I grab my camera, he grabs his...

Some Light Nesting

A while ago, on Pinterest, I ran across this image: 

(source)

(also - I totally have that orange-striped travel mug. Love it.)

It's been in the back of my brain ever since. We have an odd little cabinet that's a jumble of to-go mugs and bottles. And we've had our coffee maker and grinder shoved into another awkward corner, where it often gets trapped behind drying dishes or gets in the way of meal prep.

Our kitchen was added on to our house in 1969, the still on the up-curve of convenience food and less kitchen activity. Our landlord moved in directly afterwards and didn't touch it. I know you couldn't tell...

So before:

 Cramped award corner.

I cleaned out the cabinet before I thought to take a picture. I'd even removed one of the shelves. I was on a roll.

So notice that the fancy cabinet up there has a pot filler and, one can assume, a plug. Our house is not that fancy, but there is a plug directly beneath, so we just have to lower the maker and grinder and go to town.

The downside is that coffee (and beer and wine) taste like blue cheese and dirt to me these days. Gotta love pregnancy hormones!

Anyway, after:

 Not a total Betty, but a vast improvement.

Woot!

Not pictured - I stood on Baz's Learning Tower to reach the shelves. That thing is amazing. It's like indoor scaffolding. Two thumbs up.

We'll see how this bears out in actual practice. But I'm already quite pleased with it.

A Day in the Life...an NPN Blog Blitz

It's that time again! You might remember the great post in December 2011 that highlighted the Natural Parents Network Volunteer's most popular or favorite posts from the year. Or what about March 2012 post which featured Do It Yourself projects, How To's, Tutorials, Recipes, and anything related to a step by step guide or informational how-to from the NPN Volunteers? Well, we are back and this time we are bringing you a collection of posts that focus on what our lives really look like! Yep - we are giving you a sneak peak into things like a typical day in our life, special or fun outings, or photos which show all of you what motherhood looks like for us. Basically, we are keeping it real! There are a lot of really wonderful posts here that show that even though we blog about our parenting ideals, we really are just regular moms, getting by one day at a time! So enjoy our typical day in the trenches! Laura at WaldenMommy: Life Behind the Red Front Door shares "Just Another Monday." This post appeared in March of 2012 and is a typical busy day with the Herd. You can also find Laura on Facebook. Cynthia at The Hippie Housewife shares a typical day in her life, complete with a blood test, a stop at the thrift store, and lots and lots of books. You can also find The Hippie Housewife on Facebook, Google+, and Pinterest. Melissa at Vibrant Wanderings shares A Day In The Life: Two Years Old, a photo journal commemorating her daughter's second birthday by attempting to capture a sense of the daily routine at this busy stage. You can also find Vibrant Wanderings on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Networked Blogs. Laura at Pug in the Kitchen shares A Busy Day in the Life of her family. This post is a whirlwind look at life two children under the age of 3. You can also find Laura on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Momma Jorje shares Typical Visit to the Pediatric Cardiologist + Results. Read her post to see what it is like to take her infant son for regular visits to a cardiologist. You can also find Momma Jorje on Facebook. A Little Bit of All of It shares Our Last Days as a Family of Three as she, her husband and 3 year old daughter wait for baby #2. She also wrote A Day in the Life of This Mom when her daughter was 2 and she watched a 5 month old. You can also find A Little Bit of All of It on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Networked Blogs. Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares A Hot Day In The Life of Jennifer. This post appeared on a friend’s blog and is a humorous look at a typical summer day for Hybrid Rasta Mama and her sidekick Tiny. You can also find Hybrid Rasta Mama on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Networked Blogs. Emily at Embrita Blogging shares an Ordinary Day with a pre-crawler from almost two years ago. You can find Emily on Facebook, Pinterest, and on Twitter.   Gretchen at That Mama Gretchen showcases A Day in the Life of her busy summer as she waddles around with a baby in her belly and a toddler in tow! You can also find That Mama Gretchen on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Shannon at Pineapples & Artichokes shares A day at the Solstice Parade, a picture post about her trip to one of the local summer parades in Seattle. You can also find Shannon on Google +, Flickr, Pinterest. Lauren at Hobo Mama shows what unschooling looks like in her house through Meetups and play dates. Far from staying indoors or isolated, you can find Lauren or Sam and their kids out at one or other fun and educational activity several times a week. You can also find Hobo Mama on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +. Kat of Loving {Almost} Every Moment wrote this post after having One Of Those Days. She was pregnant, exhausted and had a lot of errands to do with her two older kiddos in tow. In the end she was reminded of a thing or two...especially to always keep her chocolate stash well stocked! Joella at Fine and Fair shares A Summer Sunday in Our Life. This day in the life photo project shows a busy Summer Sunday filled with gardening, friends, family, and shared parenting. You can also find Fine and Fair on Facebook and Twitter. Erica at Childorganics shares And The "Play" Goes On. This post takes a peek of what a whole day of play looks like at their house. You can also find ChildOrganics on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. A day in the life of Dionna at Code Name: Mama and family in downtown Independence - from 6 month old EC'ing to the farmer's market to nursing at the Main Street Coffee House. By the way, join us for the August Carnival of Natural Parenting when our topic will be Farmer's Markets!   Amy at Anktangle shows us (through photographs) a glimpse into a typical week in her world. You can also find Amy on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +. Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children shares The School Bus Comes Early. She speaks of how unschooling allows her family a flexibility in their lives to accommodate learning. You can also find Living Peacefully with Children on Facebook. Christine at African Babies Don't Cry shares "A Week With Jesse, in Pictures." This post is one in a collection of posts, where Christine shares the weeks happenings with her son Jesse with a picture for each day. You can also find African Babies Don't Cry on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Networked Blogs.   Lyndsay at OurFeministPlayschool shares "Day in Our Life..." This post looks at her family's day and their trip to a museum. You can also find Lyndsay on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.

Speaking of being in the kitchen...

I wrote some tips for saving some coin over at the Natural Parents Network. Find it here.

sundries

My camera is at the cleaners. I feel like a tool for always using my instagram, but my camera is at the cleaners....I get it back tomorrow.

Unrelated: I'm now on goodreads. I'm working on setting up a shelf of the food books I enjoy. It may (temporarily) take the place of the review blog I've completely neglected. At the very least, it will be a supplement. Or something.

I just linked a friend to this post about setting up Baz's spot in the kitchen. Here's an updated shot:

I'm working on a post for the Natural Parents Network about how there's no magic age at which a child is suddenly ready to do things...I'll probably put up a companion post about Baz's corners of our home at the same time. It seems to be what I get asked about the most.

I'm also developing a video series (also for NPN) for getting kids in the kitchen -- any requests for particular topics or foods you want covered?

Let's see...other than that, we've mostly been puttering. I have weekly non-stress tests to check up on Rerun, and he's growing nicely and is very active.

And now I'm going to stop rambling and find something productive to do. Like update my goodreads shelves!

The Halcyon Days of Summer

That Green Onion in a Glass in the Window Thing...

It works.

Can You Call it a "Rut" if You Enjoy it This Much?

It's no secret we are a food-lovin' family.

A big reason we chose this house to rent was due to the bounty it brought.

(plums are almost ripe)

So it should come as no surprise that a lot of my reading and watching is centered around what I'm calling (and I'm not the only one) the Food Memoir. 

I'm going to share my wealth of resource titles - feel free to point out any I've missed. Also - if anyone knows how to set up one of those lists on Amazon where I can put a button on the side of the blog and then it goes to the list and you can see all of the information about the book you want...that would be awesome.

These are in no particular order, and the links will take you to the author's blog/website.

Food Books:

* Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver

* Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally - Alisa Smith and JB Mackinnon (also called The 100 Mile Diet)

* Make the Bread, Buy the Butter by Jennifer Reese

* In Defense of Food - Michael Pollan

* The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution - Alice Waters

* Hungry Monkey - Matthew Amster-Burton

* Heat: An amateur Cook in a Professional Kitchen - Bill Buford

* Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser

* Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting - Pamela Druckerman

* A Homemade Life - Molly Wizenberg

* The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry - Kathleen Flinn

* The Kitchen Counter Cooking School - Kathleen Flinn

* The Butcher and the Vegetarian - Tara Austen Weaver

* French Kids Eat Everything - Karen LeBillon

* The Quarter Acre Farm: How I Kept the Patio, Lost the Lawn, and Fed My Family for a Year - Spring Warren

Food Movies/Shows:

* No Impact Man

* Kitchen Confidential (fictional series)

* Julie&Julia

* Fresh

* Food, Inc

* The Botany of Desire

* Dirt! The Movie

* Fast Food Nation

* Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

* Good Eats

* Master Chef

* Food Fight

* Forks Over Knives

* Food Matters

* TED Talks: Chew On This (Series)

* Take Home Chef

* Go Further

* Save our Farm!

* Queen of the Sun

And if you've only got 5 minutes and you need a little prodding to inspire you when you have more time, please behold:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Michael Pollan
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

A Refreshing Beverage

 Step one: Juice a bunch of lemons (I got 1 1/2 cups from 8 meyer lemons)

 Step Two: add berries (frozen into ice cubes) into a pretty glass

 Step Three: add agave or honey to taste (also acceptable: simple syrup)

 Step Four: add lemon juice to taste

 Step Five: add the water type of your choice (I'm pouring in bubbly water, here.)

Step the last: Stir, enjoy.

variations: more/less berries, mint leaves, booze.

The possibilities are endless.

Happy Weekend!