Mothering with Mindfulness Sponsor - Wean Green

Today I would like to introduce you to one of my March sponsors Melissa of Wean Green.

Tell us a little about how Wean Green came to be.

I like to call Wean Green my third baby. There are 7 years between my daughters and in that time the market became flooded with innovative baby food storage containers but all of them had the capabilities of leaching chemicals into my fresh, homemade, organic baby food. I was not satisfied that the industry didn’t understand that the last thing we needed was another plastic product for babies so I started Wean Green….

The Orignal Wean Green Cubes

Being a mama, a business owner and a wife, among other titles I am sure, how do you find balance?

In our house we create our own balance. I lean on my amazing community to help in all areas of my work and personal life. I have built great teams in both areas! I think that the search for balance can often consume people (especially mothers) but in the end all of our lives are going to be so different so we need to look at ‘balance’ as a personal goal we can set ourselves and re-evaluate as time goes on. I am hoping in 10 years it will be difficult for me to find balance between reading novels on the beach and snorkelling in the ocean.



Wean Green Lunch Cubes



If you could share one bit of advice about starting up your own business what would it be?

Use your networks and create new ones. The relationships and people I have met in the past few years are outstanding! It is amazing how talking to someone at a dinner party one night can turn into a new marketing campaign the next!

Wean Green Bowls

What product in the Wean Green line up is your favourite right now?

Wean Cubes-they will always be the baby;) The lunch cubes rock because I can use them for my own meals. The wean bowls have allowed me to completely eliminate purchasing individual yogurt servings (such a waste). I fill 5 wean tubs with veggies every Sunday so it is easy to grab a serving of veggies during the day. And those lovely little snack cubes fit just about every snack I eat;)

Wean Green Tub

Thanks so much for taking the time to share a little bit about yourself with us. It was wonderful getting to know you a little better Melissa.

You can connect with Melissa and Wean Green a few ways:

Twitter @weangreen
Facebook

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And today I have a giveway from Wean Green. Melissa has generously offered up a sample pack of Wean Green products to one lucky Mothering with Mindfulness reader. 

To enter today's giveaway, leave a comment , one per person, below. Giveaway is open until Thursday April 5, 2012 at 7pm. I will draw a winner after this time and announce it in this post.

Thanks so much Wean Green!

And the winner is:

Ami @Parsnips and Pears
"Great giveaway from a great company!! I have been dying to try some of the new products, we love love love our Wean Cubes!"

Congratulations Ami!

{This Moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. Inspired by Soulemama.

My Little Climber

It seems a little climber has taken over my little man. Reece has not been much of a climber until now. I have heard stories from other mamas about toddlers climbing on anything and everything, but Reece just never seemed to want to climb. Even at the park he was cautious...until now.

With the great weather we have been having, we have made a few trips to the park. I often take Reece to the park after a trip to the grocery store, after running some errands or when I need to connect with water. The two parks we often visit are both on lakes. I love being near water, so a visit to either of these parks gives Reece time to have some fun and me a chance to be near the water and take a deep breath.

Lake Scugog

Lake Ontario

So last week, Reece was full of super powers and started climbing everything and anything at the park. 

I was amazed, and full of joy watching him tackle and accomplish each climb. The look on his face when he reached the top of each climb was amazing; he was so full of pride.

A few times he gave me a nervous look, but I would gently say I am here if you need me, but I think you can do it. That was all he needed, and he was back at it.

I must say, I stood there watching and taking pictures, a very proud mama watching her little man climb mountains.

Yarn Along

Two of my favourite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Joining Ginny for Yarn Along.

Well, I just cast off the back of my vest, yay!!! So for now the needles are empty, but not for long, I will be casting on the front tomorrow. Last week, during unseasonably warm temperatures, I wondered if I was crazy knitting a vest for myself, but this week March weather, as we know it, has returned, which means my vest will come in very handy once I get it finished.

I am still reading The Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature. I have to admit I didn’t get much of a chance to read a lot from this book this week, as my issue of Taproot arrived...finally. So I had my nose buried in that. And I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

What are you reading and knitting this week?

Local Fun

We are pretty lucky when it comes to things to do in our area. While we do live in the country, we are within 30 minutes of Oshawa, Port Perry and Peterborough and about 75 minutes from Toronto. You will often find us travelling to one of these four cities for family fun – park visits, picnics, hiking, farmers markets, and so on.

Living in the country also opens up a wide variety of things to do as well. There are many local farms which are open to the public on weekends, artisans who open their workshops at various times throughout the year, many wonderful hiking trails and a little family run zoo, among other activities. This past weekend we decided to hit the family zoo. We buy a season’s pass to this little zoo every year, at $22.00 for an adult pass and $16.00 for a child’s pass, you really can’t go wrong. It is 15 minutes from our home, so we visit often during the summer and get our money’s worth.

We were surprised to see them open when we drove by on Sunday, so had to stop in. The owner told us this is only the second time in twenty years they have opened in March.  The weather has just been so nice they had to open up and let everyone visit.

We had a blast. Reece chased the chickens, ducks and peacocks. He fed the donkeys, goats, deer and sheep. We ran around. We giggled. We enjoyed the outdoors. We had fun.

Soon they will have the baby chicks and ducks running around in a little fenced in area which the kids are allowed to enter. Reece had a blast last summer chasing them, playing with them and learning how to pick them up.

This is a very small zoo and most people don’t consider it a zoo. For us, it is a chance to connect with some lovely animals, enjoy time outdoors and support our neighbours.

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Linking up with Naturally Crafted Mama for {into nature}.

Linking up with Happy Whimsical Hearts for Happy Family Times.

A Visit From the Root Children

We welcomed spring last week with arms opened wide, we were ready for it. Actually, Mother Nature has been blessing us with summer like temperatures the last two weeks and we are loving it.

This year, we started a new tradition to welcome spring, a visit from the Root Children. The Story of the Root Children by Sybille Von Olfers tells the tale of the Root Children who are asleep all winter under the ground.  With the arrival of spring Mother Nature wakes them up and the Root Children get busy preparing for the warm weather to come. 

We thought this would be a wonderful way to celebrate the first day of spring with Reece.  When he woke up on the first day of spring there was a little gift from the Root Children waiting for him at the breakfast table, with a little plant from his nature table. He noticed it immediately and was all smiles when we told him the Root Children must have paid him a visit.

He had to introduce his new friends to his gnomes and the tree house right away :)

This is a simple tradition and we really enjoyed it.  We continued celebrating by doing some yard clean up, took a trip to the park and enjoyed a lovely hike in our neighbour's forest. Reece enjoyed his gift from the Root Children, playing with them most of the day, and that night he spent a good hour adding them to his spring nature table.

It was a good visit from the Root Children.

Mothering with Mindfulness Sponsor - The Conscious Perspective

Today I would like to introduce you to one of my March sponsors Heidi Oran of The Conscious Perspective.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I spend my days taking care of my two boys, 5 and almost 4 on our organic farm in Peterborough, Ontario. I usually have many projects on the go at all times. Along with working towards growing our farm, which mainly focuses on organic hops at this point, I am currently working toward achieving my Permaculture Design Certification. I began my blog, The Conscious Perspective last year which somewhat falls into the personal blog category, however I focus on humanitarianism, personal growth, spirituality, holistic health, and more. Because of this broad spectrum, I have regular contributors which are integral to content the blog. I like to share many "conscious perspectives".

You have recently begun a new venture, would you like to share some of the details with us?

Absolutely! I have recently launched Charitable Influence with a US-based blogger, Fadra Nall, with a goal of connecting charities and non profit organizations to bloggers. On my own blog, I regularly feature "Organization Spotlights" and discuss humanitarian causes. Like many bloggers/writers, I discovered that although I was not able to be on the front line making major changes in the world, I could use my voice to spread the message of different causes, and take then further. And so Charitable Influence was born.

How do you see bloggers and charities working together?

Our system will link charities and non-profits according to the passions of individual bloggers. This will ensure that those involved will be participating in campaigns which truly mean something to them. Through a variety of campaigns and methods organized by Charitable Influence in conjunction with the charities, bloggers will be using their voices and stories to spread the message through their various platforms.

Is there a particular charity you yourself at passionate about that you would like to share with us?

I tend to find myself very connected to maternal health and children's charities based on my own personal experiences. With my first son, I had a placental abruption, causing me to go into labour six weeks early. I was terrified, but comforted by the OB and hospital staff, and my son was born with preemie issues and a heart condition that was equally terrifying, but again, I felt comforted thanks to the care he received. The experience left me with a huge appreciation for the medical system in Canada, which certainly isn't perfect, but I appreciate that we have the option in this country to choose which type of birth experience we would like.

This experience also led into a three-year long relationship with The Hospital For Sick Children, where I showed my gratitude by donating a portion of my sales from my old business to their hospital. I have only warmth and fondness in my heart when I think of this hospital which saved my little boy.

I have also found myself connected to Every Mother Counts, which I have featured several times on The Conscious Perspective. I am drawn to this organization and the work of all that are pushing for safe births throughout the world.

You have been on your own journey to a new level of personal consciousness, what was the turning point that started you on this journey? How has this journey affected your day to day living?

In a nutshell, nearly my whole life I teetered between a state of mild depression to mildly happy, always looking outside of myself for something to fill in the big gaping whole. As an adult, this depression took the form of anxiety and caused all of my fears to bubble to the surface.

Through a series of chance events and meetings, I was introduced to some amazing spiritual authors and eventually, an energy healer. This combination allowed to really turn things around in my life.

Eckhart Tolle, author of The Power of Now and A New Earth is my go-to guru even after everything else I have read/heard. It was through his books that I learned about the "ego" and "painbody", and I really feel like once those concepts are grasped, it becomes a lot easier to live from a conscious space and put life into perspective. (He did a web series with Oprah which was also amazing if anyone is a fan of Oprah's!)

Is there a first step you would recommend to those looking to make change and find a new perspective?

That is a great question, because it really is difficult to know where to start.

I believe that if a person is even thinking about finding a new perspective, they have already done quite a bit of the initial work. This would mean they are already questioning their beliefs and that is an integral piece of the puzzle. (And I am not necessarily talking about religious beliefs).

A lot of us are encouraged to make a change because we're not happy, or because we know we have a purpose here but are not sure what it is. I truly believe that finding our "purpose" (in reference to a career usually in our society), will come eventually, but that is much further down the line.

That said, a very important habit to create early on is to be very aware and open about messages that are delivered to you, especially if it is in a coincidental manner. "I was just thinking about that," or "I never would have thought of taking that program but it looks amazing", for example. The Universe likes to give us hints about the different paths we have available to us. 

You have a free day, no plans, what do you do with it?

We're so close to the warm weather, so for springtime onward my favorite thing to do with a day free of plans is to spend the day with my family enjoying the outdoors, making some great meals, and having some laughs. My husband and I only have one full day together most weeks, so I like to devote this day to just enjoying each others' company.

Would you like to share your favourite inspirational quote with us?

Here is one of my favorites:

“There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living” ~ Nelson Mandela

Thanks so much for taking the time to share a little bit about yourself with us. It was wonderful getting to know you a little better Heidi.

You can connect with Heidi a few ways:
 

Twitter @conscious_blog

Facebook

{This Moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. Inspired by Soulemama.

Welcome Spring

We have been doing a little celebrating in our home the last week or two. With the return of spring, lots of sun, and warmer than normal temperatures, there is a lot to celebrate.

I cannot remember a time when I have raked leaves and tidied up the gardens in March. Things in our yard and gardens are looking pretty good. I am not crazy enough to do any planting yet, that won’t happen until mid May, but it feels good to be a little bit ahead. I did hit the garden shop to pick up some spring colour in the form of pansies.  They can handle the frost, if we get one, which I can pretty much say we will, and they give us a little bit of colour and joy when we step outside.

We have also switched up our nature table, moving from winter to spring. It was a ton of fun and Reece had a blast adding his own little touches. He loves his little robin and checks in every morning to see how she is.

The lovely robin and her eggs comes from this Etsy shop

And we also created a lovely fabric bunting to adorn our front porch in a whimsical kind of way. The idea came from my lovely sponsor So Fawned.  She recently did a post over at Child Mode on a simple scrap fabric bunting for her daughter’s room. As soon as I saw it I knew we would be making one here.


Fabric for our banner



Fabric cut into strips



Reece adding them to the yarn

Adorning our front porch

Beautiful!



I love them!

How are you celebrating the return of spring?