The Apron

I started wearing an apron about seven years ago. I think my husband gifted it to me for Mother’s Day one year. It was bright yellow and patterned with bees all over it. I had always associated an apron with people who were good in the kitchen. And I definitely didn’t fit into that category. I didn’t do a whole lot of cooking or baking for our small family back in those days.

I can’t say why I started wearing that apron in the first place. But I remember when I did, something very strange would happen. Almost always, I would be more productive in the work that I was doing that day. Not only that, but the work itself would have more thought put into it. It seemed the very act of putting the apron on and tying those long ribbons around the back shifted my entire perspective, and I was mentally prepared to take on the day with a more positive outlook on whatever may come my way.

Years went by, more aprons came, more babies came, (and we kept adding more live animals to our brood too!) and wearing an apron actually became a more functional part of my wardrobe. I was constantly needing a pocket to hold little things that needed carried around. Whether it was for holding treasures that the boys had found, or a place to keep my little pocket knife, or acting as an extra hand when I forgot the egg-collecting basket but had already gone out to check the coop, my apron pockets became something I just could not live without. And I can’t count the times I have had to use it as a rag for drying my hands when all of the towels somehow seem to have disappeared...or the times it has been used as a tissue to wipe away a child’s tears, or my own.

The original bee apron doesn’t get much wear very often anymore. As time has passed, I’ve leaned toward new favorites, but she will always be the one apron that started it all for me. You can still find her hanging up proudly on a hook by the pantry, ready to help me when I call her to the job.

A song we wrote in the car ride to school today

Old Man Rogers

by Finn Morehouse (with some help from Jaylyn Morehouse)

Old Man Rogers is a dreamed up character that has been known to show up in the boys' play from time to time. He is an "old man who likes to steal our animals". A rogers is "a person who steals things like money". I imagine it's similar to a robber ;) In this song, Old Man Rogers goes through a lot of work, only to find himself in a bad position in the end.

Old Man Rogers went to the farm,

he got a chicken and he threw it in the barn,

The chicken said "cluck" and out came an egg,

and scrambled eggs is what he made.

Old Man Rogers went to the farm,

he got a goose and threw it in the barn,

The goose said "honk' and he pooped on his shoe,

and Old Man Rogers didn't know what to do.

Old Man Rogers went to the farm,

he got a goat and he threw it in the barn,

The goat used his horns and he butted him with his head,

then Old Man Rogers was soon dead.

Welcome, September

This week was full of heart ache as we watched our city get slammed by trillions of gallons of water from Hurricane Harvey. Today's newspaper headline read '51 Inches!' We were fortunate to have a safe and dry place to live while all of this was happening, but we're emotionally drained and feeling all sorts of survivors guilt in the aftermath of it all. So many families are displaced. People we personally know have gone from being self dependent to having no where to live in the course of a few days. We got to go inside one of these majorly flooded houses this morning. Entire subdivisions had piles and piles of damaged household furniture, sheet rock, and ruined flooring out on the curbs. The houses have to be stripped down to the studs, and fast, before the mildew and mold start to really rot it and it becomes in-salvageable. So very overwhelming and sad. But in the midst of it all, there are so many volunteers helping out. Lots of love is going around, and that is what is keeping everyone's spirits up.

Schools have been delayed until after Sept. 11th. And even now, the district isn't entirely sure if it will meet that deadline. This year Briggs will be going into grade 1. Finn will be attending a Waldorf mixed kindergarten class, and little Max is going to do some half-days twice a week at the Waldorf school too. I'm not really sure what Madeline and I will be working on while the boys are away. Probably tending the animals and trying to conquer the fall garden. I'm determined to get the back of the house painted at some point too, along with an infinite number of small yard projects that are calling me.

We've done a bunch of cleaning up this week while the sun dries out the ground. We had to drain our animal run with a new pipe to get all the standing water out before mosquitoes took advantage of that. I spent a good portion of a morning mucking out the chicken coop and cleaning all the mud out due to the chickens AND goats co-living in it for 4 days straight while the rain poured. The animals were (for the most part) high and dry through it all. Saffron and Aurelia kept head-butting the hens out the door, poor girls. The hens managed to avoid becoming broody, and only one entered molting season so far. Our egg production has slowed down because we're in the heat of the summer. I'm so looking forward to those cool crisp mornings where I can't feel any humidity suffocating my nose! I must be patient though.

Keep all of Houston in your thoughts and prayers. And if you want to come help with relief efforts, you have a place to stay here. We have 1 bunk bed in the kids' room, a double mattress we can put on the floor, and a tent platform on the deck outside (although, I would really only recommend that once it cools off).

July 1, 2017

Tree top house

Beeswax in votive molds

Getting consciously cozy

Scrap soup: A combination of left overs, freezer items, and garden harvest

It seems as if the dog days of summer have arrived here. If that means everyone feels like laying around and taking it slow, that is. It's just so hot out that we have had to put a halt on some of the outside projects, or only work on them when we have the energy and hydration.
Even so, we have spent a good portion of our time on the boys' treehouse. It now has walls and a roof! I think it looks pretty cute up there. We're counting down the days until we can decorate the inside (or maybe that's just me).

Ted and I have been embracing all that is hygge, and have started making candles to achieve cozy lighting and atmosphere in our home. We're using beeswax, and it smells wonderful when we have it liquefying on the stovetop. Like a honeypot of goodness! Now, if only it were cold enough to wear woolen socks....

The garden is still producing lots of peppers and tomatoes, and I've been throwing them into practically every dish that I can. I think we've discovered that of everything we hoped to grow, peppers are one thing that do extremely well here. Somehow our bell pepper plants are taller than me!

And last, but certainly not least, someone around here turned 5! The birthday crown is still going strong, and this must be his favorite birthday shirt, because I remember taking a very similar photo last year.

Vegan jerky

I was reading a local Houston magazine this week, and inside was a recipe for crispy baked watermelon rinds. Immediately I had to know what this was all about and give it a try! I've been thinking a lot about food waste lately. Reading other blogs about it, and being fascinated by Rob Greenfield and his famous youtubes on dumpster-diving, has got me all crazy about trying new ways to prepare our meals at home and completely using up the produce that comes out of the garden. There's just something very satisfying in that.

 In all fairness though, I have chickens who are happy to eat what we don't, but even they sometimes turn up their beaks at those chewy melon skins and leave me to rake them up later. So here I am trying this out:

Chopping off rind from yummy part

Sliced as thin as I could go without chopping fingers..

Coated in oil, pinch of chili powder, s/p, and fav seasoning rub

Baked for approximately an hour at 330 degrees F

I'm not sure how these were supposed to turn out, crispy-wise, that is. I definitely baked them longer than the recipe called for. They remind me a lot of kale chips, only chewier. They're okay! But, I think I am the only one in this family that is going to be indulging in these "vegan jerky strips".

Madeline Mazie Morehouse

We're excited to announce that our daughter, Madeline, was born on Sunday, March 12th. Up until that day, there were hardly any "signs" she was close to being done cooking. I was still remembering how I went 2 weeks past my estimated due date with Max, and was preparing myself for another long wait. So here's how things went down that day:

I woke up to some annoying contractions at 5:30am that morning, and noticed they were slightly rhythmic; about 7 minutes apart and preventing me from falling back asleep. I stayed awake to time them for about 2 hours while the rest of the house was still sleeping. 

When the boys woke up at 7:30, I told Ted that I felt yucky and crampy, and possibly in early labor but to not get our hopes up. So we continued on with our day, doing breakfast, laundry, chicken and goat chores...still timing contractions which were anywhere from 2-5 minutes apart. 

It was around 9 when Max randomly barfed everywhere in the boys' bedroom. We still don't know what that was about?? But Ted and I looked at each other like, "seriously, is this the kind of day we need right now?!" 

By 10 o clock I was pretty sure that I was in early labor. I really had to convince myself that it was not just in my head, because the timing contractions thing was very unreliable. They were getting stronger, but not closer together or lasting very long. More like bad period cramps. But after another hour, I found myself getting into our bathtub to ease the contractions a bit and help to take the weight off my pelvis. At this point, I think things started to really get going. Ted worked on blowing up the birth pool in the kitchen and filing it with water. I just stayed in the tub and watched Max practice going underwater and holding his breath. 

We called the midwife at 11:50, and they got on the road and were here probably 30 minutes later. Upon their arrival, my cervix was checked. I was at a 5-6. Ted got on the phone to order pizza for everyone because we were all hungry. My birth pool was finally warm enough to go in, and I was about to get up to go in because my contractions were worse and I found myself on the bed talking to the birth team and soon launching myself into the pillows and getting onto my hands and knees as a sharp pain shot through my body. I looked down and my water was breaking. I remember hearing them all say something about how I was "dilating the rest of the way"...and "should someone get Ted in the room?"

"Yes! Where's Ted, I feel like I need to push!" He hung up on the pizza delivery service and ran into the bedroom. So then my brain kind of shut off and my body took over and details are a little fuzzy, but I was still on the bed on my knees and was surprised to realize that I was pushing the baby's head out already. Max ran out the room scared for his life. (Sorry kid!) And the baby's little body came out quickly right after. I heard her crying and knew everything was alright. The midwife's student passed her up to me through my legs and I looked at her squishy wet face for the first time :) It all happened so fast. 

She was born at 1:09pm. Shortly after, Madeline and I both got to get in the birth pool (after all, it was filled up with nice hot water) and we did an herbal bath and baby float. I cupped her small face in my hands and she floated around like she was back in the womb. All the while licking the air and wondering why it tasted so different than amniotic fluid!

Cutting cord

Proud big brothers

7 lbs 1 oz

Nest prep

 March is here, and that means we are getting close to meeting our newest family member! Some friends threw me a Mother's Blessing Way last weekend and they made me this flag to hang up.

I also got my belly decorated with henna. I'm amazed that it was all done by hand! It can last up to 2 weeks (if I'm careful not to scrub too hard in the shower).

Paisley and florals!

Hooray for babies!