april

*****WARNING: Too many pictures!*****

April Highlights {1}:

* Having Grandma Cindy come to visit!!!

* Baking, baking, baking! Banana bread, pumpkin bread and cookies are popular around here.

* Sleeping hand-in-hand with my sister. (That doesn't happen accidentally:)

* Watching the desert "spring" to new life. Fauna seen to date: Lots of Quail including the most darling train of mama and her 8 tiny babies following behind, 2 BIG Javelina's chasing mommy, 1 rattlesnake a foot away from mommy and the girls (until noticed, that is), woodpeckers, cockroaches (outside AND in), roadrunners, a King snake, cardinals, hawks, desert geckos, and horn-tailed lizards.

* Easter with my friends and cousins- which for Little Anne meant eating lots of candy in the wrappers!!!

what we read

I stumbled across this website a few months ago and learned that children can audibly comprehend books that are written for kids to sight read who are roughly 3 years ahead of their age. Since then I have been reading chapter books with Miss Daffodil and have fallen in love with Children's Literature. I didn't read very much as a child, and so now I feel that I'm kind of rel-living my childhood through reading to my daughter, and it has been as enjoyable for me as it has been for her. Recently Daffodil and I finished reading the My Father's Dragon series by Ruth Stiles Gannett. I remember my mom encouraging me to read these books, but for some reason I didn't listen. Shame. We loved reading them together, however! Spencer was in training at the time, and sometimes Daffodil would anxiously wait until bedtime so we could continue reading!

After moving from California- the only life and world we had ever known- we read Charlotte's Web. What a powerful story of friendship! I balled my eyes out at the end! I felt like it was very healing for Miss Daffodil and I at that time in our lives. And you may not believe it, but I had never read that story. It may have been read aloud to me at school, but I was such a day dreamer that I had no clue what was going on!

How grateful I am that she is loving these stories....and selfishly grateful that she can't read yet so that she asks me to read them to her. They are priceless moments for me. She's quickly growing up.

a tea party

Miss Daffodil worked long and hard preparing her room and the table for this family tea party. She even made the chocolate almond milk!

We all spoke in our finest English accents, which has actually become quite commonplace in our home. Spencer and I both agree that we should always speak this way as it is so hard to speak a cross word when you are using the Queen's language. :)

Afterwards we did some imaginary face painting. Magical!

the smelly mom

Ok, let me be honest with you.... I don't wear deodorant. Frankly, I've never liked the concept of deodorant, and I seriously gag at the smell of it. Over the last few years I've been on the search for a natural deodorant, but never actually found one that worked for me. I had eventually weaned my body off wearing anything during the winters, but would struggle with "surety" for the remainder of the year. It got to the point that while laying with my daughter at night to put her to sleep, she would actually complain about my smell and would strategically place our bodies so that she couldn't smell my armpits. I had become the smelly mom!!!

And then I found my miracle! I gave it a try and I can honestly say it works better than any deodorant I have ever used, and it's totally natural, and completely aluminum free. I never smell. Never. At least of body odor, that is. There's always a faint smell of coconut, but I'm totally okay with that. My daughter's complaints have stopped and I feel confident being au naturale!

Seriously, if you care at all about your aluminum exposure and are still using antiperspirants, or you don't like the smell of commercial deodorants, TRY IT! It takes less than 5 minutes to mix up.

Here's the how-to:

1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup corn starch
2-3 tablespoons coconut oil

Mix together with a fork until creamy (depending upon the temperature of your kitchen, you may need to zap it in the micro for 5 secs or so- coconut oil turns to a liquid between 70-75 degrees F). Using an old, empty deodorant tube (I just emptied the natural one I had that didn't work) pack your mixture into the tube and place it in the refrigerator. It will harden and look like regular deodorant.

I always keep mine in the refrigerator because of the coconut oil's low melting point. The downsides: You cannot travel with it very well. I just take one of my less effective natural sticks; You have to remember to go to the kitchen to put on your deodorant (although I swear this stuff sinks in and will cover you for a day if you forget); and you have to let it air dry for a few seconds so you don't get it on your clothes (but 3-5 seconds is enough).

Give it a try and tell me how you like it!

And, btw, if you are trying to limit your aluminum exposure, have you looked at the back of your baking powder? Shocking, I know. I now buy aluminum-free baking powder at Sprouts or Whole Foods.

xoxo

now we are one

Little Anne is now one! How do they grow so fast? I was just telling Spencer that the last year was quite a year for me: having a baby (who was tounge-tied and colicky), adjusting to our new life (and it was quite an adjustment for Daffodil and I), having Spencer leave for 3 months for training, packing, and moving from my home of 28 years. No wonder I feel aged!

Little Miss Anne, however, is amazing! She loves to play hide-and seek probably more than anything. She still loves to nuzzle and cuddle and can't get enough of it. She loves her sister and thinks she is hilarious. She likes to play pat-a-cake, wants to do everything that she sees us do (like dip her toast into soup), and loves being outside. She says "hi" about 200 hundred times a day. She is starting to point and beginning to dance. She is joy and a light and she makes my world brighter! How grateful I am to be her mother!

We started a new family tradition this year: a birthday ring. I absolutely love the concept! I got ours here. Each year the birthday child will receive a new piece to add to their birthday ring which represents them at that time in their life. It could be something they might enjoy playing with or doing, or something that you just feel represents them. I chose the sun as her first piece because (even through the colicky months) Anne has always been a joyful, smiley, friendly, social light who I know will brighten the world with her presence.

Thank you, Little Anne, for coming to me!

girls will be girls

cactus over here, cactus over there...

Hello there! Have we been busy! After moving to the unique Sonoran Desert and trying our best to establish rhythm and order, we have been out exploring our new home (and might I add, trying my darndest to see its beauty).

Our girls are growing strong and steadily, and I sometimes find myself laughing all day long. They can be quite the comics!

We miss all of our friends and family and hope you are well! xoxo