Where have these 10 years Gone?

Always Happy!

Sweet Brother...today!

Those eyes!

Always a great smile

A true Knight at heart

 

Already thinking about his 3rd slice!

Loves his little sister!

No more baby face!

Happy 10th Everett!

4TH Of July

Last night was full of family fun. What could be a better night when you have picnic blanket, snacks, and fireworks. Pretty colors filled the sky as the kids would yell out in glee over seeing their favorite color light up the sky. The show is always too short and the traffic too long, but none of that mattered cause my man sang Garth Brooks songs to me while we inched our way home! Lovely summer memories!!

What to Do....

while the paint dries:

Do a Blog post
Check my GA
Clean up a mess
Read Blogs
Make Coffee
Change a Diaper
Read about Marketing
Clean up New Mess ( 4 kids + Dog, need I say more, lol)
Check my Shop Lover
Make a Treasury
Take Photos
List something
Answer Emails
Answer Why?  Why is the sky blue? Why do snakes not have legs? Why can we sometimes see the sun and the moon at the same time? Why can't I keep my bug collection in my room? Why can't I fly? ????!!! (2 years old or 22 they still have Why questions)
...and many more but now my paint is dry and I must work!

And now a  peek at something I have been working on....

An Orchard and an Apple Farmers Stand for Wooden Doll or Bendy Doll

Some Family fun!

Going to Work Day With Daddy

All in a days work.

Taking a few calls.

Off for a meeting with the boss.

The man behind the magic, no that is not his sippy cup, lol!

My Family's Story: A Boy and His Dog

My oldest was an early talker, thinker, and doer. From the time he was 2 he would look out the front door and just wait. Sitting there for the longest time. One day I asked him what he was waiting for, he looked up and said, "My dog Gossy". There  it was, words sent out into the universe. The dreams of a child and his faith they would come true.

It did, the day they met was magical. Gossy was a rowdy boy the former owner said, no one wanted him. I think he was just waiting for his real boy to show up. He came over an sat by us and to this day there has never been more of a gentleman of a dog then he.

He loves his family and watches those kids like a good knight! He loves to herd them like a good cattle dog would. He has a sweet face and fits in perfectly to our active house. So if you are debating if a family pet is right for your family follow your heart. Be open to the good things that will come your way, even the 4 legged good things!

 Look at that face! 

Good boy Gossy! Good Boy!

Wordless Wednesday: Spring Showers

I Have Nature All Over Me

We recently visited one of our favorite parks to collect items to add to our Fairy Garden Blog Challenge we are entering. "I have nature all over me" say a little boy we pass at the park. His mother rushes to get a wipe and some sanitary gel. She cleans him up while he squirms impatiently waits for the nature to be removed. My heart grows sad that nature has become an icky thing to people. I hurry my kids along to get off the paved path to find the Nature Trail and I say a little loud, " Lets go get nature all over us!"

Enjoy the photos of our wonderful exploration.

Getting to Know You.....

I recently did a produce review for my Tuesday Green Tip on Tricia of The Green Market on Etsy. http://www.thegreenmarket.etsy.com/ I wanted you to get to know her more and thought she would be great for this months Getting to know you.

Tell us a little about yourself and your family.

I am a wife to a wonderful executive city boy and mother to 8 children ranging in ages from 16 to 4 months old. I was born in NY but raised in Miami, Florida and have been planning my escape to the country for 10 years. We finally realized our dream of owning a small hobby farm on 3 acres 2 years ago, called Moss Flower Farm. My J.O.B is cake designing. I can make any cake that my client can dream up, I love challenges. My favorite hobbies include painting, crochet, quilting and designing. We have a very structured but fun family and there never seems to be a shortage of hugs around our home.

My blog is about my life on Etsy but also about my family and living green, so what does GREEN mean to you and your family?

We have been "green" for so long that it is just the way we do things. Being green to me is taking a step backwards. A step backwards is a step forwards. I try to do things like my grandmother would have done it. We do not use reusable or throw away items. If we have an event we use compostable plates or cups. We use cloth napkins, diapers, cleaning cloths, reusable shopping bags, produce bags, all paper goes into our shredder and is used to line our chickens nest boxes, any food scraps go into our compost or earth worm bins (vermiculture). We are in the planning process of going solar powered by installing solar panels to hopefully be mostly off grid. We have a solar oven which we built and are still working on to cook our meals with the sun soon. Water is conserved in any way we can and keep a mind of being wasteful with any resource. We don't have many chemicals in our home, we make our own cleaners, laundry detergent, tooth powder and hopefully soon our own soa
p. We make laundry soap out of greener ingredients and make most things from scratch. For such a big family, I would say that our carbon footprint would be equal to that of a 4 person family.

We are now in summer and gardens are the new/old thing to have, What do you grow and/or raise on your property?

On Moss Flower Farm we raise chickens (Rhode Island Reds, New Hampshire Reds and Araucanas) White Drake ducks (Aflac), we have a huge stocked catfish pond and are planning to add a Dexter cow very soon for raw milk. Dexter cows are as big as a big dog and are very gentle, because of their size they require little pasture. We have fruit trees including, peach, persimmon, plum, pomegranate, fig, loquat, all kinds of citrus, apples and mulberries and bananas. We grow tomatoes, peas, squash, potatoes, green beans, all types of lettuce and microgreens, many herbs, strawberries, black and raspberries, garlic, chives and onions. We have a blueberry orchard and are picking wonderful blueberries at the moment. We will probably be done with the blueberry season in a few weeks. Growing food is powerful, if you can grow food you can become free.

When did you start on Etsy? How did you get started crafting?

I opened my shop in June of 2008 and am coming up on my 1st year anniversary on the 20th. Crafting has always been a part of my life. When I was little (I am 36 now, shhh very priviledged info) my family would go to the library and I would go straight to the sewing, crafting section.

What do you make and sell in your shop?

I make all sorts of reusable products, ReYOUsable dusters and sweeping cloths to replace the displosable one in Swiffer products, reusable napkins, baby wipes, sandwich wraps, cleaning cloths. Shopping bags from wonderful designer fabrics such as Amy Butler and Heather Bailey, resuable bulk food bags for grains and flour and produce bags to replace those flimsy little plastic produce bags at the store, they are also great for keeping lettuces from drying out in the fridge. Even though most don't make it to my store because of procrastination on my part, we sell all of our items at the Farmers Market in town and love custom orders on Etsy.


What do you wish you had known when you started out selling your craft ?

That a serger is not an evil monster which should be kept covered in the corner of the sewing room for years before being brave enough to attempt using it.

What are some of you favorite projects that you have done?

I love to paint little people families. Seeing the little wooden dolls come to life and look like the people who will own them is fun.

What would be your best tip for someone starting out?

Think creatively and out of the box. Keep a notepad of ideas as they come to you.

Tell use about your day and how you "do it all" with homeschooling and running your own business?

As I said before, we are very structured. Children thrive on stucture (with flexibility) and discipline. The key to our family being able to "do it all" is going to bed early. My children's bedtime is 8 PM which means that they go to bed while the sun is still out. This helps the next day to be fruitful, fun and pleasant. School work is part of our life and my children have never know another way so they love to learn. My studio is where I create and run my business and my children respect that. I do not waste time with TV (not much : ) or phone and unnecessary outings so I have time to work on my ideas. We also schedule quiet time so we can all get to our favorite activities like crochet, reading or whatever.

What tips do you have for parents trying to run an at home business while raising a family?

Moms cannot and should not do everything themselves. Each one of our families members has their jobs which they are responsible for which we keep on a list and it ensures that everything that needs to get done, gets done. Even little children can help mom put the laundry into the washer and use a brush to sweep up crumbs in the kitchen. Children need to know that they are valuable and necessary parts of their families. Home businesses are a wonderful way to involve children and teach them business skills for their future. In our cake business my daughters start by punching out and creating flowers and passing ingredients. My 16 year old is now my soux chef and is getting quite good at baking. Children can help to package items, stamp letters and organize supplies. My kids love our booth at the Farmer's Market. They love to talk to customers and educate others on living simpler, greener lives.

Where do you see or hope to see you business in the future?

We have provisional patents and patents pending on some of our items and I would like to see them in stores outside of our town. It would be wonderful to have a business we can work on as a family when my children are older.

Last but not least, if granted super power what would you pick?

I have always wanted to be able to go back in time and create the things I make now back then. Imagine coming up with Reusable swiffer type products before Proctor and Gamble got us all used to the use and throw away mentality.

Family Work

This past weekend we enjoyed some official Family Work. It is a time when we work together, even the little ones to clean up or help improve our family in some way. This weekend we worked on our garden and planted strawberries.

Everbearing strawberries to be exact; they will produce from spring to fall and come back stronger each year! In the past we have always spent Mother's Day or what ever weekend they were ready, at a local pick-your-own farm. Last year they started charging a picking fee per person no mater what size the person. Well for a family of six those ended up being some very pricey berries. Now we will have our own strawberries all season long.

Next week we will put in our other seeds and look into container blueberry bushes. Each week we will add more stones and more items to the garden. I love the idea of Edible Landscaping!

Want to know more? Check out these links.

Websites:

http://www.ediblelandscaping.com/

http://www.garden.org/ediblelandscaping/

http://www.plantea.com/edibleland.htm

Books:

Landscaping with Fruits and Vegetables by Fred Hagy

Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn by Fritz Haeg, Diana Balmori, Rosalind Creasy, and Michael Pollan

Food Not Lawns: How to Turn Your Yard into a Garden And Your Neighborhood into a Community by Heather Coburn

Simple Fruit Salad

This is a family favorite! I like to use a mix of canned and fresh fruits.

1 can of diced pineapple
1 can of pears in juice (dice if needed)
1 can of peaches in juice (dice if needed)
1 can of mandarin oranges
1 package of blueberries (washed)
1 package of strawberries (washed and diced or sliced)

Mix all together in a large bowl making sure to add juice. Enjoy!

Santa's Little Helper or The Etsy Elf

This year I made a pledge to myself to buy handmade gifts and to work towards an all homemade Christmas. No easy task with 3 boys who love their electronics and being plugged in! Well my first thought was to make things but mothering and homeschooling leaves me little free time without the kids. So I turned to one of my favorite places, www.etsy.com .Not only am I a shop owner but I love to shop here as well. Here are a few things under our tree this year.

A wooden dagger and handmade sheath by two young brother. You can find them at http://www.dragonsandmermaids.etsy.com/

A pokemon tent and sleeping bag set. Just the thing every little 4 year old trainer needs. See http://www.munzies.etsy.com/ for all your toy tent needs.

Marble toy set, unfinished pine Mini marble run without marbles and Marble archboard in unfinished hard maple. By www.krtwood.etsy.com

Doll carrier blanket and pillow fits 17 inch doll. By www.Mimas.etsy.com

What the CPSIA means for me

I completely believe in attachment parenting and so that leaves very little of my life for me with 4 kids. My art/craft is my outlet. I have always painted but making toys has given me great joy. I am often giggling in my art room over the little faces and what new thing I created by gluing two wood pieces together. I don't get that much sleep these days with our little one teething, so I find that a little joy in my day is a BIG DEAL. The day I found out about the law felt like the walls were coming in on me. I didn't even realize how sad I was until I started feeling better because of the good news that has been coming lately in the news. I was joyful again, I even wanted to redo Christmas! As a parent this scares me. I want to be able to get creative things for my kids from other crafters. This year in our house 50 percent of the items under the tree were from etsy sellers. Santa even felt my kids were good enough that they got toys made by the ETSY Elves this year. Last week I shopped for my daughter's first birthday, everything was homemade from Etsy shops. It was exhilarating, no crazy packaging, no plastic, and toys she will treasure forever. I think there are some simple steps they can take. Like in the NEVER ENDING STORY, the princess only needed a name for the nothing to go away. If they give us a specific, descriptive name instead of calling us MANUFACTURES they could easily fix this for us. In recent reports, they have been referring to each of us as an "independent craftsperson". Also, American-made products that already are tested and certified non-toxic should be exempt. There is a great many things that do not contain lead, and I am working on compiling a list. I want to make sure I list things I use and plan to use in the future. Simple steps can be made to change this law, they just need to "walk" that way to change them.

Why I am The Reluctant City Dweller

Growing up on the top of Sunshine Mountain in PA, I spent my time in the woods and on the farm.  I lived a good life, it would now be called GREEN living.  My parents farmed to feed our large family.  I remember my mother baking and canning.  We milked the cows, collected the eggs and had animal "friends".  We made our own butter and ice cream.  Berry bushes and apple trees were everywhere in those Pocono mountains. 

We spent the summer playing,  I loved living in the woods amongst the fairies, and I lived to frolic in the trees.  My cousins and I spent hours in our tree houses by the creek.  I never worried about trolls and goblins, because I always had a bowl of skunkweed soup waiting for them.  The pungent smell mixed with a sugar cube or two would make them be my delightful guest for a few hours.  All this wonderful enlightened play was mine at least until dinner time, when I had to leave my world to be a normal girl again.

I grew up with finding ways to invent new things to play with.  I was always making something, and I never remember being board.  My parents encouraged creativity.  I loved kids, and there was never a short supply in my big and extended family.  I always had someone around to try out my new game.  I felt blessed by our life back then.

I went off to college to follow my art ability but my heart always wanted to be a nanny.  My mother grew up with one, and I love those stories she told me about afternoons at the beach in Australia with her sisters and the nanny.  I followed my dream, and in 1991 I went to The English Nanny and Governess school.  I had many wonderful years living that dream being the enchanted Nanny I always dreamed I would be.

Years later I found a Prince among men and married him.  We started our family in 2000 and now have 4 beautiful, wonderful children for me to create for and dream with.  I am now a happy housewife, SAHM/Homeschooler trying to find ways to bring that same enchantment to my children. We live in a city in Central New Jersey, 45 minutes from the shore, NYC, and Philadelphia. Although it is a great place to live my heart hungers for a "greener" life for my family.  So, until we buy the farm, I will work to balance this chapter in my life.

I hope you enjoy the time you spend with me here.  I hope you join me as I try to find a balance in my life here in the city.  I think you will find, as I have, that although I am a reluctant city dweller you can always take a piece of the farm with you.