on the way to see Myra

This is Zibby and Papa on the way to Schubas to see Myra’s band, Amped Out. They totally rocked, btw. Amped Out, did. I mean. Zibby and Buzz mostly walked around the club and I watched the bands. There were four bands, each band played one song. The bands were all from Girls Rock Chicago

Zibby picked Buzz’ shirt out, because it was red and matched the cherries on the outfit she selected for herself. The headband is a nice touch, dont you think? She took it off during the show, though.

Stay tuned to see if I can upload the photobooth pics we took there.

Life is good.

Camp Out at Indiana Dunes State Park

Zibby is Sicky again. She has sour tummy, and is very subdued. It started Sunday night, for which I am grateful, because we were home from camping. Camping was terrific fun for me and Zibby, but I think Buzz doesnt like to camp…too bad for him. Here are some pics:
Zibby with one of her favorite people, Mama Rachel

The beach

My little wood sprite

mommy and zibby

There were about 12 families? from the homeschool group that came. Saturday night we had a potluck picnic together. As nice as it was during the day, the nights were COLD! I had to go to town and get a blanket and a longsleeved nightshirt, since I had forgotten to pack anything with longsleeves. We borrowed a tent and cooler and mini charcoal grill. I had a lot of fun hanging out with everyone and cooking out. Yay! Cant wait to do it again!

photo post

this is a photo of the tile at my drs office. it is the same shape as the tile that used to be in the bathroom of my childhood home. it is the same color as the tile that was in the hallway of my childhood home. I can still feel the cold smoothness under my feet.

This is beach day with the homeschool group. We always tell new folks to look for the umbrellas. Yesterdays beach day was one of the most fun ever. ALthough, Zibby and I did get a little too much sun and not enough sunscreen. We are both red and tender today.

Here are some classic Zibby faces, and a new hair cut, to boot. Zibby started off the haircut by herself. I finished it

and, today, Zibby was having a fit on the floor because I wasnt doing her sling the way she wanted, and then she just fell asleep. bless her heart. on the floor. in the raw. poor baby. I took her into the bedroom after I took these photos:

Tampa takes us to the Faire, plus beach and NPNC photos

Here is me and my dad, who Zibby calls Tampa (grandpa) which is somewhat ironical, since he lives in Miami.
Zibby fell asleep in the sling (Taylor Made Solarveil Ring Sling)

after a very full day
The Bristol Renaissance Faire was lots of fun. We saw two families there that we knew from our homeschool group. One of them runs a shop called St Ives, selling handmade pottery. I bought a tile, some tile magnets and a mini-pitcher that Zibby picked out. Frank took some awesome pictures of the parade and of Zibby and I riding the Da Vinci Flying Boats.

Friday we went to the beach. My brother came and showed Zibby the fine art of making sand-drip castles.
Frank and I spent hours upon hours building elaborate drip castle dwellings on the beach in Ocean Isle, NC.

Thursday we went to the North Park Nature Center and saw a heron at the pond.

Here is a classic Zibby pose of silliness and happiness:

Life is good.

Fruits of my Labor

Silk Scarf, bullseye:

Dress, accordian fold stripes:

Hat, just squirted dye randomly:

Sweatshirt and Leggings, accordian fold, random squirting:

I also did a shirt for me using the “scrunch” method:

weekend update

the beach on friday was cool and windy. all zibby wanted to do was cuddle in my lap, which was fabulous, imo. we stayed longer than we might have, because I was loving being all snuggled up with my baby.

Friday night we went to Barrie’s for a pizza party with Rachel and Tina and all of our kiddos. We had such a fun time, and everyone seemed to have a good time. There were a couple of rough spots, but it all got worked out. After dinner, Barrie set out a bowl of strawberries and a giant chocolate bar. The kids were so funny with the chocolate, all trying to eat it as one big bar, chocolate from ear to ear, sticky hands, etc. wish I had got some pics of that! We stayed ever so late, and didnt get home until 1 am. Zibby stayed awake the whole time until almost till we got home.

Saturday we went out to the burbs for our nephews birthday party, he turned 4. It was a long drive, and Zibby wasnt very happy in the car. I think I need to investigate the possibilbity that she gets carsick. I know I used to get very carsick as a kid, so that might be why she is so unhappy.

Last but not least, I went to see a chiropractor on Friday. He did some applied kinesiology testing, and advised me to avoid gluten, soy and sugar. I had pretty much guessed that is what he might tell me, so it wasnt a big shock, but it is going to be a big change, and one that I will need to do slowly. But, I am also really excited about the possibility of feeling better, so I want to try it. Lots of stuff to research on the web today

Oooh! I forgot! Buzz also agreed to come to the Live and Learn Unschooling Conference in Sept! YAY! I registered last night I am totally stoked! Tina and her girls are coming with, and Rachel is coming, and we get to go to NM and meet tons of other unschoolers….yay yay yay!

Ima gonna gitcha

Happy Fathers Day

Whew. What a weekend.
Friday we dropped off a sling at my customer’s house, then went to Skokie to a used book sale and got some good score. Among other great things, I found a copy of Art Linkletter’s Kids Say the Darndest Things. My brother and I had this same book as children, and we LOVED it. Granted, some of the stuff in there is extremely tame by todays standards, but I thought it was plenty worth the two dollars I paid for it. Then, we went to the Beach.

Friday is beach day for at least two of the homeschool/ unschool groups in our city. So, there were plenty of folks there to hang with this week. We stayed for a couple of hours and had a blast.

Saturday my mom was in town, with her dog, Georgie. We decided to take them to the Dog Beach

Which was fun, but hot and windy. I took Zibby out in the lake with my solarveil water sling. She got her feet wet, and I went out to my hips or so. The water was pretty cold, and it felt good. Georgie was nervous at first, but then she was having so much fun, and she made some doggie friends. The dog beach was pretty cool, actually. I would go back, even with no dog. Its good people watching!

My brother met us at my house afterwards for lunch. Zibby wouldnt take a nap, so, of course, she fell asleep on the way to our evening engagement, a bbq

Thats Zibby in the watermelon dress, in the EllaRoo Wrap, hip cross carry, with a shoulder flip. Fancy pants. Oh, and my whisky and ginger ale, too.
The bbq was lots of fun, and we stayed until ten or so.

Sunday, was of course, Fathers Day. Zibby and I made a card for Buzz with this picture:

Truly, we both appreciate everything Buzz does for us, from going to work all day, to cleaning the kitchen and doing laundry and taking out the trash and fetching us foodstuffs and scratching our backs. And, of course, making us laugh, and loving us so unconditionally. I know just how very lucky I am to have such a great husband, and believe me, I never thought I would have such a great life. I am so happy to be making a family with him, and sharing our life together. Zibby adores her Papa, and rightly so. It is a joy to see them together. The first thing she says when he comes home after work, is “Hi Papa, I missed you!”
So, Happy Father’s Day to you Buzz.
‘If you knew how much we loved you, you would be so wigged.’

In which we see a Fire Engine and Firefighters

In the last photo, Zibby is making the ASL sign for Fireman. We had such a great time at our Firehouse today! Our Fireman/Tour Guide was named Sean, and boy did we get the right guy! He showed us every single compartment of both the Engine and the Truck, explained all of the equipment, the hoses, the ladders, how everything worked, all the training they do, everything! He showed us the upstairs where the Fighters sleep and have lockers and tv rooms, he showed us the kitchen, he let the kids sit in the truck and answered all of our questions. Amazing. The kids loved it.

beach day

Zibby and I woke up around 8 (early for us) and puttered around for a little bit this morning. Then we found ourselves back in bed, nursing and playing, when Zibby decided she was hungry for eggs. I was sort of dozing and was trying to placate her with “soons” and “in a minutes” . Then I told her that a big hug and kiss would help me get up. She shook her head and then a few minutes later, gave me a kiss and hug. I was already feeling pretty low about that, I mean, she wants breakfast, and I am trying to manipulate her into giving me a kiss. Ugh. And I still didnt get up.

Then she took matters into her own hands. She left the bed and headed into the kitchen. So, I dragged myself out of bed, and got to the kitchen just as she pulled the carton out of the fridge. And set it on her step stool. And then she climbed onto the stool and knocked the egg carton off. And 3 of the 4 eggs broke. 2 unsalvageably. So, I very angrily started cleaning up the eggs.

Zibby, now seeing the eggs arent cooking right away, gets down. I (not in a very nice voice) tell her to stay out of the egg mess I am trying to wipe up. So, she goes back in the fridge and gets out the tortillas. Opens bag. Gets out tortilla. Takes two bites. Puts tortilla on floor and stamps on it. Very close to the egg mess.
I snapped up the tortilla and whipped it, frisbee style, into the other room and yelled and actually screached at my hungry two year old. Zibby ran around the corner. A second later, she peeps back at me, and is crying and saying “Sorry, Mama”.

Thats when this thought popped into my head: “People before things, put the relationship first”.
So I apologized and hugged her and made the eggs. And promised myself to be Mindful today, and see what I noticed, and if I could make some adjustments.

I had another opportunity when we left to go out. First, as we were walking down the stairs, Zibby is saying “come on Zibby” every step…just like I usually do because we are running late and I am trying to hurry her. I make a mental note to be pleasant and patient in the stairway.

Zibby wanted to hold the keys. Ok. We get to the car, and she presses the keyless entry button. Ok. Then she wants to put the key in the doorlock. I try to tell her that the door is already unlocked, but she is adamant. So, I ask myself, whats the big deal, anyway. So, she “unlocks” the door. And then wants to climb in a put the key in the ignition. I really want to say NO, and just grab her up and get going, but I dont. She puts the key in, and very pleased, hops in the back seat to her chair. I go around and I wait as she attempts to buckle herself in. When she asks for help, I snap her in and we go.

We got to the beach and we didnt see anyone we knew, so we set up camp pretty close to the water. I made a bazillion trips to fill up the buckets that Zibby dumped out immediately upon my return. I did not complain or insist she could do it herself. Sometimes she went with me, sometimes she stayed in our shady spot. When she wanted to go, we packed up and went. We rinsed our feet extra very thouroughly in the shower thingy because shower thingies are Zibbys favorite thing.

We went home, had a bath, nursing, and both of us napped. When we got up, we had snacks, and Zibby watched Signing Time. I tried to read a magazine, but every time I picked it up, Zibby appeared with a book for me to read. We read “Sheep in a Jeep”, “Sheep in a Shop”, “Busy Monkeys”, and “Calvin and Hobbes”. Actually, she really just likes one page in Calvin and Hobbes, where Calvin is trying to climb out a window. She loves that page.

After dinner, we went to the grocery store. On the way there, I put my window down, and put Zibbys down a little, too. The whole way there she kept asking me to put it up, put it down. My first reaction was to say NO, with all sorts of rationals that didnt really make any sense. So, I kept adjusting her window up and down, up and down. What did it hurt? Nothing. On the way home again, Zibby and I did the window thing again.

She noticed the moon in the sky, and said “HELLLOOOOO Mooon!!!!”, so we said hello to the moon for a while, and then Zibby said, in such a plaintive voice “I CANT REACH IT”, I said, “No, honey, its high in the sky” and she kept telling me she wanted to reach it, but couldnt. It was so sweet. I called my mom and told her about it. I told Buzz when we got home, and he said she did it the other night outside in the front yard.

Another cute story is that when we got home, as we were walking up the stairs, Zibby said “I miss Papa!” and when we got in the door and he was there, she told him she had missed him.

I guess my lesson today is that my first reaction a lot of the time is No, and I can find a lot of ways to change that, and the key is to be mindful and question those no’s. And to stay in the present, and to keep my eyes on the prize-which is Zibby and her delightfulness and our relationship being strong and respectful and loving. And I hope that Zibby’s lesson was that Mama loves her and enjoys her and her world is one where she can explore and experiment and be herself and be accepted for just that.