Posts by Rebecca Simmons

posted on May 17, 2012 by Rebecca Simmons

Whimsical backyard berry patch just for kids

For some time I’ve been wanting to plant blueberry bushes and strawberry plants, because my children could eat their weight in both types of berries. I have tried before, haphazardly to plant them. This time I decided to get serious about it. And have a little fun at the same time.

We are not handy here and our DIY skills are very limited. But some sort of fence was necessary to keep our dog from barreling though the space. She is very territorial and barks at anyone passing our yard, running along the fence – ALL along the fence!

This one….

That was what sparked my inspiration for this berry patch in our backyard. Then the ideas grew, the girls got involved, Dad got involved, we made upcycled stepping stones for the space, painted the sign and together we named it Sweet Times Berry Patch.

The simple, inexpensive fence was made using garden stakes, drilling a hole through them and stringing clothesline wire through the holes. And believe it or not, this barrier is enough to stop Lulu in her tracks from running straight through our berry patch.

I bought two gallon blueberry bushes to give us a goodhead start on berries.We have six total, including the two small bushes I transplanted from my previous attempts at growing blueberries. We planted 15 strawberry plants. To keep the bugs out of our berries, Farmer Megan gave me a mixture of clover, herbs and flowers that naturally deter bugs, and we planted the seeds all along the permitter of the space.

The project turned out really fun, whimsical and lovely for the kids. And hopefully, it be full of yummy berries for years to come.

Here’s a few more shots of the space.

The ladder you see from this angle is how the kids climb up to get on the zip line. And yes, we have a zip line going though our backyard. It is the most fun you can imagine for a kid in the back yard.

Now I’m hoping the berries will be the yummiest thing in our backyard!

posted on May 17, 2012 by Rebecca Simmons

Upcycled Stepping Stone Tutorial

Child made stepping stones are always a lovely addition to a path or flower patch. But buying those materials at craft stores can be expensive. So we make upcycled stepping stones using a bag of concrete from the hardware store, and old plastic containers from the kitchen for molds. To decorate we use all those bits and pieces of broken this and that, old dress up jewelry, marker tops, beads, forks and spoons, rocks, shells and more – saving them from being tossed in the trash.

My girls really enjoy this project and they have for several years. All ages can participate. My toddler had fun doing it too this year, for her first time. Most recently, we made this stepping stones to go in our Sweet Times Berry Patch.

There’s not much to making these stepping stones. But here’s a list of steps and materials to get you started.

Designate a container to start saving broken and old items that would be okay for stepping on when lied flat. Metal items like forks can be hammered flat.
Create a place to collect old pie tins, plastic takeout containers and anything of that sort that comes your way. These will be your molds.
Pick up a bag of ready to mix mortar on your next trip to the hardware store. And have it handy.
Get an old spoon, bowl, bucket or pot either from you kitchen, a salvage store or a neighbor. And hold on to it till you need it.
In all, your stash can be stored and reused time and time again, when the inspiration strikes.
On a sunny day pull everything outside. Let the kids sort through items they want to use on their stone and pick their container to put it in.
For mixing the mortar, I eye ball it. See picture below for a guess of the consistency, about like brownie mixture. I start with a few scoops of the mix, add water and adjust from there by adding more or less water and mix. Too little water and the mix is sandy and slightly harder to push down the items into the stone. They do sink some during the drying time so don’t push too hard! If the mix is too watery, heavy items can sink too far down where you can’t see them. Either way they dry fine – in about 24-48 hours. My advice is to just try it. You can always add more mix or more water till you think it’s good. And to error on the watery side versus the dry side, because cracking can occur and items can come loose when mixture is too sandy. Since it’s not a quick drying material, time is on your side while you tweak it to the right consistency. For an easier, more expensive but fool proof mixture, you can buy a box of the mix that normally come with mosaic stepping stone kits. I have used the Milestones brand when I have a 40 percent off coupon for Jo-Anne’s craft store. It does work nicely. On the other hand my girls will usually make two-four of these stones at one time and a big bag is better to have on hand because it lasts A LONG time.
Once mixed, pour into molds and have kids start decorating. Let dry for 24-48 hours before placing in your garden or pathway.

posted on May 15, 2012 by Rebecca Simmons

A few things I love about being a mom

It’s a little late. But here’s my Mother’s Day post of the many things that ran through my brain that day. Mothering is hard work. Thankfully there are so many things that make it rewarding.

Handmade gifts on Mother’s Day are a big part of it for me. In our case their teachers had so much to do with this, from art class, to wrapping, to the notes, to the bath salts my toddler gave me.

My toddler was so excited when I picked her up Thursday, that she came running down the deck exclaiming, “I made bath salts for you!”

Toddlers are not so great at keeping surprises. It’s a talent they have – honesty. Sweet honesty.

I had to keep gently reminding her not to squish the tied up pretty gift in the purple paper, or the bath salts would go flying everywhere. She kept squishing. And mashing, and banging and enjoying the sound they made.

Sunday evening at bath time she couldn’t wait to get them out. I’m not quite sure she understood the giving part. But she was more than willing to share, which meant taking a bath together. She dumped in the salts saying, “Yeaaah bath salts with Mommy.” I do love taking baths with my babies. It was a good thing!

My middle child made a clay pinch pot in art for me, covered in glitter and perfect in so many ways. She had it tucked away in her school bag on Friday. When I picked her up that day she was busy on the playground. And in our flurry to get everyone to go potty and into the car that was already loaded for a road trip to Georgia, the dog included, I forgot to get her bag from the extended day area.

This meant on Sunday there was a crumbled, crying, sad girl lying on the floor in a puddle of tears because her Mother’s Day gift was still at school. I felt awful. But at the same time I was touched that it meant so much to her.

Before she realized the gift would be ready in time for Mother’s Day, her older sister had given her one of her old clay works in which my middle girl wrote her name on the back and wrapped up for me. Daddy packed that one. Sweet as it is was. It wasn’t the same to her.

I knew come Monday I would love the moment when she hopped in the car and shared her gift with me. And she did. The very second she got in the car, just as I expected. Tucked inside the pinch pot was one Hershey’s Kiss. We quickly shared the treat in a moment that was made for just us. Then we rewrapped the gift to take a picture of it in her hand, minus the missing kiss.

My oldest girl is known for leaving I love Mommy notes around the house. I love this about her, and the squiggly handwriting of a child.

I love that my girls will take the green leaves from the top of a carrot, put them in a vase and place them on the dinning room table to be pretty.

I love that when my hands are full, I’m getting frustrated and my attitude is about to take a turn for the worst, my oldest daughter steps in to say, “Mom you look like you could use some help. Let me me get that for you.” And she takes something from my load – in more than just a physical context.

I love that my middle girl can make me laugh just when I need it. She is the family funny head. She often puts things into perspective for me.

I love that when I am at my wits end with nursing and I think I’m ready to close the door on this chapter of my life, my toddler makes me cherish it again. She crawls in my lap and sweetly asks to nurse without saying a word. I knew on Mother’s Day morning that she needed a moment of coddling. And maybe I needed it too.

“My milkies so special,” she said when she was finished. I love this about mothering. How my child knows just when to lead the way and get me to listen, and how I’m always thankful I did.

The last few days I’ve been thinking about mothering, and attachment parenting – in the wake of the infamous Time magazine cover with model Jamie Lynne Grumet posing with her three year-old nursing son – for the article “Are you Mom Enough? Why attachment parenting drives some mothers to extremes and how Dr. Bill Sears became their guru.”

I haven’t read the article. Because I’m not a subscriber and I’m sure not going to buy the magazine now, and support them in gaining readership through this stunt that was designed to get a knee jerk reaction and stir controversy. But I have enjoyed reading many of the online responses.

I especially liked reading the editorial that ran on Forbes.com, by Victoria Stefanakos, titled Time Cover Milks Breastfeeding For All it’s Worth. She’s a professional writer who has nursed three-year-olds, and shares her real life experiences and opinions on the mater. She also writes the blog Project Homestead.

I read the editorial in the car on Mother’s Day, via my phone as my husband drove and we made our way back home from our weekend trip of visiting our own mothers. Stefanakos’ writing made me glad us moms are in this together. Because we shouldn’t be Mothering mom against mom. No one should have to feel mom enough.

I love when moms like Megan Francis over at The Happiest Mom speak the truth about mothering. In light of the Time cover she reposted this, “On labels and limits: why I no longer call myself an “attachment parent.”

Some of my favorite things about being a mom start with natural birth, breastfeeding, co-sleeping, baby-wearing and the things that naturally fall into “attachment parenting.” I do it because it feels right. And because it works for me.

I discovered Dr. Sears, who coined the modern parenting phrase “attachment parenting,” in a bookstore when my first baby was four months old. I wanted answers why she still nursed so much, why it was so hard for her to sleep in a crib and what I could do about it. My baby playgroup mom friends were talking about “crying it out.” I was the odd one. So when I found Dr. Sears I was relieved to read words that made sleeping with my baby seem normal.

I still listen to my mommy meter. And I trust it. I love that about mothering. And I usually love the results it brings. I hope as the girls grow older this stays true. And that the homemade notes keep coming. And the requests to share bath salts still keep happening. And the joy of sharing a piece of chocolate never gets old.

It’s these simple things I love about being a mom.

posted on May 14, 2012 by Rebecca Simmons

It’s Monday, and I’m drinking fresh herbed tea

It’s Monday and I’m still trying to get back into the swing of things from being out of town this weekend. Every time I come home from being gone, I have an urgent need to rearrange, renovate and reorganize EVERYTHING in my house. This is partly the result of living in an old house.

I love our old house. I really, really love it – all the history it holds, character and knowing all the feet that have walked here before us on these 90-year-old hardwood floors. Then somedays I hate it and I want to change everything about it. And then I change a few things and I love it again. It’s what I call our love/hate relationship.

Today, while having these arguments with my house, I’m enjoying some fresh Holy Basil tea. And it’s the perfect thing I needed.

When Farmer Megan handed me the bunch of fresh Holy Basil herbs on Wednesday I had never heard of it. She said drinking it gives her a bit of a renewed feeling, an awakening, similar to drinking coffee but in a more natural way.

“Just try it,” she said.

She, by the way, is not a coffee drinker. I am a coffee ~~drinker~~ snob. BIG time! But I agree it is giving me a nice renewed feeling and I enjoy the loveliness of tea made from fresh herbs.

It’s not the same as drinking coffee – at all. However last night I gave myself the Mother’s Day present of crawling under the covers in my bed, hiding from the children and falling asleep. That’s right – this night owl who is often up writing this blog until 2:00 or 3:00 AM – went to bed at 7:30 PM last night. Therefore my need for coffee is minimal this morning. And the post I was writing in my head as I drifted off to sleep, “My favorite things of being a mom,” will get typed up later today, I hope.

While taking a break from rearranging and cleaning my kitchen/mudroom/dumping zone for everything that comes through the door area, I am loving this Holy Basil tea.

Megan also gave me two fresh bunches of chamomile which I took to my mom, and left two mason jars of fresh iced Chamomile tea in her refrigerator for her to enjoy.

To make tea from fresh herbs just simply boil the leaves with water. I used one quart of water per one bundle of herbs that fit in my clinched hand. I added a dollop of honey and a skirt of lemon juice to both the Holy Basil and the Chamomile teas. For Chamomile tea, you cut the flowers off the top and only put those in the water, not the stems.

Here’s the Holy Basil brewing, which I made on Friday before we went of town. And put in my refriderator for later…which was today.

posted on May 11, 2012 by Rebecca Simmons

A Simple Moment

A Simple Moment is a post that appears here every Friday.
A photo I want to remember of a simple moment, with a few simple words.

If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link in the comment section for all to see and read.

A Simple Moment was inspired by SouleMama. Visit her site to see many more moments.

This week I thought I my iPhone was a goner after it sloshed around in spilled water in the bottom of my stroller. It did recover. Miraculously! There were 225 photos and videos on there from the past four months that I had not downloaded. So this week I give a you several moments, in which I’m thankful to still the have the photos to remember them by.

In brief, they are… taking time to make wishes, enjoy nature and togetherness. Remembering the style choices of a particular seven-year-old who doesn’t want her picture shown here. Rare opportunities, silly fun, backwards shoes, and the reality of living in a 90 year-old house in need of repairs where faucets get “fixed” with child size wrenches.

posted on May 9, 2012 by Rebecca Simmons

Montessori laundry with toddlers and our DIY set up

Practical life aspects of Montessori education have been a favorite for my girls during the toddler and young pre-school aged days. Corner by corner, our house has become a place where they have their own spaces next to mine – doing the same kinds of things. It’s a way to keep young children busy, feeling purposeful and close to mom.

The laundry is no exception. I still remember the day when our first child was two-years-old and started folding all the hand towels at home, in the laundry room. She was obviously learning that at school! My husband and I joked about what kind of sweat shop they were running at that Montessori school we were paying for. Children love purposeful work. No mater what the gender is. I’ve seen the boys at school enjoying the same things.

Since we take these principles we learn through having children at a Montessori school and implement them in our home – I’m sharing our DIY children’s laundry set up that lives in our basement, next to the real laundry space.

My toddler is increasingly becoming more interested in these types of activities at home lately. Therefore on Sunday I stopped what I was doing long enough to enjoy some one-on-one time with her and do some laundry – children’s style, round three. And just as I expected, she loved doing it as much as her two sisters did at this age.

Our set up is a complete DIY approach, borrowing more expensive ideas from classroom materials found in the Montessori Services catalogue and For Small Hands (which are both owned by the same company). The area also gets used, from time to time, by the older girls to wash their dolls’ clothes – which is super sweet.

Here’s a list of our materials

A wash basin and small wash board that came from a local Ace Hardware store. I’ve seen both in Montessori catalogues and in the Nova Natural catalog. Ours work wonderfully. And that basin gets used for SO MANY other things, indoors and outside.
Homemade baby laundry soap that was made by the Open Heart Doulas. I won it in a basket of baby goodness, at a fundraiser for the birth center where I am on the board of directors. The wooden scooper was leftover from a bath salt gift I received several moons ago.
A clothesline I made using heavy gauge wire, wrapped around two support poles in the basement of my 90 year-old house.
Wooden clothes pins. I have bought a pack of the mini size ones before from Montessori Services but they quickly broke. I think they were actually harder to use than the big ones because the two sides slid apart so easily where the metal was supped to be holding it together. But for $3, they were still fun.
Small children’s laundry basket that is from Montessori Services. It was well worth the cost and is nicely made. We have had ours for several years and it has held up great. On the flip side we have a similar one from Goodwill that works fine too.
A small wooden ironing board set that was mine with I was a child.
An additional wooden hanging rack that is actually a blanket holder, found at Goodwill.

Here’s how we went about doing laundry, with a two-year-old.

I let her scoop the soap into the basin, carry it to the sink, stand on a chair and fill it with water.
She picked her favorite dresses from her pile of dirty clothes to be washed, put them in her laundry basket, and started washing. It’s nice to do this in a space that you don’t mind getting wet. Having towels handy for children to help wipe up water is a must.
I helped her ring out the water from the dresses and gave them each back to her to hang on the clothesline. In an official classroom set up the wash station would look like this, with a bin for rinsing. But for now, at home, we skipped that step.
She went through two rounds of washing. And then moved on to ironing.

The next day she asked to wear her favorite purple dress that she washed. She very proud of herself! She also made sure sister knew that SHE was the one who ironed her skirt.

posted on May 8, 2012 by Rebecca Simmons

Planting a backdoor garden with herbs and tomatoes

I love to cook with fresh herbs. Who doesn’t? But what I love even more than cooking with them is having them growing right outside my kitchen door. Along with tomatoes. All summer long I can step out my backdoor, gather tomatoes, basil, chives, dill, cilantro, and more – and whip up some fresh pesto, salsa or herbed veggies.

My girls are learning what they are too. So I can send them out with the kitchen scissors to gather the herbs while I cook.

It’s a small garden. And just the perfect size for my daughters to help with the weeding. Plus it’s centrally located next to where I park my car. Which means it usually gets watered while I’m staling around the yard keeping one eye on a sleeping toddler who fell asleep on the way home.

All our herbs are organic and came from local nurseries. For the sake of convenience, I bought them at our food co-op, Three River’s Market. Because one-stop-shoping is always a perk.

In addition to what is listed above, outside my kitchen door I have sage, mint, rosemary, and lemon verbena that comes back every year. This year we planted three types of tomatoes; a large variety, two grape varieties and two tomatillos to make green salsa. We used mushroom compost so that’s why you see lots of mushrooms growing in a few of the photos.Plus I have two watermelon plants because ever since my middle daughter was about seven months old, she could eat her weight in watermelon.

Actually, it was the first solid food she every ate, during a Fourth of July picnic. My oldest daughter’s first food was an avocado in Mexico. And I can’t even remember what my third child’s first food was. I probably wasn’t even looking. Ha. Just kidding.

We’ve been having a good time in this little garden of ours. Here’s some photos to show you.

posted on May 8, 2012 by Rebecca Simmons

Snapshots from spring days at home

These days our home has been a busy place. With friends coming and going, planting and watering, eating and sharing, working and playing – the list goes on.

Here’s a few snapshots into the happenings…..where the lemonade and watermelon never lasts long.

The homemade strawberry jam on fresh bread is enjoyed by all.

The backyard zip line makes a great clothesline in the sun. When I can keep the kids off it it!

The towels get used and reused, and hung to dry again. Because running through the sprinkler is THIS much fun.

The first tomatoes are growing in our backdoor kitchen garden.

The greens from Farmer Megan have been plentiful, and cooking on the stove A LOT.

The little red wagon just keeps on giving.

The little hands just KEEP painting. Oh My! It reminds me of the book I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More.

The simple rope swings keep popping up everywhere the girls can find another perfect tree limb to put one. I have no idea where they keep finding this rope! My guess is Daddy has something to do with it.

The feeling of loving this simple solution after winning the battle with my hose. And it was a battle! We had one of the plastic boxes where the hose gets cranked and rolled all up in the box. It was always so frustrating. Then came the day when I slammed it down on the sidewalk, having a wrestling match trying to get the tangled hose out of the box. I do believe this way works better. It’s peaceful and pretty.

I hope your day is filled with lovely snapshots.

posted on May 7, 2012 by Rebecca Simmons

Natural remedies for alleviating spring allergies

Spring is in full-force where we live in East Tennessee. There are a lot of great things about living in our little quirky town of Knoxville. Alergies is not one of them.

Our town repeatedly, in the fall and spring, gets rated number one allergy capital in the nation by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. And it’s that time of year again.

The last two weeks my children have had runny noses, itchy eyes, and coughs that wake them up at night – which adds more adventure to our nighttime parenting scene. My toddler as been affected the most lately. It seems the older two get better with age at coping. Mom and Dad have learned how to suffer through it too.

But seeing that May is Allergy Awareness Month, and today on Family Friendly Knoxville I wrote about how The Traditional Health Clinic and Salt Spa are offering relief and awareness for families with spring allergies, I thought I’d share some of the things our family does as well.

Here’s my list. Many of these items carry over to fall allergies and cold and flu season too.

The neti pot. I was absoluty shocked last fall when my seven-year-old agreed to try using a neti pot to alleviate sinus congestion. I was even more surprised at her reaction which was, “That was awesome! Can I do it again.” My middle girl has tried the neti pot as well.
My younger two prefer a saltwater nasal solution opposed to the neti pot. We use a SinuCleanse KidsMist.
We put humidifiers in the girls rooms at night with a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil.
I make echinacea bath salts using essential oil, a carrier oil, sea salt, epsom salt and dried milk. Whenever my girls are feeling ill they request this “special bath.”
For coughs we give them honey diluted with a little hot water. With sometimes a little added squirt of lemon juice. There are store-bought brands available of this as well, like Chestal Cough syrup.
For sneezing and runny noses I give Hyland’s c-plus cold tablets or Hyland’s Allergy Relief for children. This is a good homeopathic brand and they offer a variety of cold and allergy products for children and adults.
For respiratory issues Elderberry Syrup is good too. There are many brands available at heath food stores. Some people make their own. We use the one made by Herbs for Kids.
Echinacea drops provide a good boost for immune support. Mine love to suck it straight of of the dropper in the bottle. There are no qualms about taking this one! Again, we use one by Herbs for Kids. They also make one called Nettles and Eyebright for allergy suffers.
If I sense allergies are prone to spirl into sickness, everyone gets added doses of probiotics.
If the kids have spent time outside that day (which they usually always do), we make sure they take a bath and wash their hair to remove pollen dander from entering their sheets. This is obviously good for adults as well. I believe changing sheets more frequently than usual helps during allergy season.
Lastly, the biggest aid of all – I take my children, as well as myself, to The Salt Spa at The Traditional Health Clinic. They have lots of information on their website explaining the benefits of salt therapy and how it all works. Also, when The Salt Spa opened I wrote an article on it for the Knoxville News Sentinel. You can read that here. While there are less than 15 of salt spas across the country. They are becoming more popular. So maybe your town will be next!

We have had seasons where doctors have prescribed children’s Claritin and other prescription allergy relief for my family. When I was a child I had asthma. Now our family, on most occasions, goes without taking any allergy medicines other than the remedies listed above.

I know there are so many more ideas and methods out there for holistic care relating to allergies. This is just what our family does and I am by no way recommending these things for other families. I’m just sharing what we do.

Feel free to add to the conversation and leave a comment telling us more tips and ideas of ways your family seeks holistic relief. I’d love to hear from you.

posted on May 4, 2012 by Rebecca Simmons

A jar for the Tooth Fairy

The Tooth Fairy is coming to our house tonight. Not for my girls. But for a special friend who my middle girl has played with since birth. It’s a first for this girl. And she is thrilled about a sleepover on the night she lost her first tooth.

I felt a little bad about it at first, when she came to me with a bloody lip wondering what had happened. The tooth came out while she was eating an apple. We all got down on our hands and knees to look for it. But we didn’t find it. I knew my best friend, the mom, would have wanted to be there for the moment. Our sweet little friend was amazingly okay with it all.

The mom is a labor and delivery nurse who was called into attend a birth. Wrapped up in the moment the girls decided it was the perfect night for a sleepover. I asked our little friend if she was okay being away from home to received her first visit by the Tooth Fairy.

“Yes it is more fun with friends,” she happily responded.

Fun we will make it indeed!

Therefore we are embracing a visit from the Tooth Fairy tonight. It’s also the first time our friend is having a sleepover, other than staying with grandma and cousins.

I offered to sew her a Tooth Fairy pillow. Then the girls went down to the basement to write a note to the Tooth Fairy explaining what happened. That she lost the tooth – literally. They came back up for the dictionary and the process kept going. My seven-year-old was helping by writing the note that our friend was dictating. They were down there doing it all by themselves.

By the time the task was finished, dinner was well on the way and it was too late to break out my sewing machine. So she made this simple jar to hold her note for the Tooth Fairy. Our special friend loved it and was quite pleased with how it all turned out.

I think it is a wonderful example of child-led happening that turned out beautifully. Much better than anything I would have made. It’s perfect is so many ways.

Whimsical backyard berry patch just for kids

Upcycled Stepping Stone Tutorial

A few things I love about being a mom

It’s Monday, and I’m drinking fresh herbed tea

A Simple Moment

Montessori laundry with toddlers and our DIY set up

Planting a backdoor garden with herbs and tomatoes

Snapshots from spring days at home

Natural remedies for alleviating spring allergies

A jar for the Tooth Fairy

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