George-Ephraim Turns Two

George-Ephraim, or Geo, or Georgie Boy, or Vubbie, or The Vubs as he is usually called.....
was born in the wee hours of the morning on April 27th two years ago today,
directly above my head where I type this,
a smooshie-lipped, curly-headed boy
a boy who brings joy
so much joy and love,
more than I could ever imagine one little boy bringing to a family,
yet his joy spreads much farther,
as he offers this joy to everyone he passes,
rosy-red cheeks glowing with delight,
smiles spread like ripples on the mouths of those in his presence...
oh, little boy, thank you for your joy!

Things to know about George, The Two Year Old:

Favorite food: hummus, just straight up with a spoon. the more garlic the better.

Favorite song: Changes by David Bowie

STILL likes to be swaddled to fall asleep. He has a special blanket for this--his "Mi-Mi" blanket which is a fleece Nightmare Before Christmas blanket.

A day is not a day without walking to the mailbox with Papa.

He never fails to say sorry ("Waaah-reee") or thank you (Day Do!") when the occasion arises. In fact he gets irritated if he thanks me for dinner and I don't say "You're welcome."

He loves shoes. Prefers them to bare feet. Walks on his toes if his feet are bare so they won't touch the floor.

If I were to use one word to describe George it would be: delight (he is both delighted at everything around him and delightful to be around.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY GEORGIE BOY!!!!!!

still (kind-of) feeling the clean...

the spring cleaning "party" is meant to be done over two weeks, monday through friday each week, so you have the weekend off to do what you normally do. i am busy fridays but not saturdays, so i decluttered the first four days (mon-thurs), took friday off, did the second part of the kitchen on saturday (with my moms help), and took sunday off. monday, i happened to be out-of-town, which was "bathroom day" anyway, and had i already decluttered them: the downstairs was recently cleaned because we got a new shelving unit, the children's bathroom (barely used, they like ours of course!) was swept through the first day of decluttering, and our master bathroom a week ago, because george is now agile enough to open doors and get up on the tub and riffle through all of our stuff, including a box of hair dye. my first time calling poison control! he had been upstairs in the early evening and i had called him down at dinner, so three hours after he'd been up there i discovered a bottle of color developer half gone. did he drink it?? there seemed to be a cloudy substance in the toilet so i figured he squeezed it in there...but i called to be safe. the nice lady at 1-800-222-1222 said he would have gotten sick already...i sighed relief and promptly threw out tons of old bathroom crap and blake rehung the cabinet higher.

after that on-and-off schedule, tuesday i had to get back into it. i decided to move up the master bedroom in line and leave the kids' room for later. i'd cleaned a house that morning and was tired--i like to keep my bedroom tidy so i knew it would not be a difficult task. i love our bedroom, we spent a lot of time making it to our liking during my pregnancy with George, and it is decidedly a "grown-up" space, sexy and modern. i sorted through my clothes which was kind of depressing, as apparently i wear too much black, and anything that i have that doesn't fit and at one time cost a lot of money, is so worn-out its barely worth donating. my wardrobe is lacking desperately but even if i had the money to buy new stuff, i would hate to buy it at this size since i would like NOT to be this size anymore (that's another post!)

today, brought the first wave of the kids' rooms and it was highly successful, even though, to be honest, i am petering out. either i lost my momentum during the choppy weekend or it just gets hard after the first week to stay motivated. but there was a lot to trash and that always feels good. ended up with two bags of trash, one bag of recycling, and two boxes for donation. there are even some empty toy bins now!! i was hoping to transfer all of the kids' dress-up clothes to bigger more accommodating tubs, so took a break to go to target where i'd bought them before, but they are not in season yet. while i didn't think to take before picture i do have a nice shot of the finished toy shelves and the pile that came from it:


george's birthday is next week, and i am excited about making his room more for a little boy--we are going to change his big mattress to a toddler bed, i took some toy storage boxes from the girls rooms and put them in his, and decluttered his closet. a friend gave me a wooden castle this week and i would like to find a train table for him to set it up on.

tomorrow is day two of the kids rooms but really i just need to sweep and mop and wipe down the shelves, which is good considering i work in the morning as well. one thing i never did get too, if i can fit it in, is the drawers and spice cabinet in the kitchen. i think saturday will be my day to wrap up any loose ends--the schedule says the last day is for the entry and hallway but i did those already last week. if i can get blake to hang our new curtains on sunday, our house will look like a million bucks!

sure, its a lot of work, but i can see how having less and being more organized is helping me save time in my life and keeps me feeling more "on-top" of things, which for me equals more peace. i keep reminding myself that next year won't be so hard......

feel the clean

the past six months, i've been on a steady incline to.....something. its hard to put into words, but its a combination of personal revelation, a feeling of balance, a clarification of purpose, and a real increase in the feeling of peace and an invitation to more joy in my life. lots of things have led me here: my part-time work, my women's workshop, establishing a yoga practice again, and the exciting realization that I will be 30 this year which makes me feel ripe for change. i think i've made a real effort to make room for growth as well.

so in the spirit of this, i decided to jump on the spring cleaning party bandwagon, led by the simple mom blog. i'd heard about it last year, but didn't feel like i could pull it off, and secretly promised myself that i would do it next year. next year is here...and it seems like the perfect time to take on this project which involves decluttering, cleaning, and organizing your ENTIRE HOME. no wonder its freaked me out so much last year, right? i've had time to warm up to the idea this time around, and as i waded in realized that having less STUFF, means more time to spent doing other things like playing with my kids. i realized that i spend way more time keeping our large home tidy than i'd like. its constant work that is usually undone as soon as it is finished, even with the whole family doing their part--time spent keeping all those piles of stuff in their tidy little piles, and then digging through those piles to find what you need and re-tidying again.....ridiculous! not to mention our home is very large (over 3000 sqft), with three full bathrooms and ...gulp....6 bedrooms. let me be the first to say that bigger is not always better! when i'd declutter in the past, really all i was doing was taking the clutter from one area and hiding it somewhere else (like my sewing room--eek!!) so taking the time to just tackle each room one-by-one using the declutter, cleaning, and organize process once a year in one concentrated blow makes so much sense!

here's the plan of action:

The Plan

• Day 1: A Clean Sweep
• Day 2: The Living Room, part 1
• Day 3: The Living Room, part 2
• Day 4: The Kitchen, part 1
• Day 5: The Kitchen, part 2
• Day 6: The Bathrooms
• Day 7: The Kids’ Rooms, part 1
• Day 8: The Kids’ Rooms, part 2
• Day 9: The Master Bedroom
• Day 10: The Front Entry & Hallway

...and here is the mantra:
“Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”


On day one, I went through our house and looked at all the surfaces like our bookshelf, dresser, sideboard, desk, and countertops with a garbage bag and empty box in hand. they both filled up fast...and some items I immediately returned to a better place...like lots of photos and books that were floating around for some reason or another--and later i went through the box and quickly decided what was donation and what needed to find a proper place in our home. it happened to be housecleaning day anyway, so after i was done the house already looked incredible! and the best part is that it has STAYED that way, because there is less to pick up. and the whole family seems to be in awe of the state of things so THEY are being more careful too. i have heard blake say more than once to the kids,"let's clean up so we don't ruin all of Mama's hard work..."

Day two was living room: part one, and this was easy because we don't spend a ton of time in that room like most families do. since a-frames have slanted walls, you can't fill it with traditional furniture, only low pieces, and since we have a toddler who gets into stuff if its low, the room is not a clutter-magnet. but we do have one very special two-sided art deco book shelf which houses books, puzzles, cd's, the phone on one side, and mayan's special "fort" on the other (mayan's middle name is "clutter-bug" ;)..plus some plants on top. i spent a good hour getting rid of trashed or no longer needed books, same with the cd's (who really needs those anymore anyways??) and made the top look beautiful instead of a convenient place to set your useless odds and ends. i also sorted through the two coat-and-bag bins we keep by the front door.

since i had spare time, i also, without even planning to, found myself in the art closet which was TRASHED!!! every scrap of paper and kid drawing, paper towel tubes, broken crayons, gift wrapping supplies, and yarns bits were all jumbled together in complete disarray...i ended up with four huge containers of recyclable material, and two trashbags of garbage. and if that wasn't enough, next thing i knew i was up in the hallway sorting through the hall closet and putting the old hats and gloves i'd taken fromt he bins downstairs and finding a place for them until they are needed again next winter. there were already three bags of clothing i'd managed to purge from my closet a years ago, thinking that somehow i could make some money selling them (though buffalo exchange ended up rejecting them, i stubbornly kept them there.) i had such momentum built up at this point that i didn't even care--out, out, out! along with a giant box of unneccessary cables and nails mixed up with precious old letters and photos, every item there had to pass a test: garbage, donate, or keep. by the end of day two i was getting to be addicted to this process.

Day three is supposed to be living room: part two, but i didn't need to spend more time there sorting. instead i cleaned the areas now exposed and the areas that are hard to reach. i got out my 20-foot-pole duster for the beams (for those that don't know we have a glass roof with exposed beams) to terminate all the spider-webs, old and new. then i vacuumed under the couch and bookshelf...then i had the rest of the day off.

today i am very excited to do the one room that i never really thing of as needed to be decluttered: the kitchen. when i think clutter i think paper and toys and clothes. but food and kitchen utensils pile up, too, so first i am going to hit the pantry and see how far i get. i also would like to get rid of all of my mismatched dishes and buy some new fiesta ware to round out our collection--they seem to hold up much better to family-life than ikea pieces (bug surprise!)

wish me luck! i want to keep up the momentum, and not fizzle out. i know the end result will be SO worth it..and i'm almost halfway there. during the course of my "living on purpose" group, i have more clarity on why i need my surrounding to be beautiful, and accepting how important it is to my well-being that my home feel clean and looks aethetically pleasing. turns out that it may not neccessarily be that a clean, organized home equals a happier mama, but instead a happier mama equals a more clean, organized home--a place to be joyful!

sweet and sour awesome

hello, lonely blog, would you feel better if i put a recipe in your tummy?


by request, and by my own excitement, i give you a sweet and sour chicken dish that is allergy-friendly (well, depending on your allergy because some of you all are super-freaks.) chinese takeout, once filled a hole in my soul, right up there with tator tot cassarole on the comfort food scale, but when soy became my nemesis, obviously EVERYTHING on that menu was OUT. so i spent some time, learning to make fried rice and beef with broccoli at home since it was something we could all eat. recently, mayan added eggs back into her diet with great success, and now more windows are opening up for us. i decided that a true crispy, sticky sweet and sour chcken was in order, since the nourishing traditions recipe didn't not possess that take-out quality that i so desire. this may not qualify as health food, but i made it as healthy as possible.

so it is gluten-free, soy-free, corn-free, dairy-free, and nightshade-free. check it:

2-4 chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
1-2 eggs
1/2 cup rice flour (i used brown but whilte might be finer, if gluten is not an issue just use wheat!)
1/2 tapioca flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspooon garlic powder
black pepper

-add the flours, salt, garlic powder, and pepper to a large ziploc bag, and mix--set aside. beat the egg or eggs in a pie dish, then add the chicken chunks to coat. pick out the chicken pieces and throw into the flour mixture. seal up bag with a little air, and shake, baby, shake! make sure all of the pieces are well coated with flour.

-heat 1/2 inch of oil for frying (whatever you like: peanut, canola are my faves) and fry until the pieces are golden brown and cooked through, turning if you need to. (if the heat is med-high, the chicken will absorb less oil.) remove from oil and place on paper towels. keep warm until ready to serve.

while the pieces are frying, take a small saucepan and add:

(this should make enough for 2-3 chicken breasts, but double it if you are using 4)
3 TB apple cider or white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sea salt
6 TB Rapadura (whole cane sugar--Rapunzel brand makes this) or mixture of brown and white sugar
1 TB tapioca flour
1/2 cup of water
1 1/2 TB oil of choice

-bring to a boil and stir until thick, about 5 minutes. the Rapadura gives it a nice dark color.

finally transfer your golden crispy chicken pieces to a platter and pour the sweet and sour sauce over, toss if you'd like or don't leaving some areas more saucy than others, so family members can choose how much they want. you can also keep a little extra sauce on the table for those that like it really saucy.

optional: sprinkle chopped green onions over the dish for a little crunch and presentation. serve over steamed or fried rice. also a GREAT time to make LUMPIAS, since you have the hot oil and dipping sauce already done:D

all done!

second and final session for my right arm is done. i am so happy with it!

it was very cool being able to post from the chair with my beloved iPhone

Everyone say hi to James ("hi, James!") he was nice enough to play me videos again on his iPod (the Asylum Street Spankers this time) and a really cute kids album that i wills soon purchase and burn for everyone i know. thought is was amusing that some one who doesn't have little kids knew every line, not to mention the whole shop was rocking to the kids tunes...its called 'Mom Says No!'

anyway, notice the FUN position i had my arm in...eek.

ah, so fresh!

next day, all washed up. the flower is, of course, fully healed.

loving the Isis wings...and her jewelry and gown. all of the shading will soften when healed.

the detail on the wings turned out beautifully!

Hooray!!!!!! I can honestly say that at this moment in time I do not have any ideas or plans for more ink....but it would be nice to have something for George eventually. For now I am satisfied...;)

goodies from the days in bend

recently, michael took all of my old pictures and videos from my laptop hard drive and put them on the new computer....basically our lives from 2005 to 2007--pre-blogging days for me--flashed before my eyes, many memories i had forgotten.

cooking thanksgiving sister with my sister

my favorite picture of blake ever, taken on our 5th anniversary

adorable family picture in vancouver BC, october 2006

memorable sail on waldo lake on the catalina 22

this might be my fondest memory i have of the time before we decided to move: an epically beautiful fall day i drove out to DD Ranch in Terrebonne with my girls, drinking a delicious chai on the way, to spend the afternoon picnicing, wandering through the pumpkin patch, and taking a hayride. (this was taken by myself on the ride)

at one point my sister had imported all of her videos and pictures from our visits onto my computer, and some went back before we even owned a digital camera. having these little snipettes of little mayan and isadore are priceless!!


mayan is about three here and isadore one-ish.


four and two i think...mayan is pretending to be blake! hilarious...

georgie gets a haircut

i have no clue how to handle curls. george's tight blond ringlets are turning into ratty, messy dreads, and it takes a lot of work to condition and brush them out every few days. i decided to take him to our regular stylist (rebecca at DO! rad cuts and color on SE 39th) and try my best to keep him still while she did her thing. honestly i didn't have to do anything, he gripped a teething biscuit and was so fascinated by the salon happenings around him that he sat still for 1/2 hour giving rebecca time to obsess on each lock. she told me how she never gets to spend much time on kids hair b/c they are wiggly, but georgie sat like a little man. and the best part is that the hair doesn't look much shorter, its still bouncy ringlets but there is less length so that means less tangles. i love my baby boy!

(ps all photos taken on my super awesome iPhone!!)