Just what we need at Woodlawn

If there's one thing you hear me say it's that we need more girls around this place.

So ten new heifers milling around the fields outside the house? No big deal. They arrived on Monday and we've been talking about things like the fact that the electric fence is now turned on, what songs they probably want to have sung to them, and who gets the orphan with the black and white face. 

They are currently being named and claimed. And serenaded (though not by trombone.) And last night, I found a certain 12-year-old flat on her back in the middle of the field doing homework and hoping curiosity would bring them in greet to her.

I told the girls we need to come up with a theme for name-selection. 

We're open to suggestions. 

Happy weekend friends! It's been wonderful being back here so much this week. Feels like old times. Must get back in the habit.

More soon...xo.

More than just clean teeth

My girls and I were asked by our friends from Social Stars to take a look at these products from LISTERINE® SMARTRINSE. We were sent some goodies and tested out the products as part of our nightly bedtime routine. My promise to my blog readers is that I will only share sponsored posts on this blog if they are for products I would recommend to my friends, purchase myself, and have some connection to something I am learning, working on, teaching my children or care deeply about. So if I'm sharing it here, know that it's because I think it's worthy of sharing.

I went to the dentist last week and I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't been in the dentist chair in quite awhile. Long enough that I couldn't remember the last time, and had to put a big fat question mark on that part of my new patient form. It's the classic "no dental insurance, put the kids' teeth before my own teeth" scenario. Thankfully, through the power of good genetics and good brushing, my thirty-eight year streak of no cavities and no fillings has continued.  And the dentist office was quick to make sure I would be back in six months and keep up with my healthy teeth. I promised I would.

I have to admit that in my current commitment to better health, my eyes have been opened to the power that lies in taking care of all of oneself. 

In my blissful youth, I was the kid who never had to worry about her skin. But the bliss of those days is apparently over as I've hit my late thirties. And I have adopted a Skin Care Routine. As crazy as it may sound, taking care of my skin has been an eye-opening experience. Those five minutes I take at the end of the evening to pull back my hair, wash my face and put on a little magical cream feel so important. Not only the fact that it's good for my skin, it's been good for my soul as well. 

Cavities are SCARY! 

Setting aside that time, caring enough about myself to take care of myself, and take time for myself? That's so important--for health, for heart, for self-esteem, for outlook on life. I know, I know, it seems like a bit much to get from a five-minute face washing, but I am convinced that these healthful habits are important and set a pattern for healthful habits in other areas of my life. 

It's this same intention--the importance of caring for yourself--that I'm trying to teach my girls. While we're not needing to worry about blemishes and zit creams yet, we can start off on this same path by taking good care of our teeth. 

Lately, that's meant not only standing in front of the mirror brushing, but also adding more to that nighttime routine, including flossing and using mouthwash. I want my girls to know that taking care of their teeth isn't just about cavity prevention, it's also about taking care of the whole self. It's about setting aside time to establish healthy habits--something that will serve them well in all areas of their lives. 

The girls recently got a fun package in the mail full of teeth-care-taking goodies from the folks at Listerine. Now, if you live in a house of girls, you can probably guess there's a little bit of excitement over pink mouthwash, purple dental floss and cool toothbrush holders that suction cup to your mirror. 

It was the perfect way to continue to encourage the point I am trying to make--that caring for teeth is more than just clean teeth. But in the meantime, while they're swirling and spitting and I'm feeling good about them taking care of their bodies--the LISTERINE® SMARTRINSE is cleaning up the gunk their toothbrushing didn't get, strengthening their teeth and taking care of their whole mouth. Because a happy mouth is a smiley mouth. And who wouldn't want to see this crazy smile?

Want to know more about LISTERINE SMARTRINSE®? It helps prevent kids' cavities, and strengthens teeth 99% better than brushing alone. It cleans in places the toothbrush cannot reach (and c'mon we know kids aren't the best brushers), and provides up to 12 hours of cavity protection. And my girls say the pink is the best. Sorry boys. 

14 things I've learned by sending my homeschooler off to school

If you haven't picked up on it already one of the big changes for our family this fall has been that we made the decision to send Emma off to middle school...no more homeschooling for my oldest girl. It was definitely a big decision. But I wouldn't necessarily describe it as hard. I think we all knew the timing was right and once we found the place that was the right fit, everything seemed to fall into place. 

For her mama, it meant a lot of anxiety this summer. I felt like I needed to soak up every moment before sending her off for seven hours of her day, five days a week. And there's nothing like sending your child off to school to dredge up all those homeschooling insecurities that are always swirling around in the back of your head. It was easy to let myself doubt all the things I'd taught her and start to panic about the things she 'wasn't going to know.' 

Turns out, I was the only one who would have a bumpy transition, and she'd slip right into the routines of school days, homework, schedules and uniforms. 

I'm liking how this year is unfolding. I'm loving getting up early--making the school run and coming home to chores, a little laundry and an earlier start to our homeschool day.

With one month under my belt, I've learned a few things about sending my homeschooler off to school, (shared with you in list form because I live and die by lists these days). 

• Every day is not an evaluation of my abilities as a homeschooling parent. Some things she'll get, some things she won't. But so will every other kid no matter their educational background.
• When she gets home from school she'll be hungry. Very hungry. Have a big snack.
• It's okay if she goes to school with homework she did all by herself, and it's not perfect. That's what her teachers are for. (Also. See bullet point number one.)
• Teachers aren't trying to trick her into failure. (These words were spoken at our parent night and I may have sighed audibly.) "We're here to help. We're on their side. We're not trying to trick your child into failing." Bless it.
• Lunches get progressively more uninspired as the week goes on.
• School drop-off outfits get progressively more uninspired as the week goes on.
• Even though you taught her math last year, suddenly when she asks for help with homework, you can't remember a darn thing.
• On the days you're on time to school, you'll get all green lights.
• On the days you're late to school, you'll get behind a school bus. (or a tractor.)
• If you bring the puppy on drop off, he's going to end up on her lap, in the front seat of the car, licking her face, spilling your coffee, and trying to jump out and see all the fun kids playing outside the school.
• Despite all the things you read on what to say or questions to ask your child to encourage her to open up and share about her day, the thing that works best is a little bit of quiet and a little bit of space. It seems like she's always willing to share, when I'm not prying for details. 
• Even though you can't wait to see her when the day is done, you'll still need to set an alarm on your phone to remind yourself to stop what you're doing and go pick her up from school.
• You will consider adopting school uniforms for the whole family. It's so nice.
• A really good travel mug is key. Because, coffee.

This too shall pass...right?

I wrote this post as part of my participation in a blog tour for The Motherhood on behalf of the makers of Children's MOTRIN and received compensation to thank me for taking the time to participate. However, all opinions expressed are my own.

On one of my visits with my mom over the summer she returned the big brown scrapbook I made for her years and years ago. By now, photos and hand-written captions and notes are slipping out, the pages dotted with water stains. It's seen better days. She handed it to me reluctantly, knowing my plate is pretty full, but hoping I might find a little time to put the big brown spiral back together. 

I have it sitting on the bookshelf behind my desk. I keep it right on top in hopes that one of these days I'll pick it up and start to glue and paste the pages back together. 

Of course the few times I have picked it up, I've found myself lost in the photographs. The house I grew up in has much the same feel of Woodlawn. Big, old, beautiful. But always something wanting to be fixed. I'm hopeful that my kids are getting at least a sliver of the experiences we had growing up. (Though I'm seriously lacking in the canning and gigantic vegetable garden.) 

When I flip through the pages of gardens and sheep shows, and tubing trips down the stream, beautifully set Thanksgiving tables, music lessons and Volkswagen buses, I'm left with nothing less than awe for mother. 

Man, she had her hands full. Four kids. A barn full of animals. Sports practices. 4-H meetings. Burst pipes above the kitchen ceiling and escaped steers running up the road. I know it must have been stressful and overwhelming and just too much at times. But the thing that stands out is grace.

As I stand in the midst of four kids and farm animals and soccer practices and school runs and homeschool lessons plans, and laundry and messy houses and broken sinks and chores, grace is not the word that comes to mind to describe myself.

One of my mother's most commonly passed out words of wisdom is "this too shall pass." I would say those words to myself while sitting in the chair of the baby's room--rocking a crying, sick child that just wouldn't sleep. Or when someone decided to suddenly give up naps. Or adopt a less-than-enjoyable attitude.

But this year, I find myself grabbing on to that mantra once again. This new pace we're finding ourselves in kinda has me out of sorts. I like down time. Home time. And it takes work to find those moments right now. A family dinner that isn't hemmed in by soccer practice, church meetings or homework? An afternoon to blow off work and take the long way home? The moments aren't as frequent as they used to be. 

But I also know that this too shall pass. The schedule will soon slow down for the winter. We'll all adjust to the new pace. I'll learn to do a better job of recognizing those simpler, quieter moments and relish them. 

I'm not sure how my mom did it. But she managed to balance so much, so much hard stuff with such grace and calm. I love the quote below...that grace is an outpouring of what's on the inside. I'm pretty confident that's the key right there. And I'm praying for just a portion of that in my days, as well. That grace might overflow.

Thanks for listening, friends. More soon.

The makers of Children's MOTRIN are inspired by all the things moms do. Moms may not always realize it, but they are amazing in so many ways. Moms are on call day and night have have so much unique knowledge that can really help other moms. That's why the makers of Children's MOTRIN are asking moms to share this knowledge in the form of tips and tricks that help keep them going. They are asking moms to post their tips to the MOTRIN facebook page and for every post, Children's MOTRIN will donate $1 to Safe Kids Worldwide, a global nonprofit that provides moms with the tips they need to keep their children safe.

hello! + an apple bread recipe you must make

Can we just pretend for a little bit, that I didn't take a massive break from this space for the last chunk of summer? Because fall feels like it's here and I just want to talk about apple cake. I still have plans to rewind and catch up on the last weeks of summer with all of you. So many changes around here that I just needed some time to get my bearings. I'll be honest, this summer was a tough one--packed so full and leaving me feeling like I couldn't catch my breath as we plummeted from one thing to the next until I found myself staring at the last days before the ring of the school bell. 

But as my husband (and Wendell Berry) says, we'll soon find our rhythm. And I'm starting to see that happen.

In the meantime, this weekend was good to me and my family. Yes, there were double soccer games on Saturday. But there was also rain, and long afternoons in the kitchen. And used books sales. And lazing about on the couch. And luxurious sleeping in.

And apple bread. 

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that if I'm making this, then fall is most definitely in full swing. So I like to think of this apple bread as a precursor to fall. It means fall is in the air. It means cool nights--that just might require the down comforter, if you're lucky. 

This recipe couldn't be simpler. At the top of my recipe card it naively says that this is a recipe for "Apple Bread". But really, this is definitely a cake. A very, very good cake with a crispy, flaky top with moist (I hate that word), soft, apple-cinnamon-y insides. If you have apples, I'm confident you'll have everything else you need to make this recipe in your pantry.  And bonus--it makes two loaves--one to eat, one to share. My favorite kind of recipe. 

So hello. How are you? I miss this place. Make some apple bread, will you?

---

Apple Bread (eats more like cake)

• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
• 3 cups chopped, peeled apples

Combine oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and mix well. Sift dry ingredients and add to wet ingredients. Fold in apples and nuts. Pour into two greased + floured (or parchment-lined) 9x5 loaf pans. Take for 60 minutes at 350 degrees. Turn off oven and leave for an additional 5 minutes or until loaves test done.