MommyCoddle

Little things, two of them incredibly cute

Oh, people. Remember my list of "Things That Are Stressing Me Out"? Well, last night at dinner the girls said to me, "Guess we can cross off 'check if sheep are pregnant', and 'find out what I need for lambs' birth', and 'set up lambing pens' "!

Totally unexpectedly, and probably for the best, I was greeted at my bedside very early yesterday morning by my breathless husband...."You've got lambs. Two of them!" He was on his way to work and just as he was pulling out, remembered something he forgot, and as he stepped out of the car to get it, he knew that the sounds he was hearing from the sheep shed were most definitely NOT Penny or May.

We have babies, people! 

I pulled on my boots and went out to the barn in the dark of yesterday morning to discover two sweet and still-wet baby lambs being every so carefully cared for by Penny. 

Those first few hours were nerve-wracking, I tell you. Watching them struggle to nurse and latch on. Me, lying under a very patient Penny and making sure her milk was starting, trying to direct teats into tiny mouths...(yes, I may have over-managed this a bit.), but little by little, under my nervous eyes, all is well. Though one is smaller, they both seem to be nursing. Dan and I took turns checking on them throughout the night and we made it with no problems. 

I couldn't have asked for a better mother. Penny is patient and calm and just the right amount of protective--that stamp of her foot at the cats wandering into her pen, or when too many people are visiting her, lets us know she needs her space. 

And the babies, keeping with the tradition of naming them with the same letter as their mother, are being called Pete and Paige. A boy and a girl. 

Next comes May. Maybe Penny's little ones will trigger something in her. She is definitely keeping a watchful eye on everything. 

Spring is most definitely just around the corner.

In other news....

I was most-honored to be asked to write something up for new-to-me site 3ThingsForMom. Joined by other lovely contributors like Heather of Rookie Moms and Pilar Guzman of MS Living (hello!?!) I shared my 3 things this week--a truth, a tip, and a find. I think some of you may recognize my truth. It was a lesson that needed some serious re-visiting in my life these days. Be sure to check out Lauren's lovely site. It is a well-crafted collection of mama-wisdom. 

My favorite way to procrastinate is to pour my energy into all the wrong things. Case and point, I'm about to do a major move and redesign of this blog. I'll be moving to a new host which requires pushing the figuartive "big red button" and moving my eight years of writing over to the new space. So if things look wonky or strange for a few days, bear with me. I hope to have things ironed out soon. 

We have a moving date! The Woodlawn house will be HOME beginning the weekend of March 9. Ack, just over a week away. Perhaps it's time to pick out a faucet for the kitchen sink? We're living in the land of chaos, but every time I step foot in that sweet old house, my heart thumps in my chest with anticipation and joy of calling it home. I can't wait to share more of the process and projects with all of you! 

Happy weekend. Happy March 1st. More soon....

 

merry-making

Hi friends. Umm, wow. We are in the throes of merry-making around here. The girls and I made these little votive candles the other day from air-dry clay. Just your basic pinch pot, with some of the greens pressed in the sides to make an impression. They've been the perfect little thing lining my kitchen table. And could not have been easier.

But honestly, what I really need is another good week before Christmas. Though my kids would protest, I never seem to be able to fit in all the things I want to do in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

But what's really slowing things down is a huge project going on behind the scenes. It is taking all of my mental energy, decision-making abilities and honestly, my time. It's exciting for everyone but still...phew! There's not much extra room in my brain these days. 

I hate it when people drop little hints like that around and don't spill the beans, but I promise I'll let you know very soon. In fact, it will probably be my first post of the new year. I can't wait to tell you guys.

I'm taking a little holiday vacation from my work with BabyCenter this week and I'm hoping to be here a few more times before the holiday. I miss this space and miss all of you! 

More soon, friends.

xo. 

fingers crossed

They are home.

Yesterday morning in the rain and sometimes-snow the girls and I drove to pick up our sheep from the breeder a few hours away. 

Now home and tucked in their warm pen they are being spoiled and checked on often, just because. It's so nice to look out my kitchen window, across to their pen and see two white faces looking back at me from the gate. 

So fingers crossed and prayers thrown above, this place of ours will be bouncing with a few fuzzy-headed baby lambs come spring!

Chore charts, check lists and when can I watch TV?

It feels almost silly and naive to be writing about this, only three days in. Because every new system is bliss in its early days. The real measure of success comes weeks down the road when you find you're still using it and it still works. But still I know how it goes. As parents we see a problem, something that needs to be changed and we come up with a solution. Sometimes it's a temporary fix that gets us through a rough patch. Sometimes it's a crutch that helps establish new habits or new expectations. 

I should have known something as simple as a checklist would be the thing that seems to work for my kids. They are my offspring afterall and I'm a girl who loves her lists. And just like all the fuss over finding the perfect gift only to discover what they really want to play with is the box--this list has no gimmicks, stickers or stars. It's just a list. Turns out, they don't need all the other stuff. 

But here's why we needed it:

1.) My family has issues with technology. (I should say, everyone but my husband--he's could really care less.) We seem to waffle between extremes. We go through long seasons where the TV's locked away in a cupboard and no one even seems to remember that we have one. Or we swing to the other extreme--and I hit the end of the day feeling disappointed and frankly a little sick at the amount of screen time my kids have cosumed in the past 12 hours. I'm all for the lock it away philosophy. But in reality that's getting harder--there are presidential debates, Sunday morning news, weather to follow, and knitting to accomplish which requires a good teary episode of Parenthood. Then, there's the oldest child and her hard-earned and recently acquired iPod Touch. The list goes on and on. It seeps in and there has to be a way to live with it, but still be in control of it. 

2.) I was often reaching the dinner hour and feeling frazzled that there was still piano to practice, french lessons to do, eggs to collect, laundry to put away. I couldn't figure out where the time had gone and how we'd managed to get this far into the day without accomplishing some very basic tasks that needed to be done.

3.) The plus of a big family is that I've given birth to a small army of helpers. And frankly they are willing to help (and shhhh, I think sometimes they kind of enjoy it.) But I was not enlisting their help at all. And more often than not, when I did need help it was always falling on the shoulders of the oldest, because the girl can get a job done well and willingly. And that's not fair.

4.) I hate nagging.

5.) I hate whining. (my own and theirs.)

So simple as that, every morning I do a quick print out of each child's list. Tack it up on the chalkboard in the kitchen and that's it. Those basic, important tasks are getting done. I don't have to say a word. And everyone knows if there's any hope for channel flipping, afternoon movie watching, or iPod Touch touching, the list must be done. 

And yes, we're in the blissful stages. A real moment of bliss? This afternoon, I was tucked in bed easing a sick kid into a nap and downstairs I could hear someone speaking french and another little someone setting the dinner table. I totally nailed this one. Until the next one comes along.....

 

Soaked but safe

Just popping on here today to report in after Hurricane Sandy came rumbling through Maryland. We somehow managed to come out of it all pretty easily. We only lost power for about 24 hours while all around us I can still hear the drone of generators. 

When our power came back on and I finally got the chance to watch the news, the images coming in from New Jersey and New York were overwhelming. 

Each time I pass a glowing light, or turn on my faucet I think of what so many people are living without right now.

Hoping all of you are safe and sound. Check in, won't you?

cat naps

here we go

It's almost here--the county fair officially begins this week. Tomorrow evening the girls will take their indoor home arts exhibits in to be judged. Wednesday morning, we'll trailer the lambs to the fair to settle in before it officially opens to the public on Thursday.

Of course this also means that today the house is in a crazed state. Digging through cupboards for cake ingredients. Painting canvases. (And repainting, thanks to some creative input from Birdy.). Framing of sketches. Printing of photograhs. 

I'm pretty sure it was this same time last year that I promised myself to be more organized this year. Never again! I vowed. And here we are. Now, I'll just claim it as tradition. The pre-fair scramble. 

But this year, on top of the indoor exhibits, we've also got two little 4-H lambs that will also be going to the fair. Yesterday there were show clothes to buy--khaki pants and white collared tshirts. Green ribbons around the neck. Cowgirl boots were polished. 

It's not all chills and excitement at this point though. I'll be honest enough to admit that there have been tears. And not moments ago Emma sat at the kitchen table and said, "What if I don't want to do this next year?" 

Sigh. 

We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. But in my heart, I know she feels this way because she's yet to experience those chills and excitement of the fair. Of stepping into the show ring. Of setting up her own little space for her lambs. Of being on the inside when everyone from the outside walks by to see her lambs and ask her questions. To walk into the ring nervous and scared. And to walk out with a ribbon--no matter the color. 

As you can imagine, I'll be ducking out of this space for the rest of the week. But I'll be posting some peeks into our week on Instagram ( I'm @MollyBalint) and on the MommyCoddle Facebook page. 

So if you don't mind, cross your fingers and wish us luck. I'll report back next week! County fair, here we come!!

 

just now

my kitchen table....

happy weekend friends!

xo.

m.

choring

I've been covering for Emma while she's been away at camp this week. I have to admit, I've really enjoyed taking over her usual morning tasks. She often rises before anyone else in the house and heads outside to work her way around to all the animals. All is quiet outside until the animals hear the tell-tale slam of the mudroom door. Then the whinnying and maaing begins. The barn kittens swirl around feet as you scuffle your way to the shed for their food. The pony stomps in her stall and chews impatiently at the fence. 

The 4-H lambs have learned my routine and wait at the gate to be let out for their grain, which they get outside the pen. They need to grow, my other sweet girls, need to watch their waistlines a bit. 

Birdy has become my righthand man and before I can even give her direction she's picking up green feed pans and trying to hook them on fences. Walking to the stone barn for a slice of hay. Trying to pry open the can of chicken feed. Climbing the coop steps to throw out the eggs for me. Oh yes. 

Tonight we'll pick Emma up from camp. She'll hug her baby sister and carry her around on her hip, showing her off to all her friends. She'll most likely be flippant about missing us. But tell me how much she missed her pony and how are her lambs doing? When we get home tonight, I'm pretty sure I can bank on the fact that she'll make the rounds just before bed. 

Everyone will be happy she's home. 

crispy garlicky easy dill pickles (aka what to do with all those cucumbers)

I just dropped Emma off for a week of 4-H camp. The house feels remarkably empty without her. And my chore load has suddenly tripled because of all the daily work she does caring for the animals. She's a good little farm girl. And now I'll be picking up the slack while she's away.

The ease with which she kisses my cheek, waves goodbye and melts into a crowd of campers is a bit overwhelming for her mama as she drives away. She's a brave one. I am proud.

The other girls are standing beside me as I type this, anxious for a trip to the craft store where we'll be stocking up on art supplies for a week of prep for county fair entries. This is so unlike me to be organized so soon. 

But the real reason I am here is to tell you that if you are swimming in cucumbers, as I am, then you must must must make this recipe for refrigerator dills. 

The recipe could not be simpler. And in 24 hours the pickles come out crisp and fresh--with the perfect balance of garlic and dill. 

So good!

Alright, my friends. The weather has broken here in the mid-atlantic, and I am looking forward to a week of refreshing weather and finally some productive energy.

Happy Monday!

One simple question: No. 9

We're entering the season where I have to make a conscious effort not to talk about the hot weather, and the fact that we have no air-conditioning in this old farmhouse in every post. But I am going talk about it for just a wee bit. Because it makes me feel better. 

We are in the midst of a heat wave here in the mid-atlantic--one of those times when I'd consider trading all this in for a little condo in the city. 

But still, I have much to be thankful for.

We still have our electricity, when folks all around us are black, many for the rest of the week. That never happens. It's always us.

The house has stayed remarkably cool for a good part of the day. 

We found the window in our room that produces the coolest temperatures at night and pumps in that fresh cold air that hits around 4am. Last night, I pulled up the comforter. Crazy.

My family has been wonderfully patient with my "it's too hot to cook" dinners. There's been a lot of tuna salad. And pasta salad. And taco salad. And cereal.

Yes, I'm not above a good dinner of cereal when the temperatures get really ridiculous. 

But here's my simple question for all of you, because I'm kind of reaching the end of my hot weather menu arsenal:

What's your favorite keeping cool, it's too hot to turn on the oven, meal? I need some inspiration. And if it involves cucumbers (because I have about 40 sitting on my kitchen counter, with about 20 still out in the garden) you get super bonus points. 

:::::::::::::::::::::

Apparently, I've asked these "simple" questions before. 

I randomly found these: (and hello?! I think I need to bring back the cute little question banner!)

No. 3 |  No. 4 |  No. 5 | No. 7 | No 8

hello, girls

There's an old VHS video clip I have of my grandmother, walking out to her sheep in the pasture, "Hello, girls." she calls to them in that voice I miss hearing. Immediately, they respond--a mix of warbled baa's from lambs who have their lips pressed to the earth ripping out clumps of grass and others strong and clear who already noticed her coming. Deep throaty baa's of mama ewes who know her voice so well.

My first lamb, when I was eight years old, came from my Grandmother's flock of Hampshires, Dorsets and Southdowns. I remember well, picking out Buttons that day. I picked him not because he was going to win blue ribbons in my first county fair, but because he came up to me and started nibbling and tugging at the hem of my sweater. He had been one of her bottle-fed projects. Now he would ride home with me purely for the fact that we'd become immediate friends. Standing in that barn while sheep and lambs swirled around us and a border collie crouched anxiously outside the gate.

For the next ten years I would show lambs in 4-H and state fairs. We'd win some years. Other years we'd learn lessons the hard way--like never tie your lambs to Japanese Ewe bushes while they wait in line to be sheared. All will be lost.

When I would graduate and go off to college, my mother would still keep a few lambs on the farm. She loved them as much as we did. She was the sheep lady whenever she'd speak at churches, garden clubs, and women's groups.

But eventually, the farm would be sold. I'd get married. And have children of my own.

But somewhere in the back of my mind, maybe the back of my heart, I'd dream and hope for the day, when things would fall in to place again. When the time would come again, when my children would get their first lambs.

Once we moved to Thomas Run, I'd try to figure out ways to make it work. Ways to afford the fencing we didn't have anywhere. The buildings we'd need, that didn't seem to exist.

Then a pony would come in to the picture and horse fence would go up. Fence that wouldn't work for lambs. And I thought maybe we'll end up being horse people. Maybe lambs won't be their thing. The pony was definitely meant to be.

My husband, who likes to remind me of how I should just trust him on this, has always said that I need to just sit back and wait. That the right things, at the right time, will fall into our laps. The doors will open when we're ready. When the time is right. We needent force anything.

So I sat back. And waited. Sometimes I let it go. Other times a sight or sound or memory would make me want to work and work to make lambs happen again.

But then, in a matter of weeks, the door would open. Out of nowhere. I'd look at a building on our farm in a completely different way and suddenly see potential. I'd get drawn into a conversation at a 4-H meeting that would get me thinking. I'd make one mention of it out loud, that I almost didn't say, because it just seemed too impossible to admit. 

Then, there'd be an email. 

And here we are a few months later. 

I waited. Not always patiently, I admit. But now it's here. It's happening. And it couldn't have arrived in any better of a package. At any more perfect of a moment. 

I am in love. We all are.

Hello, girls. Hello.

an end and a beginning

I was planning to sit down at my computer this morning and write a post about all our goings on...

But instead I find myself sitting down at this screen with tear stained cheeks.

Emma lost her cat Henry this morning. We found him on the road in front of our house just a few hours ago. He was the cat that came with us from Wisconsin, to live in the apartment on my grandparent's farm when we moved to Maryland, and finally here to Thomas Run. He was the first of what has grown into many pets and animals and cats for our family. But he was always there. Showing up at every morning round of chores. We are so heart-broken. 

But with every end their is a new beginning.

There is a story that I have been waiting to tell all of you. Anxiously holding the news close to my heart for the last two months as details have been worked out. But I also knew that it wasn't my story to tell first. 

I hope you'll take a moment to read Sarah's words, and learn of the new and the good for our family. And what brings tears of gratitude to my eyes this morning as well. 

Sorrow and wonder, all in the same breath.

(We are heading to the ocean...Dan is caring for the animals, and diving into some variety of house projects while we are away. More from me next week.)

xo, my friends.

Molly

Batten down the hatches

There are big storms brewing in our area this afternoon and this evening. We got a robo-call this afternoon from the county governemnt...hail....tornadoes...damaging winds....power outages.

Since the master gardener is still at work, the girls and I had to handle all the outside pre-storm prep this afternoon. 

Standing in the garden, cell phone in hand, I had to call him for his priority list--who would get covered, who would not? On a recent decluttering whim, I thrifted a bunch of mismatched, unused sheets. Crud. So we're short on garden cover and there's just so many vintage tablecloths that I'm willing to lend to the garden. 

So with our makeshift weights to hold down corners, and a good supply of clothespins we covered up as much as we could with priority to the tomatoes and cucumbers. Beans can always be replanted. Corn will have to fend for itself. We're crossing our fingers for you, potatoes. (***edited to add: So there's some controversy on covering the plants...will the sheets act as sails and knock everything over in the wind? Or is it the best defense against the hail? Opinions? Thoughts? Experience?***)

Animals are fed. Water buckets are filled. Flakes of hay are distributed. The barns feel all kinds of cozy.

Inside, water is gathered. We're starting a steady stream of baths and showers in anticipation of no power, no water. 

The big crock has been brought in, washed out and filled up with fresh water. I'm so thankful for this birthday gift from Dan many years ago. It's been put to lots of good use. 

There's nothing like a little storm excitement. I can hear the thunder as I sit here at my desk in the kitchen.

Happy weekend, friends. Here's to blue skies on the other side....

Instagram in print

There are a lot of things on my list of "Things I wish I was more diligent about". One of those is keeping track of our days in a more everyday way. There's the five year journal I've started and stopped. The 365 projects I've never signed on for. The Project Life series I've never been brave enough to try.

Then there's the notion of my grandmother's scrapbooks kept for her family of 15, full of report cards, doctor's bills, greeting cards, family letters--years and years worth of big, overstuffed leather-bound scrapbooks. 

The other thing on my more diligent list is printing pictures. I take a ton of pictures. And now with this shiny little iPhone in my hand, I take even more. But I never, ever print. When Emma was a baby and there was no such thing as digital cameras, I took and printed pictures. Slipped them into albums, captioned each, wrote a few lines, memories. And now the album is falling apart with use and love. 

Then, there's Instagram. While I don't do anything so organized as post every day or try to capture anything in particular, it has naturally evolved into this beautiful collection of special moments in my family's day. A trip out, the way they're sitting together at the kitchen table, a typical day running errands, a special moment at the stream. It's unrehearsed. Unposed. Natural. And, honestly, above all, convenient.

So when I recently discovered that Blurb has a bookmaking process that sucks all the photos in your *Instagram stream, right onto the pages of a book I was intriguied. And late one night when there were a million things to do but this thing, I decided to see what it was like. 

It was simple. I put them in my book in chronological order. Deleted and moved around a few that I didn't want in there, and basically held by breath and hit publish. 

But here's the thing. Just like my personal discovery that my moleskine journal needed to stop being what I thought it should be, and could just be what I needed it to be, I applied that same thinking to this book. I've thought about doing photobooks before but have gotten stuck on the idea of design, captions, and making it perfect. 

But while I wanted to see these photos in print, in something my kids could hold in their hands and flip through, I also wanted my personal imprint to be on the pages. So I decided to print every page with nothing else but a photo. 

Now with the (beautifully published) book in hand, I'm adding my imprint to the book in the form of captions and dates in my own **handwriting. 

And honestly, it's exactly what I wanted. It's turned into the perfect balance of my photographs plus my own hand. Something that I hope my kids will love to flip through and read and enjoy for years to come.

And I hope there will be more.

Once again, I let go of what everyone else was doing, what I thought I should be doing and gave myself the freedom to do what I wanted and needed to do. I needed it to be simple. I wanted it to be personal. And I found a way to capture both. 

I'm so happy with the way it's turning out. 

*I'm mollybalint on Instagram. Come find me!

**The pen I'm using is this one, which also happens to be my favorite pen, which also happens to be the pen I use in my moleskine, which also happens to be perfect for this as well.