allowed on the deck at all in every day life. It's not too dangerous but one side isn't protected and I can't define a smaller limit, so the whole deck is forbidden.
Stairs are now allowed. He had to wait for me, but little by little he learned to go down by himself safely. I still watch him but he can do fine so it is not forbidden ant more.

- have fun!
a few favorites: observe worms or snails, smell mint or lavender, play pick-a-boo, sing songs, play wolf, tag, wind chimes, etc. any outdoor game that works for you and your toddler.
Toys are also really useful of course. a friend gave us this little play house, hours of fun!
We fill it with empty water bottles (equivalent of gallons sized milk jug I think) and he jumps in there. or we tell the three little pigs story etc.

sweet little baby :)

Corbinien has been born Friday morning :)
here is a picture, more to come..
I am so happy to hold my baby, breastfeeding is a little difficult but he'll hopefully put weight on soon..

He looks just like his dad :) Same nose, same forehead with already some wrinkles, same chin..
All he got from me are my ears, my appetite and my jumpiness (he gets really surprised/scared from sudden noises or movements)

First thing to hang in our new home

This was made by Mr L's mom.
" Cleaning and scrubing can wait till tomorrow...
For babies grow up we've learn to our sorrow..
So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep!!"

Art Project part II :)

Saturday always flies! I get in at noon, and before I know it it's evening!
Pepito the fish, who survived in a plexiglass dish for months died suddenly when we got him a nice aquarium with more space...
So Joy got 20!! new goldfish. The hope is that one of them survives until next Saturday.


Here are my kids painting clouds for the ceiling...

This is the plan to make plants and herbs for the future river: paint paper, than cut pieces of the paper and paste them together as grass...



But after 1/2h it became obvious we wouldn't have time to do all in one day!!

I love those children so much!! They are really cute and happy. :)



Here they are, coming down the stairs with their green hands up :) They thought it was so much fun! :)
Here is the older group's take on the Temple in Jerusalem. I think it looks much better than I expected!


Week 2 and going strong! Next week we'll take care of the walls :)

I've been interviewed!

Well I asked for it ;)
Morgan from adventures in diapering asked me 5 questions, and a couple bonus :)
Stop by her blog, she talks about her C-sections, her family life, wonderful b-day cakes and encouraging talks.

1. Your blog says you were raised Agnostic/Atheist- have you found faith in God now? If so, how did your change in heart come about?

Hmmm I was not exactly raised atheist. My mom is catholic (although she doesn't "believe in the Church") and she took me and my sister to mass every Sunday. I also went to CCD and that was fun. But apart from these 2 hours a week, there was no religion in my life. And generally speaking my country is very shy about faith. In France talking about God is seen as "fanatism" very quickly. I think we went overboard in the "respect" of people beliefs, because everything is taboo, so of course if you're interested in religion there is few place to look for. I'm thankful my mom took me to church as a kid, because I remembered it as a place to look for.
So for a change of heart when I was a teen I had a love story with my first long term boyfriend, and I realized that my feelings where much bigger than me. I mean when you love someone you can open up to much more than yourself :) So I started believing in something bigger. The "in" thing was natural religion, like a superior power, kind of pagan fertility godness... The rest is a long story! I should make a separate post about it.. :)

2. How did you meet your husband? What brought the two of you together?

I met him on the internet! LOL! yep, on yahoo personals. He was on it for a year or so. I joined out of joking with a friend. But you have to make up a profile to look around. And then they give you advices how to meet people, and relationship readiness tests.. I didn't want to really meet people. I exchanged emails with a few WEIRD guys... but then he emailed me and he was very cute and fun. Both very mature and not taking himself too seriously.
It was a transitional time in my life, and he came up as an answer to my questions. What brought us together was shared values, and desire for commitment. I think. Within 3 months we were talking about marriage. :)

3. Describe your work- what does a typical day at work involve?

-Typical day at work...
I usually go to church in the morning. It's on the last floor of the place I work, so afterwards I simply go punch in and off to work. :)
on daytime weekdays I do paperwork: attendance of our workshops, emails, preparing workshop, filling data for reports for foundations who finance us, sometimes going to Court with a resident. I also prepare a curriculum for teaching CCD (Sunday School) and some art projects :) This is really exciting!
-On a typical night schedule I help cooking diner then eat with the residents, if any are eating... Then I check the schedule of the ones out, what time they should be back, what they're doing out there (they have to put those infos in a log book at the entrance). I also check the chores (emptying garbage cans, cleaning up bathrooms and bedrooms) and talk a little bit. This part can be tricky, if I say " How was your day?" and the guy starts telling me about personal stuff or details of his case I have to stop him and redirect to counselor. SO I don't ask this. I comment on TV or try a conversation about food (I got a reputation of foodie!!). We also play board games, and plainly watch tv.
-Saturday is community day.
I get in around noon, prepare CCD and workshop with other staff (it's ready on paper but we need to install room, talk about it etc.)
then at 2 I have the communion group until 3PM, then I go in the cafetaria and try to find occupation for the kids until 3:50PM. Then I take altar servers to the chapel, there is mass at 4PM then between 5 and 6 I hand out the food and bread for food pantry.
-Sunday: if I work on Sunday it's usually receiving the families of newer residents, or taking everyone out: walk in the park, beach in the summer, some kind of activity.. then like a regular night.

4. How did you become involved in a Crisis Pregnancy Center? Have you always had such a strong passion for working with women who are pregnant and scared?

When I started NFP I was not really pro-life. I was not superhardcore pro-choice either. I was very grateful for Planned Parenthood who provide so many people world wide with free contraceptives.
Then I opened up about the idea that fertility is the NORMAL way your body functions. And contraceptions do have side effect, and failure rates. It was like waking up from a dream. I also thought that having sex in your teenage day was as normal as getting your period. It was BIOLOGIC. Then I realized that it has emotional and spiritual implications.
So I guess I started getting interested in contraception's alternatives. Then in abortion's alternatives!!! But I was really repelled by being officially pro-life, as they seemed very fanatic to me (see #1 for religious=fanatism). But I still thought abortion was such an abomination: mothers getting rid of their own fetus, and some don't even care!! So I imagined a place where women could get help when facing a difficult situation, and these places exist! So here I am, non-fanatic pro-life trying to help resolve the crisis in "crisis-pregnancy".

5. You said you use the NFP method. How has this worked out for you now that you're married? What are some of the strongest benefits to this method vs. taking the pill?

I'm glad I found out about NFP. So far we have not been trying for a baby. It has been difficult at times. Mostly due to adjustment to the method, and following all the rules. Now we are more confident, my cycles seem so regular that we can use more days in phase I, and we are less concerned about the possibility of a kid coming along. The strongest benefits for me have been:
-getting to know my cycle, feeling inpowered. I don't have to rely on taking a pill to know wheter I'm fertile or not, and if we take a chance, it's knowingly
-having meaningful sex. It's not just about having fun, it expresses our mutual engagement to stay together whatever happens. Even if a baby happens.
-way better sex: no yucking-killing-the-mood condoms or hormonal side effects
-learning a teaching of my Church that really makes sense "in real life" and change my take on many things in my daily life.. I think it really helps me being less selfish and pondering all my daily acts and words
- huge increase of self esteem :)

Also, just out of curiosity-

Did you live in France your whole life until recently? Your English is perfect!
Thank you :) I'm very flattered! Especially as I see some errors here and there when I come across something I wrote earlier, so I guess there are MANY errors in my english, but I'm glad you understood what I wrote! :)
To answer the question: yes I lived in France my whole life, that is until september 2007. I've learn english at school and through 6 feet under (the tv show) because it was available only in english, with sometimes the english subtitles..

Also, growing up in an agnostic/atheist family- what was that like? What things will you be doing differently with your children and faith?

As I said in #1 it's not so much my family that was agnostic/atheist, but the whole country. So it was like... hm I don't really know anything else! I know that USA seems a very religious country to me, where people talk about God a lot, and even on TV! I'm not sure it's the best way either. But I know one thing, growing up in and non-religious environement makes everything discutable, and relative. It's great in some ways, but really tiring most of the time, you have to rethink EVERYTHING all the time: what is right? what is wrong? what matters? The system of values varies a lot depending on the last person who talked, especially if that person is a good orator. I guess we are more a country of philosophs. But I'm glad I found the Truth in Christ. (That really sounds fanatic to me, btw, but it really is how I feel it: coming home after wandering a lot...)
If I have children I'll share time with them, I'll pray with them and I hope they will look into it. I'll try to share my happiness, and to show them the treasures of the Bible, when read with respect and humility. I oon't want to turn them into religious freaks but to let them grow as respectful christians, who know their freedom and the love of God for them.

Thanks Morgan for this interview, I wanted to write about my faith for a long time!

♥If you would like for me to interview YOU:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."

2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions - make sure I can reach you by e-mail or leave your e-mail in your comment).

3. You then update your blog with the answers to the questions.

4. You include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Sunday school tips

I teach CCD. I love it!
It all began with a confirmation class in college, we were asked to do something for our local church. Ask them where they need help, and help.
So I went, asked and was send to a group of toddlers for what we call "faith raise" :)
It was fun, I got a little tired of the coloring after a while, so the following year I kept coming but I asked to prepare more sessions.
And the year after I took my own group. And the year after I prepared for even more groups and now it's part of my job. :)

But this is not my point. What I want to share is how transforming it can be.
I'm very academic, I love to learn, to elaborate complicated reasoning and analysis..
With kids you can't do that. Sharing my faith with little kids helped me, and still helps me, to simplify.

I'm writing a handbook for the sunday school in my Church, I thought I would share it here.
It's been difficult for me in the beginning, finding things to do that were not ONLY COLORING... and how to explain with easy words..

Sharing Faith: Some tips for CCD group leaders

You accepted to become a ccd group leader? Congratulations! This is the best way to learn bunches about your own faith, to deepen your prayer life and to serve the community in ways you can barely imagine…

What you WON’T need to be a good CCD group leader:

• Perfect knowledge of the catholic faith

• Amazing teaching skills

• Extraordinary patience with difficult kids

What you will need:

• Desire to learn more about Jesus

• Desire to pass down your faith and values

• Love and compassion for the children

Some important considerations:

• CCD is not really teaching, but you will need to use many teaching tricks, such as repeating, questioning, disciplining… You will find your own style after a few sessions. For more ideas, see some useful tips below.

• CCD is all about sharing faith. If you don’t feel comfortable with some point of the catechism, don’t worry, don’t talk about it just now, search it for yourself, ask a priest, learn about it. Once it’s clearer to you can tell about it to the children.

• If the children ask you a difficult question, don’t be offended or ashamed. Simply say: “this is an interesting question, I will look into it and tell you in a couple weeks”

• Spend some time praying with the children, each session. It can be very short prayers, or more elaborate. See page about praying together.

• Be positive. As much as possible be very nice to the children. If they behave really bad you can send them back to the parents. Otherwise welcome every answer with a positive note. When the answer is wrong you can say something like “nice try! But …” and immediately ask an other question to give a second chance… For example you want them to name the characters of the nativity scene, some children confuse the shepherd and Joseph, try something like : “well it’s not Joseph, but look at his clothes, you’re right he seems poor as Joseph. But what is that long stick for?...” That really encourages them to answer more.

if it's not a human being, what is it?

This friday I went to Boston (YOUHOU) it was fun and everything but I'd like to share a conversation I had on the way back.

I was reading an article in Newsweek called "Abortion wars gets technical..." (p39 if you want to see it)
Someone bent over me and says "@#$%@#&*%#$" showing me that quote:
" The [new] law requires physicians[..] to read [to the patient] that she is about to "terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being".
I was surprised by this reaction, I ask him which part of the quote he disagrees with and we come to the interesting point where I have to ask this amazed question:
" But if IT is not human, what is it?"

Yep, I had to ask that question, obviously I missed the part where we are not human before we are born, some magical DNA transformation must occur between day 1 and week 30 something,
or maybe it's the woman's vigina who clothes you with humanity...
Hold on, then how about C-section babies?
I don't know I must have missed something in biology class...

So how do you define a human being?

What makes us biologically human, if it's not DNA?
Anonymous: " I think human life starts when the heart beats, it's been this definition for a thousand years in many cultures"
Me: "... (surprised that for once this person totally ignores the DNA discoveries of this past decade, I mean century...) ok let's say human life begins when there is a heart beat (week 3?) then what is it before?
- I don't know.. it's animal.."

It's animal.

Well let me hope that my future foetuses won't get stuck in the doggy stage, I get really scared when they bark..

Ok this answer was slightly upset. But why should he be upset about that discussion?
My problem is that people who usually quote scientific research 5 times a day suddently ignore science facts when it comes to abortion questions, like an unborn embryo has a separate, unique set of DNA and only needs time and nutrients to develop.
Because it would imply too much to just admit that embryo are human lifes.
That would mean abortion terminates a human life.
That might even be wrong.


I'm fed up with the religious war (and I've been here only a year!). This has nothing to do with religion. It's science!
A baby is human, it doesn't become human with his first take of oxygene through lungs, it was human in the womb. It doesn't become human the day the mother says " I will keep IT". I'm sorry but this is not how it works. It's disturbing, I know, I've been there. Where you realize abortion is killing someone in the process of sending a woman "back to her life, just like before". Well no, now she is the mother of a dead foetus, and he died on her choice.

Some part of the above-quoted conversation was about me being biased because I'm catholic and I believe there is a soul for the baby before he exists.
Well even if you want to argue in theological field, there is no soul before there is a body. Human being are so precious because they have a body to express their person. We are no angel, every body knows it ;)

I mean this is so important whenever you have to ask the question: " what makes us human?" in front of a situation, that usually means something is wrong.

Well maybe there is some catholicism in thinking that human beings are worth giving it a try. They should all get a chance to live in decent condition.
Well hold on, if I ever become american I won't need to be catholic to agree with that, it's the first lines of your constitution!!
But there is no catholicism involve in the definition of a human being. It's a fact.

I'm pro-life

I've just seen this video and I need to clarify my own thoughts.

"human life begins at conception". Duh! Yes life begins at conception. Not all pregnancies ends happily with a baby, but conception is the moment when a new human life is possible. And this possibility is important enough to respect this new life, and give rights to the baby. On a personal point of view it's clear to me.
But life is more than being born.

This video is incredible. If I were republican I would seriously doubt in Mc Cain right now. "As a president I would be a pro-life president and this presidency would have pro-life policy" He says that without an hesitation, as a well learned speech.
I think he is hypocrite. Not only because he is pro-life with restrictions, but mainly because being pro-life should not stop with birth!!!
I'm not Obama biggest fan, but I appreciate his hesitations. I'm glad the video highlights them. You cannot answer the question of abortion in one sentence. Of course life begins at conception, but life isn't so manichean! If a president is really pro-life, he should think bigger than "let's make abortion illegal".
That's not how it is, that just condemning some women to back-alleys abortions. Let's face it some babies are going to be aborted whatever law the country votes.
There is no happy answer for an unwanted pregnancy. But there are ways to limit those pregnancies. I'm not talking about condoms or abstinence only program. Call me a naive but I personaly believe that education is the best place to start. Let schools have program about the beauty of love, the respect of human body, of spirit and mind. It doesn't even have to be religious teaching, let's just talk more about love and commitment. Talk about parenting, about budgeting, about responsibilities.
Yep I know all of that should be taught by parents. Or close family. And yes such an education can be considered as interventionist or paternalist. But I think the country should still offer all these teachings at school and high school. I don't pretend that would change the world, but that could make more people think before they act. That could be a counterpart to the culture out there, on tv, magazines, theaters and so on...
I think being pro-life is A LOT MORE than an no-abortion policy.

How can you say yourself "pro-life" and send people to an endless war?
How can you be pro-life and let people work endless hours and still not be able to make both ends meet?
How can you be pro-life and agree with death-penalty? That's just as disrespectful to human kind as abortion is.

I'm waiting for a candidate that's truly pro-life. Maybe by the time I get a right to vote in the USA there will be one.
In the meantime I will support Obama, because of his hesitation on that video among others. Because with hesitating he refuses to make it a simple question or a motto. "Answering that question with specificity is above my pay grade". Well that's being humble. The question of abortion cannot be answered with stating "I'm pro-life" or "I'm pro-choice" because both candidate run for presidency. It's not a matter of personal life, it's policy for a country where ANYWAY women are going to look for abortions. So what should they do? make it illegal and see them getting sick, dying of back alley abortion, abusing their children?
Provide education, help, alternatives, and then you can say you're prolife.

tribute to the laundromat

I love laundry! It smells so good :)
I love laundromat so much! Probably because I do it on my free-time. So I actually have time. I bring a book or some cross stitch, but I rarely do it there..
I just like to select the best program, add the soap and softener, and sit there to look at the machine spinning.
Yes I must be retarded somewhere. I watch the machine. There are usually tv in the laundromat, but I look at the machines. I look at the colors turning and spinning, I look at the foam. It looks comfy and warm and soft, makes me fancy a hot tub!





Then I take the wet clothes and I hang them dry at home. The feeling of damp, freshly washed clothes is very relaxing to me.
My next step is to make my own laundry soap :)
I don't think I would save much money in doing that, because I have a love affair with lavender softener and it adds up.. But it makes a great hobby! I mean anyway laundry has to be done, at least let's take advantage to make it a nice moment, some day-dreaming time :)


Yeah I know I don't have a bath tub, but I have this image in mind, like taking my clothes to laundromat is taking them to a spa...

The other day I had a big laugh with my boyfriend, we were saying that if our kids are like me we won't need a baby sitter, we can just send them to the laundromat, and they can look at spinning machines for a couple hours...