Tag Archives: general babbling

While the combine runs…

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I apologize for not having harvest pictures ready for you – I have taken the photos, but haven’t moved them to my Macbook or edited them yet. SOON!

In the mean time, mostly we are crippled by the Olympics. I know I mentioned this when I first started blogging, but at that time my mom and sister where my audience. So I’m telling you again: I LOVE THE OLYMPICS. Yes, I’m yelling. My Farmer actually told me this week that he thinks it might be better for my mental health if I *didn’t* watch the Olympics.

He was joking, of course.

Or that’s what I’m going with, anyway.

Several of my children share my Olympic obsession. Little Cowgirl must be repeatedly told to get OFF the back of the couch, to stop cartwheeling during the competition (do that during the commercials, for heaven’s sake! I can’t see the TV!) and yes I will sign her up for gymnastics as soon as humanly possible. When Farmer Boy asked me why they were lighting the copper petals, I was ecstatic to explain the symbolism of the gift the olympics gives to each country represented there, and how they all come together in their passion and humanity to burn as a bright symbol of hope and togetherness. I had tears running down my face and Shooter was even choked up. I had to stop speaking to get ahold of myself.

Farmer Boy took the opportunity to interject, “So, in other words, it’s because the copper won’t melt.”

I manage to get everyone fed (because I get hungry as well), reasonably clean (because bad smells are distracting) and a portion of my jobs finished (the most noticeable ones, anyway) so that I can spend as much time as possible in front of the television yelling “GOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooOOOOOOOOO!” and doing the ugly cry every time someone wins/loses.

I have somehow also been able to continue the children’s most recent activity, horseback riding lessons. They are actually Farmer Boy’s lessons, but the teacher is allowing the other children to ‘sit in’ and also have some participation in the class.

This is not their usual horse. It's just so stinking cute that I had to take a picture.

It is, of course, all a part of his master plan to one day own a horse of his own. I told you about his request for money rather than birthday gifts toward this same scheme. I am shocked at the amount the boys have scraped together and they will be owning livestock whenever Dad and I go to the sale barn to procure some more calves to raise for our own meat.

But that is not going to be happening soon, of course, seeing as it’s corn harvest (oh yeah, and some of the milo is ready) and OF COURSE the Olympics are on. So we are busy.

I’m only posting today because I remembered to bring the computer along with me to Farmer Boy’s tutoring. In fact, I should probably be napping in preparation for women’s gymnastics tonight…

What is your favorite part of the summer Olympics?

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Onion Harvest

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We had a very successful onion patch this year.

And, as you can see behind Farmer Boy, we have the potential for a great sweet potato crop as well.

Our harvest filled an entire (large) laundry basket.

I couldn't have done it without help.

And we have so many tomatoes you would think I’d planted a forrest of them.

Everything is more fun with a little bucket.

Gardening is fun, but I’m quite poor at it. I keep doing it partly because I love having our own food, but mostly because I love doing it with the kids.

Who could resist something so sweet and fresh? The onion looks great, too.

WIWW – Take Three

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I’m still having a great time linking up with The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesdays.

pleated poppy

I can’t seem to manage getting decent pictures of an entire week of outfits, but I have fun trying. Also, several days last week I wore only my new tangerine bathing suit and coverup all day. It’s July.

I’m contributing to economic recovery because one of my readers (and real-life friends) went and bought a pair of sandals after reading my last WIWW post. Also because I’m voting for Ron Paul whether he’s an official nominee or not. These are my gifts to the dollar. Your welcome.

Here is my casual skirt, an ode to sellabitmum, the skirt-wearing genius.

Shirt – Gifted
Skirt – Old Navy
Purse – Kohl’s clearance
Shoes – Target

That was in case you didn’t *really* get a good look at the shoes. They are as comfortable as they are cute.

Mass gets pretty casual on summer evenings at our parish. This was my outfit on Saturday night; we took the kids out to eat at a local barbecue joint afterwards.

Shirt – Elle
Jeans – Rewind
Shoes – Apt. 9
Purse – Press repeat

This outfit was for a busy day of running errands.

Shirt – eyelash
Jeans – Seven
Sandals – my happy Target shoes

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But honestly, my fashion choices cannot hold a candle to Little Cowgirl. Here is her outfit, constructed all on her own, the same day:

Shirt – Hello Kitty from Kohl’s
Shorts – hand-me-down
Boots – gifted
Lunchbag – borrowed from a brother

I believe I will ask her to advise me on my wiww choices for next week.

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PS What do you think of the smaller photos? Easier? Not enough? Load faster? Don’t care? Please weigh in.

Summer Slowdown

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Every summer I decide we are really going to romp on it when we are done with school. I intend to sign the children up for camps, lessons, rec center crafts, VBS.

Then we finally get to summer.

We talk about the camps, lessons, and activities.

And everybody says “Yeah! Maybe later!”

Then we spend our days *literally* wallowing in free time like pigs in mud. The children thrive. They don’t build lego cities; they build lego solar systems. They don’t make forts; they make bomb shelters with complete kitchens. They don’t play outside; they live outside. They disappear into books for (I’m serious) days on end.

They cook and bake.

They garden. (This was Farmer Boy's own potato harvest.)

They work in their 'shop' taking apart the junker mower.

They experiment. They play with toys they forgot they had. They spray each other with hoses. They ride their bikes in a pack all over the property.

They tinker, build, and create unfettered by the clock.

We let go of all sense of time other than “I’m hungry” or “I’m tired.”

We decide on a moment’s notice to go swimming, to go find Dad, to run into town.

We go for last-minute family outings.

But mostly we stay home and I work.work.work. while the children exist in summer revelry. And WOW do we love it. The way our summers always seem to end up, the more attracted I become to the principles of unschooling. My children learn and grow a great deal in the summer time when they are unfettered by too much planning or activity. I stay much more on top of my farm responsibilities (think office manager) without pressure than I can during the school year.

The house is never as clean because I’m always trying to make a project happen – cleaning out the homeschool storage, painting, rearranging furniture, gardening, freezer cooking. I also typically undertake a purge and deep clean of the children’s rooms (shudder).

There is also always a bit of off-compound activity. My Little Cowgirl went to Vacation Bible School day camp this year in June and ab.so.lute.ly. loved it. Shooter is going to his first overnight camp (two nights, three days) in July; it’s a science/robotics camp. Farmer Boy asked for horseback riding lessons and we made the call to arrange that last week. Shooter wondered out loud about taking some lessons on his horn before middle school band begins in August.

And once we get to July, I’m finishing up my planning for next year. I’m getting excited to begin again.

I’m such a gemini – a person with two distinctly different sides. As much as I adore our unscheduled summer; I look forward to the return of our regularly scheduled programming with school each morning, lessons and activities each week, short and busy weekends.

But I’m not fully there yet. Right now it’s almost nine and I’ve got to wake the children up (they stayed up late to watch all the fireworks last night) so they can go to sleep at a decent time tonight. I think I’ll let them turn PBS on as soon as they shuffle out of their rooms. And I might give them a cookie for breakfast. As for the rest of the day, we have no plans what so ever – we’ll take it as it comes.

Sweet, sweet summertime.

What does summer look like at your house?

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Crunchy hair and other crunchy things.

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At the beginning of the summer, I posted about ridding my home of the cosmetic products that were high in toxins and carcinogens.

I was really concerned about finding replacements for my deodorant, my acne treatments, and of course my make up (in that order).

A happy surprise was that my deodorant (Secret solid unscented) was rated quite good! So I’m still swiping my pits with the same thing I started using clear back in the 19-hundred-and-somethings.

An unhappy surprise included our sunscreens, our toothpaste and our bar soap. These have been easily replaced, even the toothpaste!

Most of you know I have been experimenting with crunchy hair, here are some new before/after photos, this time with strait hair:

Here I am at the start of the day, right after styling.

I didn’t use any products (aside from my flat iron) and I brushed once in the middle of the day.

Here I am at the end of the day, after taking the kids to the water park. It held up great!

I currently have no plans to go back to using shampoo and conditioner. I’ve been so pleased with the texture of my hair using this method, and I think it is continuing to improve as my hair detoxifies. All three children are now voluntarily sporting crunchy hair as well.

The biggest news flash I have for you concerns make up. I’ve fought for years now with finding makeup that my face doesn’t react to. I’ve tried most any brand of makeup you can buy whether over the counter, from your girlfriend’s kitchen table or off an infomercial (Mmm-hmm, oh yes I did). The only one that didn’t make my eyelids break out in weepy hives was physicians formula…but I could only wear it a few days a week, and I had to wear the mascara on special occasions only. Too many days in a row and my skin was peeling and flaky (gross, I know!).

I went make up shopping at our local whole-foods type store. There was a huge selection. I took my iPhone with me and used the EWG website to find the ratings on the cosmetic products (I was surprised how many there were on the shelves with poor ratings!). I am especially pleased with the ZUZU products I purchased: Concealer, lipstick, mascara. I purchased Larenim pressed powder and I’m happy with it as well. These items are pictured in the bottom of the photo below.

My new crunchy product line-up.

The top left is the moisturizing face cream I bought in place of what I’ve been addicted to for three years now. It’s made by Weleda, and is nice, smells good and doesn’t make my face sting though it’s not as fabulous as my toxin filled anti-aging stuff (which I gave away and will not buy anymore). The top right is samples of eyeshadow and blush as well as a nail polish from Honeybee Gardens. I love the eyeshadow and blush and I’ve ordered full size of those, but the nail polish (while beautiful) is not meant for people who garden and do dishes every day. I had chips by the 24-hour mark though I followed the directions to the letter for proper curing.

You can see me wearing all the makeup I mentioned in the first picture of this post. (Obviously. I’m even wearing lipstick!)

I can’t believe the difference in my face since changing to 0 or 1 rated products from the EWG site. I don’t itch or sting, I don’t have rashes or flakes, my eyes don’t hurt or sting. I can wear this makeup every single day and have been doing so for a month now! I’ve been washing my face with good-for-me bar soap and in place of all the acne treatments I was using I have just been making a quick mask of baking soda and water. Though I still have had breakouts this month, they have been lesser and faster to heal.

I’m still on the lookout for a good nail polish – I’ve noticed that the lighter colors are rated better as a large generalization. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

In the mean time, I feel good about having so much success with this experiment and assuring you all how easy it has been to switch my family over to safer products (ignore the soap, deodorant and shampoo my husband is using – he is resistant to change and that’s okay).

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What I Wore for My Birthday

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I apologize for my recent neglect of this space; we had a lovely Father’s Day weekend and have been stocking up on family time since harvest ended. Coming Attractions: I have posts planned to update you on what has been happening on the farm, as well as a crunchy hair and product update.

Yesterday was my thirty-firth birthday. I must tell you, it was the best birthday I have ever had (with the possible exception of my sixteenth, but that is like comparing apples and oranges). All my young friends: Be not afraid of your thirties. They are magnificent.

I discovered this terrifically fun link-up last week through Sellabitmum (hilarious and gripping by turns; read her) – it’s over at The Pleated Poppy and it’s called “What I Wore Wednesday.” I’m linking up today with my birthday date outfit.

Photo credit: Farmer Boy, who is also my fashion consultant and has clear opinions about what I wear.

My entire outfit came off the clearance rack at Kohls and cost less than $50 total.

Shirt – Candy’s
Jeans – Mudd
Belt – Relic
Shoes – Dana Buchman

I was also carrying a cute metallic choral bag (Vera Wang) but forgot to hold it for the picture.

I included a new accessory – birthday present from my sister!

Sapphire and Topaz! HOLY BALLS how will I ever find her an equally awesome gift?!

I thought the kids might feel left out if we went out on my birthday, but My Farmer had planned ahead and pinned down their favorite sitters (they are sisters and not only do they play with the kids, they also clean the kitchen) so they were thrilled. They practically pushed me out the doorway. We went to our favorite romantic date place. Ironically, the first time we ever went there was my thirtieth birthday, the first time we went out alone to celebrate when the kids were little and we have loved it ever since. An example of why:

On the house in honor of my increasingly speedy aging. I ate the strawberry half. It was fantastic.

We had a great date – the only sad moment of my birthday this year was when it was over.

The company and the pinot grigio left nothing to be desired. And my outfit rocked.

Of Crunchy Hair…

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Alright, peeps, let’s talk hair. I’ve been talking and tweeting about my crunchified hair lately. I have been washing my hair exclusively this way since that post. I know I said I wasn’t going to only use the baking soda/vinegar method…but every time I get in the shower I do it again. I have some more news to report:

First of all, I have tried using apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar. It does make a difference in the texture of my hair. I want to say it’s a bit softer, but I’m not sure that’s an accurate description. It is less prone to snarls but more prone to static. I also much prefer the smell of white vinegar, so plan to go back to it on the next wash and see if it is still different or if it’s just that my hair is adjusting to this new way of washing.

PLEASE NOTE: When I talk about the smell, I mean only during the shower. My hair has absolutely ZERO scent once I rinse the vinegar out.

Secondly, I convinced Little Cowgirl to let me give it a go on her hair. I told her I had new shampoo, and I used a spray bottle to rinse the baking soda with vinegar. She LOVES it. She told me her hair is shinier, faster to wash and has no snarls (that’s debatable, my friends). It does seem to be working well. I thought she would balk at the vinegar smell (she doesn’t like to help with cleaning if it involves vinegar) but she has never mentioned it.

I’m taking the spray bottle with me the next time I shower – I think I’ll need much less vinegar that way.

I have a pictorial for you as well today. Two days ago, I washed my hair right before bed (after we came back from the water park). I went to bed with wet hair. I have lots of hair so it was still a bit damp when I woke up the next morning. I blasted it for a few seconds with a blow-dryer and took five minutes with the curling iron to this effect:

Beginning of the day...see how "bright" the different colors of my hair are? it's the vinegar, I swear.

We spent the day running around to tutoring and harvest broohaha, did a bit of yard work (watering things) and helped Cowgirl fly her kite. I never brushed or touched up my hair. Last night at 10:00 pm this is what my hair looked like:

Ouch - nice florescent lighting effects. But the hair still looks pretty good.

I know some of you have been experimenting with this as well. If you have tried it and would like to write about your experience (good or bad) please email me at closeenoughblog@gmail.com so I can feature your crunchified hair.

Here is what my hair looked like this morning – just rolled out of bed and brushed it. I always like the texture of my hair on days two and three after a crunchy wash (sorry if that’s TMI about the frequency of my hair washing) because it maintains its softness and the style relaxes.

7:00 am - after brushing. I work hard on my hair, people. I had to lift my arm five or six times.

Are you thinking about crunchifying your hair? It’s worth a try – it’s been nothing but surprises for me. It’s a simple process:

1) Mix about 1/4 cup (I use more) baking soda with a cup or so of water. I just take a plastic bowl of baking soda into the shower with me and spray some water into it. I mix it with my hands and pour some of it on my head, then I scrub that part of my head. I have a lot of hair (and a figuratively big head) so I like to pour a bit on at a time in sections (top, side, side, back, long hair that hangs down) followed by scrubbing that portion.

2) Pour vinegar over your head and let it bubble (I’ve been keeping a small, screw-top bottle of vinegar in the shower). Interestingly, I read the original description a friend found of this method and it suggested rinsing the baking soda out with water first. I missed that part and put the vinegar on while my head was full of soda. But I really like the fizzy feeling and plan to omit rinsing with water between steps one and two. This may work better on different types and textures of hair – we should experiment!

3) Rinse with water.

Three steps to crunchy hair (four if you rinse between steps one and two) – and I mean crunchy in a good way, like eats steel-cut oats/composts/makes granola from scratch crunchy; not makes a snapping sound/feels hard/then crumbles kind of crunchy (which is only good if you are taking about chips).

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A post that begins by talking about harvest, but actually it isn’t about that at all.

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Yes, combines are rolling! Woohoo!

They weren’t able to start yesterday until late in the afternoon – meaning the harvest crew all had their own lunch boxes for supper. We did help shuffle a few vehicles and deliver a few forgotten necessities (a phone charger!) but I don’t have pictures because…

We were in our bathing suits!

Shooter took a moment away from the big slides to pose with his siblings.

That’s right – it’s really summer now. We made our first trip to our YMCA’s water park.

Sploosh! This is Cowgirl's favorite part...the dumping bucket.

OH MAN it was so much fun.

Warming up on the sidewalk - I loved this when I was a kid.

You can see from the photos that Little Cowgirl inherited My Farmer’s lovely skin (I don’t know when in history his German ancestors were invaded and pillaged by Italians but that skin that begins browning under ten minutes of sunshine is something else!). My boys got my own two-choices-only (white or RED) skin.

I prefer to take them late in the day (we went over harvest supper delivery time) when the sun is less intense because I’m pretty careful and sparing with my sunscreen use. I have been reading for years about possibly harmful ingredients in sunscreens. Here is the Environmental Working Groups 2012 Sunscreen Guide.

In the past we have used sunscreens that are on the top of the list for possibly dangerous ingredients. I, especially, have slathered on some of EWG’s ‘top offenders’ since being told by one doctor that I was “skin cancer waiting to happen.” Over time my practices in skin protection have evolved to being exposed during less intense portions of the day and choosing safer sunscreens. This year we are using some Kiss-My-Face products and are pleased so far.

Fun in the sun...and look at that farmer's tan!

I’m sure we won’t make it back to the water park until harvest slows down again, but we are all so glad we squeezed in a quick visit. The children swam like fish and slept like rip-van-winkle. Have you been to the pool yet this summer?

Crunchy Product Reviews

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Last week I talked about my summer project of replacing toxic cosmetic products in my home. I thought I’d give you an occasional update and review some of the products or ideas that we have been trying.

I know you are all dying to know how the baking soda hair wash went. I washed my hair using this method a week ago and kept track of my thoughts for you. My concerns were as follows:

1) Sticks
2) Ants
3) Brillo

To translate – I was concerned that my hair would be snarly and dry, that my scalp would itch and that my hair would look like #3. I have VERY strait hair, but it can also be pretty course.

I was surprised on all three counts. First of all, it was a pleasant sensation to scrub with the baking soda and water paste. When I rinsed with the vinegar (I just used regular old white vinegar) it was a bubbly party on my scalp. It felt so…gentle. I was expecting to feel more like I was scouring with Comet (it makes your mouth turn green…). When I got out of the shower the made-for-wet-hair brush literally slid through my hair. Once it dried, my hair looked like this:

I felt that the vinegar brought out lots of the reds in my hair.

Styling was simple and I used no products at all. My hair was very cooperative. And mostly it felt very, very clean. This was not a clean feeling I’ve had with my hair and scalp before. It was generally quite nice. My style (five minutes spent with a curling iron or strait iron, depending on my mood) held up great. My hair felt soft, but in a different way. It also felt much lighter. I was at two different functions the next day and two close friends of mine complimented my hair – I asked them to feel it and they were both shocked and all “NO WAY” when I told them I had crunchified it.

I thought I would have static or frizz issues, but that never happened either. I will say, however, that I live in Kansas and it’s super-windy here, so snarls can be a problem. I did find that my hair tangled easier and more often, so I was taking a brush to it more frequently.

This is certainly something I will be doing again. At this point I don’t think I will do it every time I wash my hair because I am trying out other products for the kids to use as well, but washing with baking soda and rinsing with vinegar is going to become a regular part of my routine. Did anybody else try this? What were your results? If you haven’t, do you think you might?

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Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble…

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Several years ago, the Environmental Working Group came out with a list of cosmetic products, including toothpaste, sunscreen, makeup, shampoo, soap, lotion and nail polish. It is a full-disclosure database about what is inside these products. I’ve been avoiding it for years, though I did replace our toothpaste, soap and shampoo after reading about some of the initial information.

This summer I would like to experiment some more with finding safe and healthy alternatives to cosmetic products. I’ll keep you posted as I work on finding healthier options for my family and my planet. I would also love to find ways around the lazy approach I’ve taken thus far – which is a single-step plan involving purchasing very expensive alternatives. I grew up on a farm in the 1980s, so it goes without saying that spending more than $7 for a small bottle of shampoo is something that I feel I need to take to the confessional. (Please absolve me, mom!)

I think this issue is on the mind of my friends as well. My darling Tarah, of spoon hooker fame, sent me this link not long ago about making your own body wash.

Yesterday one of my internet friends (one of the two people I can’t wait to meet in real life but am also kind of afraid that we will cause some sort of nuclear reaction with our fantasticalness – not a word but it says what I mean – in the same place at the same time) posted a link to this method of hair washing.

My foodie mentor and homeschool guru Maureen wrote a great post about making deodorant at home.

I told my baking-soda hair washing friend yesterday that I’m extra-vain, especially for a crunchy gal. So I’m going to be pretty picky. And the idea of giving up my quick-dry, one-swipe nail polish kinda makes me want to cry. But the idea of giving myself cancer makes me feel much worse – let’s not even talk about the fact that my daughter loves to have her nails painted. I’ve been having problems with makeup for years now…I can’t wear eyeshadow at all in the last month because of the constant reaction it causes. It’s time to make some more informed and aggressive changes around here. The first step begins with evaluating the items I am using on the EWG website.

So how about it? Would you be interested in sharing some of this journey with me?

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