Posts by Rebecca Simmons

posted on July 7, 2014 by Rebecca Simmons

Fourth of July

Here’s a few pictures from our Fourth of July at the beach. It was filled with family, laughs, a big parade, an old school lemonade stand, dogs dressed in holiday wear, beads flying off floats, wave jumping and fireworks on the beach.

We missed our old gang at home and our neighborhood traditions. But our neighbors sent photos of them guarding our house with loads of fireworks (and the pet sitters too).

In Florida, we also visited my grandmother in her memory care home the day before the Fourth. Doesn’t she look cute? My aunt and cousin got her all dolled up for our visit

posted on July 7, 2014 by Rebecca Simmons

Road tripping

There comes a time in summer when you just have to hit the road – and travel. There is a part of me that can only go so long without traveling, playing the part of a wondering soul. Putting my toes in the sand and seeking out new things.

With the girls getting older, we are stretching a little further and little longer.

Our Eruorail days of wondering our way over to Budapest with no schedules or reservations are long gone. And even though we did make our first European trip to Norway with kids last spring, this summer’s traveling is road trip style – 726 miles to white sandy beaches on Florida’s Gulfcoast.

We haven’t made it down this far south since our middle girl was a baby – because it’s SO long to drive with young kids. For an old post on road trip travel tips, click here.

But this summer, we did it! And there were a few things we did differently on this L-O-N-G road trip. And a few new realizations I made along the road.

This time we made the trip in a new van and the newness made it a bit more fun, including extra room we didn’t have before.

Second, the girls sat three across in the back seat for a record time ever in their lives. (Lollypops always help!)

We are going to be gone for a couple weeks and we traveled with a lot of comforts from home (like my Vitamix and coffee frothier, good kitchen knives, rainy day games, books, and our on sheets to make the place feel more like home). Therefore we needed more packing space in the back.

The new van has TONS more space in the backseat which meant no one had to sit in the far back where it’s harder to pass snacks and talk to the parents in the front seats. And no one complained about being in the back getting carsick, which has never happened in reality, unless you count the dog (yuck!).

Having them sit three across for 726 miles was a real gamble, and it could have been a disaster resulting in grumpiness and ultimately rearanging the car to pull up a third row seat. However, much to my surprise it worked beautifully, with very minimal complaining. They even shared pillows and napped on each other for a brief time!

Third, I let them watch as many movies in the car as they wanted. And eventually – they got tired of watching movies and asked for books, games and coloring supplies.

Fourth, I knew there would be a lot of stops and we just decided to take our time. We stopped for a night at my parent’s house three hours into the trip. The next day, three hours later we stopped to see a friend of mine from college. Then we stopped to see the town where my husband grew up (a South Georgia boy) and went to the grocery store to stock up on health(ier) car snacks/lunch. All of which were dolled out with free will to help keep everyone happy – sitting three across.

Then I got serious about getting to our destination before dark. Until we were one hour way and someone had to pee AGAIN so we stopped at McDonald’s. It was dinnertime. For the first time (possibly the second, in my faint memory) the girls ordered Happy Meals. But my two hamburger eating girls wanted nothing to do with a “fast food” hamburger. Maybe my food education and healthy cooking is actually working, because they realized fast food was not so yummy, or happy.

Fifth, I really didn’t sweat the trip, the time, the distance, or how to pass the time in the car. I just knew eventually we would get there. And that was a very good thing.

Thankfully we arrived all in-tack, with paddle boards and bikes. My aunt and cousin were riding around in a golf cart serving as the welcome crew. They took this photo. It took the girls five minutes before they made their first splash in the pool!

posted on July 2, 2014 by Rebecca Simmons

Pool days

Pool days are truly simple now, at ages 4,7 and 9. With lifeguards on duty, a 4-year-old who swims like a fish, an open snack bar and some flippers – this is what summer is about.

Coming up next is phase two of summer – beach times, road tripping and settling in for a good long stay in the Florida sun.

See you then!

posted on July 2, 2014 by Rebecca Simmons

Summer silliness

I just uploaded my camera-s (there seems to be too many to keep up with these days with the multiple devices that get rotated and clicked about) and found so many silly things my girls have been doing without me “looking” so to speak.

It’s like they were sneaking up on themselves, in an independent way of having a little fun with a camera – where I get to see all that happened. They took sweet selfies all together wearing their pajamas (which my oldest would not approve of me sharing), a slide show display of dog toys, secret attempts to get the little sister on top of the dog for a piggy back ride, games of hide and seek where they find the little girl hiding and just a whole bunch of silliness that I get to replay through the eyes of my children.

The photos are certainly not blog worthy, but something I will treasure and love. They are lovely reminders that popped into my screen of simple moments of silly sister fun, with old party hats, a dog that is just a quirky as they are and the realization that kids can do a perfectly good job of creating their own fun when we just step out of their way.

Some of the games I’m told, involved “the endangered purple bear” and finding the “endangered girl hiding.”

As the for silliness I was involved in – there is local plant and outdoor furniture store with sign out front that says, “stop and take a picture in our huge adoradndic chair.” The big girls read the sign and asked to take turns taking pictures in the chair. And I said yes.

posted on June 26, 2014 by Rebecca Simmons

Carrots, rain dancing and ballet

I can barely keep up with summer this year. It’s four weeks gone and it’s going fast.

To say ballet camp was a hit is an understatement.

I’m certain we have a dancer on our hands. Which makes me really, really happy. To see a child have something that becomes so important to them is a really wonderful thing. It makes after school activities WELL worth it when they love it.

I grew up doing ballet outside Atlanta at a satellite location for Atlanta School of Ballet. But eventually dropped it for a schedule full of more important things (ahem, cheerleading). I’ve never pushed dancing with my girls. And out of the blue last year she said she wanted to take ballet. OKAY! Soccer definitely didn’t go over too great. Piano is ok, but JUST ok. Girls Scouts was not for her. Sewing is always fun. And ballet is a perfect fit.

Next school year she’ll join the older girls rank, who spend several hours a week at the studio taking ballet, tap and modern. Dance – oh my!!

When I asked my middle girl what she wants to do next year after school her responce was, “Freeeeeeee. I just want to be free!!!” And I have to respect that. Full of carefree joy, and always reminding me to be joyful.

The littles are still happy as can be picking carrots from the garden. And gardening continues to be summertime fun.

They pick them, wash them with the hose and eat them. The best way, really?

“Easy peasy lemon squeezy,” is the new saying my little might use for it. And I just love that hearing that from her! The other night I almost didn’t have the heart to correct her when she said, “Look at my yellow bings,” referring to new hair growth – not bangs. We all awed over it that evening and asked her to keep saying it. She obliged, much willing the play the baby of the family role.

That hair IS getting lighter and lighter this summer. Even with all the rainy afternoon – which are great for puddle jumping.

And just like summer goes, so fast, they are on to something else, leaving empty rain boots on the sidewalk.

posted on June 19, 2014 by Rebecca Simmons

Summer Days

This summer has been our busiest ever. I’m used to more lazy days of summer but I suppose as these girls get bigger the basic days of blocks and books and friends coming and going, still leaves a desire to be do more.

So for the first summer there have been camps! And they REALLY, actually want to go. It’s all been impromptu because I don’t like to plan. Going by the minute of knowing what everyones needs seems to be my follow-my-gut parenting style.

When I dropped of the two bigs, the little was SO sad that she wasn’t going to camp that I drove down the street where her friend was going to bible camp, where I knew the director (love a small town!) and dropped her off with a small snack bag. She was happy as could be. It was a total third kid moment – because who would do that with a first kid? No one! And she’s been going back three days a week ever since. Camp braids included! Because they are the best.

Aside from going to camps with friends we have been drawn to the water. I love being around water. My girls are true water babies (even all born in bathtubs) and my youngest is swimming like a fish this year – keeping up with her older sisters just fine.

We bought an underwater camera to keep up with the action and I put a waterproof case on my iPhone -partly in preparation for our beach trip that begins soon. So yeah, it’s the summer of water. With two SUPs and two kid kayaks in tow.

If you look closely you can see the little one catching a ride with my husband. She flip flops between that and swimming next to us, or behind and “pushing” the boards.And when the girls took over my board, I took a float on the kid kayak, with a nice view.

The girls wanted to try thier new snorkel gear, and the camera. I love these silly girls!!!

I’m also loving our garden. Here’s one of our three potato harvests. And the prep work for dinner – potatoes, beets and carrots from our garden. In the crock pot is black beans. It’s my only crockpot success as a vegetarian. I quick boil beans for 10 minutes, with added salt. Then put them in the crockpot on medium for 4-6 hours. It’s the best taco night secret ever! Oh and…lastly I got a new car! Normally that would not make a blog and I’ll spare you the photos. However I will say that I never liked my old minivan for one single day of the five years I drove it. It was a 2009 Honda Odyssey – AKA Betty the Bus. And after a long saga with stupid run flat tires I went shopping to never drive a minivan again. And guess what? I got a new Honda Odyssey. Everything I hated about the last one, that I wished I could have designed differently to make it truly a perfect family car – they did for me in the 2014 models. And now, I can officially say I am part of the I love my minivan club.

I’m have always put carseat safety top and the new one has FIVE latch systems so I can latch in all our booster seats, plus extras for friends. And all three kids (with a carseat and two boosters) can sit three across in the middle row! And it has a built in cooler for road trip snacks. And it has a built in trash can! And a built in vacuum cleaner, for pete’s sake. AND NO RUN FLAT TIRES. Road trips here we come. Because these water girls like to travel. And now this mom loves her minivan.

posted on June 9, 2014 by Rebecca Simmons

Summer is here!

For the first summer in many years, I have not planned new ways to keep everyone busy for our MANY hours we will spend together during summer break. In the past I have recreated new play spaces, prepared Montessori inspired shelves of activities to keep toddler hands engaged, armed myself with new art supplies and timelines to keep our days rolling along smoothy.

This summer I’ve decide to just wing it. There are no Pinterest inspired projects and nothing major to report in terms of new play structures, or outdoor games or anything. It’s just simple open-the-door-and-go-outside fun happening here.

A friend posted this blog Top 1o Ways to Give Your Kid a 1970’s Summer and I love it. I’m more of an 80’s child (born in 1976) but so many of the classic things ring true of the summers I want my girls to remember. We have a rule at our house where all kids have to play outside. The trek from the patio to the fridge needs moping constantly! And there is always someone else’s kid in my yard. Love live the classic summer!

We have a bin full of “backyard swimsuits” in the basement that are available for play that results in grass stains and paint messes – with enough for sharing with lots of friends. In the pantry is a large mason jar full of popcorn for snacks and always a watermelon for sharing. The kids who frequent our house know where things are. They know the rules and most of them are now big enough to nearly fend for themselves (with a little help from older sisters around sometimes).

Here’s a few snapshots of what we’ve gotten into so far….

And if a giant slip and slide isn’t enough? A faux beach for fun and a big baby pool is still a people pleaser here.

When that water fun is done, there is the pool. All of them can actually swim this year so the real pool (where the shallowest end is 4 ft.) is actually relaxing for me this year. They all put on their own sunscreen and get ready independently. Therefore, getting out the door into the real pool is a finally a simple, fun task.

Instead of planning art activities, I discreetly put a new craft book on the art to able to be discover. My four-year-old took the bait and created a mask all by herself! Older sister helped her find some of the supplies and I only witnessed the very end of the creative process. Then I got the treat of seeing this mask girl sneak up behind me. Maybe it’s a little pay off after 9 years of intensive craft training with my oldest girl. (Yes I love arts and crafts.)

Books fill in all the gaps here for summer. I arm our home with books and limit the TV. Somedays I feel like a mean mom because I have not allowed my children to have any personal electronic devises of any kind. Then I see my oldest girl reading, literately, in every nook and corner in every second she can….and I think they are doing JUST fine this way. My computer is available to them if want to look something up or use it – but they rarely ask to do so.

We keep blocks and baskets of games and puzzles for easy access in our living room. Sometimes the littles need this down time and at my house they know where to find it. And they know I’ll probably ask them to clean it up when they are done. It’s part of the summertime fun and part of the deal when kids are around everyday, and including sleepovers.

The biggest news of summer is…Chickens are on the way! Yep backward chickens are really happening. The littles discovered the mobile chicken house recently delivered via mail, and pretended to be chickens.Building the real coop has been a long process but is so going to be amazing. The girls have asked to use it as a playhouse until we get the chickens closer to the end of summer after vacation time if over. They have been pre-orderd and will be delivered via mail. Strange – I know! But SO exciting.

The coop is getting close to being finished, after many weekends of work and two visits by my expert builder dad to who was essential in teaching us how to get our plan off the ground. But here’s a sneak peak. Any further summer projects are going to involve beautifying and planting yummy things for chickens in and around it.

Yes summer is here. And I DO love summertime.

posted on June 9, 2014 by Rebecca Simmons

In the garden, with or without kids

In spring I have great ideas of what to plant in our small garden. And a plan that involves my girls helping, harvesting, learning and eventually getting them to eat more vegetables out of the experience.

I’ve slacked off this year on all of these expectations and adopted the garden as my place. Of course little feet wonder in and out and squeal at the joy of pulling beets and carrots out of the ground. But ultimately, it’s been my place to enjoy morning times watering the garden or the afternoon times outside pulling those pesky weeds. I’m always thankful for the time outside. With my hands in the dirt, pulling me way from chores and things I think have to get done when really….they can wait.

I started planting in early spring, with hearty greens and root vegetables. Since then I’ve moved in a succession method (learning from our CSA farmer) onto summer vegetables as the colder hearty things bolted as temperatures quickly warmed up.

The girls still claim a raised bed each for their own, with their favorite things planted in them. Basil for the pesto eater, tomatoes for one, snap peas for another and classic potato standbys for all – as well as carrots! The one vegetable they will all eat raw, a miraculous site for a vegetarian mom who strives everyday to create veggie loving kids (nearly an impossible goal I know).

My laid back view of getting the girls involved this year is partly due to them getting older and gardening is really the most fun for the pre-school ages. Once they discover it’s work, it’s harder to get them involved. But when it happens voluntarily, it’s fun, and the reward is so much greater. When they truly enjoy something they value the experience and the end result. Just like we do, naturally.

Gardening this year has been about the process, getting to it when we can, and me always being grateful when I do. Even if it was pulling greens out too late and feeding them to the school’s chickens because they turned too bitter before we ate them all. My little girl and I loved feeding those leftover stalks of arugula and mustard greens to the chickens while we waited for the big girls to be dismissed.

We are going from one season of vegetables to the next, one vegetable at a time. Along the way I did take a few pictures. And I do love garden pictures…

Like this one, of little hands harvesting spinach in early May. They gained a new understanding of how much spinach cooks down! That big bowl full doesn’t really make much. But it was great in our Spinach Frisbees.

These are few of the sites outside my kitchen door, greeting us home every time. Flowers are always wonderful, but it’s even better when I can eat what’s in the garden. The beets were harvested today – a lovely treat sitting on my doorstep, and seeing my older girls involved. Maybe they’ll eat those beats for dinner soon. With a side of herbs from the herb garden..

posted on April 15, 2014 by Rebecca Simmons

CSA farm visits, now and then

Our vegetable CSA had a open house farm tour last weekend and we went, bringing home excitement and readiness for spring veggies to began.

I’ve written about “Farmer Megan” lots before – like here when the girls’ brownie troop visited the farm on a hot early summer day. And here after our first drop in 2012 – including tips on storage for spring greens. She’s a household name for us. She’s a friend and now I’m volunteering every Friday on the farm.

Last week we transplanted all these flats of kale, broccoli and lettuce!

The children, mine and other member’s families, always enjoy visiting the farm and seeing what’s growing. This time, the baby goat was the biggest hit.

All the children tried to get close. Those most determined, and patient, got their chance.
These roosters were left here after being pinned with hens, to make eggs that are now being incubated and waiting to hatch. There is big chicken talk at our house lately. I’ll tell you more later, after this weekend when I hopefully have some photos to share of our plan in action.
The children listen to Farmer Megan talk about how these tiny veggies get their start. Then one day this summer I’ll remind them when our veggies come to our house that they started right here. I FULLY believe kids eat healthier when they really know where their food comes from.
There are 60 chickens they get rotated around the farm living on one acre plots of land as they turn the soil by pecking it, and fertilize the soil with their waste. I can not wait untill we can watch chickens in our own back yard…. I can barely keep my own secret. The kids from our neighborhood visited the farm together, and then they’ll gather in our yard every Wednesday for our weekly CSA delivery. It starts up later this month and I’m SO ready for fresh produce that I don’t have to buy at the store. Farms just bring good, muddy, peace in the sun fun. While this girl got a piggy back ride around the farm…. I couldn’t help but think back to the days during her first visit to the farm, as a babe on my back. And how much all these kids, mostly our neighbors (and some school friends) have grow, together, and what they have learned since the first visit four years ago.

We might not live on a farm and my kids are not growing up on a farm. But they sure will KNOW about farms and how hard Farmer Megan works to grow our food. It’s becoming part of their childhood. And each season, they DO actually eat more vegetables.

posted on April 14, 2014 by Rebecca Simmons

Spring gardening and backyard shananagans

It’s been so long since I’ve blogged, I ran into someone this weekend who thought something was wrong with her Facebook feed because she wasn’t getting my blog updates anymore. I’m so sorry about that! Thank you to those faithful readers for sticking with me while I go through bouts of needing to write and bouts of needing to be silent. And bouts of wondering how much is too much to share here. It’s SUCH a tricky balance. All the while our children are watching….while we try to set examples of doing life with limited screen time.

Natural play is easy to do this time of the year. Outside is the only place we want to be right now – when I’m not sneezing from the 24 dogwood trees blooming at our house! We’ve been doing so much outdoor creating, digging, planting, and finding joy in our own backyard that it makes me want to share here, along with some stories I want to document and remember for my own mothering files. So I’m now in one of the bouts where blogging feels natural, and inspiration comes like a spring rain shower.

So that just might be how it works here from now on – a blog here or there and in spurts of when it feels right to spend time on the computer and when it feels right to abandon technology and just live in real time with my family. Being 100 percent, absolutely present for them and trying to keep everything else running in tiptop shape around here. Which sometimes just means putting all my energy into slowing down and keeping our little world on a peaceful axis.

Here’s a few snapshots of how we’ve been playing outside this spring, while we abandon some of life’s indoor to-do piles until fall.

These are my greens I planted last month. They are much bigger now. I’ll be cutting into them to make a salad very soon.

Planting greens inspired a trip to our local herb farm where fairy garden supplies were 50 percent off. Which inspired this… which keeps inspiring more and more play. Mostly by my oldest girl, as all the old fairy play items get dug out of the basement to be seen in a different the light – literally. The “bonfire” is a candle dug into the ground. So much of this stuff is a pleasant reminder that keeping old stuff sometimes pays off.

This is my new herb garden. Lots of herbs didn’t make it back from our unusually cold winter this year and new landscaping displaced some of my old herbs from our backdoor garden. So across from the fairy garden, is my herb garden.

I’m volunteering at our CSA farm now and a stop by the local farmer’s co-op led to us planting beets, carrots, onions and potatoes. Gardening requires tiaras here. And gardening usually means digging for more worms than gardening, while wearing the tiara. And like always, this attracts neighbors in tutus who want to squish their toes in the dirt too. One of my best gardening tricks for seed planting is using a knife sharpener to poke holes in the ground. I joke – this is what a vegetarian does with a set of steak knives that was a wedding present almost FIFTEEN years ago. But it’s SO true. Those knives cut a lot of vegetable and no steaks. And the sharpener has planted a lot of vegetable seeds.

When my oldest girl decided she’s not a dirt gal and gardening is not her thing, I found just the perfect job for her mapping out the vegetable beds and recording what we are planting where. She took it very seriously! Every seed is documented on her hand drawn graph paper as we wait for those 15 rows of carrots to grow.

We started a few more planting jobs this past weekend. And it just so happened my youngest was wearing the same favorite outfit. I love it too! You might notice her hair is much shorter here. But more on that later…. 🙁 A bittersweet story.

These hanging planters were something the girls painted a few years back and I sell love them SO much. They make me smile.

We converted our play dome to a big play tent this weekend. The cat likes it best. Oh that cat – Fruit Punch!

This will be part of a next sewing project. But you’ll have to wait for that too. For now it makes a lovely photo.