Poets and Saints
…and the moms who try to be both.Archive for Music
Goodbye July, Welcome August!
Summer’s beautiful days don’t last long and we’ve been soaking up as much time outdoors as possible. It’s almost a shame that we pack so much into three months: outdoor concerts and festivals, farmer’s markets, pool and splash park fun, zoo trips, picnics, bike riding….the list goes on. All this fun means there is very little time to be bored. Just plenty of time to watch the flaming colors of my flowers, sit in my hammock and enjoy a red ripe tomato fresh off the vine. Ahh, summer.
My little fish standing directly under a spray of water at the splash park.
This one makes me feel old. My baby riding a bike! I don’t care if there are training wheels still on there, I’m going to go in a corner and sob my heart out.
Loving the farmer’s market booth for children. Art activity + fresh produce = one great morning.
Summer brings new life and new nephews to hold. Welcome to the world baby! I just want to pinch those cheeks and hold that little tiny bundle of love. My heart is melting…
That’s me up on that rope. Just a little hobby of mine in my spare time. (Okay. I couldn’t do that even if I were on the ground with a crew of spotters helping me. Apparently my daughter was convinced of the same thing, because she told me that mommy could not do that, but daddy COULD.) Our city’s first “Buskerfest” celebrated the street performer. We enjoyed balloon sculpting, moving statues, stilt walkers, jugglers, live music, taiko drumming, hip hop dancing and more. All for free.
Enjoying blueberries from our local picking patch, under an umbrella, in the middle of our sidewalk. Beautiful summer…please don’t end.
Fun and Free Family Activities
What is it about summer that makes me want to lay by the pool everyday? Of course it would help if I had a pool (and I’m not counting the kiddie one). Since I can’t be at the pool, I look for summer activities that are kid-friendly and low cost. Here are a couple ideas I’ve learned that have helped me plan plenty of summer fun to keep the little one from getting bored:
1. Come up with a “Family Fun” calendar. We use ical, where we can color code each individual calendar (my calendar, my husband’s calendar, our family fun calendar, etc.) and keep track of events. Usually our newspaper comes out with a “summer event guide” that lists all festivals, art fairs, town celebrations, and more. We use this resource, circle the events that interest us and then plug them into our calendar. We have found this essential for keeping track of free events. When we rely on our memory, we usually forget and miss the event. I can’t emphasize how important it is to come up with a calendar that lists these events next to your other daily calendar. You can check out ours here but please note that not all activities are free. My husband takes any and all activities that look interesting and sticks them on our family fun calendar.
Here are some ideas for free events to take advantage of this summer:
2. Free concerts: These our great for our family! Many of the bands play oldies that are fun to dance to and there are families of all ages there. The music is usually louder than the kids are and we can enjoy the entertainment as we play in the grass.
3. Free festivals, art fairs, town celebrations: We usually enjoy just walking around, avoiding the junk food (if we can) and watching people, booths, street performers and more.
4. Farmer’s Market: These are springing up everywhere in our town. Some even include musicians, children’s activities, free food samples and more. Be aware that farmer’s markets sometimes “evolve” as the summer goes by. They can start out pretty bare and then once harvest hits, be full of yummy things to eat. I’ve been surprised how much my daughter enjoys going to the farmer’s market. Maybe it’s the free samples of fruit we’ve gotten or the library’s booth where she can do a quick craft. Either way, it’s a great way to spend an afternoon or evening where there’s nothing to do. Plus it encourages us to buy locally and enjoy the delicious and fresh local produce and fruits.
5. Library: This one might seem a no-brainer, but I often think that people go to the library less in the summer than other times of the year. Our library offers a great summer reading program, even for babies and toddlers. We got some amazing resources last year including a free CD and a book of finger plays. Plus my daughter read enough books to earn herself a free book. Our library also offers free programs, like a Clifford day, a puppet program, a mud sculpture art class and more.
6. Beach: You don’t have to travel to ocean to enjoy a beach. Children enjoy the simplest of beaches, even next to small ponds. Last summer I discovered Fox Island County Park had a small beach, perfect for building a sand city, sand rivers and pools. It does cost us two dollars to get in this park, but it still cheap fun for our family. There are also turtles, frogs, birds, walking paths, and a nature center to enjoy.
There are so many other great things to do in the summer too! Playgrounds, splash parks, biking on the trails and more. The best thing is that we can have lots of fun for very little to no money. Enjoy the summer!
2009 List
2009’s list of things to accomplish
1. Go cross country skiing at least once this winter. Downhill skiing is out for me this year, but for a $5 rental and a ten minute drive, I can be cross country skiing. There is no reason not to go.
2. Eat hotdogs at Coney Island with my daughter.
3. Knit something other than a hat or scarf. I am pretty much a two project girl when it comes to knitting. It’s time to branch out and make something crazy…fingerless gloves possibly?
4. Paint my daughter’s bedroom. I know she wants purple. The girl is crazy about purple. But can it be done without looking like I stepped into an episode of the Care Bears? Please tell me we can find a happy medium that is both pleasing to daughter and mama.
5. Invite people over for pizza night. I started making pizza every Friday after I heard that my sister in law makes pizza every Friday. My pizza skills also needed work. After months of pizza making practice, I’m ready to share the fun. Plus everyone likes pizza.
6. Go antiquing/salvage store shopping and pick up something eclectic. I really love perusing antique stores for offbeat or eclectic things. Last time I fell in love with a 1950’s fire engine red children’s step stool that I did not buy. (I’m regretting that one.) But there is something wonderfully entertaining in just looking at all this old stuff and trying to imagine it repurposed and sitting in my house.
7. Date with Sam to hear some live music, just the two of us. I’m planning all kinds of great date nights this year, but he really wants to go hear some live music and I’d love to surprise him with this date. I just need to find the band and the venue.
8. Plan once a month writing days. Too many projects that need some time and energy…plus, I get more done when I have a concentrated amount of time.
9. More yoga, more rollerblading, more hiking. Working out, getting out. It’s all good for me, so hard for me to stay committed to.
10. Eat on the patio at Club Soda downtown. A second story deck looking over the city and some good food. I know where I’m going for my birthday.
11. Plan a day trip to Chicago. Need to get to the city soon. Eat some of my favorite salsa from my favorite Mexican restaurant.
12. Go camping. Lay under the stars. Eat smores by the campfire.
13. More fresh flowers. It is a great luxury but I really need to get some flowers during these long winter months. It is a reminder that spring will come.
14. My 2009 book list is ready and I am starting with Jane Austen’s Persuasion.
15. Laugh more, worry less.
Last Year’s Surprises
Last year I made a list of things I wanted to do in 2008. You can read about it on my former blog site here. I am a person who likes making lists, in contrast to my husband who really dislikes it. List-making is a chore to him; to me, it is a way to feel like I have accomplished something, no matter how small. List-making is a way of reflecting on small accomplishments and measuring the year in events, rather than time. I accomplished most of things off my list last year. Some were easy to do (like getting a bell for my bike), others, like finishing my daughter’s dress, required a lot of patience as I got my sewing machine fixed not once, but twice in order to complete the project. The dress was finished rather late–October–but my daughter didn’t care. She was thrilled mama made her a dress and now thinks that whenever I am sewing, I am making her a dress.
I’m still thinking about this year’s list for 09. I don’t feel rushed to have it in by a certain date, although the New Year’s push certainly gives me a good start. (I’ll have my 2009 list out in a week or so) As I reflect on 2008, here are surprising things that weren’t on the list, but made for a good year.
The list of surprises from 2008:
1. Getting the award for Indiana’s emerging playwright
2. The “Zoo Tour” Vacation. The Pittsburgh and Toledo zoos in one trip. Plus fun with the extended family and a little bit of camping thrown in. This was our vacation to save money but it ended up being a great time enjoying summer together for less. Who says expensive vacations are better?
3. The Backyard Bash Party–hot dogs and a kiddie pool, a bunch of friends and a wild time.
4. Publication in MotherVerse magazine.
5. Outdoor concerts in the park, the library, the mall. We mark up the calendar with summer bands, pack a blanket and go. Did I mention they were free?
6. Friday night ice cream. When there’s nothing else to do in the summer, there’s always ice cream at the local ice cream stand. My favorite? Soft serve twist in a cone or a Boston cooler (vanilla ice cream and ginger ale)
7. Bike rides around the lake. Even if my gears are broken, I love my big vintage bike seat and my bell. (All I need is one of those baskets on the front and I will be a real old lady.)
8. Pumpkin picking. We go to a pumpkin farm and pick out our pumpkins. Two carving pumpkins and one beautiful baking pumpkin. For Thanksgiving we used the pumpkin for pie.
9. Finally finishing our bathroom painting project. The last of the wallpaper comes down. We are wallpaper-free!
10. Dressing up for Halloween. I was a doctor, my husband was a gladiator and my daughter, a fairy. Dressing up is a family affair and a fun way for two theatre people to play with costumes.
11. Campfire night and silly songs. My husband is a great silly song singer. Add a fire and some smores and it’s a great time.
12. Sharing the family songs–we handed out “family songbooks” for Christmas. It is a delight to finally get these old tunes on paper so I can actually learn them, instead of half-sing them because I don’t know the words. There is something special about getting family traditions on paper too. It’s a way of passing on something to my children that might be lost otherwise.
There were so many other great memories, both planned and unplanned from last year. The family camping trip was hot fun (in the 90’s and no AC) which means we spent a lot of time trying to keep cool (waterfights, the beach). Then there was a little jaunt up to Michigan, strawberry picking, hayrides, and more. So much goodness in one year.
2009’s list will be on it’s way soon. But list or not, I’ll plan to be surprised.
3 Special Christmas Memories for Children
Christmas is a busy time for families, but there are lots of special things that make wonderful memories for children at Christmas. Here are just a few ideas of things to do with children at Christmas:
1. Make cookies or candy Children love to help make sweet treats for Christmas. This year my daughter and I made chocolate-peppermint cookies, a delicious version of “thin mints” that the Girl Scouts sell. Although my cookies looked nothing like Martha’s, I have to remember that’s not the point of cooking with kids. It’s better to give up perfection and just have fun. Kids love making a mess and even more, they love eating the end result!
2. Singing Christmas songs There is something fascinating about kids and music. This year my husband led the kids in singing “silly songs” at our daughter’s birthday and it was a big hit. Whether you plan to sing carols in your neighborhood or just have a family carol sing, music is a wonderful (and cheap) way to make memories as a family. Be sure to sing a few silly Christmas songs for the little ones (and the young-at-heart too).
3. The Jesse Tree Because of our faith, we started doing a Jesse tree last year and our daughter already loves the tradition. The Jesse Tree involves reading the stories leading up to the birth of Christ, starting with the story of creation in Genesis and then putting an ornament on a small tree for each story. You can find an outline of the stories to follow here. Every night after reading a Bible story, we put an ornament on the tree that represents the story. It is a lot of work the first year to make the ornaments, but after they are done, you can use the tradition every year quite easily. We made each ornament out of felt and used yarn to hang it on a branch from our yard. There are also kits available online as well if you are not the do-it-yourself type. This is a great way to combine family and faith into the Christmas celebration and is a really meaningful way to make special memories every year.
What November Brings
We’ve been under the weather a bit lately, with colds and aches and pains that seem to coincide with the grey skies and wind blowing the leaves in circles. But in the midst of it, we’re are still finding some time to be silly, rest by the fire and drink a cup of hot tea.
The painted pumpkin has been put away, along with the swing and hammock. Now we have boots and coats at the front of the closet. The tea kettle is singing on the stove. And frequently we are singing too: the banana-phone song that seems to be a favorite of the two-going-on-three year old at our house.
We’re dreaming of soup parties and Christmas cookies and thanking God for the goodness he brings. His unexpected goodness. I have a story to share about just that, but it will have to wait another week. It is perfect for Thanksgiving and all of the stories of gratitude that seem abundantly present this time of year.
Wait and rest and give and enjoy the little joys that are sometimes hard to find in the busy hurried lives we lead. Those moments are gone too quickly. But they are there when we look for them. 
