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Weekending

This weekend we are focusing on slowing down, being mindful and in the moment. There has been loads of crafting, knitting, holidaying, little girl laughter, cookie eating and saying no to doing – even though it can be so hard.

Our whole Saturday consisted of going to cut down a Christmas tree at our favorite House Mountain Christmas Tree Farm. The man who runs the farm is 82 years-old. He sent us down to his house to have hot chocolate with his wife who was making fresh wreaths on the front porch. She welcomed the girls into their 100 year-old log cabin and to soar in their tree swing. They have 28 grandchildren between their 5 grown children! They welcomed our crew warmly. We took time to visit, to talk, sip hot chocolate, and sip some more hot chocolate.

The girls romped in their boots while insisting on wearing nice holiday outfits and mama made skirts to go cut down a tree. What can I say? That’s what little girls are made of.

Next week look for a series of posts featuring easy to make Christmas tree decorations for all ages, birthday celebrations and hopefully some homemade gift ideas for teachers. Yes, that time is coming and it will be here before you know it!

Enjoy your Sunday, and our snapshots from today.

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Gift Guide :: Safer Cookware for the family chef

I’m a tricky person to buy for. You see, when I want something I usually just buy it. I realize this is a luxury. But I’d rather save my husband the trip, buy that sweater when I see it and have Christmas morning be about the kids and their homemade gifts to me.

However when it comes to my kitchen, I do not treat myself to new things. I desperately need a new stock pot to replace my current one that has become a mysterious shade of brownish/red (soon to be rust) and has probably been emitting toxic chemicals into our soups. Gross!

We’ve been married since 1999 and safe cookware has come a long way since our wedding showers. We didn’t know about all the chemicals in cookware then, the affects of non-stick surfaces or that cooking with aluminum pots caused Alzheimer’s disease. Now we know stainless steel is best, cast iron is tried and true, that putting food in plastic is bad, and that my black coated Calphalon set of pots was a poor choice for our wedding registry.

So when family asks this year what I want for Christmas, I’m telling them to look here. Because really, I’m writing this gift guide for them, and other moms like me who don’t see the fun in buying their own pots and pans. I by no means expect to get all this stuff. But a gal can wish.

To read more about safer cookware, the Environmental Working Group is a good place to start – on Teflon, about PFCs and safer cooking options.

 

Gift Guide for Safer Cookware

A Le Creuset stock pot for soups, pasta and so much more. The turquoise blue is so much fun it makes me want to throw on a ruffly apron and cook something.

A Le Creuset 9 inch skillet is a basic must for our kitchen. For frying pans, I read here that Le Creuset wins the test for frying up eggs and other things that stick easily to cookware. The pans come in varying sizes from 6 1/3″ to 11.75″. For us I think we can get away with a 9″ for most things – from eggs, to kale, to brussels spouts to fried okra (which is what we’ve been doing a lot of lately).

A Cuisinart Chef’s Classic Stainless Steel Saucepan  seems to be a good middle of the road choice for saucepans. For saucepans I think the important thing is that they are stainless steel with no coatings. So you have options. I love All-Clad but they are super expensive.

An Adagio Teas Glass Water Kettle to replace mine with the melting plastic stopper on the spout. And this one is so, simply, beautiful.

A replacement toaster over of my same old, very much loved grimy Hamilton Beach combo toaster and mini oven. A toaster oven is a great alternative to the microwave and it saves energy when heating small items verses warming up the big oven for a few kid’s chicken fingers. I’ve pined over a larger one by Cuisinart in stores before. But ultimately I always opt to save my counter space.

A set of stainless steel measuring cups, because with three mini helpers in the kitchen there never seems to be enough of these. And I’d like to ditch the old plastic ones that have taken too many accidental trips down the garbage disposal.

A set of glass mixing bowls to replace our plastic ones that have migrated over to the, ahem, sick closet after the last simultaneous kid’s stomach bug. (In the moment a mom does what she has to do, right?  I’m sure you understand.)

A giant stainless steel mixing bowl because I’m sure I could use it for a thousand things. We do, after all, feed five mouths here.

Some Bamboo wooden mixing spoons so I can toss out the last of the plastic ones lingering around but still in use.

And if you really want me to keep going – I recommend glass storage containers. I love the Pyrex brand because they can go from oven, to table, to fridge, to reheat mode. I even use the small round ones to send things in lunches for the foods my girls reheat in the microwaves at school.

To avoid putting hot soups and foods in a plastic food processor (because most of them are plastic unless you use a glass blender) I can’t say enough awesome things about my Bamix immersion blender. It’s great for pureeing just about anything, from soups, to potatoes, to baby food – and it’s worth every penny. There other brands available for cheeper, but like any good blender, you get what you pay for. And if I was going to splurge for one (I did have a gift card) I was going to make sure I got one that worked. This thing rocks!

 

That’s my wish list for me, and little bit for you. Now I’m signing off so I can get cooking!

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Slowing down for a simple holiday season

For the first time in my life I haven’t jumped at the chance to get the house covered for Christmas as soon as the Thanksgiving plates were cleared.

The mood just isn’t hitting me. I’m moving at a slower pace. And I think that’s just the way it should be. I finally got a few things up around the house. The two photos featured here were my favorite finds from shopping on Small Business Saturday.

And since today is December 1, I had to get the advent calendar going and get into elf mode.  Which meant stockings got hung (I blurred the names on them to keep the girls’ names private) and things went on the mantle. Then after I double-checked the cords and lights on an accent tree, it didn’t work when I got it all together. So I just left there. Maybe I’ll deal with it, oh, sometime before it’s time to pack it back up again.

My point is I’m just not in any rush. I have bought very few gifts and I don’t really have any plans to buy many more. I’m overwhelmed with all the stuff already in our house that I can barely manage, that adding more stuff sends my nerves in a tizzy. I don’t like the feeling of needing to get more of the same, for the sake of having gifts for my children when they have so much already – and mostly create their own play.

I am reminded of this often. Like yesterday when I was opening my new mixer that came in the mail, and the box and packing paper became the highlight of the day. There were flying paper fairies running about the house, squirrels with paper trail tails, rabbits hopping, “Little Red Ridding Hood” that looked more like kid wearing a paper turban on her head, and a Jack in the Box for a very creative magic show put on by three seriously silly sisters.

This is why on Cyber Monday, when Magic Cabin did not honor my 25 percent discount in the too-many-seconds it took their SLOW site to process my order, putting me over the midnight experation mark – even though my credit card had been entered and the discount applied – I got nothing.

Then I took all our catalogues and put them in the recycling bin and deleted all my emails trying to get me to buy something. It was a sign. We don’t need all those things. It’s not what Christmas is about anyway.

The girls have put a few simple things on their lists to Santa and I honestly do not think they expect much more than that. Instead of showering them with gifts this year we bought plane tickets to visit my brother’s family in Colorado. We’ll buy snow boots and get ready for skiing in one of the greatest places on earth, in Aspen.

This month we’ll spend time together at home, making gifts and resisting the temptation to go and do every fun holiday themed event and see the best Santa in town. Instead we’ll be baking gingerbread men with our new mixer, making candy cane cookies and gifts for grandparents. We’ll celebrate my middle child’s birthday with homemade cake, a new mama sewn skirt and a simple stuffed dog that she has asked for.

We’ll go cut down a Christmas tree and put it up when we have time to enjoy it and make a whole day out of hot chocolate drinking and making decorations for the tree. And if all that doesn’t happen that’s okay. We’ll just snuggle up and read a holiday, snowy themed book. Because really, what my girls want the most is more time with me. And seriously, it’s that simple.

What kinds of things do you have planned at home for the holiday’s this year?

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Our reverse advent calendar

It dawned on me today that our advent calendar is done in reverse as to what is normal for most people. But I think we have a good system, so I thought I would share.

When we started our advent calendar it coincided with Eddie the Elf, aka Elf on the Shelf, making his first appearance at our house. That was three Christmas’s ago and little hands could not be trusted to not eat up all the treats at one time in the advent house. Those door are so tempting for little fingers to open, again and again. So instead of putting treats behind every door at once, it became a tradition that Eddie the Elf leaves the treats each night, for the next day.

The treat has always been one M&M per girl. This year my two-year-old is joining in, hence the three separate colors of chocolate (that are actually not the M&M brand but a more yummy variety that comes in more fun colors). I’m sure they’ll work out a system as to what girl gets what color to know who ate their M&M when.

To keep track of which door we are on, every day a piece of rolled up scrapbooking paper replaces the spot of the candy. So if they really want to know how many days are left until Christmas they can do the math, or count how many rolled up pieces of paper are left in the jar next to the advent house.

My girls like to leave notes for Eddie, to be delivered to Santa. So there is a jar for that too.

Eddie used to leave stocking stuffer like gifts as well. But when we realized all they really cared about was getting to eat chocolate before breakfast, I decided to save myself the trouble and expense of the gifts and just say yes to one tiny chocolate. For the month of December, they literally run out of bed every morning to make sure Eddie left them their chocolate.

And yes, once we did forget!

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Every family would be lucky to have a dog like Blair

We said goodbye to our dear friend and best pal Tuesday, the one and only buddy Blair. He is also known as Baba in our house. A name given to him by my oldest daughter when she was a baby throwing food from her high chair for him, laughing and saying, “Baba, Baba.” The tradition continued with the next two girls and the name stuck.

He was our first baby. In April of 1999 while we planned our wedding we decided to go ahead and visit the animal shelter to just “look around.”

First of all, people like me who grew up rescuing birds, rabbits and stray cats from the woods don’t go home empty handed when there are furry lives to adopt. So naturally, it didn’t take long for this bushy haired blond dog with floppy ears to catch our eye. When he did, his soft brown eyes looked at us, he put his paw up on the fence door and politely wined, “Take me home please. You look very nice.”

How could we say no? He had been severely abused, with pellet gun wounds to his chest. In the adoption office he scurried under the chair at the snapping sound of a clipboard. Someone saw something in this dog that would make him a good pet, and chose to give him a second chance a life. They were so right about him.

He was the best dog a family could have. He was our first baby. He got decorated with Christmas lights our first year married, took beach vacations with us, loved his rollerblade runs at my side through downtown Atlanta and walked many of miles with me pregnant with my first baby. Then he graduated to getting thrown table scrapes and being invited to tea parties where he tolerated feather boas and tiaras. He wore light up antlers at Christmas and always let the babies crawl right over the top of him.

He could have been almost 15 years old, based on his estimated age when we adopted him.  He predated Y2K, digital cameras and the flu shot for dogs.

He would never have left us on his own choosing. He just would not have done it. But we’ve seen him struggle more than a soul should have to in the past days, weeks, months and years during his slow decline.

He was resilient, forgiving and had an enduring heart that anyone could have been inspired by. In the end, as I sat up with him during his last night at home, trying to comfort him, I knew in my own heart that he was “ready.” It was time for him to have peace. The process was all handled with grace. From me riding with him in the back of the SUV to the vet to laying him to rest in our yard – we were with him every step of the way. Just as he has been for us.

 

Photos in order from the early days to his last.

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Sponsor and Giveaway :: House on the Hill Toys

Today I bring you a giveaway by Simply Natural Mom’s newest sponsor, House on the Hill Toys.

Caleb Johnson, of House on the Hill Toys, was inspired to start making wooden toys when his daughter was five months old and he didn’t want her using plastic tethers. His toy making business has now grown from wooden tethers to log trucks, airplanes, boats, cars and more.

To view Caleb’s toys and buy them online visit the House on the Hill Toys website. To buy them locally, visit him at the Knoxville Holiday Market at Market Square from noon-7pm the first three Saturdays in December.

Simply Natural Mom: Tell us about your furniture making job and how House of the Hill Toys became of that.

House on the Hill Toys: For the past 7 years I have made furniture from sustainably harvested hardwoods. When making furniture, there are always extra pieces of wood left over. Some of the pieces were too beautiful to throw away, so I started saving them. When my daughter Maebel was born I began making wooden toys and tethers from the scrap wood, and soon other people were asking for some. The toy business grew from there.

Simply Natural Mom: Explain a little about the importance, from your perspective, of having non-toxic all natural toys for you child. 

House on the Hill Toys: Plastic and painted toys concern me because you never know exactly where they come from or what they are made of. I simply feel better with my daughter playing with toys that I know exactly where the material came from, and what went in to making it a finished toy.  Wooden toys with a non-toxic finish are not only safe, the naturalness of the wood grain appeals to kids (as well as adults).

Simply Natural Mom: Tell us about the other items you offer besides toys?

House on the Hill Toys: One of my passions is cooking. Wood is ideal to cook with and serve food on in my opinion. Wood is not only non-toxic to cook with, it is beautiful and does not mar or scratch cooking surfaces. I make handmade wooden spoons, spatulas and serving utensils, as well as cutting boards, serving trays and other items. I feel very fortunate to work with wood; it is something that I love to do. I enjoy a challenge, and trying new things. If anyone has ideas for toys or wooden items feel free to contact me, and thank you!

  

For today’s giveaway House on the Hill Toys is offering this wooden toy boat made from cherry and walnut.

 {To enter, please leave a comment below. And subscribe to Simply Natural Mom either by Facebook or Twitter.}

 {For additional entries, share this giveaway on Twitter or Facebook. Then leave a comment letting me know you did so.}

 I’ll close comments on Saturday, Dec. 3 by midnight EST, and announce the winner (chosen via Random Number Generator) on Sunday morning. So please check back here to see if you won!

Number 7 is the winner! Congratulations to Melissa H. Please email me at rebecca@simplynatural mom with your address so we can mail your wooden boat.

Thank you House on the Hill Toys!

 

 

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Weekending

It was an extravaganza of a long holiday weekend for us spent visiting family from Colorado, in Georgia. Tree swings were built, a zip line was installed, treasure boxes were built, plays were produced, crafts and food were made for a Thanksgiving Feast, bonfires where had, and lots of marshmallows were eaten.

We’re back home now. It was fun, it was good times and we are thankful for that. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

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Shapshots of shopping on Small Business Saturday

My oldest daughter and I had a great time sneaking off for a bit of one-on-one shopping yesterday while visiting family in the northern suburbs of Atlanta. Naturally, we hit up our favorite local businesses as we always do on our visits. But since today is Small Business Saturday, here’s some snapshots from our fun.

I also hit up my favorite vintage shop, The Green Bean, earlier in the week with just my sister-in-law. For months I’ve had my eye on a beautiful blue typewriter in a pristine white case. During this trip I finally said, “That has been here for several months. I’m very interested in it but I think the price is very high.”

She offered it half off and I said sold!  The typewriter will go under the tree for Christmas, with new ink ribbons, for my oldest daughter who is spending lots of time writing stories lately. I know she’ll LOVE it. As you’ll see in the last photo here, she gets a big smile out of old stuff.

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Skip Black Friday, shop Small Business Saturday

I don’t shop Black Friday for several reasons, beyond the crowds. But mostly because I prefer to support local smaller businesses, versus scrambling to get new gadgets or featured sale items that I wouldn’t normally buy anyway.

So when I heard about Small Business Saturday, I knew it was something I wanted to tell people about. Small Business Saturday is a celebration of the Shop Small movement to drive shoppers to local merchants across the U.S. This is the second year for Small Business Saturday and its attempts to fuel local economies.

So before you run out to the places where there is a sea of cars on an asphalt jungle that trees once enjoyed, think about what you can buy from local stores, or small businesses online – even if it’s not local to you. If it’s a mom and pop shop making soy candles or environmentally friendly products, an artist,  or a stay at home mom sewing baby toys as a way make money while spending more time with her kids – these are the businesses you can feel good about supporting.

I was listening to Clark Howard on the radio last week, talking about Black Friday while I was sewing tablecloths for my daughter’s Montessori classroom.

He made good points while he discussed this year’s Black Friday, it starting at midnight on Thanksgiving and how the rules of the game are changing. According to his report, people are really disgruntled about this time change of businesses opening at midnight. If I did shop the big box sales – I would much rather, hands down, shop at midnight rather than at 5AM. I’m a night owl.

Then again I am probably one of the folks responsible  for stores opening at midnight. Because I’m one of the MANY moms who take advantage of online shopping, sans the kids, sans the headaches, while enjoying my hot chocolate by the fire in my PJs after they all go to bed. And that my friends, usually goes on well past midnight.

Clark Howard missed that point.

So even if you are are like me and do most of your shoping online, try to go out of your way to click around and find something off the beaten Google path. Support a mom, a dad, an artist on Etsy, a person living a dream – even if it means changing what’s on your list instead of checking it off.

Here’s a list of some local mom and baby businesses in my town, with online shopping.

Cutie Tooties

Me and Mommy to Be

Open Heart Doula Service  – they have an online shop that opens TODAY! They have some lovely handmade soaps and beautiful wool dryer balls that are perfect for stockings.

House on the Hill Toys – they have cutting boards and cool things for the chef too!

Carry Me Close

Livin’ So Green

If you do get out on Saturday, or Friday or anytime during the holidays – my favorite places to shop are at Market Square and downtown Knoxville. Bliss, Rala, Reruns, Mast General Store,  Black Market, Fizz and Union Ave. Books are the first that come to mind.

For vintage finds hit up Nostalgia, Side Street Market, and Furniture Traders at 5014 Broadway St. – (865) 687-4249 where this mom of four also pours and sells her own soy candles and natural soaps. For your little artists pay a visit to Jerry’s Artarama.

Okay, that ought to keep you busy for a while. Now you have no excuse for not shopping local. Not to mention that all the lights, trees and ice skating rink at Market Square and around downtown make for the most merry holiday shopping ever!

One more thing – the Holiday Market at Market Square will have local artistisans and venders selling their goods during the first three Saturdays of the month.

Now get shopping!

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