October Sponsors

I would like to introduce you to Mothering with Mindfulness’s October sponsors.
 I am so happy to be sharing this space with them.

Wean Green

~ modern glass storage for the entire family ~

Mariposa Forest
~ tales from a forest, to your mailbox,
enter our world and let your child’s imagination run free ~

Cubits Organics Living

~ rare, heirloom and organic seeds ~

Olive and Owl

~ a urban homesteading, baby wearing, make it from scratch,

kind of hippie, a whole lot of green kind of blog ~

So Fawned

~ a mama, a doula, a tea lover, a dreamer ~

I am grateful for their support.

Please take some time over the next few days to visit their sites

and find out just how wonderful they are.

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If you are interested in sponsorship with Mothering with Mindfulness 

please contact me for more information.

{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.

Crafting a Walking Stick

Justin and I both have walking sticks. Old branches found on the forest floor from our backpacking days, lovingly carved and used throughout the years on many of our day hikes and overnight backpacking trips. Sometimes we take them with us when we hike with Reece, other times we just pick up branches from the forest floor and return them there when we are finished with them.  Lately Reece has wanted a walking stick of his own. So he too looks for the perfect branch in which to hike with, and as we do, returns it to the forest floor at the end of our hike.

Last week, he found the most amazing walking stick, it was perfect for him. As we finished our hike and he was returning it, I told him to keep it and bring it home. He thought this was awesome. I had just finished reading a post about crafting a walking stick with your little one and knew this would be a fun project for Reece and I.

We set up the paints one morning and he went to work painting it. While he was painting I waxed some leaves we had picked up on our hike. The plan was to let the paint dry, and then decorate it with some waxed leaves, goldenrod, pine cones and ribbon. There was a slight change to that plan when I decided to surprise him. I gathered everything we had collected and hid myself away while he played with his dad. I worked quickly and in a very short time had completed his walking stick.

I was pretty excited, and so was he when he saw it. I wish I could have captured that moment on camera...at least it is captured in my memory. 

He loved it! After the initial excitement, the question came...when can we go hiking?

We Are Different

I can get a little wrapped up in my own little bubble sometimes. The bubble of families who journey a similar path as we do, the bubble of my lovely blog friends who live simply on this earth as we do, the bubble of our life here on this little homestead we call home. Then something happens to burst my bubble.

The burst is usually a big one, often from a place of judgement or negativity, both places I don’t like.

 

On Sunday I ventured into the big city of Toronto to attend a friend’s baby shower. I was looking forward to the shower, my girlfriend is journeying a path similar to ours with dreams of a little homestead of her own one day. She is a fellow nutritionist, Ironman athlete and natural parenting advocate, so yes; we have a lot in common.

I only knew one other person on the guest list, so I was looking forward to meeting some new faces. And I did. You know how conversations go...people want to know how you know the guest of honour, where you live, what you do, and so on. They asked questions about Reece, who was with me and the conversation moved toward our lifestyle, our homestead and life learning.

Then it happened, my bubble burst, but not in a way it has burst before. It burst with gratitude, joy and love. You see the couple I was talking to, about ten years older than me, were genuinely interested. I mean really interested. They wanted to know about our gardens and what we grew, how we preserved our food, the chickens, the soon to be bee hives and everything else we are planning on this little plot of land we call home. And then the questions about life learning, but smart intelligent questions, not just the “what about socialization” questions, but questions about how we have set things up, how and if I will set up any type of structure, the Waldorf philosophy and so on. Smart, interesting questions which allowed me to share, not defend, our decisions.

It was wonderful!

The end of our conversation was met with much sadness. There was so much more I wanted to share with them, so much more I wanted them to know.

As I drove home, I thought about how different the life we are leading is from the norm. Living in my little bubble I often forget that. This encounter though, totally different from ones in the past which have me defending instead of sharing, warmed my heart and tickled my soul.

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I am guest posting over at Little Coffee Beans today, please stop by and say hi!

Seven Things

Thankful. Smiling. Laughing. Appreciating. Adoring.

 

Loving. Holding. Remembering. Sharing. 

Here are seven little things that I'm loving today.

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:: His hand in mine

:: Gorgeous views on a new to us trail

:: His focus when he crafts

:: Meals grown in our backyard (everything but the pasta)

:: Our fall equinox fire, complete with a little gratitude ceremony for the summer that was 

and a moment to reflect on what this season will bring

:: His growing confidence, not only one skates, but in everything he does

:: The seasons first waxed leaves, there will be more of these for sure

What simple things are you loving today?

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Linking up with my friend Lisa at Little Coffee Beans for Seven Things

The End of Each Day

 

At the end of each day

I crawl into bed, tired, but content.

I take a deep breath.

I release it.

I replay the day in my mind.

It isn't always pretty, but I watch it.

Sometimes there are regrets, moments I would like to change.

But most nights there is

Gratitude

for what each day has been.

Joy

for the moments experienced.

Love

for this life I lead and the people I share it with.

At the end of each day I release the day experienced.

I open my heart and mind to new possibilites for tomorrow.

I take a deep breath.

I release it.

Welcome Fall

 

It's here!

Fall.

Changing leaves, cool mornings and dark evenings.

Acorns and pine cones.

Sweaters, scarves and fingerless gloves.

Hot tea, soup and homemade bread.

Curling up on the couch with quilts in front of the fire.

Are you ready?

Today we will welcome fall with a little trip to the market, some fall crafting, 

a little nature table redesign, baking bread, making soup and if the rain lets up, 

a little time by the fire pit outside welcoming this colourful, vibrant and wonderful season.

Wishing you a lovely first day of fall. Enjoy!

{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.

Fall Crafting

We have started a little bit of fall crafting in our home, yes we have. And there is a certain little one who is really excited about it.  As Reece ages crafting with him just keeps getting better. It is so much fun to watch him explore different crafting activities.

Last week while we were in a craft store picking up some supplies, Reece saw some fall leaves and asked if he could get them. I asked what he would like to do with them, he thought for a minute and decided he wanted to hang them up. So the leaves came home with us and together we figured out the best way to hang them. I ended up punching some holes in them, stringing some yarn through my yarn needle and letting him string them up. As he worked away on it, he decided the perfect spot to hang them was the living room window.

With a collection of nature treasures from a nature walk last week we sat down on Monday afternoon to create a nature collage. It was a beautiful afternoon and we took the chance to craft outside, we most likely won't be able to do that for too much longer. Reece really enjoyed this craft, and took his time to figure out exactly where everything would go. He was very proud of his finished project and couldn't wait to show it off to his daddy.

Have you started fall crafting in your home yet?

Yarn Along

The Christmas knitting continues on my needles this week, I cast on a basket weave scarf in a manly charcoal grey with a few specs of colour here and there. I can't tell you who this gift is for as there is a pretty good chance they will view this post at some point today, so we will just keep that a secret.

I picked up the other yarn in the picture on the weekend and hopefully will cast on a scarf or cowl. It is also a gift and I can't decide which one this person would like best. I sometimes think a scarf is a little more versatile so am leaning that way, but would love to hear your thoughts.

On the reading front, well you know, doula reading and lots of it. I am really enjoying my doula training, and am looking forward to attending my first birth sometime in the next week or two. It is all so very exciting.

What are you knitting and reading this week?

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Linking up with Nicole at Frontier Dreams for Keep Calm Craft On

Linking up with Ginny at Small Things for Yarn Along.

Seasonal Shift

Ever so slowly the shift as occurred. First it was the cooler nights, then the cooler mornings. The sun is now setting earlier and it is darker in the morning. Sweaters are needed for our morning walks. A hot tea is welcome any time of day. Yes, the feeling of fall is in the air, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

I could say that fall is my favourite season, but really I like them all. There are things I enjoyed about each season, and I embrace them with as much energy as I can each time they roll around.

I think what I really enjoy is the seasonal shift, the movement from one season to the next. It forces me to shift, to change the routine a bit...I like that.

Nature Walk

We go on a little nature walk every day, and every day we return with treasures in hand. One day last week we took a little basket with us, okay it was a big one...it was Reece's choice, to collect treasures for the list of wonderful fall crafts I have planned for us.

It was a lovely September day, we enjoyed a hike, a snack on the side of the trail, some stories about forest fairies and collected treasures, big and small.

As we neared the end of our hike look what some lovely hikers left on the trail for us to find. It took my breath away when I saw it. Reece smiled, and so did I. A lovely treasure to find in the forest.

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Linking up with Naturally Crafted Mama for {into nature}

United

“Let us keep reminding each other to breathe, 

to smile, to treat ourselves and one another with kindness. 

Let us hold each other when we need support, 

and let us challenge and remind 

each other of what is truly important. 

Let us take care of ourselves so that we don’t hand down 

our unfinished business to the next generation. 

Let us laugh together, and never lose our joy. . . . 

And let us take care of the children—our children, 

all the children. 

Let us mobilize our fierce and passionate mother energy 

on behalf of all beings 

on this little blue-green planet we call Mother Earth.” 

Denise Roy